Archives › Craig Calcaterra
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Was Angel Hernandez’s bad call because he’s philosophically opposed to replay?
May 10, 2013, 12:30 PM EDT
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From the Dan Patrick show today, a suggestion by Peter Gammons that Angel Hernandez may have refused to credit Adam Rosales of the A’s with a home run rather than a double even after instant replay showed it was clearly a homer because he doesn’t believe in instant replay. If so … wow. Of course, if…
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David Ortiz thinks Shaughnessy’s PED accusations were culturally insensitive
May 10, 2013, 11:36 AM EDT
I was going to say “racist” but Ortiz doesn’t actually say that. I think the phrase “culturally insensitive” is stupid. I dunno. Here are his words, translated from Spanish, over at ESPN Boston. You decide what he thinks: “Yesterday, the guy came to see me and asked some questions about steroids, and when you see…
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The moment Josh Hamilton signed with the Angels I began wondering when T.J. Simers would saunter up to him and do his usual antagonistic shtick. The answer: yesterday. And what’s Hamilton’s awful transgression for which Simers demands answers: he smiles. Uh-oh, we’ve got another smiler. This catches on and we won’t have any athletes around town who…
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Mentioned this in ATH, but it’s worth another look: here’s Juan Lagares robbing Andrew McCutchen of what might have been a homer in the ninth inning last night. Could have fallen short, in which case it would have been a double. Unless Angel Hernandez was umping, in which case it might have been a homer…
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What technology is Major League Baseball using to review plays?
May 10, 2013, 9:38 AM EDT
UPDATE: Being told be several people that teams do not use the 2008 Sharp TVs for replay. That they have true HD screens of more modern vintage. This makes sense to me. It’d still be good if MLB was more upfront with it, however. 9:38 AM: Not sure what to make of this Deadspin post. It…
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R.A. Dickey got a no-decision and the Blue Jays got the loss last night. Yet another loss in a season full of them so far. Dickey explains that it’s not about the lack of effort: “It’s just sad, because you pour your heart and soul into the game and it doesn’t always end up in…
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Dwight Gooden’s autobiography is coming out. Not surprisingly, it sounds like a grim read
May 10, 2013, 8:53 AM EDT
Mike Puma previews Doc Gooden’s forthcoming autobiography. We all know the contours of the story: kid ace dominates one year, wins the World Series the next, then pisses away most of his promise on drugs before a nice little late comeback with the Yankees. But this promises to give us more details about it all:…
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Bo Porter wasn’t trying to pull a fast one. He actually didn’t know the rules. And neither did the umps.
May 10, 2013, 8:19 AM EDT
Still kinda amazed at that weird pitching change fiasco in the Astros-Angels game last night in which Bo Porter pulled his reliever for another before the first one ever faced a batter. When I first read about it I figured that Porter was trying to pull a fast one and call in a different pitcher…
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Rays 5, Blue Jays 4: A battle of reigning Cy Young winners decided by a bases loaded walk to an Obama birther. Good times. I watched most of this one. Price and Dickey were OK, but not great. It was, like, the third straight home Rays game I’ve watched where Dick Vitale was noted in…
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His name is Tuttle. Hope they didn’t confuse him with someone else. Not that Information Retrieval ever makes mistakes … The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Cincinnati Reds Minor League right-handed pitcher Daniel Tuttle has received a 100-game suspension without pay after a third violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention…
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Digging deeper into the decline of African-Americans in major league baseball
May 9, 2013, 5:02 PM EDT
Last month we had a series of posts about how fewer African-Americans are playing major league baseball than they used to. The context of all of this was the annual report in which Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida releases numbers which purport to show the decline. Mark…
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We’ve seen the pink bats in honor of breast cancer awareness the past several Mothers Days, but this year MLB is stepping up its game: New baseballs w/ pink stitching/graphics for Mother’s Day from @rawlingssports twitter.com/MLB_PR/status/… — MLB Public Relations (@MLB_PR) May 9, 2013 Pretty sweet. As long as hitters can still pick up…
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So I’ve given some very mild thought lately to writing a baseball book. This is 1.5% inspired by the notion that I may have something interesting to say about baseball that will hold up for more than 500 words and 98.5% inspired by the realization that the half dozen memoirs and detective novels I’ve started…
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Harold Reynolds takes on Matt Harvey’s lack of a win on Tuesday night on “MLB Now”
May 9, 2013, 3:00 PM EDT
Matt Harvey didn’t get the win on Tuesday. Shameful, really. I mean, yes, it was nice to see nine nearly-perfect innings, but no win, meh. Just lacking tWtW. The folks at “MLB Now” used one of my tweets to ask Harold Reynolds about that yesterday. And his ability to disconnect himself from his past statements…
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Kay and I discuss Doc’s future. I think it’s fairly grim.
