Aaron Hicks and the warning track

[Willihammer]

Well let me walk back this whole thread.

 

Eh-herm.

I was mistaken. I thought the ball hit over Hicks head yesterday hit the dirt (that was how Provus described it, I even checked double checked the radio broadcast on mlb.com). Then I turned up the volume on my own link and sure enough it appears to confirm better than any other evidence that this ball was in fact 2-3 feet from being a home run. Hicks' deke was actually a genius attempt at containing the damage in what was almost certainly an uncatchable ball. Kudos Aaron Hicks' defense.

 

-Hammer

 

Sigh. I'm done posting today

[jimmer]

The Ball bounced off the wall.  It is known.

 

 

[jokin]

 

Ah yes, the only twins OF who actually backs-up a play--and someone that Hicks normally doesn't play alongside.

 

Hicks has his role, ie, to go get most everything in his area, and all the guys who flank him have theirs in backing him up.

[twinsnorth49]

 

Well let me walk back this whole thread.

 

Eh-herm.

I was mistaken. I thought the ball hit over Hicks head yesterday hit the dirt (that was how Provus described it, I even checked double checked the radio broadcast on mlb.com). Then I turned up the volume on my own link and sure enough it appears to confirm better than any other evidence that this ball was in fact 2-3 feet from being a home run. Hicks' deke was actually a genius attempt at containing the damage in what was almost certainly an uncatchable ball. Kudos Aaron Hicks' defense.

 

-Hammer

 

Sigh. I'm done posting today

Don't worry Hammer, I couldn't see it when I listened back on the radio again either....

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Yeah, now I rewatched a few times and I just can't quite tell.  Maybe it did hit just a few feet up.  It doesn't much change the fault in his misread though.

Look higher and listen, and make use of the pause button. It missed being a home run by about a foot. 17 foot high fence. Hick's only play was a deke.

[pbrezeasap]

 

Holy Sh--












You are right.



Great job sticking with it. I was in the warning track group like everyone else until I cued in on the sound, like you suggested. I'm not sure what this means for the Internet.

 

I think I probably had the advantage of listening with my headphones since I'm at work which made hearing the thump easier.

[jimbo92107]

 

From first?

The video shows Pedroia tagging up on second, not first. Unless I'm completely wrong, an option I always try to keep open.

[Eephus]

 

You can hear when it hits the wall and see its trajectory change, it does not hit the dirt first. Someone must have access to the new advanced ball tracking technology that could verify this.

Agree. I watched it a few times with the volume turned up. You can hear it hit the wall before it hits the ground. There must be a mike out there or something. I think he could have caught it. It was an odd looking play, that's for sure. 

[TheLeviathan]

 

Look higher and listen, and make use of the pause button. It missed being a home run by about a foot. 17 foot high fence. Hick's only play was a deke.

 

I see it more as 5-6 feet off the ground, just above the numbers.  His only play was a deke after he stopped running, but his alternative was a wall crash.  I don't mind him playing a carom there, but he didn't have the trajectory of the ball properly traced IMO.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

It was a deke because he realized he wasn't catching it, but he also wasn't anywhere near the ball or in a good position for that carom off the wall. He is a good 20 feet too far towards right field for where that ball eventually hit.

 

It's the first time we've seen a mistake like this since he's been up though.

i have to go with,instead of trying to deke the runner, he should have put himself in a better position to play the ball and make a good throw to the cutoff man. The odds of making the catch were slim, but the risk/reward on the deke was by failing to make the sure play, he guaranteed the run scored. If he made the sure play, he might have held pedroia to third or Santana might have gunned him down at home.

[blairpaul715]

I seen the play different that some people apparently , alot of misperceptions IMO, if the only replays are the ones from the beginning of this thread, then my opinion hasnt changed. I would like to see a side angle, that would have been pretty much definitive.

[Monkeypaws]

I liked to see some gamesmanship from Hicks - yeah, he might have caught, and he might have suffered a major injury going for it.

 

It showed me game awareness and gamesmanship, two things you wouldn't have associated with Hicks last year.

[big dog]

I went to a Friday night game in the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum in 1983 or so.  The A's had a guy on second in the bottom of the ninth, tie game.  Batter hit a line drive well over Brunansky's head.  He froze, stuck his glove up in the air, and then turned to play the ball off the wall.  The runner was holding at second and ended up at third (on a double).  Stranded, Twins won in ten.

 

The next day, I bought some seats that were in row 2 and Bruno came over before the game.  I said "Bruno, great deke last night- saved the game!".  He stared at me and said "Deke hell, I thought I could catch the ball."  I swear that ball was at least 4-5 feet over his glove- no idea how he could possibly have considered it a catchable ball.

 

This is my anecdote to remind myself that it might be hard to get inside a ballplayer's head on a particular play.  Personally, I thought Hicks deked because he had no idea where the ball was, and figured it was the only thing he could do that might help.  But who knows.

[clank2000]

Not you too! Uh, the Red Sox announcers were on the call and had it right.

I really like Jerry Remy. Very impartial and gives the other team props. Kinda the anti-Hawk.

 

Oh, and in my opinion (ahem, not FACT), the ball hits higher than the numbers. Probably at least 12 feet up. If Hicks can jump 12 feet, he's Superman.

[LimestoneBaggy]

Argghhh, I watched the video many times......I hit pause and play over and over.....then I jumped back into the thread today....grabbed my headphones, watched the play again, and now it sounds (looks as well) that the ball hits high off the wall and Hicks made the right call.

 

Not only do I think my earlier post was wrong [cue Billy Madison speech] I now owe Hicks a beer and a sincere apology.

 

This is why I lurk...I can't screw up lurking....

[USAFChief]

The ball was not catchable.

[twinsnorth49]

 

The ball was not catchable.

 

And that should be the final word on it........................don't you think?

[curt1965]

It's nitpicking to say he misplayed the ball?  He misplayed it.  Ok, we don't have to cut him.  But we have seen some issues in the past so it's worth watching.

 

It's great that Chief was at the game - that replay, particularly the second and third shots of it, make it clear that the ball landed on the ground.  Not hit the wall.  Hicks clearly played it like it was going to hit the wall.

 

Thus, he misplayed it.  It's not nitpicking and your post was completely unnecessary.

So what if he goes all the way to the wall, and it hits high off the wall, and caroms. He'd get blistered because of that. My take is that he did not misplay the ball. It was a judgement call.

You have to understand the situation. First inning, not a big deal. Bottom of 9th, runner on first, I say he plays it differently.