chw42

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Oct 27, 2013 -> 01:16 AM) Huh I'm in no way saying it was the wrong call according to the rule book. That isn't my problem with what happened. My problem is with the rule itself, which is what I said to begin with. All I'm saying is that the umpires should be able to take intent into account. If the defender was purposefully trying to interfere with the base runner, then it definitely should be obstruction. In the example you gave, if Middlebrooks was clearly not making an attempt to get off of the baserunner, then it definitely should be obstruction. In the case of the call today, I feel the call should not have been based on the fact that Middlebrooks was lying in the base path, but whether or not he purposefully attempted to trip Craig on his way home.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Oct 27, 2013 -> 12:12 AM) This makes no sense. So just because you make a play on the ball, but don't actually get it, you should gain the advantage instead of the baserunner that should be able to advance? You're in an advantage/disadvantage situation there. You can't reward a defense for not making a play when the offense has every right to make one of their own. Let's make this play a little bit more drawn out. Middlebrooks jumps up for the ball, misses it, lands on Craig and is lying on top of him. It takes him 5 seconds to get untangled and is thrown out at home. Just because he's "making a play," which wasn't made, oh well, that's the breaks, you can't score? That defies all logic. Anyway, the rule is what it is. You can like it or not like it, but by the the rule book and case book, it was the right call without question. First of all, intent is 100% irrelevant (which, btw, it seems Middlebrooks did try to trip him and maybe thought he'd get away with it). There's no "well where should he have gone/what should he have done?" It doesn't matter, the fact is that he's lying in the base path and obstructed the path of the runner. There's a ton of things in baseball (and other sports for that matter) where intent is irrelevant. If you want an answer to "what should he have done" my answer to you would be he should have caught the ball and it wouldn't have been an issue. Or make a better throw from behind the plate. If you "don't want a game decided by a call" then don't have umpires or rules. The players decided the game based on their actions. Umpires respond based on the actions of players. If you think this is controversial, you have no idea how controversial it would have been if they didn't make the obstruction call there. Making a non-call is the same as making a call there. What, it's the world series, they can only make ball/strike and easy safe/out calls now? Action happened, you rule one way or another. As if they'll just walk up to the press conference and say "well, it was obstruction, but we don't want a game decided like that, so we just let it go." They would have decided that game that way as well. He was clearly in the basepath, it's not like Craig ran way out of his way or tried to do anything to just draw a call. Here's something else. Do you know that if Craig had to simply jump over him, that would have been obstruction as well? You don't even need contact for obstruction. That's obstruction 100 times out of 100. It's really not even a question. Why have it be so absolute? Baseball is so full of judgment calls that something like this should apply as well. As for the bolded part: that is the exact type of play I was talking about. That happened against the Sox on a SB attempt. I think O-Cab (when he was with the Twins), purposefully laid on top of the base runner at 2nd to stop him from advancing to third on a bad throw to CF. That wasn't called obstruction somehow and something like that obviously should be.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Oct 26, 2013 -> 11:36 PM) Was Middlebrooks in the basepath?? I think his feet were in front of third base, which is how Craig tripped.

The obstruction call in baseball is fairly stupid. If the fielder gets into a bad position from trying to catch a throw (like in the case of Middlebrooks) and he just happens to be in the basepath, it's obstruction. I know it's hard to judge intent, but I really feel obstruction should be a judgment call based on the fielder's intent. I remember a play at second where on an errant throw into CF, the SS would stay on top of the diving runner to prevent him from going to third base. How the hell is that not obstruction?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Oct 26, 2013 -> 11:15 PM) Yes, he is the one that let the first runner on. Ferrell clearly lost this game for Boston. He didn't pinch hit for him in the 9th when he had Napoli on the bench and then kept him in for the 9th. And not walking Jay. I think Farrell didn't have a lot of relievers left in the bullpen, so he wanted to stick with Workman as long as possible.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Oct 26, 2013 -> 11:08 PM) why didn't they walk the bases loaded? I wondered that as well. Who would you rather face...a decent hitter in Jay or a guy who hits like a pitcher in Kozma with a force at every base? I think the answer is pretty damn simple there. Pedroia more or less bailed out Farrell, but Salty's throw screwed everything up. FWIW, I thought it was obstruction the moment the play happened and I thought they'd actually call it at third base. The fact the home plate umpire had to call it later was so anti-climactic.

I don't know if Middlebrooks did that on purpose, but there's been far worse attempts of obstruction that haven't been called.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 25, 2013 -> 08:54 AM) The Soxtalk Cy Young has already been awarded, my friend. Only 2Ks? That's nothing compared to the 12 Ks Chillihead got!

