Ridiculous score 30-3

[zekester91]

Originally Posted by Doctor No

I'm still confused about how you didn't want the Rangers to continue hitting home runs.

Is there some MLB rule which allows a player at-bat to say "No, that ball didn't go over the fence, and I'll just stop at first base."?

And how insulting would that be to the Orioles and their fans? Nothing says "sportsmanship" better than "your team isn't good enough for us to try hard against", right?

Not stop at first base but couldn't the bater miss second base and be called out. the batter could also leave the base line or not correctly run the bases and be called out. There are a few ways to be called out or be given less bases on a homerun, most dealing with end of game, and the batter only running to first, you see it sometimes with Walk off homers where the batter doesn't need to come home to win the game.

[Neags23]

If a guy is up to bat with a 24 run lead, take his normal hacks, isn't swinging for the fences, isn't swinging out of his shoes, isn't just looking to pad his stats for the night in a laugher, and the ball just hits the sweet spot, carries over the fence and it's a goner... that's fine. I guess you can't begrudge a career AAA .229 hitter with a .357 slugging % a chance to feast when there's blood in the water. If that one dinger keeps him in the show for another coupla games, then good for him.

If I were a Rangers fan, however, I sure would've hoped they packed away 25 or so of those runs and used them for a time when they would've mattered a little more.

Obviously I'm the lone ranger on this side of the argument (no pun intended), so I'll stuff my hands in my pockets and take my beating. I can't, however, think it wouldn't show a little class to not pummel a team that's already down an absurd amount. I never suggested giving up outs or a team giving up or purposely striking out or as one person said, "Giving their pay to the other team" or something weird to that effect.

I do wonder, though, in this age of a lack of brush back pitches, this age where a pitcher sometimes gets tossed for throwing near a batter... I wonder if the same thing would've happened 40 or 50 years ago.

Thoughts?

[Doctor No]

Originally Posted by Neags23

If I were a Rangers fan, however, I sure would've hoped they packed away 25 or so of those runs and used them for a time when they would've mattered a little more.

And if that were possible to do, then I'm sure that the Rangers would have done so.

[tasan01]

Originally Posted by Neags23

For instance, if you look at the 9th inning scoring summary:

 Top 9th: Texas
- J. Botts doubled to deep right, I. Kinsler and T. Metcalf scored, M. Byrd to third
- D. Murphy singled to second, M. Byrd scored, J. Botts to third
- R. Vazquez homered to deep right, J. Botts and D. Murphy scored

Was it really necessary for Botts to double? How about just getting your hit and standing on first base? Why would you even think about going for 2 with a 23 run lead at that point?
Same for Vazquez. I said in my OP, don't stand there with the bat on your shoulder, but show a little respect for the pitcher and the game by not going deep with a 24 run lead.

That's roughly the equivalent of a 70 point lead in football. If you're up 73 to 3, should the quarterback go deep? That's just ridiculous.

I never said they should have intentionally made outs. In fact, I distinctly said they shouldn't just stand there with the bats on their shoulders. However, to me it shows a sever lack of respect for your competition to double with a 23 run lead and homer with a 24 run lead. If you make contact with the ball and it happens to fall in for a single, or even pepper the wall, that's fine. Trot down to first base and stand there. Just have a little respect for your opponent.

EDIT: I do have to say though, jaxmagician, you easily have the best avatar I've ever seen. And it's not even close.

Someone didn't watch the game and has no idea what they are talking about. The Rangers coaches were holding runners all over the place, they could have put up 15 in the 9th probably. And that double, it might have been a triple, and they HELD the guy that was on first, he could have scored no problem, but they HELD HIM at 3rd. The pitch that Vasquez hit, it was trash, maybe he was just trying to hit a fly ball. Or, maybe he was just trying to do what EVERYONE in the league does, earn his paycheck.

[Mattymo]

Originally Posted by Neags23

If a guy is up to bat with a 24 run lead, take his normal hacks, isn't swinging for the fences, isn't swinging out of his shoes, isn't just looking to pad his stats for the night in a laugher, and the ball just hits the sweet spot, carries over the fence and it's a goner... that's fine. I guess you can't begrudge a career AAA .229 hitter with a .357 slugging % a chance to feast when there's blood in the water. If that one dinger keeps him in the show for another coupla games, then good for him.

The thing is, most players don't hit home runs when they "swing for the fences". Obviously I'm not a professional baseball player, but I did play in college...and every home run I hit (not many of them) came from trying to hit the ball hard, hitting the sweetspot and getting it to carry. It was the same swing and same throught process I had for every single, double, flyout and groundout.

But if you're a salesperson, and you're already leading the company in sales by a landslide, and a referral comes to you, are you going to half-ass it? No, you're going to treat it like every other referral you get. You aren't trying to rub it in, you're just doing your job.

I'd be upset with any employee, athlete or not, who didn't give 100% every time they're on the job. A ballplayer is no different. As a ball player, just because you aren't any good doesn't mean I shouldn't perform up to my capabilities. That's a "your problem".

[giantsfan07830]

I was watching the game.It was a fun game to watch

[jasonn29tn14]

One thing nobody has mentioned yet........By scoring so many runs in the late innings the Rangers were tiring the Orioles' bullpen. This would be a good thing in any series. But it was especially useful in the first game of a doubleheader.

