My recent article in which I called
out two areas of concern in Albert Pujols’ running game generated a lot of
interest. Predictably, some readers agreed while at least one other attempted
email psychoanalysis of the author. Check the “Reader Mail” area of www.thestlcardinals.com as well as
our excellent message
board if you’re interested in a cross-section of the
comments.
One email, however, was especially
noteworthy. It came from Gary Galvach, manager of the Woodbridge Cardinals summer
semi-pro baseball team. These Cardinals are a member of the New Brunswick Men’s
Open Baseball League. Perhaps the most famous former Woodbridge player is Bobby Brownlie, who is
currently pitching for the Iowa Cubs (Triple-A).
My original article noted two
fundamental areas of concern: Pujols turning to look at the play behind him
while running between second and third and running through stop signs put up by
his third base coach.
Coming at this from the perspective
of one who teaches, Galvach addressed each, sharing his “thoughts and beliefs”
built through 14 years of coaching.
On making the decision to take an
extra base: “When
a runner has a chance or thought to go from first to third on a batted ball or
even a triple on a ball he has hit, he has to make the decision to attempt third
before he hits second base.”
Where the ball is hit affects where
to look: “Left
field line, left center, and right center - he has a good view of the ball
handling without having to turn his head much at all, so he can evaluate the
distance of the throws, and/or relays necessary to beat
him.”
The judgment call: “The ball down the right field
line is the one he has trouble seeing so he can go two ways. One is to pick up
the third base coach and the other is to make his evaluation early just after he
makes his turn from first base. The relay from the right field line all the way
to third base is of course the farthest distance, so after enough experience, a
runner can do it.”
The coach isn’t
flawless:
“Remember, it's an estimation and there's never a guarantee. The coach has to
make this same estimation plus. In addition to that, the coach has to factor in
the runner's location and progress. It's a very difficult thing to do for a
coach.”
Teach the players to make the call
themselves: “Some
of our philosophy is to guide the runners at the young age and hope that they
will learn to gauge it on their own as they go into the higher
level.”
Moving on to the issue of signs at
third base: “Your
complaint of a runner going through a stop sign is legit. The third base coach's
job is to wave or stop runners to home plate.”
But, the runner could still
proceed: “However,
the instant the runner gets the stop sign from the coach, he should immediately
find the handling of the ball to verify if it in fact is relayed in without
error. You see, in the event of a bobbled ball, because the coach has to give a
signal usually just before the ball meets the outfielder, if it
gets mishandled, it would take too much time and confusion to restart the
runner towards home and that's where the runner's instinct can take
over.”
Take a chance, but face the
consequences: “If
a runner goes through a stop sign, he better be safe. It is possible for a
coach’s judgment to be off and the runner recognizing it, goes in to score on
his own. Taking some calculated gambles and being out can and will happen.”
Better to be
aggressive: “I
know some guys that never make a baserunning
mistake because they never ever
take a chance. Trust me. Those guys drive a
coach crazy. What one has to
remember is this. If a baserunning gamble with
two outs is 50-50, that's a
.500 or 50% chance you'll score. If the hitter on
deck is batting over .500,
then I'll stay at third and let him hit me in.”
Bottom line on
Albert: “Sure,
Pujols makes some mistakes on the bases, but I think overall, he does run them
pretty good.”
Gary and I also had a discussion
about ranking criteria for third base coaches, which to-date seems subjective.
He is less high on Jose Oquendo’s work than I am. We also share a desire to
locate hard data on related statistics such as the percentage of time throws
home from the outfield that are off the mark. If any reader has data sources for
either of these areas, please let me know.
Brian Walton can be reached via
email at brwalton@earthlink.net