Down Goes Nadal! Down Goes Nadal!

Wow.

Rafael Nadal, for the first time EVER, has lost a match at the French Open. The Legend Killer? Robin Soderling of Sweden, a 24-year-old righthander with a 177-128 career record who is ranked 25th in the world.

This is good news and bad news for Roger Federer. On one hand, he has to figure his path is now clear to win the French Open and complete that elusive career Grand Slam, thus cementing his status as the Greatest Of All Time in the eyes of many observers. On the other hand, if he does win, he won't have to go through Nadal to do it. Sometimes, you have to break rough stretches by going through your biggest rival in order for it to feel right (like the Red Sox really NEEDED to beat the Yankees in the ALCS before winning the World Series; it wouldn't have been the same if they broke through against any other team).

Either way, Federer isn't the story. Nadal is.

Wow.

Who Called Randy Johnson's Pitches In 1993?

I literally have about a dozen different things that I want to write about right now, including three that have been sitting in open tabs on my browser as reminders since Saturday. Right now, however, I figured I'd address a story that caught my eye earlier today, and attempt a little detective work to get to the bottom of things.

Every week for the last seventeen years, I have received a copy of Sports Illustrated in the mail. As it has become easier to access information online, however, my reading habits have changed. Where once I used to get the magazine a Thursday afternoon and read it by Thursday night, making sure to save Rick Reilly's column for last, I now get it on Thursday afternoon and read it...whenever I get to it, really. The reason is simple: most of what I actually read, the letters and feature stories, isn't extraordinarily time-sensitive, so I can leave it until I have a few minutes. Today, for example, I misplaced the book I had been reading, Stephen King's newest collection of short stories, so I grabbed SI.

The first thing I came to worth reading, besides the letters and a short obituary for Wayman Tisdale, was a story about Randy Johnson and his road to three hundred wins. I like baseball and have recently had conversations about The Big Unit with a couple friends, so I read it.

Near the beginning, Dave Valle told a story that I guess was supposed to highlight Johnson's dominance in the early 1990s. It went like this:

So dominant was Johnson that before a game in 1993, the home plate umpire told Mariners catcher Dave Valle, "They don't even need you with Randy pitching."

"What are you talking about?" replied Valle, who would not name the ump.

"He's so good they don't need you. Let me call the pitches tonight."

"I let him call every pitch," recalls Valle, to whom the umpire whispered pitches under his breath.

An overpowering Johnson went the distance in a Mariners victory.

Before deciding to post, I did a Google search for "Randy Johnson, umpire." Two results came up regarding this story - one from a blog that basically said, "This story HAS to be made up...right?" and another that did some of the same leg work I had also done, and will talk about in a minute. The point is, this is a pretty big deal. This is an umpire, the guy who is supposed to be an impartial arbiter, directly injecting himself into the events on the field.

This, in my opinion, is a much bigger deal than Alex Rodriguez tipping pitches to opposing middle infielders. Pitch tipping has gone on forever in baseball - I just read Peter Golenbeck's history of the Red Sox. At one point, he wrote about how when Jimmie Foxx, a well-liked player around the league was chasing Ruth's homerun record in the 1930s, pitchers would give him easy pitches to hit, trying to help him out. I'm almost positive I've never heard of an umpire trying to do something like this before (although there's this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I once read something similar. If anyone can help me out, please do so).

So I decided that this story deserved some attention. To Baseball-Reference!

1. The game was a complete game victory for Johnson.

Randy Johnson pitched ten complete games in 1993, winning seven of them. The dates and umpires for those games are as follows:

April 21 – Jim McKean
April 26 – Tim Welke
May 16 – Dale Scott
August 20 – Ken Kaiser
September 5 – Joe Brinkman
September 21 – Ed Hickox
October 1 – Drew Coble

2. The umpire said, "Let me call the pitches tonight."

It's a pretty common thing for people in baseball to refer to every game as "tonight." It's one of those little mind-melting things that comes from playing 162 games and traveling all over the country in a six month period. For the sake of the argument, however, I'm going to assume that the umpire was actually referring to a night game. If that's the case, we lose two day games and the list looks like this:

April 21 – Jim McKean
April 26 – Tim Welke
August 20 – Ken Kaiser
September 21 – Ed Hickox
October 1 – Drew Coble

3. Valle refused to name the umpire.

Most likely, Valle didn't want to name names because he realized this could become a complicated story and he didn't want to make life any more difficult than necessary for the umpire in question. Another possibility is that he didn't want to name names because the umpire in the story is still active and might be subject to some sort of censure by Major League Baseball (well, assuming MLB was willing to punish people for past sins).

