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Netzer

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If only statcast had the technology to measure the launch angle and exit velocity of yankee balls that have been hit off of your chin.

Goo Punch
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Hank Chinaski

Good fucking riddance. 

henrygandorf

henrygandorf 28618

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Shawn Kelley - R - Nationals

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo confirmed Wednesday morning that Shawn Kelley was designated for assignment for being "disrespectful to the organization."

Kelley slammed his glove down in frustration and stared into the Nationals' dugout after giving up a three-run homer in the ninth inning of Tuesday night's 25-4 blowout win over the Mets. The 34-year-old right-hander apparently had a problem with being brought into such a lopsided game. "You’re either in or you’re in the way," said Rizzo. "He was in the way." Kelley posted a 3.34 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 32/5 K/BB ratio in 32 1/3 total innings this season with Washington and should quickly find a new place to pitch.

sounds like everything is locking in for the deep playoff run.

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Huckleberry

Huckleberry 32144

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7th home run in 32.1 IP. 0.229 BABIP against so far this year. Dude should have just pitched his inning and moved on, but I guess if he gets picked up by a real contender it might work out for him. Obviously the K/BB ratio is back after last year but he still seems like he's more likely to regress than anything.

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spystud13

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Kelley insisted that his frustration was with the umpires, not the club asking him to pitch the ninth inning of a historic blowout. Kelley was seen in an argument with Gibson just before giving up the homer to Jackson, which Kelley later said was due to Gibson telling him to slow his pace to avoid being issued a balk.

 

Tripp Gibson III was the 2B ump. A guy with that name would call a balk in a 24-run game. 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53625

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1 hour ago, spystud13 said:

Granted you probably shouldn’t be pitching a sub-1 WHIP guy there, but that’s pretty impresssive to get cut after a 21-run win. 

I actually flipped that game on to watch position players pitch, and I couldn't believe they trotted him out there to pitch.

They're literally playing again *RIGHT NOW*, and you're burning a good arm to pitch an inning with a 24-run lead?

 

I think I've already mentioned that Dave Martinez seems like he's in over his head...

 

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 28618

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make that 6^

i get that it's "insulting" to kelley, but in that situation, you groove fastballs and get the f outta there.  you have a built in excuse for giving up a run or two (or 3) if it should happen, which sucks for your personal stats, but who gives a shit.  i don't have a bullpen list in front of me, but i would assume some long reliever who's typically in when you're losing is the guy who should've pitched the 8th/9th, since roark went 7.

kelley hadn't pitched in 4 days and only twice in the last 10 days, so maybe get the fuck over it and do your job.  if you give up a homer, laugh it off.  your team won.  no reason to pitch a position player unless you pulled your starter super early.

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Helobious

Helobious 9393

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43 minutes ago, spystud13 said:

Hey, the old Sonny Gray is back. 5 ER in 2 IP against that revamped juggernaut Balt lineup. 

His shit-eating grin as he walked off the mound is really going over well with Yankee fans.

He got emotional during a postgame interview after a bad start a few weeks ago. Most of the fanbase then ripped into him online for being a weak-minded little bitch that sucks at baseball. That bullshit might’ve been endearing in Oakland but not in NY. Hopefully his ass gets cut here pretty soon, I’m so done with him.

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Player

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11 minutes ago, Helobious said:

His shit-eating grin as he walked off the mound is really going over well with Yankee fans.

He got emotional during a postgame interview after a bad start a few weeks ago. Most of the fanbase then ripped into him online for being a weak-minded little bitch that sucks at baseball. That bullshit might’ve been endearing in Oakland but not in NY. Hopefully his ass gets cut here pretty soon, I’m so done with him.

You said the exact same thing about Judge last season when he began slumping. Now you're back to diddling your clit to him when he's on sportscenter. 

 

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spystud13

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Shaw & Thames sit against the lefty, Dozier hits 5-hole. 
 
 
 
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Beau Vine

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Stark:

 

Quote

What. A. Deadline.

Once, there was a time when the trading deadline felt like an auction. Now, for many teams, it just feels more like a gigantic shopping opportunity.

