Three Things Less Believable Than Chad Durbin's 12th

Not to dwell on  Chad's improbably inflammable appearance, but I would rank it fourth over the past week in bizarre MLB occurrences.  In case you've been stoned the entire time, it has been quite a week.  Here is the reprise.

#3)  ManRam retires.  So Manny's dumb; we know that.  After a second positive test for a prohibited substance, Ramirez chose to call it quits rather than face a 100 game suspension.  Even the decision boggles my mind; either way he sits on his rump.  Either way he gets a deluge of scorn from the press and the fans.  Why make such a rash move?  Just Manny bein' Manny.  Check out his timeline of ignominy here.

#2) Josh Hamilton breaks arm while trying to score on a pop foul to the third baseman.  I have never seen anything like this.  Josh blames the third base coach, kind of.  Regardless, he will miss 6-8 weeks.  And isn't allowed anything for the pain. ;-j.



#1) Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz triple in the same game.  Amidst Daisuke Matsuzaka's extended BP to the Rays on Monday, two unlike Sox both ended up on third thanks to the unique dimensions of Fenway and some overly aggressive outfield play by Tampa.  While Big Papi holds an unlikely distinction as the only AL player to triple in each of the past 12 seasons, the probability of of the daily double (triple?) was astronomical.  Given their performances over the past five seasons, the odds of Gonzalez (7 3B in 799 G) and Ortiz (6  in 704) tripling in the same contest were approximately 1 in 13,000.  If you prefer a percentage, there was a 0.0075% or three quarters of a hundredth of a percent chance of that outcome.  Factor in the probability of both hits being viewed live by me and the % drops straight to zero.

So, Chad, you've got all that going for you.

Cheers.

P.S.  Thanks again, Joe Smith activated and Frank Herrmann to Columbus.  For now.