There's a good chance that Valle was protecting the reputation of someone like Ken Kaiser or Drew Coble, respected umpires who would only be hurt by having their names mentioned in connection with a story of questionable ethics. I'm more inclined to believe that it's the latter, that the umpire is still active, which leaves the list looking like this:

April 26 - Tim Welke
September 21 - Ed Hickox

This is all pure speculation on my part, of course, and relies on Valle's story being truthful from the start. I hope he's exaggerating quite a bit. But if Major League Baseball cares at all about integrity, it should look into this some more and address it, even if only internally.

Conversations With My Parents

In the past, I've mentioned that my father is generally a quiet man. What I might not have made clear is that he has a terrific, albeit dry, sense of humor. Saturday night, when we visited my parents after my nephew's tenth birthday party, the following exchange took place:

My mother (talking to me): Do you realize that this year, I'll be twice as old as you?

Me: Well, yeah, it makes sense. You were thirty when I was born, and I'm thirty this year, so you'll be twice as old. It's like when Anna (my younger sister) turns 35, you'll be 70.

My father (talking to no one in particular): Holy shit.

I wish I could do a better job of explaining how perfect the timing was. No sooner was the word "seventy" out of my mouth than he responded. It's actually even funnier than you'd first think because he's almost four year older than she is. By the time she hits seventy, he'll be well on his way to - gasp! - eighty. And when my father turns eighty, I'll be...46.

Holy shit.

2009 Baseball Ejections: Wild Wild West

Nearly two years ago, I compiled a list of players, managers, and coaches who had been ejected from Major League Baseball games in 2007. It was a time-consuming process that I always assumed could be done more easily than the method I used, which involved me sitting in front of the computer, clicking on each individual box score and scrolling down to the bottom to see if anyone had been tossed. Because of the amount of time involved and the fact that last summer was, on a scale of 1-10, a 1.3 for me personally, I decided not to put another list together.

Lately, though, I got an itch. Maybe it was the Eddie Guardado ejection on April 30, when Easy Eddie was brought into the game with the bases loaded, promptly walked the first batter he faced on four pitches, was removed from the game, THEN ejected by the home plate umpire. Or maybe it was April 12, when Joe West went on a rampage, tossing three Los Angeles Angels who had the temerity to express displeasure that Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett appeared to have thrown intentionally at Bobby Abreu's head (manager Mike Scioscia joined them the next inning when he was given the heave-ho by Ed Rapuono; ironically, Beckett was the one who was later suspended for his actions).

Actually, I don't remember when I decided to put this list together again, but I remember when I knew it was a good idea: on May 16, when Angels pitcher John Lackey (angry start for the Halos, with seven ejections already) was thrown out for hitting Ian Kinsler in the ribs. The catch, of course, was that even though Kinsler had hit two homeruns the night before and was leading off the game, it was Lackey's first game of the season after spending six weeks on the disabled list. He threw two pitches. The ump who ran him was not, unfortunately, Joe West.

The current list of 2009 ejections is below. Please feel free to email or comment with any that I have missed or misidentified. And, if you stumbled upon this and find the subject reasonably interesting, you owe it to yourself to check out The Left Field Corner, home of the MLB Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. My stuff is basically found in list form - over there, they give a lot of information, with links and graphs and all sorts of cool stuff. It's pretty awesome.

(Oh, and at some point, the plan is to go back through previous years and take down that information as well. I know places like Elias and SABR keep lists of these things, but I've never been able to find them online. If they are, and my life's work is now worthless, feel free to break the bad news, gently.)

(complete through May 20, 2009)

Japan (World Baseball Classic)
March 17 – Kenji Johjima, catcher
Top 7th by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt

Baltimore Orioles (2)
April 28 – Dave Trembly, manager
Top 7th by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez for arguing a balk call

May 3 – Dave Trembly, manager (2)
Bottom 5th by home plate umpire Chris Tiller for arguing balls and strikes

Boston Red Sox (1)
May 14 – Terry Francona, manager
Top 10th by home plate umpire Bill Miller for arguing balls and strikes

Chicago Cubs (1)
April 16 – Milton Bradley, pinch hitter
Bottom 6th by home plate umpire Larry Vanover for arguing balls and strikes

Chicago White Sox (2)
May 13 – Jermaine Dye, right field
Top 6th by home plate umpire Mike DiMuro for arguing balls and strikes

May 13 – Ozzie Guillen, manager
Top 6th by home plate umpire Mike DiMuro for arguing balls and strikes

Cincinnati Reds (2)
April 25 – Dusty Baker, manager
Bottom 4th by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes

April 25 – Jerry Hairston, Jr., center field
Bottom 4th by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes

Cleveland Indians (2)
April 27 – Eric Wedge, manager
Top 4th by home plate umpire CB Bucknor for arguing a foul ball call

May 15 – Eric Wedge, manager (2)
Top 3rd by home plate umpire Greg Gibson for arguing a play at the plate

