Disgusting Behavior

[Straightshooter2]

I don't know how many watched the Wild Card game between the Braves and Cards last night but I am totally embarrassed by the behavior of the Braves fans after that pathetic call by left field foul line umpire Sam Holbrook. I understand the anger since it was Chipper's last game (seriously I had to take a half of one of my wife's tranquilizers) but there was no excuse for throwing things on the field. Some of the bottles and cans that people were throwing from the upper decks were landing short and hitting people in the lower decks.

On another note, the call Holbrook made was actually not his call to make. Foul line umpires are added in the post season simply to assist in making boundary line calls (fair or foul ball, home run or not) and possibly whether a ball was caught in the outfield or trapped. The infield fly rule call should have been made by the third base umpire. Joe Torre, who is now vice-president of MLB operations, was at the game and could have made the decision during the delay to uphold Freddy Gonzales' protest, overruling the umpire's call. But instead, MLB took the cowardly way out and let the call stand. I do hope that Holbrook got a police escort out of the stadium after the game. In fact I hope they escorted him to the state line on a rail after being tarred and feathered telling him to never come back to Georgia! Yes, the Braves made three errors that resulted in four runs and the call may or may not have influenced the outcome of the game. But it would have been bases loaded with one out so who knows what would have happened. I think we would have been better off with the NFL's replacement refs.

Disgusting behavior from the fans and a pathetic call from an umpire. Now if the Bulldogs slip up and lose tonight, I may have to be committed.

CW

 

[Beemerguy53]

Disgusting, rude, and vulgar behavior by people in public is becoming more and more common these days.

Young men walking around with their pants half-off; schoolgirls dressed like hookers; crude and vulgar bumper/window stickers; fake gonads hanging off the backs of pickup trucks; people talking/texting in movies; the language one hears everywhere now; the total lack of courtesy among people in service jobs; the in-your-face attitude one sees on most Internet message boards...

I feel like I am watching our society disintegrate. In so many ways, in so many places in America, we have no standards anymore. This Forum, and a few like it, are one of the only places where rules of decorum are observed and enforced.

 

[judge]

A perfect example of why baseball needs "instant replay" during the playoffs, with a umpire in the booth to review questionable plays. I felt bad for Chipper Jones, not because they lost, but for the fans poor behavior - an embarrassment to the City of Atlanta.

 

[Damn Yankee]

Braves is my team and Chipper is my man. Really had a good feeling about the Braves winning last night after the catcher hit the home run and the Braves leading.

But when Chipper threw the ball into left field allowing two runs to score and no outs I thought this is bad.

Then when the shortstop bunted and ran out of the running lane it just went down hill from there.

Had to go to work at 6 and found out Braves lost 6-3. Had my heart on them going to the playoffs.

 

[158Grain]

I have to admit it was a questionable call, and I'm a lifelong Cards fan! I do agree that baseball needs a replay system of somekind. My wife and I were sitting there watching and both said you would have never seen that behavior in STL. It may have changed the game, may not have. Errors by the Braves are what ended the game.

PS GO CARDS!

 

[redlevel]

I don't think that would be a call that could be challenged, like balls and strikes, for instance. That was purely a judgement call. Replays would not be used to overturn questionable judgement calls, but for things like fan interference, whether or not a player trapped a line drive, etc. Far as that goes, MLB could have overruled the call after Gonzalez protested, but they rightly ruled that a judgement call could not be called into question.

I agree that it was a terrible call. I also agree that the fans' behavior was thuggish and indefensible. I can't believe the fans on FB and a state forum I post on who are defending the fans' behavior. That kind of behavior is never excusable.

Does anyone else remember Eric Gregg's six-foot-wide strike zone in the playoff game the Braves played against the Marlins some years back?

 

[kennyb]

another example was a couple weeks ago in the greenbay packer/seahawks nfl game...poorest call i have ever seen and cost the packers the game...the packers however conducted themselves as true sportsmen....

 

[Straightshooter2]

I don't think that would be a call that could be challenged, like balls and strikes, for instance. That was purely a judgement call.

