SportProjections.com

Jul

9

Stolen Base: Where have you gone?

Filed Under Major League Baseball | 

Growing up, I loved watching the baseball game of the week on Saturday afternoon. Back then, base stealing was still an art of the game. In the days of low-tech television graphics, baseball coverage still had a split screen camera shot of the pitcher on the mound and the base runner. It was important to show the base runner because you never knew when he would gamble and make a run to second base. Where have the days of Rickey Henderson, Tim “Rock” Raines, and Vince Coleman gone?

As a baseball fan, I find the stolen base far more entertaining than a home run. The manager actually stays awake and has to manage once a player gets on base. It takes more strategy than players going from base to base, waiting for the next three run homer. Who can’t be a manager if that is your tactic?

Why has the stolen base gone away? Don’t people realize what a huge influence Juan Pierre had on the Marlins run to the World Series championship?

This is why I love the stolen base and beg for managers to get off their lazy duffs and start using it again:

  • It makes the opposing pitcher completely nervous. He starts to focus on the runner and gives the batter in the box a far better chance to make a play on the ball.
  • The top 20 base stealers in the game steal at an 83% success rate. Are the chances that high someone is going to hit a home run after they get on base?
  • The pitch out, hit and run, and bunt suddenly come back to the game.
  • Fans get involved and boo as the opposing pitcher continues to throw to first base to keep the runner close.
  • Everyone knows in the stadium the runner is going to go and it’s just a matter of time before he cheats the other team for another base.

The stolen base strategy is far more entertaining than waiting for the next big slugger to either whiff at the ball for a strikeout or hit it out of the park. Jose Reyes (46 stolen bases this year) might be convincing baseball once again that the stolen base is a necessity. As players continue to slump around him, he has created offensive opportunities (as long as he runs to first) and runs for his team. His skills have a huge influence on the Mets’ place at the top of the National League East.

I beg managers to quit enjoying their tobacco, sunflower seeds, and gum and start managing again on the base pads to keep baseball interesting for fans.

Chris Fry
sportprojections@gmail.com
Message me anytime on aol, msn, yahoo, or gmail at sportprojections

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