Yanks/Phils Game 4: On Damon’s Double Steal
Damon taking third last night may have just cost the Phillies the World Series.
This is insane. Not even Charlie Manuel knew who was supposed to cover third here:
After the single came a moment that will be long-remembered, and long-maligned, in Philadelphia. With Mark Teixeira batting, Damon stole second. Upon arriving there, he saw third baseman Feliz on the base, because the infield had shifted to defend against the lefthanded batter. With no one covering third, Damon continued.
Afterward, no one would say exactly which Phillie should have covered the base.
“It’s the catcher or pitcher,” said manager Charlie Manuel. “Evidently, there was some miscommunication there. . . . Usually the catcher tries to get down there.”
Said Lidge: “To be honest, that’s not really something you go over a lot. I don’t know who is supposed to cover on that.”
Neither did Feliz. “That’s a play, we never got anybody to say, ‘OK, you’ve got to go out there, you’ve got to go here.’ ”
Damon expected to see Lidge on third. “We have talked about it throughout the year, especially when Mark is up,” he said. “I was just trying to be aggressive and get into scoring position, and it just worked out where there was a throw. The third baseman covered [second], and the pitcher did not” cover third.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this was the first time the Phillies put the hard shift on with runners on base this year. Typically, in a shift with runners on, the third baseman plays somewhere between third and shortstop just for this kind of situation. Or you just don’t put on the shift.
I’m also willing to bet that all 30 teams will spend some time doing drills on that specific situation next spring training.
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