It was by far the most exciting play I’ve seen from the broadcast booth this season, and it might the the first time I’ve seen a play like it in my life.
It was the top of the 9th with the Pads trailing 6-5, Everth Cabrera at 3rd, Will Venable at 2nd, 2 outs, and a 2-strike count on the batter Alexi Amarista. As Dodgers’ closer Kenley Jensen looked at the ground and pawed at the rubber with his spikes in preparation to get settled to make his next pitch, out of nowhere Cabrera bolted for home plate. He caught everyone in the stadium off guard, most importantly Jansen and his catcher A.J. Ellis.
By the time Jensen realized was what going on he attempted a rushed off balance throw that sailed barely out of the reach of Ellis who was trying to block the plate and reach for the ball at the same time. Despite not having the ball, Ellis put a phantom tag on Cabrera who was initially called out by plate umpire Greg Gibson before he realized the ball was in fact behind Ellis towards the backstop, at which point he reversed the call signaling Cabrera safe and the game was tied.
Meanwhile Venable had broken from second when he saw Cabreara take off, and was now rounding third watching the action continue to unfold in front of him. Realizing the Jensen had inexcusably not covered home once the ball got past Ellis, Venable dashed for home and slid safely before Jansen could cover and get a throw from Ellis, giving the Pads a 7-6 lead. Huston Street closed out the 9th to seal the exciting Pads come from behind victory.
There are so many things that need to happen for a play like that to work out in favor of a base runner, but in this case it all started with a heads up observation by Cabrera. In watching Jensen’s between pitch routine he noticed that he usually looked down at the ground and took a few seconds of digging at the rubber before getting set to get his next sign. There are a lot of base runners who would never pay attention to a pitcher’s between pitch routine that closely, let alone recognize that it might present an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Once he saw it he alerted third base coach Glenn Hoffman that he had seen a potential opening. Hoffman understandably presumed the opportunity Cabby had seen was in the pitcher’s actual windup (time where most stolen bases are executed), and offered to time the delivery to provide any additional information to the seedling plan. A couple of pitches later Cabrera did a fake break home during a pitch delivery, causing 3rd baseman Jerry Hairston, Jr. to play a little closer to the bag to keep Cabby closer with the threat of a pick off, seemingly limiting the potential for a successful heist of home.
What only Everth knew was that the opening had nothing to do with the windup or delivery of the pitch. Once Amarista fell into a 2 strike count, Cabby calmly took his normal lead of third, and when Jansen started his pre-pitch routine of looking down and digging with his spikes Cabrera took off, putting his stealing of home and the Pads dramatic stealing of a victory from the Dodgers in motion.
Yes, it was very fun and exhilarating to watch the gutsiness of Cabrera’s move, and Venable’s follow up alertness to snatch a victory out of the jaws of defeat. However, it’s been equally exciting to analyze afterwards the alertness, confidence, and athleticism needed to pull it off, and to wonder with optimism if this energy might be a glimpse of what Padres baseball could include in the future with this developing batch of young players.
NICE JOB PADS!!!!!
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One Comment
Erik
July 15, 2012 at 10:16 am