Zero Tolerance for Bush League Behavior

Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz are still holding their own on the mound.
Maddux (W-348 L-214); Glavine (W-303 L-199) and Smoltz (W-208 L-145..with a 4 year span from 2001 thru 2004 when he collected 154 Saves).

All three are good for at least 6 innings, can field their positions, move the runner over when they are up to bat and rarely miss a start. All are Hall of Famers and it's a pleasure watching these masters of their craft when it's their turn to pitch.

Yesterday's home opener was a beautiful day with all of its pageantry, saluting 50 years of San Francisco Giants baseball under clear blue skies and when it's time to "play ball" the fans witnessed a home plate umpire (Jim Reynolds) misinterpret the rulebook's diagram and definition of a strike zone.

Why do some umpires feel the need to improvise the basic fundamentals of a rule when their whole purpose is to see that the rule is adhered to? Whether you were a seasoned veteran of fandom or a rookie out at his/her first ballgame, you could not elucidate why Reynolds had such a difficult time determining what a strike was or why he was unable to show any kind of consistency. His grade for yesterday's performance is simply: 'T'row da bum out!'

Something happened yesterday that is simply inexcusable and quite frankly as a Giants' fan- and I hope other Giants' fans agree- was intolerable. On Randy Winn's game-ending flyout to the left fielder, some bush leaguer threw a souvenir baseball in the same area where the fielder had camped under the fly of the game ball in hopes the fielder would catch the souvenir ball instead. Well, even if the fielder did catch the wrong ball ALL FOUR UMPIRES would have called the batter out for fan interference.

Just as when a fan leans over the railing to try to catch a souvenir with the ball in play, these bush league acts only disrupt the game and hurt the home team. Let's leave all that is bush league to the Texas native, son of a former commander-in-chief, and current Republican President of the United States. A man who clearly doesn't care about treating persons of all classes in the same way but rather uses his power for those citizens entitled to vote who exercised their right to vote for him, however shadily that was handled.

Kevin Marquez