I spent the weekend in a cabin without TV or Internet access. I had to buy a newspaper to learn about baseball scores, which is the kind of nostalgia that makes me want to listen to Ned's Atomic Dustbin and play Super Metroid. More than usual, even. The Giants, as they tend to do when I'm gone, won a few games, but one of them is weirding me out, and I need your help. Please allow me to pick at the most mundane, irrelevant part of the weekend while I get my brain back in game shape.
This appears in the box score for Sunday's game at MLB.com:
This was the situation when Casilla came into game:
Giants up by three runs, one out, no one on base.
Here are the official rules of a save:
9.19 Saves for Relief Pitchers
A save is a statistic credited to a relief pitcher, as set forth in this Rule 9.19 (Rule 10.19).
The official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:
(a) He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
(b) He is not the winning pitcher;
(c) He is credited with at least 1 /3 of an inning pitched; and
(d) He satisfies one of the following conditions:(1) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning;
(2) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat or on deck (that is, the potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first two batters he faces); or
(3) He pitches for at least three innings.
(1) doesn't apply because Casilla didn't throw a full inning.
(2) doesn't apply because Casilla did not enter the game with the tying run on base, at bat, or on deck.
(3) doesn't apply for obvious reasons.
The only explanation I can think of:
He gave the official scorer a look. That look was effective. None of us would have been immune from the look.
Casilla doesn't get any save-related bonuses, so I don't feel like a ghoul pointing this out. I'm just confused, and even though the save is a junk stat that isn't worth caring about, a non-story like this the perfect way to start my post-vacation week. Why did Santiago Casilla get a save on Sunday? No one cares. Except me. And maybe you, especially if you vote in the poll.