Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Rob Neyer is a Liar. There. Now we've both made a false accusation

I love Rob Neyer's writing. Absolutely can't do without it. I own every single book he's ever put his name on. But this is absurd.

Romero skipped a pitch in the dirt to Pierzynski leading off the eighth inning -- not a terrible pitch, mind you, because AJ had been hacking at similar offerings all night. But late in the game with his team trailing 4-0, Pierzynski resisted the urge to swing. When the ball hit the ground near his feet, he began hopping as if an anvil had landed on his toe. But in fact, nothing had landed on his toe. Replays were clear. He had not been hit.

I don't want to get into the awesome logistics that would be involved here ... but, ethically speaking, isn't there an argument to be made for punishing Pierzynski? He cheated.

In soccer, don't officials have the power to levy discipline against players who feign injury?

In the aftermath, Steve Stone said, "It's just one of those things." As if cheating (and getting away with it) is like an earthquake, or a tornado that formed quickly and touched down before anyone could sound a warning.

No. It's not just one of those things. It's cheating, and in some quarters there are rules against such things.

I know everyone hates AJ Pierzynski, but last I checked, you can't break the rules if there isn't a rule. And if it ain't breaking the rules it ain't cheating.

Last I checked. Debate the ethics of what he did if you want, but until you can show me the rule he broke, let's hold off on calling people cheaters. Unless you want to call every baseball player who tries to decieve the umpire a cheater--which includes every single catcher who has ever framed a borderline strike. Which is, of course, every catcher ever.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe I just don't want to believe that Neyer is really saying something that crazy, but I'm pretty sure he's being facetious.

Chris W said...

I don't think he is..read the article...i just don't get that sense. But I would like to be wrong on this bc neyer has never been one to be pseudo sanctimonious

Elliot said...

What I want to know is when we are going to start prosecuting the rogue criminal baserunners who have been blatantly stealing signs for years.

Not that I'm condoning flopping, but it's up to the umpires to see if the player is faking--not the Commissioner through fines or suspensions.

Chris W said...

If there is a rule against flopping then flopping is cheating (a la soccer). If there is not then it is merely a "bitch move" (a la professional football where pussy QB's and punter's flop to get the 15 yards).

What AJ did is no doubt a bitch move but to call him a cheater for it is, imo, equally a bitch move

Elliot said...

Don't forget Manu Ginobli and Chris Paul, who I believe are close to opening their International Academy of Flopping for young basketball players worldwide.

Biggus Rickus said...

Elliot,

Doesn't Duke already host a basketball camp?

Angelo said...

duke doesn't have to flop. Kryzyzyzyzyewski just glares at the officials once and they make every call for them after that.

Dylan said...

Elliot, I believe you're forgetting the 3rd founder of the International Academy of Flopping: Anderson Varejao.

LincolnHawk said...

One of the other annoying points of this article is Rob quoting Andy Behrens, “… he soon fell behind Alex Rios 2-1 that’s when he made his only real mistake of the night.”

Why is that columnists and announcers think pitchers' only mistakes are home runs? It seems pitchers (and their catchers) make several mistakes during a game, but since hitting a baseball 400 feet is difficult, most of those mistakes are minimized.

For example, it seems Romero falling behind 2-1 might have been indicative of a couple of mistakes.

SOB in CA said...

I have my list of unwritten rules, right here on this page (flapping pages in breeze), and they say the punishment for such stunts is one in the ear next time up.

Alex said...

Don't know if this is related to you guys but it reminds me of Zidane's head butt at the World Cup in 2006. He responded to Materazzi's trash talking with a violent act. Yet, on a whim it seemed, people blamed Materazzi for Zidane's insane actions and wanted to punish him for luring Zidane into the act.

It was retarded since, you know, trash talking is a part of sports. If the guy reacts that way to verbal jabs how is he in more serious situations I wondered?

Materrazi didn't cheat, he just played another player and that player got himself knocked out of a crucial game all by himself. The rest is history.