Cardinals Sweep Marlins, Send Five to Mid-Summer Classic

Fun Notes and Anecdotes

– For fans of my generation, the ability to vote for our favorite players to start the All-Star game has been all we can remember. This wasn’t always the case, though. Up until 1946, the manager of the team chose the entire roster. Fans were allowed to choose the starters from then on, but in 1957, it was discovered that more than half the votes cast for the National League roster came from Cincinnati, who managed to get seven Reds selected to the starting lineup.

The only non-Red? Stan the Man.

Anyways, after this ballot stuffing, Commissioner Ford Frick was so furious, he took voting rights away from the fans again until 1970.

– Those of you who watched the Giants-Dodgers series this weekend got to see an unusual ruling when the San Francisco Giants batted out of order.

In the first inning, with a runner on third and one out, Buster Posey roped a shot down the right field line for what appeared to be an RBI double.

“Not so fast,” said Don Mattingly, who spoke with the umpires immediately. It seems Giants manager Bruce Bochy presented a lineup in which Pablo Sandoval was listed as third, and Posey as fourth. The umpires conferred and ruled that Mattingly was correct. You can watch the at-bat and the decision here. As a result, Sandoval was called out, and Posey then batted in the fourth spot, flying out and ending the inning without a run. The decision was of little consequence, as the Giants went on to beat the Dodgers, 4-2.

Mattingly, of course, chose to wait until after the at-bat was completed, because if either team had noticed the snafu before the end of the at-bat, Sandoval could have taken Posey’s place in the box while inheriting his count.

Interestingly, Mattingly has made his share of errors as a manager, including one time in 2010 when he made a visit to the mound to speak with his pitcher. Under MLB rules, managers are allowed one trip to the mound; a second visit requires a pitching change. Mattingly left the mound, but when one of his players requested clarification on their positioning, he turned around and took a step towards the field. The opposing team called him out, saying that step toward the field constituted a second trip. The umpires ruled in their favor, and Mattingly was forced to replace his pitcher.

The opposing manager that day? Bruce Bochy.