2026 MLB (Non-Tigers) Thread

[chasfh]

The answer is also in the Umpire Manual. Interpretation #78, titled “Ball Strikes Bird or Animal,” reads:

If a batted or thrown ball strikes a bird in flight or other animal on the playing field, the ball is considered alive and in play, the same as if it had not touched the bird or animal.

If a pitched ball strikes a bird in flight or other animal on the playing field, the pitch is nullified and play shall be resumed with the previous count.

So in the Randy Johnson scenario, the umpire nullifies the pitch entirely and the count simply reverts to whatever it was before. No pitch recorded, no ball or strike added, no dead ball award to runners. Just wipe it off the books and go again. After a moment of silence, of course.

The closest numbered Rule in the Book this interpretationt probably draws from conceptually would be Rule 8.01(c): “Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.”

Me, I’m just trying to imagine how a pitched ball could strike any “other animal”.

[NorthWoods]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Me, I’m just trying to imagine how a pitched ball could strike any “other animal”.

A bat.

[chasfh]

4 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

A bat.

It would be really unusual for a bat to be hanging around the playing area of a major league stadium without anyone noticing it or play being stopped to deal with it.

[NorthWoods]

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

It would be really unusual for a bat to be hanging around the playing area of a major league stadium without anyone noticing it or play being stopped to deal with it.

Well, a bat seemed more plausible than a flying squirrel.

[Tiger337]

Did Chas miss a joke that flew right over his head?  

[CMRivdogs]

35 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

Well, a bat seemed more plausible than a flying squirrel.

They just hang around Richmond

[chasfh]

5 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Did Chas miss a joke that flew right over his head?  

Northwoods might have, too. 😏

I do appreciate the layering in your own post.

[NorthWoods]

55 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Northwoods might have, too. 😏

I do appreciate the layering in your own post.

I'm capable of missing jokes in person or online.

[Motor City Sonics]

Alex Cora out as Red Sox manager.     One of the best managers they ever had.     How long until Alex is named Mets skipper? 

[IdahoBert]

Hinch headed to Red Sox! Not. He has already lost his soul once I can’t imagine him wanting to lose it again.

[gehringer_2]

41 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

Hinch headed to Red Sox! Not. He has already lost his soul once I can’t imagine him wanting to lose it again.

trick question: If you had to offer Hinch Harris' job to keep him, would you?

[Sports_Freak]

17 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Did Chas miss a joke that flew right over his head?  

[Sports_Freak]

22 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

A bat.

If an adult was a bat boy for a day, would he be called a batman?

[chasfh]

12 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

Hinch headed to Red Sox! Not. He has already lost his soul once I can’t imagine him wanting to lose it again.

Wait, why is the idea of Hinch leaving the Tigers and going to Boston showing up in multiple threads all of a sudden? I do a search on the idea and there is zero coming up about it. Where is this chatter originating?

[Tiger337]

5 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Wait, why is the idea of Hinch leaving the Tigers and going to Boston showing up in multiple threads all of a sudden? I do a search on the idea and there is zero coming up about it. Where is this chatter originating?

It all comes from the same person

[casimir]

The Hinch to Boston thing makes sense when you consider he was there just last weekend.

[IdahoBert]

9 of the 15 clubs in the AL are sub .500 teams. 

[IdahoBert]

So is Boston’s firing of their manager and much of their coaching staff during the early season simply a sign of desperation rather than cogent strategic thinking?

I can see wanting to “change team culture“ and everything but when all you do is generally promote people from your minor-league affiliates, it sure seems like desperation to me.

Just curious what more astute observers than myself think.

[NorthWoods]

1 hour ago, IdahoBert said:

So is Boston’s firing of their manager and much of their coaching staff during the early season simply a sign of desperation rather than cogent strategic thinking?

I can see wanting to “change team culture“ and everything but when all you do is generally promote people from your minor-league affiliates, it sure seems like desperation to me.

Just curious what more astute observers than myself think.

It was a "placate the fans" move.   They were demanding heads on a platter and got them.

[IdahoBert]

29 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

It was a "placate the fans" move.   They were demanding heads on a platter and got them.

That’s kind of sad, because the fans are idiots, unlike us because we are merely morans. 

[casimir]

59 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

It was a "placate the fans" move.   They were demanding heads on a platter and got them.

Seems silly to me.  It’s still only April.  They rolled off, what, half of their coaching staff?  And then reverberations to the minor leagues because managers/coaches down there were part of the domino effect.  Maybe I’m wrong, but unless the team needed a change in culture, it just seems like a desperate move(s).

[IdahoBert]

17 minutes ago, casimir said:

Seems silly to me.  It’s still only April.  They rolled off, what, half of their coaching staff?  And then reverberations to the minor leagues because managers/coaches down there were part of the domino effect.  Maybe I’m wrong, but unless the team needed a change in culture, it just seems like a desperate move(s).

Yeah, I think it makes ownership look stupid and weak. Are Red Sox fans really this entitled? I don’t want disparage the entirety of any fan base because there are always fans there who are sincere astute fans. I can’t help but think this is an over reaction by the owner.

[theroundsquare]

what's that saying, you can't fire all the players, so fire the manager

[Motor City Sonics]

The Red Sox are in a very very tough division.   One that any team within it (including themselves) could win.      It seems to me that they did not do much to improve themselves in the offseason, so they blamed the manager.    Correct me if I am wrong (because I don't pay close attention like I used to), but they changed their strategy from run scoring to run-prevention and they gave that change a month?    Changes like that take time.       The Tigers are a run-prevention team too and that took a couple of years to finally click and they were in a much weaker division.   

 

Now, the Mets.   What a ****ing disaster.  Swept at home by the Rockies?   LOL.   I am stunned Mendoza still has  his job.  Mets fans must be screaming MENDOZA like McBain does in the Simpsons.    I am stunned that Alex Cora hasn't already been named Mets manager.   He's still a good manager, but the change in strategy in Boston wasn't given any time.  

 

If the Mets don't make the move for Cora very soon, the Phillies probably will.    This Braves series is going to be a very tough one for the Tigers.  I think they'll be fortunate to win one.    Who are the Guardians playng this week? 

Edited 4 hours ago by Motor City Sonics

[chasfh]

If the Red Sox fired the manager and staff this early, they were probably contemplating making a change in spring training. It’s not as though Cora was setting the world on fire with this team. He inherited one of the greatest teams in history and cruised to a ring in 2018, but ever since, they’ve been kind of flailing, clustering around .500,  never winning another division, and missing the playoffs more than making them. Another thing to remember: Cora was not this front office’s guy. He belonged to the Dombrowski front office. Craig Breslow gets to reshape the on-field coaching in his image now, but then he gets full blame if they end up flailing, too.

I sure wouldn’t want to be a Red Sox fan right now.