I’m losing my balance reaching out for a bad throw and avoiding the runner, John Lowenstein of Cleveland, as he slides into second base in a 1975 game. I would have been set up straddling the bag, but the throw was into the runner and heading into short right field.
Photo courtesy Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Baseball Club
C H A P T E R N I N E T E E N
Speed rules. A fast team can literally run themselves into a win with runners who take extra bases on hits, steal to move into scoring position, and score on sacrifices.
Or bad baserunning can take a team right out of the game.
Great speed can help someone become a great base runner even if his fundamentals are not that good because he can just outrun the baseball. But the art of being a good base runner requires much more than just speed.
There are a lot of things a runner has to be aware of when he gets on base. He’s got to know the game situation: how many outs there are, the score, what kind of arm the catcher has, how good the pitcher’s pickoff move is, the depth of the outfield, and who out there has a good arm.
Carlton Fisk was a great example of a player who was a terrific base runner despite a lack of blazing speed. He knew situations, the outfielder’s strengths and weaknesses, and he cut the bases very well. Jason Varitek, another catcher, is a smart runner.
There is a basic saying in baseball: Never make the first or third out at third base.
You don’t want to kill an inning by getting thrown out at third base; if a runner stops at second base, he is already in scoring position if someone gets a hit, so there’s little advantage to attempt going on to third. (A runner is more likely to gamble going from first to third with one out so he can score on a sacrifice fly.)
The score of the game makes a difference. You don’t take chances if your team is three or four runs down. Nothing looks worse than a baserunning blunder that takes a man out of scoring position when his team is trailing by just a few runs. It is just horrible.
When a ball is hit to left field, it is tougher to go from first to third because the fielder has a shorter throw to third base. But there might be some guy out there who has a weak throwing arm and the runner will challenge him.
The running game is also influenced by the ballpark. In a bigger stadium outfielders have to play deeper, so there’s a better chance to advance an extra base. But in a small ballpark like Boston’s, it is very difficult to go first to third on any ball hit to left field because a good outfielder plays shallow there.
There are beautiful runners who look like sprinters on the base paths, with perfect form. And then there are some guys whose arms and hands are flopping all over the place, but they still have good speed.
One of the most important skills a good base runner has to learn is how to cut the bases properly. I have known players who have gone to track coaches to try to pick up a step or so. But baseball is different because runners are not going in a straight line when they circle the bases. Runners don’t need great speed to be able to cut bases the right way. If a runner doesn’t make the turn properly at first base, he can lose three or four steps, and that can end up costing a chance for an extra base hit.
Rem Dawg Remembers
Running Smart
When I was running, anytime I saw the ball hit into the gap so that the fielder had to play it running to his glove side, I knew he would have to spin all the way around to make the throw. That extra second or two would make the difference on whether I would try to pick up an extra base or come around to score.
Runners also have to learn how to touch the bag without injuring themselves. You’ll see injuries at first base more than anywhere else because if the play is going to be close, many runners jump at the bag. The bag is between 3 and 5 inches off the ground; if they hit it off to the side, they can easily turn an ankle.
The way a runner rounds the bases can depend on where the ball is hit.
On a routine base hit to left field, a good base runner will probably take a large turn around first base; if there’s a bobble in the outfield, he can advance to second. On a ball hit to right field, he can’t automatically take that big wide turn at first base because a right fielder with a good arm could throw behind him and get him out.
Base stealers study pitchers in great detail. They know who has a good move and who does not. They know what counts to run on. They know how big a lead to take. And they are generally very explosive in their first two steps.
Rickey Henderson was so powerful in his lower body that after his crossover step he was at full speed. But it was more than that: He knew how to read pitchers.
Deciding whether to be a running club is a managerial decision. When Jimy Williams managed the Red Sox, he didn’t put a lot of stock in stolen bases. In 2003 under Grady Little, we saw more horses turned loose, with Boston stealing eighty-eight bases, about double the average during Williams’s years.
