Baseball: My Way

Saturday, May 7 2005

I'm not going to bother telling you why I haven't written. It's just more of the same and I've decided to write about something today. I've decided to write about baseball. At some point in the not so distant past, I said that I wanted the Phillies to play more "small ball." It turns out that this was an already used term that means something I don't want. It means doing a lot of sacrifice bunting.

I'll have to come up with my own term eventually but we'll call it "Baseball: My Way" for the moment. I might get around to applying it to how I think the Phillies have gone wrong this season and I might not. What I will do is explain how I think a team could be successful with or without a huge payroll.

First of all, you need a couple of guys at the top of the lineup who get on base. I don't care if they walk, accidentally step into pitches, single, double, triple or hit homers. They need to get things going. Obviously, each guy is going to fail most of the time since this is baseball but two guys should be able to generate some havoc. When these guys get on base, it's time for the havoc to start.

Once a guy gets on, the next batter needs to take a pitch or two so that the guy on first in this case can try to steal. Watching a certain Phillie who will remain nameless for now foul off pitch after pitch while a base stealer is trying to run drives me nuts. Let the guy make it to second base if he can. If he can, he's done half the next guy's job for him. The next guy's job is to try and get on base or to hit a ground ball to the right side if he can't. The ground ball will send a runner to second or third depending on where he starts.

Ideally, you'll have a couple guys on base when the third or fourth guy comes to the plate but I'd settle for a man on third with one out. At this point, the sluggers are up and their job is to try to hit the ball in the air as far as they can. Ideally, this means over the fence but this is baseball and no one can hit a homer every time. What they can do much of the time is hit a line drive that could land in a gap or a long fly ball that will advance a runner from second or third.

The guys on base have a job to do while the slugger is hitting, too. The job is to stay put. If you're not already on second base when Jim Thome comes to the plate, you stay right where you are. It's ok to annoy the pitcher a little but don't open up first base. In this case, I am going to use names. Abreu needs to stop stealing second base with Thome at the plate. There's a reason why he hasn't been thrown out and that's because the other team wants an excuse to throw garbage to Thome. I could be wrong but it feels like selfish play so that Abreu can be a 30-30 man again on a losing team.

If you are near the bottom of the lineup and there is no one on base, you should think about turning the lineup over. I'm talking about doing the same things that the leadoff guys should do. An eight hole hitter should be embarrassed every time a pitcher leads off an inning. It might not be his fault but he should be thinking in those terms.

Now that we're down to pitchers, it's time to talk about sacrifice bunts. They should be considered the lesser of two evils at best with the alternative being a double play. Scoring position is a myth as far as I'm concerned. A slow runner at second base will not score on a single. Outfielders throw far too well for that to be expected anymore. Therefore, giving up an out to advance a runner to second is not something that should be expected. Pitchers should probably do it most of the time but not other players. No one should ever bring in a pinch hitter to lay down a sacrifice bunt! That's using a precious bench move for a useless play. Even worse, I've seen the Phillies use the sacrifice bunt with a man on first and one out! That's giving up the second out almost for free!

There is a time and a place for bunts. Guys with good speed can use them to get on base. I'd have no problem if Jimmy Rollins dragged or pushed a bunt down the line with a man on first and nobody out. There's a reasonable chance that the fielder will bobble the softly hit ball or hurry a throw because of his speed. I've seen way too many bunts by Juan Pierre end in throwing errors for extra bases not to respect that play.

Defense is a big deal for me. You catch the ball and throw it to the right base. It's not that easy but these guys are professionals. They practice where to go on every possible play. No one can catch everything but you have to wonder when three long fly balls go over the center fielder's head in one game. Doesn't a coach see this and tell him to play deeper since the ball is carrying further?

I like it when Jon Lieber pitches because the batters tend to swing early in the count. This leads to fewer chances for something to go wrong with a pitch. Fielders stay in the game mentally and this leads them to play more consistently. Some ground balls will get through for singles but this means that there is a good chance for a double play.

There's something beautifull about a well executed double play when your team is in the field. It's a catch, a quick toss to the second baseman or shortstop on the bag and another, harder throw to first. If it's a fraction of a second off, the guy on the bag gets knocked over. I love the aesthetics of baseball and that's why I hate the "Thome shift." (West Coast readers probably know it as the "Bonds" shift.)

Every time Thome bats, everyone gets out of position and it's no longer beautiful. The shift works and it works because Thome violates another rule of how baseball should work. He doesn't hit the ball to all fields. I know he's paid to hit with power but he could learn to use an inside out swing a few times each game. Harry Kalas knows more about baseball than I do and he says it would be a victory for the other team if Thome did that. I trust Harry Kalas on baseball matters but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Weblog

No weblog today. I want to relax a bit.