..I actually found the call defensible until I read Darling’s comment to the press. I could have believed his reacting to the timeout request, and as he stood to do so, deciding to call the balk. Ticky-tack, supremely stupid, but defensible. But no. In the paper, Darling claims, “He started, stopped, then Bengie tried to cover for him by calling the timeout. Whether he didn’t have the sign or not, I don’t know about that, what was going on there.”

Which is, to use the technical term, a steaming pile.

No, having read that I am quite sure: it was a bad call, by an umpire who was not man enough to correct himself. Depressing, that, though hardly unexpected. Still, I can’t sympathize with the Giants. The Giants suck, and deserved to lose. If they fielded one or two actual hitters, they’d have won this one 6-3.

That’s no defense of a terrible call.

What kind of precedent is there for action from the league office on calls blown to this degree? Is there any chance he’ll get reprimanded / fined? I’m out for blood!

the idiotic balk call took away from what was the real story of last nite’s game….winn doesnt want to be here anymore, and why do kruk and kuipe keep pimping for ray

Where the umpire/referee can just give the other team points semi-arbitrarily. In the NBA, spurious fouls and technicals are one example. In baseball, we have the Balk.

IMO, with a runner on 3rd the balk should only be used in the case where a pickoff throw is actually made. The balk is much too arbitrary a call to be the dertmining factor in whether or not a team scores, and there is nothing the pitcher can do to overcome the adversity.

It’s one thing to get a bad call on balls/strikes and have to pitch from a hole, or to get a runner balked into scoring position and work through that… but balking a runner IN gives the pitcher zero chance to overcome the situation. That in of itself is counter the spirit of baseball.

Let the players decide the game. Balking in a runner from 3rd is one of the rare opportunities where the umpires can take the game ENTIRELY out of the hands of the players and significantly affect the outcome.

Fucking Disgusting.

under the overhang where tv replays are visable. When it first happened I thought “no f’n way. I must have missed something.” Even without the sound I could see that Darling was full of shit. True, we should have scored way more runs but having to lose like this is bullshit.

Sorry this is way too long, but last night’s frustration made me think that things are different from where many of us thought we would be this year. In essence, this team is good enough for an umpire to cost us a game. When the season started, many of us suspected that this would be an awful season. Now, we see that this team with its starting and relief pitching can actually be a .500 team due to its day-in, day-out ability to keep the other team to a highly-respectable average of about 3-4 runs a game. This now presents new problems for the club, because it forces the team to consider whether a few tweaks now can make this club respectable this year, departing from the “plan” that this was a rebuilding year to see how the “kids” would do.

A team cannot be competitive when it racks up this many double plays, and leaves this many runners on base. Getting 8-11 hits and only scoring 2 runs is a recipe for a demoralized pitching staff. We’re a month into the season now, and this team can pitch with the best of them. Is it time to take a hard look at the batting order and decide if they want to support this pitching by being respectable this year, or simply toss the good work aside and continue to allow these hitters to waste baserunners? The fans would love to support a .500 team stocked with great pitching and younger players that can deliver 4-5 runs a game.

Some questions for consideration:

1. Winn doesn’t care anymore; time for Schierholtz?

2. Do pitchers already know Bowker’s holes, and should he go back to AAA to make adjustments?

3. Castillo is too inconsistent offensively and defensively; time to resume trade discussions for a 3B?

4. Durham’s trade value will never be as high as it is now, before he gets injured again, but the problem is that he is delivering some hits. Should he be dealt now and Velez given the job?

5. Ortmeier should be given more at-bats to see if he can become a consistent hitter from the right side. Do you resume the 1B platoon but with a new 1B (McClain?)

6. With Vizquel about to return, should they send down Bocock and let Burriss have the backup job this year, or go with Ochoa and send them both down?

With the addition of a run-producing bat or two, this team with its pitching and speed could be a .500 team.