Miguel Cabrera
D

Okay. It is the bottom of the third inning. The game is tied at one run each. The lead batter hits a line drive to the third basemen. The third baseman, attempting to look cool for the camera puts up his glove, appears to snag it and immediately drops the ball.

Now there is a man on first.

The second batter with an 0-2 count swings at a pitch that hits the ground before reaching the plate, the catcher loses it, and the man who just struck out reaches first on a wild pitch that that was a strike.

Now there is a man on first and a man on second. The third batter hits a ball into left field which is caught on the warning track. The two base runners make it to second and third base after properly tag following the catch.

There is now one out with a man on second and a man on third and the league's best hitter is coming up to bat.

The manager for the team on the field stands up and gives the four finger salute to his pitcher.

Does this mean the manager is four times as angry as the guy you cut off in the parking lot this morning?

Probably. Somebody is screwing up on his team. YOU DO NOT WANT A MAN ON SECOND AND A MAN ON THIRD WITH ONE OUT. But the manager is not dissing his pitcher, he is calling for an intentional walk. Statistics have told the manager that the odds are better with the bases loaded with one out because a ground ball into the infield might well end up as a double play. That would end the inning and even though the runner on third will cross the plate in time the run will not count.

What is interesting is that Babe Ruth had to endure 188 intentional walks and Hank Aaron received 293. Barry Bonds, all juiced up as it were was sent to first without an at bat 688 times, intentionally.

You would think that every instance of intentional walks would be documented, but it was not until 1955 that this statistic was monitored by the powers that be. I think we ended up with all these stats because THERE IS NOT MUCH HAPPENING ON A BASEBALL FIELD MOST OF THE TIME.  And the reporters love to multitask and with the advent of personal computers, those reporters can sound much brighter than they really are.

According to one blog site, there are only four instances where a man was intentionally walked WITH THE BASES LOADED:

Napoleon Lajoie, May 23, 1901--the Philadelphia Athletics were batting against the White Sex in the top of the ninth inning. They were behind, 11-7, but had the bases loaded and none out with Lajoie--on his way to a Triple Crown--at bat. Manager Clark Griffith inserted himself as relief pitcher and "calmly sent four wide ones across" to deliberately force in a run, bringing future home run champs Socks Seybold and Harry Davis up with the bases still full. Griffith then disposed of Seybold, Davis, and Morgan Murphy on infield grounders, saving the 11-9 win. (Just a note here, I cannot let this one go without comment. I mean Napoleon. You gotta love this guy right away, hahahaha)

Del Bissonette, May 2, 1928--the Giants held a 2-0 lead over the Robins, 2-0, in the top of the ninth, but Brooklyn loaded the bases with two out. Giants, manager John McGraw ordered pitcher Larry Benton to walk rookie slugger Bissonette, in just his 16th major league game, purposely ending the shutout. Benton then struck out Harry Riconda to end the game.

Bill Nicholson, July 23, 1944 (2nd game)--The Giants led the Cubs, 10-7, in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded, none out, and Nicholson--who had homered four times already that day--at the plate. Giants, manager Mel Ott (who was probably sitting next to McGraw at the above game) ordered Ewald Pyle to walk Nicholson, bringing up Ival Goodman, Andy Pafko, and Don Johnson. The Cubs tied the game up by the time the inning was over, but New York went on to win, 12-10.

Barry Bonds, May 28, 1998--The Diamondbacks led the Giants, 8-6 in the bottom of the ninth, with two out, the bases loaded, and Bonds up. Arizona manager Buck Showalter ordered Gregg Olson to issue the intentional pass, putting the tying run on third and the winning run on second. Brent Mayne then lined out to end the game. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_11_62/ai_108721608/

Well one day in 2006, the Florida Marlins were tied with the Baltimore Orioles in the tenth inning. A guy named Ramirez was on second base. Miguel Cabrera comes up to bat and the four finger salute is duly given by the coach.

Well, Miguel did not wish to feel like a cog in a machine. So he leans over, smacks the outside pitch into center field, sending Ramirez home from second base.

"I saw it was going to be close to the plate, but I never expected him to swing at it," Williams said. "He could have popped it up."  http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/13493228/

Now supposedly this irascibility has been demonstrated before. In some yahoo link a guy claimed that Willie Mays hit a home run by smacking an outside pitch after the four finger salute had been given. Of course there is no link or cite to the contention. He says his dad told him this. http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070516191423AAzSWIb

If you watch baseball close enough, you can see that everything appears to be choreographed. A left fielder might play closer to the foul line for a monster like Mauer. Or a third baseman might be playing closer to the bag for another hitter. The manager is really, along with his coaches watching EVERY SINGLE MOVE ON THE FIELD.

The batter is told to take on a three and 0 pitch. And if the batter swings anyway against the wishes of his boss he is in trouble. EVEN IF HE GETS A HIT.

Miguel Cabrera became a hero to me. He refused to be a cog in a machine. He demonstrated some free will.

I wrote last week: Representative Grayson D-Fla.,stepped up to the plate. This man stood on the House Floor (admittedly with a couple of those graphs that look so stupid) and said, hey, the repubs are trying to kill you.  http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/dikkday48yahoocom/2009/10/the-apology-1.php#more

Like others I am getting a little upset over the actions of our Democratic Leaders in Congresss and in the WH.

Supposedly there are 100 al Qaeda in Afghanistan. At least Pelosi is questioning a decision to put in 40,000 new troops.

I WANT OUT OF THESE WARS. BOTH OF THEM.

AND I WANT A HEALTH BILL WITH A STRONG PUBLIC OPTION THAT STARTS TOMORROW.

And I wish to see more Miguel Cabrera's in the line up. I want to see more democrats like Representative Grayson shake up the game a little.

Break a few of the rules of protocol. And when these individuals WHO ACT LIKE INDIVIDUALS are called on it. When they are called to apologize, I want them to apologize like Grayson did:

APOLOGIZE. YOU WANT AN APOLOGY? I'LL GIVE YOU AN APOLOGY. I APOLOGIZE TO EVERYONE FROM THIS DATE FORWARD WHO DIES BECAUSE OF A LACK OF ACCESS TO PROPER HEALTH CARE.

I WANT TO APOLOGIZE TO EVERYONE OF OUR SOLDIERS WHO DIES IN THE TWO WARS WE CURRENTLY ARE WAGING FROM THIS DATE FORWARD.