Ok, here's the deal. I admire Johnny Damon's wherewithal and heads-up play in Game 4 of the World Series. After stealing second with two outs in the 9th inning (ballsy), he noticed no one was on third base due to the shift being shown batter Mark Teixeira and promptly took that base as well. Sounds simple enough, right?
According to better writers than me (seriously, these are two of my favorite baseball writers in the world), Johnny Damon turned the World Series in the Yankees' favor with his play.
Huh? What?
I would have written about this sooner (Game 4 was Sunday night, it's now Tuesday night), but I didn't start noticing all of these pieces until yesterday and today. I'm now flabbergasted. Don't get me wrong, Damon's steal sequence was terrific and will go down in baseball lore, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Despite what they'll tell you 20 years from now, Damon did not give the Yankees the go-ahead run on a steal, nor did he steal home 3 times in one game (ok, they might not say that in 20 years, but at the rate this story is taking off, who really knows). All he did, was move himself from first base to third base with two outs in the 9th. And that's key; there were already two outs when he came to the plate. He had a fantastic at-bat battling Lidge, and for my money, the at-bat was better than the steal(s). With Teixeira coming to the plate with a chance to give the Yanks the lead in a crucial game, Damon moving into scoring position was important, but it wasn't the world-changing event some are making it out to be.
Teixeira walked, so there were runners at first and third with two outs in the 9th, with who coming up? That's right, Alex Rodriguez. When Lidge gave Rodriguez a fastball in his wheelhouse, A-Rod rocked it down the line with a shot that took about .329 seconds to hit the wall. I mean, it was a laser. Only THEN did Damon score the go-ahead run. If Rodriguez strikes out, pops out, flies out, grounds out, or somehow finds another way to get out, we never hear about Damon's steal again. But because HE was clutch and Damon scored on HIS winning hit, we are hearing about Damon's great play.
Tell me how that makes sense again.
Rodriguez has been murdering every pitch in sight all postseason long, so Damon's best work was getting on so that A-Rod was only one hitter away. And considering that Mark Teixeira has been hitting in the World Series about as well as I would have, him getting hit on the arm by a Lidge fastball was another stroke of good luck.
The first stroke of good luck? Um, let me see, NOBODY COVERED THIRD BASE. I mean, come on, why are we giving Damon credit for taking advantage of a HUGE mental gaffe by the Phillies? Either pitcher Brad Lidge or catcher Carlos Ruiz had to be covering on that play. You cannot give a guy an empty base in the World Series (or any other time, but I'm trying to be dramatic here); you just can't. If somebody covers the base, Damon doesn't even think about going, and it's a non-issue. Did he make a great play? Not really, he just ran to an empty base and waited for a clutch hitter to knock him in for the go-ahead run. I hate to belittle such a heads-up move, because mental sharpness is a huge part of sports, but he didn't do anything that any other number of players wouldn't have done in the same situation.
The real hero of the night was Rodriguez, who ripped Lidge's slop down the left field line to drive in a run that gave the Yankees a 3-1 (now 3-2) World Series lead. Instead of getting the headlines and the credit for such a clutch hit (remember, there were two outs, a sacrifice fly was out of the question), Rodriguez has been asked approximately 217 questions about Damon's steal. Once again, someone needs to explain to me how that makes sense.
Johnny, congratulations. You made a smart play at a crucial time in a huge ballgame. I am not demeaning the play, nor trying to make it seem like what you did was run-of-the-mill. However, you and I both know that Rodriguez getting a hit in his situation was a lot more clutch than you running to an empty base after you (daringly) stole second. You do know that, right?
The next time a situational play turns into a huge deal in a playoff series, be sure to applaud the guy(s) involved. Just make sure you also acknowledge the guy who actually turned that situational play into a big deal.
~~ Lank
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