Running out ground balls

[blueberryale77]

Today's Mets' game ended with Julio Franco, representing the tying run, hitting a hard ground ball to Chase Utley which Utley booted but was still able to make the play because Franco wasn't running. Apparently there was also a double play ball in the first that Carlos Beltran could have beaten but didn't run out. As a pseudo-Mets fan when I'm not watching the O's, this made me furious... and it got me thinking.

There has been a lot of talk on here about Orioles players failure to consistently run out ground balls. I've always felt that the Orioles do have more of a problem with this than most teams, but I think people are grossly exaggerating when they say things like that the Yankees always run out their grounders. I've certainly seen Yankees and other players not run 100% (although I have never seen a Yankee be as obvious about not running as Franco was today or as Miguel Tejada and Ramon Hernandez frequently are), but I've never tried to keep track of other teams and how they really compare with the O's on this.

So anyway I think it would be interesting to have a thread where people post their observations every time they notice an Oriole or another team's player either hustling particularly hard or not hustling and what the result is (a little like Frobby's defense thread but extending it to games not involving the O's). Hence, if you see any MLB player either hustle or not hustle to first in a way that impacts a game, please post a description here (including whether they jogged 75% or didn't run at all and how difficult the play was for the fielder). Maybe we can figure out a) how often this actually affects the end result of the game, and b) how the Orioles really compare with other teams in this area.

[ledzepp8]

Was it that Franco wasn't running or the fact that he's like 60 years old?

[yuds]

I was at the Mets - Phillies game. Franco gave it absolutely no effort whatsoever, had he just run at 3/4 pace he would have made it. I know that if an Oriole had done that I would have been absolutely furious and this board would be in an uproar about it. I couldn't believe how slowly he was running with the game on the line like that.

[RayFink1e]

Franco prolly has arthritis

[Elbren]

I was at the Mets - Phillies game. Franco gave it absolutely no effort whatsoever, had he just run at 3/4 pace he would have made it. I know that if an Oriole had done that I would have been absolutely furious and this board would be in an uproar about it. I couldn't believe how slowly he was running with the game on the line like that.

Wait ... you're back in the States? I thought you were oversea's??

[Moose Milligan]

Running out ground balls hard is something that hasn't been done in baseball for a long, long time. I used to get upset about it, but now I don't even really care anymore. It's sad, but thats how these "professionals" act.

I think the only guy that consistently hauls ass up the line is Patterson because he knows if an infielder bobbles it or hesitates on the throw he'll be safe.

[yuds]

Wait ... you're back in the States? I thought you were oversea's??

I moved to Baltimore in January and I live here now. I'm doing my masters at Towson, so I'm here permanently (finally!). I took a road trip to Philly today to see the game - real nice ballpark and downtown Philly is a very cool place.

[ScottieBaseball]

I was at the Mets - Phillies game. Franco gave it absolutely no effort whatsoever, had he just run at 3/4 pace he would have made it. I know that if an Oriole had done that I would have been absolutely furious and this board would be in an uproar about it. I couldn't believe how slowly he was running with the game on the line like that.

Yudi!!!! Our next "Take Back the Yard" night is July 27th vs. the Yankees. You gotta work us into your schedule, bro.

[yuds]

Yudi!!!! Our next "Take Back the Yard" night is July 27th vs. the Yankees. You gotta work us into your schedule, bro.

I know man, I really wanted to come to the last one but my schedule was just too hectic this week. The only problem with the 27th is that it's a Friday night! I can't make Friday night or Saturday games due to the Jewish Sabbath, which sucks because it seems like just about every Hangout game left is on either of those days. You guys have to cut me some slack and make more weekday night Hangout get togethers!

[Boy Howdy]

Jose Reyes failed to run last night and Willie Randolph yanked him out of the game.

My NL team is the Mets, and I love Reyes, but hats off to Randolph for making the point with him and not some fringe player.

[blueberryale77]

Jose Reyes failed to run last night and Willie Randolph yanked him out of the game.

My NL team is the Mets, and I love Reyes, but hats off to Randolph for making the point with him and not some fringe player.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070708/SPORTS/707080460

Kudos to Willie. We need to get past this idea that disciplining a player for a specific errant action means that they're a horrible player and the manager hates them, which seems to be the prevailing opinion these days. My NL team is the Mets as well and I missed Friday's game because I was on a train to Baltimore, but it sounds like the article was handled with a good amount of class by all involved... well except maybe Beltran who probably should have kept his mouth shut because he's guilty of dogging it a lot more often than Reyes is. The one thing that's really sticking in my craw about the Mets lately though is that Franco is still there and the excuse is his "leadership." Look what he "led" young Jose Reyes to do!

[ScottieBaseball]

I know man, I really wanted to come to the last one but my schedule was just too hectic this week. The only problem with the 27th is that it's a Friday night! I can't make Friday night or Saturday games due to the Jewish Sabbath, which sucks because it seems like just about every Hangout game left is on either of those days. You guys have to cut me some slack and make more weekday night Hangout get togethers!

Oh, you wacky Jews!

Understood. We might just have to make an un-official, Yudi-centric weekday trip to the ballpark, then.

Either way, I'm glad to see you coming around again.