Sorry Humber, It Wasn't A Perfect Game

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Officially, White Sox right-hander Phil Humber just became the 20th person to ever throw a perfect game in Major League Baseball history, and the third in White Sox history. He recorded 27 consecutive outs against the Seattle Mariners as Chicago went on to win 4-0. But did he actually get the Mariners to go 27 up and 27 down?

No. He didn't. Humber went to a 3-0 count against Michael Saunders, the first Seattle batter in the ninth inning, but was able to bounce back and strike Saunders out for his eighth K of the day. After a John Jaso fly out to right field, Brendan Ryan was all that stood between Humber and history.

Pinch-hitter Ryan worked a 3-2 count against Humber and after fouling off a pitch Humber threw him a slider that broke way off the plate and Ryan checked his swing. As seen in the photo above Ryan's bat never crossed home plate but the home plate umpire said that he had and White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski threw down to first base to complete the game.

The umpire never appealed down to his first or third base counterparts who would have had a better angle to see whether or not Ryan's bat did or did not cross home plate. FOX Sports also did not show a side angle replay of the play and as such posterity is left with the video from center field.

But the video from center is all that is needed, it's close, but Ryan clearly checked his swing which would mean that the pitch was a ball and Humber would have issued a base-on-balls. With the walk Ryan would have been standing on first base and Humber would have been throwing for a no-hitter, which he more than likely would have gotten - it's the Mariners.

Instead of making the right call, the umpire went with the 'it's a perfect game scenario, so I'm going to give every call to the pitcher' ideology. While ordinarily a good idea, when the play is directly in front of the umpire and as obvious as this play was, that mentality should go out the window.

Perhaps it is the umpire's response to the Jim Joyce blown perfect game call during which he called a clearly out runner safe and cost Detroit Tigers right-hander Armando Galarraga the 21st perfect game in MLB history. While both men handled it with class and Galarraga was awarded with a brand new Corvette, that perfect game that wasn't probably was something he wanted more.

All baseball fans want is the correct call. It's not about which team does what, it's about what actually happened. And the 21st perfect game in history, did not happen. Sorry Phil.

Watch the video for yourself and comment what you think it was; checked swing or perfect game?
White Sox Phil Humber 27th Out Video

Tigers Cut Pauley - How's That Trade Look Now?

 

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier
 
Last July the Tigers approached the trade deadline and pulled the trigger on a deal that sent right-handed pitcher Doug Fister and right-handed pitcher David Pauley to Detroit and sent left-handed reliever Charlie Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells, third base prospect Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later to the Pacific Northwest. The player to be named was relief pitcher Chance Ruffin.

On the surface the trade looked to be solid - the Tigers got a pitcher that statistically out pitched Justin Verlander in the second half of the season and a relief pitcher that had recently dominated out of the bullpen in Seattle. Some thought that with the inclusion of Ruffin to the deal the Tigers may have paid too much - and they may have just been proven right.

While Fister shone once the spotlight was on him, it was a different story entirely for Pauley. After being acquired Pauley struggled in his outings and because of this his playing time was drastically reduced by manager Jim Leyland.

Some thought that his struggles may have been short lived and he might be able to compete for a role in the bullpen coming out of spring training, but the same problems that effected Pauley last season continued to plague him in Lakeland, Fla. He struggled to find control and gave up too many hits for General Manager Dave Dombrowski and Leyland who cut him in the first round of roster cuts during spring training.

Looking back on the deal that sent Pauley to Detroit one has to wonder if the Tigers did pay too high of a price. While the acquisition of Fister is something that will benefit the Tigers for years in the future the question of the need of Pauley remains. Did Detroit really need to have him included in the deal? Did his addition to the trade tip the scales in favor of the Mariners in the end?

A breakdown of the trade looks like this - the Mariners were not going to part easily with Fister and would have required Furbush and Wells regardless of any players being included in the deal. The inclusion of Martinez to the trade may have still been needed to bring Fister to Detroit, but in any way the Tigers had top-prospect Nick Castellanos sitting at third base just a few seasons away from starting at the hot corner in Detroit. With Castellanos in the wings the Tigers deemed Martinez as expendable and included him in the deal.

