Still Waiting for That Tag
Of all the loses this season, that may have been my favourite. It is pretty strange to think that a loss that was so heartbreaking would be so enjoyable, but I do.
Jon Lester is the Boston player I secretly covet, so I enjoy watching him pitch. Of course watching him no-hit the Jays through four was not that enjoyable. Neither was watching Albers mow through them, except for a Corey Patterson base running incident that made me tweet wondering if a player can be DFA'd mid-game. You walked. Bautista got a single. This is the first hint of a scoring threat you have had all game. Lind, your team's second best hitter, is at the plate. You realize AA is trimming the fat, right? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Some people over Twitter were quick to blame Farrell. If it was the manager, the manager seems to have no qualms about throwing his left-fielder under the bus. Farrell called the move “a poor decision, to try to make something happen when we’ve got really the only rally … to that point in time in the game. Your four-hole hitter [is] up. That was a poor decision.”
Brett Cecil, the pitcher who won 15 games last season, finally showed himself. Yes, I know wins count for not that much, but for argument's sake, I will say that it indicates that a pitcher has had a certain amount of success. He kept his pitches down, his velocity was good but most of all, there was a little something on his pitches, particularly his changeup. Cecil chucked, kids.
Trying to get something off Daniel Bard was nearly impossible, but going into the 9th, and right after Tabler compared Bard and Papelbon to Ward and Heinke, I had an inkling that the Jays might mess with Papelbon in the 9th.
Papelbon got a little jobbed on a call for once in his life, where it seemed he struck Corey Patterson out. It looked inside by a lot, but the pitch fx showed that the pitch was a nasty one on the edge. I figured it had to do with a poor framing job by Varitek, who overcompensated and made it seem more outside than it was. Anyway, Patterson singled and Bautista demonstrated, once again, that he is the best player in baseball with a towering shot over the Green Monster.
Things were getting intense and dramatic. And then the play at the plate happened. Encarnacion tried to score on a McDonald single that basically was willed into existence and was blocked off the plate by Varitek. Or at least that's what it seemed. @MLB posted a video of "the great play to win the game." Sox fans were, for once, not wanting Varitek's head on a spike.
And then the power of the Internet came through. People were grumbling, wondering if there had even been a tag. People started to post pictures over Twitter of the play and people starting GIFing.
This is the one that sealed it for me.
Yeah, so it appears Encarnacion is still waiting to be tagged. It is an embarrassingly bad call that seemed much closer than it actually was.
John Farrell has learned all too well the bullshit that comes from being the opposition in Fenway. Post game, he was pretty mad.
"The whole place was going nuts -- so, so loud -- the ump probably feared for his life if he'd called him safe."
I've often suspected that was the motivation for some non-calls in some of the busier stadiums. Although, it was an active and aggressive crowd in the Rogers Centre for Rauch's Incredible Hulk impression, and that didn't seem to sway the umps. So maybe the crowd needs to cuss at the ump with a broad A and some non-rhoticity.
In other news, a group of tired and down Jays arrived at their hotel 90 minutes post game. Not recognizable due to jeans, youth and relative tininess. Everyone who were asked for pictures or autographs were polite and obliging.
Some people over Twitter were quick to blame Farrell. If it was the manager, the manager seems to have no qualms about throwing his left-fielder under the bus. Farrell called the move “a poor decision, to try to make something happen when we’ve got really the only rally … to that point in time in the game. Your four-hole hitter [is] up. That was a poor decision.”
Brett Cecil, the pitcher who won 15 games last season, finally showed himself. Yes, I know wins count for not that much, but for argument's sake, I will say that it indicates that a pitcher has had a certain amount of success. He kept his pitches down, his velocity was good but most of all, there was a little something on his pitches, particularly his changeup. Cecil chucked, kids.
Trying to get something off Daniel Bard was nearly impossible, but going into the 9th, and right after Tabler compared Bard and Papelbon to Ward and Heinke, I had an inkling that the Jays might mess with Papelbon in the 9th.
Papelbon got a little jobbed on a call for once in his life, where it seemed he struck Corey Patterson out. It looked inside by a lot, but the pitch fx showed that the pitch was a nasty one on the edge. I figured it had to do with a poor framing job by Varitek, who overcompensated and made it seem more outside than it was. Anyway, Patterson singled and Bautista demonstrated, once again, that he is the best player in baseball with a towering shot over the Green Monster.
Things were getting intense and dramatic. And then the play at the plate happened. Encarnacion tried to score on a McDonald single that basically was willed into existence and was blocked off the plate by Varitek. Or at least that's what it seemed. @MLB posted a video of "the great play to win the game." Sox fans were, for once, not wanting Varitek's head on a spike.
And then the power of the Internet came through. People were grumbling, wondering if there had even been a tag. People started to post pictures over Twitter of the play and people starting GIFing.
This is the one that sealed it for me.Yeah, so it appears Encarnacion is still waiting to be tagged. It is an embarrassingly bad call that seemed much closer than it actually was.
John Farrell has learned all too well the bullshit that comes from being the opposition in Fenway. Post game, he was pretty mad.
“That play is right in front of Brian Knight,” Farrell said. “It was clear that Edwin did a good job sliding around the plant leg of [Varitek], but his swipe tag missed him by no less than a foot. So right now, we should be out on that field playing."
I am looking over the pictures from the game, of the Red Sox players hugging each and celebrating. Looking at a picture of Papelbon trying to make out with Darnell McDonald, the player who threw the relay to the plate, and I wonder if they went back and checked the replay at some point, and realized that they were lucky. Or do they just not wonder?
I am looking over the pictures from the game, of the Red Sox players hugging each and celebrating. Looking at a picture of Papelbon trying to make out with Darnell McDonald, the player who threw the relay to the plate, and I wonder if they went back and checked the replay at some point, and realized that they were lucky. Or do they just not wonder?
As it turns out, I had an insider at Fenway. My favourite Antigonishian went to Boston at the last minute when a friend invited her from New York. She noticed the kajillion Nova Scotia flags, and wondered why until I told her it was Nova Scotia night. So it was fate. This friend had cherry seats. Like, a few rows up and to the left (right on tv) of the Sox dugout. People left, and they snuck down to the seats next to the field. She saw it all. She had a better view than Farrell.
I found this out when I posted something about the call on Facebook, and she commented something along the lines that it looked good to her, too. So I asked her about it.
"The whole place was going nuts -- so, so loud -- the ump probably feared for his life if he'd called him safe."
I've often suspected that was the motivation for some non-calls in some of the busier stadiums. Although, it was an active and aggressive crowd in the Rogers Centre for Rauch's Incredible Hulk impression, and that didn't seem to sway the umps. So maybe the crowd needs to cuss at the ump with a broad A and some non-rhoticity.
Lester was taken out of the game in the fourth, for what was later announced as a sore lat. Buckholz has a bulging disk. Dice K is out with TJ. Lackey is well, lacking. If Lester is hurt, that means they pin their hopes on a fat head (Beckett) and an old man (Wakefield.)
In other news, a group of tired and down Jays arrived at their hotel 90 minutes post game. Not recognizable due to jeans, youth and relative tininess. Everyone who were asked for pictures or autographs were polite and obliging.