At 9:34 central daylight I got a tip from my 'Cut man: Toronto HotCut. The game, at first blush, looked innocent enough: Marcus Stroman and the Blue Jays hosting Sean Manaea and the Oakland Athletics. I write to you from the bottom of the eighth, where the Jays trail 4-3. Stroman lasted only 4 and 2/3rds innings pitched not because of the career-high six walks he issued but because he got thrown out two pitches after John Gibbons was thrown out and then within second his battery mate, Russell Martin, was also tossed. I watched that sequence on replay, after reading an account of Stroman charging at home plate umpire Will Little.
I have observed over the course of the season that Will Little has irritated plenty of players and managers with his ball and strike calls. I've watched at least a couple of games where Little had both teams upset with him. So I am not surprised he is the umpire in the thick of this. Per Buck Martinez on the RSN TV feed of this game, Stroman was unhappy from the top when he walked Matt Joyce and then K-hris Davis in the first. There were pitches in the fifth that looked like strikes that he didn't get. But the pitch that Gibbons argued and the pitch to Lowrie that resulted in Stroman's sixth and final walk were not strikes, according to the strike zone box on the RSN broadcast. Stroman was amped up even before getting tossed and making a run at Little. He had gotten a double play when he retired the prior batter; he was beating himself on the chest and he was generally animated. Then before pitching to Lowrie he was continuing to exhort himself with fist bumps to the chest. Watching that inning, in hindsight, it isn't surprising he go so angry when he was tossed. He was already on edge—competitive juices, I guess. It is the HotCut after all.
This is the only game of a trio of 11:00-hour starts that is still going. The Nats got eight homers. I went to lunch and missed the carnage, though I did leave my phone on as it aired the game in the kitchen while I was gone. I'm going to include a brief rundown of what transpired because it involved the Nats bombing Michael BlaZek of the Brewers, about whom you texted me last night, to wit:
'What is Milwaukee doing? They've pissed a 5.5 game lead away in 2 weeks and tomorrow they are starting BlaZek!! He of the 0 career starts. Yeesh.'
In the bottom of the third: Goodwin homered, Difo homered, Harper homered, Zimmermann homered, Murphy flew out, Rendon homered. Then BlaZek was lifted for Wily Peralta, who was also shelled.
Getting back to the 'Cut, it's the bottom of the ninth. You asked me if this was the first time ever that a pitcher has been ejected from a HotCut. I don't know. I could only—Kendry Morales has just hammered off of putative new A's closer Blake Treinen and this HotCut Bridge is tied with a possibility of going Draw Bridge. Pearce fans. Morales crushed that ball, his second longball of the game, to dead center, parking itself amongst a bunch of bunting up there.
As I was saying, my recordkeeping of the 'Cut while extensive is far from complete. The HotCut began sometime in the 2015 season? I didn't keep any records for the 'Cut in 2016, I know that. Therefore, the work I have done on the 'Cut is unfortunately not useful to answer a question like that. I could only do a search of this blog to see if I had ever recorded an instance of such an ejection and if I could find such an instance I could tell you, "No. Wainwright was tossed from a CradCut in 2016." But that's what makes the HotCut special: the Internet cannot tell us any more about it than we already know.
Tulo has walked. Carrera is pinch-running for him. Barney bats, the count is 2-and-2, two down. Swinging bunt, I thought he was out but he was called safe. "He is going to be called out." He is out but look on the bright side fans: The HotCut is a Draw Bridge in Toronto.
Of course, this bridge has a long ways to go to get us from here to the beginning of the next game but I'll take it. The night slate doesn't start for another 204 minutes, meaning this game would probably have to get to the nineteenth inning to bridge the afternoon baseball gulf. (But I've seen such a game occur in this park, as recently as last year.)
It was the bottom of the tenth, bases loaded, two out, full count. Liam Hendriks rocked back and started to cringe before the ball was halfway to home. He had to throw a strike, Pearce was ready, and the Jays won the 'Cut with a walk-off grand slam.
