student@nmtvax.UUCP (09/14/83)
With regards to Mike Schmidt not running to second on a wild pitch, there is a VERY good reason for not going to second. If there is men second and third with two outs and Joe Lefebvre (pronounced "Le Fey") batting hits a ball into the hole at short the shortstop has to make a long throw to first to get the out if Lefebvre is not walked. If Schmidt does advance to second then you can bet your bottom dollar that Lefebvre is going to be walked and the hard hitting (.241 ave) Gary Maddox is at bat. Good baserunning (NOT running at the proper time is just as important as running at the proper time.) Sincerely; Greg Hennessy ..ucbvax!unmvax!nmtvax!student P.S. Go Phillies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (09/19/83)
This does not make sense to me.
I assume that if something is good for team A, it is not good
for team B, and vice versa.
If it's to team A's advantage NOT to send the runner from 1st to
2nd on the wild pitch, because then the next batter would be walked,
then by definition team B will be better off by walking the next batter
even with the runner still on first!
Dave Sherman
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{cornell,decvax,floyd,ihnp4,linus,utzoo,uw-beaver,watmath}!utcsrgv!lsuc!davejeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (09/20/83)
You did not look at the entire situation. You said that the outcome
of an intentional walk would be the same reagardless of whether Schmidt
stayed on first, which is true. However, you also have to consider
the alternatives. With runners on second and third, there is no force
at second, so walking Lefebvre creates a force at all four bases
when there was previously only a force at first. With runners on
first and third, there is already a force at second. Having a force
at third and home is not as important as having a force at second,
so the only thing the defensive team gains by walking Lefebvre is
bringing up a weaker hitter. While this may still be a good enough
reason to walk him, the Phillies figured it was less likely, so they
left Schmidt on first to increase the chances of them letting
Lefebvre hit.
Jeff Richardsonjeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (09/20/83)
"If it's to team A's advantage NOT to send the runner from 1st to
2nd on the wild pitch, because then the next batter would be walked,
then by definition team B will be better off by walking the next batter
even with the runner still on first!" --Dave Sherman
While this statement makes perfect sense logically, it is not necessarily
true in baseball, as the game in question indicates. (I am not trying to
say that baseball is illogical.) One of the things that makes baseball
and sports in general interesting, is that not everybody agrees on what
is the best thing to do in a given situation. By leaving Schmidt on
first, the Phillies indicated that they thought the best defensive move
would be to walk Lefebvre, but they knew that the other team (I can't
remember who it was now) might not necessarily agree, and as I explained
in the article I posted yesterday, leaving Schmidt on first meant that
the fielding team had less to gain by walking Lefebvre, so they were
increasing the probability that they would pitch to him.
Jeff Richardson
DCIEM, Torontodaleh@tekcae.UUCP (Dale Henrichs) (09/22/83)
Jeff is correct......
PHILLIES view (before wild pitch):
Winning run on second - base hit ends the game
Wild pitch puts winning
run on third base - icing on the cake, since it
still takes a base hit to
win the game
There is no reason to put Schmidt on second, since he's extra
baggage as far as the outcome of the game goes, especially
when a clutch hitter is at the plate (you can bet that with
first base open Lefebvre would have been walked).
PIRATES view (after wild pitch):
winning run on third - base hit ends the game
force at second - grounder to infield is a sure OUT
pitcher ahead of batter - 1 ball(?) , 2 strikes
So you play the odds and pitch to Levebvre.
The pitcher wasn't supposed to give Levebvre anything to hit,
he was supposed to pitch junk (a walk would not be fatal) and
try to get Levebvre to go after a bad pitch.....But being a
little wild already and Levebvre being a clutch hitter and
baseball being baseball.....
Dale Henrichs
{ucbvax,decvax}!tektronix!tekcae!daleh