ASG Strategy

jtur88 · 07-16-2008, 10:31 AM

Two things came to mind during the All Star Game that made me wonder about stretegy.

1. When the AL had the winning run on third with one out, Hurdle pitched with first base open. It worked, he got a strikeout. But then he walked the next batter (Morneau), and occpied first base, but now with two outs. WTF?

2. When you get a runner in third with one out against a lights-out reliever like Mariano Rivera, why not try to squeeze? If Rivera is as good as advertised, the chances of getting a ball in play that will score the run would be significantly diminished, but the chances of getting a bunt down still pretty decent. If the squeeze is ever going to be the tactic of choice, it would be against a pitcher who is the hardest to hit conventionally.

When the winning run scored, was that the first tag play that the umpires got right (according to replay) in the entire game?

Did anybody else wonder if Brandon Webb could play second base, and not make 3 errors, 2 Ks and a GIDP?

Triad · 07-22-2008, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtur88

1. When the AL had the winning run on third with one out, Hurdle pitched with first base open. It worked, he got a strikeout. But then he walked the next batter (Morneau), and occpied first base, but now with two outs. WTF?

Maybe managers have makeup calls just like umpires do. Maybe he felt like he was walking on eggshells the first time and got lucky, and figured it would be tough to do it again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtur88

2. When you get a runner in third with one out against a lights-out reliever like Mariano Rivera, why not try to squeeze? If Rivera is as good as advertised, the chances of getting a ball in play that will score the run would be significantly diminished, but the chances of getting a bunt down still pretty decent. If the squeeze is ever going to be the tactic of choice, it would be against a pitcher who is the hardest to hit conventionally.

Sounds reasonable, depending on the batter. As long as it's not a basic sacrifice to second like we saw with Russell Martin. The best catcher in baseball, and he's being asked to bunt in the showcase event of all the stars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtur88

When the winning run scored, was that the first tag play that the umpires got right (according to replay) in the entire game?

I don't know what the deal is with umpires. They give the fielders the benefit of the doubt on a bang-bang play, and as long as the throw beats the runner, the tag seems incidental to them. I think base stealers are called out about a third of the time when they actually beat the tag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtur88

Did anybody else wonder if Brandon Webb could play second base, and not make 3 errors, 2 Ks and a GIDP?

Poor Uggla. They slap him with an error on a bad hop for his third one. He must've felt snakebitten.

jtur88 · 07-22-2008, 05:25 PM

I saw that fool LaRussa do it again the other night. He puts a good hitter in the number 2 slot, exactly because he is a good hitter, and then has him bunt with a runner on first. I wonder how many times a year he does that. This is not hindsight, I wondered about the strategy even before that same number two hitter came up later in the game and hit a walkoff granny.
If he insists on bunting his number-2 hitter every time he comes up, why not bat the pitcher second, fercrissake.

07-16-2008, 10:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
jtur88 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 7,702	ASG Strategy Two things came to mind during the All Star Game that made me wonder about stretegy. 1. When the AL had the winning run on third with one out, Hurdle pitched with first base open. It worked, he got a strikeout. But then he walked the next batter (Morneau), and occpied first base, but now with two outs. WTF? 2. When you get a runner in third with one out against a lights-out reliever like Mariano Rivera, why not try to squeeze? If Rivera is as good as advertised, the chances of getting a ball in play that will score the run would be significantly diminished, but the chances of getting a bunt down still pretty decent. If the squeeze is ever going to be the tactic of choice, it would be against a pitcher who is the hardest to hit conventionally. When the winning run scored, was that the first tag play that the umpires got right (according to replay) in the entire game? Did anybody else wonder if Brandon Webb could play second base, and not make 3 errors, 2 Ks and a GIDP? __________________ ------------------ When people ask what I hope to see before I die, I answer that I've already seen too much. Last edited by jtur88; 07-16-2008 at 10:34 AM.

07-22-2008, 05:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
jtur88 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 7,702	I saw that fool LaRussa do it again the other night. He puts a good hitter in the number 2 slot, exactly because he is a good hitter, and then has him bunt with a runner on first. I wonder how many times a year he does that. This is not hindsight, I wondered about the strategy even before that same number two hitter came up later in the game and hit a walkoff granny. If he insists on bunting his number-2 hitter every time he comes up, why not bat the pitcher second, fercrissake. __________________ ------------------ When people ask what I hope to see before I die, I answer that I've already seen too much.