Missed Call At The Plate Ends 16th Inning Affair With A's Loss
by baseballgirl on Aug 31, 2011 9:23 PM PDT
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This is the kind of game where if the A's were in a pennant race, I'd be absolutely sick about the ending. I would be raging about the call. There is no doubt about it; Kurt Suzuki caught the throw from David DeJesus, tagged the runner out, and somehow the Indians were awarded the game. Maybe the home-plate umpire was tired of watching 16th innings. But if AN could hang in there game thread after game thread through this game, then I think we deserved better. The umpire even pointed at Suzuki, as if to check to see if he had the ball (he did), and then awarded the safe call. It was wrong, and frustrating, and a horrible way to end what was a more exciting game than usual, but as they say, oh well.
How did the A's get to the 16th inning, you might ask? The Indians grabbed the 1-0 lead in the first inning. The A's tied the game in the top of the second on a bases loaded walk by Sizemore. Jack Hannahan (A's nemesis) drove in his first run with a homerun to untie the game in the Indians' half of the second, and Brandon Allen tied the game with a single in the third. Kurt Suzuki untied the game with a solo homerun in the fourth, and the seesaw came to an abrupt halt.
The Indians would tie the game on another homerun by Hannahan in the sixth, and it would stay tied until the sixteenth. Sure, things happened. Harden left the game after the sixth, having allowed all three runs. He was followed by a parade: Breslow, Balfour, De Los Santos, Blevins, Wagner, and Bailey. Lots of outs were recorded. Balls were caught. People left the bases loaded (mostly A's), no one could hit with runners in scoring position (both teams). Leadoff doubles were turned away. Enter Josh Outman (sans stirrups). He got out of one inning, but couldn't get out of his second. Single, single, single, bad call, and game over.
Add your own favorite highlight below. I'm exhausted. :-)
Oh, and the A's postgame show tells me that Conor Jackson was traded to the Red Sox.
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So is Conor Jackson the new ball boy for the Red Sox?
by AuthenticA'sfan on Aug 31, 2011 9:26 PM PDT reply actions
He looks okay
Drafted out of high school, struggled a lot at first, but has improved his walk to strikeout ratio in recent years. Rice doesn’t seem like anything special, but he might be a decent middle reliever. And if he isn’t, the A’s didn’t give up much to get him.
MICHAEL TAYLOR MICHAEL TAYLOR MICHAEL TAYLOR
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
DURRRR THEY’RE TOO OLD, BABIP IS TOO HIGH, TOO MANY Ks, DURRRRRR
Well that ending sucked.
"I thought it was going in," Warriors center Chris Hunter said. "It looked like the invisible man tipped it away at the last second."
"He's chicken curry right now. He'll become beef curry a little later on."
-Keith Smart
Just make it another umpire in the booth that can review it right away. Then it wouldnt waste that much time.
Unlike the stupid way its set up now. Where all the umps leave the field.
by Athletix Man on Aug 31, 2011 10:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Someone help a guy out
Brandon McCarthy
Can any of the pitch f/x wizards out there give me the breakdown of balls called strikes, and strikes called balls for ’11 if available?
On Twitter, of course.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
I really like McCarthy.
Adopted father of Chris Lincecum, without whom (quite literally) Timmy would not exist.
Here Brandon, hope this helps
A Kouzmanoff for the rest of us!
by OptimistPrime on Sep 1, 2011 1:13 AM PDT up reply actions
I replied to him.
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
DURRRR THEY’RE TOO OLD, BABIP IS TOO HIGH, TOO MANY Ks, DURRRRRR
Here's what I found.
Balls called Strikes:
Strikes called Balls:
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
DURRRR THEY’RE TOO OLD, BABIP IS TOO HIGH, TOO MANY Ks, DURRRRRR
How come some of the balls called strikes are actually in the zone?
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
Is it one of those
“If a strike is a ball but no one is there to see it…” issues? Maybe those are pitches thrown in front of small crowds.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
differences in zone size depending on players?
That could explain the strikes called balls graph.
"Once you go Bed....everything else is dead." - Bed
"So you're saying we should skin the Rangers and wear them as uniforms? I’m down." - Kyli
by cuppingmaster on Sep 1, 2011 8:14 AM PDT up reply actions
I would assume the charts were normalized for batter's height
and the first one has most of the dubious ones in the middle height wise
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
I have no idea, that's simply the data dump.
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
DURRRR THEY’RE TOO OLD, BABIP IS TOO HIGH, TOO MANY Ks, DURRRRRR
Yeah, I found those too
Looks odd to me, especially the second one.
