San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Pitching crackdown creating bad optics
Tylor Megill came off the mound to a thunderous ovation by Mets fans, and deservedly so. He pitched 41⁄3 impressive innings Wednesday night in his majorleague debut.
Then came boos. Not for Megill, but for the umpires who surrounded him between the firstbase line and the Mets’ dugout to check if he had any illegal substances on his cap, glove or belt.
Megill should have been tipping his cap to the fans, not the umpires.
Major League Baseball has another optics problem. While it’s important that MLB enforce its rules by threatening to eject and suspend pitchers using gunk on the ball, the process needs to be fixed, pronto.
It was a bad visual for umpires to interfere with Megill’s glorious moment, and it would be just as easy for an umpire — with the down time during the pitching change — to conduct the search in the dugout after Megill came off the field.
That could have been done with A’s reliever Sergio Romo on Tuesday as well. Instead, we had a frustrated Romo dropping his pants to mock the umpires when he was stopped after a rough inning.
It wouldn’t be that difficult. Check pitchers once they step in the dugout or as they depart the bullpen. Or both. Not on the field, where it’s an awkward scene for all involved.
The cameras can still capture the
inspections, but use the field to play ball, not to embarrass the participants and tick off the fans.
“Talk about a buzzkill,” Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen said during the Megill patdown. “I mean, he’s getting this great ovation walking off, and they’re going to do a strip search?” A cool thing about the AllStar Game is the tradition of players wearing their own uniforms. When they’re introduced and line up on the foul lines, it’s a colorful spectacle and a chance for kids back home to feel proud about their hometown guys. This year, unfortunately, the uniforms are going to be the same, blue for the American League and white for the National League, with team abbreviations in block letters vertically on the front (SFG, OAK). So Buster Posey and Mookie Betts will be wearing the same uniform, as will Matt Olson and Carlos Correa. Yikes. Another bad look. The Giants and A’s are among the 23 teams reaching the 85% vaccination threshold, which has allowed them to loosen protocols, including no longer needing to wear masks in dugouts and bullpens. Both Padres manager Jayce Tingler and Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said it’s a “competitive advantage” for teams to get vaccinated to reach the threshold. The Padres and Cubs are among the seven still out of the loop. A’s manager Bob Melvin on his team getting vaccinated: “I’m just glad we are. I’m glad it seems more teams are. I’m sure there are a few teams with some guys who are influential that maybe that won’t be the case. I can just speak for us, and I’m glad we are. It’s a much different feeling in the clubhouse, on the road.” Melvin wasn’t referring to any teams in particular, but Cubs management can’t be happy that Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward weren’t vaccinated, considering the influence they have within the organization.
You have to be a longtime Giants fan to remember Skip Pitlock ,a pitcher who appeared in 18 games for the 1970 team. Ol’ Skip wasn’t much of a hitter. He had two hits and 18 strikeouts in 25 career atbats. But the strangest thing is, neither hit was a single. He homered and doubled, and the homer was an insidetheparker at Candlestick Park off Houston’s Wade Blasingame, the difference in a 65 Giants win (Willie Mays’ walkoff single to cap a fiverun, ninthinning rally notwithstanding). We mention this moment because in Pitlock’s previous eight atbats, he struck out, and the only other hitter in Giants history (at least in the live ball era) who followed eight straight K’s with a home run was Mike Tauchman on
Wednesday. If the 2021 World Series were to pit the teams currently with winning records against all three divisions in their respective leagues, it would be GiantsWhite Sox, and
Tony La Russa would manage a World Series in San Francisco for the first time since 1989. During his postgame interview following Wednesday’s loss to the Padres, Dodgers pitcher
Trevor Bauer spoke of the deep NL West and said, “I don’t think anyone’s surprised the Giants are good.” Hmmm. Dusty Baker coined a new nickname for his Astros, baseball’s hottest team with 11 straight wins entering the weekend. “I played against the Big Red Machine. We’re not quite the Big Red Machine, but maybe we’re the Orange Wagon.” How good is this Orange Wagon? The Astros lead the majors in onbase percentage and slugging percentage while striking out the least. Through Friday they had a stunning plus142 run differential, and the team ranking second, the Giants, was 39 runs behind.