I don't think that a winning team in a blowout should have to release the gas until the losing team does it first. For example, I will stop trying to steal bases when you decide to give Castro, Soriano, and Ramirez the rest of the night off.

I've generally always gone by the twice as many innings left rule, including the one you're in. If you're in the fifth, that means you have five innings left...shut it down if you're up by 10 or more.

I believe Mattingly said it was a broken sign that Ellis missed. I don't think sending AJ Ellis to steal second is any sort of attempt to run up the score. If anything, it was a free out for the CUbs

So if you're in the 8th and up by 4, shut it down!!

I hate when teams bitch about these kind of issues.

How about you focus on playing better then worrying about why the other team continues to kick your ass.

Yeah it's absolutely retarded. Unless you are up by a number that is theoretically impossible to come back from (I've personally seen the Angels make up 10 runs on the Yankees in the last couple of innings) why the fuck would you ever stop trying to score runs?

This is from the article and just boggles my mind

A similar circumstance occurred when the Cubs played Milwaukee on April 9. At that time, Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez stole second and third base late in the game with the Brewers leading 6-0.

Are you kidding me? How hard is it to score 6 runs in the late innings? Is this professional baseball or is it ayso under 7s... I seem to have a hard time remembering

Cubs just scored 5 runs in the 8th inning and beat the Dodgers 10-8

I never understood this blowout etiquette in any sport above high school level. What's the concern/ harm here - hurt feelings? These are adults. Am I really supposed to care about a pro athlete's feelings? Win by 20 runs if you can.

Here, here. Though in certain cases with college football I do think there is going too far. I mean if you are Michigan and playing another Big Ten team and you're up 30 and want the backups to get work, then fine, keep throwing it. If it's UM vs Eastern Michigan and you're up 40 at the half, there is obviously some need for restraint.

In any pro league though I say the more the merrier.

These two stories show me how goofy sports has gotten. To me these are both extremely easy viewpoints. On one hand you have the possibility one organization intentionally gave false information. If it's proven, that's cheating. Period.

On the other hand you have a bunch of grown up players and coaches crying because a team kept trying to score runs. Are you joking? Maybe Quade can look at this box score for me:

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Colorado Rockies - Recap - July 06, 2010 - ESPN

Baseball is a game without a clock. You don't shut it down because another team has 9 outs left. If the score is 35-10 with 45 seconds left in an NFL game? I think it's a bush league move to throw the ball deep. (or throw it at all) But for a major league team to try to keep scoring at ANY point in the game? Idiotic. It's the give every kid a ribbon so their feelings don't get hurt mentality and it sucks.

I was outside doing some work and missed the Brad Penny hit/error to break up the no hitter. Anyone see it? What did you think?

Looked like a hit to me, but I can see both sides.

and honestly.. when I was in HS, we got our butts handed to us quite a bit in soccer and baseball and nobody ever said a thing..

No idea if this is true or not, but I heard the Cubs are the first team to ever go 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 -and so on all the way to 10-10.

Some quick thoughts on the season so far:

1) It's great to see Alex Gordon continuing his spring into the season. Always nice to see a guy fight through struggles and succeed.

2) I guess Bautista is for real. Dittor for Votto. (j/k, anyone who didn't know Votto was for real had issues)

3) Josh Johnson looks unhittable.

4) It's amazing that I'm still shocked when I see a 41 year old reliever blow a save. I'm not sure I'll ever see another Mariano Rivera in my lifetime.

5) Jeter seems to be going downhill fast. Barring some huge turnaround here, it looks like everytime he hits a double or a key single we'll hear people say "heart of a champion" when in actuality he's nothing more than a slap hitting, average fielding SS who happens to making 17 million a year.

35 years ago today

Is 10.25 in handling/bs/ticket printing/processing charges on two Pirates tickets excessive? What are the charges in some other stadiums? I dunno if the Pirates are trying to obfuscate their finances or what. 1.75 for me to print the tickets out on my own paper(or have the tickets sent to my mobile phone) both seem especially heinous.