So what did those teams do? They grabbed their shopping carts and sprinted down the aisles till the deadline curtain dropped – to the tune of 15 trades Tuesday, 22 trades in the final two days, 36 deals in the final week and nearly 50 if you stretch this shop-athon span back to the Kelvin Herrera trade in mid-June.

So what big-picture lessons should we be taking away from that overloaded Transactions column? Glad you asked, because here come 10 Things We Learned from the Trading Deadline.

THE INDIANS ARE POISED TO CONTROL AUGUST

The Indians spent July shoring up their bullpen with Brad Hand and Adam Cimber. Then they scooped up Leonys Martín on Deadline Day to deepen their outfield. But we’ve heard from several teams that they might have been the team that came closest to shocking the world this week.

Multiple sources told The Athletic that the Indians were in deep conversations with Washington about Bryce Harper before the Nationals pulled back the FOR SALE sign. And while there’s almost no scenario where the Indians can revisit that option as a waiver deal, they’ll still be shopping for another bat. Luckily for them, they’re better positioned to make an impact move in August than any club in their league.

So why is that? Because they’re the American League’s waiver-deal gatekeepers. Of all the AL contenders, they’ll get first dibs on every AL player who passes through waivers this month – because they don’t just have a worse record than the Red Sox, Yankees and Astros. They also have a worse record than even the Mariners or A’s. And claiming priority goes in reverse order of the standings.

“There’s so much strategy to (making deals in) August,” said one AL executive. “And they’re in position where their strategy is going to govern how August goes for the rest of the American League.”

NO TEAM IN BASEBALL THINKS LIKE THE RAYS

Were they buyers? Were they sellers? Were they both? Were they neither? If you’re even asking those questions about the Rays, you’re missing the point. They defy every traditional label we like to toss around in July.

Out their door went Chris Archer, Nathan Eovaldi, Jonny Venters and Wilson Ramos. In came Tommy Pham and an intriguing package from Pittsburgh for Archer (Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and a third “significant” prospect to be named later).

On one hand, it left the Rays with, incredibly, zero starting pitchers on their active roster – at least until Blake Snell returns. On the other hand, do you really think they care? While we encountered divided opinions on every one of their deals, they still seem better positioned for sustained success today than they were a week ago – at least by their unique definition of “sustained.”

“The Rays don’t do the binary buyer/seller thing,” said one rival executive. “They just look for opportunity. And I think they’re now super-interesting going forward. One thing to remember is, they now have almost no money committed to anyone beyond this year. The only guy they owe any money to is Kevin Kiermaier” – and he’s owed just $44.18 million over the next four years.

BRIAN CASHMAN IS THE GOLD STANDARD FOR MODERN GMS

It’s always eye-opening when rival front offices go out of their way to heap praise on the general managers and front offices they compete with. So when the compliments kept coming for the work of Yankees GM Brian Cashman, we should all be paying attention.

And we don’t just mean that Cashman checked every box on his shopping list. (Zach Britton added to his insane late-inning bullpen crew – check… J.A. Happ and Lance Lynn for the experienced October rotation-depth bin – check.) It’s also about all the multi-tasking Cashman did on the edges.

The Yankees gave up none of their most valued prospects…cleaned out the back end of their 40-man roster, which would have become a major challenge next winter… and accumulated $3.75 million in extra international bonus-pool money, which they’ll be using to sign “two or three major international prospects” they’ve targeted, according to one rival front office.

“They’re so deep, they’re going to be good forever,” said one AL exec. “Brian Cashman is just so good at his job. You know how guys like Pop (Greg Popovich) and (Bill) Belichick are never going to win coach of the year in their sports because they’re always expected to be good? I feel the same way about Cash. He could be the executive of the year every year.”

THE AL SUPER-TEAMS ARE ALREADY PLAYING THE OCTOBER MATCH GAME

The Red Sox are on pace to win 111 games. The Yankees are on pace to win 105. The Astros are on pace to win 101. So there was a definite pattern to the trades they just pulled off:

They’re not worried about now. They’re worried about October – and how they match up with each other. And since the Indians might clinch their division by Labor Day, they’re in the same mode.

