Just the Giants being the Giants and A.J. being A.J.(ackwagon)

This is the worst acting job EVER. But the ump FELL for it. EPIC FLOP!!

You have to give it to A.J. - he is a top of the line ass-clown. He goes for the ball, then he remembers the rule, so OOPS, down goes A.J. Given that this is in slow motion, there is still a considerable delayed reaction. Hopefully, he'll take his con job back to booth real soon. Some have said that Matt Adams looks like the consummate beer-league softball player, and he looked like it on some of those throws, but A.J. IS that guy on the other team that just annoys the living S&*T out of you.

“If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less.”- Ozzie Guillen

from the New York Post:

Giants keep conjuring up October magic | New York Post:

The Giants continue to win without home runs — they have two this postseason — but they do get contributions from so many different players and Wednesday night was no different. They put the pressure on the Cardinals and the Cardinals wilted, this time first baseman Matt Adams made two shaky throws in the Giants’ three-run sixth inning. Third base coach Tim Flannery said the Giants lead baseball in RTIs, “Runs Thrown In,’’ and this night was no different, one game after Cardinals reliever Randy Choate threw away the game on a bunt. Though these gritty Giants don’t win pretty, give them credit for fighting back.

'via Blog this'



It would be funny if both of the long shots entering the post-season end up in the World Series. Because the Royals played giddy up to get there, they wait and line up their starting rotation. The Giants, if tonight ends it, place Bumgarner at the end of the World Series rotation. That's the bad news, the good news is you're in the World Series, a trade-off I think the Giants will make. It would almost be better if the Royals have to sit and wait a week, but only the Cardinals want that option to play out at this point. For the Giants to get their druthers means a Game 7 in St. Louis.



Our ace on the hill, at home with the chance to advance to the World Series - If you had told me two months ago this would be where the Giants would be sitting, I would have said you were crazy. But here we are.



GO GIANTS - GO "BIG GAME" MADISON BUMGARNER!!!

Giants select Ryder Jones with 2nd round pick....and the Rays order Nutty Buddy's

A bit of a recovery from the 1st round pick. Baseball America had Jones ranked #193 so at the #64 spot another reach pick on that basis. Their thumbnail says "Stanford recruit could be a two-way player thanks to solid power at the plate, low 90's velocity."

This is a little worrisome in that kids that commit to Stanford have a tendency to go to Stanford at a higher rate than some other schools. Georgia Tech seemed to keep a good number of theirs as well.

from sfgiants.com:
http://view.ed4.net/v/5BE8IX/IQFUSJ/3H8RB5/H3SSV4/MAILACTION=1&FORMAT=H?partnerId=ed-7155439-55411678

GIANTS PICK CHRISTIAN ARROYO NO. 25, RYDER JONES NO. 64 IN FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT

On the first night of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, the Giants selected shortstop Christian Arroyo of Hernando High School (FL) with their first selection, the 25th overall pick of the Draft, and infielder Ryder Jones of Watuga High School (NC) with their second selection, the 64th overall pick.

Jones Scouting Report

 School: Watauga High School

Birthdate: 06/07/1994  | Pos.: INF
Height: 6'3"  |  Weight: 185 lbs.

At the plate, Jones has good power. On the mound, Jones' fastball has been clocked in the low-90s and he also throws a solid breaking ball.

'via Blog this'

Painful to watch the 2nd round as the guys I had tracked on my wish list were falling in fairly good order with BA's list to other teams.

Trey Ball LHP/OF ranked #9 by BA goes #7 to the Red Sox
Ryne Stanek RHP ranked #11 goes #29 to the Rays (a nice pick to add tot heir pitching riches)
Hunter Renfroe ranked #13 goes #13 to the Padres (leading a parade of Hunter's in this years draft)
D.J. Peterson ranked # 15 goes #12 to the Mariners
Eric Jagielo ranked #17 goes #26 to the Yankees
Jonathan Crawford ranked #19 goes #20 to the Tigers

So we had a shot at Stanek and Jagielo and passed. The trend developing is that Baseball America and Keith Law have the early picks pretty well nailed down such that you could have almost used their draft board as  your own and saved money on scouting.

Like Marge Schott used to say, all those scouts do is watch baseball games. Well, she said a lot of screwy things, but BA does seem to have a good feel for the draft once again. And the good organizations make good early round picks.