Colorado Rockies (1)
April 13 – Clint Hurdle, manager
Mid 5th by first base umpire Tim McClelland for arguing a balk call

Detroit Tigers (1)
May 13 – Jim Leyland, manager
Top 7th by home plate umpire Paul Schrieber for arguing after Schrieber made physical contact with Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez

Florida Marlins (4)
May 15 – Fredi Gonzalez, manager
Bottom 8th by first base umpire Ed Rapuono for arguing a hit batsman call

May 15 – Dan Uggla, second base
Bottom 8th by home plate umpire Joe West for arguing balls and strikes

May 15 – Emilio Bonifacio, second base
Bottom 9th by first base umpire Ed Rapuono for arguing a call at first base

May 20 – Jeremy Hermida, left field
Bottom 10th by home plate umpire Todd Tichenor for arguing balls and strikes

Houston Astros (2)
April 25 – Ivan Rodriguez, catcher
Top 8th by home plate umpire Mike Dimuro for arguing balls and strikes

April 25 – Cecil Cooper, manager
Top 8th by home plate umpire Mike Dimuro for arguing balls and strikes

Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim (7)
April 12 – Mickey Hatcher, hitting coach
Bottom 1st by second base umpire Joe West for arguing after Boston pitcher Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu

April 12 – Torii Hunter, center field
Bottom 1st by second base umpire Joe West for arguing after Boston pitcher Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu

April 12 – Justin Speier, pitcher
Bottom 1st by second base umpire Joe West for arguing after Boston pitcher Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu

April 12 – Mike Scioscia, manager
Top 2nd by third base umpire Ed Rapuano for continuing to argue the previous ejections

April 21 – Mike Scioscia, manager (2)
Bottom 6th by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes

May 6 – Mike Scioscia, manager (3)
Top 8th by home plate umpire Bill Hohn for arguing a warning

May 16 – John Lackey, pitcher
Bottom 1st by home plate umpire Bob Davidson for hitting a batter (It was Lackey’s first start of the season after spending the first six weeks on the disabled list. He threw two pitches: the first went behind Kinsler, the second hit him in the ribs.)

Minnesota Twins (1)
May 14 – Ron Gardenhire, manager
Bottom 7th by home plate umpire Paul Nauert for arguing a hit batsman

New York Mets (2)
May 7 – Jerry Manuel, manager
Top 8th by first base umpire Bill Welke for arguing an obstruction call

May 15 – Jerry Manuel, manager (2)
Top 8th by home plate umpire Doug Eddings for arguing balls and strikes

New York Yankees (3)
May 4 – Joe Girardi, manager
Bottom 5th by home plate umpire Jerry Meals for arguing balls and strikes

May 6 – Nick Swisher, right field
Bottom 7th by home plate umpire James Hoye for arguing balls and strikes

May 15 – Johnny Damon, left field
Bottom 3rd by home plate umpire Wally Bell for arguing balls and strikes

Oakland Athletics (1)
May 9 – Bob Geren, manager
Bottom 7th by home plate umpire Paul Nauert for arguing balls and strikes

Philadelphia Phillies (1)
April 25 – Charlie Manuel, manager
Top 10th by home plate umpire Ed Montague for arguing balls and strikes

San Francisco Giants (2)
May 15 – Bruce Bochy, manager
Bottom 8th by home plate umpire Doug Eddings for arguing balls and strikes

May 20 – Bruce Bochy, manager (2)
Top 8th by first base umpire Gary Cederstrom for arguing a play at first base

Tampa Bay Rays (2)
April 16 – Joe Maddon, manager
Top 6th by home plate umpire Brian Gorman for arguing a foul ball

May 2 – Jim Hickey, pitching coach
Top 7th by home plate umpire John Hirschbeck for arguing balls and strikes

Texas Rangers (2)
April 28 – Chris Davis, first base
Bottom 6th by home plate umpire Eric Cooper for arguing balls and strikes

April 30 – Eddie Guardado, pitcher
Top 7th by home plate umpire Angel Campos (“Before Matt Holliday homered in the ninth, Oakland got runs on two sacrifice flies and a bases-loaded walk issued by Eddie Guardado, who threw four balls to the only batter he faced and was ejected by umpire Angel Campos after he had already been taken out of the game.”)

Washington Nationals (2)
April 17 – Manny Acta, manager
Bottom 4th by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes

Thoughts On Steroids, Courtesy Of Arthur Ashe

I started making weekly regular trips to the local library about six months ago and immediately fell in love with the ongoing book sale located just inside the front door. There are some really good titles there, by authors like Stephen Ambrose and David Halberstam, and hardly a week goes by that I don't spend a dollar or two to pick up a book that catches my eye.

