The Crane Pool Forum

...at close plays at first base. Mets, opponents, don't matter. To me, I always go, "he made it," and then when I see replay I go, "Oh. Guess not. Nabbed by a step, ump got it right." Why is that?

you're a bad umpire?

You need an eye exam and new glasses?

The Hot Corner wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 9:14 pm You need an eye exam and new glasses?

Impressive marketing!

A bad umpire? Id' make Angel Hernandez look like a super- computer. And bad eyesight? My kids should take my car keys away permanently. But everyone else is accurate about bang bang plays at first?

Double

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 9:47 am La nuit, tous les chats sont gris.

It's been 60 years since I took one semester of French.
I translated that to "Don't sing and eat grits at night".
I think I need to find my old textbook.

Later

I always 'make a call' when watching a close play, and usually out loud. Sometimes I turn out to be right and sometimes I'm wrong, (and at times i probably let the heart overrule the head, though not too often).
But I don't believe I err more consistently on either the 'out' or 'safe' side.

I think it means all cats are grey at night.

I know.

Should we have an "All Pitches Look Like Strikes" thread about the how the electric balls/ strikes system test is working out?
Later

whippoorwill wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 12:38 pm I think it means all cats are grey at night.

It does, although the usual interpretation of that phrase has a pejorative connotation for older women, unlike the runners I call uniformly "safe." For some reason. the phrase is often rendered in French, though Benjamin Franklin is credited (by some) for originating it (in English.) Classier in French, but still insulting to women.

The camera does not see the ball very well at all in throws across the diamond. It is far easier to pick up a fast-moving ball when it is being thrown directly at the camera or directly away from it, which is why those angles are used to show us pitcher/batter confrontations.

So most of what we see to judge when the ball arrives is the response of the fielder receiving the ball, which is always going to be a beat behind.

To me, it (almost) always looks like the firstbaseman's foot comes off the bag before the ball is received, but I have long since accepted that this is an illusion and have adapted my understanding of my perception accordingly.

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:42 am To me, it (almost) always looks like the firstbaseman's foot comes off the bag before the ball is received, but I have long since accepted that this is an illusion and have adapted my understanding of my perception accordingly.

I've experienced that too.

roger_that wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:37 am

whippoorwill wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 12:38 pm I think it means all cats are grey at night.

It does, although the usual interpretation of that phrase has a pejorative connotation for older women, unlike the runners I call uniformly "safe." For some reason. the phrase is often rendered in French, though Benjamin Franklin is credited (by some) for originating it (in English.) Classier in French, but still insulting to women.

Hanh? I thought Edgy made it up

I have never heard the phrase deployed to denigrate women, though I have seen it deployed with a sexual connotation. Please forgive any unintended meaning.

I first encountered it from the 1981 Cure song "All Cats Are Grey," and later a 1966 collection of short stories, At Night, All Cats Are Grey by Patrick Boyle. Neither the song nor the book are what you might call "cheery," but they got me interested in the French idiom from which both titles were sourced. It seemingly has many nuanced meanings.

I have actually noticed that at night, my gray cats are harder to spot than my other ones. I just thought it meant that.

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 1:38 pm I have never heard the phrase deployed to denigrate women, though I have seen it deployed with a sexual connotation. Please forgive any unintended meaning.

In theory, it's a gender-neutral insult--being a man, Franklin used it to explain his attraction to ladies whom others might find elderly or homely, but it could as well apply to ugly old men, such as myself, by a young woman.

And to your other point, it often looks to me like the first baseman has broken contact with the bag before he grabs the ball, but that's an illusion as well, as replay shows.

I wouldn’t have gotten near Ben Franklin with a 10 foot pole. Yuck.

And yes, I have often noticed that, too!
About first base that is

whippoorwill wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 6:25 pm I wouldn’t have gotten near Ben Franklin with a 10 foot pole. Yuck.

Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a bathtub full of his hundred-dollar bills.

I used to think that first base was like the 'neighborhood play' at second, but over the years and countless replays I've come to accept that yes, they keep their foot on the bag for that millisecond it requires to record the out.

:)

Chad ochoseis wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 7:55 am

The Hot Corner wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 9:14 pm You need an eye exam and new glasses?

Impressive marketing!

Marketing? Not me, I'm retired. Just sticking with one thing I know.