Kaplan…for the defense

December 4, 2010

MLB Network

Image via Wikipedia

(A nod to one of my favorite old lawyer shows, Judd for the Defense, which starred Carl Betz, who played the father on The Donna Reed Show, which once featured a guest appearance by Willie Mays.)

Anyway…

I was watching the Top Defensive Plays of 2010 in the MLB Network (A TV fits on my bookshelf), and noticed a few things:

  1. The announcers get waaay to excited.
  2. The glove-flip-to-barehand pivot double play is less rare than one would think.
  3. They plays are impressive to watch, but just how “important” are they? I know someone somewhere calculates these things, but I would like to see how many runs these plays save. To be sure, some are game-enders, but if the defensive team is up by several runs the play had resulted with runners on base, would it ultimately have made a difference? Last year a White Sox outfielder (sorry, the name escapes me right now and I’m too lazy to look it up) saved a prefect game for Mark Buehrle with a ball that might have been out of the park.In 2010, one outfielder robbed the batter of a grand-slam,so I think he should be credited some how for the runs he saved. That should count more than a nice play on a foul ball with the bases empty in the late innings with the defensive team comfortably ahead. You get the idea.
  4. There were an awful lot of empty seats in the ballparks.

Just sayin.’

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