BASEBALL CENTRAL: Vols vs. Georgia

[BruinVol]

This is just getting ridiculous. If the hitter swings and makes contact on that throw home, what happens?

Great question.

My guess is dead ball and runners go back. I was an umpire and that's how I would have ruled it by I don't know for sure

 

[State of the Vols]

I hope they post video of the play... I'd like to see how the pitcher stepped off the rubber and still managed to throw home for a strike. At any rate, what was Maddox thinking?

What was Maddox thinking???? YOu mean what was the coaching staff thinking. Maddox was clearly acting with the approval of his coach. The Georgia pitcher was struggling mightily, the crowd (such as it was) was into it, the Vols had all the momentum in the world. get to within a run of tying the game and the staff calls for a steal of home? That is pitiful.

Literally :loco:

 

[TechnoVol]

What was Maddox thinking???? YOu mean what was the coaching staff thinking. Maddox was clearly acting with the approval of his coach. The Georgia pitcher was struggling mightily, the crowd (such as it was) was into it, the Vols had all the momentum in the world. get to within a run of tying the game and the staff calls for a steal of home? That is pitiful.

Literally :loco:

Maddox has successfully stolen home on his own and not because the coaches called for it. So, yes, with that having happened before, it's possible Maddox attempted this on his own. Watch the video and notice the reaction of Maddox and the third base coach after he was tagged out. Seems to me like Maddox knows he screwed up.

 

[State of the Vols]

Maddox has successfully stolen home on his own and not because the coaches called for it. So, yes, with that having happened before, it's possible Maddox attempted this on his own. Watch the video and notice the reaction of Maddox and the third base coach after he was tagged out. Seems to me like Maddox knows he screwed up.

Of course the final decision to "go" is with the runner, but he had to have a green light. If he went without having a green light, then he will need to sit the next game. Let's see if he does. I doubt it, because it is pretty clear he had a green light. bad coaching, imho.

 

[TechnoVol]

Of course the final decision to "go" is with the runner, but he had to have a green light. If he went without having a green light, then he will need to sit the next game. Let's see if he does. I doubt it, because it is pretty clear he had a green light. bad coaching, imho.

CDS said in an interview this week that Maddox did the same thing against MTSU... He went on his own then and I think Will tried it again and failed at a really bad time.

Here are CDS quotes from the MTSU game...
"Will did that on his own," Serrano said. "Coach Bergeron likes to steal home, but he admitted that that wasn't his idea, that was Will. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a guy out of the stretch, looking right at the runner and the guy running right in his face, and it worked out well for us.

"Will, at times, plays the game extremely hard and sometimes he does some things that we scratch our heads about but you live and die by a guy like that and in retrospect, I'd like to have more pitchers that play the game like that, with some reckless abandon and getting after it. Will plays the game right and he's a treat to be around each and every day."

 

[BruinVol]

CDS said in an interview this week that Maddox did the same thing against MTSU... He went on his own then and I think Will tried it again and failed at a really bad time.

Here are CDS quotes from the MTSU game...
"Will did that on his own," Serrano said. "Coach Bergeron likes to steal home, but he admitted that that wasn't his idea, that was Will. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a guy out of the stretch, looking right at the runner and the guy running right in his face, and it worked out well for us.

"Will, at times, plays the game extremely hard and sometimes he does some things that we scratch our heads about but you live and die by a guy like that and in retrospect, I'd like to have more pitchers that play the game like that, with some reckless abandon and getting after it. Will plays the game right and he's a treat to be around each and every day."

So CDS admits he wasn't able to look beyond the dumb decision because it happened to work on Tuesday. Show me a coach that only sees results and I will show you a coach that suffers embarrassing defeats like last night. Inexcuseable for a veteran coach.

 

[State of the Vols]

CDS said in an interview this week that Maddox did the same thing against MTSU... He went on his own then and I think Will tried it again and failed at a really bad time."

If that's the way Serrano is "managing", he might as well have let that third base coach leave early so he could beat the rush to the all-you-can-eat pasta bar.

 

[TechnoVol]

So CDS admits he wasn't able to look beyond the dumb decision because it happened to work on Tuesday. Show me a coach that only sees results and I will show you a coach that suffers embarrassing defeats like last night. Inexcuseable for a veteran coach.

Agree with this ^

Even if it worked against MTSU, you make darn sure Maddox doesn't try it again in this situation!

 

[ShowmeVols]

Great question.

My guess is dead ball and runners go back. I was an umpire and that's how I would have ruled it by I don't know for sure

If the pitcher stepped off and threw to home, and the batter swung at the pitch, it would be batter interference, whether he made contact or not. Any act, intentional or not, that interferes with the catcher's attempt to make a play on a runner is interference. If there are less than two out, the runner is out. If there are two outs, the batter is out.

Maddox doesn't have the burning speed needed to even think about a straight steal of home on a right handed pitcher. The ONLY way he can succeed is if the pitcher freezes or balks, or the defensive team isn't able to play catch under pressure. In other words, it's a play that should work only against nervous, poorly coached, weak teams.
It has no business in the playbook for conference games because SEC teams can be expected to snuff it out, as UGA did.

In the MTSU game, the pitcher held the ball forever while Maddox walked his lead out to almost 40 feet. If the MTSU pitcher had stepped off when he first started walking off, Maddox would have been a dead duck. Unfortunately, he came away from that experience thinking he could get away with it again.