Is Norris Hopper a slick dude?

by Blue on May 28, 2007 5:07 PM EDT Comment 40 comments

According to Trent, the Pirates players are claiming that Freel dropped the ball after he slammed against the ground, and that Norris Hopper put the ball back in Freel's glove while he was laying on the warning track apparently unconcsious. It seems the Reds players aren't denying it.

Okay, so the question is, who cares about getting that out more? 1) Freel, who collided with Hopper trying to catch it, or 2) Hopper who picked up the ball and placed it into the glove of an unconscious teammate before motioning for medical personnel?

I hope there is video of this. It could be classic.

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wow

if that's true, that is incredibly awesome. i take back every bad thing i ever said about norris hopper.

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 5:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

in the big scheme of things

does it really matter?

by Caleb on May 28, 2007 5:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

im 100 percent serious

if he did that, i think it's awesome. thats a "baseball guy." its not like just because he snuck the ball in there he wasnt worried about freel. he obviously was. he called the doctors right away and was trying to talk to him, and in the midst of all that had the wherewithal to slip the ball back in his glove sandlot-style... i cant describe how cool that is.

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Reminds me...

Of Eddie Milner and his "catch" when he went after a foul ball and was out of sight of all of the umpires (and pretended he made the catch by picking up the ball and holding it up), but this time it worked.

Does anyone remember when and where the Milner play happened?

"That which is repeated will happen a third time."

by Paul Householder on May 28, 2007 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

RE: "cant describe how cool that is."

..You rang?

Talk to me.

HA! Ha ha ha ha. ha.

Seriously gang, sorry about the homestand. I meant to have things start turning around for ya last week but it turns out Simontacchi is Wiccan. Wiccan, for Chrissakes! You believe that shit? Little fucker was just drawing down the moon Wednesday night. Really not much I can do in that situation.

And then the weekend series? Man, I guess I just totally spaced it. See, I've been seeing this new girl, Stacey. She's great but man, all she wants to do is dance. She's got me clubbin' through Manhattan in and out of some spots I haven't seen since that night in '81 when Warhol needed my help getting Jagger "relaxed."

Anyway, I'm lovin' it. She's got me feeling like I'm 745 all over again. But after two or three straight nights it's like, Whoa! I've got a job I should probably get to in the morning.

Anybody know if Sam's Club sells Red Bull?

HA! Ha ha ha ha. ha.

by Fat Vegas Alan on May 29, 2007 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, somewhat

If he did do that it was heads up. But at this point for the Pirates to be whining, that is what I was refering to. He caught it, then took several steps and the call was made, then he may, or may not have, dropped it. Either way it is an out.

by Caleb on May 28, 2007 5:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah, i think it was an out anyway

and im not really concerned with the pirates whining, i just think, wow, go norris...

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just 'cuz...

Now that's slick.

The Reds are 5-20 since we danced around the Maypole at 13-13. If Jerry is not fired before Houston I will kill my Red Reporter self in Tuesday's game thread.

by Alan on May 28, 2007 9:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's hypnotizing

Is that David Hasselhoff? Donny Osmond? Bucky Dent?

2007 Reds Threat Level is Green

by Slyde on May 28, 2007 10:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

its the hoff

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 10:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You got the first three...

and in the correct order even!

Now, who are the remaining 417?

The Reds are 6-20 since we danced around the Maypole at 13-13. If Jerry is not fired before Houston I will kill my Red Reporter self in Tuesday's game thread.

by Alan on May 28, 2007 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Less than 24 hours to go...

how you holdin' up? Will you reconsider if the Reds win tomorrow, or is this solely based upon Narron's status as manager as of gametime?

"Think lucky!" - Jerry Narron's philosophy on baseball

by Ash on May 28, 2007 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My fate is sealed.

It was sealed by a 2-6 homestand against two of the worst teams in baseball.

I'm gonna do it.

