Undeserved Home Runs

In Thursday’s Spring Training game between Houston and the New York Mets, the Astros’ AJ Reed got credit for a home run on a ball that hit the warning track and rolled towards the fence. Yoenis Cespedes thought the ball was lodged under the fence and put up his hands indicating to the umpires that it should be a ground rule double.  And he just watched the ball as Reed circled the bases and got a home run. The umpire ran towards the ball, confirmed that it was in fact in play and the home run stood.  Click below to see this whole play:

On my Baseball Scoring site, I have a post explaining in detail why even though Cespedes just sat there and looked at the ball, the correct official scoring of this play is a home run and no error. Feel free to check it out, if you want.

I still don't understand how some people think this guy is a gold-glove outfielder. He has a strong arm, but takes absolutely awful routes to balls, and occasionally makes bone-headed plays.  Very glad he's not patrolling Fenway's outfield anymore.

For your entertainment purposes here are a bunch of other plays where batters got home runs, mainly due to fielder's misplays (but not errors!)

One week left of this 5 month hibernation!

Alberta Baseball Tournaments

As Spring Training starts, it's not too early to start thinking about registering for some spring and summer baseball tournaments taking place throughout our Province.
Below is a list of tournaments I've been made aware of.  If you are a local league / team / association and what to promote your tournament, drop me a line and I'll add it here and plug it on twitter.

Click on links for details of each tournament - some of the ages are flexible, the groupings below are just for quick reference.

Mosquito (11U) Tournaments
Lethbridge Jr. Dawgs Icebreaker - April 29th - May 1st - Contact Wade Pearce or Don Aos
St. Albert Early Bird Tournament - May 20 - 23rd - Contact tournaments@stalbertbaseball.com
Lethbridge Jr. Dawgs Spring fling - May 27th - 29th - Contact (12U) wademurr@telus.net or (10U) mabin5@shaw.ca
Darin McDonald Invitiational (Spruce Grove) - June 3rd - 5th
Dave Plotsky Memorial (Sherwood Park) - June 3rd - 5th

PeeWee (13U) Tournaments
Lethbridge Jr. Dawgs Icebreaker - April 29th - May 1st - Contact Wade Pearce or Don Aos
Calgary Redbirds Victoria Day Classic - May 20th - 222nd - Contact Jim Lawson
St. Albert Early Bird Tournament - May 20 - 23rd - Contact tournaments@stalbertbaseball.com 
Lethbridge Jr. Dawgs Spring fling - May 27th - 29th - Contact wademurr@telus.net
Darin McDonald Invitiational (Spruce Grove) - June 3rd - 5th
Dave Plotsky Memorial (Sherwood Park) - June 3rd - 5th
Calgary Redbirds Classic - June 10th - 12th - Contact Jim Lawson
Baseball Calgary Summer Slam - June 17 - 19 - Contact Colin Moro
Calgary Redbirds Dan Lawson Memorial - July 8th - 10th  - Contact Jim Lawson

Bantam (15U) Tournaments
Lethbridge Jr. Dawgs Icebreaker - April 29th - May 1st - Contact Wade Pearce or Don Aos
Calgary Redbirds Icebreaker - May 13th - 15th - Contact Jim Lawson
Calgary Redbirds Victoria Day Classic - May 20th - 222nd - Contact Jim Lawson
St. Albert Early Bird Tournament - May 20 - 23rd - Contact tournaments@stalbertbaseball.com 
Darin McDonald Invitiational (Spruce Grove) - June 3rd - 5th
Dave Plotsky Memorial (Sherwood Park) - June 3rd - 5th
Calgary Redbirds Classic - June 3rd - 5th - Contact Jim Lawson
Calgary Redbirds Classic - June 10th - 12th - Contact Jim Lawson
Baseball Calgary Summer Slam - June 17 - 19 - Contact Colin Moro
Calgary Redbirds Dan Lawson Memorial - July 8th - 10th  - Contact Jim Lawson
Calgary Redbirds Dan Lawson Memorial - July 15th - 17th  - Contact Jim Lawson

Midget (18U) Tournaments
Calgary Redbirds Icebreaker - May 13th - 15th - Contact Jim Lawson
St. Albert Early Bird Tournament - May 20 - 23rd - Contact tournaments@stalbertbaseball.com 
Calgary Redbirds Classic  - May 27th - 29th - Contact Jim Lawson
Darin McDonald Invitiational (Spruce Grove) - June 3rd - 5th
Dave Plotsky Memorial (Sherwood Park) - June 3rd - 5th
Calgary Redbirds Classic - June 3rd - 5th - Contact Jim Lawson
Peter DeVries (Edmonton) - June 16th - 19th - Contact Taylor Burns
Calgary Redbirds Stampede Showdown - July 1st - 3rd - Contact Jim Lawson
Medicine Hat Knights UCT Tournament - July 1st - 3rd - Contact Lovell McDonald or Keith Lutz
Medicine Hat Majestics Saamis Rotary Tournament - July 8th - 10th - Contact Lovell McDonald
Calgary Redbirds Dan Lawson Memorial - July 15th - 17th  - Contact Jim Lawson
Calgary Redbirds Dan Lawson Memorial - July 22nd - 24th  - Contact Jim Lawson