Keith Hernández? It was a dodo, a moving fowl.
Let me be the last this week to check on Hernandez.
There may never be another Keith Hernandez, the gambler, drug warts and all. Not because he is beyond duplication. Barely. But because MLB no longer produces, in terms of training or demand, such players.
To a large, inevitable and unfortunate extent, Hernandez is and was a dodo, on the verge of extinction.
His foresight, confidence and skill after lining up ground balls at first base with runners first were special, even among the specials. He knew what to do, when to do it, how to do it. Thus, he regularly shifted easy takedown at the start for strength to second, his throws so accurate they could be returned for a double play.
The double play combination which included any combination starting with the first baseman followed by the shortstop, second baseman, pitcher or return pitcher to the first baseman, did a great job. Craig Swan Lake.
He also won matches.
But it has become an outdated and neglected art for no reasonable reason:
1) First base has become primarily a “batting position”, those who have paid big bucks to hit home runs, enter the shift, or hit, no advanced or even limited fielding skills required. First base is now a retired DH position.
2) Second basemen and shortstops are not used to such play from first basemen, so they are rarely able to make such throws if a first baseman risks it, let alone consider it.
3) The change often placed infielders too far from second, often in the outfield, to take pitches from first.
Hernandez, Don Mattingly and Steve Garvey were among the last of a dying breed trained and eager to be a complete, two-way first baseman.
So if a young player, especially a signed player with a huge bonus, chooses to play on the court like Hernandez did, it’s strictly his own business. It is no longer a required course for a degree. And it shows.
Advertisers run away from jogging Gallo
I don’t know how much juice I can muster to keep spitting in the storm for both of us.
All I know is that I haven’t heard or seen it that bad. I never knew that the most obvious truths must remain unspoken, as if we could not handle or grasp such truths, or were unworthy of them, as if we were too stupid to recognize what we cannot miss.
Last Friday night in Boston, Joey Gallo of the Yankees hit a high fly to the right. Once known as the “corn box” by grocers who easily grabbed cans after dropping them with a pole on an upper shelf, the ball was lost by right fielder Christian Arroyo.
By the time he was picked up and sent home by Arroyo, two runners had scored, but Gallo was forced home attempting an inside-the-parker.
It was clear that unless some unexpected obstacle arose (perhaps the sudden appearance of a presidential motorcade between second and third), Gallo would easily have scored – if he had run hard to first. .
But he did not do it.
He left the batter’s box with a capitulating jog, another act of systemic minimalism that replaced winning baseball at the highest paid level – obscenely paid. And after Gallo was tagged at home, he got up with a smile, which was noted and approved by the Yankees and regular YES backup Ryan “Rah-Rah” Ruocco.
Yet on the Yankees’ Friday Night Exclusive Amazon Prime Video streaming “platform” — it’s a “platform,” like a cliff from which to be pushed — no mention was made. , even after replays, that Gallo hadn’t bothered to run hard at the start.
Analyst David Cone, again relying on his selective view and judgments that prevent him from being a reliable truth-teller to YES’s paying subscribers, joined Sgt de Ruocco. Schultzian ignorance. We must have seen things!
The next night on Fox, Yankees at Red Sox, that Friday play reappeared. The point: Arroyo panicked, recovering in time to nail Gallo, but not before two points were scored.
But again, the indisputable fact that Gallo ran halfway through the first was ignored, as if we couldn’t see or know any better. This time, that truth was ignored by Adam Amin and AJ Pierzynski.
Why? Why has this disregard for the truth in televised sporting events – ignoring or disproving what we can clearly see – become the norm?
If I ever find out, I assure you that you will be the second to know.
On Wednesday, after Gallo faced the Reds to start the third inning, Michael Kay said: “Now Gallo is a good baserunner”, adding: “but he has to be careful, [Mike] Minor has a very good pick-off movement.
As reader Alex Burton quickly wrote, Gallo “in eight major league seasons, averaged 3.37 stolen bases a year.” And he’s only had one for two seasons.
Baseball cuts it short
The combination of a blind allegiance to analysis, an absence of fundamental skills, and Rob Manfred’s eagerness to fix what isn’t broken has made MLB stupid.
The Yankees and Mets games last weekend were determined by terrible baseball decisions or terrible decisions.
On Saturday, Manfred’s absurd autorunner in second gave the Marlins a 10th-inning lead on a pitching error by Francisco Lindor.
That half ended when Miami’s Jon Berti was picked second because he chose not to come back to second!
The Mets won it in the bottom of the 10th, the Marlins blew it with two misses from the field, the second with two outs when “closer” Tanner Scott threw a wild pitch to first on an easy return.
Sunday, the Marlins, winners 2-0, took a 1-0 lead in the 10th – without hitting a ball in play. “Ghost runner” Billy Hamilton stole the third, then scored on a wild pitch from Tomas Nido. Manfred Baseball at its best!
On Saturday, the Red Sox beat the Yankees in 10 as managers Alex Cora and Aaron Boone traded turns trying to find the right pitcher to blow up the game.
It started after the fifth when Cora, likely with the Yankees’ approval, shot starter Kutter Crawford, who had allowed one run on four hits and struck out six.
Cora replaced him with Ryan Brasier, who retired a batter – but not before allowing three hits and two runs. Then Boone played Russian roulette until the Red Sox won. And the two, as they proved, would do it again – and again and again.
Off the top of his head Saturday, Howie Rose knew Doug Flynn holds the Mets record with three triples in a game. He then thought out loud that it could have been against the Expos. Bingo. August 5, 1980, against the Expos.
Angels-Orioles, Saturday: 1-0, Orioles in 8 ¹/₂ innings. Never mind the totals: 10 hits, 24 strikeouts, eight pitchers, three hours.
Reader Pat Esposito is concerned that Marlins infielder Jesus Aguilar, seen against the Mets on SNY catching a two-handed pop-up for further assurance, will be fined, suspended or both.
So you wanna be a rock star? First, Erin Andrews and Chris Russo felt compelled to share with us their frustration at being among the tens of thousands to have their flights canceled. The nerve! Then Andrews explained on a podcast that she quietly re-signed with Fox because “I thought that was enough with the headlines for a while. ” Nurse!
