Life In The Cell

I Guess Tampa Will Hate AJ as Well, Now

There’s something about AJ that just sparks trouble and controversy. Whether it be a maybe/maybe not dropped 3rd strike, a ball-less tag, or getting punched in the face for scoring, no matter what AJ is always the one in the thick of things. Sunday was no different. AJ teamed up with his old partner in crime (depending on how you view that 3rd strike call) Doug Eddings to propel the White Sox to a controversy filled victory.

After an uplifting comeback by the White Sox (which I’ll get to after the AJ stuff), AJ led off the 10th with a ho-hum single. Thereafter, things got interesting. If we were doing word association, and I were to say lazy Tampa Bay player, you would say BJ Upton! He did an excellent job of reinforcing that connection by allowing the not-so-fleet of foot, AJ Pierzynksi to take second on a lazy fly ball to deep center. The single was like the calm before the storm, the Quentin fly to center was like the first roll of thunder, which takes us to the storm itself.

Jermaine Dye hit a grounder to short. AJ just put his head down and started running towards third. Normally, the runner would take a few steps to third and then retreat upon seeing the shortstop with the ball, especially considering he was already in scoring position in a tied game. To AJ’s credit, he stuck with the ensuing run down long enough, I presume, to let the also not-so-fleet of foot Jermaine Dye to reach second. Fortuantely for AJ and the Sox, Mr. Controversy saw himself an opening. Willy Aybar, the Rays’ third baseman was involved in the run down, and at one point, he moved past AJ after tossing the ball. On his way beyond AJ, AJ turned stuck out his elbow and took an Oscar-worthy dive. I guess his time in the wrestling ring paid off. He hit the ground and on his way up started pointing at Aybar, but this turned out to be unneeded, as Eddings saw the “contact” all the way. Eddings gave AJ third, which set up 1st and 3rd and only one out. After an IBB to Thome, Alexei came through with a walk-off single to send the Sox fans home happy. EDIT:After commentor Kevin pointed it out, it seems that AJ and Aybar didn’t actually make bodily contact. I linked the video below; if you wait til the last replay, it looks like at most their sleeves touch.

In all honesty, if I was a Rays’ fan or a Rays’ player, I would be PISSED. I wouldn’t want to accept that decision as fair, but the impartial part of me (however small it is) would admit that Eddings and the umps followed the letter of the rules by awarding AJ the base. Yes, it was a cheap (some would say savvy) play by AJ to stick his elbow out, but the fact of the matter is that once Aybar releases the ball, he is under no circumstances allowed to touch the runner (as long as he’s still in the basepath). So yes, it was cheap, but it was the correct call, you know, pretending that they actually collided . This play, in tandem with AJ’s “stolen first base” in ‘05, causes me to marvel at just how quick his mind works during the run of play. Regardless of whether or not the dropped 3rd was dropped, in about half a second he made up his mind and sprinted down to first. Same with today, he knew his goose was cooked, yet, you could see him plotting things out as he watched Aybar approach, it’s really quite remarkable. Anyway, if you would like to see the play itself, click here.

Prior to that inning, it really looked like the same old script from this series was going to play out. The Rays took an early lead, but the Sox came back in the 4th to take a 4-3 lead. The lead was choked up late though, again. Buehrle gave up a run in the 6th and the 7th, which put the Rays up 5-4. I’ll admit, at this point my hopes had been dashed against the rocks. After Alexei Ramirez popped up a bunt to the pitcher to lead off the 9th, I really was ready to turn the TV, but luckily, I stuck with it. Junior followed with a double; he was replaced by Brian Anderson. After Swish struck out, Paulie hit a single to left. Coxie showed a lot of stones, by sending BA home. It appeared to be a mistake, the throw reached the plate 3 or 4 steps ahead of Anderson (you know, that’s pretending the ball has feet) but luckily for us and the Sox, the catcher, Riggans dropped the ball which set up AJ theatrics/heroics.

This was a big win for the Sox. I don’t know how much help “momentum” gives a team moving forward, but this was definitely an uplifting win. It’s normally a big thing just to come back in such dramatic fashion, but this win also short circuited a Rays sweep which would have been disastrous. Hopefully the Sox can use the momentum from this game and take care of business against the Orioles.

And Rays’ fans, I’m really, really hoping that this game doesn’t end up being the difference between the playoffs and sitting at home for the Rays, because really, that would be brutal.

Oh, and if y’all were wondering, the Twins lost, which capped off a great night for Sox’ fans.