Games » Texas Rangers
May28What Sean O'Sullivan accomplished
Lee Judge
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Once again, the Texas Rangers showed they are built to play in their own ballpark, beating the Royals as if they were a piñata at a kid’s birthday party. There wasn’t a lot to like in this game, but give Sean O’Sullivan his due. He kept throwing strikes. I’ve written that what a pitcher does after he gives up a home run tells you a lot about him. If he starts nibbling, you know the home run got to him mentally.
So if a pitcher gives up back-to-back home runs, at least he hung tough and kept pounding the strike zone. Sean gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs, so he must be as mentally tough as Chuck Norris in an action movie. It looked as though Sean was not getting the low strike at times, so on a day when he needed to keep the ball down, he was being forced to bring it up. On the other hand, the Rangers had the same umpire, and the Royals weren’t able to take advantage of the situation.
Sean put up some ugly numbers, but with the exception of Tim Collins (who appears to be contractually obligated to pitch in every game the Royals play), O’Sullivan saved the bullpen by going out and taking a beating for 5 2/3s innings. The pounding he took Saturday night might help the Royals win one Sunday afternoon.
Give him credit for that, at least.
A pretty good story
In the Houston Astrodome, they used to shoot off a cannon every time a member of the home team hit a home run. Some kid (I’ve forgotten his name) pitching for a visiting team gives up back-to-back-to-back homers, which brings the pitching coach out to the mound. The pitching coach tells the kid he needs to work slower.
“Will that help?”
“No, but they need more time to reload the cannon.”
That sound
The Rangers’ Nelson Cruz hit a home run, and the sound off the bat was distinctive, even in my family room. You hear about guys who produce a distinctive sound when the ball comes off their bats. I always thought it was because they hit the ball so hard. Former umpire Steve Palermo told me it was because those hitters were so good at putting the ball on the sweet spot.
I had never thought about it before, but it makes sense.
Hosmer’s defense
(I’ve written a few things in advance in case of an emergency, a time crunch, a hangover or a boring ballgame … and here’s one of them.)
In the book “Baseball Between the Numbers,” written by the guys at Baseball Prospectus, there is a chapter called “Did Derek Jeter Deserve the Gold Glove?” In that chapter, the authors cite an idea by Bill James called a “defensive spectrum.” In its original version (I guess there’s a newer one that may take care of my complaint, but let’s go ahead with the old one, because it makes a point), James listed the defensive positions by difficulty and decided that the least difficult position in baseball is first base.
This proves one thing conclusively: Bill James hasn’t played a lot of first base.
James based his opinion on “observation and from the tendencies of players to change positions later in their careers as their defense eroded.” What that means is a lot of old, hurt, fat guys wind up playing first … so how hard can it be?
Playing first base is not hard. You don’t have to move much, and if you’re lucky enough to have your team in the dugout on the first-base side, you don’t have to jog far to the place to where you’re not going to move much. Like I said, playing first is not hard. But playing first well is extremely complicated.
I went through a brief period of thinking I would become a first baseman, and I asked Russ Morman to teach me the basics. He began to explain my defensive responsibilities, and about 20 minutes later, I said, “%#@&! There’s a lot of stuff to do over here!”
For starters, with the exception of the catcher, nobody handles the ball more on defense than the first baseman. You can play a corner in the outfield and not touch a ball all day, but that won’t happen at first. The first baseman will make the entire infield better or worse. A good first baseman is like a good catcher: The skilled catcher allows the pitcher to throw all his stuff, even with a runner on third. The pitcher knows that a bounced pitch will be blocked.
The same goes for an excellent first baseman: He allows the other infielders to attempt difficult throws knowing that the ball won’t end up in the dugout. Probably the No. 1 thing a first baseman does for his teammates is handle short hops.
The first baseman also has a lot of positioning issues and has to deal with pickoff throws. The footwork around the bag is complicated (especially for a right-hander). He’s the cutoff man in the middle of the infield. He has to deal with foul pops in the stands and dugout. He has to master at least three types of throws (overhand, underhand and the “dart” throw, which just what it sounds like: a ball thrown like a dart for all the in-between throws). He has to hit a pitcher on the run to cover the bag. And he has to sell the calls to the umpire. Someone who handles all these responsibilities well makes everyone around him better.
