That was AWESOME when he got that hit.

Kudos on the night to Castillo and White, who both got some hits (Castillo's being a smidge bigger)

White's however started off the 5 run inning of wonder and magic. (With gumdrops)

Castillo was robbed!!!

Before the BitchSox fans get in to to what they do best (bitch), as a former high school umpire, I'd like to address the Cuddyer at bat.

The problem wasn't that DJ Cuddles swung at a ball that hit him, it was that the home plate ump called dead ball as soon as it happened. Good ol' Hock (he makes me want to hock) and DJ amazingly dont mention that the ball after hitting Cuddyer, went WELL past AJ. Being strike three, Cuddy would have made first base anyway, but as the home plate ump called dead ball, this couldn't happen. In my opinion, the first base ump, knowing this, was handcuffed, and therefore called no swing.

The home plate ump blew the call, not the first base ump. But anytime the WGN guys spend the night moaning is a good night to me!

How nauziating were the White Sox commentators tonight? Makes you appreciate Dick and Bert.

Just want to clarify something for everyone watching the game tonight. When Cuddyer got hit in the right shoulder, the reason it wasn't ruled a swing was because the second the ball hit him, the ball was ruled dead. The White Sox....er, I mean Bitch Sox announcers kept whining about it, but you could clearly see that Cuddyer was hit in the shoulder before his bat even reached the back of home plate. Idiots.

Dear Bitch Soxs announcers;

I'm sorry the call didn't go your way. Your team lost for many more reasons then a bad call. Deal with it and try to bitch a little less, bitchsoxs.

Thanks,

Fargonians Who Watched The Game Tonight.

Someone at Team Batgirl needs to get Castillo as a boyfriend/nsmc so he can get some recognition. Come on, any takers? At the very least, let's get Batbaby #2 going so we can get Castillo in the mix.

Was the game on today? I've got DirectTV and WGN got blacked out.

Dearest Mr. Hu,

You didn't miss anything. BG and Jeb turned the volume up twice for a grand total of five seconds and learned that the Twins a) used the turf to get thier hits and b) that if only the Bitch Sox could get a call they would get 4 or 5 runs in an inning too. Except, Hawk added, they didn't need it. It was disgusting.

Sincerely,
BG

I think Scotty Dawg and I should get consideration for B.O.D. for knowing the rules and almost simultaniously sending in our posts.

Tapes of this game should be available for anyone who wonders why we call them the Bitch Sox. Seriously! Maybe it was a right call, maybe it wasn't, but it happened about an hour ago and they were *still* talking about it.

Also, I think Radke has officially lost the ability to complain about run support any more this year.

Dear Mr. Baseball,
Indeed.

Dear Mr. Boi,

BG did not notice the Twins announcers talking about the blown strike call that led to the walk that led to the B'Sox first run of the game beyond the batter actually taking the base, did you?

Sincerely,
BG

Thanks for the recap BG. Though from the WCCO broadcast it sounded like Radke was getting squeezed a bit during the game. I recall the first two runs coming after what should've been a strike out for the final out of their respective innings.

Just be glad of a few things.

1. No Sox homers, which means no "You can put it on the board!"

2. Few Sox pitchers threw K's, so again, few "He gones."

Is anyone else impressed that the good doctor is goint the other way on some hits? This bodes well.

PS:

Nope, BG. You're right. The Twins annoucers said their piece about the strike calls...and that was that. Once the runner was on base they went back to actually calling the game.

I on the other hand, was a bit livid, especially when Radke's out there actually picthing his butt off. I hate seeing anybody get squeezed.

Does anyone else find it odd that the first comment was made a good 9 minutes before the actual post was made?

"Posted by Batgirl at May 13, 2006 09:15 PM"

"Posted by: Torhu at May 13, 2006 09:06 PM"

Weird.

or even going the other way

Was another gloomy day, the guys off to fishing opener and sure would have been nice to see the game where I live. No Bert and Dick. When I watched a game not long ago on ESPN I was shocked how awful the announcers were. (Yes, I'm a naive Twin's fan)At least Bert and Dick acknowledge the other team if they have a good play. Like hearing the highlights here. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. And I hope they act like real men and at least use the pink bats for at least one inning.

ALERT......The Baseball Tonight guys just said that Cuddyer swung at the pitch that hit him. Learn the rules!!!!!!

He DID! but the ump stopped play, so its all moot

Mr.M.D. on line for 40 dingers. Castillo has hit like 3 h.r.s in 5642 career abs left handed, and he can't be bfod? The horror.

al, its all good when we debate BOD. That means we win!

