Stockton vs. Scully; Matt Holliday vs. Andy Bernard (Battle of the Groins) and C.B. Bucknor
Baseball October 9th. 2009, 9:30am
Comparing Dick Stockton and Vin Scully’s calls on Mark Loretta’s game-winning base hit, securing the Dodgers’ improbable victory over the Cardinals last night:
Stockton’s reaction: “A line drive to center field, basehit! And the Dodgers win!” Followed by 38 seconds of silence.
Scully’s reaction: “Loretta gets one into left center, it’s gonna fall! Dodgers win it, 3-2.” Followed by 34 seconds of silence.
GOAT 1: Matt Holliday. Poor guy. His blunder is splashed on the front of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He homered in the 1st; it prompted tweets like this one. Then he lost James Loney’s line drive in the lights in the 9th, opening the door for Ryan Franklin to blow the game. Said Holliday:
“I couldn’t see the ball. I lost in the lights. I had it in the beginning but then the ball came down through the lights and I lost it. When that happens, you hope it hits your body or hits your glove. I just lost it. Tough to swallow. I feel terrible. The ball hit my stomach. I think I can catch a fly ball hit right at me.”
Actually, the ball drilled him in the groin. We haven’t checked to see if the times line up, but Andy Bernard tore his scrotum last night on The Office. Did the scrotum tear happen at the precise moment that Holliday took a ball to the balls? Probably not. Still, we had to work in an Office mention. What an incredible episode. If you want to laugh this morning, go watch it at NBC.com.
GOAT 2: Ryan Franklin. Despite Holliday’s error, Franklin still had the next batter, Casey Blake, in a full count. The Cardinals were one strike away from tying the series at 1. And Franklin walked him. Then, Franklin had to face a guy, Mark Loretta, who was 0-for-15 in his career against him! Come on, you have to get that guy out. Too bad Jason Iggy wasn’t around. This story on Franklin ran earlier in the week in the P-D. How prescient. Even if the discussion for worst closer in the postseason begins and ends with Philly’s Brad Lidge, Franklin is easily second worst.
GOAT 3: Boston Red Sox fans. The bats went cold last night against John Lackey, and the bitterness emerged. Who’d they take their venom out on? Home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor. They defaced his wikipedia page (see last line) during the game. Peter King ripped him. Was their criticism was warranted? Hey, it’s like the NBA and NFL – you go on the road, strange things happen when it comes to the umpires and referees (see Notre Dame at Michigan). Perhaps the league will apologize to Boston today for the blown calls.
Still, the Red Sox were unable to do anything against John Lackey, a pitcher who hadn’t registered a postseason victory since 2002. (Just to be clear, as a Yankees fan, we want to face the REd Sox in the next round. Wouldn’t mind a Yankees sweep of the Twins and Anaheim taking Boston the distance.)
We poked around the web but couldn’t find video of Torii Hunter’s homer. Loved how he smashed it and then just tossed the bat. Big fan of the bat toss.
58 Responses to “Stockton vs. Scully; Matt Holliday vs. Andy Bernard (Battle of the Groins) and C.B. Bucknor”
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October 9th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Maybe this has been mentioned already this morning, but Suh is the best player in college.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Fine point about the reckless defacing of his wiki page. But, Bucknor has still been voted the worst umpire in the league twice and those calls were atrocious.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am
so, did nobody else hear Chris Berman singing a Neil Young song during his call last night in the Rockies-Phillies game?
October 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Maybe this has been mentioned already this morning, but Suh is the best player in college.
I only saw a few plays of that atrocious Big 12 nonsense, near the end of the first half. I did see that guy go first on a stunt to free up the D end, absolutely maul the right tackle for half a second, and then decimate the QB as he was throwing. On a stunt that wasn’t designed for him. The D end got free too, against the center. The whole right side of Mizzou’s Oline crumbled. It was pretty awesome. Not the game, just that one sequence.
Bill Polian is probably looking to trade up to #2 to get him. He’s downright perfect for the Tampa 2.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am
a monster. no way to game plan for him.
he crushed that ball. you have to toss the bat when the ball is hit that hard.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:41 am
as bad as Bucknor was … John Lackey was on point last night. Any worries facing Weaver/Kaz next?