Hopefully this works for him, though. I was thinking there might be a way to get a number total but I’m not sure.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
My question....
People complain about balls/strikes calls. I wonder whether the problem is that umpires are calling more pitches than they ever have before, particularly pitches that are in the gray zone between strikes and balls, because of the emphasis in recent years on on base percentage …. in other words, is being an umpire a lot harder in 2011 than it was in 1999?
Maybe it IS time for a machine to do the calling.
Aren't the R'cats in the playoffs?
based on that, not too many.
Re-sign Josh Willingham now!
by sf drift king on Aug 31, 2011 9:37 PM PDT up reply actions
After tonight, though, I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one reliever up here tomorrow.
Don't you realise you'll find next monday or next Tuesday/Your golden shoes day
by PDXAthleticsfan on Aug 31, 2011 9:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Probably
Slight chance that Carter comes up tomorrow with CoJax gone, but I’m guessing they will bring up a reliever to have a fresh arm to take his roster spot, maybe two.
Don't you realise you'll find next monday or next Tuesday/Your golden shoes day
by PDXAthleticsfan on Aug 31, 2011 9:45 PM PDT up reply actions
Actually, Rice probably gets sent straight here.
And maybe Magnusson gets sent back up.
Don't you realise you'll find next monday or next Tuesday/Your golden shoes day
by PDXAthleticsfan on Aug 31, 2011 9:47 PM PDT up reply actions
Rice may as well hurry on over
Our bullpen is pretty much shot now.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
And some of it should be, I might add.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Do you have to be on the 40 man roster after Sept 1?
Hey dad, I got this guy's autograph, Rollie
Fingers. Who's he?
No, but i have to be at a meeting by 9:30am tomorrow.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I have physical geography at 11:10 tomorrow morning.
"You're all like big, fat failure turtles." - Edge
by Rated-R Superstar on Aug 31, 2011 10:17 PM PDT up reply actions
No sympathy. I start work at 7:30. I only wake up at 9:30.
Hey dad, I got this guy's autograph, Rollie
Fingers. Who's he?
I loved physical geography!
Surface process are fun! (Why yes, I am a geologist by training. . .)
wooooo me three
"Their batters are patient to the point that it's annoying." -Ryan Franklin
by Helloooo 1st on Sep 1, 2011 12:39 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
The bullpen did a great job today for once.
The offense needs to be shot. Twice.
by player20 on Aug 31, 2011 10:20 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I want to get this right:
The first one or the second one?
-Cindi
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Thanks!!!!!
-Cindi
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Oh, yeah. Ah, well - somebody should be called up.
Don't you realise you'll find next monday or next Tuesday/Your golden shoes day
by PDXAthleticsfan on Sep 1, 2011 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm glad Townsend is venting for me. I feel better now.
It’s just a damn shame we got Pittsburghed™.
by player20 on Aug 31, 2011 9:48 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Wow!
I just got back from dinner, turned on the tv to see us get screwed on the tag. For a change, Suzuki holds onto the ball and makes a bang, bang play at the plate and the ump screws us. Fuck the purists, I want instant replay!!
Re-sign Josh Willingham now!
I would not be opposed to that.
This AL Central Bias crap has got to stop!
by player20 on Aug 31, 2011 9:41 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
We could have knocked in a few runs earlier
Sweeney isn’t getting it done.
I was saying that for years. People like him. He has no power and his avg isn't high enough. I know he's a fourth OF, but we can do better.
by player20 on Aug 31, 2011 9:57 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
His only hope is to become a Paul Oneil type
and start driving the ball, but he never hits for power. He’s a decent fielder but there’s not a lot they can do with him.
As long as the player finds alternative ways to drive in runs, I could care less about power.
It’s what I meant to say. These types of losses are getting old.
by player20 on Aug 31, 2011 10:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I don't think Sweeney's especially bad at driving in runs in situations like that
I do think (and he has said it point blank) that it’s awfully hard to do anything well when your playing time is so sporadic.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Unfortunately, he comes up in RBI situations way too often.
by player20 on Aug 31, 2011 10:09 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
That's a bad thing?
Maybe we should get on base less before he bats!
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I believe him
Sweeney is a decent hitter (albeit with no power) when he plays regularly. But when he looks bad, as he did tonight, he looks like he’s going up there expecting to strike out and look bad doing it.
