Send Alex Gordon

MileHighTwinsFan · October 30, 2014

Oh what could have been. Gordon bearing down on Buster Posey, the poster child for the new home plate rule. Does the lane Posey had to provide give Gordon the opportunity to slide his hand around a tag? It would have been one of the most talked about plays in baseball history! But alas it was not to be.

528.com makes the case that Alex Gordon should have gotten the green light, even if his likelihood of scoring was only 30%. When I saw Perez kick the ball toward the left field corner, I was convinced Gordon was going to run. Instead, Gordon got the stop sign and pulled up to third just as Crawford caught the ball in left center and turned to make what would have been a very long relay to the plate.

We all know what happened next as a gimpy Salvador Perez popped out to KFP to end it.

In the end it was a bit ironic - the Royals had made it to the World Series by relentlessly testing opposing defenses with their aggressive base running. While Gordon does not have near the speed of Cain, Escobar and Dyson - he definitely has the grittiness and guile to have made it.

The Royals literally stopped just short of making history.

Seth Stohs · October 30, 2014

Sure would have been fun, but...

https://twitter.com/appbri/status/527665547056390145

https://twitter.com/matthewpouliot/status/527665345809481729

ashbury · October 30, 2014

528.com makes the case that Alex Gordon should have gotten the green light, even if his likelihood of scoring was only 30%. When I saw Perez kick the ball toward the left field corner, I was convinced Gordon was going to run. Instead, Gordon got the stop sign and pulled up to third just as Crawford caught the ball in left center and turned to make what would have been a very long relay to the plate.

I like the analysis, and pushing the other team to make the play is good baseball. They say not to make the first or third out at third nor the second out at home, so it passes the rule of thumb and this is the time. But Crawford is good, and from the Zapruder film it looks like a 5% chance to me. That's just throwing away a baserunner, and for all the marbles.

Was pinch hitting for the injured catcher at this point still not an option? Going to extras with a backup catcher isn't ideal, but you do what you can to even get there.

Mike Sixel · October 30, 2014

Out by a mile.

Willingham should have pinch hit there.

MileHighTwinsFan · October 30, 2014

An interesting move would have been to pinch run Gore and pinch hit Dyson. It would have made them defend against a squeeze and opened up an opportunity to slap one through.

They were not going to beat MadBum going straight up with him. They should have at least played it out in a way consistent with Royals baseball.

tobi0040 · October 30, 2014

Out by a mile.

Willingham should have pinch hit there.

That 3B coach would have been a goat in KC forever.

MileHighTwinsFan · October 30, 2014

Or the greatest 3B coach in baseball history.

Rosterman · October 30, 2014

You saw the ball get by. SO he had at least a double and the coach picked up that it could be a triple. The base runner looked to the outfield rounding second and the coach put up the stop sign and the runner momentum slowed, all the while the ball is now being kicked a bit. Tough call.

Would have been interesting to see how Bumgarner would play out if the game was tied and both teams had to extra inning the thing.

But it was a pretty darn good game, pitching wise for sure, and suddenly makes you question the need for starters. Just load yourself up with guys who can pitch 3-4 (or five innings) and a lot of solid bullpen arms that can be interchangeable with your upper minors.

tobi0040 · October 30, 2014

Or the greatest 3B coach in baseball history.

Barring a really,really bad throw he is out by a mile. Probably stops and is caught in a hot box.

I think he would have forever been known as the guy who blew a 25% shot at tying the game up.

Linus · October 30, 2014

Out by a mile.

Willingham should have pinch hit there.

This. Sending him would have been a hail mary attempt. Would have helped if Gordon had run hard out of the box.....

D. Hocking · October 30, 2014

Out by a mile.

Willingham should have pinch hit there.

I read this as Willingham should have pinch RUN there, which I am not sure has ever been said.

Seth Stohs · October 30, 2014

Out by a mile.

Willingham should have pinch hit there.

For Gordon?

Boom Boom · October 30, 2014

What the Royals really should have done is got a hit or two off of Bumgarner. Or bunt.

Mike Sixel · October 30, 2014

For Gordon?

No, the next batter. He should have pinch hit earlier in the game, but hadn't.....

Parker Hageman · October 30, 2014

SEND HIM.

SEND HIM. SEND HIM. SEND HIM. SENDHIMSENDHIMSENDHIM.