I think you may all want to go back and look at the rulebook. You'll find that despite the fact that Cuddyer threw his arm into the ball swinging at the pitch, the fact that HE MADE AN ATTEMPT TO HIT THE BALL means that he swung and missed! That, as any good fan (even the homers) know, is a strike. Feel free to post what you think is the rule covering what happened on the swinging strike/hit batsman. The fact that they umps blew two calls in that inning is kinda brutal, and I know you smart Twins fans can admit that.

Dear StuckInFargo,

I hear you're a really good goaltender.

-Donnalove.

P.S. to BG: I wish you'd do a little refresher of the rules involving B.O.D. honors.

The first base umpire had the chance to make the call correct. Umpires have done this many times despite what has happened immediately following a call that should be reversed. So, the fact that the ball went by AJ is moot. The first base ump didn't have the stones to make the call, which is quite sad seeing as he had blown one earlier in the inning. And this is not White Sox fans bitching. Getting beat is one thing, but getting beat by the umps allows anyone on any team the right the air their displeasure.

Yes Tim, you are right. But as it was strike three and it went well beyind AJ, and Cuddyer would have easily made first on the passed ball, now what?

They blew the Cuddyer call. The rules clearly state that if a batter swings at strike 3 and it touches him he's out. But am I the only one who thinks Konerko was off the bag? He looked off the bag to me. It didn't even look like a close play.

Scotty, the rules say the batter is out if he swings and misses and the ball touches him. No chance to take first. Click my name for the rules.

The umpires blew a call against the Twins last week in Texas. When Mauer (or Redman, I forget who) chased the runner back to third and it was already occupied by a guy moving up from second and Mauer tagged both of them, they should have both been out. I was proud of him for doing it right, tagging the following runner first... he's not officially on base until the preceding runner is safe at home or out... and then tagging the following runner, who was simply not on the base. That should have been two outs. Three runs scored after that, which was the difference in the game. What comes around goes around. The WhiteSox got a key bad call in the ACLS.

Dear White Sox fans. Let's not start talking about blown calls...else we should start talking about the play-offs last year.

Seriously, it's one game all season. If you want to make that call the one play you dwell on all season, then fine. Go ahead.

Note the comments about the umps crappy strikezone. We lived with it after the initial call. Our annoucers shut their mouths.

There's also the blown call in Texas where a runner wasn't called out when he should have which kept a big inning against the Twins going. We were over that by the end of the inning.

I know a Sox fan at the bar I go to. Great guy. But he'll talk your ear off if his teams up and take off if they're behind. But even HE gets over a blown call by the time the next batter/play has started.

The fact that the ball went beyond AJ is unimportant. How many times have homerun calls that are near the top of the fence been reversed and the batter is awarded a ground-rule double? Maybe it would have been a triple without the blown call? If he umpires had the stones (which very few do anymore) they would have called him out on strikes. Whose to assume that Cuddyer would ahve made it to first safely? Can't assume one way or the other, and I know you know that if you've umpired objectively before.

Okay. So Cuddyer is out. The inning ends with the Twins still down 4-3.

So then, we score the rest of our runs and win it 6-4. Sox still lose.

Game over.

Now, the calls you are most likely referring to were much more difficult to call than the unbelievably obvious blown strike call this evening. Umps make mistakes. Upms who don't know rules (like what happened in TX and was metioned in a previous past above) is really unacceptable. There was nothing like that in the playoffs last year. Besides, umps don't help you go 11 and 1 in the playoffs. Let's not let the jealousy cloud your usual good judgment.

You're right Tim. One blown call doesn't help you go 11-1 in the playoffs.

Just like a blown call tonight didn't help us score the other 6 of our 8 runs.

So that said, Twins still win 6-4. If you want to bitch about something, bitch about how Vasquez shouldn't have given up that longball to Castillo...who I think has hit no more than single-digit amount of dingers as a lefty.

Can we drop the Cuddyer play? Come on. It accounted for two runs in what was a four run loss.

*continues celebrating a good come from behind win*

Exactly Will. :)

*does a little dance*

I don't think we're hanging on to a bad call all season. Relax with that talk. That's what post-game shows are for - to analyze a game and discuss what happened. I thought that's what went on here. Funny you mention letting a call go but someone is quick to throw in mention of calls in last year's playoffs. You'll let it go when it was in favor of your team. Besides, this is all just spirited discussion.

