Catcher's Stupidity

Quick rant here while I calm down from that ninth inning in Kansas City. The Yankees were up 4-1 and the Royals had runners at first and third and two outs. The runner at first, Mitch Maier, took off for second and was safe without a throw because of something called catcher's indifference. What the hell is this, who invented it, and why does it happen?

Here is the argument for catcher's indifference, which as far as I can tell is, by definition, "a catcher not caring about the runner, so he lets him take second base without a play":

1. Well, that run doesn't matter.

Wrong. The run matters. Every run matters. I can't score the tying run if the runner before him doesn't score first.

Yet catchers let it happen night after night. When did this become the Sparta (NJ) Little League? I probably stole 417 bases in 1992, mainly because when I was on first base and a teammate was on third, I would take off for second and the catcher would hold the ball. It's not because I was fast, it's because it was noodle-armed Chris Cronin behind the plate and he knew if he threw to second my teammate would score and I would be safe at second anyway. But Chris Cronin wasn't a big league baseball player, he worked part-time at Mastandria's Sandwich Shop and shared a bike with his sister.

And apparently it's not a stolen base because the catcher is indifferent about the whole situation. Well, this afternoon I was indifferent about what those two double cheeseburgers might do to me later on the evening, but I ate them anyway. The guy running from first is the double cheeseburger.

And don't be fooled: that's a stolen base. I ran towards second, you didn't care to try and get me out and I was safe = stolen base. The other team is given 27 outs to play with; why you wouldn't try and record one of them is baffling to me.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Kurt Bevacqua

And so ends the Derwood in Columbia, Tennessee experiment. The last five days have been a blur, and by 'blur', I mean the last five days have been excruciating. If you've never been to Columbia, you really should go. They have trees, and roads. And coming January, 2011: a Bojangles. Anyway, it's good to be back in the Jobu cockpit, though MTD, as always, did solid work in my absence.


Orioles 3, Whitesox 2 (10). So Baltimore is 6-1 since hiring Buck Showalter? How long have I been away? Jesus. Brian Roberts hit his first home run of the season leading off the 10th, and the O's are just 21 1/2 games back of Toronto for the AL's seventh playoff spot.

Astros 10, Braves 4. Top prospect Mike Minor's debut (6 IP, 3 ER, 5 K) in an Atlanta uniform was overshadowed by Kyle Farnsworth's 694th appearance (1/3 IP, 4 ER) and Peter Moylan's 36th-to-last appearance (0 IP, 2 ER) as Houston snapped a 4-4 tie with a six-run seventh.

Rays 6, Tigers 3. This has a lot to do with my bitterness towards the 2006 AL Division Series and the fact that the first round of the playoffs is a ridiculous best-of-five, but I'm really glad Detroit stinks.

Diamondbacks 7, Brewers 4 (10). It's been a rough second season in Milwaukee for Trevor Hoffman. The HOF closer has had plenty of scoreless outings, but he's also had plenty of outings like Monday-1 IP, 3 ER, 2 BB. That's the eighth time Hoffman has allowed two or more runs in a game in 2010, or what we at Offbase like to call the Dave Righetti Corollary.

Cardinals 7, Reds 3. Randy Winn: DNP