12/21/24
April 25, 2016
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Okay, you're semi-weekly crazy stuff in MLB update:
Pirates' pitcher Jon Niese was used as a pinch-hitter in the top of the 13th inning, and got an RBI single on the 9th pitch of the at-bat. The single was fielded by the left fielder for the Diamondbacks, pitcher Shelby Miller.
Why was Miller in the game as an outfielder?
A combination of factors:
1) He was the pinch-runner for the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the 12th inning and scored the tying run to force it to go to the 13th inning. He was pinch-running for Zack Greinke, who was pinch-hitting for another pitcher.
2) Nick Ahmed had been thrown out of the game in the previous inning (just before Zack Greinke came to bat) for arguing balls/strikes. That meant the Diamondbacks had ZERO position players left on their bench. A pitcher was absolutely going to have to play out in the field.
Of course, in his first and only appearance in the outfield, the Pirates hit an RBI-double to LF, and an RBI-single to left field, to eventually win the game.
And guess what? That wasn't the craziest game of the day...
posted by grum@work at 09:42 AM on April 25, 2016
Bobby Knight is set to join fellow sports personalities Mike Tyson, Dennis Rodman, Hulk Hogan, John Daly, Jesse Ventura, Mike Ditka, Terrell Owens, Richie Incognito, Pete Rose, Latrell Sprewell, and John Rocker on the Trump campaign bandwagon.
No word on the leanings of other figures considered to be natural fits such as Romanowski.
Not seizing the opportunity to hop on board and complete the lineup are luminaries such as Metta World Peace, Chad Johnson, and Schilling.
To help lend a sense of balance, there's also a less colorful group of Donaldine athletic supporters that places a higher emphasis on functionality known as the Double Take Division that includes Clay Buchholz and the Foxboro troika of Belichick, Kraft, and Brady. Municipal water samples from eastern Massachusetts are currently on their way to an independent lab for testing.
Serving as a bridge between the two groups is bobsledder and Viking legend Herschel Walker.
posted by beaverboard at 11:06 AM on April 25, 2016
I'm not sure how the Twins/Nats game is crazier than the Pirates(of course! who else could've been involved in this?)/Diamondbacks game. I mean, that's pretty crazy set of instances in the Diamondbacks game.
The 2016 Pirates need a nickname pretty badly. The WTFs. The Is-This-Even-Baseball?. The What-Nexts?.
posted by NoMich at 11:33 AM on April 25, 2016
crazy stuff in MLB update
It must be something in the air, because Boston had to go 12 to beat Houston last night. After Boston went ahead by 2 in the 3rd, there was no further scoring -- until a Carlos Correa double and a Colby Rasmus home run off of closer Craig Kimbrell tied it in the bottom of the 9th. Heath Hembree pitched 3 scoreless for the win. Boston scored the winning runs with a pair of lead-off singles and a sacrifice bunt. This was followed by a 13-pitch walk to Ryan Hanigan that loaded the bases, and an RBI single by Jackie Bradley, Jr. A force play at the plate made it 2 out, but Hanigan scored on a wild pitch by losing pitcher Ken Giles, giving Boston an insurance run. A pair of strikeouts with 2 on ended it.
My wife and I got home from the Celtics game quite late (Boston's ever reliable untrustworthy MBTA plays a role here), so I turned on the TV to get the scores. Lo and behold, the game was still going, so I had to stay up until the end.
posted by Howard_T at 12:38 PM on April 25, 2016
I'm not sure how the Twins/Nats game is crazier
Down by three runs in the 8th.
Score two runs in the bottom of the 8th.
A pinch-hit game tying solo home run by the best player in the NL (MLB?).
Another pinch-hitting pitcher gets a hit (Joe Ross in the 12th).
A catcher throwing error on a 2-out bunt by a relief pitcher to tie the game in the bottom of the 15th.
A walk-off home run by their 6th OF on the depth charts in the 16th inning.
More drama I guess than crazy, but Oliver Perez bunt-inducing-error with two out is pretty damn crazy (especially since the ball was going to roll foul if the catcher didn't touch it).
posted by grum@work at 01:00 PM on April 25, 2016
Understanding Football Radars For Mugs and Muggles.