A Lesson in Class and Sportsmanship

Tonight Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers pitched the game of his life. He dominated the Cleveland Indians. He did not allow a batter to reach base through the first eight innings. He retired the first two batters in the ninth inning. The first out in the ninth was recorded with the great catch that all no-hitters seem to have in the late innings. The 27th batter of the game, Jason Donald hit a grounder to the right side. The first baseman ranged to his right and threw out Donald. The umpire, Jim Joyce immediately and inexplicably called Donald safe. Galarraga retired the next batter to end the game. Instead of a perfect game and baseball immortality he was credited with a one hit shut out.

The class and sportsmanship alluded to in the title occurred after the game ended. Joyce wewnt into the umpires dressing room, saw the replay, realized he got the call wrong and sought out Galarraga and apologized. Galarraga accepted the apology and said ironically enough "Hey, no one's perfect." The two men actually hugged after the apology. How many of us would be able to calmly accept the blown call and finish the game let alone be gracious enough to accept the apology and be more concerned about the umpire who has to live with the blown call.

A lot of lessons in this situation.

Tasing for Tresspassing - Appropriate or Excessive Use of Force?

Earlier this week security used a taser to take down a moron who ran on the field and disrupted a baseball game in Philadelphia. In the days that followed there were various editorial columns decrying the tasing as an excessive use of force. There were a few people who acknowledged the risk to players from a crazed fan citing the stabbing of Monica Seles and the beating of first base coach Tom Gamboa from a few years back. A couple commenters noted that being taser poses less risk of injury then being body slammed by a 250 pound security guard.

Chris of A Large Regular has the most interesting idea on the subject:

Philly should have the "Don't Tase Me Bro" Taser Challenge. Here's what I would do:

Step 1: Get 5 volunteers from the fans at the game. They would have to sign a release and have a blood alcohol level that's not too too high.

Step 2. The 5 volunteers would race from 3rd base to home. The volunteer with the best time would get to be the "Don't Tase Me Bro" contestant for the night. . . . .

Click the link for the rest.

Needless to say in our overly litigious society today no team would have the guts to do this promotion. Where is Bill Veeck when we really need him. I have no doubt this idea would double the attendance for Indians home games. How about tasing players after making errors??? Ignore that last idea, I was just thinking out loud there and imagining Jhonny Peralta twitching and shaking after another bad throw.

Random Thoughts and Links

It is funny how the meaning of words change over time. Take the word "extremist." Lately, I've heard that people who think that those entering our country should do so legally are "extremists." Sorry, but no that is perfectly reasonable position to take.

If you want a valid example of extremists consider this article.

The Braves have scored 13 runs during their current 8 game losing streak. Suddenly, the Indians offense is not quite as awful as I thought, comparatively.

Considering the lunacy of some on the left side of the political spectrum people say Democrats aren't playing with a full deck of cards. Recently, it seems they are down to just one card - the "Race Card." The latest example of this propensity to make everything about race (especially when losing the underlying argument) is from New York:

It started as an angry blow-up, and then it escalated. A state senator with a history of anger management issues says his race-based rant was part of his fight against the "evil of white supremacy."

Brooklyn State Senator Kevin Parker is a well-documented hothead, and on Wednesday he took to the airwaves to unapologetically defend his latest shouting match.

"It's par for the course for what we have to do in Albany – fighting the forces of evil," Senator Parker said. Parker shockingly identified the "enemies" he's fighting as other senators. "These long-term, white supremacist, you know, Republican senators," he said.

That followed a free-for-all shouting match in Albany Tuesday where Parker heatedly objected to the questions asked by a white senator, John DeFrancisco of Syracuse, of a black nominee to the New York State Power Authority.

"John, you are totally out of order, you are out of order," Parker shouted. "How dare you? You racist people in here."

Like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, crying racism when inappropriate will in time mean the cry will be ignore when it is appropriate. People of Parker's ilk are actually hurting legitimate victims of racism.

I misread the political tea leaves after Scott Brown was elected U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. I wrongly assumed President Obama and the Democrats in control of Congress would temper their drive to re-make this country out of fear of the November elections. Instead, Brown's victory and ugly polling numbers have spurred the Democrats to double down their bets and ramp up efforts to weaken this country through health care "reform," the Cap and Trade global warming tax scam, and a renewed push for amnesty for illegal immigrants. Instead of fearing loss of their jobs they are assuming massive losses and rushing to get unpopular legislation passed before they lose control. Best proof that they are anticipating massive losses in November? They already voted for no congressional pay raise for the next congress.

In the Florida Republican primary pitting Gov. Charlie Crist against state Sen. Marco Rubio people have been focusing on whether the faltering governor will drop out of the primary and run as an independent. What people are not discussing much is why did the national Republican party establishment back Crist in the primary? I have no problem with big names within the party endorsing a candidate in a primary. However, I have a major problem with the RNC, RSCC or RCCC financially backing a candidate in a primary. Save that money for the general election. Additionally, in recent years the Washington establishment Republicans have leaned towards picking candidates based on their perceived electability rather than because the candidate shares our conservative ideals. A great example is Lincoln Chafee. How'd he work out for us?

Speaking of the Florida primary and the news that Crist is going to run as an independent, there is something wrong about that process. I think you should not be able to run as an independent in the same election cycle where you competed for a party's nomination.

Am I the only one who wasn't thrilled with the NFL draft starting on prime time on a weeknight and being dragged out over three days?

Breaking News: Indians Hire Acta as Next Manager

Not sure how I feel about this news, but the Indians have announced that Manny Acta has been hired as the 40th manager of the Cleveland Indians. It is easy to look at Acta's tenure with the Washington Nationals and come to a negative conclusion about his chances with Cleveland. However, there are several examples of managers failing at their first opportunity and succeeding later. Also, he did not have the best collection of talent in Washington. Then again, the squad he is inheriting just finished a 97 loss season so he isn't necessarily getting a much better bunch of players. I do think the Indians are better than the Nationals though as a wise man once said at the end of the day you are your record.

An ongoing problem for the Indians is a modified version of the question "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" That question is "Which comes first on field improvement or greater attendance?" The team seems to be misguidedly acting with a we'll spend money to improve the product when attendance improves mentality. It just doesn't work like that. Using Wall Street jargon, attendance is a lagging indicator. Fans follow excitement. Teams see spikes in attendance after good seasons or after off season moves that generate excitement. Manny Acta may be a knowledgeable baseball lifer, but his hiring is not going to get one more person to run down to the ticket office.