75 thoughts on “April 2, 2018: Different Game”

  1. In regards to the bunt in the 9th and how the Twins were upset by it since the O's were down seven, the counter argument is, Why did the Twins have the shift on in the first place, being up by seven in the 9th?

    1. Exactly. I think the Twins come off looking bad in this for whining about the bunt at all. At what point is the opposing team supposed to concede? And if the shift is on, you can certainly argue that the Twins are still playing.

      Besides, you could argue that the bunt worked perfectly, as it ended up being the start of what could have potentially been a big, even game-changing inning. Luckily Berrios put things on <lock emoji>.

      1. Also, as a separate argument, I certainly think the shift is a good, strategic thing,and I'm glad that teams are using it. I would also like to see it punished at every opportunity.

      2. Also, Buxton stole up by six. Also, the Orioles tried to pick him off, down by six. Everyone constantly violating unwritten rules.

        Maybe we should just be happy nobody on the Twins wants to bean anybody for it. Progress.

        1. Maybe we should just be happy nobody on the Twins wants to bean anybody for it. Progress.

          Plus, I do like Dozier's "let the players on the Orioles figure it out" attitude.

      3. Meh, I think the level of their "whining" was pretty attenuated -- it could have been a much bigger deal to them (and Dazzle), and I was surprised it wasn't.

        1. "Whining" is putting it too strongly, but there were some "oh, we weren't happy about that! No sir!" comments made.

    2. Also, the O's could have been bunting earlier in the game to beat the shifts.

      The whole deal is pretty dumb.

      2. This is what I don't get. If bunting against the shift is just a guy trying to win by getting on base (instead of a guy just trying to pad his stats with a cheap hit in mopup time, which is the Old School unwritten rules thinking), then why wasn't it done throughout the game by the Orioles. I saw a story said that Sano played on the other side of second at least a dozen times in the game. The Orioles never once came to the plate as the tying run. Chris Davis is the leadoff batter and has been terrible so far and the Twins shift on him more than anybody and he never once tried to lay one down and get on base for their best player, Manny Machado.

        Also, as far as beating the shift, that bunt would have worked 100 years ago because he's a left-handed catcher and any third baseman would have been playing deep and off the line, so it really didn't matter about the shift. Before shifting, teams would play in at least somewhat to deter a bunt when the game was in doubt for a guy like Sisco but would play back when the score got lopsided, especially late. So defenses would play to get the batter out when swinging away and that's basically what teams are doing when shifting, so I don't see the Twins shifting as a sign that they hadn't gone into blowout mode. Every team has and will continue to shift in a blowout.

        As far as Sisco just trying to win and still playing to win, when he came to the plate in the 9th, the O's had a 0.0% win expectancy. When he reached base, the O's had a 0.1% WE. Even if you believe that the bunt directly led to loading the bases, the O's WE in the 9th peaked at 0.6%. This was not some great rally starter that the got the O's back into the game. Even with the bases loaded, the Twins were 99.4% assured of winning. I think it reflects very poorly on the O's to say a rookie was playing to win still in the 9th down by 7 using a strategy his veteran teammates never once tried earlier in the game when they were trailing by multiple runs but the game was still much more in doubt.

        These are the poor arguments I've seen on this. The best arguments for the bunt is that Berrios was going for the shutout. Are the O's just to concede it to him? When Sisco got on base, he didn't take second, so they obviously were still holding him on first. If you're going for a notable achievement, it shouldn't be handed to you just because of a lopsided score. If it was 1-0, it would be lauded by all and no one would question it. The Twins were looking for the shutout and the O's were doing everything they could to avoid it. I think if the game was 8-1 and Taylor Rogers started the 9th, I doubt much would be said, if anything.

        Another good argument is in a blowout situation, the defense doesn't usually hold the runner on first. When the runner takes second, no one thinks twice about it. It is often said that if the defense is giving you a free base, you should take it. Why is it different when that free base is first base? The only real difference is the official scorer can rule taking a base as defensive indifference. Maybe they should start doing that on bunt hits in blowouts too.

        Actually, it drives me nuts that players don't bunt more against the shift. Look at how important the Rosario bunt was in the first. If he doesn't reach base, the Twins only score 1 run in the first instead of 4.

