Just a Stupid Play?
April 13th 2011 20:30
The Rangers suffered a blow yesterday when last year's MVP Josh Hamilton suffered a broken arm in the team's loss to the Detroit Tigers. The slugger didn't make it out of the first inning before sustaining the injury. Hamilton is expected to miss 8 weeks with a small fracture in his upper right arm. The play has received national attention not only because Hamilton is a recognizable figure but because of the situation that ultimately caused the injury.
Hamilton came to the plate in the first and connected off Brad Penny for an RBI triple. He slid headfirst into third and initially some thought he may have injured his arm on this play. With one out Adrian Beltre hit a lazy pop up in foul ground in front of third base. Third base coach Dave Anderson noticed that catcher Victor Martinez had left home to make a play on the ball and pitcher Brad Penny failed to cover the plate. As the ball was in the air he was telling Hamilton, "Nobody's at home, nobody's at home". Hamilton stated after the game that he went against his gut trying to tag up, but that he was simply listening to his coach.
Martinez realized home was abandoned and raced back in time to receive the throw from Brandon Inge and tag out Hamilton who gave up his body sliding head first into the plate. This, it was later determined, is the play that will cost the Ranger's star 6-8 weeks. The play has been talked about much since the event took place last night, some saying it was silly for Hamilton to give up his body in the first inning of a game this early in the season. Others counter that he is a pro athlete and merely doing his job. There is also the issue of the third base coach encouraging Hamilton to tag up.
After the game Hamilton said that it was a 'stupid play' but he was just listening to his coach. Some people took this as Hamilton blaming Anderson for the whole situation. He went on to say that it was a little too aggressive and upon hearing Anderson's urging remarks Hamilton thought to himself, "Dude, I don't want to do this. Something's going to happen".
I'll take a swing at the first situation before I get into who is responsible for the play at home. If you've ever played competitive sports you know that you cannot simply turn it off on some plays. What I mean by that is you are not going to sit there in the few seconds that ball is in the air and go through a checklist in your head, weighing your options. Hamilton wasn't saying, 'well it's the first inning early on in the season but if we score another run we'll have a great shot to win this game and that may end up making a difference between playoffs or not'. Hamilton heard his coach's remarks and being a competitive professional athlete he decided to give it his all and go for it. You cannot expect him not to slide head first in that situation either. That's his best way to get around the tag and again he is a competitive athlete who is going to do what he needs to do to win.
Now to the issue of who is responsible for the play. I bet Hamilton and the Rangers wish that Brad Penny had just done his job and covered the plate and none of this would have ever happened. While I'm not going to blame Penny, I'm also not going to blame the third base coach. He is there to give the runner advice and be his eyes on plays that Hamilton couldn't see. This was not one of those plays. This play was in front of Hamilton and he could see it happening just as well as the coach. If he went against his gut and went anyway then at the end of the day he is the one that made the decision.
Regardless of what people think Hamilton should have done or who was at fault it doesn't change the end result. The Rangers are going to have to look to their depth to replace last year's MVP for 8 weeks of this season. We will see if they can continue their hot start and not miss a beat without him, or if this is something that really ends up slowing the team down.
Hamilton came to the plate in the first and connected off Brad Penny for an RBI triple. He slid headfirst into third and initially some thought he may have injured his arm on this play. With one out Adrian Beltre hit a lazy pop up in foul ground in front of third base. Third base coach Dave Anderson noticed that catcher Victor Martinez had left home to make a play on the ball and pitcher Brad Penny failed to cover the plate. As the ball was in the air he was telling Hamilton, "Nobody's at home, nobody's at home". Hamilton stated after the game that he went against his gut trying to tag up, but that he was simply listening to his coach.
Hamilton was injured on this play at the plate
Martinez realized home was abandoned and raced back in time to receive the throw from Brandon Inge and tag out Hamilton who gave up his body sliding head first into the plate. This, it was later determined, is the play that will cost the Ranger's star 6-8 weeks. The play has been talked about much since the event took place last night, some saying it was silly for Hamilton to give up his body in the first inning of a game this early in the season. Others counter that he is a pro athlete and merely doing his job. There is also the issue of the third base coach encouraging Hamilton to tag up.
After the game Hamilton said that it was a 'stupid play' but he was just listening to his coach. Some people took this as Hamilton blaming Anderson for the whole situation. He went on to say that it was a little too aggressive and upon hearing Anderson's urging remarks Hamilton thought to himself, "Dude, I don't want to do this. Something's going to happen".
I'll take a swing at the first situation before I get into who is responsible for the play at home. If you've ever played competitive sports you know that you cannot simply turn it off on some plays. What I mean by that is you are not going to sit there in the few seconds that ball is in the air and go through a checklist in your head, weighing your options. Hamilton wasn't saying, 'well it's the first inning early on in the season but if we score another run we'll have a great shot to win this game and that may end up making a difference between playoffs or not'. Hamilton heard his coach's remarks and being a competitive professional athlete he decided to give it his all and go for it. You cannot expect him not to slide head first in that situation either. That's his best way to get around the tag and again he is a competitive athlete who is going to do what he needs to do to win.
Now to the issue of who is responsible for the play. I bet Hamilton and the Rangers wish that Brad Penny had just done his job and covered the plate and none of this would have ever happened. While I'm not going to blame Penny, I'm also not going to blame the third base coach. He is there to give the runner advice and be his eyes on plays that Hamilton couldn't see. This was not one of those plays. This play was in front of Hamilton and he could see it happening just as well as the coach. If he went against his gut and went anyway then at the end of the day he is the one that made the decision.
Ranger's third base coach Dave Anderson
Regardless of what people think Hamilton should have done or who was at fault it doesn't change the end result. The Rangers are going to have to look to their depth to replace last year's MVP for 8 weeks of this season. We will see if they can continue their hot start and not miss a beat without him, or if this is something that really ends up slowing the team down.
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Comment by Winless In Seattle
UnSportsman
I will also say that in the 1st inning of a game in May - when you're scoring runs like the Rangers do - there is absolutely zero reason to try and tag up and score from 3rd on a foul ball pop-up in front of a dugout.
I do, however, have an issue with the head first slide to home. That's about as Cardinal of a rule as there is - try to avoid the head first slide at home at all times. Catchers are usually big dudes, geared up and taught how to block a plate (versus a SS or 2B covering second - where you see the most head first slides). Sliding head first to home - close play or not - has injury written all over it.
Comment by Short
Food Herald
I can agree with the head first slide issue. While I do think Hamilton was just giving his all, he and others should try and train themselves to not go in head first so that this type of thing doesn't happen.
Comment by Joe Soriano
Pro Sports Wrap
Orble Sport Blog
Comment by Short
Food Herald
My only problem with the play was the fact Hamilton seemed to be blaming the third base coach in his post game comments and even the day after. Maybe it was just frustration but he didn't really try to distance himself from it the next day.
Either way if he doesn't get hurt that play is probably just on ESPN's top 10 and no one is really going to be talking about it beyond that.