Runners on 1st and 3rd

This is a play that has honestly driven me nuts for a long time! I guess it offends my sensibilities because it takes advantage of the lack of skills of the players and to me that makes it wrong somehow. I'm not saying its cheating at all, but IMHO, it smacks of "bush" play.

At almost every level up to and including HS, the whole reason the offense even tries the play is because the chances that the catcher can throw out the runner at 2nd are very slim! In any league that allows leads, the runner isn't stealing off the catcher anyway, he's stealing off the pitcher.

Only the very best pitchers can get the ball to the catcher in 1.2 or better, and that puts one heck of a load on the catcher. Every fraction of a second longer it takes the pitcher to get the ball to the catcher, the more important the throw and its accuracy becomes.

The reason the 1st-3rd play works is because the defense has mentally already given up on getting the out at 2nd and are thinking about getting into the right position, and throwing and catching the ball. They literally forget about the batter and to me, that's always the wrong thing to do!

In leagues where there are no leads, the steals are against the catcher. "Most" catchers at that level couldn't throw out half of the runners that go, simply because they don't have a good enough or accurate enough arm and the fielders won't make the play cleanly. Throw in the pitcher heaving the ball in places that make it even harder for the catcher to get in the proper throwing position and the fact that the catcher doesn't catch a lot of ball "cleanly" and the odds are in the favor of the offense.

Now those things aren't true in every case, but in general, I'd say more bad things can happen on any stealing play than good ones for the defense, and a lot of those bad tings means not just one base, but two!

Because of that, If I were a coach, I'd let the runner have 2nd and tell my pitcher to get the batter out! What's the worst thing that can happen if no play is made? The batter hits a 3 run homer. What's the best thing that can happen if the defense makes a play? They get a double play. What are the chances of either one of those happening?

Some might think that at the lower levels, if the batter hits the ball, that means an automatic run because of the weak fielding even if its hit right to someone. Well, if the fielding is that weak, the chances that they pull the play off correctly is slim to none too, so why take the chance of giving up a run without even making the batter swing?

I've seen this play over and over and the truth is, the time that's spent practicing it would be much better spent working with the pitchers to throw more strikes, the catcher to learn better footwork and strengthen his arm, and the fielders to field and throw better.

If an offense likes to use it, it means they spend a lot of time running the bases and have had success doing it. Why play into their hands? The ultimate battle is getting the batter out and players need to concentrate on doing that, not worrying about a raft of signals, what they mean, who's going to holler and where everyone needs to be. That's too complicated!

Most of the silly things coaches have kids do to try to "trick" or "fool" the other team do nothing but cause problems. Having a SS or 2nd baseman faking behind a runner at 2nd, kicking up the dirt and slapping the glove looks silly and is silly. All it does is take the fielder's mind off of his real job, to field a ball that gets hit!

What the defense is doing is the same thing the offense wants them to do when they steal or run and hit. The purpose is to get the defense out of position. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've seen a simple ground ball go through the infield because the fielder was out of position slapping his glove or doing something else he shouldn't have been doing! watch a ML game and see how often fielders do that.

So, you can try it all you want and I hope you have great success, but the chances are, you will be better off on both offense and defense if the pitcher just concentrates on the batter and the batter tries to hit the ball.