Yes, I've seen all the analyses of where the ball was, where Gordon was, etc, etc. Super, super low percentage play that Gordon gets in. Most of the shots show when Crawford has the ball, Gordon started slowing at the stop sign at third. Full speed Gordon with a waving-windmilling third base coach at third would made a bit more of a difference but he's still likely beat with a clean throw. Still, that's Game 7 of the World Series, there's chaos, there's a play that *needs* to be made BUT maybe it skips, maybe it's thrown wild, it's Game 7 -- nerves are everywhere. Crawford could have wheeled around and double-pumped -- there's no way he could hear anyone yelling HOME if Gordon was booking through the bag. Everyone in these analyses are acting like it's a 100% play for the defense. It's not. Not in those circumstances.

Crawford's got a great arm. Posey's a solid defensive catcher. Odds are Gordon would still likely wind up jogging into Posey's glove to end the game/season but dammit that moment would have been a lot more exciting over watching an injured catcher foul out to end the year.

Sure, if I'm playing with my money, I hold him at third too. But as a fan of baseball, SEND HIM. SEND HIM. PLEASE WHY DON'T YOU SEND HIM.

Parker Hageman · October 30, 2014

By the way, this is the best analysis for not sending him:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/alex-gordon-barely-had-a-chance/

MileHighTwinsFan · October 30, 2014

It would have been nice for the 3B coach to at least wave him around and give him a late stop sign. That would have at least drawn a throw of some kind. As it was, he took the pressure off the defense in what was a frantic moment.

Brock Beauchamp · October 30, 2014

I could have made that throw. Sending him was extremely high risk to the point that it's basically throwing away the World Series.

With that said, sending him would have been more fun because I didn't really care who won the game.

Parker Hageman · October 30, 2014

I could have made that throw.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18w8nevacs25wgif/ku-xlarge.gif

Platoon · October 30, 2014

By the way, this is the best analysis for not sending him:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/alex-gordon-barely-had-a-chance/

A great reason not to SEND HIM. SEND HIM.

Platoon · October 30, 2014

I did not watch the series religiously, but I did see Salvador Perez hit several times in both the series and the playoffs. While we may think that Oswaldo is a glutton for the high heat, Perez makes him look like a strike zone aficionado. I am not sure I have ever seen a catcher (Posey) stand up through an entire at bat,

TheLeviathan · October 30, 2014

I have to say, as it was happening...I was thinking "send him". If, for nothing else, the fact that it looked like Bumgarner was en route to doing something special and I felt like the odds of getting to him were 0%. So I'd take that Hail Mary in that case. (Or so my gut feeling mid-play was telling me)

Kwak · October 30, 2014

Hindsight is better than 20/20. So far there are 22 replies before mine, were Gordon sent and thrown out--there would have been more than 220 replies. Maybe even 2200!

Platoon · October 30, 2014

Hindsight is better than 20/20. So far there are 22 replies before mine, were Gordon sent and thrown out--there would have been more than 220 replies. Maybe even 2200!

Out of the 2200, how many of them would have been intelligent? (Besides ours of course)

ashbury · October 30, 2014

Sure, if I'm playing with my money, I hold him at third too.

Looking forward to your next dissection of someone's pitching motion, in which you close by saying "if I'm getting paid to be the pitching coach, ignore what I just said. But as a fan..."

biggentleben · October 31, 2014

He at least should round the bag to force the throw. Force the hurried throw that could end up going awry, akin to the play on the wall by both outfielders in that play.

I just would have taken incredible delight in him forcing the issue and having Posey block the plate and end up giving up the run on the rule that he created.

Hosken Bombo Disco · October 31, 2014

If 3B coach had started windmilling the instant it slipped from LF hands, then Gordon would have been a bit further when the throw came in. Gordon started rubberneccking anyway. Bumgarner retiring Perez should have surprised no one. Sending Gordon would have been defendable and epic no matter what the result. So SEND HIM!

Brock Beauchamp · October 31, 2014

Sending Gordon would have been defendable and epic no matter what the result. So SEND HIM!

It really wouldn't because chances are Posey would have had the ball with Gordon 30 feet from home.

That's not defensible, that's Scott Ullger-esque.

Remember that guy? Remember how we hated him so much we gave him the nickname "The Windmill"?

Now imagine that happening in game 7 of the World Series, ninth inning, two outs.

Yeah, I thought so.

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