Does anyone else remember Eric Gregg's six-foot-wide strike zone in the playoff game the Braves played against the Marlins some years back?

Actually, as I understand, it could be protested due to the wording of the rule. It basically states that the infielder must be able to catch the ball with "an ordinary effort" and that the call must be made immediately for the benefit of the runners. Holbrook's call was not made until the ball was about 50ft off the ground and it was obvious that the ball was not going to be caught. Plus the effort the shortstop made to get to the ball was not "ordinary" as he had to run 50-60 feet into the outfield. As I mentioned earlier, that call belongs to the third base umpire and he did not hold his arm up for infield fly until he saw Holbrook do so. It's sad that the first ever Wild Card game will be remembered for the umpires and not the game. The AJC is calling the Outfield Fly Rule Game.

Wasn't Eric Gregg about 6 foot wide anyway? He was the forrunner to C.B.Buckner who is if not the worst umpire in the ML, he's close to it. I do remember many years ago Joe West calling a ball that bounced in the dirt strike three on a Braves batter in either a playoff game or a game where the Braves were trying to make the playoffs. It was the final out of the game and again IIRC the Braves manager (Joe Torre?) was given a post game ejection.

CW

 

[RightArm]

No replay in baseball. The aspect of human error adds to the mystique of baseball. If it weren't for the new one game wild card, this would not be a discussion. If a team wants to avoid the new wild card game, they should win more games. They have over 160 to do it.
Never get in that situation with the Cardinals. They do that sort of thing for fun.

 

[Cooter Brown]

I saw that on the news this morning, and was glad when I heard both Freddie Gonzalez and Chipper criticize the behavior.

But to tell you the truth, I haven't watched as much baseball since they changed the playoff system. In my view the old system perfect--by the end of 162 games you know who the best teams are. They go to a seven game playoff and the winners of those playoffs go to the world series.

I understand why they changed it; to have more championship games to sell advertising for. This one game nonsense is in my view ridiculous and the final straw. As we saw last night, goofy things happen in ball games, but with 162 games and seven game series, things even out.

With the system now, the 162 game regular season is almost meaningless. Exhibition games in essence. Why even play them?

Hate to say it because I was always a huge fan, but I'm done with pro baseball.

 

[redlevel]

Things started downhill when they started the DH mess.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Things started downhill when they started the DH mess.

Agreed, but even with that there was one league playing properly...

Remember old Milo Hamilton and the wonderful Ernie Johnson?

I used to sneak my Dad's little transistor radio out of his dresser before I went to bed so I could listen to the night games when I was supposed to be sleeping. I was listening when Gaylord Perry threw the pitch that Hank Aaron put over the fence for his 600th homer..I knew right then that Hank was gonna get the record.

Speaking of Hank Aaron, when I was a Cub Scout he came to one of our meetings. I think one of the parents just called up the team and got hold of Hank and he came on out, signed autographs and took pictures with us.

It was a different time, for sure.

 

[Straightshooter2]

Hank was and still is a gentleman. As opposed to Willie Mays who used to slam bus windows on children begging for his autograph. And don't even get me started on Barry Bonds. Aaron is still the home run king with 755, I don't care if any of the steroid using crowd hit a thousand home runs. Bonds cheated and has no place in the Hall of Fame. Neither does Mcguire or Sosa. Quite often back in '67 and '68 when working the ramp at Delta, we would meet the charters and speak to the players when they got off the plane and onto the bus. Some would speak to you and some wouldn't but I seem to remember Hank would always smile, even if he didn't say anything. As to the previous post, Milo and Ernie were terrific and the ultimate "Homers". Does anybody remember when the Braves won a walkoff and Milo was so excited he fell out of the booth.

CW

 

[Arik]

That aint too bad. Have you seen soccer games!?!?!? a few weeks ago someone threw a live hand grenade on a field when Saudi Arabia was playing another team. It went off. Luckily no one was injured

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[Fishslayer]

A lot of us probably had a soft spot for the poor Red Sox till they got in a playoff & we saw what boorish (insert bannable term here) their fans are.