longoriaI’ve always been a guy who believes in following the “spirit of the law” as opposed to a “letter of the law.”  That is to say, I don’t always come to a complete and total stop at stop signs at 1am when I can see that there’s no one else around especially at intersections where I believe that the signs were put up to regulate traffic (as opposed to areas where they’re put up for the safety of the community.  I believe that laws are made to protect the people and not for the sake of making needless restrictions on personal freedoms and what not.

The reason I start there is because we had a little “letter of the law” altercation in baseball yesterday and I thought it was dumb.  As you undoubtedly have heard, Evan Longoria was removed from the starting lineup of the Rays/Indians game yesterday because Mr. Joe Maddon accidentally listed Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist as both playing third base when it was obvious that he meant to put Longoria at DH.  Because of this the Rays forfeited their right to use the DH for the game and were forced to bat their pitcher third.  Now, I’m not arguing that the correct protocol wasn’t followed.  I guess I technically agree with the decision based on the letter of the law.  What does annoy me is that it was so obviously a simple mistake that there seems to me no reason that both teams couldn’t have agreed to allow the Rays to move forward with their original intention of batting Longoria as the DH. 

You see, getting away with a technicality seems cheap and unskillful.  Luckily the Rays won yesterday (lucky for them–I hate the Rays), but had they not this whole game would have felt like a sham.  It wasn’t a maneuver based on skill but on but on feigned respect for the rules.

It’s the same way I feel whenever I see AJ Pierzynski get away with his bullshit.  Remember the playoffs a few years back when he struck out to end the inning but ran to first anyway under the guise that the catcher dropped the ball as the other team ran off the field?  People called that a heads up play when it was chintzy at best.  It wasn’t superior skill that got him the base, it was his willingness to bend the rules and force the umpires, in all of their failed human frailty to make a decision.

This of course wasn’t the only time he’s pulled such a stunt.  Last year, when running the bases, he got caught in a pickle that would surely have lead to his being called out, but instead he ran into the second basemen and flopped like a little bitch to get an interference call.  This isn’t superior gamesmanship; this is acting like a little bitch boy, the same way flopping in basketball and soccer is.

My point, if the intent obvious is obvious, don’t try to cheap the opposition into a weaker position by clinging to the rules.  Play the game like a man and don’t act like you’re confused by what’s going on (that one was aimed especially at Eric Wedge).

In the other game that featured a strange occurrence this weekend, I was less concerned.  I’m referring to John Lackey’s getting booted after two pitches on Saturday.  Some would argue that he should have stayed in because he wasn’t officially warned after throwing at Kinsler with his first pitch.  But his intent was obvious.  He was trying to hit Kinsler (as evidenced by the second pitch that succeeded) and he did.  His getting booted, while not following the letter of the law, seemed somewhat appropriate as it was a rational response to the spirit of the law.  I, for one, am okay with players throwing at other players, but since the rules have been rewritten to ban such things, I am less inclined to feel outrage when players are booted for doing so.  After all, the pitcher is willingly allowing a baserunner so it hurts his ability to pitch as well.

[Gets off high horse using extra tall step ladder because the horse is so high]

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