In game 1 of the 2014 33 Division finals, #1 seed Indians hosted the #2 seed and defending champion Dodgers at Rogowicz Field on a warm Monday night. The Dodgers took a 1-0 series lead in a mostly well-played game, complete with a bit of intrigue.
Indians threw Burnetter. Dodgers countered with Novak.
After two scoreless innings, the lower half of the Dodgers lineup broke through for two runs on singles by Keegan, Johnson, and Joe Burns. Dodgers picked up an unearned run in the fourth to go up 3-0. Meanwhile, Novak was steady on the mound with strong defense behind him. The Indians then loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on a walk, error, and hit batsman, but Novak wriggled out of trouble, inducing a comebacker then a grounder to first to leave the score 3-0. Dodger leadoff batter Reynaldo Smith led off the sixth with a solo bomb over the fence in left center, and the score held at 4-0 as the contest went to the bottom of the seventh, when things got interesting.
A popout to the second baseman brought up the top of the Indians lineup with one out. BJ Roberts, who found a way on base in all four of his at-bats, drew a walk. A flyball to left brought the Dodgers within one out of a series lead. But Novak hit the next batter, putting two on with big bat Will Horan up next. More notably, it was Novaks third HBP in the game. It seems there is a rule in CDMSBL about how many batters a pitcher can hit in a game before he must be relieved. No one disputed that there was a rule, but the Indians skipper Bonaparte said it was 3, while the Dodger skipper Novak said it was 4. The 3-man umpire crew seemed unsure, and this all led to a game delay, as some definitive answer was sought from board member spectators, from phone calls to other league brass, and even pulling up league rules from the league website on a phone. It turns out, the current posted league rules are silent on the topic. But there seemed a general consensus among most that three is the magic number. Im not sure how a decision got made, or if one even was, but JB Brantley took the hill for the Dodgers as the game resumed after what felt like a calm, but long and disruptive delay.
The game never got back to the dramatic momentum it had been building. It tried, as Brantley walked Will Horan on four pitches to load the bases, inviting Nick Matthews to the box as the potential tying run. Mathews had a couple HR this season, so something epic seemed possible. After the count went to 1-2, Brantley took a toss back from his catcher. As he turned around to take his wind up stance, he found his teammate on second base with the Indians runner off the bag, with his guard down. An unexpected pickoff and the game was over, giving Brantley a 1-out save without having retired a batter. It was an anti-climactic end, and one cant help but wonder if the long rules delay killed not only momentum, but also focus. But it was a good game. Both teams had 12 base runners. Dodgers had 8 hits, 3 walks, and 1 reached on an error, while the Indians had 4 hits, 3 HBP, 4 walks, and 1 reached on an error. The ball was in play all night. Burnetter had two strikeouts, while Novak had one. Final line went something like:
Pretty sad that no one knows the rules of the league they supposedly run. Shocking that boards members don't know the rules. Especially one that can be a game changer.
chris has a good point: more than once i've been involved in games where it was assumed that the third time a pitcher plunked a batter in a game he was to take his leave. and each time that happened, he did. now we learn, he could have stayed?
(though if he were that wild maybe it was good he left; then again, maybe he had 10 Ks to go with three HBPs and batters were leaning into his slow curve to get on and get him out of there? a thickening plot. doubtless it's fodder for winter board meetings. until then, i think we can all borrow from annie hall, by way of that sage screenwriter woody allen, "well, la ... dee ...dah. ... mmmm. ....ladee' dah!")
as for curt's summary, thanks! i especially enjoyed the line: "The game never got back to the dramatic momentum it had been building. It tried ..." interesting angle: as if the game itself were a player. what scant philosopher there is in me liked that line a lot.
-mike
-- Edited by mhart on Wednesday 27th of August 2014 01:25:19 PM
I am a board member and have been one for awhile, I said hey blue he hit 3 he has to come out, he questioned said it was 4 which the only division that was 4 is the now defunct 25 division . Umps didn't know , we called previous commish Tommy who confirmed me at 3. Game continued, and it has always been 3 locally.
It has always been 3 hbp for the 10 years I have been in the league. The rule on the National site is 4 but that is for a 9 inning game. This should be added in writing to the league rules to prevent this from happening again. If it is in there and I missed it I apologize but I did not see it.
the rules have been updated to include hit batters. it was in the rules all along only mistakenly omitted while we updated this past winter. sorry for the confusion. Jreel