I may be a coward but I am a completely accountable coward.

It doesn't appear that Jerry's head will roll before the plane leaves for Houston. (When I saw that Junior was not in the starting line-up I figured that Jerry must somehow know that his job is not yet in jeopardy.)

I'm feeling pretty okay. Thanks for asking. It might hit me tomorrow morning when I have to drop Pokey off at the pound.

Ash, I'm assuming that you're gonna stick the season out and see where Lohse might finish in the Cy Young balloting? It's cool. I woudn't want you to off yourself if your heart wasn't really in it. And right now...

Ash hearts the Reds.

The Reds are 6-20 since we danced around the Maypole at 13-13. If Jerry is not fired before Houston I will kill my Red Reporter self in Tuesday's game thread.

by Alan on May 28, 2007 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have a feeling I'm gonna stick the season

out for the sole purpose of beating Menace in the RR fantasy league. Just like football.

I dunno, though, I'll keep thinking about it. I did start writing your eulogy... it's in another diary. It's the least I can do.

"Think lucky!" - Jerry Narron's philosophy on baseball

by Ash on May 28, 2007 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As everyone knows

the only true fantasy leagues are AL only leagues.

by Red Menace on May 29, 2007 12:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I figured the "true" league

would be the one without the auto-draft.

"Think lucky!" - Jerry Narron's philosophy on baseball

by Ash on May 29, 2007 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cota disagrees

He thinks that was his once-in-a-lifetime chance to score an inside-the-park homerun.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named "Bubba"?

by BubbaFan on May 28, 2007 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha what a bitch

whining because he could have had an inside-the-park home run because the outfielder who caught his fucking fly ball was knocked unconscious. norris hopper is the man.

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just saw it on Sportscenter

Hopper absolutely put the ball in Freel's glove! You could see it very clearly in the closeup replay. ESPN didn't mention it at all, as the story at this point was just Freel's injury. It's possible that Freel had the ball long enough, but Norris definitely slipped it into his glove at the end.

by Red Menace on May 28, 2007 5:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

good thing

there is no such thing as held long enough

by Caleb on May 28, 2007 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

aren't you supposed to hold on to the ball

long enough to transfer it to your hand or show it to the umpire? From what I understand, the umpire didn't make the call until he saw the ball in Freel's glove when he ran up to him.

by Blue on May 28, 2007 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Video

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270528117

Check out the video highlights there, you can very clearly see him do it.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. --Oscar Wilde

by JD Arney on May 28, 2007 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's the "anti A-Rod" move

Sneaky, Norris, very sneaky. Although I think Freel caught and maintained possession long enough that it still would have counted as a catch.

by Brendanukkah on May 28, 2007 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

NoHo IS a slick dude

Just saw the video and I think Freel definitely maked the catch and had both feet in. The ground caused the fumble.

In all seriousness, I think he did make the catch and the ball jsut rolls out of his glove after he's laying on the ground. NoHo just made sure the right call was going to be made.

Hope Freel makes a quick and full recovery and we se him back out there soon. He definitely sparked some good play today. Hope they can keep it up.

Get, that, dirt off your shoulder.

by satyanaas on May 28, 2007 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

maybe....

I think Hopper thought Freel was dead and he wanted Freel's tombstone to be able to say, "He Made the Catch."

by jambolyajones on May 28, 2007 6:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

that would have been

the greatest tombstone ever. I don't have any tatoos, but I'd get one of that tombstone.

by Blue on May 28, 2007 7:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My 6-year old self's tombstone:

"He almost made it"

-within site of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley along the Oregon Trail

by Red Menace on May 28, 2007 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So many memories...

The Oregon Trail

Should of known there was something wrong when I intentionally started killing off members of my wagon party.

