I see that umpires have various combinations of letters on their uniforms' left arm. What do those mean?
MLB Pseudo-Season 2020: Roger, Dodgers
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Do you have a link to it? I did not catch it, pardon the obviously bad pun.
I had not noticed that, but is this what you mentioned.
https://news.sportslogos.net/2019/10/21/umpires-to-wear-coop-patch-in-2019-world-series/
^ Yep, that's the one.
Interesting link. Looks like it's a tribute to former umpires, who have since passed.
For example EC = Eric Cooper.
Interesting link. Looks like it's a tribute to former umpires, who have since passed.
For example EC = Eric Cooper.
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I've seen 3 sets of initials on some.
JM is probably John McSherry.
Don't know who CM is, although it might be Christy Mathewson (who was indeed an umpire for a time).
Although there have been other umpires with those initials, it could easily have been them as well.
Don't know who CM is, although it might be Christy Mathewson (who was indeed an umpire for a time).
Although there have been other umpires with those initials, it could easily have been them as well.
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I remember McSherry. Was watching the game when he dropped dead of a heart attack.
If only the umps would put as much effort into getting strike calls correct.....
That lumbering oaf in the Cubs/Brewers game had his own personalized extra-tall strike zone.
That lumbering oaf in the Cubs/Brewers game had his own personalized extra-tall strike zone.
The Dave Kingman zone?
No idea, but this ump is 6' 7" and even crouched down his zone was still 6"-8" too high all day.
Haven't seen him yet. Crouched and 6' 7"? yikes, they should dig him a fox-hole when he is behind the dish.
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More likely it's Chuck Meriwether, who died last October, as opposed to Mathewson, who died 95 years ago, and exactly nobody remembers he was occasionally an umpire.
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More likely it's Chuck Meriwether, who died last October, as opposed to Mathewson, who died 95 years ago, and exactly nobody remembers he was occasionally an umpire.
Yeah, that does seem more likely.
Not me, I could never be as elegant as Doc'. But I have talked and argued w/ him. The below is his.
As I type this early Sunday afternoon, we don’t know when the Reds will play again. It won’t be Monday. The club had hoped to make up its two canceled games with the Pirates in a Monday twinbill, but Baseball has said no. We won’t know if other players have tested positive for at least another day.
We assume that by now, the Reds, Pirates and everyone closely associated with them has been tested since the positive test was revealed Friday night. What we don’t know are the results. (A source said Sunday that results could be available by Sunday evening.) Teams are tested on site, four times a week. But the lab work is processed in only two places, Salt Lake City and at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The bigger problem is, we don’t know when an outbreak ends or where it begins next. If two teams can miss at least two games because just one player tested positive for COVID-19, what does that say about the viability of this whole miniature season?
The Reds already lost Nick Senzel and Mike Moustakas each for three games, just because that pair was conscientious enough to report they weren’t feeling well. Joey Votto was held out for two games under similar circumstances. None tested positive. Now, the club risks possibly having to give up two games against the Pirates – the worst team in baseball – when it had Trevor Bauer and Luis Castillo lined up to pitch.
Meanwhile, St. Louis didn’t play its sixth game of the season until Saturday. The commissioner has said playoff teams will be determined by winning percentages, not by games played. Meaning the Cardinals could have a nice 25- or 30-game stretch in a COVID-shortened season of, say, 50 games, and be rewarded with a playoff spot.
We can applaud MLB for its caution. And as I’ve written before, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the season has started. For a sport that’s not operating in a bubble, baseball has done very well.
Maybe very well isn’t good enough.
Was perfection, or something close to it, required for the game to be seen as meaningful competition this summer?
Given the schedule disruptions and the number of high-impact players who’ve already missed time because of the virus, when do we stop seeing the ’20 season as a measure of competitive excellence and regard it instead as purely entertainment?
The 60-game squeeze mandated that teams stay within their divisions and geographic areas. That already gave an edge to any team with Pittsburgh in its division and Detroit and Kansas City on its map.
Baseball should not be a game of attrition. Its winners shouldn’t be determined by who’s better at staying in their hotel rooms or avoiding walk-off celebrations. And the Cardinals definitely should not be rewarded for being the coronavirus poster team.
MLB’s 2020 goal all along has been to make a playoff season possible, because that’s when most of its money is made. But if the public sees the postseason as illegitimate, what does that do to the game’s integrity or worse, its TV ratings?