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MLB admits the Angel Hernandez call was blown, but nothing else is gonna happen with it
May 9, 2013, 2:01 PM EDT
Straight from Joe Torre’s office: “By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief. In the opinion of Angel Hernandez, who was last night’s crew chief, there was not clear and convincing evidence to overturn the decision on the field. It was…
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It was Adrian Gonzalez‘s birthday yesterday. Wasn’t necessarily a happy one: Adrian Gonzalez pulled from game at the start of the fifth inning. — Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) May 9, 2013 The issue: aggravated the neck strain he’s been dealing with. He’s now day-to-day. And if he and his teammates don’t get healthy and productive soon,…
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The Dbacks’ closer left the game the other night after suffering elbow tightness. Which, in baseball circles, is akin to “those tell-tale flecks of crimson upon her handkerchief” in Victorian novels. So: is Putz going to die of the dreaded consumption? #DBacks closer J.J. Putz will not need elbow surgery. Hoping rehab will work. Sprained…
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Florida health officials refer Anthony Bosch case to prosecutors
May 9, 2013, 12:30 PM EDT
The wheels grind slowly, but they grind: The Florida Department of Health, which sent a cease-and-desist order to Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch last month, says it has referred the case to the Miami State Attorney’s office and the Florida Attorney General’s office. Ed Griffith, a spokesman for Miami State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, said local…
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Should MLB overturn the A’s-Indians home run call and replay last night’s game?
May 9, 2013, 11:32 AM EDT
The overwhelming weight of opinion among baseball commentators this morning is that Bud Selig should step in, overturn Angel Hernandez’s bad call of the Adam Rosales non-home-run and force the Indians and A’s to reply the remainder of that game from that point, with the game tied. Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi,…
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Angel Hernandez is being pretty cagey about his botched call last night
May 9, 2013, 11:03 AM EDT
Not only did Angel Hernandez botch the call on that home run/double last night, but he’s not been particularly forthcoming about it after the fact. Check this out from the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser: Angel Hernandez said no recorded interview, only write down answers but says they didn’t have enough evidence to reverse call.…
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Ricky Romero: human yo-yo: #BlueJays option Ricky Romero to AAA Buffalo and designate Edgar Gonzalez for assignment.Select contracts of Ramon Ortiz and Mickey Storey — Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) May 9, 2013 He was clearly lost last year, yet the Jays didn’t send him down. He was lost this spring, so they sent him. Down.…
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Hayhurst and Morris accuse, Passan does some background reporting which, indirectly anyway, bolster the accusations. Clay Buchholz tells WEEI, however, that he did not have sunscreen on his arm last week when he faced the Jays: “I’ve used it in the past, but that wasn’t on my arm at any time this season,” Buchholz said…
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Everyone — present company included — laughed when the Yankees acquired Vernon Wells. Vernon Wells and the Yankees are laughing now. He’s hitting .287/.341/.504 with seven homers. When the Yankees needed someone — anyone — to step up while the big guys are all out on the disabled list, Vernon Wells stepped up and then…
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Future scouting report: ”Great upper body strength. Good batting eye. Fluid swing. Well-developed , V5 region of his visual cortex. Good looking girlfriend, so he clearly has self confidence …” In a study published today in the journal Neuron, UC Berkeley researchers used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to pinpoint the prediction mechanisms in the brain that enable hitters to…
