Bryan Keefer is co-author of the New York Times bestseller about
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Big ball 6, small ball 0
Fox’s baseball commentators for the World Series are always prattling on about “small ball,” which mostly seems to come down to sacrificing (and “moving runners over") and stealing bases (strangely, it doesn’t usually include walks). Occasionally this goes so far as to bash on teams that wait for home runs and/or extra base hits. So I kept a count during game two of the World Series tonight:
Top of the first inning: The Marlins start the runner from first on a 3-2 pitch. Batter strikes out, runner get thrown out at second. Big ball 1, Small ball 0.
Bottom of the first inning: Yankees leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano walks. Derek Jeter gets two strikes on himself trying to bunt Soriano over (Jeter might have been bunting for a base hit, but he showed bunt so early I’m going with the former). Then Soriano gets picked off trying to steal, and Jeter strikes out. The next batter, Jason Giambi, gets hit by a pitch, Bernie Williams gets a hit, and Hideki Matsui hits a three run home run on a 3-0 pitch. Big ball 3, small ball 0.
Bottom of the second inning: Nick Johnson gets on with a bunt base hit (bunting for a base hit doesn’t count as small ball any more than swinging for a single does). Johnson scores on a double by Juan Rivera. Big ball 4, small ball 0.
Bottom of the fourth inning: Base hit by Nick Johnson, who scores on a home run by Soriano. Big Ball 5, small ball 0.
Bottom of the sixth: Aaron Boone strikes out on a 3-2 pitch, and Jorge Posada, going from first on the pitch, gets thrown out at second. Two pitches later the pitcher throws a wild pitch to Johnson (which would have moved Posada to second), then Johnson smacks a double (which would have scored Posada). Big ball 6, small ball 0 (or big ball 5, small ball -1).
There you have it - “small ball” effectively cost the Yankees two runs (one in the first inning, and one in the sixth), while all of their runs came on home runs and extra-base hits. I’ll try and track the same stats for another game or two during the series.
- October 20, 2003
filed under: Baseball