I’ve argued for years that Baseball should market itself as a pleasant diversion, no different than dinner or a movie. Not as a passion, mainly because the era of big baseball passion in America is over. The Reds have understood that for years and sold their product accordingly.
Make us a part of your Friday night. Come for Happy Hour, stay for the game. We’ll show you a good time, maybe give you a bobblehead.
That theory will be tested this year. It’s being tested already. So ask yourself: Do you go to GABP for the competition? How much does it matter who wins? Or do you go for the entertainment?
Strange question to ask sports fans, yes. These are strange times.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...nati-reds-and-positive-covid-test/5595826002/
As I type this early Sunday afternoon, we don’t know when the Reds will play again. It won’t be Monday. The club had hoped to make up its two canceled games with the Pirates in a Monday twinbill, but Baseball has said no. We won’t know if other players have tested positive for at least another day.
We assume that by now, the Reds, Pirates and everyone closely associated with them has been tested since the positive test was revealed Friday night. What we don’t know are the results. (A source said Sunday that results could be available by Sunday evening.) Teams are tested on site, four times a week. But the lab work is processed in only two places, Salt Lake City and at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The bigger problem is, we don’t know when an outbreak ends or where it begins next. If two teams can miss at least two games because just one player tested positive for COVID-19, what does that say about the viability of this whole miniature season?
The Reds already lost Nick Senzel and Mike Moustakas each for three games, just because that pair was conscientious enough to report they weren’t feeling well. Joey Votto was held out for two games under similar circumstances. None tested positive. Now, the club risks possibly having to give up two games against the Pirates – the worst team in baseball – when it had Trevor Bauer and Luis Castillo lined up to pitch.
Meanwhile, St. Louis didn’t play its sixth game of the season until Saturday. The commissioner has said playoff teams will be determined by winning percentages, not by games played. Meaning the Cardinals could have a nice 25- or 30-game stretch in a COVID-shortened season of, say, 50 games, and be rewarded with a playoff spot.
We can applaud MLB for its caution. And as I’ve written before, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the season has started. For a sport that’s not operating in a bubble, baseball has done very well.
Maybe very well isn’t good enough.
Was perfection, or something close to it, required for the game to be seen as meaningful competition this summer?
Given the schedule disruptions and the number of high-impact players who’ve already missed time because of the virus, when do we stop seeing the ’20 season as a measure of competitive excellence and regard it instead as purely entertainment?
The 60-game squeeze mandated that teams stay within their divisions and geographic areas. That already gave an edge to any team with Pittsburgh in its division and Detroit and Kansas City on its map.
Baseball should not be a game of attrition. Its winners shouldn’t be determined by who’s better at staying in their hotel rooms or avoiding walk-off celebrations. And the Cardinals definitely should not be rewarded for being the coronavirus poster team.
MLB’s 2020 goal all along has been to make a playoff season possible, because that’s when most of its money is made. But if the public sees the postseason as illegitimate, what does that do to the game’s integrity or worse, its TV ratings?
I’ve argued for years that Baseball should market itself as a pleasant diversion, no different than dinner or a movie. Not as a passion, mainly because the era of big baseball passion in America is over. The Reds have understood that for years and sold their product accordingly.
Make us a part of your Friday night. Come for Happy Hour, stay for the game. We’ll show you a good time, maybe give you a bobblehead.
That theory will be tested this year. It’s being tested already. So ask yourself: Do you go to GABP for the competition? How much does it matter who wins? Or do you go for the entertainment?
Strange question to ask sports fans, yes. These are strange times.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...nati-reds-and-positive-covid-test/5595826002/
No team that misses a large number of games (assuming they aren't made up) because of it's own fucking stupidity should be "rewarded" with a playoff spot based on winning %. More of that "protect the cheaters" mentality.
I realize there was no precedent for any of this, but a competent commissioner would have made better decisions than the guy baseball has there now.
I realize there was no precedent for any of this, but a competent commissioner would have made better decisions than the guy baseball has there now.
I literally do not understand this thing with Tatis.
Really. I just don't get it. Why should one not swing at a 3-0 count? What's so damn special about a count like that?
Really. I just don't get it. Why should one not swing at a 3-0 count? What's so damn special about a count like that?
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