Announcers
Can't they just shut up and let the game itself entertain us? Some comments are fine, but they feel they have to explain everything. Maybe the pitcher just wanted to catch his breath. Maybe he had to sneeze. Don't make up reasons. Sunday, on the Yankee game, even David Cone admitted that they received a tweet saying basically, shut Cone up. Wish I'd said that. In his defense, he does express his opinion on some plays and strategies. Yesterday, in the 9th inning, he vehemently disagreed with walking a hitter intentionally to pitch to the next batter. He was correct - the next hitter blasted a brand slam to win the game.
Baseball's unwritten rules
Sunday, an Oriole hitter bunted for a hit against an extreme Minnesota shift in the ninth with the score 7-0. The Twins were upset, saying it wasn't the way the game should be played. Why not? You gave him the opportunity, why are you upset that he took advantage of it? Don't like all these shifts? Keep doing this and it will stop.
Baseball's written rules
I will never understand why a team will "let" a runner steal a base late in a game because his run means nothing and the runner gets no credit because of "defensive indifference." You LET him get a stolen base, so suffer with the stat.
Speaking of bad stats, earlier this year a saw a pitch go thru a catcher's legs to the backstop that was called a wild pitch, not a passed ball. Why? Because the pitch hit the ground before it got to the plate. It shouldn't matter. This was a major league catcher. It was his job to block that errant pitch. I understand if the ball takes a crazy, unexpected hop and the catcher can't get in front of it, but this ball went thru his legs while he was kneeling down. It wasn't the pitcher's fault, it was yours.
More on announcers
Why are the Yankees making such a big deal about radio announcer John Sterling's home run call. He's run out of good calls. The last one heard that was any good was, "An A-Bomb from A-Rod."
That was okay, His latest was his description of a Giancarlo Stanton homer which was in Italian, no less. I'm Italian and I don't get the reference.
I just wish they would all speak English and not try to describe things in obscure terms. Basketball announcers are the worst. Players don't jump anymore. They go vertical. They don't dribble and shoot, they score off the bounce. They love that bounce thing. They repeat it over and over to show you how hip they are.
"In the seventh inning of the Yankees’ opener in Toronto, Brett Gardner homered over the 375-feet sign. Soon, despite that 375-feet sign in full view in two replays, YES’ David Cone parroted a graphic reporting that the home run was “projected” to have been hit 372 feet." -- Phil Mushnick
The YES network has a new thing: The Nine-Person Booth. All nine of the Yankee broadcast team supposedly in the booth at the same time along with all the variations on how it would work. It's pretty cute, but I suspect I will be sick of it before long. Like, yesterday. They can't stop showing it. Lighten up guys before it becomes monotonous and no longer interesting.
Outside of one good game for Stanton, the Yankee powerhouse hitters have done nothing and the "best bullpen in baseball" has blown two straight games. Here's a baseball axiom that's still true: No matter what the stats say about who's the best, you still have to play the game.
If the list of Yankees on the DL continues to grow, the Nine-Person booth could become the Nine-Person on the field.
Just when you thought things couldn't get sillier
We've all know about the One 'N Done college basketball recruits, but Syracuse Univ. #1 recruit just decide to forgo his one year and signed to play in the NBA's Development League, becoming the first ever None and Done.
I have to stop blogging now and go back to bed so I can stay up to watch NCAA's premier college basketball game - the Final Four Tournament Championship game, which will air at 9:20 tonight. Which means you better be awake at midnight if you want to see the end of the game. And you thought college was the seat of higher learning. Apparently the NCAA never graduated...or attended.
***THEY SAID IT***
"Looks like God may have decided to abandon Sister Jean in favor of Notre Dame women’s team." -- Janice Hough
"Danica Patrick said she's going to the Indy 500 to win it. It could happen. Now excuse me while I go onto Twitter to ask Gal Godat to marry me," -- RJ Currie
"He's the oldest tennis player to be ranked No. 1. Somebody might have mentioned that to me already, but I had a hard time hearing.” -- Roger Federer
"The
Cavaliers suspended guard J.R. Smith for one game because he
reportedly threw a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon
Jones. Guess
you could say he made himself bowl-ineligible." -- Dwight Perry
"Major
League Baseball wants to speed up their games to attract
“millennials” who find the games too long and boring. How
about eliminating: The Anthem; God Bless America; Take Me
Out to the Ball Game and Sweet Caroline. That’ll save 25
minutes." -- TC Chong
"The final spring training game between the Angels and Dodgers ended in the fifth inning because of a foul-smelling sewage leak onto the field. Some punchlines just write themselves." -- Janice Hough
"If we find out that Sister Jean accepted money from a booster to steer her away from rooting for DePaul I’ll become even more jaded." -- Brad Dickson
"Michael Strahan is to red-carpet interviews what Ryan Seacrest is to rushing the quarterback.” -- Jerry Perisho
"Five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has signed with the Los Angeles Rams. He spent the last three seasons in Miami — his old stomping grounds." -- RJ Currie
"There's a lot of hubbub over Dwight Howard producing the first 30-point, 30-rebound game in 36 years. By the way, Wilt Chamberlain accomplished the feat a mere 124 times." -- Bob Molinaro
"The Arizona D’Backs are trying to speed up games by employing a golf cart to deliver pitchers from the bullpen to the mound. I remember when the Red Sox used that same M.O. and when the vehicle was not used, they sent it down Yawkey Way to pick up fried chicken and beer." -- TC Chong
"Incidentally, Michael Kay finally may have succumbed to the ESPN virus. After Gardner’s opening day homer, he said, “It’s his first of the year.” -- Phil Mushnick
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