by John Walters
Starting Five
Jayson Werth won’t catch this; another Cub run will score
Metropolitan Opera
The four largest urban areas in the U.S.A.—New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston—are the last four remaining in the MLB playoffs. We don’t know the last time that has happened, if ever, in any sport. The crack MH staff is researching this.
The Nats, meanwhile, went Bad News Bears in Game 5 with a passed ball-strikeout-RBI-double, catcher’s interference, beaned hitter and a runner picked off first (with the tying run on 2nd) in the 8th inning as they lost to the Cubs, 9-8.
2. Lesser Further Review
Regarding the Jose Lobaton pickoff play: our friend Kimball, a Major League baseball scout, proposed what he calls the “George Brett Rule” for all video replay, and I agree. A call has to be egregious to the level that the visceral reaction is the one Brett had after the pine tar call (or, for example, the “safe” call that robbed Detroit Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga of a perfect game a few years back. If it’s as close as the Lobaton call, you let it go.
Does that mean some missed calls will happen? Certainly. But the umps missed the struck helmet call last night in the Cubs’ infamous four-run fifth inning (the play is not reviewable) and you know what? Life went on. Let’s curb video replay, please. We’re drunk on it and this isn’t the only reason the game lasted four-plus hours.
Rule 6:06
If a batter strikes at a ball and misses and swings so hard he carries the bat all the way around and, in the umpire’s judgment, unintentionally hits the catcher or the ball in back of him on the backswing, it shall be called a strike only (not interference). The ball will be dead, however, and no runner shall advance on the play.
To recap: a play that could NOT be reviewed for an arbitrary reason wound up costing the Nationals two runs. A close play that could be reviewed took two men off base and ended an inning in the 8th for the Nationals. What’s the difference?
3. A Bee In Her Bonnet
Full Frontal host Samantha Bee had to spell it out for would-be Weinsteins, a.k.a. male predators, two nights ago. Worth a listen. “Every day I wake up, take the subway to work, and then don’t masturbate in front of anyone.”
4. The NBA’s Man In Charge
From mechanical engineering student who toted a briefcase between classes while doubling as the captain of the Notre Dame football team in 1987 (the season in which a teammate on his unit, Tim Brown, won the Heisman Trophy) to general partner at Deloitte to, as of last summer, the NBA’s Chief of Operations. I had a chance to spend some time with double Domer Byron Spruell (’87 undergrad, ’89 MBA) the other night. Quite an impressive dude.
5. Trust The Process
Scientists at Arizona State University (Ha!) claim that a subterranean “supervolcano” beneath Yellowstone Park could blow sooner than expected and wipe out life on Earth. Coming This Christmas and starring Bill Paxton (wait, he’s already dead) and Kristen Stewart!
Reserves
Have Another Bacon Donut Cheeseburger
Live look-in at heart disease
A report (mmm) from the Center for Disease Control (Does that come with fries?) claims that obesity (deep fried!) in America has hit an all-time high.
Music 101
Tell Me Something Good
Chaka Khan? Chaka Khan. Featuring the band Rufus. This 1974 hit that went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts was written by, of all people, Stevie Wonder. And it was among the first to use the guitar “talk box.”
Remote Patrol
ALCS: Game 1
Yankees at Astros
FS1 8 p.m.
College Football
Washington State at Cal
ESPN 10:30 p.m.
Luke, I am your father!
You can watch a game from the city that is recovering from Hurricane Harvey or from Berkeley, where the night skies will be filled with smoke and ash as the Top 10 Cougars try to remain undefeated (you recall two Fridays ago that Top 10 USC was unable to remain undefeated versus these Cougs). Aaron Judge in the postseason: 29 plate appearances, 16 strikeouts, zero home runs.