“Just look at what every one of those teams did,” said an exec with one contender. “I guarantee those teams looked at every guy they got and asked, ‘What does that guy do to beat the other two teams?’ – not, ‘What does that guy do to get us into the playoffs?’”

OK, we looked. J.A. Happ has a career ERA in Fenway of 2.91… Zach Britton has faced the Red Sox 32 times and has a 0.00 career ERA against Houston… The Yankees have hit .127 and slugged .176 against Roberto Osuna… Etc., etc. Can we agree that none of that is coincidence?

“These trades are October trades,” said another longtime exec. “They’re not trades made to get you to October. They’re in. They’re trades designed to make sure you’ve got enough once you get there. And when have you ever seen that before from this many teams?”

THE DODGERS ARE NOW YOUR NL WORLD SERIES FAVORITES

From 10 games under .500 to the World Series? It doesn’t happen much. In fact, if it happens to the 2018 Dodgers, they would be joining just Juan Pierre’s 2003 Marlins and Rusty Staub’s 1973 Mets as the only teams to pull that off in the division-play era (now 50 seasons old).

But when the deadline dust settled, no National League team was better constructed to get to the World Series than the retooled Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi Dodgers.

Manny Machado was “the best pickup of the entire deadline – by anybody,” said one NL exec. Brian Dozier is a second-half player, owns an .886 career OPS in August, and his “time in Minnesota had expired,” said another exec. John Axford is the perfect “dog-days reliever,” said yet another exec. And the Dodgers are now so stacked and versatile that officials from other clubs were joking that it feels like they have a 50-man roster.

“They’re so deep now,” said the exec quoted earlier about the Yankees. “They can go with a defensive lineup. They can go with an offensive lineup. They can sub guys in or out, depending on the match-ups. And let me ask you: Who on their team doesn’t play multiple positions? They’re just really good, and very Yankee-ish. They’ve just made so many smart decisions.”

THE NATIONALS PUT THE X IN X FACTOR

When Deadline Day arrived and the Nationals mostly stood pat, GM Mike Rizzo told the world, seemingly unequivocally: “I believe in this team.” But let’s just say that multiple clubs that had been talking with Washington hadn’t gotten that impression earlier in the week.

“If someone writes a book about the 2018 Washington Nationals,” said one rival exec Wednesday, “the last 48 hours should be four chapters.”

Hmmm. By that, he means that the Nationals weren’t as dug in on standing pat as they made themselves out to be. They clearly made a run at trading for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. But several teams say they also got involved in serious conversations about selling multiple players – a group headlined by Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and (yep) Bryce Harper.

“I think they got far down the road on a few guys,” the same exec said. “And then, all of a sudden, the road was closed.”

But by closing that road, the Nationals at least gave this group a little more time to make a charge. If they start scoring 25 runs a game, they can ride it out. If they’re still wallowing around .500 in three weeks, they can sell off their bullpen arms if nothing else. So the Nationals might not simply have a say in how the NL East turns out. If they sell, they could impact a bunch of races.

THE SHIFT WAS ON – AT THE BARGAINING TABLE 

The Phillies traded for Asdrúbal Cabrera, even though he probably hurts their infield defense at every position he might play. The Brewers traded for Mike Moustakas and Jonathan Schoop, even though it meant one of their most productive bats, Travis Shaw, will have to play out of position at second base if he plays at all.

And those are just the two most obvious examples of another subtle trend in this year’s trade market – how the rampant use of the shift is causing more and more teams to say: “He’s playing out of position? So what?”

“Shifting has changed the way players are evaluated defensively,” said one longtime exec. “You’re seeing clubs that are more willing to overlook the defensive part of game for offensive production at what used to be considered premium defensive positions.”

That was especially true of the Phillies, who decided they just needed more offense, period – and dealt for Cabrera and Wilson Ramos. And it was true of the Brewers, who couldn’t resist the chance to trade for Schoop, even though it meant their infield pieces no longer fit into any conventional puzzle.

“I have no problem with any of that,” said one of the execs quoted earlier. “My thinking is always: Go get a really good player – and figure it out later.”

THE BEST DEALS WEREN’T FOR THE MOST FAMOUS NAMES

Imagine you’d been sitting in a hermetically sealed booth for the last six months. And then we asked: “Which starting pitcher would you trade for – Cole Hamels or Nathan Eovaldi?”

