Regarding the blown call by the umpires on the rundown... seriously, WTF?

I mean, baseball is full of blown calls, but for BOTH umpires to miss it, and then have them assert after the game it was because of some kind of rule change (today's Chron said: "The Giants argued but were told that a new rule allows a runner to establish his own base line, and the fielders must give way.")... leaves me damn near speechless.

But hey, that's not why they lost the game.

I thought the kid showed flashes of what he is capable of, but was overamped and also suffered by some questionable pitch calls by Molina (where was this changeup I've been reading so much about?).

You can tell he's gonna be good, though. Holy smokes does he have some nasty stuff.

I saw a few changeups. they dipped low and away and didn't fool anyone. So far the "nasty stuff" just means a high riding fastball. If he doesn't start showing the killer curve in the next couple starts, I'll have to question whether he's ready.

How many more starts is he guaranteed? When does Ortiz come off the DL?

Since what I know about pitching you could place on the head of a pin, wondering if anyone could shed any light on whether or not overthrowing might cause a good curveball or change up to be rendered ineffective?

Might that have been Lincecum's problem last night?

That's not a new rule. It's only been there since around the 1850s. The 1857 Knickerbocker rules stated "should any player run three feet out of this line for the purpose of avoiding the ball in the hands of an
adversary, he shall be declared out."

The intent of the rule was to prevent a runner from running all around the field to avoid being tagged. The creators of baseball wanted them to remain between the bases, but recognized that there were situations where a runner would have to run elsewhere. For instance, to avoid a fielder who's fielding a batted ball. In fact in 1877, the rules were changed to require a runner to run behind a fielder if they were fielding a batted ball. This lasted until 1950, when the rules allowed a player to run wherever they needed to to avoid interfering with the fielder.

The mythical "baseline" and it's "three feet" that you hear about comes from the 1857 rule. The rules evolved to their modern form that says "Any runner is out when He runs more than three feet away from a direct line between bases
to avoid being tagged, unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball." Notice that it specifies "to avoid being tagged" as the criteria for the three foot line.

The only thing new about this rule is a re-wording that codifies the way the rule has always been called. As of 2007, the rule includes the text "A runner’s baseline is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base he is attempting to reach safely."

Combined with the rules for obstruction, which states that a runner if impeded while a play is being made on him will be awarded at least one base, this was absolutely the correct call be the umpires. Many coaches, especially at the high school level, teach their players that when caught in a rundown to find the nearest fielder without a ball and run into him. It's always called obstruction and will place the runner at the next base (regardless of the direction he was going when contact occured).

I'm not worried about Timmy. He came into the game with all of those expectations, national TV, into a series where Philly has a great lineup, and they were swinging their bats well.

1. The kid had 96-98 mph on the fastball in the first. He will learn how to start the games around 94, and amp it up by the third inning.

2. With only one pitch he was still able to strike guys out. After he threw the curve for a home run he abandoned it. And the homer was an anomaly due to WARM air pushing the ball OUT to the Cove. Bring that curve back into the picture and he will be nasty.

I think it is good to shake his confidence and get him to go back to work to improve. I like this kid and I think he will be great.

here's what Shane Victorino said regarding the obstruction call yesterday:

"Running into him was my only escape," Victorino said. "Once I saw him release the ball I said I'm going right for him to try to get an interference call. Fortunately enough, I got it."
That was a terrible call that both umps screwed up.

That call may have been correct by the rules, but it was still a blown call because it is a stupid rule. That's something you see in little league play, not something I want to see in MLB baseball. Else, why bother to get anyone in a rundown?

Krukow noted in his KNBR morning show (link on Murph and Mac page before Weds) that by being overamped, he couldn't throw his breaking pitches effectively and had to go with the fastball only. Says that he should be fine once he adjusts to being a major leaguer.

According to the Seth Speaks blog, out of 100 pitches, Lincecum threw 12 curves and 2 changeups.

I'm not a pitching coach, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night... but I'm pretty sure that overthrowing (due to adrenaline) can flatten out a curveball. Between that and Lincecum getting squeezed in the strike zone by the home plate umpire (somewhat to be expected), it looks like Bengie/Tim/Rags decided to abandon the curveball.

I haven't kept up with the humidor situation in Denver, but I wouldn't expect the curveball to work very well there either in Tim's next start. So we may not get a real evaluation of Tim's skill until his third start at Houston. Wow, another hitter's park. Tim can't catch a break.

..sorry about that. Dang PC.