Sunday, September 24, 2006

Early Season Heartbreak

Some day, I'm going to figure out what exactly I did to piss the Football Gods off so much.

Arizona lost 16-14 this week. That's bad enough. Add in that they lost to the Rams, which means Miklasz, Burwell, and Jeff Gordon are all probably going to make some stupid "Deadbirds" joke in their columns, and it, quite frankly, sucks. But to lose like they did, ugh.

Less than two minutes left, and Bulger fumbles inside Rams territory. Arizona recovered, and they were already in field goal range. They even picked up another first down, before Warner went and fumbled the freaking ball right back!!

What did I do to deserve that kind of loss? Let me repeat that question: WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO DESERVE SEEING MY TEAM LOSE LIKE THAT?!

Freaking ruined my Sunday.

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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Unwritten Rules Rear Their Heads

With Ramon Ortiz nearly no-hitting the Cardinals on Monday, it got me thinking about what's acceptable when a pitcher is nearing a no-hitter. Because apparently there are rules that concern that very situation.

For example, in May of 2001, Curt Schilling had a no-hitter going into the 8th inning of a game against the Padres, when Ben Davis laid down a bunt. He made it safely to first, and just like that, no more no-hitter. So naturally, the talking heads of the sports world jump on him for a 'bush league' play like laying down a bunt single. Except they ignore the part where it was only a 2-0 game at the time. If Ben Davis gets on then the next batter is the tying run. And if he can't get a solid hit, what's wrong with trying the last thing they expected?

On the other hand, when Jose Jimenez threw a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks in 1999, I recall the D'Backs specifically stalling to try and throw off his rhythm. In the 9th, Eric Davis made a sensational diving catch, so Showalter ran out and spent five minutes arguing with the umpire, to try and get Jose out of his groove. Batters were stepping out of the box, doing extra adjusting, anything to try and disrupt his timing. While I can understand doing this (it was 1-0 at the time), isn't that even more "bush league" than a bunt single? At least Ben Davis was actually trying to beat Curt Schilling, whereas Arizona was just stalling, hoping that the delays would do the work for them?

So what do you think? Are there certain things you shouldn't do when the opposing pitcher is going for a no-hitter (or a perfect game for that matter)? Is it anything goes? Does it depend on the score, like bunting is OK when it's a close game, but if you're losing 9-0 then you shouldn't?

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