posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 3:50 AM
by
Jim
To the official scorer's phone!
Paul Konerko was charged with a rare error when he failed to catch the second half of a double play that should have been completed -- a somewhat wide throw by Alexei Ramirez. The gaffe eventually led to the Sox's undoing in
a 4-1 loss to the Royals Thursday night.
Scorers don't usually assume a double play, especially when there's fault with the throw. Ramirez's toss was probably catchable, but Konerko did have to stretch toward home plate. Under most circumstances, it would go down as a fielder's choice and a difficult turn, and that would be that.
In fact,
ESPN.com's play-by-play as of now called it a fielder's choice. Then you look at
the box score, and it's labeled an error with two unearned runs charged to Mark Buehrle. Then you look at
ESPN.com's player page, and it gives Buehrle two earned runs. MLB.com has updated
its player page with two unearned runs, so that's probably the way it will stand.
In conclusion, it looks like an intial ruling was reversed, with Konerko getting the E-3 and Buehrle lowering his ERA to 3.68 instead of 3.83.
Mark Gonzalez made a brief note of it in his gamer:
Buehrle's bad luck surfaced when he deflected David DeJesus' potential
double-play grounder. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera fielded it and flipped
to second for a force, but first baseman Paul Konerko couldn't handle
Ramirez's relay and was charged with an error.
"It's a tough error," Konerko said. "But the play wasn't made, and that's that."
That's why he's the captain -- and I say that without a hint of sarcasm.
Buehrle pitched very well, and it's in a way, it's good to see "bad luck" associated with a Buehrle loss considering it often went understated that he was the victim of horrible, horrible defense during his early struggles.
On the other ... well, it's two more unearned runs. Buehrle's on pace for 15 of them this year, which would be the second-highest total in his career. These ones were preventable, as he threw a bad first pitch to a first-pitch-swinging Mike Aviles, and scored DeJesus from first with a double.
I suppose the good news is that in the only year he allowed more than 15 unearned runs, the White Sox won the World Series. So there's that.
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Speaking of calling the press box, Joe Cowley had a little more to say about Orlando Cabrera after his altercation with Jermaine Dye in the dugout Wednesday:
Cabrera is a bad guy, selfish and cares about one person, but both
he and the Sox need each other for a few months longer and then can
spit on one another through the media. Next!
To his credit, he's taking lumps and firing back in the comments section -- in which both fans and Cowley are wrong at times. My favorite part, after Cowley said he hadn't been wrong about anything he's reported this year:
Hey Joe,
I'm still on the team. Your wrong count is wrong. Hack.
--Juan Uribe
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fine - Updated Cowley Wrong Count: 1. Happy?
I'm not sure where
the Torii Hunter report falls -- it did pertain to this season, but it technically happened around Thanksgiving of 2007. In that particular case, I'm so grateful his story didn't materialize that I have no desire to hold it against him.
By the way, he speaks of Cabrera similarly to how he spoke of Jon Garland, and as White Sox split-ups go, that one was remarkably smooth.
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As for Dye, the other guy in the feud,
he won't be making an extra trip to New York City.
He took the news well.
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Minor league roundup:- Charlotte 8, Richmond 2
- Wes Whisler allowed just one unearned run over six innings on five hits and a walk, striking out three.
- Chris Getz doubled, homered and drove in two. It was his seventh, and all have come at home.
- Cole Armstrong went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, and is now 21 for 38 (.553) in Charlotte.
- Josh Fields went hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts.
- Carolina 4, Birmingham 3
- Dewon Day pitched four scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking four. He has an 11-inning scoreless streak (three outings).
- Stefan Gartrell tripled and drove in a run.
- Frederick 8, Winston-Salem 4
- John Shelby hit a two-run homer, his ninth.
- Michael Dubee was shelled for six runs over 2 1/3 innings.
- Matt Zaleski pitched 3 2/3 shutout innings in relief.
- Columbus 3, Kannapolis 2 (Susp. 3rd inning)
- Mark Fleisher and Sergio Morales hit solo homers.
- Levi Maxwell allowed three runs on four hits over two innings.
- Orem 13, Great Falls 0
- Wilmer Rojas allowed seven runs on six hits, and only recorded two outs. His line from his last two games: 1.2 IP, 9 H, 13 ER, 4 BB, 1 K.
- Mike Grace and Doug Thennis each had two-hit games.
- Bristol PPD (again)