Games » Chicago White Sox
Sep16Ups and downs
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
Last night was another excellent game from the Royals, though it went through several ups and downs before Eric Hosmer ended it with yet another walk-off hit. Although the White Sox stayed close and the Royals had a few hiccups, tonight we saw a young team that looked hungry to play good baseball in the final weeks of the season. They’ve all known for a while that they’re not going to the playoffs, but unlike the Sox, who in the past two nights have looked ready to finish their season over, the Royals are playing some of their best baseball of the year. Last night, they stuck through the ups and downs, hanging in there after Tim Collins gave up the two-run homer to Brent Morel that tied the game in the 8th, or after the wild pitch let A.J. Pierzynski, the leadoff hitter, on in the 9th.
They were rewarded with a classic Royals bottom of the 9th. Alex Gordon had an absolutely great at-bat, working eight pitches and a single out of Sox reliever Matt Thornton. Melky Cabrera bunted him over to second, Billy Butler got the intentional walk to fill up first and Hosmer hit a ball to deep left, just over Juan Pierre’s glove, to drive in Gordo and win the game. The young guys have worked really hard this year, they’re finally getting rewarded with a six-game win streak, and you could see it on everyone’s face as they mobbed Hosmer at home plate. Tthey are having a hell of a time out there playing good baseball.
Moose does well
In the 2nd inning, after Felipe Paulino had been given a 2-1 lead, Alejandro De Aza was on first with one out and Brent Morel was at the plate. Morel worked to a 2-2 count and fouled a few off before hitting a hard grounder to third base. Moustakas made a nice charging grab in time to turn the double play, something he has struggled with his tendency to double-clutch. Defensively, he made good on the lead given to Paulino, and then he went back out there in the 4th and hit a two-run homer to give Paulino some run support.
Moose does not so well
Salvador Perez came to the plate in the bottom of the 6th with Moose on second, Joey Giavotella on first and nobody out. Perez absolutely ripped the ball deep into the right field corner, and Moose and Gio advanced about halfway each as they watched the ball, which looked like it would either drop in the corner or just barely make it over the wall. De Aza ran the distance and made a nice grab, which appeared to surprise Moustakas because he didn’t go back to second and tag up. The ball was easily deep enough for Moose to advance to third. If he had, Alcides Escobar’s fly-out to center field in the next at-bat would have scored Moose and, eventually, won the game. Instead, Esky’s fly-out only got Moose to third, and the Royals had to wait for Hosmer’s walkoff until they could breathe easy again.
The play was costly, but I actually did not give Mike a mental mistake. It was a hard ball to read on TV with the benefit of a close camera angle, much less from standing on second. Another reason why I didn’t go too hard on Mike – he was already doing it to himself. That’s one thing you love to see from these young guys: the self-awareness and ability to recognize mistakes when they make them, and the desire to correct them next time around. This team is full of young talent, but nobody so far has acted like an Allen Iverson (“practice?”). The guys all want to be real ball players and do all the small things that are necessary to be successful, and that is the main reason that the future looks so bright for them.
Paulino’s athleticism
In the top of the 5th, Paulino made a great, athletic play, coming forward to snag Pierre’s chopper down the first base line and tagging Pierre out. Gordon Beckham, who was on second after a single and a balk, advanced to third. Next at-bat, Alexei Ramirez hit a single and drove in Beckham. That would have put Pierre on third with his speed, followed by a single by Paul Konerko which drove Ramirez to third, and would have scored Pierre. So, if Paulino hadn’t made his play on Pierre’s chopper, the Sox would have had the tying run (at the time) on third with one down and Pierzynski at the plate. That would have changed Pierzynski’s approach and possibly allowed them to tie the game. Paulino helped himself out of his most dangerous inning all night, and it ended up being vital to the win.
Submitted by Paul Judge
Leads at first video
Doug Sisson did a terrific video for us demonstrating the lead at first base. There’s a tremendous amount of information in there and it gives you some idea of how each detail has been thought out. It doesn’t mean they’ll always do it perfectly, but there’s a plan behind what they do.
Doug was struggling with a cold (either that or he’s reaching puberty a little late in life) and his voice is breaking as he speaks, but the information he’s croaking out is well worth your time.
Baseball logic
OK, get your mind around this one and you’ll have gone a long way toward thinking about the game like a pro: fans tend to think anything that didn’t work was a mistake, pros place a bet and live with the outcome.
When I first began managing, I was often paralyzed with indecision. I would ask myself if a move would work, and that’s the wrong question. If you won’t make a move because it might not work, you won’t make any moves but the ones forced on you, because no move works 100 percent of the time. If you don’t make a move because it might not work, you don’t steal, bunt, hit and run, send runners or change the pitcher until he’s pitched so badly you have no choice. That’s not managing, that’s cowardice. Of course, I did my managing in a men’s amateur league and when a move didn’t work I only had to hear about it from the guys at the snack bar while having a beer afterwards. Pros get to hear it from 40,000 fans, reporters and sports talk radio guys, so it was a bit easier for me to stick to my guns.
If the critics don’t know enough to realize that a situation called for a steal or a hit and run and you didn’t have the guts to do it, you won’t get criticized, so nothing is usually a pretty safe move, but it’s not good managing.