        My final thought on this is that Bert Blyleven, one of the Oldest School thinking announcers I know of, said he didn't have a problem with it. If he didn't have a problem with it, then neither do I.

    3. It sounds to me that baseball needs teams to just start conceding a loss and not waste our time. If they aren't trying to win, what are they doing?

      1. Agreed. I got over this all 10 minutes after it happened. Much to do about nothing.

      2. To concede, would the batter lays down his broom bat and extends his arm to the catcher to shake hands?
        Think of all the coal-burning plants that could instead be powered by the steam the first time that was attempted in a game that was perfect to that point!
        ESPN could go carbon-neutral!

    4. Dozier gave a further explanation today. The O's did not hold on Ryan LaMarre after his hit late in the game and LaMarre did not steal despite being given a "free" base. The Twins (some of them) felt like the O's didn't show similar respect by bunting. I get that to a certain point, except the Twins weren't playing defense differently because of the game situation. They were playing their standard defense for Sisco. If they had been playing up at third to protect against a bunt when the game was still close and then playing back in the 9th, I could understand why they had a beef, maybe not agree with it, but understand it.

        1. Yeah. I thought his initial comment was fine (kinda dumb but at least the "let the O's deal with it, or not, internally. We won't hit anyone." was progress), but this is much dumber.

          That said, the reaction to the Twins reaction has me a bit confounded. Reading articles about it, you'd think they were frothing at the mouth angry and ready to knock some heads into next Tuesday. I don't expect anyone to take a fastball to the ribs next time they play the Orioles.

  2. Anyone pull any good pranks yesterday? I found Easter to be . . . difficult to combine with April Fool's Day, though I heard about some parents putting vegetables in their kids' Easter eggs. I can scarcely manage to be organized enough for one holiday these days, much less two simultaneously.

      1. yep, owner of the local baseball card shop is an April 1 birthday.

        I heard of a great Easter idea yesterday; with multiple kids in the family, each kid got a different color basket and looked for eggs of that color. It makes sure that the youngest get their share of eggs, and the contents of the eggs can be tailored to the child as well.

    2. We still maintain an air of mystery about Easter Bunnies, Santa Clauses, Tooth Fairies, Sts. Nicholas*.
      I did speculate this year that maybe each county has its own Easter bunny, drafted from the local rabbit population.
      April Fools' and St. Patrick's Day are too much for us to care about, to say nothing of anything that might sit on a shelf.

      *Where I thought my wife was using her family tradition, so I went along with it, but she was going with what she thought was my family tradition, but now it's baked-in.

      1. *Where I thought my wife was using her family tradition, so I went along with it, but she was going with what she thought was my family tradition, but now it's baked-in.

        Ha, that's how Linds and I ended up celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve.

        1. Probably. Half-bakef!
          EAR was concerned that the kids would pick at the fact that both St. Nicholas and Santa Claus are St. Nicholas.
          I guess the main lesson we're teaching the kids is about gift-horses mouths, and the wisdom in the inspection thereof.

    5. My dad told me his priest's homily started with "Merry Christmas!", but apparently that was a weather reference, not an April Fools.

    6. I used to be great at April Fooling. I pranked my dad in 1999 saying I had gotten my girlfriend pregnant. That night there was a party, and I got loopy early and forgot to call him back with “April Fools!!!!”

      I called the next day and promised the next few would be much tamer.

      1. My high-water mark for April Fooling was telling my first boss on campus — after two weeks on the job — that I didn’t think it was working out, so I was giving my two weeks’ notice. (I had been assured she had a good sense of humor, and things were going well.) The only time I ever heard her swear was when I closed our conversation with “Oh, and April Fools, Ruth.”

        1. For me, it was the first day of my job (my previous job). I was the first one in that day, and had manged to switch everyone's chairs, not a big prank, but I wanted to do something. After learning that my boss loved the holiday though, and how she had actually gotten out of court and then gone directly to prank a "rival prankster", I took the opportunity to get her chair on top of our building. The Sheriff's department took a photo of it and e-mailed her. She first blamed her rival. When he continued to deny it, I managed to convince them that they should team up on the Sheriff's department, because clearly they were to blame (given the photo). Many donuts with toothpaste were consumed, and a few deputies were confronted with personal-phobias that day.

