Is It Possible ESPN's Baseball "Experts" Don't Understand the Game of Baseball?

I will go ahead and forgive the 17 ESPN "experts" none of whom picked either the Phillies or Rays to make the World Series, but basic concepts of the game of baseball are pretty easy to understand. As J.S. covered very well the other day, the media is enamored with the Rays abilities to make "productive outs," which is normally a contradiction. Count Jerry Crasnick in.

This insanity. I knew we would get articles like this when the game ended last night at 1:45am EST. (By the way, I love the West Coast and all, but these games have got to start earlier, rain or no rain. If the Cubs were in the World Series, I could understand, most of their fans can stay up late because they don't have jobs...and yes I know it was a Saturday night, but tonight the game will end at 11:30EST and that is annoying to me.)

"It's just one of those days where the things that they did were right and the baseball gods were on their side," said third baseman Evan Longoria. "It's one of those games where everything goes right for the opposition."

Everything went right for the Phillies all right. They left more men in scoring position than the Rays, but they also got a base hit with runners in scoring position instead of making outs. What a bunch of lucky sons of bitches!

With the score tied 4-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies squeezed across a run straight out of Bizarro-world.

Let's focus on what bizarre things happened and how the baseball gods were on their side:

Tampa Bay reliever J.P. Howell got things started when he plunked Bruntlett in the thigh with a cut fastball.

A player got hit with a pitch. Howell hit 4 people this year with pitches and Brunlett got hit 3 times this year. It's not like that has never happend before. Also, the baseball gods had nothing to do with Howell's control problems there.

Maddon summoned strikeout artist Grant Balfour, who wild-pitched Bruntlett to second base.

More Rays bullpen control problems? I bet the baseball gods took that pitch made it invisible and had it fly right past Navarro. Balfour did throw 2 wild pitches this year in 59 innings, so it is not like he has Greg Maddux type control.

The ball caromed off the back wall to catcher Dioner Navarro, but his throw sailed to the right of second base and into center field, and Bruntlett easily raced to third to put the Phillies in great shape with nobody out.

Then the baseball gods had the ball fly out of Navarro's hands without him even trying to throw the ball and it ended up in centerfield. Curse you baseball gods!!!

I have never heard of the Rays bullpen imploding before. How bizarre!

The only question was whether the ball might have rolled foul, and Longoria wasn't willing to take that risk.

Probably because everyone would questioned his sanity to sit there and watch a baseball hoping it goes foul, especially when there is a force play at home.

Do manatees right these articles and just throw random words together?

The Rays have also mastered the art of the productive out. They picked up their three runs against Moyer on a Gabe Gross sacrifice fly and a pair of RBI groundouts in the seventh inning.

A productive freaking out. Let's list the things that would have been more "productive" than making an out here:

Single
Double
Triple
Homerun
Gross walking/being hit by a pitch

See all of those involve not making an out. You only have 27 of them in a game and they are very precious. In what weird world do we live in where it is a good thing to get an out? If Gross had actually gotten a base hit then the Rays would not have had to use an out. Is this a hard concept? Making outs is not good in general. Base hits are much, much better. If a player gets a hit, then that is productive. There are times for bunting and making productive outs, but a base hit is always a good idea.

Carlos Pena and Longoria, Tampa's 3-4 hitters and principal power sources, are hitless with 10 strikeouts in 22 at-bats in the World Series.

I bet they have made a ton of productive outs though.

They can only hope this place treats them more favorably in Game 4. Things certainly can't get any weirder.

There is nothing weird about relievers having control issues, catchers overthrowing bases, power hitters being hitless in three games and the entire team not being able to get a base hit with men in scoring position. That is incompetence. The baseball gods don't exist either, the Rays inability to get a base hit with men on base does though.