Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Pocket Pair 6/20/12

Last night the Washington Nationals used a little insider information to get relief pitcher Joel Peralta ejected.  In 2010 Peralta pitched 39 very successful innings in Washington and then left as a free agent to Tampa Bay to play with the Rays.  Last nights appearance would have been his American League leading 35th appearance for Tampa Bay, but with the score 5-4 in the 8th inning in favor of the Rays, Nationals manager Davey Johnson rolled the dice.

He had probably been told by numerous unnamed sources on his team that Peralta was known to use a foreign substance hidden in his glove that would allow for a little bit more break on his off speed pitches.  Using this information he asked the home plate umpire to take a look and he found enough evidence to warrant confiscating the glove and ejecting Peralta from the game without throwing a pitch.  The strategy didn't work for Washington as they weren't able to rally, but the message was sent.  Joe Maddon, the Rays manager tried a little gamesmanship by having the umpires check the glove and hat of a Nationals reliever, but nothing was found.  Its still to be seen whether the Rays will further counter by starting a little bean ball war over the final two games of the Interleague series.

Cheating is nothing new in baseball (read yesterday's post if you missed it) and the golden rule seems to be it's only cheating if you get caught.  Sammy Sosa got caught corking his bat, Joe Niekro got caught with sandpaper on his finger, and Albert Belle sent a teammate through the rafters of the of the stadium to retrieve and swap out a bat that was suspected of being doctored.  The list goes on and on throughout the history of baseball.

Arguably the most famous home run in baseball history was because of cheating.  Bobby Thompson hit a series winning homer off of Ralph Branca in 1951 that has since been dubbed the 'shot heard around the world'.  According to the Giants they were using an elaborate sign stealing system from the catcher as he would tell the pitcher which pitch to throw.

There are reasons why catchers have to use multiple signs to the pitcher with a runner on second base.  Teams change their signs from the third base coach often (mid game even if rampant paranoia sets in).  As a pitcher I have caught runners at second relaying my catchers signs to the batter and have plunked said batter in retaliation.  Have I cheated in my 25 years of playing baseball?  You betcha.  When I'm coaching 3rd base I will relay the catchers' signs to my batters if I can see them.  It's not my fault the catcher is too lazy to squeeze his legs.

Baseball historians love the cloak and dagger aspect that baseball can produce.  Pitcher Gaylord Perry had the worlds worst kept secret about how he doctored the ball, but that didn't stop him from getting into the Hall of Fame.  As I stated yesterday, its all fun and games until records start falling. 

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Yesterday also capped the group stage of the European Soccer Championships (Euro Cup 2012).  Sixteen countries started and the tournament has now been whittled down to eight.  Germany looks to be the favorite as they were the only country to win all three of their matches, but it only takes one mistake to fall in the knock out stage.

Looking at the quarterfinal matches that start on Thursday, the Czech Republic is the biggest underdog based on the FIFA World Rankings.  They are the 27th best team in the World whereas the next lowest team is Greece at 15th.  Portugal should advance over the Czech Republic as should Germany over a spunky Greece squad.  I also think Spain will upend France and England, who just got back star Wayne Rooney, will advance against Italy.

Whatever the results, it has been a pretty good Euro Cup.  I don't watch enough soccer to be an expert, but I love watching national teams play on the biggest stages.  There haven't been any scoreless draws which is great for American viewers who get bored easily by soccer.  The star players have been present, the games have been competitive and for the most part, the top teams have advanced.  The only thing that is lacking is neither of the host teams, Poland or Ukraine, advanced.  Every tournament needs a Cinderella and a host Cinderella would have been the cherry on top.

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