Runge does right thing
-
- June
- 26
A couple of days ago I called for MLB to do the right thing and discipline umpire Brian Runge. No need to now. Runge did the right thing. He manned up, admitted his mistake and apologized to Jerry Manuel.
That gesture did more than any punishment could achieve.
I hope MLB lets this pass now. I also hope, in the future, when a player or manager gets out of line and offers a genuine apology to an umpire, that MLB notes this and also lets it slide.
There’s a lot to be said for civility.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:39 pm by John Delcos.
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JD, you beat me to it….
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3462067
I guess you should beat me, it is your job and all!!! Only kidding!
It was just announced that all 3 (Beltran, Manuel and Runge) were fined, with Runge getting a 1 game suspension.
I didn't think the whole thing was such a big deal. It was obvious that something Beltran said really angered Runge. Players are not allowed to argue ball/strike calls. Runge could have immediately ejected Beltran. The way Beltran was shaking his head and jawing I thought Runge was going to eject him right away. Manual was too aggressive in my opinion. He was trying to be tough guy. It was just about to die down when Manuel charged in an re-ignited it.
Anyway what about the Mets acquiring Andy Phillips? Why do this? He is not good. Not good. No better than Delgado.
this whole team is confusing…..decent starting pitching, decent bullen, 3 good position players in Beltran, Wright, and Reyes. The rest of the team including Delgado, Schneider, Castillo, and whom ever fills in in RF and LF stinks…along with a crappy bench. 2008 NY Mets are clearly a .500 team. NO Better NO Worse….
Its an off day and the umpire thing is boring already. I have nothing better to do with my time, so I was brainstorming a way to get the Mets offense charged up. I keep hearing serious changes are coming. I dont see a blockbuster trade on the horizon, so lets shake up what weve got and see what happens. Here is the new batting order:
1. Castillo
2. Beltran
3. Reyes
4. Wright
5 Church
6 Delgado
7 Tatis or whoever
8.Schneider
Reasons Why: Reyes is on of our top run producers. He has driven in 24 runs since the beginning of May and thats from the leadoff spot. His slugging pct. is only behind Church on the team. Thats right higher than Beltran and Wright. This also lets Beltran go back to no.2 where he is most comfortable and can bunt at will. Its time to put Wright in the cleanup spot, and the righty lefty works out. Castillo and Beltran both have good obps to be top of the lineup guys. I say If we dont see improvement soon, try this lineup for a week and see what happens. What say you? and remember, John said play nice. :D
I like it Ray. Of course people will tell you you're crazy batting Reyes 3rd but I see the logic in it. Reyes has serious power. He's not your typical slap and dash speed guy.
Only thing is Church is not back yet.
Taylor, Thank you. Church will be back this weekend. Reyes is reminding me of soriano with a little less power, but better basestealer and who draws some walks. If anybody out there knows where to get the stats on avg. w men in scoring position, and avg w men in scoring position and 2 outs Id like to see Reyes numbers and where he ranks on the team. Im pretty sure hes one of the best.
Ray: I'm down wit it.
baseball-reference.com has tons of splits and stuff. That's where I'd look 1st.
I just checked it. They have it. Look him up then click on splits along the top and then scroll down to clutch stats.
Taylor,
Thanks, man. Now I know where all the geeks get thier stats.
2 outs RISP, Joses OPS is .908. That is 136 points higher than the lead avg. All of his clutch stats are 90 pts higher than league avg. How many runs can this guy knock in from the 3 hole? It would be fun to see.
Not sure I agree here.
Castillo is a part time player and will not run. he will clog up the bases for the ones behind him.
Jose is the fastest on the team, I dont see him as a power hitter or a contact hitter. Yes he has some pop, but i want him hitting singles not doubles and homers. every one will slow him down, plus i am afraid he will get wild.
the problem i see with the lineup is your 2 or 3 should make the pitcher work. we dont have that bat in the lineup and there is always delgado who is a huge hole. no alou no delgado is what is wrong with the lineup.
either way, castillo cant be #1. i think he is terrible there.
if you really want to move beltran to 2, keep reyes at 1 and slide church into 3. of course we dont have anyone behind wright, but this is an incomplete team anyway.
the team now has several problems: no LF, no 1B, no 2B.
2B is castillo/easley but you try and hide castillo somewhere – usually 2 and let him lay down a bunt to move reyes, but really, castillo is not the player he was last year when he came over. he hit better then and he didnt screw up in the field. i guess that last contract did it. easley is ok as a platoon, but nothing more.
Dave,
I appreciate your feedback. Let me address a couple of your concerns. I will take them one by one.
1. Castillo is a part timer
answer Castillo is not a part timer he is fifth on the team in at bats. not a part timer.
2. Castillo is 11 for 13 in sbs and has been a leadoff man most of his career. Beltran is 11 for 12. these guys are not clogging up anybody.
3. Reyes is not a typical leadoff hitter. He has plenty of pop as evidenced by his second place slugging pct. on the team.
4. Yes Jose is the fastest, but hes not the only one who can steal a base. His potential may be put to its fullest hitting in a run producing position. He is not a singles hitter. He hits a ton of extra base hits and is not far behind the team leaders in Home Runs!!!!. Its time for a change. Delgado and Alou cannot be counted on to produce. Maybe we have a Run Producer in our midst who has been pegged as a leadoff hitter because of his great speed and has been overlooked as a possible answer. Why not give it a try at this point? JD, Still waiting for your input.
I almost forgot, Castillo, despite a terrible last month, still has an OBP 4 pts higher than Reyes.
There is a lot of humility still in the game which has been known for the worst brawls in the history of sport. That is a great example of things being not as bad as they seem.
I have to just say one thing here about this idea that certain batters 'clog up the bases'. I think this is vastly overstated. There are lots of players who don't run but that is not the same as 'clogging' the bases. A clog like a clog in your sink drain means that something in front is impeding the progress of something behind. So in baseball this would mean a play where a runnner on first can't go 1st to 3rd because the runner on 2nd can't score on a single. This can happen but its pretty rare. Castillo is not someone who will prevent any runners behind him from advancing as far as they can. You need a really really slow runner to have that effect.