2013 World Series Game 3, 4 and 5 Observations

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Game 3

1. 4th inning ­ Pete Kozma’s At-Bat

70­-75% of all pitches at the major league level are thrown on the outside part of the plate. Pete Kozma’s approach with the bases loaded early in the game was terrible. With two strikes on him he takes a called third strike on the outside part of the plate. His approach was off. Granted, it was a slider and a good pitch, but he should have been protecting the outside part of the plate.

2. 4th inning ­ Baserunning

Of all the things that will drive a manager crazy, lack of hustle is #1. I have watched Matt Holliday on a couple of occasions, he does not prepare himself properly. When he popped out to center and didn’t run it out (on the Ellsbury error), then subsequently got picked off at 1st on the throw behind, he deserved it. He should have been at 2B. Period. Next at bat ground out to short, ran it out hard. Too late.

Run out your fly balls/pop ups/grounders all the time.

3. 5th inning ­ Carlos Beltran

Beltran is a great hitter, but he made a huge mistake on the triple by Bogaerts by not cutting the ball off in the gap, and he could have. With just a bit more effort he could have stopped that ball from going to the wall and holding Bogaerts to a double (maybe a single) rather than letting him get a triple.

Stop the ball at all costs. It doesn’t need to be pretty (see Jonny Gomes).

4. 9th inning ­ Middlebrooks.

Need I say more? Reggie Jackson? Alex Rodriguez? It was clearly the right call and Middlebrooks clearly obstructed. Nice try.

Game 4

1. 1st inning ­ Dustin Pedroia ­

There is a fine line in hitting, and Pedroia crosses it. He pulls his head consistently trying to go “deep.” What I mean by that is is head is not on the ball at contact. Slow motion replay shows Pedroia pulling off the ball with his head. You can’t hit what you can’t see. Your head must be down at contact. Don’t get me wrong, Pedroia is a professional hitter and very good one at that. But teaching is different than doing.

2. 9th inning ­ Leadoffs ­

We went over this during practice. I hate to say I told you so… A well timed pickoff move and an ill­timed shuffle, game over.

Game 5

1. Timing ­ Adam Wainwright

Not much to chat about during this game. It was played very well from both sides. But, during the middle of the game when David Ortiz was 2­2 in his 3rd at bat, Adam Wainwright changed his timing during his delivery to him to try and throw him off. If you looked closely, Wainwright hesitated slightly during his windup/rockback step. Tim McCarver picked up on it and pointed it out. Ortiz has been in such a great groove, Wainwright was trying to throw off his timing. Smart. It worked. He got Big Papi out (albeit on a linedrive to center).

2. Positioning ­ Red Sox

I don’t think I have ever seen a more fundamentally sound team. Every player seems to be at the correct position every time. That takes practice. That takes forethought. Regardless of whether they make the play or not, players are where they need to be.

Two great pictures from Fox: Pitchers and hitters need to understand how important these positions are and how crucial they are to their success.

• Head on target
• Chest to target
• Strong glove side
• Good follow through
• Balance - Head on ball
• Upright posture
• Palm up/palm down
• Slight bend in rear arm
• Balance

3. Managerial Miscue

It’s a tough decision when to pull your starter, but I think Matheny stayed with Wainwright a bit too long (my thought) and it cost him. I can understand his thought process, you’re at the bottom of the order and he (Wainwright) has had success there. He also had success against Ellsbury.

As a hitter, I wanted the starting pitcher to stay in as long as possible. Why? The more looks I got at the pitcher, the better I could pick up his tendencies. Not only that, the deeper he got into the game, the worse his stuff got (i.e. didn’t throw as hard, breaking pitch wasn’t as effective, etc). David Ross figured it out (looked for breaking ball) and Ellsbury didn’t get exactly what Wainwright had in mind (a 90­91 mph fastball as opposed to a 94­95 mph fastball).

To hit Wainwright’s curveball, even at that stage in the game, you have to look for it, it’s that good. Ross did and Wainwright didn’t locate it well enough (fatigue?). Ellsbury, same thing. Looking fastball and Wainwright didn’t quite have enough on it (fatigue?) and Ellsbury got just enough barrel on it to get to the outfield.

I can be the Monday morning quarterback all day, but with a stable of fresh (?) arms in the bullpen and a pitcher who has thrown over 260+ innings this year and the game on the line in the pivotal game 5 of the World Series in the 7th inning… I’m thinking twice. Then again, he is your horse. What would you do? Live and die with what got you there, up until a point. I guess Matheny thought it was Wainwright’s game to win or lose. He lost. Matheny’s decision. At some point, you have to look at what is best for the team. Not always popular with your pitcher.

Just a thought, if Joe Torre was managing at that point, I bet he would have brought in Mariano Rivera to face Ross/Lester and let the chips fall where they may. Game still tied, they’re still playing.