"Convenience fee" is 2.75/ticket and processing is 4 bucks.

Will call is your friend. I have no idea why anyone goes any other way, given the costs.

No getting around the processing fee and convenience fee or whatever unless you go buy directly from the team (presumeably at the stadium).

Some managers are so weak.

He should be using that to motivate his team and not using it to sound like a huge baby in the public eye.

You made me curious so I went & looked. They're handled through tickets.com ... which is owned by {drum roll} Major League Baseball. Fees aren't really surprising under the circumstances.

Then again, they aren't doing anything that Ticketmaster doesn't do. Just for a quick example, a $25 ticket for an upcoming PBR event adds $9.10 in junk fees and that doesn't count any shipping cost/print your own cost. For other events (fees tied to prices apparently), I've seen the fees before shipping be as high as $18 per ticket.

What you describe sounds pretty normal to me. Excessive, bordering on insane, but normal.

Just looking at recent purchases:

Animal Collective ticket - $30 bucks, plus $10.65 in fees, free to print or standard shipping.

Braves ticket from 4/9 - $40 bucks, plus $6 in fees, free to ship, but costs $2.50 to print.

future Braves game - $58 bucks (same seats), plus $6.50 in fees, $2.50 to print (no free to ship listed).

Last Braves game of 2010 - $44.00 bucks (same seats), plus $7.30 in fees

Since EM itemized, I'll add my latest example

A7X/Seether/Alter Bridge - $10.90 (for 2) "convenience charge) + $5.65 order processing fee = $16.55 junk fees on two

Checked current Braves fees via Ticketmaster, it's $6.00 per ticket + $2.50 per order for print-your-own OR will call. So on two tickets, like the question here, it'd be $14.50. In other words, those Pirates tickets are a relative bargain.

They are actually like 5 rows off the field about 2 sections beyond the third base line. For like 16 bucks after a Giant Eagle card Discount(26 face). Which is actually really expensive for AAA baseball. I'm going to the Phillies on June 5 if anyone else is going to be there. I figure there's a 20% chance I get to see Joe Blanton.....hopefully it can even be a recap of last years stellar Blanton/Karstens matchup I saw.

Eh, it's about right for AAA with the discount. We're going to the G-Braves Friday night actually (first time to see a game there), courtesy of some vendor comps. The tickets you described would be about $15 face + $2.50 each junk fees + print/delivery/pick up fees.

Yeah...I've been looking at Pirates tickets for a jaunt I'm thinking of making up there this summer, and there's a discount if you buy them ahead of time instead of at the game. Of course when you go to buy them, there are extra fees that basically make it a wash. So I said screw it, I'll just buy tickets if and when I'm at the gate.

I always assumed that the "convenience fee" applied even if you went to the team box office, let yourself in, attached your own printer and printed the tickets yourself, and gave all the employees a foot massage on your way out.

Varies by venue around here best I can tell. I know a couple of the smaller venues eliminate the fees if you come to their office & get tickets in person. Likewise the G-Braves actually advertise "avoid Ticketmaster fees" but only if you order 10 or more tickets (can be multiple games) through their group sales office. Other places apply the fees even if you pick up, some no longer bother to maintain a "box office" at all really. And I'm sure that the contracts between the venues & the online ticket retailers spell all of it out in gory detail.

That may well be the case. Either way it annoys me, and makes me rather wait in committing to giving them any money (and in the case of the Pirates, they should really be looking for any ticket sales they can get).

While it doesn't change the annoyance factor nor the absurd fees most teams are charging these days, etc ...

Did you know that through games played yesterday, the Pirates led 5 teams (SEA, FLA, TB, KC, CLE) in average attendance & 8 teams (those 5, BAL, ARI, TOR) in percentage of capacity? That group includes 3 of the 8 playoff teams if the season ended today.