Of course you would have said Hamels, based on name, track record and October credentials alone. But an exec of one team that was bearing down on the starting-pitcher market says that would be the wrong answer – at least in the August, 2018 world we live in.

“Mark this down,” he said. “The best starting-pitcher pickup in the month of July will end up being Nathan Eovaldi, by the Red Sox. He’s always been a stubborn son of a gun because he’s got to throw fastball, fastball, fastball. But now he’s a different guy. He’s mixing everything. He’s got five pitches. He’s not afraid to use any pitch at any time. And he’s still got that upper-90s fastball when he needs it.”

Meanwhile, the same exec said of Hamels: “I love the guy, but that arrow is pointing the wrong way. He always had so much life on his fastball, and so much finish on his change and his breaking ball, that he’d grade out higher than he should. He was always a step above where he’d ordinarily be. But he doesn’t have that now. I’ll be interested to see if the Cubs can get him fixed.”

HAVE THE CARDINALS LOST THEIR WAY?

Of all the sellers who unloaded last week, none of them seemed to inspire more mass fascination (and confusion) than the Cardinals.

“The strangest thing that happened all week,” said one NL exec, “was the Tommy Pham deal.”

Obviously, there were baseball reasons for the Cardinals to move Pham and open up outfield playing time for Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill. But it’s just as clear that there were other reasons – that the rift that had developed between Pham and the club was just one more blow to their franchise culture, and repairing that damage was at the top of their agenda.

“What’s happened to the Cardinals’ culture?” one AL exec asked pointedly. “When you see Tommy Pham bitching about his contract and service time, you think: How did it come to this? Things that didn’t seem to happen to the Cardinals five years ago are happening now.”

To one of the baseball men quoted earlier, it feels even larger than that, however – almost as if they no longer have “a real understanding of where they are within their process.”

“If Tommy Pham was that much of a problem in their clubhouse…then why not trade him this winter, at the very top of his value,” he asked, “instead of (at the deadline), at the very bottom of his value?”

LET THE AUGUST DEALS BEGIN; PAGING MATT HARVEY

Finally, the deadline may have passed, but here’s one last important reminder: Justin Verlander got traded last August. So there is more to come.

When we asked these execs for nominations of players who could get traded this month, we heard names like Josh Donaldson, Andrew McCutchen, Kelvin Herrera, Adrian Beltre and even José Bautista. But there was total consensus on the No. 1 name on that list.

Matt Harvey.

It was actually one of the biggest head-scratchers of Deadline Day that 4 p.m. EDT arrived and the Reds still owned Harvey, a guy they’d acquired in the first place with an eye toward trading him in July. But an official of one team that talked to them said it felt as though Harvey was every team’s backup plan on the starting-pitching market – and nobody’s Plan A.

“I would have thought that would be their No. 1 thing, to get the Dark Knight moved,” the exec said. “But they never got the heat button hot enough. It got to simmer and low and medium. But you’ve got to get it to high if you’re going to cook. So you can bet they’ll be back at the stove in August.”

 

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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 18825

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21 hours ago, DanRydell said:

I think Russell most likely came off the bag (although the replays aren’t super conclusive). But as much as it pains me, I agree with Derka that it shouldn’t be an out. I would change the rule to say that once a player touches the base, he need only stay above the plane of the base in order to remain safe.

And yeah, even if out, that should be a triple, because he was safe before he was out.

He pulled his left hand back before his right hand came off the bag.  Freese tagged his left hand after the right hand came off.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53625

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8 hours ago, Guadaloopy said:

Shocking to me that Stark forgot the 2005 Astros on the list of teams that were 10 or more games under .500 at some point in a season and then made it to the World Series.  

To be fair, it is pretty easy to forget the 2005 Astros if we're remembering World Serieses.   Except for FUCK YOU, AJP.

That did make me look up the 1973 Mets team.  They won the NL East with an 82-79 record.  The Dodgers won 95 games and didn't make the playoffs.  The Astros finished 4TH in the NL West with an 82-80 record.