October 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am
o/t: Padma on Regis/Kelly. She’s a couple months preggo … still incredibly gorgeous. Flawless face
October 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am
good thing that it had nothing to do with the outcome. please, let’s put this to bed.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am
True but also years ago when he was a ‘newer’ ump
October 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Kaz is gonna get rocked.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:44 am
That was one of the best episodes of The Office in the entire series.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
CRM take that shit to the round up.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Any Sox fan who complains about the plate umpire needs to realize that, at Fenway, their team benefits significantly from home plate umps who suddenly become very reluctant to call 3rd strikes. Keith Law had something about that on ESPN.com, and there was a game a few weeks ago where an egregious non-call on strike 3 decided the game’s outcome. Questionable calls by umps end up even when it’s all said and done; the number of times that they help you ends up being equal to the number of times they help the other guys.
But Sox fans are still bitter, petty people who will blame Bucknor for the whole thing if they lose in round 1.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Suh’s stats thru 5 games:
6.4 t per game (leads team)
5.5 TFL
3 sacks
1 INT
He’s a defensive lineman. And did you see how often he dropped into pass coverage completely bewildering Mizzou’s QB.
Suh is #2 on my Heisman ballot right now.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:50 am
it was nice to finally see the office utilize the comedic talent of ed helms
October 9th, 2009 at 9:52 am
That was one of the best episodes of The Office in the entire series
couldn’t stop laughing when Meridith was outside smoking that cigar. I work with a lady that looks just like her
October 9th, 2009 at 9:54 am
that is every single fan base.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Bottomline. I only thought it was funny what happened last night because of Scioscia’s penchant for thinking the umps are always out to get him.
No.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Vin Scully’s call of the Holliday drop is so smooth. I saw a profile of him this week on Lehrer news hour. Such a pro.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:59 am
So, are the 30+ seconds of silence a bad thing? I’d rather have silence from the announcers and the sound of the crowd celebrating than Joe Buck sounding self important.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:01 am
@younglefty–in the Scully profile, he talked about the importance of the silence in letting the radio listener soak in the atmosphere of being at the ballpark. I love it.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:05 am
What should Stockton and Scully do there? Advertise the late local news? Start a lengthy anecdote about Tommy Lasorda and a pizza pie?
October 9th, 2009 at 10:07 am
That’s how Skip Caray did it too. He’d always say “Listen to this crowd!”, and then shut his yap for 30 or 45 seconds.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:08 am
lefty – i love the 30+ seconds of silence
October 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Click on Torii Hunter’s pic on the home page:
http://mlb.mlb.com/index.jsp
October 9th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Ah, ok.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Just to be clear, as a Yankees fan, we want to face the REd Sox in the next round. Wouldn’t mind a Yankees sweep of the Twins and Anaheim taking Boston the distance.
AJ will choke tonight. All this talk about switching catchers will blowup in their faces.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:13 am
CB Bucknor is still a gigantic piece of crap! Must be “his turn” to work the playoffs, there’s no way that it was based on merit.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
He does the bat toss for every hit. Batting Stance Guy did a pretty funny impression but I can’t find it at the moment.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Tori Hunter is the man. I hope the Angels can pull this off.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:20 am
srsly?
October 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Gotta love Red Sox fans … Where was the outrage two weeks ago when two bad calls in Fenway actually had something to do with the outcome of the game. As an Angels fan I can admit they were bad calls, but all it did was add to Lesters pitch count.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Did he hit that home run that still hasn’t come down yet? Pretty sure Torii Hunter and Lackey’s pitching were the reason the Sox lost.
No one is blaming Bucknor for the loss. It’s more of a discussion of how bad those calls were. They didn’t mean anything in the outcome of the game. It’s kind of alarming, because at some point, one of those calls IS going to mean something.