In the first round, the A's picked prep OF Billy McKinney from Plano West HS (TX). I heard his name as a possible Giants sleeper pick late and BA raves "McKinney's excellent swing mechanics and bat speed pushed him into first-round consideration." He was ranked #27 and was picked #24 by the A's.

The Rays addressed C position in the first-round with Nick Ciuffo from Lexington HS (SC) the #20 ranked prospect in the #21 slot. The capsule on him from BA was "High energy LH hitting catchers who can hit get compared to A.J. Pierzynski; it's a compliment."

In a related development, the entire Rays athletic training staff went out and got fitted for Nutty Buddy's.

Nutty Buddy on Sport Science

If you don't know, you just don't know. Classic!!!

Getting back to Arroyo, Baseball America had him ranked as the 3rd best SS in the Tampa Bay area behind Oscar Mercado of Gaither HS and Tucker Neuhaus of Wharton HS. It would be interesting to hear the consensus of local players and coaches, but for now the Giants see something that others have not, similar to Carter Jurica. Let's hope that hindsight shows the blog consensus is off base and the Giants scouting staff is correct.

The second round saw our favorite #32 ranked prospect LHP Matt Krook go to the Marlins at the #35 pick, #46 prospect LHP Tom WIndle go to the Dodgers at #56 and #52 ranked Michael Lorenzen go to the Reds at #38 as a pitcher. The Cardinals also scooped up #38 ranked SS Oscar Mercado at the #57 pick. The good organizations make good value picks.

This leaves #36 ranked Bobby Wahl still available for the second day along with #40 ranked OF Cord Sandberg from the watch list. Both would be good values for the Giants next pick at the #101 spot. As would RHP Alex Balog from San Francisco. He is listed at 6-6, 220 and fits the mold of guys the Giants look to develop. The thumbnail on him says "Physical frame and the potential for three plus pitches. Finished the season strong."

UPDATE:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2013/drafttracker.jsp?partnerId=ed-7159218-562231943#ft=round&fv=2b

Balog (Rockies) and the previously mentioned Tucker Neuhaus (Brewers) were selected in Competitive Balance Round B.

I did not see that on the ESPN draft tracker last night prior to shutting things down.

More on Arroyo from mlb.com

5'11" 185lbs DOB: 05/30/95 | Scouting videoArroyo was Team USA’s starting shortstop on the 18-and-under team last summer in the World Championships in South Korea. He hit .341 in the tournament and helped the national team to a gold medal. Arroyo is a steady presence on the field. He doesn’t stand out for his tools as much as his good baseball instincts and his ability to seemingly rise to the occasion. He makes all the routine plays and has solid range. Arroyo likely won’t ever have much power, but makes good contact and covers the plate well. He is committed to Florida.

More on Ryder Jones from mlb.com

6'03" 185lbs DOB: 06/07/94 | Scouting videoBecause Jones' father, Billy, is Appalachian State's baseball coach, he has spent a lot of time around the diamond. His upbringing shows and he has a good feel for the game. While Jones is a two-way prospect, his future is probably as an everyday player. He plays shortstop now, but his range and 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame are better suited for third base. At the plate, Jones has good power. On the mound, Jones' fastball has been clocked in the low-90s and he also throws a solid breaking ball. If he becomes a pitcher, scouts see him as a reliever. Jones is committed to Stanford.

MLB & UMPIRE ADMIT TO BLOWING A.J. CALL VS. RAYS

Well, now it's unanimous, with the possible exception of Hawk Harrelson, Ozzie Guillen and old A.J. himself. Look, there's a difference between what your supposed to do in a rundown, and yes of course coaches teach their players to do what A.J. did, and the caveat at the end of that dialogue is to "do it and try to get the call". Which means that you're telling your player, look you're in a bad spot, you're going to get tagged out anyway, try to see if you can deke the ump into a bad call. Which is what happened.

If a similar call went against the PaleHos, the aforementioned Guillen and crybaby extraordinaire Harrelson would go off in a tirade that would make the post-game fireworks seem like child's play.

As I said, HS umpires don't fall for this one. I'm glad MLB admitted it's mistake.

