Saturday, July 31, 2004

What Happened?

So, I come home from dinner to catch the end of Friday night's A's game. And I wish I hadn't seen it. Turning a 4-2 lead into a 7-4 deficit in the 8th inning just stinks.

And frankly, I was unimpressed with Damian Miller covering the plate in that 8th inning. They teach catchers, “don't reach for the pitch when a runner's stealing.” It's much quicker to let the pitch come to you before trying to throw him out.

Isn't that same thing true when a throw is coming in from the outfield?

If a throw coming in from the outfield is going to beat the runner, shouldn't you just get in the middle of the baseline and totally block the plate? So, why was Miller left diving back to the plate on both Nix' and Young's basehits?

Dave Delluci did make a hell of a slide to beat the tag and score the go-ahead run, but Miller simply should have blocked him off.

Or maybe we just need a better bullpen...

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