When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

04.22.2008
4/21/08: Overpowered

D-Backs 4, Giants 2: It’s as simple as this — Arizona hit the ball out of the park, the Giants did not. Well, Freddie Lewis did, but Aaron Rowand didn’t, and his double couldn’t score Bengie Molina from first. Eugenio Velez didn’t, and his attempt to stretch a double into a triple ended in an out call. Hit the ball over the wall, and you don’t have to worry about baserunning.

Notice I didn’t say Velez’s near-triple ended in an out, because he wasn’t out. It was a crappy call by Balkin’ Bob Davidson, one of the worst activist umpires in baseball. I wouldn’t be surprised if he called Velez out just to teach the rookie a lesson about being more cautious on the basepaths.

The game also exposed another weakness viz-a-viz a division rival: Arizona’s fifth starter is better than the Giants’ fifth starter, and not just at the plate. Micah Owings > Kevin Correia, and it’s no big fault of Correia’s. He threw a game that any team would probably love to have every fifth day from its fifth starter: 6 IP, 3 runs. I’m not a big fan of the “quality start” statistic, but in that ballpark, against that team, from the back end of the rotation, I’d take it every time.

PLODAG: Freddie Lewis, with an infield hit and a laser-beam home run. He took the bait and hit the first sinker from Chad Qualls into a rally-killing double play in the seventh, but I forgive him.

The Upside: Eugenio Velez. Nice glovework to start a key double play, and despite the out call at third, it’s fun to have someone so fast he’s always thinking triple once the ball hits the gaps.



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[April 22, 2008 1:59 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris said

I laughed so hard when Lewis' homer nailed that D-Backs fan in the pool area.

A swimming pool in a baseball park? Pleeeeease.

[April 22, 2008 4:24 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Josh from Hollywood said

Before you get too heated at Davidson, you should probably know that the incorrect out call at 3rd was actually made by home plate ump Alfonso Marquez. Davidson was the 3rd base ump, and I don't know exactly why he rotated out of the play at 3rd since the ball was hit to CF, but it was clearly Marquez, hustling out from behind home plate with his mask in hand, who made the (bad) out call on Velez.

[April 22, 2008 4:39 PM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive replied to Josh from Hollywood

Well, then boo to Davidson for not being where he was suppose to be and make the right call.

[April 22, 2008 4:53 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Josh from Hollywood replied to obsessivegiantscompulsive

Do we actually know that he wasn't where he was supposed to be? Since the ball was hit to the left side of second and deep into the OF, it may have been his responsibility to run out into the OF to make a out/safe call on a catch attempt, or look out for a possible fan interference/ground-rule double call. Certainly, Marquez seemed to think 3rd base was his responsibility, as he was no more than 15 feet from the bag by the time Velez got there.

[April 22, 2008 5:17 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to Josh from Hollywood

I don't know the fine points of umpire rotation. So whoever made the call at 3rd.... boooooooooooooo! Velez clearly had his hand on the bag before the tag.

It brings up a pet peeve of mine. In baseball, the rule of thumb goes, you should never make the first or third outs at third base. Why not the second out? The argument goes, if you stop at second with no outs, you can get to third with one out and score without a hit. If you stop at second with two outs, you're still in scoring position. But even with two outs, being at third has more advantages: 1) you can score on a wild pitch/passed ball. 2) you can score on an infield hit. 3) you can score on an infield error.

If you can outrun an ostrich, it always makes sense to take third if you can. If Velez had properly been called safe, no one would have lectured him on the "rules you should never break." They would instead have congratulated him for heads-up baserunning.

[April 23, 2008 12:39 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Adam Kalsey replied to ELM

In a 4 man rotation with no one on and a ball hit to center field, the second base umpire goes out to the outfield.

The third base umpire rotates to cover a possible play at second.

The home plate ump slides up to third to make the call if the batter gets a triple.

After it's clear the batter has reached second (and therefore won't be returning to first) the first base umpire rotates home, in case the play ends up there.

[April 22, 2008 6:29 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Frank said

This is a tough one. The stats and community logic, vis-a-vis- not making the firsr out of the inning at 3b, are true and correct. But I wonder if there shouldn't be an exception for a guy like Velez. Even on that play last night, where a couple of things went just right for Az (CF able grab ball off high hop before it gets to the wall, relay man makes perfect throw), Velez is still safe. Maybe he should always go. Maybe the rule is more for guys like Winn, Rowand, etc, fast, but not blazingly fast.

[April 22, 2008 8:53 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Zo said

Here is what I really loved about this game: Velez-Burriss-Bowker. Say it over and over.