*
Later, for sure. Third strike out in a row for Archer, of Ellsbury. Then Frazier, LO 4. Archer works to Tyler Wade. Where is he playing for them? FO 5. Kansas Medicare commercial—I haven't figured that out yet. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.
I have observed over the course of the season that Will Little has irritated plenty of players and managers with his ball and strike calls. I've watched at least a couple of games where Little had both teams upset with him. So I am not surprised he is the umpire in the thick of this. Per Buck Martinez on the RSN TV feed of this game, Stroman was unhappy from the top when he walked Matt Joyce and then K-hris Davis in the first. There were pitches in the fifth that looked like strikes that he didn't get. But the pitch that Gibbons argued and the pitch to Lowrie that resulted in Stroman's sixth and final walk were not strikes, according to the strike zone box on the RSN broadcast. Stroman was amped up even before getting tossed and making a run at Little. He had gotten a double play when he retired the prior batter; he was beating himself on the chest and he was generally animated. Then before pitching to Lowrie he was continuing to exhort himself with fist bumps to the chest. Watching that inning, in hindsight, it isn't surprising he go so angry when he was tossed. He was already on edge—competitive juices, I guess. It is the HotCut after all.
This is the only game of a trio of 11:00-hour starts that is still going. The Nats got eight homers. I went to lunch and missed the carnage, though I did leave my phone on as it aired the game in the kitchen while I was gone. I'm going to include a brief rundown of what transpired because it involved the Nats bombing Michael BlaZek of the Brewers, about whom you texted me last night, to wit:
'What is Milwaukee doing? They've pissed a 5.5 game lead away in 2 weeks and tomorrow they are starting BlaZek!! He of the 0 career starts. Yeesh.'
In the bottom of the third: Goodwin homered, Difo homered, Harper homered, Zimmermann homered, Murphy flew out, Rendon homered. Then BlaZek was lifted for Wily Peralta, who was also shelled.
Getting back to the 'Cut, it's the bottom of the ninth. You asked me if this was the first time ever that a pitcher has been ejected from a HotCut. I don't know. I could only—Kendry Morales has just hammered off of putative new A's closer Blake Treinen and this HotCut Bridge is tied with a possibility of going Draw Bridge. Pearce fans. Morales crushed that ball, his second longball of the game, to dead center, parking itself amongst a bunch of bunting up there.
As I was saying, my recordkeeping of the 'Cut while extensive is far from complete. The HotCut began sometime in the 2015 season? I didn't keep any records for the 'Cut in 2016, I know that. Therefore, the work I have done on the 'Cut is unfortunately not useful to answer a question like that. I could only do a search of this blog to see if I had ever recorded an instance of such an ejection and if I could find such an instance I could tell you, "No. Wainwright was tossed from a CradCut in 2016." But that's what makes the HotCut special: the Internet cannot tell us any more about it than we already know.
Tulo has walked. Carrera is pinch-running for him. Barney bats, the count is 2-and-2, two down. Swinging bunt, I thought he was out but he was called safe. "He is going to be called out." He is out but look on the bright side fans: The HotCut is a Draw Bridge in Toronto.
Of course, this bridge has a long ways to go to get us from here to the beginning of the next game but I'll take it. The night slate doesn't start for another 204 minutes, meaning this game would probably have to get to the nineteenth inning to bridge the afternoon baseball gulf. (But I've seen such a game occur in this park, as recently as last year.)
It was the bottom of the tenth, bases loaded, two out, full count. Liam Hendriks rocked back and started to cringe before the ball was halfway to home. He had to throw a strike, Pearce was ready, and the Jays won the 'Cut with a walk-off grand slam.
*
Later, for sure. Third strike out in a row for Archer, of Ellsbury. Then Frazier, LO 4. Archer works to Tyler Wade. Where is he playing for them? FO 5. Kansas Medicare commercial—I haven't figured that out yet. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.
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