And that’s gets us to Eric Hosmer.
Chris Getz said everyone else was talking about Hosmer’s bat, but he was excited to have Hosmer’s glove on the field. Apparently, Mike Aviles has been urged to at least attempt some of the double-play throws he’s been eating, now that Hosmer can take care of catching or at least knocking the ball down over at first.
Eric presents a big target, and as his footwork improves (apparently he’s working on it), he will present an even bigger target. Skilled first basemen shuffle their feet from corner to corner on the bag depending on the throw, extending their stretch by the width of the bag. We’ve seen Hosmer go up and maintain the bag, and we’ve seen him make good decisions about when to leave the bag. There were times when Billy Butler would stretch as far as he could and then let the throw go by because he was trying to stay on the bag. (The ball is always more important than the bag.)
Instead of a wild swipe off to the side, Hosmer gets low on short hops and tries to keep them in front. He plays as many as he can to the backhand side. (Backhand the palm is down and the hop tends to come up and stick, forehand the palm is up and the ball tends to pop out.)
OK. I could write an entire chapter on playing first base (I think I’ve already started it), but suffice to say that Hosmer is a big improvement at first base, and that means the entire infield is better than it was last year.
Hey, I was going to stop there, but I’ve got a couple more things that are too good not to include: I’m over at Russ’ house, and there’s a picture of him, front page of a Chicago paper when Russ was playing first for the White Sox and he and umpire Steve Palermo are screaming at each other. I asked what was up in that scene.
“He caught me cheating.”
Russ is laughing while he tells this story, but apparently Russ was trying to “sell” a call. The technique is to pop off the bag after every out at first and whip the ball around the horn. If a teammate needs a little help, you come off the bag early to catch the ball … which buys you a foot or two … and whip the ball around the horn, just like usual, except you weren’t on the bag when you made the catch. Russ tried this, and Palermo called the runner safe and said, “Kid, you ain’t been up here long enough to try that $#@&!”
Which set off the argument, even though Russ knew Palermo was right.
The other cool thing Russ told me about was “extending the runner” on an extra-base hit. When the runner rounds first, the first baseman casually backs up into the runner’s path. The runner naturally tries to avoid him by going around on the outfield side. The first baseman keeps backing up and the runner’s trip to second gets longer. Russ told me he had extended guys to the outfield grass without them being aware of what he was doing.
“What happens when they realize what you’re doing?”
Apparently, they try to run over you. They not only get payback, but get the next bag as well. As I’ve said before, lots of stuff going on out there.)
Treanor
Escobar
Butler
I see the headline posted: "What Sean O'Sullivan accomplished." And there is nothing below it. I'd say that's about right, but maybe by morning you'll think of something.
Am I the only one getting sick of fireworks and hearing the music from "The Natural" every time anybody, anytime, anywhere hits a home run? It's annoying and it's paradoxical; can every Joe Schmoe player who hits a homer in the majors be Roy Hobbes?
Mark: The list of Sean's accomplishments in last night's game is short, I'll grant you...but going out and taking a beating to help the team in the next day's game is worth noting.
One theory I heard about Vin Mazzaro's miserable outing was that Vin would've been better off if he'd come in and said, "This one's lost, it's my fault, let me go give you some innings to save the pen" and then went out and hit a couple batters.
You can always show heart if nothing else.
Once again they were talking about throwing downhill with Sean and how he couldn't always maintain that plane, some pitches flattened out and got flattened.
Don't know if it's that simple, I'll ask Sean when he gets back, but they were focusing on length of stride and trying to get him to shorten it.
Matt: I'm right there with you. Playing the music from 'The Natural" every time a home run gets hit seems a little overboard.
It feels really out of place when your team is down by seven and a guy hits one to make you down by six. It's not exactly a magical moment and yet they cue the music up anyway.
Plus, if you're going to hit three in a row wouldn't be more fun if the fans didn't know what music you were going to play?
I mean "Oops, I Did It Again" should've been in there somewhere.
Great suggestion Lee.