Awhile back, probably when I was on my tennis kick during the Australian Open in January, I bought "Arthur Ashe On Tennis." It has a little bit of everything: advice on the best grips, thoughts on modern players (it was published in the 1990s), different strategies for amateur players. I haven't read it straight through or anything, but it's one of those books I tend to keep in the bathroom and thumb through from time to time.

I was doing just that the other day when I came across a passage that was very interesting, especially in light of recent events. In the section on traditions, under the heading, "The Most Abused Rule," Ashe writes the following:

"Just about every amateur or club player abuses the foot fault rule. It is one of those things that separates the pros from the amateurs. The amateurs really don't give a damn, but for the pros it's a big deal.

Is it cheating? Let's put it this way. Cheating is breaking the rules on the sly. If you are breaking the rules and everybody knows it, you really are not cheating. You are giving yourself an advantage but you are not breaking any moral code. It is illegal but not immoral, I would say. It is exactly like a gimme on a six-inch putt in golf."

One of the things we tend to hear about the Steroid Era is that it was the sort of situation where everyone knew what was going on...and turned a blind eye to it. So, in Arthur Ashe's view, those who used 'roids in baseball back in the day weren't cheating or being immoral (even though they were breaking the rules). They were just seeking the same advantage as everyone else. Interesting.

I Really Need To Go Through My Closet

The draft for the fantasy football league my brother and I are in was held last year at a North Hampton restaurant called Wings Your Way. At the end, his friend Ernie disappeared for a few minutes before returning with t-shirts for everyone. On the back, the company logo. On the front, the words, "I Got Boned."

For obvious reasons, this is what I like to refer to as one of my weekend shirts, meaning I only wear it around the house on the weekends, and rarely then. Never outside.

Today, after looking through my available t-shirts, I settled on Wings Your Way. The plan was to lounge around the house all day, maybe do some laundry or wash some dishes, so it should've been safe.

Should've been.

Around 3:45, I got a little cabin fever and decided to go for a walk. We had left my car with Vicki's parents when we went to the movies last night and I figured I could get it and some exercise at the same time. I even took the trash out on the way. All the right moves, baby.

I was probably a quarter mile from home when I realized that I had forgotten to change my shirt. Two kids in an SUV ran a stop sign, putting me into "Outraged Old Man" mode. My mood changed as they passed, however, and I swear I heard the girl behind the wheel say, "Does that say, 'I Got Boned'?" Why yes, young lady, it does.

The rest of the 1 1/2 mile walk was a blast, to say the least. I spent most of it concocting various scenarios in which groups of big mean guys mocked my shirt and I disarmed them with witty comebacks delivered in a dry, "I'm laughing now, but will gladly kick your ass later," manner. Think Bruce Willis in any of the Die Hard movies, only instead of a tough-as-nails New York cop, he's a short fat guy from New Hampshire who's never been in a fight. That was my imaginary situation, which surprisingly did not come to fruition. Much a pity.

Anyway, I got to Vicki's parents without further incident (although I'm pretty sure there were some strange looks from passing cars). My mother-in-law got a kick out of the fact that I had been wandering the streets of Milford in the state my wardrobe was in, so hey, at least I brought some joy to somebody's life.

And I got to drive home instead of walking, which was nice.

I Was Thinking...

I haven't written a random thoughts post in forever. Come to think of it, I haven't written a post in forever. But the baby is sleeping, lunch is cooking, and I have a bit of the writing itch creeping up. We'll see what happens.

...we went to the Milford Drive-In last night to see "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and "Taken". Both were good, although Vicki tired of me asking if Liam Neeson was "gonna kick that guy's ass" about five minutes into the latter movie. What a relief when he actually did kick somebody's ass.

...I did have one major problem with each movie. In "Wolverine", Hugh Jackman probably shouted, "VICTOR!" at least five times throughout. It would've been nice if they had figured out some other way for him to announce to his brother that an ass-kicking was imminent. And in "Taken", every time Maggie Grace approached someone, she ran up to them like a little kid. Her character was supposed to be seventeen, but she acted like an eight-year-old. If Liam Neeson hadn't wanted to save her so bad, I would've been rooting for the bad guys to win.

...my kid (or any future kids) is never, ever going on a trip - to Europe, to Boston, to the Cumberland Farms down the street - without adult supervision.

...I can't get over the number of times lately that I have seen cars pulled over by police in completely unsafe areas. Pretty sure that it's not good to completely obstruct one full lane in a two lane road, or less than a hundred feet from a highway on-ramp (again blocking a full lane and requiring cars to pass unsafely. Maybe the stops are warranted, but if they are for nothing more than minor traffic violations, better judgment should be used.

...cheap plug: my writing these days can be found at Bus Leagues Baseball (more often than it's found here, anyway). My most recent posts are an interview with minor league baseball player Paul Rutgers and a video of Jacoby Ellsbury stealing home against the Yankees.