"Think lucky!" - Jerry Narron's philosophy on baseball

by Ash on May 28, 2007 9:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

by the way I was also within sight of it

by Red Menace on May 28, 2007 9:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

Watch the replay on ESPN. It's obvious. You can clearly see Hopper slip the ball into Freel's glove while he's "checking" on him. Never liked Norris Hopper much. I changed my mind. That's a "baseball guy." That's "Veteran Presence." Awesome.

"Karma - there it was. The meaning of life, straight from Carson Daly's lips to my morphine-laced ears." -Earl Hickey

by BLee2525 on May 28, 2007 7:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

mosdef

love the dude now

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Some stuff from C. Trent

Great quote from Junior: "I asked Junior if it was tough going out there and playing after seeing a teammate on the ground and taken off the field in an ambulance. He said, "Yeah, it's usually me. I'm usually the one looking up at everyone else."

And I hope to God Cota was trying to be ironic or funny or something: "Said Cota: "They told me that Hopper put the ball in his glove. It's just one of those things. You wish this was like the NFL and you could throw a red flag on the field and challenge that play. ... It was my one-in-a-million chance, with my blazing speed, for an inside-the-park (homer). I'll probably have to wait another century for that chance."

What an ass! He also was responsible for knocking out Casey a couple years ago.

C. Trent also reports that Eddie "Someday..." Guardado pitched a scoreless, one-hit inning in Dayton today. So that's good news. I'm glad that we can laugh at some of the above statements, because Freel's injury isn't too serious. Really scary moment though.

Oh, and it's also bits like this that make me appreciate C. Trent. Sure, he may defend Narron, and not be all that classy when called out, but he has insider access and can share quotes and stories like this with us. We've been hard on him here these last couple days (though he deserved it), but like BubbaFan says, it's better having him blogging than not.

by Brendanukkah on May 28, 2007 8:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agreed

and cota is probably my new least favorite player. reminds me of that ricky davis "triple-double" a few years back.

"Swing away, Bronson." -- sayeth Chris Welsh.

by boobs on May 28, 2007 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

replay

You can actually see the ball rolling under Freel as he's doing his last little roll. It came out right at the very end, and you can see it rolling on the warning track just before Freel's body comes to a stop.

by greg456 on May 28, 2007 9:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

back and to the left

And then we're expected to believe that this magic ball bends in midair, strikes Freel in his left leg only to end up in his glove.

by Red Menace on May 28, 2007 9:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I believe

I do I do

Farewell coach Narron and Bucky too!

by Madville on May 28, 2007 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still hate Norris Hopper.

I now respect him, but I still hate him and want him away from this team. Learn to hit, asshole!

by Geki on May 29, 2007 12:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I dunno, he hit Freel pretty good

Yeah, I agree with you more than, say, boobs on this issue. I admire the play (and sneakery!), but someone should have called that ball. Hopper has not impressed me on defense, and his hitting has been pretty bad. We knew he didn't have power, but when your average is below Dunn's, something's wrong.

Still, if you were gonna kill Freel, you had the decency to make sure he got credit for the catch. So kudos to you, Mr. Hopper.

by Brendanukkah on May 29, 2007 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like Hopper

He'll never be a slugger, but I think he'll make someone a fine reserve OFer one day.

Both he and Freel were determined to catch that ball, if only to support the great effort their pitcher was giving them. At least no one can say they've given up.

Hopper said he didn't call the ball because there was no point. Freel wouldn't have given way.

I suppose Freel is the one who should have called it. The CFer is in charge of the outfield. Maybe he wasn't sure he could get to it.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named "Bubba"?

by BubbaFan on May 29, 2007 6:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Never be a slugger?

He has to hit over .300 to even resemble a useful 25th man, and he hasn't shown the ability to do that outside of a flukey AAA run last year. He's not young, he's got no upside, and he's got no ability. He's Alex Sanchez except slower with less ability to hit for average, less walks, and less power. His line right now is .244/.244/.289, and he's going to be starting and probably batting leadoff for us over the next week. Get him out of here.

by Geki on May 29, 2007 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs