Just a quick note to the
friends of this blog. Many of you are aware of the many times I call out
first basemen because of the way they field throws from in front of home
plate. I have written it probably 10 times at least and described it way
more than that, but last night, in game 6 of the World Series it almost was an
enormous mistake. You can see the video below, but I am focusing on the
same way 1B defenders field these balls. Both his feet are basically
aligned with the invisible line to 2nd base (from 1B), so there is no stretch other than
his arm out and bending at the waist. Can you imagine on a close play and
a throw from SS where a 1B would have on foot on the bag and the other on the
1B foul line and then just reached forward? Of course not, yet for some
reason, this is done all the time on throws from in front of home plate. If Gurriel, just stretches toward the
ball, first, he catches the ball before it gets to the runner and second, he catches the ball about 3.5 feet
earlier so Turner would be out.
They ruled runner
interference, which at the time could have been an enormous call in a one-run
game. Instead of 2nd and 3rd nobody out (runs expected are 2) you have a
man on 1st with 1 out (0.5 runs expected). That call was on average a 1.5
run swing; that is huge!
When will 1B and coaches read this blog and get smart? BTW, I understand there is a slightly reduced chance of fielding a ball when you stretch, but that is the same on all throws when it is close. I would also concede that the throws to 1B from in front of home plate may be a little more off target, but I would also argue that fielding the ball earlier allows you to catch balls that would normally put you in harms way with the runner and also leads to those arm injuries we have seen. I also have seen 1B bail on throws that if they would have stretched they could have caught "behind" the runner (closer to home plate).
When will 1B and coaches read this blog and get smart? BTW, I understand there is a slightly reduced chance of fielding a ball when you stretch, but that is the same on all throws when it is close. I would also concede that the throws to 1B from in front of home plate may be a little more off target, but I would also argue that fielding the ball earlier allows you to catch balls that would normally put you in harms way with the runner and also leads to those arm injuries we have seen. I also have seen 1B bail on throws that if they would have stretched they could have caught "behind" the runner (closer to home plate).
Here is the link to it from MLB.com
https://www.mlb.com/video/martinez-ejected-after-turner-out?t=world-series
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