[zekester91]

Originally Posted by jasonn29tn14

One thing nobody has mentioned yet........By scoring so many runs in the late innings the Rangers were tiring the Orioles' bullpen. This would be a good thing in any series. But it was especially useful in the first game of a doubleheader.

But they didn't tire out the bull pen, from http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7147638?MSNHPHMA

"He managed his tail off, using only four pitchers — Daniel Cabrera, Brian Burres, Rob Bell and Paul Shuey — so that he could preserve the rest of his fine bullpen for Game 2."

My other favorite quote in there:

The Orioles failed to hit a single batter, a classic case of history repeating. The O's also didn't hit anyone in 1987 when they allowed a major-league 10 record home runs at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium.

[CBL-Commish]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

If the Orioles are upset then maybe they should be upset that they haven't got a group of pitchers that don't give up 24 runs in four innings. One of which hasn't pitched in the majors since 2003 before this year.

I'm a lifetime Orioles fan, and I agree with this 100%.

[CBL-Commish]

Originally Posted by Neags23

I do wonder, though, in this age of a lack of brush back pitches, this age where a pitcher sometimes gets tossed for throwing near a batter... I wonder if the same thing would've happened 40 or 50 years ago.

Thoughts?

It did happen. The Red Sox were up on the Browns 22-4 after six, and decided to tack on seven more for good measure.

[eborix]

Originally Posted by jaxmagicman

Thanks.


And to continue on to what I was saying, as a fan I want my team to play hard from start to finish. That means they play hard whether they are up 27 or down 27. What if the Orioles came out and would have just let ever ball come across as a strike, because hey they are down 27. I think you play hard from start to finish no matter the score. That is the way it should be.

Agreed.

It seems to me that when your up by a lot of runs, thats the time to be more agressive. Try for 2nd on that ball hit into the outfield. If you get thrown out, no big deal. Try to get some extra bases to help your stats for your next contract. Like someone said above, money drives the game today.

[Left-handed Badger]

Originally Posted by Assos

When I get to the +10 on another team in the game, I start pumping in the extras on the bench, they deserve to tee it off this bad pitching staff.


Sad thing for Baltimore was that they could not go home and drink up a storm to forget this, they had to play another game.

Course, when I get ahead +10 I put the bench in for that too. Though, also to give them PT and make sure I dont let my best 3 or 4 players get hurt. I'd probably kill the computer if my best player got hurt in a 19-1 game.

[Left-handed Badger]

Originally Posted by Erik W.

If I were an Orioles player, I'd take far more offense to someone stopping at first on an obvious extra base hit than going ahead and making it a double.

They're grown men, not little leaguers. Not taking normal swings or letting the play develop naturally is more of a slap in the face running it up.

Heck, I'd take offense to someone holding up at first on a clear double if I was in Little League too.

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by jaxmagicman

Oh I am sorry, I thought it was the Orioles job to stop the Rangers from scoring, I didn't realize it was the Rangers job. Man I have been going about baseball all wrong, it should be the hitters that should try to keep themselves from scoring runs.

""

These men are professionals. They should be good enough to not give up 30 runs, one would think

[Left-handed Badger]

And am I the only one who if I had a player who, regardless of score, stopped at first on a clear double, would have been dang well p!ssed off enough to pull that jack@$$ for not hustling? I mean the #1 rule of sports is to hustle at all times, right?

[ednote]

Never mind....the point had already been made ad nauseum before I saw this....

[bogieman]

Earlier this year the Twins and the White Soxs had a day/night double header. The Twins won the first game 21-14 and just couldn't put Chicago away. In the bottom of the 9th Nathan started warming up because Chicago loaded the bases and with one swing of the bat it would have been 21-18.

In the 2nd game the Twins hit 6 homers including 3 by Morneau in 12-0 rout. When he came for a chance to hit his 4th the Chicago fans was rooting for him because of they knew what it meant to hit 4 homers in a game.

I believe that was the last time the Twins had any offense this year.

[swampdragon]

The last guy to homer, Vazquez, is a AAAA player fighting for a spot on the roster next season. The Rangers mostly had their prospects in the game, as they have all month. All of those guys need to impress the manager and the front office to get a chance to play next year. Point being that there was no way to clear the bench. The kids were the ones that scored thirty. Michael Young was pulled after six innings, and the kid that took his place hit a grand slam. You simply can't ask them not to do their best. They have too much on th line as individuals.

[Long_Long_Name]

The job of a hitter is to hit, and the classiest thing he can do is not take the circumstances into account and try to be as good as he can every time. This isn't playing MVP Baseball with your son, it's professional baseball. What would be unclassy would be either to take it easy or to mock the other team in some way. The classiest thing to do is to behave as you would in any circumstances. You don't stop until the game's over, and if you think that at 24-3 the game's over, well, pack your bags and get off the field. If the game goes on, you have to play hard.

Also, I find odd the opinion of the guy who expressed sadness that money was the reason why guys keep on playing the game right.

[His Own Bad Self]

It's impossible to treat running up the score in baseball the same as in football or basketball. First, you can't simply bleed the clock like you can in those sports. Second (as others have said), you can't put in players that have already been removed from the game, so even if the game's out of hand, it's still wise to be conservative about substituting players. Third, this goes back to the idea that if you don't want to get the score run up on you, play better.

So what's the problem?