Saturday, November 27, 2004
My Favorite Play
I'm all about hustle. I love second basemen diving for a ball up the middle. I scream for a well-turned double play. I adore working the count. My single favorite at-bat ever was Benes in the playoffs showing bunt, pulling back, showing bunt, pulling back; totally psyching out the other team. My personal favorite play of 2004 was that pickoff at second base. But my favorite play, always and forever, is the strike 'em out throw 'em out.
Maybe it's the name- "Strike'emoutthrow'emout"-so elegant. Much nicer than "Routine Fly Ball." It must be a term coined by a tobacco and gin-stained newspaper beat writer in a time when game logs weren't written by the AP-they were poetry. There's just something about the combination of a strikeout and a pickoff. Everything has to go right. It requires not only the pitcher to locate the pitch, but the runner to mis-read the situation. The catcher and the infielder have to be in perfect sync. The third strike has to be on target. The batter can't get in the way. The runner has to be far enough off the base. The catcher has to make a perfect throw. The baseman has to apply the tag. And the umpires have to get the calls right.
Maybe it's the name- "Strike'emoutthrow'emout"-so elegant. Much nicer than "Routine Fly Ball." It must be a term coined by a tobacco and gin-stained newspaper beat writer in a time when game logs weren't written by the AP-they were poetry. There's just something about the combination of a strikeout and a pickoff. Everything has to go right. It requires not only the pitcher to locate the pitch, but the runner to mis-read the situation. The catcher and the infielder have to be in perfect sync. The third strike has to be on target. The batter can't get in the way. The runner has to be far enough off the base. The catcher has to make a perfect throw. The baseman has to apply the tag. And the umpires have to get the calls right.
