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Lee MacPhail, one of the all time great GMs for the Orioles has died. Full details in NY TIMES.
Excerpt: Mr. MacPhail left the Yankees to become general manager of the Orioles in 1959. He developed a farm system in Baltimore that produced the Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, and he engineered the trade that brought the Hall of Fame slugger Frank Robinson from the Reds after the 1965 season. The Orioles won their first pennant in 1966, then swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Baseball was nicer game 50 years ago when MacPhail was in/around the game. The toughest incident he had to deal with was the "pine tar" incident in 1983, a far cry from today's drug scandals.
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The toughest incident he had to deal with was the "pine tar" incident in 1983, a far cry from today's drug scandals.
RIP Lee McPhail, but he was entirely wrong on his ruling in the Pine Tar Incident. Brett was out per the rules that were in force at the time. I think that McPhail's ruling was based on the perception that "nice guy" George Brett was being victimized by "bad guy" Billy Martin waiting to apply rules 6.06(a), 2.00 "Illegally batted ball", and 1.10, when it was to his advantage. I'd say that if the manager involved had been Tommy Lasorda, and the batter Dave Kingman, the umpire's ruling would have been upheld.
RIP Lee McPhail, but he was entirely wrong on his ruling in the Pine Tar Incident. Brett was out per the rules that were in force at the time. I think that McPhail's ruling was based on the perception that "nice guy" George Brett was being victimized by "bad guy" Billy Martin waiting to apply rules 6.06(a), 2.00 "Illegally batted ball", and 1.10, when it was to his advantage. I'd say that if the manager involved had been Tommy Lasorda, and the batter Dave Kingman, the umpire's ruling would have been upheld.
It is actually a point of view dynamic. McPhail's reasoning was that the umpire's interpretation was in violation of the intent of the rule. The rule had been crafted entirely for economic purposes. Bats with pine tar near their hitting surfaces left black marks on the balls which then had to be removed from the game. To reduce the number of balls being consumed, the length of the pine tar coating was limited.
McPhail pointed out that Brett had gained no sort of competitive advantage from the pine tar and that the only harm which resulted was the increased risk of the need for new baseballs.
In short, McPhail judged the situation, not the rule. He delivered what he thought was justice, not merely robotic, literal enforcement of the rule.
I find that more admirable than someone who is welded to letter of the law while seemingly ignorant of its purpose.
It is actually a point of view dynamic. McPhail's reasoning was that the umpire's interpretation was in violation of the intent of the rule. The rule had been crafted entirely for economic purposes. Bats with pine tar near their hitting surfaces left black marks on the balls which then had to be removed from the game. To reduce the number of balls being consumed, the length of the pine tar coating was limited.
McPhail pointed out that Brett had gained no sort of competitive advantage from the pine tar and that the only harm which resulted was the increased risk of the need for new baseballs.
In short, McPhail judged the situation, not the rule. He delivered what he thought was justice, not merely robotic, literal enforcement of the rule.
I find that more admirable than someone who is welded to letter of the law while seemingly ignorant of its purpose.
Like I said, I think that the people involved were the determining factors.
I grew up loving the Os and I always will, but I'm throwing in the towel today on the 2013 season as they just can't get 'er done when they have to.
They recently lost 3 of 4 to the Yankees at Camden Yards, and if they can't beat a good team at home then they aren't good playoff material.
The Os lost an 18-inning heart breaker last night to the Rays and today dropped another game to Tampa which puts them 4 games out in the wild card race with only 8 games to go. Their record is 81-73 (.526) which isn't good enough in MLB where the true contenders play near the .600 mark.
Sorry, but IMO it's over for the Os this year, but it was a very good year just the same.
Looking forward to post season and some good baseball; hopeful of a world series without the Yankees.
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Way to go for your team! I'd love to see the O's in the World Series and I'm rooting for them in the ALCS all the way. Just one more step to go for them!
I received an email from the Orioles, and seeing the title "registering for a postseason ticket opportunity", I knew that I hadn't won before opening it up. Of course there is always the World Series (don't count on any public ticket sales as I'd find the odds of getting through lower than registering). That said, I really feel that the ALCS is important to me, as my username indicates, I've never been around to see the O's win a pennant!
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