Oops!

There are no words.  As you all know, I am a Oakland A’s fan, and if you watched any sports channel tonight, you say it.  It was horrible.  It should not have happened, and something needs to be done about it.

In case you missed it, there was a home run, that wasn’t a home run, but was a home run.  In the top of the 9th inning in Cleveland, the Athletics were down 3-4 with two outs, when Adam Rosales hit a game tying solo home run.  But he didn’t.  Not according to the umpires at least.  Upon further review, it was still a home run, but still not according to the umpires.  The four members of the umpiring crew in Cleveland, who I should mention have been horrible all series long, took horrible to the next level.  After signalling that Rosales’s home run was a double, A’s manager, Bob Melvin came out to ask the umpires to review it as it appeared to be a home run.  While the umpires were reviewing the play, we at home were reviewing it to.  I don’t know what the umpires were looking at, but they said there wasn’t enough evidence to call it a home run.  Are you (beep)ing kidding me?!  Every shot I saw showed it was a home run.  Fans at the game knew it was a home run, the Indians announcers said it was a home run.  Everybody said it was a home run, except the umpires, the only people whose opinion on the matter counts.

I am not a big fan of instant replay, but the umpiring this season is making me rethink this. They seem to be trying to put themselves out of jobs.  However, this home run non-call is huge.  You have instant replay to get these calls right.  There is no excuse for them to have said it was a double after review.  Why even have replay if you are going to review it and still get the call wrong?  And not just wrong, but no doubt in anybody’s mind, wrong.  That makes Major League Baseball look bad, and they should be embarrassed.  I have a lot of respect for umpires, they get screamed at, they are out there for every pitch and every play all game long.  Today, I lost that respect for four men.  It’s a shame.

Take a look yourself, but I do find it entertaining that fans from all over baseball are saying it was a home run and they umpires got it wrong.  Adam Rosales’s “Home Run”

Heritage vs True Love

Today I spent my afternoon at the ballpark, so it was a good day.  The Oakland A’s, with a split squad, played Italia (Italy) as part of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) exhibition games.  Being an Italian girl and an A’s fan, I was pretty excited for the game.

When looking at the schedule for the A’s last week while planning this quick trip to Phoenix, I knew I had to go to the this game.  It’s not too often you can see your favorite team and a WBC team play, so I would be stupid not to jump at the chance.  I brought my funny Italian shirt (Everybody loves an Italian Girl) with me, but opted to wear my funny A’s shirt (Chicks dig diamonds), which everybody always loves.

Like I said, the A’s were playing a split squad, which means half the team is playing one game at home and the other half is playing on the road.  Being cursed with bad luck, I figured that I would end up with all the players I wanted to see playing in Surprise against the Royals today, while I was in Phoenix.  Much to my surprise, the team in Phoenix had almost all the guys I wanted to see.  I brought my A’s playoffs 2012 hat and a sharpie with the hopes of getting some of the guys to sign it.  Tried to get Josh Reddick, but the sneaky little devil ducked into the dugout early, but I’m still happy.

2012 Playoff hat signed by: Coco Crisp, Bob Melvin, Brandon Moss and Yoenis Cespedes

Like most of the WBC teams, there is Major League players on the teams representing their home countries, or heritage, but Italy didn’t have too many names we’d know here in the states.  Some names you might recognize: Nick Punto (Dodgers), Chris Denorfia (Padres), Anthony Rizzo (Cubs), Alex Liddi (Mariners), Mike Costanzo (Nationals), and Drew Butera (Twins).  A lady sitting near by said it best, the last names for team Italia sounds like a romantic poem.  Italian names always sound better than what they actually are- my last name, Susini, translates to from the plum-tree, plum or prune.

The A’s got on the board early and played well all day.  The scored twice in the first inning and added two more in the third.  Italy got on the board in the fourth with a booming home run by the first baseman, Anthony Rizzo.  The 9th inning, oh man, was hard to watch as the A’s pitcher, Arnold Leon, struggled to find the strike zone.  After giving up two runs, the final out was recorded with a play at the plate, in which Leon tagged the runner out.  While I love a play at the plate, one involving the pitcher, not so much.

Either way, it was a great game, with the A’s smacking 12 hits and now I’m actually excited for the WBC.  Go USA!

A’s vs. Italia

Team Italy warming up

Josh Reddick and his beard

Eric Sogard batting. The Italia coach that is sitting just to the right is Mike Piazza

Jed Lowrie and Adam Rosales

Team Italy watching the exciting 9th inning

A’s celebrating the win

Brandon Moss after signing my hat

Coco Crisp after signing my hat

Bert Campaneris threw out the First Pitch

Anthony Rizzo coming into home after his home run

I have a minor picture problem in that I took close to 170 pictures at this one game.

Double Play

There are few things in baseball that I love more than the double play (a triple play is one of those few things).  There’s so much excitement involved, and so much frustration too.  When the pitcher gets into trouble, you can always count on the possibility of the double play to get your team back into the dugout, but if it’s not executed right, things can go from bad to worse in mere seconds.  Chicks may dig the long ball, but I dig the double play.

Last night, the A’s turned my favorite double play of all time.  While the usual 4-5-3/6-5-3 combos are always exciting, I love when there’s a 8-5-3 double play.  Outfielders normally don’t get to be involved in the plays in the infield, such as double plays and run downs, so when they do get involved, it’s usually pretty great.  Coco Crisp made a perfectly timed leap to catch Ryan Doumit’s fly ball.  Justin Morneau, who thought Crisp would play it off the wall, had rounded second on his way to third when Crisp caught the ball, and the relay throw from Adam Rosales to Chris Carter at first made Morneau the second out in the inning for an incredible double play.  Check out the link for the video below.

I remember in Game 7 of the NLCS St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Mets.  Endy Chavez made “the catch” and holy crap.  I still can’t believe he caught that almost 6 years later.  Scott Rolen hit a rocket to left field for what seemed to be a 2-run shot.  However, in that moment, history was made.  Chavez looked like he had jumped on a trampoline as he went up.  He was about chest high over the top of the wall to make the most jaw dropping catch.  Albert Pujols, who had been at first base, was out by a landslide as he was almost to third thinking it was a home run.  That will forever be one of the greatest outfield assisted double plays turned that I’ve seen.

Nothing better than saying that triple plays are awesome, and having one happen in the game hours later!

Coco Crisp Starts Double Play