That trade, a three-for-one deal, would have been acceptable for many Tigers fans and would have still benefited Detroit down the stretch. But the player-to-be-named-later inclusion pushed the scales in favor of Seattle. Chance Ruffin, the player who was named later, had shown in the minors that he had skill and could be a solid bullpen pitcher in the near future. He did not perform well in his time with the Tigers, mainly due to Leyland's penchant for throwing rookies into the game in high-pressure situations.

While it may take a number of years for Ruffin to make the big-leagues, when he does, he will prove to be a dependable arm out of the bullpen. If the Mariners hang on to the players they acquired in the Fister deal, they could come out quite ahead in this deal but as of now, with Pauley released and Ruffin sitting in Mariners' camp the balance of this trade is pointing towards Seattle.

Doug Fister Trade Is Exactly What Tigers Needed

July 30th was a very busy day for the Detroit Tigers, they called up super-prospect Jacob Turner to make his major league debut and were in the midst of making a deal with the Seattle Mariners to bring two pitchers to the club.

Turner's debut was everything the Tigers could have wanted; he showed poise and skill against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and wasn't rattled when things got tense. However, Turner is not the answer to Detroit's problems this season, which is why General Manager Dave Dombrowski made a deal with the Mariners.

In the middle of the day last Saturday the Tigers announced that they had reached a deal with Seattle that would bring right-handed starter Doug Fister and right-handed reliever David Pauley to their team. In return Detroit sent left-handed reliever Charlie Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells, third base prospect Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later to the Pacific Northwest.

Furbush had shown flashes of what he could become for the Tigers, he particularly excelled coming out of the bullpen in the sixth and seventh innings while struggling in his two starts. With further development Furbush could become an excellent reliever or a middle of the order starter without much trouble.

Wells proved that he could compete at the major league level, but right now the Tigers has a plethora of talented outfielders and had no room for him. When Wells was sent to Toledo a week ago to bring up Duane Below Manager Jim Leyland said he felt bad about doing it because Wells, didn't deserve to be sent down, but he was the odd man out. This trade is great for Wells as he will get a chance to play in the major leagues on a regular basis in Seattle.

Martinez was ranked as the Tigers No. 4 prospect, playing third base his trade may raise some eyebrows with the struggles of Brandon Inge and the trade for stop-gap Wilson Betemit. But, Detroit was looking farther down in their farm system, they felt that they could afford to trade Martinez away because they have Nick Catellanos in the wings developing into a third baseman Detroit can use.

Detroit received right-handed starter Fister in the deal, which will help to bolster their rotation. Fister does not have the most outstanding record, but keep in mind he was playing for the Mariners. This season he has a record of 3-12 but a 3.33 ERA and 1.171 WHIP. While in Seattle he got the least run support of any major league pitcher, meaning that when he pitches for a team like Detroit that can score runs, he should be racking up the wins.

Some have pointed out that he has only won three games away from Safeco Field in Seattle and have said that he will struggle pitching in Detroit. While Safeco is definitely a pitchers park, Comerica Park isn't exactly a bam box. Safeco has a park factor of .840 opposed to Comerica's .956, both of which prove that hitters don't exactly like playing in either stadium. A rate lower than 1.000 in park factors means the stadium favors the pitcher.

An added bonus to Fister is that he is not a rental player, he is signed for several seasons and is available for arbitration in 2013. Not to mention he becomes one of the lowest paid players on the Tigers roster, at $437k a year. While he may come cheap he will most certainly provide the Tigers with a solid arm that will help steady their rotation.

Also included in the trade was reliever David Pauley. Pauley is an excellent addition to Detroit's bullpen, he comes in with a 5-4 record and a 2.15 ERA and a .994 WHIP. His true value appears when his WAR is examined, to date he has a 1.7 WAR. This means that Pauley contributes 1.7 wins to his team through his efforts on the mound. 

While this deadline deal may not be the splashy deal that Tigers fans have become used to with Dombrowski at the helm, it has an opportunity to be one of the most worth-while. Detroit was able to add two solid arms to their team while not having to give up anyone from their starting lineup or top-prospect Jacob Turner. Look out for the 2012 Tigers rotation of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Doug Fister and Jacob Turner.