The verdict has come down from MLB, and Brett Lawrie has been suspended for four games and fined an undisclosed amount of money following last night’s outburst. Unsurprisingly, he will appeal the decision.
The immediate consensus is that the punishment falls short of expectations, especially considering that Yadier Molina was suspended for five games because of this:
As documented by the baseball card above, defensive shifts in baseball can hardly be considered a new thing.
While we’re quick to praise the “masterminds” behind the active defenses of today, putting defenders where baseballs are most likely to be hit isn’t exactly rocket surgery. It’s common sense. In fact, it seems odd that batters from both sides of the plate didn’t have such defensive strategies foisted upon them more frequently than has been the case prior to this season.
But before the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers began implementing more shifts than the manager of a busy 7-11, teams would commonly move their infielders to the right for power hitting lefties, like Barry Bonds, Adam Dunn, Jason Giambi, Travis Hafner, Ryan Howard, David Ortiz and even Mo Vaughan.
In a futile attempt to stem the tide of hatred coursing through this particular branch of the internet, it is important we, the hardcore baseball nerd, remember what makes the game interesting beyond entrenched partisan bickering: great players doing great things.
Mike Trout hit a really sweet home run last night. The kind of home run that makes scouts drool and fanbases dream about a bright, bright future – to say nothing of the present.
Getting Blanked? More like Getting Fired Up! (Or something.) Today we talk about the Brett Lawrie thing and the David Wright thing and the Stephen Strasburg hot balls thing. Then we talk about how RBIs are not really the thing any more.
If you aren’t into video, below is an audio-only version of the show and an MP3 link. You can also subscribe to The Getting Blanked Podcast on iTunes, to have the podcast, live stream MP3s and other life-changing materials delivered straight to your computer each week via the RSS feed here.
As we documented earlier today, Stephen Strasburg’s struggles on the mound yesterday afternoon against the San Diego Padres was at least in part attributed to, as manager Davey Johnson put it, some “Hot Stuff” going to the wrong place.
For the purpose of clarity, we’ll assume that by “Hot Stuff” and “wrong place,” Johnson is referring to an analgesic ointment in the bathing suit area. At least that’s what former Cincinnati Reds reliever and pathetic radio co-host Rob Dibble took it to mean, as evidenced by this distasteful tweet.
Wow, I guess you can’t be human, it was the hot stuff on your groin? Really, next time use a feminine napkin, Beckett gets a new aholein Bos
— Rob Dibble (@robdibble49) May 16, 2012
Dibble, as you may recall, lost his job as a broadcaster for the Washington Nationals after successive on air incidents in which he insulted both female fans and Strasburg. He later claimed that the starting pitcher’s father wrote to the teams owners asking for his head because of his questioning the player’s toughness, but this has largely been denied by everyone but Dibble.
In fact, Stan Kasten, who was the team’s president at the time, called Dibble’s claims fictional and sad. As we see today, the sadness continues.
Shortly after tweeting, it’s assumed that Dibble crouched on the ground, grunted and said, “We make fire here.”
When umpiring goes wrong in baseball, it’s hard to accept. When it goes really wrong, when power is abused, helmets thrown and expensive beer senselessly wasted, the fans demand robots. But robots will not make you feel better.
They might make the right calls. It won’t matter. Not when the right call goes against you.
Two new studies out of The Human Interaction With Nature and Technological Systems (HINTS) Lab in Seattle show that humans view robots as moral entities. The resulting paper is entitled Do People Hold a Humanoid Robot Morally Accountable for the Harm It Causes.
Yes. They do.
As I posted over at DJF last night, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie lost control near the conclusion of yesterday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays after he was rung up on back to back called strikes from home plate umpire Bill Miller.
It was an ugly scene that will almost certainly result in a suspension for Lawrie. Typically, in the game of baseball, spiking one’s helmet in the direction of the umpire is generally not an acceptable practice. Making matters worse is that the spiked helmet flew from the ground and struck the umpire.
We’ll look at the called strikes below, but a bad call from an umpire is not a justification for the type of spoiled child tantrum that Lawrie threw last night. Bringing up the inaccuracies of the umpire’s strike zone in defense of Lawrie is as misguided as the errant helmet that he threw at the ground in front of Miller.
Nonetheless, let’s take a look at what led to the outburst.
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