Brent Mayne

Here We Go Again

Instead of addressing the Manny drama I offer you this ESPN radio interview I did yesterday. Click brentmayne090507.  If you want more, please go to the archives to access my Sept. 17th, 2008 blog. Enjoy.

I Don’t Know the Rules

Here’s a funny and kind of embarrassing thing that keeps happening to me. I get asked about the rules of the game a lot. It happened yesterday at my son’s practice. It was the old two runners on the same base thing. The coach was instructing the kids to tag them both out, and then tag them both again after they vacate the bag. Then he looked over at me and asked which one is really out? 

Crickets. I had no clue.

Isn’t that weird? Granted, nobody ever mistook me for a baseball genius, but you would think that over 35 years in and around the game would leave me with a good grasp of the rules. Nope. I would say I know more than most, but if tested I bet I would get a B- at best. 

But I honestly don’t think I’m alone. You always hear guys asking “what happens if this happens”……guys who have been around the game. It’s a fascinating aspect of baseball. The simple fact is, this game can teach you something new almost every day.

For example, I just learned what the “4 out rule” was yesterday. Do you know what it is? I bet not. Did you know that when a guy is doubled off a base after a line drive or fly ball that that is considered an appeal play? It’s not a force. It’s basically the same thing as calling time out and appealing to the umpire if you thought the runner tagged early…except in this instance, you don’t call time out.

O.K. with that in mind, here’s the “4 out rule.” This just happened in a Dodger game by the way. Guy on second and third, one out. Batter gets fisted and loops a soft liner that the shortstop has to go back on to make an over the shoulder catch. The runner from second ran, thinking the shortstop wasn’t going to make the play. And here’s where it gets interesting. Instead of throwing the ball to second base to double up the runner, the shortstop ran the ball all the way to second to record the third out. End of inning, no runs score right? Wrong. It turns out the runner from third went back and tagged up. He hustled home and crossed the plate BEFORE the shortstop touched second base and recorded the third out. Run scores.

In this Dodger game, the umpires initially didn’t get it right until Joe Torre came out of the dugout and pleaded his case. I guess Torre isn’t just getting paid to be a nice guy.

Here’s another great image from Neil Leifer….maybe Casey is arguing the “4 out rule.”

Don Hamerman

Wandering around the internet the other day and stumbled upon an artist by the name of Don Hamerman. Here’s some examples of his work from a series titled “Found Baseballs.”

This is what Mr. Hamerman had to say about these images….

“I began collecting these baseballs in the winter of 2004-2005. Discovered in the park near my house where I walk my dog daily, they went unnoticed by others. Abject, rejected and forlorn, their state depended on the season of their discovery. Some hid in the high grass, gutted by lawnmowers, or under leaves, rotting, the leather skins long since decomposed. Covered in ice crystals on a February morning or shrouded in summer moss, they all hinted at mysterious pasts.”

“Although I knew that one day I would photograph the burgeoning collection, most sat along a shelf in my studio for nearly a year before the exploration started. At last, I decided to photograph them above a flat field and with deep depth of focus, revealing, as much as I could, their distinct resumes.”

Sports Radio New York interview

Here’s an interview I did the other day with Frank Maniscalco of NY Sports Radio. Follow this link and scroll to the 29:30 mark to pick up the interview.

Celtics Bulls Boxing TV Avoid Fight With Wife

Raise your hand and say Amen if you’re had a chance to check out any of the Celtics/Bulls battle of nutrition. They’ve played so many OT’s they’ve gotta be hungry right?  That’s what we used to call a marathon game – a “battle of nutrition” instead of a “battle of attrition.”  Whatever, I guess you had to be there.

Anyway, this basketball series is amazing. That game throughout the afternoon and in to the evening yesterday was one of the finest hoops I’ve ever seen. It had it all. Like two boxers throwing haymakers knocking each other down and getting up again. Just when you thought one was out of it, they’d roar back and get the other on the ropes. Speaking of boxing….BIG fight this weekend. I hate to tell someone to fork out $50 clams for a dud, but this Hatton/Pacquiao fight has all the makings of greatness. I recommend getting a few guys to chip in.

So here’s the deal, if you’ve missed the Bulls/Celtic series, all is not lost. Click here for a full recap of the games along with some great video highlights. It’ll get you up to speed for your last chance as they lock up for the final time in Boston on Saturday. Between that and the fight, Saturday is shaping up to be a lock down on the couch day. Plan ahead, better buy the wifey some flowers or something.

Here’s the coach of the Celtics, Doc Rivers, looking like he just got out of a ten round fight with his wife because he spent the whole day on the couch and didn’t take care of business beforehand.