A Baseball Lesson

Issue: You actually going to teach us something about baseball?

Short Answer: Maybe.  Pay attention.

Reasoning: For the record, I thought about entitling this post "Joe Maddon is a P#@$y," but I like Joe Maddon and I like the Rays, so I went with what I went with.  The MLB playoffs is one of my favorite sporting events.  The drama is more than compelling, the talent is simply the best, and the emotion is off the charts.  To have the first 162 games you played come down to a five-game series, makes the urgency palpable.  But, the game remains the same.  Players must play the same way and managers must manage the same way.  Joe Maddon not managing his team the same way may have cost his team a chance at surviving Game 4 against the Rangers (it also may have had absolutely nothing to do with it).  Let me set the scenario for you:

• It was Monday, October 3, and the Ray's and the Ranger's series was tied at one game a piece.  It was the bottom of the 9th and the Rays were trailing 4-3.  With one out, Sean Rodriguez (Tampa's shortstop, i.e., he has good speed) singled to center.  Up next for the Rays was Kelly Shoppach (Tampa's catcher, i.e., he has terrible speed, if any at all).  Shoppach battled the count back from 1-2, to 3-2.  On the very next pitch, I realized the Rays were in real danger of ending the game without sending another hitter to the plate.

And here begins the lesson.  In professional baseball, all the players are really, really, really good.  Yes, even on the Pirates.  Games are often decided on who plays the game the right way, the most often.  And, when teams do things wrong, it often bites them in the ass.  Enter: Joe Maddon.  In professional baseball (and on any team I coach), if there is a runner on first, or runners on first and second, and the count goes 3-1 or 3-2, the runner, or runners, are told to steal on the pitch.  There is no sign for this.  It is taught and understood (there is a sign to alert the runner NOT to steal, e.g., when a runner like myself (SLOW) is on first base).  On 3-1 or 3-2, you go.  Basically, the runners aren't even attempting to steal, they are merely getting a head start.  The coaching staff is banking on the hitter making contact with the pitch, or taking the pitch for ball four.  This is how 99.9% of "strike'em out, throw'em outs" happen.  In fact, in the same day, I saw Tony LaRussa send Albert Pujols, quite possibly the slowest human being on the planet (he is 65 years old, give him a break) on a 3-2 count.  The batter struck out and Pujols actually attempted to turn around and go back to first base.  He didn't make it.  The point is, Tony LaRussa stuck to his guns, he managed in the playoffs just like he would manage in the regular season.  Joe Maddon did not.

• The first 3-2 pitch was fouled off, and the runner was not going.  The second 3-2 pitch was fouled off, and the runner was not going.  Guess what happened on the third 3-2 pitch?  A ground ball to Adrian Beltre, who was playing extremely deep at third base (he was actually in a defense called "no doubles" but we will save this lesson for another blog post - just take it from me, he was nearly in the outfield).  Beltre threw to second base, barely, and I mean barely, beating Sean Rodriguez to second.  Then, Ian Kinsler flipped to first, beating Kelly Shoppach quite easily at first.  Game over.

The point of the lesson is this: if Joe Maddon sends Rodriguez on the 3-2 pitch, Beltre has only one play - first base.  Then, the Rays would have had Rodriguez on second base with two outs.  Does that mean they tie the game?  Hell no.  Does that mean they have a chance to tie the game?  Hell yes.  But, in my opinion, all Maddon could think about is not ending the game on a "strike'em out, throw'em out" for reasons unbeknownst to me.  Instead, he ended the game on a 5-4-3 double play.  I would rather end the game managing the way it should be done, not managing scared.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Rays are now playing golf, watching the rest of the playoffs on TV.  Alright, that's not the only reason, but it's a reason all the same.

On a side note, I hope the Brewers beat the Cardinals.  I couldn't stand it if I had to watch the Redbirds in the World Series.  It would physically make me ill.