A single? You gotta' be kidding me

Top of 3rd -- How is it things start so well and go south so quickly? Talk about a bizarre play. What the heck were the umpires waiting for when Javy hit the ball over the fence? Erstad deserves an Emmy for staying on the ground -- pretending he actually caught the ball. It worked! -- but only because the umpires were ordering cotton candy from the vendors. How long does it take to signal a home run? 5 seconds? 10 seconds? Half an hour?

Of course I'm referring to Tejeda running back and allowing Javy to pass him. The result being a single hit out of the park, but only one run on the scoreboard and Lopez called out. So instead of a 2-1 lead, the score was only tied.

Now what at first looked like a questionable call at the plate gives the Angels at 2-1 lead. The replay seems to show the ump make the correct call. It's a good thing he already got his fill of cotton candy in the bottom half of the 2nd inning.

Back to Back 9th Inning Rallies!

My first post of 2006 deals with the late inning comebacks Thursday and Friday evenings. Let's face it. We life-time O's fans have been let down quite a bit over the years. The lunacy and arrogance of the front office in not signing Melvin Mora is just the latest thorn to irritate us.

But you have to love it when late inning comebacks happen back to back. I'll be honest; it looked like Friday's game was over before we got into the bottom of the first inning. Rodrigo's fastball appeared to take a slower path to home plate than my curveball back in Legion ball 25 years ago (LOL). But he got his act together, restored his focus and blew the Angels away for the rest of the game. After briefly getting us excited about his potential, LaTroy Hawkins reverted to form and blew the save, giving up the first home run the Angel player's first ever home run. Ah, but something cool happened in the bottom half of the inning when the new guy came through for us. Ramon Hernandez had no doubt in his mind about the outcome when he connected on the pitch that landed in the second row in left field last night.

Too bad Rodrigo did not get the win. He certainly earned it last night. Congrats to Tim Byrdak for his first victory on what can only be described as a great, but brief performance: one pitch!

Chris