You know, I think we should actually be up in arms over the obvious shunning of Castillo as a BOD candidate ;)

Seriously, this is all part of some vast conspiracy isn't it? What are you hiding? Is Castillo a cyborg? Some kind of super-human experiement by the gov't? Is he made up of old Koskie parts?

"Funny you mention letting a call go but someone is quick to throw in mention of calls in last year's playoffs."

You can "let a call go" but still remember it, Tim. Those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

I only mentioned as a famous example of a curious call to illustrate that the baseball gods giveth and the baseball gods taketh away. The umpires being mere pawns in the games played by the baseball gods.

Different game at 4-3 instead of down 5-4, not to mention a momentum change one way or another. Don't worry - I screamed at Vasquez for the Castillo homer. And don't think players don't take on a different attitude when they know that they can't get a straight call from an umpiring crew. Two bad calls extended an inning much further than it should have gone. Wanna talk about other stuff? That's cool. Lariano is filthy and scary. Hopefully, for Sox fans, he's got a ten-cent head. I doubt it, though. Twins are swinging the bats well lately, and in clutch moments. See? We can talk about other things. Bad calls just tend to be more polarizing.

Am I the only one who, after 2 hours, is still amazed that the Doc stole an ACTUAL base?

Yes, baseball give and takes, and the momentum swings left and right. Isn't it great? Makes for a fun ride. We all know that luck is a big part of this game. If the third strike were a tougher call, I'd be less bothered. Not knowing the rules for an umpire is bothersome. It should be bothersome to all of us. Inadequate officiating in any sport hurts the game.

I'm still steaming at the Sox for nabbing Thome. He'd look REAL nice in a Twins uniform right about now.

I thought for sure that Vasquez had our number tonight, but we managed to bring about a few runs (prior to the events) and then continued to play hard the rest of the game.

Last night's game as well. We took the lead and stayed focus on holding it (something we've had trouble doing this eyar)

And hey...still think Ozuna's play at second a few weeks back was muy fanastico. Was worried he'd end up like poor LNP, who broke his collarbone on a similar play (ironically enough at Cellular)

I remember the play on which he brake that bone. That is awful for anyone. Let me point out this about Hawk and DJ. They have given much praise to the Twins and how they play (have played) ball the last few years. They are fans of Hunter, Gardy, and they (and we Sox fans) covet Santana some much we have to go to confession. That game was over last night when it became 4-0 nothing and Ozzie knew it. We all knew it. He's sooo damn good. Best pitcher in baseall.

Just remember, folks, this is a BOD thread, so let's talk about BODs. I love it when BG once again has to make a difficult call about a BOD! Let's give her another tough call tomorrow.

Thanks for the kudos. May I also inform you that Garcia vs. Santana last year is perhaps the best game I've ever seen any two guys pitch ever?

I'm honestly hoping to see them in a rematch at some point. Hopefully with a similar outcome..but I of course am biased.

I'm not a Twins Fan, but I'd have to go with Castillo. Good night all and Happy Mother's Day to all those to which that applies. National TV tomorrow night, so I hope it's a good one.

That game was FABULOUS! I was listening at work and could not believe it. Saw the reply and was amazed. Maybe the next time the outcome will be different.

I think everyone missed something extremely important, unless Gordo was incorrect and they didn't actually give it to him... but Justin Morneau STOLE A BASE!!! he is no longer sitting with Matthew LeCroy for most major league at-bats without a stolen base.

yahoo Doc for BOD! I was totally pulling for him.

oh, BG, I read too fast and missed that you got that part.

still... YAY for Justin! I've been waiting for him to steal a base, and I'm so glad I was there to see it in person! hee hee

I have always been of the opinion (because I was taught so by all of my Little League coaches) that occassional blown calls by the arbiters are part of the game, one of the intangibles that make things interesting. Like most things, they even out over the course of 162 games. It's like Castro coming through with semi-clutch hits in semi-significant at-bats both last night and tonight -- deviations from the norm happen. Nobody likes it when a controversial call goes against them, but jeez, you have to suck it up and move on. The bottom line is we took it to the B-Sox -- again, moved into third place in the standings, and are now just 6.5 games back. And it's only the middle of May. BG, you are so right. Life is sweet again tonight. Carpe diem tomorrow. Buehrle and Silva on the hill. Don't blink, you might miss something.

kafumbly -

Matthew Lecroy is actually (and was already before Morneau's steal tonight) the active player with the longest string of at-bats in the majors without a stolen base (1,318 as of May 5). I cannot take credit for digging up this stat, however, for I read it on Jayson Stark's blog on espn.com a couple weeks back. He was accenting his "Zero Heroes", and I was amused to find two players with Twins ties on the list. The other was longest active string of games pitched without a Win or Save: Matt Guerrier (60).