Good managers, coaches and players don’t ask themselves, “Will this move work?” The right question is, “What are my options and which one has the highest chance of success?” Then you place your bet on the highest option and live with the results.
It’s baseball logic.
Submitted by Lee Judge
Moustakas
Hosmer
Francoeur
Seeing the team celebration after Hosmer's walk-off, you'd think the win put them into The Series. I love the way this team loves playing the game together.
Tim: I didn't get to see the game. I'm attending a festival in Marceline, (which is why Paul has been covering the games for me), but I saw the celebration on MLB TV when I got back to my room.
It made me wish I was there. That was one happy clubhouse last night and it would've been fun to talk to the guys afterwards.
Paul and I talked about it after the game: these guys really do seem to be having fun playing together. I haven't seen the Sox, but the Twins looked like they were moping their way to the finish line while the Royals were still playing with a lot of energy.
This seems like a very good sign for 2012. They're going to be a fun team to watch.
Yes - I agree with you Tim, it is fun to watch the way they all interact in the dugout, and especially after a walkoff win.
Lee, on the broadcast last night Frank White made the comment that Moose has a bad habit of "tossing the ball from his glove to his throwing hand" whenever he comes in on a ground ball. It often results in him bobbling the ball double-clutching. It looks to me like his glove is longer than a typical infielder's glove. Do you think a shorter glove might help him to reduce the amount of times this happens? I know it might cost him an occasional snared liner, but if the larger glove is causing issues on a much more frequent play, perhaps giving up an occasional hit would be the better option? Thoughts?
Paul watched the game, not me, so I'm not going to mess with his scoring, but I did want to make a point about Mike Moustakas not tagging up.
That came up earlier when Johnny Giavotella went all the way back to the bag to tag in Oakland and only advance to third on what ordinarily would've been a double.
Doug Sisson said Gio ahould've stayed out in his secondary lead and gone back to tag if the ball was caught. (It would've been caught on the warning track in right, so it was deep enough to make that happen.)
Afterwards, Chris Getz said, maybe, but the primary responsiblity of the runner was to end up on third if the ball was caught.
Sounds like Moose went too far on his lead if he couldn't get back to tag and advance. I'll ask about it when I get home.
But Paul's right, these guys want to get it right and when they mess up they're usually harder on themselves than anyone else would be.
Don: Third basemen generally use 12" gloves, outfielders 12 1/2" or larger and middle infielders somewhere around 11", but all that can vary, depending on what the player prefers.
I've seen Mike's glove and it didn't strike me as overly large. If Frank has it right (and he usually does), it sounds like more of a technique issue than an equipment problem.
Bear in mind that Mike told me he sometimes has to wait for Hosmer to get to the bag to let the ball go and that's why he double-clutches on occasion, he's waiting on Eric.
Lee, congrats on being a Guest Artist at Toonfest. We enjoy your baseball writing so much it's easy to forget your main "job." Have fun in Marceline, MO.
The Royals seem to be no strangers to good Septembers. It seems like every year they put together a couple of wins and it becomes the hope for next year. I try to protect myself from that usually (been burned a few too many times), but this team really does feel different, like it will make a difference going into next year--despite the lack of starting pitching. Do you have any thoughts as to why it's different this year?
Brenda: Thank you, I just finished the parade down Main Street and now I want to be driven around in a convertible waving at people wherever I go.
I'm not sure my wife is going to buy it though. I'll be back at the K tomorrow.
Luke: It's only my second year covering the team so closely, but it does seem different this year.
I can think of several reasons: these guys are young and expect to be here a while. They're not just rent-a-players likely to be in another town next season.
They've played together and been successful in the minors and now they're playing together again and expecting to be successful in the big leagues.
And I think the Royals have been smart to add Francoeur to the mix. He's incredibly upbeat and plays with a lot of energy and that sets a tone for the younger guys.
Look at Frenchy's face when someone else is the hero and he couldn't be more excited. That says it doesn't matter who did it as long as we get it done.
Royals showed real "grit" last night when they could have rolled over at the end of the game. That's what is different this year. Not only winning games where everything goes right, but also finding ways to win when they could just as easily lose. Felt bad for Paulino, which is why you need to look beyond wins and loses for pitchers.
This team is different than past teams. Like Lee said, look at Frenchie when anyone makes a play, he is just as happy as the person making the play. These guys understand what it means to be a team. Any time they interview someone they always give the credit to someone else. Players give credit to pitchers, pitchers give the fielders credit. You look at the Yankees teams of the past and they are always made up of all star players. They didn't always have success. Because they played as 9 individuals. Took a strong manager to get them to play as a team. I am very proud of this team as there are several guys that could get big heads and play for self, but I do not see that at all. It's always about team.
Lee: you being a cartoonist thought you would like a comment my wife made last night. When Tim Collins was pitching to Adam Dunn she said it looked like David versus Goliath.
People might wonder why there is so much enthusiasm for a team 22 games behind. The reality is, for the first time in a couple of decades, the Royals have eight guys on the field who are bonafide major leaguers. They additionally all love playing the game. Old time KC fans remember when George, Frank, Hal and the rest played in the "PinBall Machine". This bunch is every bit as fun to watch, even though they haven't won anything, YET.