A.J. Pierzynski is unbelievable. He turns a bone-headed baserunning mistake into a game-winning situation.
He gets on first in the bottom of the 10th with a solid single up the middle.
He then takes advantage of a horrendous play by Tampa center fielder B.J. Upton, who made a catch in deep center and didn't even check to see if A.J. was tagging up. Upton casually caught the ball and took his time before even looking at the infield. Meanwhile, A.J.. tags up and makes it into second. Great move by a guy with great instincts.
A.J. nearly runs himself out of scoring position by straying on the next ball to the shortstop. The Rays get him in a rundown and apply the tag. But before the tag is made, A.J. reaches out to make contact with a fielder and interference is called, giving him third base. Horrible call (Correction: because the fielder had gotten rid of the ball before A.J. touched him, he was fair game. Good call) Big break.
Alexei comes through with the winning hit in a wild one.
The Sox also caught a huge break when Jeff Cox made a horrendous decision to send Brian Anderson on a Paul Konerko single in the ninth. The throw beat Anderson by a mile, but Shawn Riggans couldn't hang on to the easy throw and Anderson tied the game.
It was a clutch single by Konerko and turned out to be a good move by Ozzie Guillen, who pinch-hit Konerko for Juan Uribe.
Ken Griffey Jr. also had a key hit in a wild one.
It was a big win considering the Angels came back late to win and split the series with the Twins. Sox back in first.
Wild day at the Cell. I still predict Sox will win the Central, and it looks like it's going to be entertaining to the very end.
Who is this horrendous writer roman modrowski? Your skills as a journalist are horrendous.I think you should have waited until tomorrow morning before writing this boneheaded blog update
After that game, I think the Sox players should all dye their hair blond.
Roman, you should, too.
Culzie, even you.
Check scores before you blog .. Twins choked away Sunday's game v. Angels ... Sox stunk it up this weekend but get back in first. Go figure.
Angels and Twins split the series. Angels won today 5-3.
Roman responds: Yep, when I originally wrote the Sox post, the Twins were leading in the 7th. Should have waited.
Roman -
The horrible call you referred to was made by none other than Doug Eddings, the same umpire who made the 'dropped third striike' call in the ALCS with AJ at the plate.
I thought that once a ball is in the fielder's hands, the basepath belongs to the runner. So my reaction was that although AJ manufactured the situation, Eddings' call was defensible.
Roman, the Angels beat the Twins last night and today. My math tells me they split the series.
These Rays are the best team the Sox have played all year. They are better than the Red Sox. They took advantage of every Sox error and no lead was safe. They have excellent pitching and play with confidence. And most importantly, they have Akinuri Iwamura and Rocco Baldelli, the two best names in all of baseball.
They Sox exposed their own weaknesses in this series - boneheaded baserunning,men LOB, fielding errors at key times, and Octavio Dotel. Other than today, they scored nearly all their runs on homers. They can't play like this and win the division, or even the wild card.
Roman, have you ever played the game? You have no idea what you're talking about. First, saying that Jeff Cox made a ``horrendous'' decision sending Anderson. It was a tremendously gutsy call. That's why you had a pinch-runner in that situation. They forced the Rays to make a good throw and a catch at the plate. Two plays. It didn't work for the Rays, and the White Sox went on to win. Secondly, in the rundown, once the man with the ball releases it, he cannot obstruct in any way. That's what Eddings ruled. Did A.J. initiate contact? Yes, but it was so close when he fell down, the ump gave A.J. the benefit of the doubt. A.J. Pierzysnki can play for me any day, any time, any game. He's a winner, period, which is what you should have been emphasizing in the first place. And Jr. started it all with his double down the right-field line. Without that hit, the Sox would not have won!
Roman responds: Lot of clutch plays, and I'd want A.J. on my team, too. But I think if the offensive player initiates the contact, it shouldn't be ruled interference. And what's the difference between a bad call and a "gutsy" call? The end result? As Hawk or D.J. pointed out, the ball already was in the air by the time Anderson reached third. It was a bad call, and it was the kind of call that could really hurt in the playoffs.
Doesn't much matter who hit whom first, I think. Ed Meyer is right: without the ball, you got to get the heck out of the way.
Other fans hate A.J (obviously) ,but White Sox fan love him. He made the best of a baserunning error. That's what I like to see.
Hack writers who know little about the rules of the game are the only reason why this is even being considered a "controversial" play in newspapers today.
Any good student of the game (even LL'ers) know that a runner CAN initiate contact with a fielder to draw an "interference" call. The only thing a runner can't do is leave the base path to do it.
Similarly, the decision to send the runner was a good one. It was tough enough for a starting C to make let alone the Ray's backup.
It only looked bad because a 2 hop throw beat the runner. The odds of a 2 hop throw aligning itself for a play at home are low. The odds of a C making that play when it does are even lower. Especially when you consider the # of 2 hop throws that get passed guys covering 1B, 2B, & 3B. A C has to not only think about catching a hopping throw but he has to be leary of his position & prepare himself for the eventual collision with the runner. Even if he catches the ball he knows the runner will hit him full steam in an effort to jar the ball lose.
