OK, admittedly Morgan Ensberg only played 28 games in pinstripes, all of ‘em at the tail end of a decade long professional career best remembered for a 36 HR total in 2005. But with no disrespect intended towards Ensberg’s work between the lines, the early days of the newly launched Morgan Ensberg’s Baseball IQ reveal an unusually witty, self-deprecating voice that’s far too rare in the world of ballers-turned-bloggers. Responding to a recent claim by Bob Watson that ultra-lengthy ballgames are caused by batters and pitchers wandering around looking for “mug-time”, Ensberg writes, “Check me out! I’m batting .200! Haven’t slept in 8 years from sheer panic. Sure, John Smoltz is throwing 100 mph, but I’m not thinking of his slider or his split. I’m going to try and get a little face time.” On the subject of Alex Rodriguez’ recent run-in with the previously unheralded Dallas Braden, Ensberg offers the following insight :
Mr. Braden invoked the law of “unwritten rules.” The biggest problem with this is that we literally have no book to go through on this one. In lieu of this, I will use the actions of a “reasonable person” in my model.
Alex is caught in between second base and third base after Cano hits a ball foul. Using my high school geometry as the backbone of this point, I know that the quickest way from one point to another is a straight line. Rodriguez has to get back to 1st base, and the mound stands in his way. Does a reasonable person just jog over the mound?
I believe he does.
There is no unwritten rule that a player can’t jog over the mound. I know that because I am looking at the invisible unwritten rulebook. Here is a the exact quote from the book,
“ “
What? You don’t see anything? C’mon it is right below the 1st rule. Right there! You telling me you don’t see anything? Jeez…ok….I’ll just translate it for you.
It basically states that a player is allowed to walk over anything that is connected to the Earth if it is located on a baseball field.
Original Story:
http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/?p...
