While I have a soft spot for one of the Cardinals starters, having grown up with his family, I still can't overlook the general hate I have towards the birds. Bad memories as an Astros fan growing up, and then being in St. Louis for part of the 2011 series against Texas did not help form my opinion.
I should also mention I am a HUGE Will Middlebrooks fan. So I'm trying my best to put my logical cap on and leave my emotional bias out of it, but hey, that's why I'm a personal blogger and not a writer for a newspaper.
So I did what I always do when I'm trying to make sure I'm forming rational opinions, (no woman jokes here please...), and bounced it off one of my closest male friends. Through him I have decided I am in fact not crazy.
See the problem with rules, is that you generally don't realize that they're flawed until the flaw shines through in a very large (and usually ugly) way.
See: 2008 Big XII results. Nobody realized how flawed the tiebreakers were, until someone felt like they weren't fair. (Insert famous Mack Brown, "how do I tell my boys that a team they beat is going to the national championship and they're not?" ...Yeah.. well you go and what does Leach tell his boys? Exactly.)
See: 2011 National Championship. My pokes are praying the BCS comes through, and that everyone remembers had the SEC threw a fit when 2 Big 10 schools were poised to meet in the Natty. What happened? After enough public bitching (sorry. that's what it was) Florida gets in. And they win. That's all we wanted. How does a team that didn't even win it's conference get to play in a National Championship? I still would've liked to see Weeden2Blackmon up against the LSU secondary... excuse me, while I pout.
I could literally list 1000 other examples, but for the sake of not making this a novel, we'll draw the line at those 2.
Which brings me to tonight. World Series, Game 3.
If you did not see the debacle that ended the game...OH MAN. You missed it. Let's just say that as a Red Sox fan, I was certainly cussing. A lot.
An abridged version of what happened: (St Louis Players names are highlighted in red, and Boston's are in blue for the non baseball roster saavy readers ;] )
Jon Jay hits the ball to Pedroia at 2nd
Pedroia throws home to Salty
Salty tags Molina out (2nd out of the inning), sees Craig approaching 3rd, throws the ball down to 3rd.
It's a bad throw, Middlebrooks lays out for it, Craig is sliding into 3rd.
Middlebrooks is trying to stand up, Craig is stumbling off of 3rd, Falls on Middlebooks
(ON NOT OVER.) Meanwhile the closest ump misses initial contact due to looking for ball.
Craig makes it over Middlebrooks, Nava fields the overthrown ball, makes the throw back to Salty.
Salty tags Craig out...Craig never actually touches home plate.
Inning is over right? Wrong. Obstruction is called on Middlebrooks, Craig is awarded home, it's a walk off, Cards win.
Here's the video because the word version doesn't really do it justice.
And Also pictures that help establish exactly where Will (Middlebrooks) was in the diamond, and showing Craig does not trip over, but on him. Also that at the point of contact, the ump is not looking.
1. Will (Middlebrooks) is clearly in a position of trying to get up.
2. The BASE LINE HOME is clearly wide open and unobstructed.
3. From both the video and these pictures, my friend and I have concluded that Craig probably would have fallen on his way to home even without a Sox player to trip over because he was very unbalanced coming off the bag.
Seems absurd right? I can never, ever think of a time in my softball career that I came off of third base and came INSIDE the bag to go home. Did I almost mow my mother over in the coach's box a few times from rounding so wide? Sure. These legs were entirely too long to do otherwise.
Have I slid into 3rd only to realize my coach is screaming at me to run home? Yesssss. Did I run down the base line to get there? YUP.
The worst part of this? After reviewing the rule...the umpires made a call that was correct.
You see, a base runner can establish any base path they want as long as a tag is not in play.
So, if Craig wanted to go High five Uehara on the mound before running home...he could. And if Will was in his way at any point during that and he ran into him, it doesn't matter that Salty is waiting to tag him. He's already been awarded home since 3rd is the last base he legally touched.
The only way this doesn't get called, is if Will is trying to make a play on the ball. Does it matter that 2 seconds before he was trying to make a play on the ball, and was in the process of moving before the runner took an unnatural path to home plate? Nope. Not according to the rule.
And therein lies my problem. Craig has a clear path home plate, and because he takes an unnatural one, he's awarded the bag. It doesn't matter that Will could do NOTHING to get out of the way faster. It does not matter that upon review, it's clear that Craig did not have stable footing any way and probably would've fallen and that Middlebrooks did not in fact cause his intial stumble. It does not even matter that the closest actual umpire is not looking at the moment of contact. He still made the call, and the MLB is standing behind it.
And that infuriates me. It may not exactly encourage what I would call "cheap contact" on a base runners part, but it certainly does not discourage it. Maybe if the rule is different then, Craig takes the clear path home and we find out if he truly beats the ball home. (Not tripping..he very well could've. However I've already made it clear that I think he stumbles either way.)
Two last quick notes:
1. Craig slides into 3rd feet first. No reason he steps back inside the bag to go home, even looking over his shoulder. If anything, his feet should have clearly been to the outside of the bag.
2. My wonderful aunt pointed out a safety concern. (S/O Aunt Liz all the way in ALASKA!) I would normally agree with this. I have many dear friends who have made sports their career and their safety is my number one concern. However, in this situation, Craig is not in harms way if he takes the natural path home. Since he steps inside, and Middlebrooks is on the ground, it is now WILL's safety who is in danger. A cleat to the back, arm, or hand and he's not doing so hot. It was a perspective I hadn't looked at and deserves some pondering. Thoughts?
I believe that this rule will be reviewed, especially in light of this game, and changed. I still don't believe it should've been called in the game tonight because I feel like it's rewarding Craig for doing something that, intentional or not, isn't right.
I know my opinion will be a popular one among Sox fans, and unpopular among Cardinals fans and that's okay. It's an opinion and I'm allowed to have one...That's the beauty of being an American right? However I do have a bone to pick with Cardinals fans. In light of the Boston Marathon tragedy the city of Boston adopted the #BostonStrong motto. The people of Boston bound together and because the city is extremely serious about their sports, the Red Sox brought a lot of joy to the city. To MOCK this motto by tweeting #BostonWeak after the game tonight was infuriating. Have some class and some respect for those who lost loved ones or had their lives dramatically altered by the events on that Sunday. It was for all intents and purposes a domestic terrorist attack and is to be respected as a national tragedy. Thanks.
Now, I fully expect this series to be decided in Boston and I think we will see a very motivated Red Sox team take the field tomorrow...And I don't expect them to lose the World Series on their home field...so GO SOX GO.
And in the famous words of Big Papi (accent accounted for), "This is our focking ceety." #BostonStrong
The next "Flawed Rule" I'll take a look at: targeting in college football.
xoxo
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