Game 4: Pitchers
CC Sabathia seems to be struggling with his mechanics.
Joe Blanton is (as usual) struggling with looking too much like Turtle from Entourage.
And the conspiracy theorist within is struggling with the possibility that Charlie Manuel used the hit-by-pitch as an intentional walk for Alex Rodriguez in the first inning with the specific hope the umpires would warn both benches and thus take the inside pitch away from Sabathia.
The latter is unlikely, but certainly the first part of it would be anything but unprecedented.
Baseball Nerd 
Any thoughts on how nobody is believing this Ump about his strike zone?
Sir, I know you we shouldn’t feed the animals, but that being said, I have to come to your defense against “cummingsrc@aol.com”, with some off the top of the mind thoughts.
What makes someone irrelevant?
Having an AOL account.
Being an internet troll.
Using a gender-opposite pronoun to try and insult a person.
But, “cummingsrc@aol.com”, at least you didn’t use the word news, when describing the nation’s leading group therapy network, since we all know ClusterFaux is not news.
OK, did you hear that goofy comment about no retaliation being not done during the World Series. Ok, Fox, get with the program.
Perhaps your inner conspiracy theorist has a point. It’s hard to know whether Manuel was thinking that far ahead, or if he was just being a jerk. Either way, it’s the hallmark of a dirty player.
And speaking of dirty players…folks, just click on the “report any abuse or spam” link to report the trolls. Responding to them is engaging in a battle of wits with unarmed minds. 😉
Has anyone noticed how the time-tags that MLBlogs puts to comments seem to be incorrect?
When the umpire issued the warning to both benches, I swear I also thought, “Oh, Charlie Manuel probably planned that!” (How I managed to leave out the phrase ‘wily managerial veteran,’ I do not know.) I promptly chided myself for being overtired, over-sugared from leftover Halloween candy, & just generally overthinking the whole situation. So … it’s good to know that minds-prone-to-suspicions-of-conspiracy think alike. 🙂
My heart sank a little when I saw the dateline on your latest entries, Keith. I’ve watched a lot of baseball in ERs & hospital waiting rooms waiting for news about a parent. It’s not that the game is more important than the situation at hand … not at all. If one loves baseball, it just seems to lend a certain geometry & sense of order — plain old normalcy — to the world when so much is out of one’s control.
So: thoughts & prayers, as always, to you & your dad. I hope he will be well soon.