Many of today’s Major League Baseball fans are unaware of the many little games being played during a game. There is always a continuing cat-and-mouse session taking place where rules are being bent if not outright broken.
Sure, when somebody gets busted with pine tar in their glove or cork in their bat, it becomes apparent that cheating still remains a part of the national pastime.
But we’re talking about the subtle forms of “cheating” which actually fall under the term of “gamesmanship.”
Batters still sneak a glance back at the catcher to steal a sign or get location of a pitch. Pitchers still will wait for the opportune moment to stand six inches in front of the rubber to add a few miles per hour to a fastball. On-deck circle batters (Albert Pujols is good at this) slide toward the batter’s box to get a closer look at the pitcher’s movement on the baseball.
And, as witnessed last Sunday in the sweltering heat of Busch Stadium, runners on second base still tip off types of pitches and location to batters.
In the first inning of the Pirates’ come-from-behind 5-4 win, Jason Bay was on second with Darryl Ward at the plate. Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina suddenly challenged Ward face-to-face in the batter’s box and accused Bay of tipping pitches. Both benches and bullpens cleared, as if it weren’t hot enough already in Busch.
“Yadier was convinced they were tipping pitches from second, and he wanted to put an end to it,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
Actually, the first person to notice something odd is usually a middle infielder. In this case, shortstop David Eckstein brought the situation to Molina’s attention. Since you don’t want your pitcher getting thrown out of the game in the first inning, Molina took action instead of pitcher Jason Marquis.
“It definitely gives you confidence that a young catcher is standing behind you, standing up for you. He approached it in the right manner. Things got a little out of hand. Obviously, we’re thankful that no punches were thrown, but it’s a message that had to be sent,” Marquis says at stlcardinals.com.
It’s a good thing that La Russa stood up for Molina when he was mired in an awful April slump. While many fans wanted to send Molina down to Triple A – and longed for the days of light-hitting but defensively superb Mike Matheny – La Russa stayed the course.
Molina has paid off the team and La Russa for the confidence the skipper kept in his young catcher.
Molina is playing like an All Star and has been among the game’s best all-around catchers since May 1.
Speaking of All Stars, the Florida Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis continues to pitch like a superstar and, just as importantly, act like a gentleman.
With the debate growing over La Russa’s choice between his own Chris Carpenter and Willis as National League All-Star starter on July 12 in Detroit, Willis said last weekend, “Honestly, I would want him to start one of his guys, no matter what.”
Entering this week, Carpenter was 11-4 with a 2.77 earned run average. Willis was 12-2 with a 1.76 ERA.
Said Willis, “If Marlins manager Jack (McKeon) was managing, it would be different. I’m happy to be there, but I would love to get in there and get my cleats dirty.”
Like Willis, Molina has his glove, bat and head in the right places.
It helps Molina that he has two brothers in the Major Leagues, and his family is all about baseball.
That’s how you learn all the tricks, such as sign stealing. It’s also how you win the respect of your teammates and baseball fans.
It’s my bet that it will not be long before Willis is pitching to Molina in the All-Star game.
