Oakland Park Baseball

NOTE: Scott L. had one more hit than is shown above, but it was removed due to the controversial nature of the hit.

I just wanted to make my own note regarding Scott's hit. All said, I don't really have any interest in how it is scored. It's not like I'm vying with him for MVP. In addition, like he said, I'm just playing a couple games for quite some time so I guess my opinion doesn't matter very much. But for the little bit that it does matter, here it is.

I thought Scott's hit to me was ROE for two reasons. One was that it hit off the end of my glove. Second, I didn't move to catch the ball. I kneeled down and leaned to the left at the last minute since I realized I was going to miss the ball to my left. In other words, had I taken two steps to the left or dived I could have easily caught it. I just misread it because of the sun and had to reach across my body since I was playing left handed.

Had I moved towards the ball, dived, or used the time I had to position myself and it was still out of my reach, I would feel it was a hit.

I just want the stats to be accurate and wanted folks to know why I felt how I did at the time. Next time, I’ll handle the situation between innings instead of disrupting the game. My apologies for my role in that.

If at the end of the day several people feel it is a hit, by all means please count it as a hit. My opinion is only mine and others could have seen it differently and I respect that. I don’t want Scott to be robbed if I was the only one to see it my way. I will absolutely defer if several people feel differently because I tend to think that consensus is probably more accurate than my solo opinion.

It was good seeing you guys. See ya around X-mas time.

- Dorian

My gosh... they're teaching D-Trizz consensus building down yonder at Vandy.

dtrizzle wrote:In addition, like he said, I'm just playing a couple games for quite some time so I guess my opinion doesn't matter very much.

Hey Dorian, I wanted to clarify that the 'temporary' remark by me was meant as a complete joke. Your viewpoint is just as important as anyone else's.

This reminds me of something I've always been fascinated by in baseball... perspective. It amazes me how differently people who see the same exact scene can interpret it. Take the Angels/White Sox game from the playoffs where Anaheim catcher Josh Paul appeared to drop the third strike of batter AJ Pierzynski. Paul, apparently believing he had not dropped it, tossed the ball toward the mound (it would have been the 3rd out) and started walking off the field. Pierzynski paused for a moment then ran to first. He ended up scoring the winning run on a double off the wall by Joe Crede. To many, it was absolutely clear that Paul had caught the ball. But to others, it was just as absolutely clear that he had not caught the ball--ie it had in fact hit the ground.

I have seen so many situations where people with completely opposing viewpoints face off, yet each person genuinely believes their perspective to be the valid one.

I think it all comes down to subconscious aspects of our thinking... Anyway, it just fascinates me how sincere people can disagree so widely on something they both witnessed.

PS: I'm glad we didn't fight, Dorian, it could've gotten ugly... like your thumb would've been down for the count in no time, then I would've had to deal with an arrogant thumb on the end of my arm shittalking nonstop.

Well, I though it was a hit because to me it looked like Dorian moved about as fast as any reasonable person's reaction time would allow. It was a hard hit ball, up off the ground around shoulder level, requiring a reach across the body with the glove. Had he caught it, it would have been a webgem-worthy display of lightning reactions.
Probably the sun was a hindrance, but the main problem was the speed of the ball and the location relative to the fielder. He did well to get a glove to it, in my view.
But, my reactions are not the quickest, so this may have colored my perspective.

I think it was kinda a close call. I probably had one of the best views of the action from center field. At first I said it was a hit, just because of how hard the ball was hit, it seemed like it would have to be a hard play but after going over the events in my head I realized a few things that changed my mind.

The ball was hit directly at Dorian. I mean directly... one could argue that he didn't have time to move his feet, but he was so perfectly positioned for the catch that he didn't have to.

Becuase the ball was hit so dead-on at him, he actually had plenty of time to position his glove and make the catch... i mean, the ball was hit hard, but it wasn't a rocket... he had a sec to make the play.

Was it a routine play? Maybe not. Catching low line drives are a bit of a pain, but it definately would not have been WG worthy catch, and when I think of it that way, I say it was an error.

Remember, to me, a WG is a play on a ball that turns a hit into an out and (of course) an error is a play on a ball that turns an out into a hit.

If the catch wouldn't have been a WG, then the not-catch would have to be an error, right?

While I very much dissagree with Ken's black & white outlook on WebGems and errors, I agree with his logic. It was hit right at him.

I was on deck and saw it clearly. I would say this this is an error, but a tough one.

Then again, sometimes the balls hit right at you are the most difficult. But being difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't make the play.