Of course, the season doesn't end today & I doubt most of those numbers will hold up but I still thought it was mildly interesting.

Yeah, but they've only had 8 home dates so far, and have already dipped below 10k twice (Ok, one was Easter. And against the Nats.) Numbers probably buoyed by the opening series with COL.

I'd say that they're actually ahead of five teams regardless says something about the sad states of affairs in those cities. :)

The other sub-10k was the night the Pens opened the playoffs, and followed a rainout (actual attendance was reportedly like 4k instead of the nearly 9k announced).

Like I said, I don't figure it'll hold up very long, but there is probably some fair point in the fact that they aren't alone in needing ticket sales (not even winning is curing that problem in several markets). Headed into the weekend roughly half the league was down y2y, including traditional attendance powerhouses like the Dodgers, Cubs, and Yankees.

It is an amazing place to watch baseball, plus it's pretty certain that your team will win(as long as it isn't the Pirates). There are a few sweet spots to park, so you can get on the highway quickly.

Well, we're looking at the Orioles series, so the Bucs have a shot.

Dammit, the Reds have about 37 announces, and they still break out George Grande tonight. I'll be muting.

What? You didn't like his, " And Prince Fielder. He's a prince of an offensive player."

By the bottom of the first, he was gushing about Albert Pujols........in a Reds/Brewers game.

I'll raise you John Wehner. A guy who loves the ribbie and thinks it is worth mentioning if a batter is 1-2 off of a pitcher.

Mentioned my plans to see a AAA game this Friday, decided to check the probable starters. Couldn't find any "official" probables but if the rotation follows the usual order, the G-Braves will send 36 y/o Rodrigo Lopez to the mound. Former Padre/Oriole/Rockie/Phillie/Dback is 4-0 in AAA this year with a 1.35 ERA.

About this playoff expansion issue.

Has Bud Selig lost his mind? How can they give 2 teams a week or longer break between games? In all of this time being involved in baseball he has yet to figure out that this will be a huge disadvantage to the teams not playing that week. The pitchers will be a wreck coming back and while the disadvantage for the hitters wont be as large I cant see how not seeing live pitching for over a week is going to help.

I was waiting for some Cardinal references, and he didn't disappoint. Luckily they got up 7-0 and I didn't have to watch the rest of that shit.

Absolutely fantastic base running by Darren Ford to steal the go ahead run in the 10th.

First, he reaches first on a fielder's choice. Pirates are worried about his speed which forces a throw over which bounces away from Overbay at first and Ford is able to advance two bases to third.

Still one out, infield in, Freddy Sanchez hits a grounder right to second. The 2nd baseman looks back the runner but then simply tosses a lob over to first thinking Ford isn't going to go home. WRONG! Overbay is forced to rush a throw home and Ford scores easily.

Darren Ford is the fastest guy I have ever seen in the big leagues. Maybe that's hyperbole, but wow - the run in the 10th was ridiculous. And KINGFC left out the hit of Diaz's bat that Ford tracked down to the point he was slowing down...

Our guys have gotta start hitting. Morton with another surprisingly good outing that was wasted.

And no matter how shitty he's hitting, Clint Hurdle needs a bat shoved up his rectum the next time he decides to have Pedro Alvarez bunt.

Brandon Phillips hit a home run with one knee on the ground last night.

The only other hit the Reds got was a Mike Leake infield single, and they LOSE 3-2. Christ.

The worst part is that it was against Marco Estrada.

Fielder, Braun, and Weeks are primed for big years.

Ok. I thought we were attempting to run a quasi-SABR team. If Clint Hurdle sends another batter up to bunt(other than a pitcher) he needs to get murdered.

The Giants offense (and the fucking corpse of Tejada) is ridiculous. They've made the Pirates look like Bob Gibson circa 1968.

They add 10 mph to McDonald's fastball? Fuck. I knew we should've kept him.

He came into the game with an ERA of 10.13. Against the Giants, he gave up... 0 runs.