The Giants won today’s game

The Giants scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th today against the Mets for a dramatic 4-3 victory and completed a 4 game sweep.

That’s what actually happened. Anyone who saw the game today saw Mets third baseman throw high in a play at the plate, scoring Ishikawa for the winning run.

It was that way with the naked eye.
It was that way with the replay.

But like Jim Joyce and Armando Galaragga’s complete game, reality doesn’t matter… only the opinion of the umpire.

Phil Cuzzi, who already unnecessarily delayed the game by jawing with K-Rod, called him out at home.

Even the Mets announcers were saying as it happened “The Mets caught a HUGE break.”

And that was BEFORE they looked at the instant replay.

And the replay was shown on the New York station while Bruce Bochy was still arguing… which spits in the face of the insane “Well, it will slow down the game” argument against instant replay.

He was safe. The Giants won the game… except they didn’t.

If the Giants miss the playoffs by a single game this year, remember that play.
And know that the entire television audience saw the call was wrong in less than 1 minute.

I guess you can’t waste a minute in determining who won or lost a game.

It’s bonkers.
Just bring in instant replay!!!

Is the pitching getting better or is it just me?

2010 has already had some extraordinarily special pitching moments and we’re not even in mid June.

Either the steroid era is really over or the pitchers are on something.
And it’s great for baseball in my opinion.

We have had Ubaldo Jimenez throwing a no hitter and putting up numbers that would be eye popping in a pitchers park let alone the zero G of Coors Field.

We have had Dallas Braden throwing a perfect game on Mother’s Day (and seeing his grandmother trash talk A-Rod to boot!)

We had Roy Halladay throwing a perfect game in Miami.

We had the Armando Galarraga spoiled perfect game.

We had Daisuke Matsuzaka nearly throw a no hitter.

We had Stephen Strasburg’s mind boggling debut.

We had ancient Jamie Moyer throwing a shutout.

We’ve seen Tim Lincecum, Jon Lester, Adam Wainwright, Clay Buchholz, Matt Cain and Josh Johnson all throw like aces.

We’ve seen Jaime Garcia, Mike Pelfrey, David Price, Phil Hughes, Mitch Talbot, Mike Leake and Mat Latos all blossom into top starters.

We’ve seen comeback seasons from Tim Hudson, Ervin Santana, Livan Hernandez and Carlos Silva.

There’s a surplus of Cy Young contenders and well pitched games with intriguing match ups are becoming more and more common.

Just today you have Toronto’s Shaun Marcum going up against Tampa Bay’s David Price and St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright is going up against L.A.’s Clayton Kershaw.

Not to mention Dallas Braden, Jonathan Sanchez, CC Sabathia and Clay Buccholz are all taking the hill as well.

Look, I know the home run is sexy and there is a sense that most fans just want to see a slugfest… but I don’t believe that.

I think that if you get a dominating pitcher facing a kick ass hitter, it makes for a confrontation unlike any in sport.

How exciting is a home run into the upper deck when the pitcher is a scrub just up from AAA, or a middle reliever who barely has a job, or Kyle Farnsworth?

Maybe this IS the end of the steroid era for hitters… the slugger happy AL hasn’t seen a 40 home run hitter since A-Rod’s 54 taters in 2007.

And perhaps when someone says “they are a 30 home run hitter” or “they are good for 95-100 RBI” it won’t sound like they are describing a platoon reserve shortstop.

Maybe we can expect some real dominating pitching. Maybe all the nonsense that we’ll never see another 300 game winner can end.

Maybe games will move quicker. Maybe runs will be at a premium and when a team falls behind by a few runs, it will make the game more tense instead of having everyone think “Ah don’t worry… this will be a 9-8 game by the end.”

It’s as if they are playing BASEBALL and not just playing home run derby!

What a novel concept!

Armando Galarraga should be the S.I. Sportsman of the Year

Oh I am sure there will be some record breaker in football or basketball. Probably there will be a hero in the World Cup.

Or perhaps Phil Mickelson’s Masters win will get people all weepy.

But how could there be a better example of class, excellence and sportsmanship than what Galarraga displayed over the last few days?

He showed excellence with the perfect game… and then overwhelming calm when the call was blown, and he just gave a laugh.

That night he had the dignity to comfort umpire Jim Joyce after the game.

And then came the next day. Everyone screaming bloody murder. I wrote about 4,392 blog posts about it.

Airwaves were jammed.

Columnists wrote about it.

Bud Selig mulled over it!

A regular season game between Detroit and Cleveland overshadowed Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Boston and Los Angeles!

Even the White House referenced it!

And how did Galarraga, the man who was denied immortality, handle it?

Less than 18 hours after it happened and tempers simmering, he brought the line up card out to the visibly distraught Jim Joyce, shook his hand, gave him a pat on the back and it was a new day.

Try watching that clip and not get choked up.

You tell me there isn’t a Little League coach or a Pop Warner, YMCA basketball league or youth hockey coach in the world worth their weight who wouldn’t want their players showing that kind of sportsmanship!

When everyone talks about the selfishness of the athlete and how nobody can relate to them and how they are a bunch of spoiled cry babies, along comes Armando Galaragga. The guy who had every reason to bitch and moan showed set the new standard for playing it cool.

The S.I. Sportsman of the Year is supposed to honor not only those who play the best on the field, but dignify the sporting world (you know, like past honorees Pete Rose, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.)

Galaragga’s class is something that should not just be swept under the carpet.

In an odd way, for Galaragga’s legacy, the blown call was the best thing that happened to him.

Sure Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay got their moment in the sun from baseball fans. But my in box and Facebook page was filled to gills with messages from friends of mine who don’t even follow baseball.

My wife even said “Now I have faith again in that stupid game.”

He even got a Corvette out of it.

Give him the Award. And when future generations ask “Why was the Tigers #3 starter the Sportsman of the Year?” they can learn a little bit about class.

And hopefully by then, those kids will ask “But didn’t they have instant replay then like now?”