By the way, the reason you don't fall for that call is that it openly encourages other base runners in similar dilemmas to initiate contact in the base paths and that's an invitation for trouble.


ORIGINAL POST: OLD A.J IS AT IT AGAIN:
http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2008/08/old-aj-is-at-it-again.html
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FROM THE ST. PETE TIMES

ST. PETERSBURG — Upon further review, umpire Doug Eddings was wrong about the controversial obstruction call involving Willy Aybar in Sunday's game at Chicago.

Mike Port, MLB's vice president of umpiring, told the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday that it was "a missed call" and that in making the split-second decision, Eddings thought he saw runner A.J. Pierzynski "impeded more than he was" by Aybar, the Rays' third baseman.

"Looking back at that occurrence, for the first and last time, it was a missed call," Port said. "And it was not because Doug Eddings, an umpire with 10 years' experience and 10 before that in the minor leagues, didn't know the application of the rule, but just that in the moment in applying the rule, he saw something he thought was more than it turned out to be."

Pierzynski, in a rundown between second and third in the 10th inning, stuck out his left elbow at Aybar. Eddings ruled there was obstruction and awarded third base to Pierzyn- ski, who later scored the winning run for the White Sox.

Port said that after watching replays, Eddings was "the first to admit" he was wrong and said so to MLB officials who regularly review controversial plays. There is no recourse, however, for the Rays.
--------------------------------
WHERE'S A MICHAEL BARRETT WHEN YOU NEED HIM:

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif

OLD A.J. IS AT IT AGAIN

White Sox catcher is at it again, fooling umpires, always in the middle of controversy. Note also that Doug Eddings was the home-plate umpire during the infamous A.J. caught/not caught third strike incident years ago. I guess he's never heard of the phrase 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.'


I'm not going to go all crybaby-Hawk Harrelson and say that this call cost the Rays the game, because if Rays catcher Shawn Riggins catches that throw from the outfield in the bottom of the ninth they have the White Sox base runner out at home by about a week and the game is over.

But to look at the replay of this, from this angle you can see both umpires should have a decent view of Pierzinski chicken winging his elbow to try to initiate contact, fall down after failing to make the contact he initiated and the one or both umpires absolutely blew the call. High School umpires don't fall for his one.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3551805&categoryId=2378529


UMPS EXPLANATION FROM ST. PETE TIMES:


Umps' defense

Third-base umpire Ted Barrett's explanation of Doug Eddings' call:

"As a runner, you're allowed to (make contact). What Doug ruled at second base was, even though A.J. (Pierzynski) did kind of stick his arm out to make contact, (Willy) Aybar was still in his way, so A.J., if he would have turned, he wouldn't have been able to continue on to third. So after making the throw, Aybar is no longer in the act of fielding and he can't obstruct the runner, which is what Doug ruled happened. And in a rundown, even though A.J. was going back to second, the rule of obstruction during a rundown is he gets his next advanced base and that's why he was rewarded third base.''
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FROM THE LLWS: CONGRATS TO HAWAII - WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Here is the audio of an interview with the SW Regional champion Louisiana coach Charlie Phillips. Phillips defends taking his stud pitcher out to lead off the sixth inning of the US Championship Game vs. Hawaii while his team trying to hold on to a 5-1 lead and said stud pitcher had three pitches left in his pitch count.

I know hindsight is 20-20, but while watching the game I said to myself, "He may wish he had those three pitches back later in the inning". The kid could have started the inning off for you with an out, because he gets to finish off the batter he is pitching to even if he exceeds the pitch count. But at least you start the inning off with an out. Starting off the inning with an out greatly diminishes the Hawaii teams chances of having a big inning. If you have one out, any base runner that gets on first, gives you an opportunity to end the game on one pitch with an inning ending DP.

The kid was dominating at the time, it's the last batter he is going to throw in anger for quite a while, because if you get to the World Championship, he is ineligible to pitch. Why take him out? Removing a stud gives the other team a HUGE shot of adrenaline. Whoever you use to replace him doesn't look nearly as imposing so the batters are given hope that they can get on base. I know everyone is hyped up about the new pitch count rules and they have these poor coaches all miked up and the dugouts are bugged, but I guarantee you if the mikes and the cameras aren't there, most coaches tell the kid, "You're my guy, unless your arm falls off". In this case however, the coach is still within the guidelines, his CYA is intact, I just don't see the logic, unless the kid came up to him in the dugout and said "Coach, my arm hurts" which it doesn't sound like he did. Plus, as an added bonus, when you take him out after pitching to his one batter in the sixth inning, regardless of what happens, you get to take him out on the field and let him take his bows and allow the fans to shower him with an ovation on national TV. You can't beat that feeling for a kid.

