But I don't want the Angels or the Red Sox in the World Series. And I think the Rays have a better chance of beating the Sox than the Angels.

GO RAYS!

-DF

They are currently doing everything they can to shake that "class" label.

The 2008 Angels are little to no relation to the last title team. That was a scrappy, fundamentally sound "team". The current free-spending, superstar filled incarnation is no different than the Red Sox or Yankees. They have more talent, spent more for it, but don't play the game nearly as well as they did.

The notion that the play at 3rd was anything other than an out is the desperate talk of losers.

...and that's, one to grow on.

As for the call, I don't know what the rule book says. But I suppose you could interpret it two ways:
1) Veritek held on to the ball after the tag -- and since it was not the collision with the player that caused him to drop the ball, then the runner is out.
2) Veritek dropped the ball (continuation) as a result of making the play -- no different from collision at home pate -- therefore he has to secure the ball all the way through. Runner is safe.

Maybe because it didn't occur at home plate makes a difference and the contact was not initiated by the runner. I don't know.

But I can see why Soscia was arguing and I don't blame him for trying.

-DF

As for "the play" I will toss in a 3rd option. I would consider it similar to a second baseman dropping the ball on the transition of a double play. The runner at second is still inarguably out. On the base path you are out the moment you are tagged. This isn't a receiver in football "maintaining control" of the ball or anything.

Varitek got the tag, made the out, then as he fell the ground causes the ball to pop out well after the out is recorded. If the ball popped out AS he was making the tag, their may be room for argument, but not as the play went down.

The Angels blaming their post season failure on a single play is silly. When Byrnes failed to slide in 2004, when Varitek recovered the ball he tagged Byrnes with his glove, while holding the baseball in his bare hand. A's fans didn't bitch about that one afterwards because, much like with the Angels, it was the teams overall repeated failures that was the problem, not just a single play.

...and that's, one to grow on.

Much like F-wad stockpiling his saves on 2-3 run leads in the 9th. We saw what happened to him when he had to pitch more than one inning.

>>>>On the base path you are out the moment you are tagged.

Not true at home plate. If the catcher tags the runner as they collide at home plate, he's not OUT until the catcher demonstrates that he still has control of the ball after the fact. I've seen MANY plays at the plate where the umpire calls the runner out, then watches as the catcher falls to the ground, drops the ball, and the umpire calls him safe. Soscia, being a catcher, probably had this happen to him a few times, so he rightly argued this call which appears similar... the difference being, as I said, the runner didn't initiate the contact, and it didn't occur at home plate. So maybe there in lies the difference. Had that exact play occurred at home plate, I'm not so sure the runner is out.

But you're right in that the Angels only have themselves to blame for being OWNED by the Red Sox.

-DF

Neversatisfied