2014 World Series thread

Correct.

Major leaguers frequently watch the ball when running the bases instead of picking up the coach. They also frequently don't run out routine ground balls, though I think this is at least somewhat purposeful - the chances of an injury on such a stop-to-sprint dash probably outweigh the odds that the player will be safe at first due to the effort.

On the other hand, players infrequently make a poor cutoff throw, given time to set, which Crawford had.

 

Brandon Crawford had 428 assists this year, including seven on relay throws. He threw two runners out at home plate.

He had nine throwing errors this year.

That means that 97.9 percent of the time, Crawford did not make an error on a throw.

 

Every person here would have thrown Gordon out at home. And easily.

 

Oh, I don't know about that. One of the things I find especially admirable about major-league baseball players is the ability to do the routine things so reliably even in decidedly non-routine circumstances. Spot me a one-shot lead at Augusta National and put me on No. 18 in regulation, I still might hit someone in the gallery with my putt. But the point is well-taken. To a major-leaguer, sending Gordon is a gift.

OOP's characterization of sending the runner as a bad bet is spot-on, though. Let's generously give Gordon a half a percent chance of making it safely. Surely Perez's chances of a base hit were much greater than that.

 

There's a difference between making a non-optimal choice and physically failing a routine play.