The doc had one of those 'if I get a hit, I'll be B.O.D!" at-bats. I love it when guys come through on those. I want to mention Cisco's fine job of preserving the lead. He may be destined to be a starter, but he sure has bolstered our pen. I hope the time comes when we change that i to a y.

Great Game last night. For everyone that was disappointed by the Bitch Sox feed, tonight could be much worst. We have our friends (choke) at ESPN Morgan and Miller. I think the Soxs feed sounds good.
Also as a Mother I am very upset that there is no afternoon game! My Mothers day for years has been watch the big guy grill, drink a beer and listen to the Twins! Not this year. Boo Hoo.

Neil,

yes, I remember reading about it at ESPN.com last year. cracked me up! I couldn't believe Justin was on the list as a ROOKIE. hahaha

didn't know about our dear Shaggy's claim to fame, though. he WILL get a win this year! I can feel it!

If they get Morneau out, it does not matter that Cuddie reached base when he should have been out. Why did this superb team fail to get a .240 hitter out when the bases were loaded in a one run game? Then they give up a home run {409 feet} to Preacher Rowe or his eqivalent with a man on in the very next inning. I fail to see how the umps affected the outcome of this game except by causing Rincon not Nathan to be the "sit down Bitches" guy in the 9th.

AL - of course you fail to see how they affected the outcome ecause you like the outcome. You assume that what happened would have happened anyway, but that can't be the case. This game won't make or break the Sox season as much as it could affect the Twins. I just absolutely hate getting railroaded by the upms. Close calls are one thing, but this was just brutal. If you've watched enough baseball I'm sure you know that one call can affect the outcome greatly. For the Sox this was an unacceptable loss, period, but we still have the right to complain about that call.

Ahem.

Hey Tim. Get over it. Or we'll start giving you crap again about that certain call from last season.

Oh, and those calls from yesterday, in which the ump put two men on base that should've been called out (ironically enough the Sox managed to score two runs using those extra outs)

So yeah, cut it.

PS: Sorry BG. But I came back here to continue reading about "Project: Get Castillo A BOD Win" and saw this...

Dear Mr. Torhu,

Batgirl empathizes with your project, however she feels that people need to revisit the BOD rules which establish clearly that BOD is not a player of the game but rather a competition between Team Batgirl Boyfriends and if and only if one of them does not deserve the BOD, it goes to the field (barring truly exceptional performance by the field, otherwise known as, in Johan Santana's case, "a start."

Sincerely,
Batgirl

I also agree that Castillo needs some BOD lobbying. Did anyone notice how (I think) ESPN dissed him on Baseball Tonight? They were talking about the hitting leaders, and I don't believe they mentioned his name. I also don't recall seeing him and his .357 average on the graphic they flashed up, although I was somewhat distracted by a cat with affection deficit disorder and could be wrong. But you just have to love Castillo; he really is the anti-Rivas. Don't forget to call your mother today. It might be nice to send a thank-you card to Mrs. Mauer, too.

Tim. so you're saying that they would have found a way to avoid giving up a 409 foot h.r. to Castillo, who had never hit one that far from the left side in his career, but, due to the flagrant ignorance of the umpiring crew, they were unable to do so? All other pitchers he has faced in his career have managed to do so whatever the circumstances. The call did not cost the Chisox the game; bad pitching did.

An excellent choice on the BOD, BG. I didn't get a chance to watch or listen to the game, but I have no doubts that Doc was deserving. Now let's hope that Carlos can give all of the Twins players' moms something to celebrate tonight!

Quite understood BG. Can't take away from Morneau's fantastic atbat. With Tyner gone, I'll have to settle for Castillo as a NSMC. (That's what us guys call'em right?)

" if one of them does not deserve the BOD, it goes to the field (barring truly exceptional performance by the field, otherwise known as, in Johan Santana's case, 'a start.' "

That got a smile out of me :)

Tim:

And you assume that if the call had not been made, then your team would have won.

Fact is no one - including you - knows what would have happened if the call had gone the other way, so the whining and moaning about the call "costing you the game" is bunk.

The White Sox had plenty of opportunities to win the game after the 5th inning. They didn't.