Terry Francona has not been afraid to use speed when he has it available. Red Sox fans will always remember Dave Roberts’s swipe of second base in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, which opened the door for Boston to tie the game against Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. Three innings later David Ortiz homered, and the Red Sox had the first win of their amazing comeback that led to the World Series. I’ll return to Roberts in a moment. In 2007 the Red Sox had at least three players with real speed: Julio Lugo, Coco Crisp, and Jacoby Ellsbury. The team recorded 98 swipes in the season. Ellsbury, who may have the stuff to be a star, stole 9 bases in limited play; we’ll also remember a great moment when he scored from second base on a wild pitch, one of the better bursts of speed I have seen in a long time.
Some managers think that players shouldn’t steal at Fenway because it is a hitter’s park. I have never bought into that; I have seen plenty of 2–0 games there. But the theory is that Fenway is a home-run hitter’s park, where they don’t play what they call National League baseball, which emphasizes running and stealing. In any case it depends on the team’s personnel. If you don’t have base stealers, you can’t steal bases.
When a runner gets the green light, it means he is free to steal any time he thinks he can, if it makes sense in the game. He may have the green light when he is on first base, but he may not have it going second to third. The manager might want to control that end of it.
Sometimes the manager will have the third-base coach flash the “don’t run” sign. But if some dope tries to steal when his team is seven runs down and gets thrown out, he will probably never have the green light for the rest of his life.
The psychological part of the game comes into play here, too. When Ellis Burks was with the Red Sox, he was a guy who had shown great speed in the minor leagues and had a chance to be a very good base stealer. But he got thrown out a few times and lost confidence; he was the only guy on the team who was a threat to run, and he felt like he was letting everybody down. Then again, on a team where almost everybody runs, it doesn’t seem to matter as much if a runner gets thrown out. That’s the manager’s style. In my rookie year of 1975, the Angels set a record with 220 stolen bases for the season. We had Mickey Rivers who stole 70 that year. I swiped 34, and we also had Tommy Harper, Dave Collins, and Morris Nettles each with more than 20 steals. We had good pitching with Frank Tanana and Nolan Ryan. What we didn’t have were RBI or home-run guys. The only way we had a chance to score runs was to be aggressive and steal bases. We lost a lot of 2–1 games and ended up seventeen games under .500 for the season.
Rem Dawg Remembers
Turning Off the Green Light
Some managers like to control the whole game, while others will say to four or five guys: “You are on your own, but you have got to make good decisions. If you make two or three bad decisions in a row, you are no longer free to run.”
That happened to me in Anaheim when I was a rookie. I tried to steal third base in a bad spot and got thrown out. Dick Williams took away my green light for two weeks. He never said a word to me; then one day he patted me on the shoulder and said, “You are back on your own.” He wanted me to think for a while about the right and wrong times to run.
The most stolen bases I had was 41 in 1977 for the Angels. I was traded to the Red Sox the next year and stole 30 in my first year there. When I came to Boston, they wanted me to run while we were on the road but be cautious at home because of the ballpark and the lineup behind me. We had guys who could pound the ball, so a stolen base wasn’t a major thing at Fenway. I used to say that when I was on the road, I had a green light, but when I was playing at Fenway, it was a yellow light: run with caution.
I found it very difficult to turn it on and off like that. If you are a base stealer, you’ve got to steal all the time. To me that was like being a hitter and having a coach say, “When you are at home, we don’t want you to pull the ball, we want you to go the other way.”
If I had the green light and I was thinking steal, I would pick the pitch I want to run on and then look for the trigger—either the shoulder or the knee.
A good base runner studies the pitcher to try to figure out whether he plans to throw home or to first base. Every pitcher is different, and there are different things to look for on a left-hander and a right-hander. But just like poker players say, nearly everybody has a “tell” that can tip someone off to his intentions.
Some pitchers will tip off by the movement of their head; for example, if they are going to throw to first base, they may hold their head a little lower.
The front shoulder is generally a good indicator; that was something I usually had good luck with. When that shoulder starts to tuck in back toward the throwing arm, a runner can take off because the pitcher can’t go in and then back. If he does, that’s a balk.
The other thing to watch is the foot that touches the pitching rubber. Once the pitcher starts moving, if the foot remains in contact, he has to throw home. In order to go to first base, that heel will come up and the pitcher will have to step off the rubber to make the pivot to go to first base.
In most cases a left-handed pitcher is better at holding runners on first base because he is facing the base as he prepares to throw the ball. But there are still things to look for. The rules say if the pitcher brings his foot behind the rubber, he is supposed to go home. So, if a left-hander brings his right foot behind the rubber, the runner can take off because the pitcher cannot go back without committing a balk.