Unfortunately for Sweeney, he has “fourth outfielder” written all over him if he’s going to have any kind of major league career, so he’s going to have to figure out how to deal with sporadic playing time.
by bear88 on Aug 31, 2011 10:16 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
he has always hit the ball on the ground too much
he hits into way too many dps
The only exception I can see to "4th OFer"
is that he may be good enough to start most every day in CF, with a RH platoon complement. As a COFer he just doesn’t slug enough, so to me his only avenue to regular playing time would be in CF.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Agree with Nico
Sweeney’s average tends to go up when he plays regularly and drops when he doesn’t. He also was hitting the ball harder (the home run and other hits) before he was inexplicably benched, pretty permanently, for DeJesus a couple of weeks ago.
I would give Sweeney a pass on this one.
The missed call was irritating
but the missed opportunities are what cost Oakland the game.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
This is not the right way to think about it.
The game happened the way it did. The game ended on an outside influence.
“The dog ate the pie. Well, we should have made more pie.”
“No! The dog shouldn’t have eaten the pie!”
Yes, but had the A's done their job
the ump would not have had a chance to fail at his.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Silly ump bet you will never make this call against Yankees and Red Sox
that’s 5hrs of my life I can’t get it back lol
Hopelessness is better than false hope
I don't know why we waited until fucking September to deal Cojack
"BA doesn't stand for Batting Average. It’s Brandon Allen, as in the percentage of a hitter’s worth compared to Brandon Allen. Ted Williams, at his best, was only 4/10th of the hitter Brandon Allen is today." - YonYonson
by hero66 on Aug 31, 2011 10:00 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Yes, March would have been nice.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
The whole front office seemed to like him too much
I could live with that when the A’s still were theoretically in contention and he was actually one of the team’s better hitters, but then he just kept playing. It was a relief when he got hurt.
And you never know. Maybe the Red Sox farmhand will turn out to be decent.
Nobody was willing to trade a crappy middle relief prospect for a platoon bat?
Somehow I doubt that.
"BA doesn't stand for Batting Average. It’s Brandon Allen, as in the percentage of a hitter’s worth compared to Brandon Allen. Ted Williams, at his best, was only 4/10th of the hitter Brandon Allen is today." - YonYonson
Especially when Jackson was actually hitting for like two weeks after the break
He’s sucked since and we still got something for him.
"BA doesn't stand for Batting Average. It’s Brandon Allen, as in the percentage of a hitter’s worth compared to Brandon Allen. Ted Williams, at his best, was only 4/10th of the hitter Brandon Allen is today." - YonYonson
So you think it was a coincidence that the Red Sox would want Jackson about an hour before the post-season eligible
deadline passes and the rosters expand? I think this trade was an insurance policy for a playoff bound team with an iffy outfield, one that has JD Drew on the DL and Darnell McDonald batting south of .200 and Carl Crawford not hitting much better than CoJax himself, and I think the Red Sox timed it exactly how they wanted it.
The A's gave Jackson a chance
he just couldn’t give us enough power.
Captain! We need more power
Or more of 
this.
Hey dad, I got this guy's autograph, Rollie
Fingers. Who's he?
UNDRESSING IN THE DARK OF NIGHT NOW
A Kouzmanoff for the rest of us!
by OptimistPrime on Sep 1, 2011 1:15 AM PDT up reply actions
It does seem to be a bad call
although it is one of those situations that is not as easy to call as it seems later on the replay. You have to look at two spots simultaneously (plate and the glove),and unlike at first base you do not have the benefit of the sound of the ball popping in the glove to help you with timing.
When reviewing, we freeze the frame at exactly the split second the glove lightly touches the body. But in real life, you can’t do that, your visual trigger is glove showing some sort of bend due to the contact and that happened practically at the same time the hand swiped the plate.
I’m not saying the call was right, but that it was close enough not to be considered egregious (I actually just wanted to use this word once in my life).
Also, this did not happen:
The umpire even pointed at Suzuki, as if to check to see if he had the ball (he did), and then awarded the safe call.
He called him safe immediately, then pointed to Suzuki to indicate that his tag was on the leg/buttock while he thought the hand was already in.
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
by elcroata on Aug 31, 2011 11:49 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Ahhhhh....thanks for clearing that up
"Oh who am I kidding? The A's and Giants could stage a pillow fight, and I'd still care who wins." -67Marquez
by baseballgirl on Sep 1, 2011 12:26 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
egregious (I actually just wanted to use this word once in my life)
…damn you. I just searched and it’s true – first time you’ve used it here on AN, at least.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
Thank you for the insight
It’s nice to have someone who’s done a little umpiring talk about what it’s like. After reading “As They See ’Em” I have a lot more respect for the challenges of being an umpire.
