Rule 6.07

I know this is almost unbelievable, but yesterday evening I was just thinking to myself about all the rules in baseball and how there are some you NEVER see. The rule that leapt to my mind was the batting out of order rule. Howie immediately called it and then said he saw it at Shea in 1967 when Pittsburgh was in town. It was the same day that they filmed the scene from The Odd Couple. I love how Howie knows these things.

I checked with WLW to see what Marty Brennaman & Jeff Brantley had to say about the whole thing. Brennaman announced that it was going to be Patterson, Ross & Freel at the top of the inning. He didn't notice when Ross led off and only noticed when Willie came out to question the order. Pretty funny as it dawned on Brennaman that Willie was right. Both broadcast teams thought that would mean two outs, which of course the umps didn't call. I wondered at the time if Randolph played under protest when they only gave the Mets one out.

Anyway, a weird ending to what was a normal, easy-feeling game. A solid start by Perez. He wasn't outstanding, but he didn't implode, which is progress, right? Strong game from the offense.

Howie was also amusing when he was offering advice to aspiring announcers about how they should respond to their wives when they ask how they're doing during a road trip. Never let on that you're having a good time. All part of Howie's acknowledgment of Mother's Day.