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Friday, May 23, 2008
Taking on 3-1: What are they thinking?
In the Phillies, Astros game today, the Phillies were down 1 run with 2 outs and runners on second and third in the top of the 9th. Victorino, a lefty, was at the plate, and Valverde, the Stros closer, was on the mound. The count went to 3-0 and then 3-1 and then Victorino popped out on the 3-2 count. The 3-0 and 3-1 pitches were 92 and 93 mph fastballs right down the middle (the 3-1 pitch was about knee high, middle of the plate). Valverde can throw up to 97. It looked like Victorino was taking on 3-0 and 3-1 (we can’t be sure), and in fact, the announcers casually remarked that “he was taking on 3-0 and 3-1,” as if that were the most natural thing in the world.
At least one of the announcers played ball professionally, I assume. Now, maybe it is correct to take the 3-0 pitch (I am not even sure about that), but surely it can’t be correct to take the 3-1 pitch in that situation! Don’t baseball players, managers, coaches, and announcers (former players) know that?