The Rays were only in a position to sweep because the WSox have failed to replace Linebrink in the 8th. In 29 gms, the WSox were 35-5 when Linebrink pitching in the 8th. That's because he had a 0.67 era. Any one else? The era shoots up to a 7.15 era.
When it comes to bullpens, one or 2 guys can mean the difference between winning & losing. It's obvious to me that the WSox would be a top the AL right now if Linebrink had stayed healthy. So if he comes back in early-mid Sept & dominates like before IMO that makes the WSox the fav's to get to the World Series.
Roman responds: What is with the attitude? If Willy Aybar still had the ball, A.J. wouldn't have been able to initiate contact. But the fact he had gotten rid of it made him fair game. So it was a good call. As far as hack writers, the impending manager of the year and many of his players also got it wrong. Not only that, but neither Ozzie nor A.J. said he was able to initiate contact because Aybar didn't have the ball. They both said Aybar initiated the contact, which both knew wasn't the case.
As far as the decision to send Anderson, I'm sure if he would have been tagged out, you would have said: Good call.
1) If the umpire is on the other side of the play, A.J. is OUT!
2) Two outs, you send the runner at least eighty percent of the time; a line drive to a charging, not too deep left fielder is in the other twenty percent catagory. We got lucky but it's part of the game.
3) Ozzie continues to pull the wrong trigger in relief decisions. Carrasco looked Golden on Saturday. Who's the bullpen manager?
Sox vs Cubs in the series. See you there!
Roman responds: But Eddings got the call right. I'm not sure his positioning would have changed it. And I'm guessing about one percent of the people who are claiming today that they knew the offensive player could initiate contact are telling the truth.
I'm trying to make sense of your response. You still seem confused. Again it doesn't matter who initiates contact. All that matters is whether Aybar was w/in the basepath when contact was made. Aybar himself didn't dispute that. If Aybar has the ball or if AJ is hit by the ball off the bat he's obviously out.
Wrt to Anderson, there is no set rule of procedure for a 3B coach to follow. He has to take into consideration Anderson's speed & size vs the accuracy & arm strength of the fielder & the efficiency & fortitude of the C. That's where scouting reports come into play. If guys making the play aren't known for making that play it's an easy decision.
Roman responds: Yeah Juan, I think we all know there are scouting reports on outfielders and baserunners and catchers. And things like where the outfielders are playing - in this case medium depth — are studied. And you have to be kidding me if you're telling me that was an easy decision. Cox or Ozzie wouldn't even say that was easy. You send him 10 times, how many times would a major-league catcher - whether it's the starter or sub - tag out Anderson? I'm gueeing 8 or 9.
And I think you said the offensive player can initiate contact. That's only the case if the fielder doesn't have the ball. And yes, of course, if the fielder is within the basepath.
Roman, I watched Eddings head and he was following the ball. It wasn't 'til after A.J. went down that he had that '05 puzzled look again and ruled. I disagree about his positioning not changing the outcome. Had the interferer gone inside the play instead of to the outfield side Eddings periferal vision may have caught A.J. LEAN with his elbow to cause the contact. When a base runner turns from a throw to head in the other direction and the defender is in the same path sure, you run right into him A.S.A.P., but in A.J.s case the guy quickly shifted to the outfield side of the play and A.J. preceded to do everything he could to lunge at him without it being obvious. Smart play, but at the same time he had two things going for him; 1) the ump immediately followed the flight of the ball 2) he was blocked out from the contact side.
Gotta go find the ruling in print but the play helped us win; I'm all for the call, whether right or wrong.
Roman, I am glad to see you are in agreement on the AJ play. Now I need you to see the light on the Anderson play.
I agree easy's on over-statment, but there's no way those two (Zobrist & Riggans) make that play even 8/10 times. Riggans has just 44 gms behind the plate for his ML career. Zobrist has just 5 put out's for his ML career in LF & clearly lacks the arm strength to make it there on 1 hop. A C making a play on a 2 hop throw is a rare thing to see.
Roman, do you agree the WSox could have swept the Rays if a healthy Linebrink was available?
Roman responds: Playing the "what if" game is easy. An arugment could be made for that, but the Rays could say a better argumnt is the Rays should have swept if Riggans hangs onto the ball.
And Juan, tell me the truth, what's your reaction if Anderson got nailed?
Honestly, Roman as a WSox fan I've never gotten upset at them for attempting to stretch a base. I'd rather see them go for it & fail then to play it safe.
Wrt to 2008 though, this team has to go for it. They're hitting a dismal .217 in 2-out/RISP sits. Even more surprising is that they are hitting just .259 vs relievers. In contrast, the Twins are hitting .275 in that sit & .268 vs relievers.
Hopefully Clutch Cargo (Crede) can improve on those #'s down the stretch.
Roman responds: So you were ok with him sending Thome?
Sorry Roman, I missed that play. In general, I'd play it safe w Thome. While I'm sure he could knock the stuffing out a C, he'd hurt his back in the process.