It was a bad move that may have cost his team a chance to play for and win the World Championship. But that's why coaches get the big bucks, right ;)? Anyway, he took his team further than I ever took one of mine, so what do I know?

LOUISIANA COACHES POST-GAME INTERVIEW from www.littleleague.org

http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/interviews/game30/southwest.mp3

An Umpires Biggest Nightmare

helped the White Sox last night. The home plate umpire made a call that had a direct impact on the outcome of the game. The fact that it was a horrible call in more ways than one compounds the nightmare because it hurts the entire profession of umpires.

But then again, the unprecedented post-game press conference of the Blue Wall didn't help either. These guys seemed like a bunch of sanctimonious, braying jack-asses. "We have technology that you mere mortals can't even conceive of. We saw the ball bounce into his glove without kicking up a visible trail of dirt. So there, take our call and like it." Thanks guys for bringing a hint of professionalism to the profession.

I think we would have more readily accepted, "Look folks, it's a bang-bang call that I have to rely on my sense of hearing to make properly, since I certainly can't see the ball what with a 200 pound catcher screening the view you have on TV. And with 40,000 some odd people screaming I had to rely on two players sending body language clues, who for all I know may both be actively attempting to deceive me into making a bad call. And both of whom, I might like to remind you, squat directly in front of me and protect me from errant fastballs. Talk about a dilemma. Then when I ask my other five crew mates for help, all I get is the universal signal for "Don't ask me pal, I didn't see anything". How would you like o make a call under those job conditions? I'd have given anything to have been able to call do-over or flip a coin or whatever." That would have been more believable that the pablum these clowns were dishing out and expecting us to swallow.

It just reminds you of the phrase, "Better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt."

Anyway, I digress, Pierzysnki swung and missed at strike three and the umpire signals strike three and, for good measure, signals the batter out. At this point, any subsequent action should be moot. But no, Josh Paul, the Angels catcher, instinctively rolls the ball out to the mound, "knowing" that he caught the ball. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose, as events turned out, by doing this. But those darn instincts and reflexes are hard to suppress on the one in a million chance the unforeseen happens.

Now Pierzinski, with nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking off and running, does so. I can't fault A.J. for doing this on the one in a million chance the ump screws up, bails him out of a bad at bat and for whatever reason, rewards him for taking a shot at fooling the umpire.

After the game, the umpire says the mechanics he used in this situation were the same he had used all game, but those situations as ESPN showed, did not include a dropped third strike or a subsequent reversal of the "batter out" signal. We would have to see his prior "mechanics" on a dropped third strike to know if he was consistent in this regard.

Plus, he says "My interpretation of my mechanics were....blah,blah,blah". Who Talks Like That!!!! That's his mouthpiece pulling the strings while the dummy talks.

Also, the ump stated that he was watching Josh Paul for a clue as to what had happened on the call, since he could not see the ball hit the ground, likely couldn't hear it (both indications or clues that a dropped third strike didn't occur). That's fine, but the clue that Paul provided clearly by his body language and actions was, "I caught the ball, inning over". Like I said, he has not much to gain by doing this in error when all he has to do is tag AJ.

AJ's first move, or body language clue, was to head for the dugout, in itself a move that would indicate he knew he was out. But, on second thought, and maybe after seeing Paul roll the ball out, AJ decides to take his (long) shot, recalling a similar play that went against him when he was with the Giants.

He cashed in for his team by extending the inning for Joe Crede to finish by knocking in the game winner shortly thereafter. Mike Scioscia, correctly and with great class, summarized the game afterwards by saying the call did not cost his team the game. The Angels did not play well enough throughout the game to win, Scioscia said.

Yeah, Mike, but that call didn't help matters. And so the umpires greatest nightmare may now cause some sleepless nights in La-La land. But, somewhere Don Denkinger is sleeping with a smile on his face.