I'm Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies

Author:Tim Kurkjian
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466890275
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Unwritten Rule #3: Though Shalt Not Steal … up 10 Runs

In the second game of the 1984 season, the Indians, who had great speed and little else offensively, stole eight bases against the Rangers. And the Indians kept on running in the final two innings of the game, even with a four-run lead. Cleveland manager Pat Corrales responded to critics, saying, “Look, when they stop hitting home runs, we’ll stop running.”

It is an unwritten rule: at some point, usually when the other team’s first baseman is no longer holding a runner on base, it’s time to stop stealing bases. “You get a feel for how things are going in a game,” Reynolds said. “You know what’s going on in the heads of the other team.”

The “feel” apparently wasn’t being felt at Tropicana Field in a 2014 game between the Rays and Red Sox. With the Rays leading, 8-3, Yunel Escobar doubled, then took third on defensive indifference—a move that engendered a shouting match between players from the Red Sox dugout and Escobar. Gomes ran in and shoved Escobar as both benches emptied. Eventually, Gomes, Escobar, and then-Rays Sean Rodriguez were ejected. “Escobar stole third base, five runs ahead, with two outs in the seventh inning,” Gomes said. “Okay. I wouldn’t do that, but I don’t care. But then he started screaming at our dugout, then he walked at our dugout, then he challenged our dugout. You don’t do that. That’s when I had a problem. I never said a word, from beginning to end. I just ran in and turned him around.”

So, by how many runs must you be ahead, and how late in the game must you be, before you stop stealing?

“The unwritten rule is this: it is runs ahead against how many outs you have left,” Baker said. “If you are eight runs ahead, and there are seven outs to go, you don’t steal. If you are five runs ahead with two outs left, you don’t steal. But, at Coors Field, a five-run lead is more like a two-run lead. In Philadelphia, a seven-run lead is a three-run lead. There has to be an adjustment for ballparks.” Gomes agreed, saying, “Hey, Game 5 of the [2008] LCS at Fenway, we [Tampa Bay] are up 7-0 in the seventh inning, and we lost the game.”

Joe Maddon managed that game.

“I’m not big on unwritten rules,” he said. “When you’re beating us by 12 runs, that’s not your fault, it’s our fault. If you add on two runs when you are up 12, you should. I never felt anyone was piling on. We have not played well enough. Period. Just play, baby, because at the end of the day, they didn’t embarrass us, we embarrassed ourselves. It’s all fluid. Some of these unwritten rules have existed since the Dead Ball Era when it took 10 singles to score four runs. They were rooted in an entirely different game. It all depends on the venue now, but to call off the jam

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