Burners At The Corners

A baseball team's batting order, as constructed by the team's manager, is an example of the epitome of optimism. For example, the player he designates as the leadoff (aka, the "one hole") hitter may never actually be the initial batter in any inning other than the first. Still, the manager picks him because, ideally, that guy will lead off several innings, not just the first. He is a "table setter," someone with a high on-base percentage. The prototypical two hole hitter is someone who, in addition to other attributes such as usually making contact, is either good at laying down sacrifice bunts or excels at executing the hit-and-run. But those two talents come into play only if there are runners on base when he comes up to bat. A manager usually puts his biggest power hitter in the clean-up (four hole) spot, even if that big galoot strikes out on a consistant basis. In short, the manager fills his lineup card by thinking positively. He believes the leadoff hitter will bat first in several innings (not just the first), the two hole hitter will come up with men on base, and the cleanup hitter will send the ball into the bleachers way more often than he will strike out. A lot of this is driven by tradition, but the truth is that, for many of the 162 regular season games, a manager could fill out his batting order by pulling the starters' names out of a hat and the results would be close to the same as if he'd completed his selections in the traditional manner. Some managers have tried pulling names from a hat in an effort to snap a losing streak. Why not shake things up a little if the old fashion methods aren't working?

Notwithstanding what I have written above, one lineup orchestration which I do favor is putting the two fastest guys in the lineup back-to-back. Typically this means batting them 1-2 (i.e., the first two spots in the batting order), 9-1, or even 8-9. Obviously if a team is lucky enough to have three speedsters in its lineup, so much the better; they can bat 9-1-2, three burners in a row! What a manager doesn't want is to have a slow guy on the bases impeding a faster teammate. That is often referred to as "clogging the bases" because it negates the athleticism of the speedy trailing runner.

In the National League, where the pitchers are required to bat and are notoriously weak hitters, some creativity in filling out the lineup card may be in order to accomplish the goal of having the speed burners hit consecutively. Tony La Russa, the arrogant yet highly successful former manager, used to insert his pitcher in the eight hole instead of ninth like most other National League managers would do. La Russa's rationale was that having the pitcher bat eighth enabled him to put speed in the ninth and leadoff spots, i.e., back-to-back. The man is considered one of the great managers of all time - - he managed three different teams to the World Series championship, including last year's World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, and is the third winningest manager in the history of baseball - - so there might be a method to his madness.

There are few situations in the fascinating sport of baseball which put more pressure on the defense than having fast runners at first and third base ("burners at the corners") with less than two out. Consider the possibilities which the catcher and his manager must anticipate before every pitch in that scenario. Their main concern is the double steal, in which the runner on first takes off for second, and as soon as the catcher releases the ball, the runner on third breaks for home. There is more than one way for the defensive team to attempt to keep that from happening. The only way that is fool proof is for the pitcher to intentionally hit the batter with the pitch. The result is a dead ball. The bad news is that the bases are then loaded. Aside from taking that drastic measure, the defense has four options with runners at the corners:

1. The catcher can throw down to second to try to nail the back-end base stealer (i.e., the guy who was the base runner at first), and hope that the man on third isn't attempting to steal as well. If the catcher is wrong, the guy on third will probably be successful in his attempt to steal home, because whoever takes the throw at second will not be in a good position to throw back to the catcher; he will be too busy with the incoming runner. Plus,the ball must travel in the air for a comparatively long time (from the plate to second base, and back), probably long enough for the speedy lead runner to steal home.

2. The catcher can throw the ball to one of the middle infielders who runs up to take the throw well in front of the bag. This is sometimes called "the short circuit play" because, by taking the throw in front of the bag, the middle infielder is shortening the round trip which the ball is taking in the air between home and second. If the man on third has broken for home, he will be dead meat at the plate, assuming the catcher and the middle infielder have strong and accurate arms. This option concedes the steal of second base.

3. The catcher can immediately throw down to third, ignoring the trailing runner, hoping that the runner on third leaves for home too early, caught offguard because he was not expecting the catcher to do that. If so, a run-down is the likely result.

4. The catcher can fake a throw to second, and try to catch the lead runner napping.

Of course, one other thing a catcher can do is simply hold onto the ball and concede second base to the trailing/back-end runner.

If you ever see a catcher standing in front of the plate with runners at the corners, he is usually signaling to his infielders which play is on. It is most likely one of the four enumerated above. The signaling by the catcher is not unlike the gyrations which you see a third base coach perform. It's essential that every infielder is on the same page.

With burners at the corners, there are things other than a double steal for the defense to contend with. Suicide squeezes, safety squeezes, and hit and run plays, to name a few. There is pressure on the pitcher to hold the runner at first close to the bag, and to be quick with his delivery. A typical move by the runner on third is to charge up the line toward home and then abruptly stop, in an attempt to cause the pitcher to balk. There is pressure on the catcher to block pitches in the dirt. A good catcher might call for a pitch such as a split finger fast ball, which is designed to dive into the dirt. In some cases that is the best pitch in the pitcher's arsenal. The pitcher needs to have confidence in his catcher, and the catcher needs to have confidence in his own ability to block the low pitch and keep the ball in front of him.

Just as is the case in football, a winning strategy is to keep putting pressure on the opponent's defense. If a defense is under pressure and is required to make several tough plays with perfect execution, sooner or later there will be imperfection, maybe even an error or two. A good team will capitalize on those imperfect executions and errors and turn them into runs. The easiest way for the offense to create pressure is by employing speed. Think about that the next time you see burners at the corners.