August 16, 2002
No, this one isn't going to be a "what a bunch of greedy a-holes" post. Those'll come later. This one's about an actual game. But first, some quick education for any non-fans:
Passed ball: A pitched ball that the catcher fails to control, resulting in a baserunner advancing.
Knuckleball: A pitch thrown so that it has little or no rotation, making the ball's direction susceptible to the slightest gust of wind. Nobody in the ballpark knows where it's going, except for "mostly towards home plate."
Which brings us to the amusing part. The Reds have a knuckleballer pitching with a man on first. The catcher misses seven consecutive pitches, allowing the runner from first to score. Three passed balls in one inning. Most catchers don't have three passed balls in a season.
When the first batter in the next inning let the first pitch go by him, the fans actually applauded the fact that the guy caught and held onto the ball.