But then the Mets beat early Big Red Machine in the NLCS and actually had a 3 games to 2 lead in the WS over the Reggie Jackson A's. 

 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53625

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This.  Is.  Awesome.  Hope it copies and pastes correctly.

 

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Jackie Bradley Jr. ranks the 10 best catches of his career

GettyImages-451939388-1024x674.jpg
By Chad Jennings Aug 2, 2018 comment-icon@2x.png 17 save-icon@2x.png

Jackie Bradley Jr. offered, and we took him up on it.

After his running, tumbling, jaw-dropping catch on Sunday, the Red Sox center fielder was asked – yet again – where his latest gem would rank on his all-time highlight reel.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I keep telling y’all to get me some clips, and I’ll put some numbers beside them for you.”

Sounded good to us.

For 45 minutes on Tuesday, Bradley sat at his locker and watched video clips of 10 plays from throughout his career. He broke down each one in terms of its inherent difficulty and his own approach. He stood up, moved chairs, and gave a full demonstration of proper outfield defense.

And when it was over, he pulled out his phone to show us the one play we’d left off the list.

So, where does Sunday’s catch rank? We won’t spoil the fun, but suffice to say, it’s way up there.

Here, at long last, is Jackie Bradley’s Jr.’s personal ranking of his Top 10 catches.

No. 10 | May 27, 2017, at Fenway Park vs. Nelson Cruz

“That was a difficult play,” Bradley said. “It might not look like much, (but) if you rewind and look at that play, Brian Johnson almost thought he had a chance of catching it. He, like, ducks his head. That’s how hard Nelson hit that ball.”

This was the ninth inning of Johnson’s complete game shutout against the Mariners, and Bradley said he desperately wanted to make a play to keep the milestone intact. Off the bat, though, he had no intention of trying to catch Cruz’s line drive. He assumed it was a single, and it was only because the ball was hit so hard that he wound up having a chance.

“Last-second decision,” he said. “It caught me.”

There’s an unseen element that makes this play, and others like it, really stand out.

“I actually hate diving forward,” Bradley said. “My junior year in college, I actually dove forward like that, except when I dove, I dove out and up. I caught the ball, but the impact of the ball hitting my glove caused my glove to bend down, and then my glove got caught on the ground and snapped my wrist.… If I dive forward, I always make sure that I’m low to the ground before I make the play. Then I hook my arms up to keep my wrist (and) glove out of the play.”

No. 9 | May 28, 2018, at Fenway Park vs. Kendrys Morales

According to Statcast, this one had a 91 percent chance of being a hit.

“Kendrys hit that really hard,” Bradley said. “And usually when you hit it hard – sometimes, but not all the time – it moves more the harder you hit it. I don’t know what it is about it. I actually had to make, the last couple of feet, I had to make an adjustment on it because it had started coming back over this (left) shoulder. So, that’s when I kind of leaned my body back this way in order to get this angle, because it was too late for me to turn to this side.”

Such a late adjustment, Bradley said, is an indication that he played the ball exactly right.

“You’ve got to be able to get back there in time,” he said. “And that’s why I say the last few feet are the most important because that’s when you have to make your small little adjustments. If you’re thinking about making those adjustments earlier on in the route, then you might not even have the opportunity to catch it because you won’t get back there in time. You’ve got to get there first. Make the adjustments when you need to it.”

Bradley imagined a scenario in which he took a more direct path to the ball without the need for an awkward adjustment at the end.

“I ran a good route,” he said, before answering himself. “Well, good job. The ball fell.”

No. 8 | Aug. 19, 2015, at Fenway Park vs. Francisco Lindor

First, we can all agree, the real star of this clip is Joe Kelly’s mustache. As for the catch…

“What made that one so hard, it was a line drive,” Bradley said. “Usually, when it’s hit directly toward you, a lot of people are so busy or worried about trying to make sure they turn whichever shoulder the right way. When it’s hit directly at me, and straight pretty much at my head, I just turn around. Either way. It doesn’t matter.”

In other words: Bradley doesn’t get caught up in the initial details. Turn to the left. Turn to the right. Whatever it is, just turn around, and turn quickly. Once he’s en route, the turn that matters is with his head. Because Lindor was batting left-handed, Bradley assumed the ball would tail toward left field. So, he looked over his left shoulder to pick it up.

