Comments on: Another spring cliche: “we want to run more”

By: fatcatt

fatcatt — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:02:33 +0000

the reason bad teams dont run more is because there never in position to when your always trailing. You cant be getting thrown out on the bases when your down. That goes for any team. But u see why poorer teams dont steal a ton of bases or at least the “team theft” concept goes out the window.

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:55:21 +0000

As do the Eagles.

By: macjacmccoy

macjacmccoy — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:19:19 +0000

The Phillies say that every single year.

By: yankeesgameday

yankeesgameday — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:11:31 +0000

you hear it in Spring because deciding to run more is one of the few strategical, and even, philosophical things a manager can do to affect a game and energize his players.

Whether running more works, over the course of a season, has been debated for 140 years. Look, as we know, I come from a Yankee fan view of the world, so with all of this debate about Jeter or Gardner at the lead off spot I started thinking that it doens’t matter if Gardner leads off because ulitmately what he does when on first is up to Girardi and how he wants to play the game.

Does he want to “run more” like Whitey Herzog, or does he want to wait for the three run homer like Earl Weaver? So I went and did some research on how the most iconic managers of all time would approach that situation. I’m pretty proud of this piece if anyone wants to check out something about how and why certain managers decide they want to “run more”.

http://yankeesgameday.blogspot.com/2011/03/girardis-dilemma-jeter-or-gardner.html

By: cur68

cur68 — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:25:12 +0000

I always thought the reason good clubs never use that line is because they ALREADY have certain players that run a lot. Look at Jeets; anytime on base he’s a threat to steal, same with Gardner. Same with the the Bo-Sox. They didn’t just get Carl Crawford to play defense and bat; that guy can grab a bag or two. In the absence of an elite bag stealer you can try to to grab a bag or two with the unexpected steal. IMO not a bad idea, providing you don’t turn it into a free for all (a la Nyjer Morgan). In the mean time you get your slow footed guys working on their quickness and give the oppo something else to think about. I’ve seen a lot of pitchers serve up walks because of that.

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:16:17 +0000

Nyjer Morgan wants to run more.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:38:25 +0000

The Jays will definitely run more if Rajai Davis stays healthy.

By: ja4ed

ja4ed — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:36:48 +0000

The Cubs are going to run more too.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110306&content_id=16841568&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc#

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:16:19 +0000

Nah. He’ll get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

By: yankeesfanlen

yankeesfanlen — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:04:44 +0000

When Frenchie steals home to win game 7 of the World Series vs. the Pirates, he’ll say “I told you so!”

By: klbader

klbader — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:58:53 +0000

Craig, you say that good teams never talk about wanting to run more, but that is not true. The Twins are a good team, and Gardenhire has been talking about running more since the Yankees bounced them out of the playoffs for, what, the 134th time in a row. And unlike these other teams, this was not just idle chatter. The Twins traded JJ Hardy, a great defensive shortstop with better-than-average offensive ability, but below average speed, and handed the starting gig over to Alexi Casilla, a less than stellar defensive player and a pretty downright abysmal offensive player. Oh, but he can run a little, so there’s that. Too bad he probably won’t be on base that much. That will be Gardenhire’s out come August.