That's precisely what it means. A force out is only possible when the player who was batting at the time of the pitch has become a baserunner and is forcing the other baserunners to advance so that he can occupy first base. Once that player is out, no force out can occur.

That's hilarious.

[dying]

Berman: Ah, the Monday Night Football booth! How I've dreamt of this day!

This is wonderful.

I get what you're saying (and sincerely: thanks for the thoughtful response), but I guess I see that as an exceedingly minor distinction. They're both attempts to manipulate the ump's perception of a play. The difference is one of degrees, since in both cases, the umpire has access to the facts (his view of the…

That's exactly it. It's important to remember that Wise doesn't have any control over the actual outcome. He just put on a little pantomime, and the umpire made a bad call. It might not be the most sporting thing ever, but it's hard to make the argument that it's cheating.

I think they're related in that the guy waving the ball around kind of serves as a reminder that Wise couldn't have known - and probably didn't even expect - that the umpire would fall for it. In that respect, he's not so different from a guy who takes a close 3-2 pitch and starts walking down the line toward first…

Question for the "low-down dirty cheating" crowd (assuming there is one): do you differentiate this from subtler attempts at gaming the rules in baseball, like, for example, a catcher framing a pitch to try to manipulate the umpire's strike zone?

That is goddamn great.

Ha!

Petchesky was on fire today. Had several great laughs at his posts.

It's all my fault, man. I never finished The Snydering, and poor Luke just couldn't handle the disappointment.

As a collection of words hanging out on a street corner looking tough and smoking cigarettes, "Wiping the effluvia of Tebowmania off our jorts" might actually be cooler than "churlish little shitbag vulgarian." I guess my question is, will you and Barry be having a foam pool noodle fight to settle this?

"Hello, Deron. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Deron... for ever, and ever, and ever."

Luckily for Amar'e, his Knicks teammates have decided to pool their resources and pay the fine for him as a needless yet poignant show of solidarity. Guard Landry Fields paid $1,500 to the pot; reserve forward Jared Jeffries dug deep and came up with a whopping $23,000 for his frontcourt-mate; and guard Mike Bibby…

Ha!

I'm sure he'd still be all over the news. "Evangelical Jungle Cat Prowls Florida Wilderness!" Think how sweet that would be. I wish I was a fuckin' orca, man. Just, those false eyes, too cool.

Oh man. I know exactly how infuriating it is to have some self-important, self-appointed truth-crusader and faux-journalist stalking your every move, constantly looking over your shoulder, ready to pounce and attack at the slightest indication of vulnerability.

You are a god damn American hero, man.