“You’re running blind,” he said. “I’m running to a spot, and I think the hardest part about it is just not panicking. When a ball is hit so hard, you know you don’t have a lot of time. Sprinting straight back, and then trying to pick the ball back up — like I said, the ball is hit hard — so, you have to try to pick it back up (while) you’re still continuing with your route where you’re visualizing where the ball is going to be, picking it back up, and then ultimately making the last few adjustments.”

No. 7 | July 21, 2017, at Angel Stadium vs. Yunel Escobar

Jackie Bradley Sr. would rank this one a little higher.

“My dad loves that one,” Bradley said. “My dad loves that one.”

What’s not to love?

“I think as I got closer to the wall, I’m like, ‘Man, I gotta go for it,’” Bradley said. “‘I already ran this far. I can’t just let it hit the wall.’ And then what’s difficult about that one as a right-handed thrower, going this way toward the wall, you don’t want your arm to get caught before the catch. If it hits the wall, everything jars, and you’re not going to catch the ball.”

For Bradley, it’s always easier to make a play at the wall when he’s going into left field.

“I can see my glove, the ball, and the wall all the same time,” he said.

Going towards left field, Bradley can use his right hand to reach for the wall to guide himself, and he can better visualize the catch itself because it’s basically happening right in front of him. When he goes into right field, his head is turned over his right shoulder, meaning the wall and his glove are hidden. He can see the ball, but the wall is a horror movie villain. He knows it’s there somewhere, but he can’t always see it. And playing on the road adds a degree of difficulty.

“That’s why we go out there earlier during BP and we kind of find out how the (warning) track plays and how many steps (to the wall),” Bradley said.

No. 6 | April 14, 2018, at Fenway Park vs. Adam Jones

“A.J. wasn’t too happy with me,” Bradley said.

Bradley described this one as a “scary” play, again because the ball was low and he always worries about breaking his wrist. But here’s the weird thing.

“I honestly didn’t know if I caught the ball,” Bradley said. “How about that? I didn’t know I caught that. I literally (didn’t know) because I’ve taught myself over the years – I call it, the art of going limp. When I’m making a diving play, going limp (and) relaxing the body. That decreases your chances of getting hurt.”

Bradley doesn’t necessarily like this comparison, but he said it’s one he’s thought about: In drunk driving accidents, there is a popular theory that inebriated drivers often escape with more limited injuries than the crash suggests they should suffer. Maybe that’s true, maybe it isn’t, but the idea has stuck with Bradley.

“Their muscles are relaxed and their reactions are much slower,” he said. “So, they’re taking blows. But the people who are very reactive, they usually tense up, and when you tense up, your muscles start to tense and your bones are in jeopardy.”

Watch the clip again. Notice the way Bradley’s body looks like a stuffed animal the moment he hits the ground. He just sort of flops as he roles. Also, notice the way he looks toward the infield after pulling the ball out of his glove.

“I went over onto my shoulder and I didn’t know if I still had it,” he said. “And then, ‘Hey!’ This is me just showing the ball to myself, and not only myself but to the umpire, like, do you think I caught it? I don’t know if I did, actually.”

“I’ve always dreamed of robbing a game-winning home run, and I was able to do it.” — Jackie Bradley Jr.

No. 5 | May 19, 2017, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum vs. Ryon Healy

Two outs. Bottom of the ninth. Tied game. This should have been a walk-off home run against Craig Kimbrel, but Bradley pulled it back.

“I still talk to Ryon about it today,” he said, cracking up as the video cuts to Healy’s reaction. “Every single time he sees me, he says, ‘I still ain’t forget!’”

By Bradley’s own admission, this catch wasn’t particularly difficult. It just happened to be hit to exactly the right spot, at the right trajectory, and with enough hang time for Bradley to get himself in position. So why rank it in the top five?

“I think the moment definitely matters. Would they call David Ortiz one of the most clutch hitters in the game if the moments didn’t matter?” he said. “I’ve always dreamed of robbing a game-winning home run, and I was able to do it.”

