On to Game Seven

Ron Luciano, who was an American League umpire during my formative years as a fan, wrote -- or at least had his name on -- a handful of books telling tales of his career. I trust any specific anecdote's accuracy about as far as I can throw a locomotive, but "The Umpire Strikes Back" and "The Fall of the Roman Umpire" are at least amusing, and his description of umpiring as an vocation is both appealing and repelling, which suggests it's an honest one.

Anyway, one serious point he made in one of the books was this guideline about a sticky rules call: If in doubt, penalize the team that screwed up. The rulebook, he said, is designed to do that.

Sam Holbrook did not do that on his botched inteference call in Game 6. The screwup wasn't on Trea Turner's part, it was on Brad Peacock, who made a poor, off-target throw. An accurate throw from Peacock

• doesn't take the first baseman into the baseline and
• probably doesn't beat Turner to the bag either.

The issue was largely mooted when Anthony Rendon launched his homer one out later, but it could have been a pivotal play.

So ... on to Game Seven. Which suggests a close series. Which it is and isn't. None of the games have had a close final score, and the home teams have seldom really been in the contests late.

Presumably Max Scherzer is going to start for Washington, Zach Greinke for Houston. Greinke has long been one of my favorite non-Twins players, but he hasn't looked good this October. On the other hand, I have no idea how Scherzer's back and neck are going to respond.

We have two starters with their Cooperstown tickets pretty much already punched, and a genuine possibility that both of them will have poor starts.