This is not how I wanted to spend my Friday evening. A few points:
1. So Taguchi - This is something I never thought I would see out of one of the most fundamentally sound outfielders in the game. An extremely shallow fly ball by Matt Stairs with runners on 1st and 3rd was caught by Taguchi, but he didn’t get behind it and get his momentum going forward like he should have. I’m guessing he was assuming that the runner on third wouldn’t tag since the fly ball was so shallow, but he did, Taguchi made a 15 hop throw to the plate, and the Royals took the lead.
2. Jim Edmonds - looks absolutely terrible at the plate, thank god Burgos threw a pitch in his soup can hot zone in the 10th for his lone hit of the game. He better figure out something quickly, or his stay in the two hole will be really short lived.
3. Angel Hernandez - I am not one to gripe about umpiring, bad calls, etc., but I can’t let this one go. Loogy Johnson threw a pitch that split the heart of the plate with two strikes which would’ve made the 9th inning a lot less interesting, but Hernandez called it a ball. Molina had already started his wind up to throw it around the horn. Hernandez then proceeds to brush off the plate, facing Molina, scolding him the whole time, like it was Yadi’s fault he missed a blatantly obvious strike call. Tssk Tssk Angel, don’t do that again.
4. Ninth Inning - Yes, the bases were loaded with one out in the ninth, no we didn’t score, yes, both of our pinch hitters struck out, but I have to tip my hat to both of them. Burgos throws all sorts of gas with a decent enough off speed pitch, and both hitters, Spezio and Miles, took their at bats 7+ pitches.
My pro of the night goes to Jeff Suppan because of his know-what-you’re-getting demeanor, and once again, he left the game with a lead. He gave his team a great chance to win, and against the Royals, that should be all we need to put a W in the books. My con once again goes to Jim Edmonds, and probably will continue to do so until he figures it out at the plate.
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July 9th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Any criticism for Angel Hernandez is deserved. He starts more arguments with players than he makes accurate calls.
I don’t want it to sound as if I’m suggesting that umpiring is easy, because it’s obvious just from watching on television at home that making proper calls all the time is difficult. Add to that a few difficult players and it becomes a job that not everyone would want.
In Hernandez’s case, however, it’s a different situation. His reputation has become one known for making a name for himself on national television more than anything else. If I can remember correctly, it was around 1998 or 1999 when he made an atrocious call that prevented a game from going into extra innings. When asked about it he said that he made the call so that he wouldn’t miss his flight.
Sarcasm? Probably, but it’s not sarcasm that works well for umpires—especially when it’s Hernandez saying it.