[Vision2020] Poor Sportsmanship

[David Williams]

I think I'd have to agree with Deacon on this one.  The chief responsibility 
of any leadoff hitter is to get on base, no matter what.  You put your team 
in a hole by being impatient at the plate, swinging for the fences (unless 
you're Ryan Howard), or, in this case, pandering to a potential no-no.  This 
applies specially to rubber matches, in which small ball (i.e. bunts, sac 
bunts, sac flys, stolen bases, smart base-running) usually provides the 
margin for winning or losing.  Kudos to Zobrist for his hustle and game 
focus, especially on a team with sub-500 record playing in a division buried 
by the likes of Toronto, Boston and the Yankees.  A quick disclaimer: I 
might feel a bit different and sympathize more with Scott than I currently 
do if Zobrist did the same things against the Phillies.  Not so much that he 
would've ruined a no-hitter (I've already seen one), but b/c the Phil's are 
in the wild-card hunt, and they need EVERY win.  Apart from 3-game series 
against the Mets, Philadelphia's remaining schedule doesn't include one team 
with a record currently over .500.  GO PHIL'S!!!


>From: "Deacon James" <deaconblues42 at gmail.com>
>To: Vision2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Poor Sportsmanship
>Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:59:45 -0700
>
>Scott,
>
>Suspension? That's taking unwritten rules a bit far, don't you think?
>
>Initially, I felt it was cheap as well. However, it was the beginning of 
>the
>6th inning in a 1-0 game. A no-hitter through 5 is nothing. Hardly a week
>goes by without a pitcher achieving that.
>
>I think the argument stands if the D-Rays were down by 5 in the 8th; at 
>that
>point the game would be out of hand. In a one run game just over 
>half-spent,
>you can't fault Zobrist at all. In my opinion, he was doing whatever he
>could to get on base, and he ought to be applauded.
>
>Take care,
>
>Deacon
>
>On 8/11/06, Scott Dredge <sdredge at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>At the M's game on Wednesday, Jarrod Washburn was pitching beautifully and
>>had a no-hitter going until the 6th inning when Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist 
>>lead
>>off the 6th inning with a bunt single.  In my opinion this was UNETHICAL 
>>and
>>Zobrist should be suspended for at least one game by the Tampa Bay manager
>>if not the league commisioner.  Alternatively, the M's official scorer
>>should have initially ruled the play an error on Adrian Beltre in order to
>>keep the no-hitter intact and the scorer could have later changed the play
>>to a hit once the Devil Rays actually produced a legitimate hit.
>>
>>
>>http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Ag6F94JwmxUZLdr6UuPHWrUn0bYF?gid=260809112
>>
>>-Scott
>>
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