The runner can also watch the pitcher’s front knee. When he comes to the set position, if the knee bends, that means he is going to first base, because he is bending it to get into position to spin. If it just kicks back up, that means he is going home.
Now, many pitchers try to get away with a little quick bend that makes the runner think they are going to first, which freezes the runner, and then they throw home.
I always found that one of the toughest situations as a base runner was figuring out a right-hander who reacted quickly with his first move. Whatever he did, whether he was going home or to first, if it was quick, it could freeze me at first base.
There were other guys who were so easy to pick up that I couldn’t wait to get on base, because I knew I had their trigger. Their delivery was slow and I had a great chance to steal a base.
One key to stealing a base is make the break with some momentum instead of starting to run from a dead stop. Another important element is to get a good lead. But there is no such thing as one perfect lead for every player. It depends, first of all, on the abilities of the runner. And there is the matter of how good a pickoff move the pitcher has.
A 5’10” guy is probably not going to be able to get as big a lead as a guy who is 6’2”. Runners are supposed to be able to take one crossover step and a dive to get back to the bag. If I were to do that from the same place as a guy with much longer legs, I’d come up short of the base.
When a runner makes that dive, he’s supposed to aim for the back part of the bag—toward the outfield—because that makes the tag a bit farther away for the first baseman.
The size of a lead depends on the runner’s comfort level. You’ll see some players who take big leads but don’t get big jumps because they are thinking about getting back to first instead of moving on to second. Coaches talk about one-way leads and two-way leads.
With a one-way lead, a runner may be way off the bag but not planning to steal; he is prepared to dive back to first base. If he’s got a two-way lead, he’s prepared to go either way.
One time to use a one-way lead is to try to trick a pitcher. Let’s say I was facing a left-handed pitcher who had a great move that I couldn’t quite figure out. I might take a pretty big one-way lead, always leaning back toward first base, and hope to draw a few throws.
Then after a couple of throws, I might shake my head and reduce my lead. I want him to think that I’ve given up on stealing the base, but then as soon as he moves his foot, I’d be gone.
This is just one of those little games within the game. A runner might be able to get away with it a few times, until the opponent catches on to what he is doing.
A runner on second base has an advantage because there is nobody holding him on—the shortstop and the second baseman are in their fielding positions when the pitch is thrown.
The runner is told to keep an eye on the second baseman; he can see him out of the corner of his eye to his left. He has to rely on the third-base coach to watch the shortstop, hidden behind him when he takes a lead.
Just as he would if he were on first, the runner studies the pitcher. If the pitcher follows the same pattern—look at the runner once, get the sign from the catcher, take a glance over his shoulder at the runner again, and then throw the pitch—he’s making it easy to steal third. If the pitcher mixes up his patterns, that throws off the runner’s timing, and it becomes more difficult to run on him.
We know that left-handers generally are better at holding runners on first because they are looking right at the base. By the same token, it is usually easier to steal third base against a lefty. For a left-hander to make a throw to third base, he has to spin on the mound. And for some reason lefties also usually have a much slower delivery to home plate than right-handers, which makes it easier to steal on them.
But in any case a runner has to be careful. Standing on second base, he is already in scoring position. He had better be sure he can make it to third before he takes off.
The first-base coach is supposed to help runners keep an eye on the pitcher and catcher when they take a lead. But the truth is, by the time he yells “Get back,” a base runner had better already be on his way back.
More important, coaches have the opportunity to watch the pitcher through the entire game from just behind first base, and they can study and time his move. The coach can help the runner decide how large a lead he can safely take.
When a runner is on second, the third-base coach can yell across the infield if the shortstop is coming in behind to take a pickoff throw from the pitcher or the catcher. The shortstop and second baseman are supposed to continually bluff moves in behind a runner on second to try to keep him close, especially with a right-handed hitter at the plate. If the infielder takes a couple of jab steps before the pitch, he may be able to get the runner moving back toward the bag as the pitcher delivers to the plate.
The third-base coach has to know the speed of runners and the way they run the bases. Coaches also have to know the strength of the outfielders’ arms. Then coaches hope that their guy runs hard around the bases, as if they are going to score on every hit.
