"There it is. Struck him out. And for the first time since 1954 the Giants are World Champions." That was the call from Joe Buck (you can tell he said it because of the lack of exclamation points) that signified the end of the 2010 baseball season. Sure it signified a great moment for a historical franchise that hadn't won a World Series since relocating from New York 52 years ago. It also signified the end to a Cinderella season for the Texas Rangers who had never previously won a postseason series let alone actually make it to the World Series. Both of which they did. More importantly though, it signified the darkest time of the year for a baseball fan like me. You see, since April it has been very easy to find something to watch on TV, to read about online, and actually gave me a reason to turn on ESPN and risk watching FavreCenter with the promise of getting to see 10 minutes of baseball highlights. But let's take a look at the season that was and the offseason to be.
The 2010 season will forever be known as "The Year of the Pitcher." First it was Ubaldo Jimenez no hitting the Braves, then it was Dallas Braden pitching to perfection on Mothers Day, Roy Halladay followed suit against the Marlins 20 days later, then it was Edwin Jackson throwing a no-no against the Rays, next a month later Matt Garza no hit the Tigers for the Rays, and of course the capper was the no hitter against the Reds in the ALDS, Roy Halladay's second of the season. Oh, and lest we forget Armando Galarraga's imperfect game on June 2.
Everyone who knows baseball remembers this story. Armando Galarraga takes the mound against the Indians and retires 26 straight batters. Indians Rookie Jason Donald hit a hard grounder to Tigers first basemen Miguel Cabrera who flipped the ball to Galarraga covering first to make the final... I mean, second to final out. Umpire James Joyce, later voted by the players as the best umpire in the major leagues, called McDonald safe on a bang bang play. Replays later showed that Donald was actually out and Galaragga had indeed thrown a perfect game. Galaragga's reaction was priceless. No argument, no temper tantrum, just a wry smile, standing in disbelief. Tigers manager Jim Leyland came out to argue, but with no policy in place for instant replay, the argument went no where.
To be fair to Joyce, watching it in real time, it is a very close play. But, the second you slow it down, it becomes blatantly clear that Donald was out. The best part of this video (or any video you watch of this moment) is the reactions. Of course we've already mentioned Galarraga's reaction. Then there's Cabrera, already in full celebration mode when he suddenly screeches to a halt and realizes the game must continue. He puts his hands on his head in astonishment. There's the members of the Tigers dugout with their jaws dropped, hands on their heads, astonished. The shot of the Tigers front office, hands on head, astonished (there's a trend here). And then listening to the broadcasters who have the luxury of instant replay questioning "why was he safe?" My favorite reaction of all is Donald's. Here he is, a rookie. The nine hitter in the lineup. It's a forgone conclusion that he won't get a hit with this much pressure. And sure enough he's called safe. While I cannot claim to be a professional ballplayer, having spent 15 years of my childhood playing the game I can tell you honestly that, as a runner, you know when you're safe and when you're out. Donald knew. Look at his reaction. He's as astonished as everyone else that he was called safe. He also knows in that split second that he will go down in history as the only base runner in the infamous "imperfect game." This game is much more important than the aforementioned no hitters because of the sportsmanship displayed as a result.
First off, a perfect game is one of, in not the greatest accomplishment for a pitcher and to have that taken away from you on a blown call would infuriate most men. Galarraga has to be commended for his composure after seeing his name erased from history. Joyce also has to be commended for openly admitting that he "flat out blew the call" after reviewing the play in the locker room, something a professional sports official NEVER does. And then the following day, when Joyce suited up as home plate umpire and Leyland sent Galarraga out with the lineup card was an emotional moment for both. Galarraga showing no hard feelings and Joyce actually breaking down and crying. Crying... real tears... on a baseball field... you never see that! Except for, maybe, this:
There are only two things that could have made this moment more interesting. First, among all the sportsmanship exhibited the only piece missing would be Donald talking to Joyce after the play and telling him that he was in fact out. This is not entirely unprecedented, while I cannot exactly recall the game, team, or player, I seem to recall a ruled home run that was in fact a ground rule double and after the opposing manager argued the player that hit the "homer" actually pleaded his case for a ground rule double. However, I can't say I blame Donald, he's a rookie looking to make his case to stay in the majors. Arguing that he was out wouldn't necessarily cement his place on the team. Perhaps if this had been a veteran slotted for the Hall of Fame, they may have had the courage to do this. Oh well, water under the bridge. The other act that could have rectified the situation came from the big house. Within a day or so of the blown call, Commissioner Bud Selig came down with the ruling that the call was not going to be changed "to protect the integrity of the game." Many claimed that changing a call to change the result of a game has never happened. To which I present to you the 1983 "Pine Tar Incident" in which a call was reversed to maintain the "spirit of the rule." Is the "spirit of the rule" in regards to safe and out, not to call batters who are actually out, out? So Selig could have reversed the call and not come under too much fire.
