The Best and Brightest in Blue, Not Quite.

Watching the Red Sox and Angels game last night was almost a painful experience, the umpiring in the game was just plain atrocious. Joe West was questionable at best behind the plate with the Red Sox Jon Lester getting visibly upset at least a few times. Joe West was fabulous compared to first base umpire C.B. Bucknor. He missed two fairly easy calls last night that both went against the visiting Red Sox. The first bad call came in the fourth inning when a throw by Alex Gonzalez pulled Kevin Youkilis of the bag but Youk made a sweep tag of Howie Kendrick who was clearly out to everyone,everyone that is but Bucknor. The second was in the sixth and another errant throw, this one by Mike Lowell, pulled Youk off the bag but he got his foot bag on in time, but once again Bucknor disagreed. Now these plays probably didn't cost the Red Sox to lose 5-0, John Lackey along with no Red Sox offense did that, but the umpiring needs to be better in the playoffs. This leads me to my main point why in the world is C.B. Bucknor even an umpire let alone allowed to be part of a playoff crew. Bucknor has twice been rated as the worst umpire in baseball, yet he gets this important assignment. Epic fail on MLB's part.
One more note what was with that little display by Torii Hunter after he hit his three run home run last night. Slamming his helmet on the floor of the dugout and acting like they just won the series. What would have been funny is if the helmet had hit Hunter or another member of the Angels and they missed the rest of the postseason because of this stupidity. Torii it is okay to enjoy the moment but act like you have been there before.

Hey Guys check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel, 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html

Only Time Will Tell

I was giving the remote a workout last night looking for something to watch and I found myself on NESN watching the last few innings of the Red Sox game. Last night's Angels vs. Red Sox game had the feel of a playoff game with the entertaining back and forth action, though both teams will probably safely make the playoffs. The Red Sox have had the Angels number all season long and since these two will most likely be meeting up in the playoffs in a few weeks I would think the Angels would want to make some kind of statement, but maybe I'm wrong. It didn't look like the game mattered to Angel's left fielder Juan Rivera. The effort he gave Alex Gonzalez's pop fly down the left field line was just embarrassing. He jogged towards it at first and then didn't even bother to dive for it, did he not realize the game hinged on that play or did he not care. If Juan Rivera sniffs the starting lineup tonight then I have lost faith in former tough guy manager Mike Scioscia. The Angels can bitch all they want about the umpiring crew not calling Nick Green out on strikes, but when you get a bad break you have to ramp yourself up and get the next guy. One of the worst things you can say about an athlete is that they quit, well last night Juan Rivera quit on his team and now I wait to see how Scioscia responds. Will he have the guts to sit him down for a good spell or will he let the team know that he has lost his passion and he has quit as well.

Check out the latest review of my book 33 Summers:
Although at first I wasn't certain I would enjoy a book with a baseball theme, "33 Summers" by Darren L. Pare came as a pleasant surprise. The intertwining of important news events, sports news, and music made this story a pleasure to read. I felt helpless as I watched the life of Jack Mathis who had such a promising future as a major league baseball player spiral out of control. I came to understand that he chose at an early age to focus on things outside of his ability to change because it kept him from having to face life and the problems that it held. He put so much effort into trying to understand the motives of other people that he failed to confront his own demons and eventually those demons consumed him. This was an emotional read from start to finish and I recommend it for its insight and honesty.
You can purchase my book at: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html
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