QUOTE (SoxnGiants @ Oct 25, 2013 -> 10:03 AM) Deal Good to see somebody on this coaching staff embracing walks.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 25, 2013 -> 09:48 AM) I like it and like the mentality that he brings. Swing aggressively at pitches in the zone, and don't swing at pitches out of the zone. You can't ask a guy to do any more than that. He's also from the Oakland system, so that can't be a bad thing.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 03:44 PM) DAT SWAGITUDE He gives the best hand-jobs?

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 04:51 PM) I didn't say it was a bad thing. I thought he drove so fast and hard before refs just didn't know. Wade gets a lot of BS calls but he also has a move that makes it look like he gets contact. Rose didn't have that. Now they seem to be on top of the fact that he is getting crushed but he just ignores it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing either.

Actual gameplay footage of NBA 2K14 on PS4: http://www.operationsports.com/news/673760...t-gen-gameplay/

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 24, 2013 -> 11:27 AM) The reason we should be excited is it seems the NBA has no deemed Drose as a "Superstar we must protect". He's going to get the calls that other stars have been getting this year. He'll have way more free throws. Because they don't want him to get hurt for an extended period of time again. Missing a top 3 PG in the league for a year and a half can't be a good thing for the league.

When it comes to routers...DD-WRT all the way.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 08:44 PM) because PRESEASON bro. But still...Kansas.

Why are they playing this game in Kansas?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 02:29 PM) Greg, there's not a whole lot available that is worth that kind of money. And then you say "spend all this money" while then saying "well we get to boo them too." It's not like Dunn or Pujols aren't trying, but getting injured and older is apart of the game, and they will begin to struggle. I will always remember that you called for them to sign these "bums." You don't get it wite. If we don't overpay free agents who will underperform, who will Greg b**** about?

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 12:47 AM) His K/9 has been really good. His BB/9 has been between bad and awful. His K/BB has been very average, his WHIP has been average to bad, his HR/9 has been okay, and his H/9 have been okay. His strikeout totals have honestly been the only number close to being worthy of $17.5M a year, but everything else screams an $8-$10M a year pitcher. I think 2 yrs/$24M would have been my limit on him. His FIP and xFIP the last two years have been pretty good. That's usually what I mean when I say peripherals.

Lincecum's peripherals have been good the past two years, but $17.5 million a year is a really steep price to pay for this version of Lincecum.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 04:47 PM) I'm far from a football scout, but he reminds me a lot of Grossman at Florida. Well, Rex Grossman sure didn't run as much as Manziel.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) I checked it out this weekend and it's really not as big as the reviews make it seem. I was still able to operate it one handed (operated in the sense that I could swipe horizontally with my thumb from one side to the next, definitely not vertically though I can't really do that with my phone now). It's also fit into my pocket with ease. I think I even talked my wife into getting one too (she wanted the Droid Maxx) $299 with a new contract is the sticking point, on top of the bulls*** $30 "upgrade fee" that Verizon charges per phone. $800 for two new toys is a nice chunk of change, but maybe worth the price given that we both use our phones most of the day. The Note 3 is around $700 off-contract, it could have been a lot worse.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 03:51 PM) It's like hating the Braves and Rays, for example. Hard to hate teams that draft and develop young players so well. Admire, is more like it. Is there an "overhype" factor now where they're getting too much love and affection and attention, probably. Almost everything has gone right for them (except for Furcal being injured). Pujuls not coming back. Hiring a manager with no experience. Breakout performances in different seasons/post-seasons from Freese, Carpenter, Jay, Craig, Adams. Yadier Molina morphing into the best catcher in baseball. Beltran, the best post-season player in baseball history. Holliday providing solid veteran leadership. Probably the only hole in the line-up being SS, and still getting good defensive play there. Then Kelly, Wacha, Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn, Carlos Martinez, Jaime Garcia, Rosenthal, Gast, Siegrist, Motte, Lyons, etc. It's am embarrassment of riches, almost. Nah. People hate the Cardinals because their fans think they're the best in the world. Who the hell gave them the right to make themselves the best fans in the world? I actually like the Cardinals, but I don't find it odd that other people would dislike them. The Rays have no fans, they're just a well-run organization. The Braves also don't have entitled fans like that, although their team this year is worth hating alone just for their stupid baseball-police crap.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 09:50 AM) This. And he's cheap. With the Big 3, Chalmers is a very efficient shooter (mid to high .500 TS%) worthy of a starter's role if there aren't better options. Put him on another team and he'd be a fringe backup PG.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 22, 2013 -> 07:12 AM) I wonder why Heat fans are so high on Mario Chalmers? I mean, nobody has ever looked at the Heat's lineup and been like "oh s***, what are we going to do about Mario Chalmers?" Dude is nothing more than a speed bump for Rose. Come back when you are Westbrook or CP3 (Westbrook's the only PG he hasn't decisively dominated, it's a draw when they play) Chalmers can hit wide open 3s, which is what the Heat need.