Although, this whole situation could have been prevented if Major League Baseball came up with a proper way of implementing... INSTANT REPLAY. After making home run and boundary disputes reviewable a little over a year ago the debate has continued: should MLB increase the use of instant replay? This has split baseball fans, players, coaches, and broadcasters down party lines that make even the House of Representatives look like a unified group of friends. There is a definite cause for concern with an increase in instant replay. Such as, how do you avoid the imminent delay in a game that already lasts upwards of two and a half hours. Problem solved. Looked at the NFL, they use instant replay. A standard televised NFL game lasts somewhere around 3-4 hours. Since implementing instant replay, the NFL has not noticeably increased the average time of the game to the point where it upsets fans, broadcasters, or players. And look at the numbers. From 1999 when the NFL began using instant replay to its 10th anniversary in 2008, there were 2,067 challenges and 916 reversals (Source). So why wouldn't a league want to implement instant replay to correct that many wrong calls. And that number doesn't even include the number of blown calls that weren't challenged because they weren't relevant to the outcome of the game at the time.
But what is the best way to use instant replay in baseball. Here is my idea: much like the NFL each manager will be given two challenges. However, unlike the NFL one challenge can only be used in the first six innings and the other can only be used in the last three innings. If the first challenge is not used in the first six innings, it will not carry over into the latter innings. A challenge can only be used in a game that is currently within the same rules that allow for a save. Balls and strikes will not be reviewable except to settle at bats that are worked to a full count with two outs. Pretty much any call made on the base paths (settling the Armando Galarraga incident), fly balls that are in dispute of being trapped rather than caught (or vice versa), issues of fair vs. foul, and issues of fan interference will all be reviewable. The way in which plays are reviewed will also be tweaked. The new system will be a hybrid of the NFL and NHL system. The crew chief will review the play using the same "solitary confinement hood" as the NFL. Then, similar to the NHL where they send the video to the League Office, the "video review official" will aid the crew chief in making the correct decision. Unlike the NHL, baseballs review official will be in the officials booth in the stadium. The only problem with any plans of replay are how to penalize an challenge that doesn't get reversed. In football you lose a timeout, in baseball there are no timeouts. This is a question that I, unfortunately, do not have an answer for. But I believe that my system, if put into place, can fix the problem that has been presented: an increase of blown calls. There were a lot of them in 2010. Many of which directly affected the outcome of the game. It's almost as if the umpires were purposely blowing calls as a message to the league saying "give us replay."
But unfortunately, the powers that be don't seem to eager to expand instant replay. That isn't likely to change as long as Bud Selig is commissioner. Although, I can't criticize him too much, he's not in favor of realignment which means he's willing to prevent this. But there were many more exciting things to talk about in the 2010 major league season.
Lets look at Opening Day. And of course I'm referring to "the play by which all future plays will be measured" and the play that inspired "the Buerhrle Meter." I'm talking about this. What pitcher does that?!?! What pitcher CAN do that?!?! What player, of any position, does that on Opening Day?!?! That's what we call going ALL out.
In July there was All-Star Weekend. A fairly mediocre Home Run Derby that was won by David Ortiz. It was nice to see Big Papi rebound from his one home run month of April and win the Battle of the Bombers to silence all okay, most, of the critics. But the best part of the break was the National League finally breaking their 0-12-1 streak to claim their first Mid-Summer Classic since 1996. This was due in large part to Brian McCann's two out three RBI double and nine NL pitchers combining for just one unearned run. Oh, and as it turns out, this is the first time the NL has had home field advantage in the World Series since before the 2002 ASG tie. I'm sure Brian McCann is so happy he could help the Giants out like that!