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This would have been a walk-off home run for Oakland had Bradley not leaped over the wall to bring the ball back. | Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

One crucial factor that Bradley pointed out: He didn’t get to the wall, and then jump. He gave himself space.

“A lot of guys sometimes will get back there too fast,” he said. “They go to jump and they jump into the wall, and they get stuck. So, what I like to do is I like to at least make sure I go up before I get to the wall. That way, my momentum will carry me back and at least I’m already up. Nothing makes me more mad than getting to the wall, go to make my leap, and jump, and then I get brought down by the wall. I feel like I just wasted an opportunity.”

Quote

No. 4 | July 16, 2017,  at Fenway Park vs. Aaron Judge

Arguably, Bradley’s most famous catch.

“That’s another one of the moments,” he said.

In the bullpen, Matt Barnes put both hands on his head in disbelief. On the mound, David Price started laughing. Even Judge almost cracked a you-got-me smile. According to Statcast, it had an 89 percent chance of being a hit, and roughly the same percentage chance of being a home run. And that was without allowing for Fenway Park’s triangle in center field.

“That angled wall is difficult,” Bradley said. “Even (beyond) the wall being angled, there’s that separate wall that’s angled down as well, so I had to choose where on that particular angle I wanted to get up, jumping at the right time. And it’s actually a little soft over here, believe it or not. (The dirt) kind of gives because not many people go back there.”

Not many people go back there because most balls hit to that particular spot are either home runs or doubles to be fielded off a bounce.

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Jackie Bradley’s catch that robbed Aaron Judge of a home run had David Price smiling and relieved on the mound. | Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

“In order to rob a home run, I don’t think the robbing of the home run is the hardest thing about it,” Bradley said. “I just think it’s just aligning all those variables. It rarely happens. That’s why (those catches are rare). A guy that big and strong doesn’t usually barely hit it over the fence, and if he does, it’s on a rope. So, trajectory, the time that I need to get back there, and then the timing of the jump. It’s crucial.”

No. 3 | Aug. 9, 2015, at Comerica Park vs. Jefry Marte

This wasn’t in the original batch. The preselected 10th video was a shoestring catch from 2016, and Bradley liked it. But he loved this one.

“I didn’t really think it was that hard,” he admitted. “I just loved how identical (it looked).”

Identical to what? Just watch the video and you’ll know. It’s almost step-by-step recreation of The Catch, the iconic Willie Mays play from the 1954 World Series. Slight route correction at the end. Looking over the left shoulder. Glove in front so that the ball falls perfectly in place.

“That was cool just because it literally lined up with Willie’s step by step,” Bradley said. “It literally lined up perfectly just like that, except he actually had to make a throw. Mine was the third out. I got to just catch it, throw it on in, and jog it on in.”

As he was ranking the videos, Bradley asked if he could include his “Willie catch” in the top 10, then he went searching for his cell phone for photographic proof. And sure enough, he still has a saved email from a friend showing still pictures side-by-side, Bradley’s catch on the left and Mays’ on the right. They were even on the same foot when the catches were made.

“That’s what makes it,” Bradley said.

If you’re a center fielder ranking your best catches, and you have one that looks just like Willie Mays in 1954, how can you leave that out of the top three?

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Bradley looked like Willie Mays when he snagged this ball in Detroit in 2015. | Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

No. 2 | July 29, 2018, Fenway Park vs. Bobby Wilson

The question we came here to answer in the first place: Where does Sunday’s catch rank for Bradley? The answer: Almost at the very top.

“It was definitely a great play,” Bradley said. “I can tell you now, to this day, it still feels like a great play. Just aches and stuff. That was a lot of fun.”

There were multiple factors at play in this one. Bradley was shaded toward right field, so he had a ton of ground to cover, and when he lunged to make the play, he was just a few feet from the Green Monster.

“I didn’t think I was going to dive,” he said. “But my momentum carried me so much. It almost looks like my right leg hyperextends a little bit, but it doesn’t. I get so much speed and so much lean going forward that all I had left was this plant leg, and it kept me going when I couldn’t stop. So, I reached out, made the catch, and I tried to barrel roll to protect my body.”

