In tonight's make-up game with the Blue Jays, eighth inning, score tied at two, Andy Dirks bunted. Adam Lind made the play and threw to first. Umperor Ed Rapuano waited; one Mississippi, TWO Mississippi, THREE Miss ... and called Dirks safe. But his body language indicated he wasn't sure.
Jays skipper John Farrell argued. Ask for help, he said. Rapuano did, and plate ump Alfonso Marquez called Dirks out.
So the ump closest to the play was over-ruled by one 90 feet away.
Yes, Jim Leyland got tossed. His was among the more memorable manager raveouts of recent years, right down to mimicking Rapuano's uncertain body language and slow call, and the reversal.
But everything's okay, since the Tigers won 4-2.
The baseball fan wonders what might have happened had Leyland asked Jim Joyce to get some help after calling the last out of Armando Galarraga's should-have-been perfect game safe at first.
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The Tigers, on the interleague road trip, have quietly accumulated four of the league's top ten hitters.
Cabrera and Victor Martinez are second, and third at the end of play today, at .336 and .332 respectively. Jhonny Peralta (your All-Star third baseman, vote early and often) is seventh at .311. Alex Avila (your All-Star catcher, do the same) has climbed into tenth place with a .303 average.
Extend the list, and Brennan Boesch, at .301, is 14th.
There are only fifteen .300 hitters in the American League. The current list reminds me of batting average leaders lists in the 60s, when .296 was often good enough to make the top ten.
Pitching and hitting run in cycles. Right now, a plethora of excellent starting pitchers is keeping averages down. And, of course, the hitters aren't taking their vitamins like they once did.
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