Judging the Royals

Games » Detroit Tigers

Lee Judge

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Here’s a nifty quote from Albert Einstein: “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” Offense is easier to measure, so fans tend to fixate on that. Defense is a bit more difficult to gauge, so it often gets ignored. The Royals lost this game 4-2, and their defense probably…probably…cost them two runs in ways that won’t show up in the box score.

Kyle Davies mainly threw lights-out and didn’t give up a hit until the fifth. In that inning, he left a change-up up. This can happen when the pitcher doesn’t “let the air out” (collapse his chest onto his front knee) or doesn’t “pull down the window shade” (release the ball without ever snapping his fingers down) or “flim the finaggle” (OK, I made that last one up.)

Actually, I have no idea what happened except Davies was cruising and then had a bad inning. He gave up a single to Miguel Cabrera, struck out Jhonny Peralta, gave up a single to Ryan Raburn and then a double to Brennan Boesch. (Jarrod Dyson missed cutoff man Mike Aviles on this play.)

With Boesch at second, Davies threw a wild pitch that Lucas May wasn’t able to block. Lucas came up too far and the ball went between his legs. That put Boesch on third and forced the infield in. Brandon Inge then hit a grounder between Wilson Betemit and Yuniesky Betancourt that might have been an out (hence the “probably” in the first paragraph) IF the pitch had been blocked, IF Boesch were still on second and IF the infield were still back.

The other run the defense gave up is a bit easier to describe: With two outs and a runner on second, Gregor Blanco misjudged a fly ball like George Armstrong Custer misjudged some Native Americans…badly.

With the exception of the wild pitch, these plays will only be reflected by the final score…because everything that can be counted does not necessarily count and everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

Who knew Einstein was a baseball fan?

Betemit handles one…

Betemit got a hot shot at third and after fumbling the ball a bit, made the play. The ball pretty much hit him in his tracks, stomach high, and he still didn’t handle it cleanly. Frank White (and I take anything Frank has to say about defense like it was written on stone tablets) talked about the angle of Wilson’s glove.

If I understood what Frank was saying, Wilson’s holding his glove too flat, fingers pointed at the ball. Try it (I did) and you’ll see your palm is pointed at the sky, exposing the heel of your hand to the ball. Point your fingers down at the ground and you’ll expose the palm to the ball.

See? Goofing around on the internet isn’t a waste of time… now go tell your boss you just improved your fielding skills.

Stealing third…

The best time to steal third is with one down. And the best time to steal third with one down is early in the count. Here’s why:

With nobody down you might have a big inning brewing and you don’t want to take off for third unless it’s a lock. With two down you’re already in scoring position, won’t have to wait to see if the ball’s caught and will score on most base hits. But if you can get to third with one down, you can score without the benefit of a hit.

Although, if you’re going to steal third with one down, you need to do it early in the count. The point is to be on third when the ball is put in play, not headed for third when the ball is put in play. Gregor Blanco stole third after Mike Aviles already had two strikes. If the pitcher throws a third strike, Mike’s got no choice but to swing (he did and he did). No way of knowing if Gregor’s steal was a distraction (some hitters don’t like the runner moving in the background unless they’re in a position to take a pitch), but Mike struck out and Gregor’s stolen base didn’t turn into a run.

Getz is done…

The Royals announced that Chris Getz is done for the year because of the concussion suffered when he was hit in the back of the head while stealing a base. Fortunately, the world of sports is paying much better attention to the after effects of head injuries. I got knocked O-U-T in a high school football practice, walked around in a daze the next day and played in a game the following weekend.

Luckily, I suffered no permanent damage.

Luckily, I suffered no permanent damage.

Luckily, I suffered no permanent damage.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, Getz. It’s amazing how often baseball players count on their opponents to protect them. The runner diving back into first needs the first baseman to catch the ball or he can get nailed. The double play pivot man needs the runner to slide into the base correctly to prevent a knee injury. Even a batter who’s going to get hit intentionally by a pitcher needs the pitcher to do it correctly (fastball below the shoulders and behind him so he backs into it) to prevent a more serious injury.

Getz’s year is over, and it’s a shame the player receiving the catcher’s throw couldn’t protect him.