Breaking down that ninth inning
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Breaking down that ninth inning
That ninth inning happened quickly, and contained a lot of weird stuff worth breaking down. Johnny Damon’s smart baseball was the key. With the inning nearly over, Damon fouled off five pitches, and guided the ninth pitch of a game-changing at-bat into left field for a single.
“The whole thing just came down to a really good at-bat by Damon,” said Brad Lidge. “He fouled off some good sliders.”
After the single came a moment that will be long remembered, and long-maligned in Philadelphia. With Mark Teixeira batting, Damon stole second. Upon arriving there, he saw third baseman Feliz on the base, because the infield had shifted to defend against the lefthanded batter. With no one covering third, Damon continued.
OK, let’s slow down on this play. It seemed like Lidge should have covered, though no one would say it—except Damon.
Here are quotes from the relevant people. “It’s the catcher or pitcher,” said Charlie Manuel “Evidently, there was some miscommunication there….Usually it’s the catcher tries to get down there.”
Said Lidge: “To be honest, that’s not really something you go over a lot. I don’t know who is supposed to cover on that.”
Neither did Feliz. “That’s a play, we never got anybody to say, OK, you got to go out there, you got to go here.”
Damon expected to see Lidge on third. “We have talked about it throughout the year, especially when Mark is up,” he said. “I was just trying to be aggressive and get into scoring position, and it just worked out where there was a throw. The third baseman covered (second), and the pitcher did not,” cover third.
Jimmy Rollins deflected blame from Lidge to himself. `”I take responsibility for it,'' Rollins said. ``I make sure the pitcher knows that he knows on a steal he has to cover third. At that time I didn’t really mention anything to Brad, so when he made the pitch in his mind it was just a regular steal. But with the way the defense is set up it’s my job he makes sure he knows to go to third. I’m the captain of the infield. That’s my job.”
Lidge unraveled after that. He hit Teixeira, then allowed a double to Alex Rodriguez and a single to Jorge Posada. And that, folks, was your ballgame.
Hey, the Phillies could not escape their issues the past two nights. Two very talented pitchers, Lidge and Cole Hamels, had tough seasons. It made sense that they would struggle at some point during the postseason. It certainly doesn’t make sense to trade either one of them, as some agitated emailers have suggested. You trade players when their value is high, not after they under-perform. Those guys could very well help the Phillies in 2010. This season, however, was apparently un-redeemable for the two pitchers.
My question is this: Should the shift even have been on there for Teixeira? If that's not on...Damon has no chance to steal 3rd. Even if Lidge busted like there was no tomorrow, he had to duck when Ruiz threw...no one's beating Damon to 3rd. I understand you have to play percentages, but given the situation, I just disagree with having a shift on there.— UpstateNYPhilsFan
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- In the end, that play was irrelevant. Even if Damon had stayed at second, then Teixeira walks, Rodriguez doubles, Damon still scores from second and they have runners at second and third. Lidge's real problem was throwing an 0-1 fastball to Rodriguez who hasn't been able to hit an off-speed pitch all series. After getting ahead 0-1, he should have gone with sliders...instead, he pushed his luck with the fastball.— JimG
- Good article with the player quotes making the third base situation clearer. Rollins shows class in his statemnt. And the Phillies team shows a lot of class. Hang in and let's root for a win tonite. Go Phils!— Tom Diffenbach
- Good point Todd..Andy dont be a tool and write stuff like that, its not over yet, we will not quit. Sure it doesnt look good but if there was ever a team that could pull off the impossible its this Phils group. Bring back Zolecki, Martinos got no clue.— philsfan in the atx
- Number 27 here we come!!! By the way, nice to see some objective reporting for once in this paper.— 27thHeaven
- Excellent heads up ball by Damon. Have to give him credit for that, no matter how much I love the Phillies. Was sad to see the fans were not on their feet, screaming for every pitch. Cold? Sure, but we're the best fans in the nation and the team needs every one of us to show those d*** Yankees we are Phillies fan for a reason! I'm not the only one in the South screaming for our guys - I wish I could be there with you!— TexasChick
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- This is what happens when you play in the big leagues against the Big Team, Filly fans. If you even dream of beating the NEW YORK YANKEES you should apologize. It's just about over, and your misery will end soon. LOL By the way, real sportsmanship by those Fillies constantly hitting ARod with pitches. He's making you pay. Don't be surprised to see one of your punks, probably FUtley, get one in ribs tonight by AJ. Oh yeah!— The Wizard
- with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd in the 9th last night, why would charlie manuel even have brad lidge throw 1 pitch to a-rod instead of intentionally walking him to load the bases and pitch to posada? i can't figure it out.— dmstfyr
- Here's something nobody is talking about... Ruiz should have NEVER even thrown the ball. He had no chance of throwing Damon out and he should have know better to even try. Awful, awful play all the way around.— Green46
- If you are going to put the overshift, you better know how to defend it. Obviously, neither Feliz, Lidge and Charlie knew. Why?, because they never practiced, evidently. The Yankees knew it. And Charlie, how in hell you expect Ruiz to cover third in that situation when he is making the throw, when is like 90 feet away and has like 20 lbs of equipment on him? Unbelievable. And yes, that play was relevant because it changed the complex of the game. It took Lidge’s slider away and changed the momentum big time after Feliz tied the game.— EL Zorro
- Texeira has ONE HIT and he hits him with a pitch. You have to get him out.— gluteman
- I think that they should have pound A-rod inside hit him and bring in a lefty. But hey we have a game tonight and Its been a great year.— lionpres