I agree with all this
Watching live, I thought he was out but also thought I might be wrong. The issue was Suzuki having to bring the tag down so that it wasn’t obvious exactly when he made contact. It was a wrong call, but not a horrifically blown call, whereas the Pittsburgh one was just blown.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I thought he was out, too, when I saw the play in full speed
However, I first read here about the play and then went to watch it, so I might have been a little conditioned. And it was A’s on defense, too. If it was Matthis at the plate, I’m pretty sure I would have thought he was safe and that Scioscia needs to be ejected. Just because.
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
I don't find that I tend to see things "in the A's favor-based"
I just think that’s a play where the runner will look out if he’s out, and out if he’s safe, because the tag is over him before it’s actually on him. However, this time it was over him, and on him, before he touched the plate.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I didn't say *you* do
My initial reaction is normally to side with the desired outcome
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
when I watched the replay of that play
it seemed that perhaps the runner touched home plate with his left hand just as Suzuki tagged his butt. I don’t know that he did, but it’s possible that the umpire saw it that way.
And Sweeney sucked at the plate tonight
"Oh who am I kidding? The A's and Giants could stage a pillow fight, and I'd still care who wins." -67Marquez
by baseballgirl on Sep 1, 2011 12:27 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
swucked
A Kouzmanoff for the rest of us!
by OptimistPrime on Sep 1, 2011 1:16 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
twswsw
"Once you go Bed....everything else is dead." - Bed
"So you're saying we should skin the Rangers and wear them as uniforms? I’m down." - Kyli
by cuppingmaster on Sep 1, 2011 6:53 AM PDT up reply actions
it's not quite 9 am in California
and the A’s are about to play Cleveland again. I should be able to hear at least the first part of the game in my office at work.
C’mon guys, you need to win this one. That would make this ugly road trip a little sweeter on the ride home.
Regardless, I’ll be at the coliseum tomorrow night…
I'm sorry we all had to watch the last 3+ games in Cleveland.
After all that’s happened, I still wish Cleveland luck in winning the Central. Hopefully, we can salvage this last game. It’s not even really important at this point. We just need to get the hell out of Cleveland.
by player20 on Sep 1, 2011 9:05 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
winning is always better than losing
I would like to see a win. I’m sure the players would also like to leave Cleveland after a win.
We won a series
in Yankees Stadium! Would have been nice to win more – but still – we won a series against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Given recent history – that’s a big deal.
by longtimeasfan on Sep 1, 2011 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Glass Half Full
- CoJax is finally gone, albeit 3 months to late.
- The next roster move once the Rivercats are done with the playoffs should be the likes of Taylor, Carter, and or Cardenas.
- If the Rivercats get bounced from the AAA playoffs early, all the better, the more we get to see if Taylor can play OF in the Majors.
- Jemile Weeks and Brandon Allen continue to impress.
- Harden and McCarthy have been very pleasant surprises, especially McCarthy. I’d love to have him back for another season. Same with Josh Willingham, who has been about as good as I thought he could be.
- At 60-76, we have the 8th worst record in the MLB. If the Cubs, Padres, and Twins pick it up just a tiny bit, we could see our beloved A’s with the 5th pick in next years draft! 5th!
-The Giants, as I predicted 2 months ago, are not going to make the PLAYOFFS!
My mannerism a prism/ And it should shine
Light it if you would/ Be so kind, right now'd
Be A' Good Time
by DaRubiesSLOKingsA's on Sep 1, 2011 9:17 AM PDT reply actions
a bit too early to declare the Giants out of the playoffs
although I don’t really expect them to, they were also thought to be done at the end of August 2010. Then two things happened: 1) they got “hot” and 2) the Padres tanked, blowing a huge lead.
While I don’t expect both to happen this year (and both would need to happen, in this case the D’Backs), it’s still too early to say that.
Damn
No game thread lulled me into believing that today game starts at 1:05 PM EST. Now, I’ll miss some innings while driving home…
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
there was a tweet pointing to a game thread that included a breakfast/philosopher poll
but it seems to be missing…
SBN has a problem with that.
Sometimes it’ll publish something…but it’ll be invisible for some reason. And yet, the page still exists. I just republished it. Sorry about that, guys.
There's an invisible game thread.
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
DURRRR THEY’RE TOO OLD, BABIP IS TOO HIGH, TOO MANY Ks, DURRRRRR
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