There were also a number of milestones in the 2010 season, at the plate, on the mound, and miscellaneous milestones. Among the most notable: Andruw Jones and Albert Pujols hit their 400th homers; A-Rod hit his 600th; Derrek Lee hit his 300th homer, scored his 1000th run, and recorded his 1000th RBI; Carl Crawford stole his 400th base, hit his 100th triple, and his 100th homer run. On the mound there were the numerous no-hitters but there were also a number of other milestones. Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, CC Sabathia, Javier Vazquez and Roy Oswalt each recorded their 150th wins with Oswalt, Lowe, and Hudson reaching their 1500th strike out. Trevor Hoffman recorded his 600th save (the only closer to reach that mark) and Billy Wagner added his 400th save. For a full list of milestones, go here.
The biggest surprise of the 2010 season was the postseason. As always it was a tight race for the NL Wil Card with three teams competing for the last two playoff spots on the very last day of the season. If all the cards had fallen properly there would have been a three way tie forcing two one game playoffs. But, unfortunately, it was not to be. Then there were the teams that participated in the 2010 postseason. It was a foregone conclusion from day one that the Phillies and Yankees would make it to the postseason barring a collapse of Mets-ian proportions (Yes, I can laugh at my team!). But let's take a look at the 2009 participants. From the American League: Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, Twins. And from the senior circuit: Phillies, Rockies, Dodgers, Cardinals. Now for the 2010 teams: the Yankees and Twins returned for the second straight year joined by the Rays who returned to the postseason after making it to the Series in 08 and the Rangers who are one of the remaining teams to never have won a World Series. In the NL the Phillies reached their 4th straight postseason and were joined by newcomers: the Reds, Giants, and the Braves. The Braves of course had that amazing run in the 90s but have since not been able to return to the playoffs. The Giants made the Series in 02. The Reds... well they were good in the 70s and had a good year in 1990, but have been found in the basement, or near the basement, ever since. I always like when new teams make it to the playoffs. After seeing the Yankees win three titles in a row from 98-00 it was great to see the new millennium start with different winners in every year and no repeat winners... until the Boston Red Sox won it in 04 and 07... the Red Sox of all teams!
If you had told me at the beginning of the season that the Reds and Rangers would make it into the postseason and all but run away with their divisions I would have laughed in your face. I'm glad I was wrong! I was hoping that the Yankees would fizzle and miss the postseason, but beggars can't be choosers. However, they didn't clinch the division, so that was cool. And I always feel bad for the Twins. They seem to make the postseason every year, or at least a majority of the seasons, and can't win a game. Course they always seem to have to play the Yankees in the first round and that could contribute to the 11 game postseason losing streak. They haven't won a game since the 2004 postseason. The Reds are lucky that the Pirates are in their division or otherwise they would be thought of as one of the worst NL Central teams in recent memory. And them BOOM, this year they win 91 games! Who saw that coming?!?! But the real standouts were the Giants and Rangers, who, as you may have noticed, made it to the World Series. The old adage that good pitching beats good hitting, was definitely true of the 2010 World Series.
The Giants pitching staff held the Rangers to just 12 runs in 5 games, 7 of those in game 1. For perspective the Giants scored 12 runs in the 8th inning of all five games. The Rangers bats that were so alive against the Yankees in the ALCS couldn't do anything against the rotation of Lincecum, Cain, Lewis, and Bumgarner. Texas hoped that Cliff Lee could be as good as he was against the Yankees when it came time to take on the Giants but after both he and Lincecum were shaky in Game 1, Lee couldn't bounce back as well as "the Freak" in Game 5. And the Giants won their first title since moving to San Francisco.
And as Joe Buck made the call and Edgar Renteria was named MVP after batting .412 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs (all with torn bicep muscles) I realized that I had nothing to keep me busy for the next five months. I have no baseball games to occupy my nights. Luckily its that time of year when my shows are back in season. But there's still an absence. So how will I fill this? By speculating where the free agents will go of course! Stay tuned for that sometime next week. I will also have up, in the near future, my Year in Review for my beloved New York Mets and where they should go from here. Stay Tuned!