I spent most of the night up watching game 4 of the World Series. Damon’s steal of 2 and 3 on the same pitch was dubbed by the game changing play. ESPN’s Jayson Stark and Jim Caple indicated that most of the players didn’t even know how to defend it, and according to them Charlie Manuel thought the catcher should have covered third on the play.
(Short description of what happened: Damon hit a single, the Phillies’ infield shifted to right while Texeira was at bat. Damon stole second and C Ruiz threw from his knees to 3B Feliz, who was covering second in the shifted infield. Feliz moved towards the right side of the infield to catch the throw on a hop, and Damon popped up behind him and continued to the uncovered 3rd base.)
Manuel’s idea of having the catcher cover 3rd in shortsighted. Ruiz was on his knees throwing and the throw was late to the bag at second. So at the time Damon took of from second, he could have started towards 3rd as well (maybe). So Ruiz should have outran Damon to third base, handle the throw and tag him.
When the play happened the only hope was for P Lidge to cover third. He ducked for the throw and could have moved to the corner immediately after. He probably wouldn’t have been there in time to make any play if Damon still went, but him moving in that direction might have been enough to make the runner hesitate. But Lidge wasn’t aware of the danger.
The bigger problem on the play was that Feliz wasn’t aware of the danger before he got the throw… he very calmly moved towards the right side of the infield, opening the hole behind him for Damon to run through. He should have received it closer to the bag so Damon was within an arm’s reach. As a matter of fact: letting the ball get by him for SS Rollins to field behind the base would have been okay too.
You have to second guess the extreme shift Manuel had his infield in as well, and the decision by Ruiz to even make the throw on that pitch, for his knees. Covering third was not an option, but it appear three players (P, C, 3B) in the Phillies infield weren’t aware of the risk leading up to that situation. But then again, hindsight is always 20-20.
