Should Pie have plowed into Joba?

[PitchingWins]

From the replay they showed on YES. It looked to me, like Pie had a good angle on the slide and as he approached, (I will not even mention his name I despise him that much) kicked his foot t'word the dugout and away from the plate. Then it looked like Pie, stood up to keep from turning his ankle.

[Emory Eagle]

Let me ask you a question. Was Joba standing still waiting for the ball?

If you mean to imply that Joba may have been illegally blocking the plate, I would say I might agree, he very well may have been. However, it was close and umpires hardly ever call that anyway, so I'm not surprised they didn't in this case.

I don't think Pie is a terrible baseball player, but I do believe he made a mistake on that play.

Regardless, it's not Pie's fault we lost.

[Rclynch82]

this thread gives me pleasure after such a traumatic night.

[BaltimoreTerp]

The biggest point is that it was just unlucky that the ball bounced back so far and fast.

I still disagree that he actually slid there, but this is something we can all agree on.

[Emory Eagle]

This is what happened. You're absolutely correct. I truly think you're just talking with someone who has never experienced a play like that in baseball. If you're running full speed watching a play like that, you have to make a split second decision. Run through, which can often be the right play. Stay up, but avoid tag, which is almost never right. Hook slide. Or power slide. When Joba did what he did just as Pie was getting there, he boxed him in. It was a great play by Joba but I tend to agree that it wasn't intentional so much as lucky positioning. Pie didn't do anything wrong there at all. Given time to think about it, he probably tries to plow Joba because would have hit him just as the ball arrived but Pie would have definitely taken the worst of the aftermath. He definitely wasn't getting there with a hook slide or power slide. He did try to slide as you said and the Joba move screwed him so he adjusted at the last second to try to get to the plate. It was actually pretty impressive body control not to just slide into Joba's foot and stop.

The biggest point is that it was just unlucky that the ball bounced back so far and fast.

It seemed to me that Pie did NOT intend to slide, then saw that it might be a close play and attempted a last minute awkward half-slide, which fell apart once his feet collided with Joba's.

[BaltimoreTerp]

It seemed to me that Pie did NOT intend to slide, then saw that it might be a close play and attempted a last minute awkward half-slide, which fell apart once his feet collided with Joba's.

That's what I saw as well.

Honestly, how many times have we seen a guy slide into home on a play like that where the ball isn't nearly in time, or on a tag-up play where the throw is away from the plate, and they didn't need to do so? Why couldn't he do that?

[Emory Eagle]

My question was not about the legality of the play. Were both of Joba's feet planted, waiting for the catcher's throw. You said Pie should have slide between his legs. Was that a stationary target?

No, Joba was still shuffling around as I recall. As I said before, when in doubt, you should slide - it usually makes it harder for the fielder to tag you AND it is a safer play in terms of risk of injury.

The ONLY time you want to go in standing up on a close play is when you plan on directly colliding, and knocking over, the fielder. Pie clearly did not want to do that.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Abner Doubleday, Ty Cobb, and Joe Dimaggio could all tell you it was a slide and you still wouldn't agree. Whew!

I wasn't talking to you. For someone calling other people dense you don't seem to get that.

[Emory Eagle]

Bottom line is the Yankees got lucky with that bounce off the wall. They really do seem to get all the breaks. Ugh.

[bluegtv6]

If it was Mark Reynolds running down the line I'd say yeah plow him but Pie is too fragile for all that.

[El Gordo]

Let's blame Felix for this loss. The 185 lbs Felix should have bowled over the 260 lbs Joba. :rolleyestf: He's goofy looking and has a( largely undeserved) reputation for having a low baseball IQ. Never mind that Buck blew this game for a) not playing Felix in LF and b) bringing in Gregg in the 9th instead of Koji.:rolleyestf:

[SammyBirdland]

Let's blame Felix for this loss. The 185 lbs Felix should have bowled over the 260 lbs Joba. :rolleyestf: He's goofy looking and has a( largely undeserved) reputation for having a low baseball IQ. Never mind that Buck blew this game for a) not playing Felix in LF and b) bringing in Gregg in the 9th instead of Koji.:rolleyestf:

Koji isn't exactly the most sturdy man in the world either. There's no telling what's going to go wrong in that body after about 10 pitches

[AgentOrange]

Let's blame Felix for this loss. The 185 lbs Felix should have bowled over the 260 lbs Joba. :rolleyestf: He's goofy looking and has a( largely undeserved) reputation for having a low baseball IQ. Never mind that Buck blew this game for a) not playing Felix in LF and b) bringing in Gregg in the 9th instead of Koji.:rolleyestf:

Who the hell is blaming Pie for the loss?

We are talking about a very awkward play' and how we think he should have handled it. Calm down. He did a great job getting to third on the Jones single down the line. It was just an unlucky play. Could he have slid another way? Sure, but it isn't the reason we lost. It was just a key run we could have used to win this ball game. So of course we are going to pick it apart.

Buck didn't blow the game for not putting Pie in LF. Pie needs to learn how to hit better if he wants to start more games in the field. Other than that, he will be used just like he was tonight, which is fine by me.

[El Gordo]

Who the hell is blaming Pie for the loss?

We are talking about a very awkward play' and how we think he should have handled it. Calm down. He did a great job getting to third on the Jones single down the line. It was just an unlucky play. Could he have slid another way? Sure, but it isn't the reason we lost. It was just a key run we could have used to win this ball game. So of course we are going to pick it apart.

Buck didn't blow the game for not putting Pie in LF. Pie needs to learn how to hit better if he wants to start more games in the field. Other than that, he will be used just like he was tonight, which is fine by me.

It's the 6th inning, we are up by 4 runs. Why not put Felix in for defense? What, Luke has anther AB? Luke who is hitting .211 to Felix' .357? Buck had a choice, he just didn't make it. And it's stupid to think that Felix should have tried to knock over Joba on that play. It was an odd play. No one's at fault there. But not going to Koji in the 9th is what lost this game IMO, and I'm not giving Buck a free ride for playing politics.

[1983]

Glad I am not the only one who saw pie's foot get knocked offline during that play. Posted the exact same thing in the game thread and was told I was seeing things. No matter what the guy does he will always be a scapegoat for some fans here.