And he has the plate tonight, so that will be an interesting watch.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Don’t be so sure – as someone who gets reviewed you’d be shocked at the scores some terrible refs/umps get.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I listened to the game on mlb.com (TBS’ coverage is so exclusive, it’s even blacked out on MLB’s site) and after suffering through the middle innings with Steiner and Monday, Vin took us home from the seventh inning on. The only thing that made that win sweeter for me was that it was Scully on the call, though it sounds like Stockton did just fine. Scully gets it: let the crowd tell the story. He’s done it all his career. Find his Gibson call, and you’ll see that after he says, “she is GONE!” he shuts up for about a minute. By the way, Scully’s call of the ninth inning, from the fateful Loney/Holliday at-bat on:
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7029113&c_id=la&topic_id=7221898
October 9th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Where was the outrage? Did you not watch tv/ listen to the radio/ go on the internet that week? Youre kidding right? Fans complain about bad calls, get over this “Red Sox fans suck” thing youve got going.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I kept waiting for the catcher to toss a ball to Bucknor and have him miss it and let it roll between his legs.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:29 am
My point is I don’t remember people defacing umps wiki pages then. While its not the end of the world it just shows the idiocy. If you can’t see that, then that’s your problem.
I’ll get over the Red Sox Fans suck thing when thye get over being obnoxious pricks. Every fan base has them, they just are everywhere in this one.
It would help if the Angels can finally get the Red Sox monkey off their back this year, but that remains to be seen.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Torri Hunter’s swing is awesome.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:33 am
The thing Im most worried about is Bucknor being behind the plate tonight, he has a notoriously small strike zone and that could really frustrate Beckett.
Wheels, there’s just no reason to paint all fans with such a broad brush. PS, I watch you and TMac all the time!
October 9th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Maybe this has been mentioned already this morning, but Suh is the best player in college.
Bill Polian is probably looking to trade up to #2 to get him. He’s downright perfect for the Tampa 2.
Won’t work. The Bills play a Tampa 2 also and will be waiting for him at #1
October 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Your right CJ. I guess I just get a little worked up about Red Sox fans, because they’ve owned us in the playoffs. At least we can agree on one thing and that Bucknor behind the dish is likelÝ to be a disaster.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:43 am
cj: Sorry I wasn’t here to help out-good yob! lol
October 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am
For what its worth, I did pick the Angels to win this series. I dont believe in the whole “X team has Y team’s number” thing in sports anyhow.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Nah, after they fire Jauron, and go for Wade Phillips round 2, they’ll be running a 3-4.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Wade Phillips round 2? fuck no
October 9th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Yeah, I hope not, for your sake. I was just trying to get a reaction out of jpq.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I hate Wade. That fat fuck started Rob Johnson instead of Doug Fluite for the Music City forward lateral game.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:59 am
That fat fuck
this hurts people’s feelings Irish.
In all honesty, Wade as a D coordinator is great. Wade as a head coach is a big fat nothin’
October 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am
That fat fuck
this hurts people’s feelings Irish.
Wade comments here?
Bobby Aprill will be the Bills head coach next Monday (interin at least)
/book it
October 9th, 2009 at 11:06 am
@dirt- that was the last time Buffalo was in a playoff game. Yeah, the forward lateral won the game for the Oilers, but Flutie would have won that game. that guy was a winner. Flutie for Life
October 9th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Wade comments here?
he might hear about it. He’d have to drown his sorrows in an open faced roast beef sandwich.
Irish, I’m living the Wade as head coach nightmare right now. I don’t have a problem with his lack of discipline mindset for defenses, but it doesn’t work for whole teams.
As for Flutie, the Pats fucked up right off the bat with that guy. He was a definite winner. So many teams let him play out his career in Canada, while they had shitty QB’s in the NFL.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I wish Hernia was here. He would love this pic of Flutie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dougflutie.JPG
pic just screams intensity
October 9th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Good thing is, even if Da Raiders get the first pick they’ll go Dez Bryant or some other WR.
I like the idea of an impact lineman, but I can see pressure to give up on Trent Green and go after Bradford.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Serious question. If you like an intense, driven, winning, but limited QB, do you take Flutie over Tebow?
October 9th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Serious question. If you like an intense, driven, winning, but limited QB, do you take Flutie over Tebow?
Flutie in a NY minute, because he has all the same attributes as Tebow (substitute power running with elusive running), and has a WAY better arm/accuracy
October 9th, 2009 at 11:51 am
@Irish: That is awesome. I will be using that one.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I’m confused. When did Charlie Cheeseburger’s name come up?