Even without Brad, Storm have "Sac Fly" Controversy Again

Storm defeated the A’s 21-4 and Duran hit for the cycle. Some things went as expected. And then there were some things that were less expected.

With Brad MacInfield Fly out of the lineup (but his favourite umpire present), Jeff stepped up to the plate for some more infield fly controversy. He hit something between a line drive and a fly ball over the pitcher’s head between second, short stop, and pitcher. The umpire’s voice was not heard on the play, and the ball dropped harmlessly to the ground before the second baseman could make the play. None of the A’s defenders looked like they were going to make the play. After the ball dropped, the A’s complained it was an infield fly. The umpire said, “yeah, that’s right, batter’s out.” At which point Jeff and many other members of Storm complained. 

MLB states , “An infield fly is any fair fly ball (not including a line drive or a bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort.” Here is the first problem. None of the A’s players looked like they had a shot at getting to the ball with extraordinary effort, let alone ordinary effort. But the bigger issue comes later in the definition. “In these situations, the umpire will declare ‘infield fly’ for the benefit of the baserunners as soon as it is apparent that the fly ball qualifies as an infield fly.” This ump claimed that because he said, “infield fly in effect” before the pitch was thrown, the batter was out because a ball was hit in the air in the infield. However, that is not what the rule says. The rule says that the umpire must call it when it is “apparent that the fly ball qualifies as an infield fly,” which implies that a ball can be hit in the air in the infield and not qualify.

This is the third time this umpire has made strange calls surrounding infield flies. The first was an out called on a foul ball (look back at the definition). The second, the umpire overcompensated by telling the opposing team they had to touch an infield fly that had dropped before it went foul. And then tonight. 

But more upsetting than the infield fly was the A’s treatment of Rene. With two strikes Rene hit a ball back up the middle that bounced off the pitcher’s leg. That sucks. But it wasn’t intentional. Rene was obviously upset about having hit the pitcher. But the next two times Rene came to the plate, the A’s intentionally walked him. If he had hit the pitcher multiple times, maybe that would be understandable. But hitting a pitcher once on a two strike count when he was just trying not to strike out? 

For a game that was pretty much over after the first inning, there was a lot more controversy than you’d expect. Maybe if Storm just hit all the balls to the outfield their problems would end.

Storm    21  -   A's 4

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
A's	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	4
Storm	5	4	3	5	0	4	x	21

Storm lose both ends of the doubleheader

Triple Play took an early lead scoring six in the top of the first. Storm tried to keep the damage at bay keeping Triple Play off the scoreboard in the second and third, but only managed four runs through the first three frames and still trailed 6-4. Triple Play opened it up in the top of the fourth, scoring another six runs. If that wasn’t bad enough, the fifth inning was open and Triple Play took advantage of it to score eight. 

Storm started to find some offence in the bottom of the sixth. They scored five bringing their total to 11. Triple Play wouldn’t score again, but their 20 runs were more than enough (more than Storm scored in both games of the doubleheader actually). Storm will have to find their bats soon, or postseason problems could arrive!

Regular season problems could arrive. Storm needs one more win to avoid playing on Friday night and they need to win four of their last seven to clinch first place. Until Sunday, these things seemed certain, but now…

In other news, Mills hurt himself sliding into second when his run literally didn’t matter. It looked like it could be serious, but he moved pretty quickly trying to get to the wings after the game, so apparently he will not have to spend any extended time on the IL. 

Storm    13  -   Triple Play 20

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Triple Play	6	0	0	6	8	0	0	20
Storm	2	0	2	2	0	5	2	13

Storm loses clash of the WMSPL Titans

 Storm and Crew played in a pitcher's duel in the first game on Sunday night. The Crew scored a pair in each of the first three innings, which was miraculously enough to be up 6-3. Scotty was throwing a gem and struck out Renee who was suffering from some ennui after his return from Paris (read it the French way to make the sentence sound better). Renee struck out swinging at a pitch that hot the matt. In a show of incredible fraternity, Duran decided to make Renee feel better and struck out as well (though his was a foul out). 

Storm was unable to muster much offense and The Crew played tight defence to hold on to a 13-8 victory. There were two highly questionable calls at second. Mills clearly threw a runner out at second from centre, so the team was in shock when the umpire called safe. Then the game ended on Lance sliding into second and being called out, though it looked like the tag was late.

It was unlikely those calls would have made much difference, but they added to  the frustration of the evening.

The Crew 13 - Storm  8 

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
The Crew	2	2	2	0	0	4	3	13
Storm	1	0	3	0	0	2	2	8

Storm Wars Episode XXIX - Return of the Palindrome

Storm was awfully short handed (or was it short legged) against the Expos. They were so short handed/legged that they had to make some roster moves, reinstating the no longer bionic man much earlier than anticipated.

Storm didn’t miss a beat, and neither did Bob AKA the Palindrome, as he swung at the first pitch he saw and knocked a double. Everyone was hitting for Storm as they scored six in the first without giving up a single out. In the second, Storm recorded one out (a sacrifice fly) en route to another six run mercy.

The Expos figured out that innings end faster when they get outs, and they started recording some. Not as quickly as they would have liked, though as Storm went on to beat them 24-8.

Some interesting notes:

Bob was back and looked like his old self, making a couple of nice plays in the outfield and swinging at the first pitch his first few at bats. Then something strange happened. Bob took two pitches and fouled one off and ended up seeing four pitches in an at bat. There were no pigs flying. We sent Scoops to see if Hell was frozen over, but he hasn’t returned.

Mills had an incredible game in the outfield. He was moving so quickly it actually looked like he was standing still and the ground was moving beneath him. Every player had to check to see if Mills was right behind them every time a ball was in the air.

Cycle watch:

Duran, as usual, was chasing the cycle, but it was Mills who actually accomplished the feat. Of special note here, though, is both players hit solo home runs in their quest for cycles.

Storm 24 - Expos  8  

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Expos	3	0	0	0	0	3	2	8
Storm	6	6	1	2	2	7	0	24