jagtrader wrote:Having first and second down 9-7 is much different than having a runner at second down 9-8. Beltre could make that throw with his eyes shut and if it was the tying run he would have thrown out Descalso. Beltre played it safe. We saw how that turned out. A bloop singled tied it.
He took the easy out, which is what he should have done.
Quite correct - with a two-run lead, you get the sure out. Had it been a one-run lead, obviously Beltre would have thrown home.
Of course, one could argue that in the World Series, the "book" doesn't necessarily apply.
WS highlight video - it doesn't do much for me. The culprit is the nature of baseball, it has a nuanced drama that does not translate well to an abridged highlight film -at least not in the manner of NFL games (with the clock ticking etc) lends itself to great NFL Films creations.
Key plays are the essence of a football game. A lot of little things go on in football undoubtedly, but it works together. It's a macro event. In baseball -it is mainly Micro, the methodical domination of a pitcher is hard to show. Or a key 2-1 borderline pitch. In baseball, the enjoyment comes from an aggregation of the details.
There is some good footage, but I'd rather watch one of the games to get the flavor of the season again. The WS highlight video comes with a copy of game 5 NLDS, which is the best part of the deal.
People keep saying Beltre did the right thing while disregarding the fact his team lost the game partly because it allowed a bloop single to tie it in the 10th. Conventional wisdom is wrong here.
I love the new World Series video. I also got the full game dvd set. I like that too, but I really don't have the attention span to do much more than fast forward through the games and watch key plays. I can't watch the full replays pitch by pitch usually.
jagtrader wrote:People keep saying Beltre did the right thing while disregarding the fact his team lost the game partly because it allowed a bloop single to tie it in the 10th. Conventional wisdom is wrong here.
That's why I said in the World Series, sometimes the book doesn't apply.
Of course, if the Ranger pitcher had gotten Berkman out, nobody would be saying a thing.
jagtrader wrote:People keep saying Beltre did the right thing while disregarding the fact his team lost the game partly because it allowed a bloop single to tie it in the 10th. Conventional wisdom is wrong here.
That's why I said in the World Series, sometimes the book doesn't apply.
Of course, if the Ranger pitcher had gotten Berkman out, nobody would be saying a thing.
At the time of, I believe most everyone on the Cardinal side of the equation was relieved that Beltre didn't throw home.
jagtrader wrote:People keep saying Beltre did the right thing while disregarding the fact his team lost the game partly because it allowed a bloop single to tie it in the 10th. Conventional wisdom is wrong here.
That's why I said in the World Series, sometimes the book doesn't apply.
Of course, if the Ranger pitcher had gotten Berkman out, nobody would be saying a thing.
At the time of, I believe most everyone on the Cardinal side of the equation was relieved that Beltre didn't throw home.
I wasn't; I thought watching it live that Beltre made the smart play and I still think that now. I don't see how you can make a case that taking the easy out is a mistake. They got the second out, and the tying run did not advance. The fact that Washington walked Pujols to face Berkman (who was better against RHP in 2011 than Pujols by quite a bit) wasn't Beltre's fault, and the fact that Washington played his outfielders so deep that they had no prayer of keeping Jay from scoring on that bloop single (which wasn't really a bloop single, that was solidly hit, but anyway Joe and Tim noted the problem with the outfielders live before it happened) wasn't Beltre's fault either.
Beltre was playing back, Descalso runs pretty well, and the ball wasn't exactly scorched. The decision had to be made before Theriot swung the bat, and then Beltre had to consider the possibility that a unsuccessful throw home could result in the tying run being at 3b with one out and Pujols/Berkman due up.
It does raise the question of why Descalso was running on a groundball hit to 3b though.
Beltre didn't gamble, and threw to first.
Washington walked Albert to get to Berkman.
Washington had the OF playing "no doubles" defense.
Washington didn't leave Feliz or Feldman in the game.
In all these examples, the Rangers were playing more to "not lose" than to win. Wash should have taken a gamble in one of these, and it might have paid off. And as we've been discussing, some of these things really weren't even gambles.
Napoli was playing his butt off, especially with that nasty ankle sprain he had early in the game. That pick-off of Holliday was huge. At the time, I thought that was the ballgame, even though the score was only 4-4 in the 6th inning. It was a momentum-changer. If more of the Rangers (and their manager) played like he was, I bet they win the game. But even as I say that, I wonder how much control Napoli had over pitch selection, and wonder if maybe that wasn't too conservative in some cases. Beltre also had a good game, except for maybe his one conservative choice on that ground ball (which is very debatable).
Basically, the Rangers delivered a ton of daggers (the back-to-back HRs, Hamilton's HR, Napoli's pick off, etc) but could not deliver the knock out blow.