In the third game of the 2004 World Series, pitcher Jeff Suppan of the Cardinals put on one of the worst baserunning exhibitions I have ever seen, right up there with El Tiante’s adventures in the 1975 World Series.
Suppan (a former Red Sox) was the starting pitcher for the Cardinals, and he was throwing well; he had given up just one run on two hits in the first three innings and the score was 1–0 Boston. Since this game was being played in a National League park, Suppan came up to bat in the bottom of the third and darned if he didn’t beat out an infield hit.
Next up was Edgar Rentería (then with St. Louis), who hit a double off Pedro Martínez. With no outs the Cardinals had runners on second and third. The Red Sox infield played back, willing to concede a run to get an out.
Larry Walker followed with a sharp ground ball to second base. Suppan broke off third and started to come home, where he would have scored the tying run. Red Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn threw the ball to David Ortiz, who was playing first base (because there was no DH).
For some reason Suppan stopped between third and home; he just froze. Rentería, who was already approaching third base to take his place, had to stop and run back to second. Ortiz ran a few steps toward third, pumped a couple of times, and then threw behind Suppan, and Bill Mueller tagged him out. It was your not-so-ordinary 4–3–5 double play.
Remy Says: Watch This
Running for Home
When it comes time for a coach to decide whether to wave a guy home, my rule of thumb is this: With nobody out you’ve got to be 100 percent sure he can be safe. With one out that drops to 75 percent, and with two outs it’s a 50-50 call.
If a coach is afraid of making mistakes and becomes tentative, he can’t coach third base. He’s got to stay aggressive.
As a base runner, that’s one of the most basic plays you have at third. When the infield is back, you go on a ground ball. The third-base coach would have reminded him before every pitch.
In that situation the only ball you don’t run on is one hit right back to the pitcher. That’s it. On everything else you go.
It was just horrible. I have always been a fan of the DH; this was just another example why.
If a pinch runner is on base with a pitcher who has a very slow move and a weak-throwing catcher behind the plate, you can expect the possibility of a steal. But when the manager inserts a pinch runner, it is not always to steal a base. More often than not, a pinch runner is inserted because he can go from first to third on a single or score on a double better than the man he is replacing.
A fast runner may be able to put some pressure on an infielder on a ball in the hole, removing the chance for a double play or forcing the infielder to move out of position or make a hurried throw because of the runner’s speed. A fast pinch runner may also distract the pitcher and catcher from their plan. Coaches are always telling pitchers to concentrate on the hitter, but a runner dancing around at first base can still be a distraction.
I can recall the glory days of the Oakland A’s in 1974 and 1975 when they had a pinch runner named Herb Washington. He’d be put in the game just to steal a base or to score from second on a base hit. He couldn’t play a lick. He appeared in 104 games without ever getting an at bat or playing a position in the field. But in today’s game there are pitchers, including many closers, who could not care less about the guy at first base. They don’t have good moves. Their thing is striking out this guy at home plate. Their intentions are: “Let him steal. I don’t care. I will get this guy out at the plate.”
That said, one of the most important moments in recent Red Sox history came in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees: Dave Roberts’s pinch-run steal against Mariano Rivera in the fourth game of the ALCS. It was the bottom of the ninth and Boston was three outs away from losing to the Yankees.
If he had been thrown out, the playoff would probably have been over. This was pressure time. Roberts had to make it.
Most closers can be run against and that includes Rivera; that’s no secret. But you just hope that when you decide to go everything goes right: you don’t slip, you don’t make a bad slide, and they don’t pitch out.
All those things go through your mind. A lot of guys would say: “To heck with it, I am not going. I am not going to be the guy thrown out at second base and we go home.”
The Red Sox needed the perfect stolen base and that’s exactly what they got. Jorge Posada made a good throw, but Roberts stole the base off Rivera. The timing made it more impressive than the act itself.
“When Kevin Millar walked, Terry just looked down at me and kind of winked and said, ‘You know what to do,’ ” Roberts said.
“Maury Wills once told me that there will come a point in my career when everyone in the ballpark will know that I have to steal a base,” Roberts said. “When I got out there, I knew that was what Maury Wills was talking about.”
Roberts moved on, but he’ll probably never have to buy another drink for himself in Boston.