      2. That's pretty fantastic. It would also be pretty great to make a real announcement on April 1 & have no one believe you.

      3. My friend told his friends and family that his wife (who was 8 months pregnant) had delivered twin boys - Bo & Luke. He played it so long that I think his in-laws had booked flights to Minnesota to see them.

        He may have taken it too far.

  3. Forecast calls for 7-10 inches of snow by Wednesday morning, certainly put a damper on the Monday morning staff meeting.

      1. We're looking right about in the middle 'round these parts with a mixture and possibly up to 3 inches of accumulation. I'm gonna be pretty upset if its enough that snowblowing would be needed.

        1. It's been snowing pretty heavily here for a number of hours now. I'm not liking my odds of escaping snowblowing here....

    3. I sure hope the roads aren't awful on Wednesday. I'm supposed to be driving down Wednesday morning/early afternoon for the Lucy Dacus/Adult Mom show.

    4. Forecast here is for 3-5 inches tonight and tomorrow. I have a graveside service tomorrow at 1. It should be done snowing by then, but the forecast is for 14 degrees with a wind chill of -2.

  4. One item from the Baltimore series that I liked: in a postgame interview with Gibson, he stated that he'd seen the success that Odorizzi had with the elevated strikes, and threw a few himself. Nice to see the starters working off each other's successes; hopefully this continues.

    1. I seem to remember the end of last year there was talk about he found success the last handful of starts by going less to his 2 seam sinker and more to his 4 seam fastball up in the zone. I also read that lots of hitters have adjusted their swings the past few years to elevate the sinker. As a result, lots of players now have a "hole" in their swing at the top of the zone.

      On another note, if Gibby does not (finally) earn him self a slot in the rotation for the season, he might be a good candidate for the bull pen. I am curious if in a 1 inning outing, if he can crank it up to 95 mph, strike a few more guys out.

      1. Gibson has the fifth spot when Santana returns. Phil Hughes is filling in for now till Santana returns (assuming Hughes is ready when a fifth starter is needed).

          1. Well, he certainly has a shorter leash than the others, but that's what the order is now and Gibson certainly didn't do anything to hurt himself.

    2. Hilariously, Blyleven interviewed Gibson yesterday and praised him for keeping the ball down

      1. my play-index subscription expired...I'll probably renew it some day, but I'm fine for now. I also give $5 to Effectively Wild, but I might be convinced to switch that over. Or do both. I dunno

        1. I gave up on my Play-Index subscription, too. I’d be more likely to keep it if b-ref offered a lower tier for infrequent/non-pro users, but I can’t justify the current rate for the amount of use I give it.

          1. I used it constantly when I was doing the Half-Baked Hall. Now I'd use it like once a month just to look up a cool stat or something.

            Your tier idea sounds good, though don't know if that would be a pain for them.

          1. Writers have to get paid somehow. I'd feel better about ads if it also didn't feel like patronage by two companies.

        2. I finally broke down and subscribed. Most importantly, to make your comment as accurate as possible. And... I felt left out. 🙂

  7. speaking of pranking, my 23-year old kid texted me today with questions about the difference between S-corporations and C-corporations. It seems that he and his "people" are filing incorporation papers in the next few days.
    #thingstheoldmandoesn'thavetoworryaboutforhimself

    1. I hope he has a tax person! But good luck getting any time with him/her the next two weeks.

      1. Yea, he already figured out that problem! Luckily, I think he has 75 days from incorporation to file S-corp vs C-corp with the IRS.
        #hollywoodproblems

        1. I find myself curious about California law, and why the choice wouldn't be more along the lines of C-corp vs. LLC.

          1. Well, LLC or...?
            Either is, I think, amenable for taxes to S-corp or C-corp. But that's just me with 30 seconds if googling.

      1. I'll be lucky if he starts buying ME beer on occasion. His mother has already called dibs on being his date to any and all awards shows (whether he's a nominee or not, which, you know, means not 99.9999 percent of the time).

        1. I thought I determined a few years back that anything like that would belong to the Texas Rangers.
          Or was it the Florida Marlins?

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