Once again, he went limp to minimize the impact. You can see it right it in the video when he hits the ground. The moment his hip made contact with the warning track, Bradley became a rag doll. But that’s at the end of the clip. Bradley said it’s worth going back to the very beginning.

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Nathan Eovaldi learned in his first start for the Sox how helpful Jackie Bradley can be. | Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

“It was an outside pitch,” he said. “So, I was almost adjusting likely, possibly, thinking he might go the other way with it because most batters, they just go with the pitch. So, as I saw him hit it, he hit it over (to left center) and I don’t move my feet. I almost push off (the left leg) to get some momentum going and start heading toward the gap.”

Second-best catch of his career, and it turns out Bradley got a bad jump.

No. 1 | July 9, 2014, at Fenway Park vs. Tyler Flowers

After watching and discussing each play on this list, Bradley took a full seven minutes to rank them. He was meticulous, and he started at the bottom. Working his way up, Bradley’s longest pause came when he was down to the final two. He finally put pen to paper.

“Still claiming its No. 1 spot!” he said. “I can’t forget it.”

This was early in Bradley’s career, the first season he spent more time in the Major Leagues than in the minors. There was no guarantee he would stick. But on a sharp line drive to right-center, he went full Superman to make his greatest catch.

“What I remember about that catch is the wind was actually blowing toward right-center field,” he said. “So, the ball was kind of running away from me. As I’m running, and I’m getting closer, I knew I had to absolutely leave my feet. I knew it was going to be close, but I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get it. I literally caught it at the very end of my glove. Full extension. That was pretty much all I had.”

Notice how quickly he got up and turned to throw. Then notice the double pump before actually releasing the ball.

“I was so surprised,” he said. “That’s why you see me hesitate. I’m like, how the hell did you know to tag up right there?”

That’s right. Bradley considers this the greatest catch of his career, and he’s still upset it wasn’t a double play.

“Right!” he said. “So, that’s why, when I catch it I’m like, ‘Why is he tagging up?’ I pause and hesitate.”

After one more pause and one more hesitation, Bradley marked this catch with a No. 1. Still the best of his career. Sunday’s came close, but for the man himself, it just doesn’t measure up.

“I like this one a lot,” he said. “I’ve liked this one for a long time.”

POSTSCRIPT

As he finished his rankings, Bradley had a confession to make.

“That’s actually not my favorite of all time,” he said.

With that, he stood up again. First pitch was roughly two hours away. Plenty of time for one last story, and one final demonstration.

“My favorite of all time was actually when I was in Legion ball (in high school),” Bradley said. “You probably wouldn’t even believe this story.

“So, it’s (going to be) a home run. I catch it, but back in high school, we had chain-link fences. I catch it, and I get so high that I flip over the fence. I catch myself on the other side, so I’m literally hanging on the fence still parallel – I’m parallel with the fence. And I slowly (climbed back over the fence) backwards. I’m parallel this way, and I’m literally pushing myself back over. Then I fall back into play.

“I’m sitting on the ground, and the guy gets like five feet past second base, and I flip the ball out of my glove and throw it back in. And he just slams his helmet! I will never forget that play. It was crazy.”

 

Edited by Beau Vine
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Underdog

Underdog 27966

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

To be fair, it is pretty easy to forget the 2005 Astros if we're remembering World Serieses.   Except for FUCK YOU, AJP.

That did make me look up the 1973 Mets team.  They won the NL East with an 82-79 record.  The Dodgers won 95 games and didn't make the playoffs.  The Astros finished 4TH in the NL West with an 82-80 record.

But then the Mets beat early Big Red Machine in the NLCS and actually had a 3 games to 2 lead in the WS over the Reggie Jackson A's. 

 

Probably best remembered for the Rose/Harrelson scuffle at 2nd base. 

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9288

Posted
Posted
American League playoffs schedule:
 
Oct. 1: Tiebreaker games if needed
Oct. 3: AL Wild Card
ALDS: Oct 5-11
ALCS Oct. 13-21
WS: Oct. 23-31

Just looked at this a little closer.

leagues are flipped this year with the AL getting the max possible games on Sat/Sun and televised on TBS.
NL series’ start a day earlier and will be on Fox/FS1/MLBN
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