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May-27-12
 | | Phony Benoni: Prince Fielder earned another chunk of his contract today. Ninth inning, Tigers down 3-2. Leadoff hitter Quintin (Bunt Double) Berry hits a single, then steals second after the next batter makes an out. So first base was open with Miguel Cabrera batting and the game on the line--and Fielder in the ondeck circle. Twins chose to pitch to Cabrera, who promptly hit a game-winning home run. |
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May-27-12
 | | OhioChessFan: <JB: At first it would seem silly to try to steal home with the bases loaded. You've got a chance to score multiple runs and you give up part of that possibility to risk getting one run.
But on the other hand, if all three runners go, the catcher is certainly going to try to tag the runner going home, not throw to a base. (He probably couldn't with the distraction of the runner.) But say he's out? You've still got runners on second and third, and now no force (as long as there weren't two outs). Odd but not illogical.>
With less than two outs, I like the chances of the runner from third scoring on a batted ball better than stealing home. I have seen it in college, which isn't quite up to MLB level, and still don't like the play. It'd be pretty stupid in the major leagues. Defenses are too good, pitchers are too alert. As for no force after a caught stealing of home, you could then walk the batter anyway, with a free out in your pocket. |
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| May-27-12 | | Jim Bartle: At first I thought pitching to Cabrera was clearly the right thing, but now I'm not so sure. It sounds as if the Twins were more worried about losing than having the Tigers tie the score. Pitching to Cabrera made it more likely the runner on second would score (Cabrera a higher average hitter, I assume), but would make it less likely the Tigers would score two, since they wouldn't be intentionally placing the winning run on first. |
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May-27-12
| | OhioChessFan: I'd have walked him. That's one point I am at odds with conventional wisdom. So what if the winning run is put on base? If Fielder hits a homerun, it wins whether a runner is on first or not. If he hits a single, the game is still alive and you're through the meat of the order. The only circumstance putting the runner on first that can hurt you is a long double that scores the runner from first. Not all that common, and not a play I'd exect to see with Cabrera. Meanwhile, the double play is in effect. |
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May-27-12
| | Phony Benoni: Another possible factor is that the Twins's closer is right-handed. Cabrera bats right, Fielder left, so they may have thought they had a better chance to get Cabrera and could then consider walking Fielder. At the moment, both players have about the same batting average. |
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May-27-12
| | OhioChessFan: That is a legitimate consideration. I was speaking more in general about putting the winning run on base by an intentional walk. I don't think it's that big a deal. In the specific case, if they'd walked Cabrera and Fielder homered, it'd be tempting to then say they made the wrong choice. |
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May-27-12
| | Phony Benoni: Yes, putting the winning run on first is one of those chichés that ignores the situation. For instance a manager would be more likely to disregard it in the top of the 9th rather than the bottom. The specific hitters or pitchers may enter into it. Unfortunately, if it goes wrong either way the manager gets second-guessed. And the strategy almost worked today. Cabrera's home run was on an 0-2 count. Here's the classic example of when "putting the winning run on base" backfired: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... |
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| May-27-12 | | Jim Bartle: I think pitching to Cabrera was the right choice.
Yet I wonder about how psychology figures in these situations, either with a batter who is not being walked or the batter who is being pitched to (after an intentional pass). You know most (not all) players are going to see it as a slap if they are pitched to, and will bear down harder. I doubt you can find evidence of the results of this, but it's something to take into consideration. |
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May-27-12
 | | WannaBe: I've seen at least one case, where the opposing team was ahead, with bases loaded, the pitcher (on order) intentionally walks Barry Bonds. |
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| May-27-12 | | Abdel Irada: It seems to me that Diamond neither apologizes for historical crimes nor absolves their perpetrators. He merely puts them into the context created by geographical factors that conferred the comparative advantages which made those crimes possible. In the process, as Memethecat notes, he neatly demolishes racist theories that ascribe those advantages to inherent superiority on the part of the criminals, which tends to annoy those who have been raised in a media environment promoting such theories and find it hard to abandon them. In a culture in which psychopathic thinking is rewarded, cognitive dissonance results when we're told that the crime is not, after all, the victim's fault. |
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May-27-12
| | WannaBe: I think a few baseball fans would enjoy this article: http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/fa... |
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| May-27-12 | | Jim Bartle: I still think one of the interesting questions about the Twins' decision against Detroit was whether the manager was worrying more about the Tigers tying the score or scoring two to win. |
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| May-27-12 | | Jim Bartle: Really nice story about Hershiser. And I learned something: there's a team called the Modesto Nuts. |
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| May-28-12 | | playground player: <Jim Bartle> Ye say well: at least, more economically than I've been trying to say it--people are people, wherever they are. All the same, something tells me it'd be a lot easier to learn computer skills than it'd be to learn how to survive in the Kalahari Desert without tools or weapons. For one thing, the final exam is murder! <Esteemed Colleagues> I've never seen anyone try to steal home with the bases loaded in a major league game. But I've heard players recall, in horror, Don Zimmer calling for the hit-and-run with the bases loaded, while managing the Cubs. The runner breaking from third seemed to have a particular dread of running right into the batted ball... |
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| May-28-12 | | Jim Bartle: "All the same, something tells me it'd be a lot easier to learn computer skills than it'd be to learn how to survive in the Kalahari Desert without tools or weapons. For one thing, the final exam is murder!" For another thing, the consequences of failure are different: physical suffering or death, or failing to learn some job skills. |
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May-29-12
| | Phony Benoni: At least our visitors from pre-tech societies can get jobs in Geico commercials. |
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May-29-12
| | WannaBe: Maybe Lingerie League (LL) is next? http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story... |
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May-30-12
| | Phony Benoni: That would give a whole new meaning to the term, "six-figure salary". |
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May-30-12
| | WannaBe: Looking at the TV, from a far shot, it looks like Brazil is playing a team of chain gangs. |
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| May-30-12 | | Jim Bartle: Seattle 17 Texas 0 in the 4th inning? |
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May-30-12
| | Phony Benoni: I don't care how bad the Seahawks are, they should be beating up on a college team. But, you know, I wouldn't put it past the Rangers to make a game out of it. |
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May-30-12
| | WannaBe: Seattle Pilots scored 17 runs?!?! |
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May-30-12
| | WannaBe: L. James just got mugged/murdered, and they called it a jump ball. Unbelievable. |
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May-31-12
| | Phony Benoni: Final score was 21-8. I have no idea why the Longhorns went for a two-point conversion. I can hardly wait to see what Elias has to say about this tomorrow. There can't be too many games where a team had consecutive 8-run innings. |
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May-31-12
| | WannaBe: Didn't we just had one earlier? Where one team scored a bunch of runs in the 7th and the 8th to come back? My memory is failing me... |
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