I don' t think Bill James is saying that playing first base is easy. He's saying that of all the positions on a baseball field playing first is the EASIEST. Furthermore, I think he only means easiest in the sense of less physically demanding - not that there aren't a lot of mental things that you have to understand or learn.
This is why older players get moved to first - they have declining physical skills but also have very good baseball instincts and the experience to play the position well. To say that James thinks playing first base in the major leagues is "easy" is a straw man argument.
Whether Bill James said first was 'easy' (which I never said he said) or 'easiest' (which I did say he said), he's wrong.
And that's not a straw man argument.
Then what is the easiest position?
Let me try rephrasing: I think Bill James meant that first base is the least physically demanding. It's not that playing first base isn't hard, but there is less physical movement, which makes the job easier for older and less agile athletes. Don't you think that is what James meant?
Example: Royals management has made it clear that Billy Butler won't be playing any position on the field other than first base - because they feel that is where he can do the least amount of damage due to his physical limitations.
Chris: To me the easiest position is left field (and Bill James listed it as the second easiest position on his defensive spectrum). Left has the shortest throws and doesn't get as many weird lob shots and twisting line drives as right field. (This is because of all the weird swings right-handed batters can come up with on pitches away). Obviously, left field can get them from lefties, but not as many.
As for what Bill James meant: without talking to him I'm not sure either one of us knows, but his defensive spectrum was listed 'in order of increasing difficulty' not in order of physical demands, but even if he meant that, I still think he's wrong.
Range is only one of the physical demands that can be put on a player. Hand-eye coordination (and when you're playing first base you don't see too many lefties without realizing that YOU'RE now playing the hot corner), footwork, stretches and accurate throws from weird angles are physical demands also.
As for Billy Butler, I don't think they want him playing first at all after seeing Eric Hosmer out there. It doesn't mean they will never send him out to first, but I don't believe it's where he can do the least amount of damage. He makes 5 other players worse when he's there. Hosmer makes 5 other players better.
"I don't believe it's where he can do the least amount of damage."
Really? Please tell me then where Butler could play where he would do less damage (other than not playing the field at all) - playing left field?
Maybe you could ask someone like John Wathan (who has played every position on an MLB field) what he thinks is the most difficult position?
Yes, I believe Butler would do less damage in left or right. Not that he wouldn't have a great chance of messing up whatever came his way. You'd just hope not much came his way.
You can't hide a guy at first. He's got to handle the ball too much. The infielders on the Royals are now attempting throws with Hosmer at first that they were eating with Billy over there. It's not just the balls hit to a first baseman, it's all the balls hit to all the players on the infield.
Gordon handled four outs today, Cabrera one and Maier none. Hosmer was involved in 11. Over 162 games I think a poor fielding first baseman can do an increbible amount of damage.
But here's the bottom line: you don't have to agree with me. If you agree with Bill James instead, life will go on for all of us without much harm to anybody.
I think I understand your opinion - that first base is harder due to the responsibilities and the amount of concentration the position requires due to the amount of plays the first baseman is involved in, which makes it a more difficult position. Your argument is definitely a valid one. I do think that a more athletic and agile player can become a really great player at 1B.
However, With outfielders they have to be FAST, and infielders have to be agile - but many MLB players just don't have it. The Royals alone have had WAY too many players who can't play any other position but first - Pickering, Harvey, Butler, Ka'aihue, etc. The reason they played first base? It was the only position that wasn't too difficult for them, because they don't have the speed to play outfield or the agility to play the other infield positions.
OK, after going back and forth for awhile, I think we're approaching common ground: I agree that outfielders need to be faster than first baseman and many first baseman would be a disaster in the outfield.
I agree that first base has commonly been a dumping ground for people who don't have the speed or agility to play another position.
But the "he sucks, let's stick him at first" theory has a price: that guy makes your entire infield worse and you won't be able to hide his shortcomings. It's not that he'd be any better standing in the outfield. It's just that he won't have as many opportunites to suck.
Then, once in a while and we should enjoy it while it lasts, you get to see a really GOOD first baseman, like Hosmer, and you see how important he can be to his teammates.
I don't know that we agree totally on this, but at least we understand each other's position.
I agree. I think we are much more in agreement than not - and I would guess that BIll James would feel much the same way - even if he might never have played first base.