As I’ve stated before, there should be officials in a TV booth that call down to the on-field officials when a call is incorrect. Coach/manager challenges can still be part of the game, but why not correct obvious bad calls that everyone watching on TV or on video boards can see? Only using coach/manager challenges makes the game a contest of wisest use of challenges vs. the team that deserves to win winning. A perfect example was a recent Cub-White Sox game. The Cubs lost an earlier challenge, so when a Sox runner was tagged out trying to steal second but called safe, the Cubs were unable to challenge. The runner went on to score the only run of the game, meaning that the decision of when to use challenges decided the outcome rather than the play on the field.
Most games, Chris Sale is basically unhittable. When Sale is dominating, I don’t understand why teams don’t shorten their swings to make contact, and/or possibly choke up on the bat. What they are doing isn’t working, so why keep doing it? Sale gets strikes called that are outside to righties, so batters need to adjust to these bad calls.
Starlin Castro continues to get worse offensively, after having very good seasons his first few years. His stance is very open and I’m not sure it was as open his first few years, but I also think he needs to elevate the ball. He continues to hit balls on the ground and ground out a lot, while also hitting into double plays.
I’ve always said that had Brett Favre had good coaches (coaches who would throw on first down), his statistics would have been far better than the great statistics he has. I’ve also said that I believe most of his interceptions came after the frustrating offensive gameplan resulted in the game being close or the Packers being behind, and from the frustration of knowing they could have had a big lead and then the game was in doubt or they needed to rally. I’ve always said if he had good coaching as Peyton Manning had, his stats would be far better. When Manning was awarded the ESPY recently for breaking Favre’s career TD record, the first thing he said was he wanted to thank the great coaches he had. This goes back to my premise that gameplans have a significant effect on the outcome of games.
I’ve been against headfirst slides for a long time. A runner can break a finger or wrist, get hurt on a tag, or get hit by the throw. Javier Baez of the Cubs missed 6-8 weeks in the minor leagues this year due to getting hurt on a headfirst slide, and Kris Bryant of the Cubs had to leave the game today after getting hurt on a headfirst slide. Teams should tell their players to slide feet first.