Ill-timed walk changed complexion of the World Series
Don’t walk the leadoff hitter. Every pitcher, at every level of baseball, hears that admonition before he takes the mound.
But pitchers are only human. Sometimes they do walk the leadoff hitter. Sometimes they even do it in the ninth inning of a World Series game.
It happened this year and became a perfect illustration of why it should be avoided at almost any cost. It might have made the difference in the outcome of the first game, which, in turn, could have significantly impacted the larger picture.
The Diamondbacks had a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. They brought in their closer, Paul Sewald, to nail down the victory and the first hitter he faced was Leody Taveras, who was the ninth hitter in the Rangers batting order. It was imperative that he be kept off base. As long as there was no base runner, there was no chance for Texas to bring the potential tying run up to bat. If Taveras reached base it literally didn’t matter how it happened. From the pitcher’s point of view, allowing a homer would be no worse than allowing a walk. Either would give the next batter a chance to tie the game.
If ever there was a time when a pitcher HAD to throw strikes, this was it. If he grooved a pitch, there was a chance the batter would reach base but there was also a chance he would make an out. But if he walked him there would be no chance to get him out.
Still, Sewald walked Taveras. The fourth ball was a 3-1 pitch that wasn’t close to the strike zone.
Two batters later Corey Seager tied the game with a home run and the Rangers went on to win in the 11th.
If the walk hadn’t occurred there’s at least a chance that Seager’s blast would have been a solo homer. There’s at least a chance that Arizona would have held on to win the game. There’s at least a chance that the Diamondbacks would have enjoyed a 2-0 lead when they returned to their own ballpark to play Game Three.
We’ll never know because it didn’t happen that way.
All because of the most illtimed walk of the season.
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The following letters have been edited for brevity.
Jay,
Your batting glove tag episode, which I thoroughly enjoyed, reminded me of the first time I saw an NFL player ruled out-of-bounds when his dreadlocks flopped over and crossed the sideline. Kind of reminds me of “electricity” in games of tag on the playground.
John Rounds You’re referring to the player who tucked a batting glove in his back pocket in a way that caused the fingers of the glove to flap in the breeze. He was out when an infielder tagged those fingers. I noted that that player carefully placed the batting glove in his pocket with the fingers down the next time he reached base. I suppose it wouldn’t have been quite as easy for the football player to cut his hair.
Jay,
Really enjoyed today’s column. The shoutouts for Aaron Judge and Tommy Pham are so well deserved.
Mike Van Wagner
Let me make one more point on that topic.
Pham was about to become a free agent. A 5-for-5 line in a World Series box score certainly wouldn’t diminish his market value. Nevertheless, he gave up that opportunity because he was thinking of someone else. Jay,
As a baseball purist, I understand your grievance, but baseball has only recently expanded its playoff slots, long after the other major sports did so. And you know why that is done — to increase interest in more cities whose teams are vying for the playoffs. Among the four major sports in the U.S., baseball has the fewest number of postseason spots. If a team is the best, then it should be able to swat away lesser teams and claim a spot in the World Series.
How often are the top seeds competing in the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup Finals, or the NBA Finals? Why does baseball take the rap for doing what the other major sports have done? Clearly this year was an anomaly, with its small market teams, but wasn’t it great to see Texas win for the first time?
Glenn Werstler Before you start comparing baseball to the other popular team sports, think about this: The best team in baseball last year won 104 games. The worst team won 50. That’s a difference of 54 games out of 162.
To put it another way, the 104-game winner and the 112game loser each took the field 162 times. On 108 of those occasions (two-thirds) their results were identical. None of the other sports you reference comes close to that percentage.
Not ever.
Baseball is the ultimate game of inches. Inches sometimes determine whether a ball is a runscoring hit or an inning-ending double play. Inches sometimes determine whether a ball is a double in the corner of the outfield or a foul ball that is a strike charged against the batter.
Line drives sometimes are caught. Pop flies sometimes fall in for hits. Nobody gets all the breaks.
For years the NFL sold itself with the unofficial slogan that “anybody can beat anybody on the right day.” Baseball was never smart enough to point out that it is a much more balanced and unpredictable enterprise than any other sport, including football.
Teams play almost every day and still it takes weeks and sometimes months for the better teams to separate themselves from the others. It doesn’t happen very often in a short series. It isn’t realistic to think that the better team will usually find a way to win a short series.
I think you’re absolutely right that the reason there are 12 playoff teams is that baseball wants to create late-season excitement and anticipation in as many cities as possible. In fact, Commissioner Rob Manfred proposed a 14-team playoff structure, but the Players Association objected. The union wanted the number capped at 10, but agreed to 12 as a compromise. I would expect that number to remain, at least until the next round of expansion.
I disagree with your suggestion that this year was an anomaly. As long as this system is used, I think the only anomaly will be the year when the best team becomes the World Champion.