gil4

We scored a run so hopefully we can bring in our cl ... never mind.

It worked, but it doesn't mean I have to like the strategy.

HBP PB

I would much rather have pitched to Pujols.

He was able to smack the bottom of the luck jar and get one more glob out.

I had just typed "Zach Duke in to throw BP", but he got an out before I could post. It still fits.

Apparently perfection wasn't his goal and he opted for more of that stinkin' consistency instead.

And he'll still get paid next year (and deserve it.)

Nope - stayed south. Salt Lake City to Portland by way of Boise. Then Portland to Yellowstone by way of Boise/Twin Falls/Idaho Falls. Pre-GPS - don't judge the routes.

Me too, and I only have the replays on MLB.com Gameday. Too much "that's how I used to do it" on the Buxton catch.

Idaho was a drive-through (twice), but it's a long drive, so I count it. I've lived in CT, MS, TX, NM, and OK, and we have family in GA and FL. Families with six kids don't fly much (unless the AF is paying the bill), but we traveled a lot.

Montana barely counts - there is a little part of Yellowstone that's just over the border. I've been there twice, once so I could say I've been to Montana and once so my kids could all say they have been. We went swimming - freezing river meets scalding hot spring. They have the spring marked to keep people from getting burned, but there are parts that are like a hot tub and parts like a tub of ice. The idea is to swim along the line in between (or go back and forth.) It was worth the trip (since we were at Yellowstone already.)

Checked profile - "small town SD" = I don't know it. Born in St. Paul, lots of family in the Twin Cities, but never been to ND or SD. I've been to every other state except AK and HI.

That's OK. I liked it better the way you wrote it, except now I'm hungry. Congrats, btw. What school?

I never do.

Fuzzy feelings are overrated. I already had chicken for dinner today, so we have to win.

Maybe that's what happened. "Sid, all they are going to give me is 1 yr / $12M, which is pretty insulting. I could use some time off and you could use some beer money. How about you pretend you're me and I'll split the checks with you."

Maybe they had our pregame comments posted in the dugout before the game.

Saves them from having to find that replacement guy who is exactly replacement level, I guess.

He has had a pretty amazing career for a high-school dropout who got his start in the media delivering papers.

That's him. I can relate.

There was a Ron Luciano book "The Umpire Strikes Back" that talked about MLB umpires struggling with it, but I'm guessing he was exaggerating. It's not THAT complicated.

I had one when I was coaching I had one when I was coaching. They switched their 7 and 8 batter. The first two batters got out (8 & 7), but 9 got a hit. I appealed for batting out of order - it would have been 8 declared out and 9 leading off the next (instead of a baserunner and the top of the order coming up), but it was the town league, the umpire didn't understand (they were at the 9th spot in the book and the 9th batter hit was his logic.) I played under protest mainly to make him look up the rule after the game. We won, so the protest was ignored, but it was such a beautiful setup to use the rule foiled by incompetence of the umpire. (That's a stronger word than I want to use, but my thesaurus is coming up empty. In the town league, it they are paying attention to the play and making calls after the plays happen, not before, we're doing good. Understanding the complexities of batting out of order is an unrealistic expectation.)

You may have heard about the Mets batting out of order against the Reds on Wednesday. It's pretty rare in the majors, last occurring July 4, 2016. The crew chief Jerry Meals said he last saw it in the minors 32 years ago. The most entertaining thing about this is that MLB managers don't understand the rule and are willing to demonstrate their ignorance publicly. Here is a quick recap of what happened. The Mets' lineup card turned in at the pre-game conference listed the first five batters as Nimmo, Cabrera, Flores, Bruce, and Gonzalez, but the lineup posted in the dugout (and on the scoreboard) had Flores and Cabrera reversed. In the first inning, Nimmo and Flores struck out. Cabrera then hit a ground rule double. The Reds appealed, and Cabrera was removed from the bases, and the third out was declared. (More on that later.) Here is confused manager number one: "I knew right when they went up there that we were out of order," [Mets manager Mickey] Callaway said. "It was an administrative thing that I didn't take care of. Once they announce you, you can't do anything." He was wrong and could have avoided the whole mess if he understood the rule. You can't undo a sub once announced, but with batting out order, there is no penalty until the improper batter has completed the at-bat. If it is discovered during the at-bat, the remedy is to have the proper batter assume the count and finish the at-bat. The fun continued in the top of the second. The Mets send Gonzalez up to bat, and he hits a single. Reds manager Jim Riggleman thought he was going to get another free out because the Mets skipped Bruce. This time the Mets were right and he was wrong. The first pitch to Cabrera made the previous batter (Flores) legal, which meant the proper batter should have been Bruce. When Cabrera completed the at-bat, the improper batter (Cabrera) was removed from the bases and the proper batter (Bruce) was declared out for failing to appear in his turn. Gonzalez followed Bruce in the lineup and was the correct batter to have leading off the next inning. This led to some fun in the box score as well. When Cabrera hit that double, it was treated as if it didn't happen. Cabrera's spot in the lineup was legally skipped in the first inning, so Cabrera was 0-for-3 despite batting four times and having no BB, HBP, Sac or SF to explain the missing AB. Poor Jay Bruce's rough year reached a new low - he managed to go 0-for-4 while only coming to the plate three times. I bet he doesn't like the rule as much as I do.