ONE THAT GOT AWAY

***YOU CAN'T BE GIVING BACK WINS***
I've never been a fan of pitcher-hitter matchups. Tony LaRusso does this a lot, in fact, he's the first one I ever remember doing it. I think that when you change pitchers two or more times within an inning, all you do is increase the chance that you'll eventually get to a pitcher that doesn't have it. This is exactly what happened to Girardi yesterday. If a reliever can't pitch effectively to hitters from both sides of the plate, you ought to consider not using him in crucial situations.
I don't even want to get in to the "Joba Chamberlain as a bridge" situation, even though Sunday was a prime example of that need. Joba pitches well as a starter, but he's lights-out in the 'pen.

***KNOWING THE RULES HELPS***
The Dodgers had men on 2nd & 3rd with one out, when the next batter lined one back to the pitcher. He threw to the shortstop to catch the runner off second. Instead of touching the bag, he ran at the runner and tagged him out. Mistake #1. Then the Padres ran off the field. Mistake #2. Why? As Joe Torre pointed out, the runner from third scored BEFORE the runner at 2nd was tagged. When the Padres ran off the field, they forfeited their right to appeal the the runner at third not going back to the bag, therefore: the run counts.

Sometimes, however, the umps only...

***FOLLOW SOME OF THE RULES***
Can someone, anyone, explain this to me: The pitcher goes into his stretch, stops, and then throws to first instead of home, catching the runner who thought he would throw the ball home. PICKOFF, you're out. However, the rules specifically state that the pitcher can do NOTHING to deceive the runner. How can you pick him off unless you fool him into thinking that the pitcher was throwing home? I just don't get it.

***JOE WEST IS STILL NOT MY FAVORITE***
Let's see, The pitcher is in the stretch, just starts to pitch, and West gives the batter time. The rule here is that time should NOT be called when the pitcher is into his motion or in the stretch position. In this case, the pitcher, Josh Beckett, went ahead and threw anyway, just missing Bobby Abreu's head. Abreu spread his arms, Beckett gave him lip, both benches emptied and a bunch of Angels get ejected (...but not Beckett or Abreu). Adds up to one mistake and unfair treatment by Joe "More Pasta, Please" West. Eliminate the mistake and no brawl and no ejections.