Bruce Froemming Cannot Retire Soon Enough

Bruce Froemming is retiring after this season, and not soon enough. Unlike any umpire this side of Joe West, Froemming makes himself part of the game like no other. You need not look up the umpires when he is working the game, because he will call attention to himself at some point during the game.

MLB realizes this, and assigned him to work Tuesday's All Star Game so that they would not have to use him when it matters, in the postseason.


Last night, as he wore his All-Star patched hat (as if to remind people), He blew another call (or calls): From the Seattle Times:

The crowd of 31,994 at Safeco Field erupted in thunderous cheers as it realized Beltre was safe and all the runs counted. But second-base umpire Bruce Froemming had plenty of explaining to do as the Tigers, led by Guillen and manager Jim Leyland, surrounded him on the field.

"They don't get him and now they come out to argue that they got him," Froemming told a pool reporter after the game. "But they don't know if they got him or not."

But television replays appeared to show Guillen tagging Beltre at least once, if not twice.

"It felt like twice," Guillen said. "I don't know. He made the call."

The confusion mounted moments later when the Tigers made an appeal throw to second before the next pitch. Froemming called Beltre out, ruling he'd never touched the bag before heading to third.

But replays appeared to show Froemming getting it wrong once again. Beltre did indeed appear to touch second base — Froemming initially made a "safe" gesture with his arms that seemed to confirm it — but was ruled out nonetheless.

"He said that I never touched the bag, which I did," Beltre said. "He [Guillen] might have tagged me, I don't know. It was weird because I was trying to swing away from him. I don't know if he tagged me."

This guy isn't just a bad umpire, he is a bad guy.

They love Serafini in Japan!

And no, I cannot translate.

What I Was Going to Say Before they Won It...

A bad loss. Coming off the big sweep of the White Sox, this team had a big lead and then coughed it up...

Lou Pinella gets the blame for this loss. The six runs given up in the ninth were given up by 1) a guy who hasn't pitched in a big situation since crapping all over himself for most of the season, and who had been extended into his third inning, as he came into the game in the 7th; and b) another aging guy who has was pitching for the third day in a row after getting two one-inning saves after spending most of the season as a set up guy before being marginalized by Pinella, and I would bet he hasn't pitched three straight days all season (he hasn't, I looked it up).

It is also a mistake to have Koyie Hill pinch hitting as the final out of the game. I would even prefer Cliff Floyd against a leftie. Ok, he got a hit, but...

At least Comcast showed the moron who rushed Howry get "nuetralized" by security before realizing what they were doing.

And how's about Mike Fontenot! And a huge clutch hit by the National League Player of the Week.

Too Bad He's Dead: Rod Beck

Rod Beck died.

He was real good for the Giants, but then saved a whopping 51 games for the Cubs in the magical year of 1998. He didnt seem to have any special pitch, and it was amazing he ever got anybody out.

For the Cubs, it was a one-year wonder, and he was gone by September of 1999. You can read elsewhere about him, and it is likely he died from something connected with substance abuse, but he was a real good closer for the Cubs for one year, a playoff year.

Addition by Subtraction

Michael Barrett is gone. To the left is Big Z helping Barrett get his luggage to the airport.

The Cubs traded the reptilian free agent-to be catcher for a poor hitting backup catcher and a former first round pick outfielder who is currently hitting .211 for the Fort Wayne Wizards.

A great trade.

We here have been waiting for this day for a while, and Sox fans won't have him to kick around anymore...

Too Bad He's Dead: Terry Hoeppner

Indiana Football coach Terry Hoeppner died this morning at 59.

He may not have had the greatest record at Indiana, but he brought more enthusiasm to the job than anybody else in the job in my lifetime, other than Bill Mallory, who actually won.

I guess they will let interim coach Bill Lynch take this season, and if he doesn't get them to a bowl, they can go out and hire a new hot young coach.

But, let's hope they rise to the occasion and go to a bowl this season. Why couldn't have been Cam Cameron?

Ernie Banks at the Ballpark

It was Ernie Banks #14 hat day at the ballpark last night, and he sang during the 7th inning stretch. You can see it here. Instead of wearing the hat that they were giving away in his honor, he wore this hat. Let's hope he got paid well for that, because it looked shabby.

He was his typical self during the interview, somewhat charming, but also showing a distinct lack of knowledge about the current team, or the talents of its players. He thought Cliff Floyd was 22. He called Ryne Sandberg "firey" when Len and Bob's point was that it was out of character for Ryno to be ejected 3 times already as a Class A manager.

In that conversation, he did refer to Dusty Baker as "always bitching..." about the trevails of a big league manager. Strong words from Mr. Cub, but he said them so nonchalantly, that you have to believe he was not looking to shame Dusty, just describing his tone. Dusty "bitching" to Ernie. Pathetic.

The other highlight of last night was the benching of Michael Barrett and Koyie Hill's two hits. And, of course, Sean Marshall pitched great.

All I see are Barrett's Mistakes

Michael Barrett is not the only reason the Cubs lost, but he is part of the reason. He may be a fine offensive player, and may be working hard at his defense, but he is a terrible catcher. Terrible as a handler of pitchers, terrible at blocking pitches, and terrible at the the thinking part of the game.

He is like a reptile, never thinking, but only reacting. The Zambrano thing, the AJ thing, and his less remembered runins with Oswalt and Dave Roberts show that the pattern emerging is not about them, but about Barrett. This has been going on since 2005.

Agreed, you cannot trade Barrett without getting a decent catcher in return, but for this team to win, he must be replaced. Koyie Hill is a terrible hitter, but he has already shown he is more adept as a catcher than Barrett.

Unfortunately, Barrett seems to make his biggest mistakes when the game is most on the line. DH him next week in Texas and Comiskey, please.

Dusty's Whine is Well-Aged, though the Skin is Thin

In the Tribune today, poor Dusty Baker whines about the Cubs spending money, the end of his tenure here, and, most pathetically, being afraid to go back to Wrigley. Johhny B. also talks about becoming a wine maker.

"At this point I'm not ready to [call a game at Wrigley]. I don't need any more abuse, you know what I mean? I was booed and jeered enough. You use every experience to your advantage to learn. Some you'd just as soon forget; some you don't."

Hey Dusty, I have heard you on ESPN, and you are brutal, dude. Because of blackouts, I will likely have to watch the game Monday on the U! instead of ESPN. A pity.

He is also very relatable, as he talks about not wanting to wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row, which means he has to pay for the extra weight in his luggage on a (gasp) commercial flight.

I would say I cannot wait until Dusty is a manager again, but I think I will have to. I cannot imagine him getting a job any time soon. Who would want him? Unless Joe Morgan is buying a team.

P.S. Found a really good casual but upscale restaurant in the neighborhood last night.

Sweet Story, huh Tony?

Tony LaRussa is a jerk, and a bad guy. He had to have known that his beloved Josh Hancock was drunk when he plowed into the back of a tow truck, but threatened anyone that “want[s] to turn this into . . . some kind of story that's not all sweet” with a fungo bat. Better for the recently DUI'ed to threaten anyone who wants to learn the truth than take the time to bemoan drinking and driving. What a man.

Turns out, he was legally drunk, had a full pipe of pot in the truck, and was talking on the phone when he crashed his truck. Now I have no objection to doing any of those things, but not while speeding down the Interstate driving. Hancock went from mop-up pitcher to being mopped up off the highway.

It was really incredible that the initial reports were that there were no containers of alcohol found in his car, so the inference was that this was a “sweet, horrible” accident.

I always root against the Cardinals, but now I really do.

Good to know I am not alone on this.