The Twins were predictably eliminated in painful fashion on Sunday. They got the lead for the third straight game, only to follow the script straight through to the part which called for A-Rod to bludgeon our pitching staff into submission.
Rather than complain about the Twins losing in the playoffs (I had them pegged for 75 wins and for most of the season, it looked like I was right), I'll make fun of the announcing staff.
During the early innings of last night's game, Ron Darling made the comment that ground balls hit on the Metrodome turf "gain speed" as they approach the infielders. Even if that didn't violate the laws of physics, such a field would be ridiculously dangerous. Imagine - bunt hits gaining momentum until, by the time they reach the outfield, they are hurtling at devastating speeds. Fielders daring not bounce their throws on the turf, lest they decapitate the intended recipient of their throws. Maybe he meant that the turf slows the ball down less than grass? Mmm.... no, I'm quite certain he meant it this way.
Of course, I'm being more than a little pedantic, but the team of Ron Darling and Chip Caray (particularly the latter) are quite possibly the worst announcers to listen to. I'm including Hall of Shamers like McCarver & Buck (Joe, of course, not his dearly departed father) in this ascertation. They get facts wrong, they (especially Caray) act as homers for all things Yankee, and worst of all, they bring absolutely nothing to the table. They're certainly not informative, they're just sort of... there (and the way Caray refers to just about every bloop hit as being 'fisted' is creepy to me).
Sour grapes notwithstanding, that was a pretty disgusting end to a season that defied expectations. You can't beat the Yankees by leaving 17 men on base in one game, or by blundering your way out of at least 2 runs by simply not paying any attention on the basepaths, or by hitting a grand total of zero home runs after putting up decent power numbers all year - and guess what......we didn't.
Ah well..... we'll always have last Tuesday's game.
Note: This gets the "Joe Buck Sucks" tag, because boy howdy does he ever.
I went on a mini-rant regarding this principal of turf with the ability to impart force on the ball to increase its speed.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I'm not the only one who noticed that Caray said "fisted" about 37 times. Good. I was beginning to think I was imagining it or dozing off (due to boring commentary). I even watched the replay and the balls were no where close. As if the adjective "bloop" needs any help (which it does not, take it from me; i'm a sportscaster myself), but at least get the area of the bat correct!
ReplyDeleteNote to MLB. Leave the baseball on the Sports networks. I'd rather watch on Versus than TBS.
Also, that bunt part is hilarious. I can just see A-Rod or whomever running up the field the ball and see a trail form behind it as it catches speed and leaves an indent in the wall. Hilarious.
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