Saturday, April 24, 2010

SOME OBSEVATIONS

***STEALING THIRD***
It is a long-standing "unwritten" (there's that word again) rule in baseball, that you should never make the 1st or 3rd out at third, especially trying to steal 3rd with 2 outs. Always the rebel, Picasner has disagreed after hearing Casey Stengel mention that there are 8 ways you can score from third that you can't from 2nd. That's a pretty big number and certainly worth the risk. Ballplayers are obviously aware of this because steals of third have increased over the last 4 years, in spite of Tim McCarver's disapproval. Oh yeah, the eight ways:
Wild pitch
Passed Ball
Stolen base
Error
Balk
Infield hit
Sacrifice fly
Sacrifice bunt

I'll take my chances.

***SPEAKING OF STEALS***
The Red Sox are having an awful time trying to prevent stolen bases. Jayson Stark calls it "widespread looting." The Sox set the Major League record for allowing steals in 2001, letting 223 baserunners take the extra base. This year, they're on a pace to allow 364. Theo Epstein built this year's team around speed and defense. They can catch the baseball but not the runners. Must have missed that, huh Theo?

***ANOTHER YANKEE CONTROVERSY***
Surprise! No A-Rod this time. Mark Teixeira slammed into Angels catcher Bobby Wilson Friday night, sending the rookie to the hospital with a concussion. Some of the Angels say the collision could have been avoided and that Teixeira was upset because he had just been hit by a pitch. Even though Wilson set up in front of the plate to take the throw, he had leaned back over the plate to try and make a tag. Unfortunately, the throw had bounced away from him before Tex hit him. If he had managed to catch the throw, none of this would have come up. Teixeira stayed on the back half of the plate and anticipated Wilson having the ball and, by his own words, intended to try to jar the ball loose, not knowing that Wilson did not have the ball. Even Angel manager Mike Scioscia called it a clean play. Someone also mentioned that Tex didn't try to help Wilson up. Very dangerous: the play was still live and technically Teixeira could have been called for interference if he grabbed Wilson. No one wants to see anybody get hurt, but it did appear to be a clean and legal play.

***BROADCASTERS TALK...BUT DON'T LISTEN***
Not even to themselves. Today, this little gem came out of the broadcast booth during the Angels-Yankee game: Angel reliever Scott Shields is considered to be baseball's best set-up man. The Angels just shut him down for a week and will use him in non-critical situations until he straightens himself out. I see, and he's the best, eh?

CP-

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