taking a poll re: Cal Ripken's last game

[KotysDad]

Just finished watching Cal's last game. Bottom of 9th, two out, Brady Anderson at bat, Cal Ripken on deck.....instead of walking Brady so Cal could get one final AB, Brady was pitched to and struck out. How many of you would have had the pitcher walk Brady instead of taking the chance on leaving Cal stranded on the on-deck circle to finish his career?

I thought it would have been a classy act to walk Brady and let Cal take one last AB in the bottom of the 9th.....but then again I have been an Orioles fan since I was 5 and probably have a biased opinion of the situation.

 

[fletcher]

no your right they should of,both teams are out of it and game was for the most part out of reach.
so it would of been a class act by the redsox to let him bat in the 9th.
it would of been big the last inning of the year the middle of the 9th and one of the good guys of baseball ending a great career.
but that is just how the redsox are ran,management should of made the call and said this is what we are going to do to show our respect.

 

[hello there]

Okay, after they walk Anderson and let Ripken bat, then what. Pitch him underhand to be sure he doesn't strike out?? If he hits a pop fly, should they let the ball drop? If he hits a ground ball to short, should the guy throw it over the firstbaseman's head to be sure he gets on base???

 

[yyz]

No one is above the game. That would have been an insult to Mr Ripken, and I don't think he would have wanted that to happen.

Beeing 0-3 on the day, and about 2-50 in his last couple weeks, I don't think you needed to give him another bad memory to close his carreer.

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

RED SOX ARE FU$KIN PATHETIC FOR NOT WALKING HIM, WOULD HAVE BEEN A CLASS ACT, NICE GESTURE

------------------
SEPT 11, 2001. THE DAY THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

R.I.P. TO ALL VICTIMS
We are in this together

 

[Trampled Underfoot]

That was absolutely a perfect end to the RedSox season. A classless organization to say the least. I'm surprised Kerrington made it out of Baltimore alive. I've never been enamored with Cal and I do believe he is overrated but he deserved better than that. Plus to top it off you had to see that loser Urbina celebrate as he struck out Anderson like he won the World Series. Something that will never happen in Boston.

 

[Junior44]

I'm not real fond of the Red Sox as an organization, but I totally disagree with the notion of walking Anderson so Ripken could have "one last AB." YYZ, you are right, would have been an insult to Ripken and baseball in general. Personally, if I was in that situation, I wouldn't want the last AB of my career to be a freebie. I'd want it to come naurally and during the course of the game. Walking Anderson is akin to giving Ripken an exhibition AB after the game had ended. No difference. For the sake of arguement, let's say Ripken got a hit and the O's bat around. What do you do then? Walk Anderson again? I think a better arguement can be made that Anderson (or Batista) should have sacked up and got a hit. Also, to label the Soxs' manager as the "Jerk of the Week" as Mr. Dalla did is, at the least, shallow, especially in light of the fact that we don't really know what the arrangement was. Maybe Cal told him not to. Who's to say? After all, he just hit in the bottom of 8th. As a point of comparison, look at Tony Gwynn's last AB. He got up there, swung at the first pitch, and grounded out to short. End of story/ Put yourself in that postion. If you were Cal, would you have wanted to be gift-wrapped a plate appearance? I know I wouldn't...doubt Ripken did either.

 

[hello there]

I know, walk Anderson and then bring in a softball, then move the pitcher closer to home plate, then pitch underhand to Ripken. Ripken hits a pop fly, and then the guy drops it on purpose, then throw the ball over the first basemens head so ripken can advance to the next base, then throw it away again, so Ripken can go to third, and the do it again, and Ripken can score. And instead of giving the Redsox 4 errors, give Ripken the inside the park homerun. AAhhhhh, now wouldn't that be perfect, just like Ted Williams final at bat homerun(just gotta make sure espn edits the footage so it doesn't look like Redsox threw the ball away, and watch Cal Running around the bases), and we can watch it over and over years from now with a smile on our faces

 

[KotysDad]

For those numerologists out there

Ripken's uniform number = 8
Ripken's last AB in 8th inning
Flies out to Center Field (position 8)