Monday, April 11, 2011
If Everything Evens Out...
...which is an oft-repeated nugget of popular baseball wisdom - that bad breaks will all even out over the course of a season - then the Blue Jays can look forward to winning a game they have no business winning thanks to some lousy officiating.
That should counteract the blown interference call that cost them the 14-inning marathon Saturday night, and restore balance to the universe. The incident was instructive, as Angels 3B Alberto Callaspo proved that if you react to a slow grounder like a deer in headlights, umpires will sometimes rule in your favour.
Aside from that ugliness, and the Blue Jays stranding the population of Sudbury, Saturday's game did offer a refreshing take on bullpen usage, as John Farrell
outmanaged his more seasoned counterpart and still had a reliever in his bullpen in the 14th inning, while Mike Scioscia had already called on starter Dan Haren.
This is in stark contrast to Cito Gaston's penchant for gobbling relievers like potato chips - leading to heroic 3-inning stints by Jesse Carlson, and starters having to warm up once Carlson's arm fell off. Gaston was a little bit "match-up happy," and would burn through 2 or three relievers in a single inning of a close game - apparently with nary a though that the game might go into extra innings. Watching Farrell leave his charges in the game for multiple innings was very encouraging.
Still don't know what happened to 93-94 MPH Brett Cecil, but if can't recover those missing 4-5 MPHs, he could be in for a long season. ¶ posted by Jim Turner at 5:54 PM
That should counteract the blown interference call that cost them the 14-inning marathon Saturday night, and restore balance to the universe. The incident was instructive, as Angels 3B Alberto Callaspo proved that if you react to a slow grounder like a deer in headlights, umpires will sometimes rule in your favour.
Aside from that ugliness, and the Blue Jays stranding the population of Sudbury, Saturday's game did offer a refreshing take on bullpen usage, as John Farrell
outmanaged his more seasoned counterpart and still had a reliever in his bullpen in the 14th inning, while Mike Scioscia had already called on starter Dan Haren.
This is in stark contrast to Cito Gaston's penchant for gobbling relievers like potato chips - leading to heroic 3-inning stints by Jesse Carlson, and starters having to warm up once Carlson's arm fell off. Gaston was a little bit "match-up happy," and would burn through 2 or three relievers in a single inning of a close game - apparently with nary a though that the game might go into extra innings. Watching Farrell leave his charges in the game for multiple innings was very encouraging.
Still don't know what happened to 93-94 MPH Brett Cecil, but if can't recover those missing 4-5 MPHs, he could be in for a long season. ¶ posted by Jim Turner at 5:54 PM
