Pitcher Forgets To Throw The Ball To First Base

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[@bkleimann]

Matt, what did you think about then making Acuna switch gloves because of rosin during game 1 against SF?

[@michaelangelos5117]

GREAT play by the runner! Totally deked the pitcher and then when he saw the pitcher look away turned on the afterburners. Smart play.

[@bshwph11]

きさ😊

[@notmarcus17]

How is this happening in the big leagues, I swear a high school JV player would be benched for doing something like this

[@Twitch760]

It's the Oakland As. Ownership has told them to do this to look as bad as possible they just want out of Oakland.

[@copp214]

​@@Twitch760It does seem like that is the case, but it isn't.

[@shanereasoner7418]

First time watching the A's?

[@mad_max2112]

He better be lucky Billy Martin isn’t alive. 😅

[@scottholder4431]

I bet he was either benched or had to take a night off or two.

[@rileyesmay]

The closest thing I've ever seen was something I actually did. In high school I was on the bigger side, and so when I hit a little comebacker to the pitcher I was slow out of the box lightly jogging towards first. The pitcher thought he could meet me at the 45 foot line, so he came over to tag me, and before he could I booked it towards first base, missed the tag, and the throw hit me in the back of the helmet. Not quite the same thing, but that's the beauty of baseball, you may not see something every again even in 100,000 games

[@fionam3554]

This reminds me of the "Conehead" play... first and second, two out, grounder to the right side, first baseman fields it, Cone runs to cover, batter busts it, and in a close play, the call him safe.... and Cone starts to argue. With his back to the plate. And the guy breaks from third while Cone argues, and he scores. and the other guy follows HIM and scores while cone argues

[@RobertGeneretteIII]

I was there at Nat's Park for this game (section 241). The crowd broke out into laughter. The runner scored later that inning and the Nats won by 1 (Walk-off Homer). Unbelievable.

[@oswaldomayberry9260]

That’s hilarious 😂

[@BitcoinMotorist]

Great video, can I make a suggestion? If you're going to cover a weird play like this, would you mind filling us in on how it was scored? Hit or error?

[@FettermanGPT]

Why? It's a hit. Statisticians don't take into account mental errors

[@egr7655]

This has to be considered a hit, as painful as that is to say. "Slow operation" is not an error.

[@frederickgambke9427]

HIT.

[@darrenlowry7477]

I had a pitcher in High School do this and he didn't play the rest of the season. The next year he was up to bat and he beat the pitcher to 1st. It was that day I knew the kid learned his lesson and so didn't everyone else

[@duckonmyquack]

Vargas has been an absolute ignition switch for the nats, especially in some moments late in the game. Dude always brings good energy

[@swampdweller5]

My thought was the pitcher forgot if he caught the ball on the fly or if it was a grounder. Then kind of short circuited as to throw the ball or not. But I have never seen that.... Great video as always Matt. Kind regards

[@Kiddman32]

In a high-school game, I once saw a runner get called out while scoring from 3rd on a bases-loaded walk. Dude stepped over the plate, missing it, went on into the duguout. But the catcher saw it, and so did the ump... The runner was called out on an appeal play.

[@aspireahead8388]

Ironically, if he would have run hard right out of the batter's box, he would have ended up being out at 1st base...

[@sophocles1198]

In poker this would be a slow play

[@synchronium24]

@@sophocles1198 True, the runner under-repped his stride.

[@turkeybowlwinkle4440]

I was thinking the same thing. Once the pitcher looked away and lollygagged it was off to the races.

[@kenamaro3942]

As a life long A's fan.....this just about sums it up.

[@randomlyrancannabis7020]

The old "Give up and go." As my coach called it. You always want to leg it out, obviously but every now and then if hes got you dead to rights you can lull a guy and sandbag down the line half way and then turn it on and make the play too. Great timing in the go.

[@MattChristie]

Always play hard and stay in it mentally. Mistakes and injuries mostly happen when guys are not locked in, playing hard.

[@jordy65056]

I dont know about injuries obviously some guys are more prone to injuries than others but in a lot of cases playing hard will lead to more injuries

[@randomlyrancannabis7020]

​@@jordy65056smarter not harder.

[@cjr1881]

Don't listen to Matt. If you need to be told to pay attention then you aren't going to be worth telling.

[@KevinQuinn81]

I've never seen it before either. I think the pitcher's brain just shuts off or he starts daydreaming as if the play is over. I can almost pinpoint the step where it happens because his head drifts up and to the left and he just seems to stop and go blank. It's like, the play took so long to develop (his fault of course) that he just lost track of what he was doing.

[@jimreadey4837]

"Always run hard"... or "Start off running easy, until the pitcher begins to ignore your presence -- *then* run hard."

[@SteveGamlin]

Way back when my Dad was my Little League Coach, he taught us: "When you make contact with the ball, you HUSTLE down that first base line!" Good thing this batter did! Mental fart on the pitcher's part... P.S. My Dad would've loved that first base coach's reaction. He cheered us on constantly, and taught us to do the same for each other.

[@1868JG]

But he didn’t actually hustle. He probably would have been out if he did.

[@number-1-Saxman]

Thank you for putting the arrow on the runner because I was thinking it w as the bird flying by that was heading to 1st.

[@willrobinson1671]

My first thought was that the pitcher caught it in his follow through, ,and thought maybe he caught it clean, not on the bounce. Watching the slo-mo replay, he just flat out didn't think the batter was going to try to beat it out. Good hustle.

[@poisonpotato1]

Reminds me of that play where 1st basemen forgot to tag 1st and instead chased batter all tje way back to home, batter calls the scoring run safe, then runs all the way to 2nd base

[@AEMoreira81]

Will Craig, in 2021. He is no longer playing baseball!

[@RamiAbboud1]

​@@AEMoreira81he's talkin about javy Baez with the Cubs

[@robbarbieri8676]

​@@RamiAbboud1I think he is referring to the 1st baseman who messed up, not Javy Baez, who was the batter.

[@southpaw788]

0:44 That bird flying by sent out a curse.

[@tilestwo]

What was the scorer's decision on that play? E1? Or infield single?

[@Crusader_Jones]

I’ll never be able to find it but Aaron Heilman did this on the Mets once where he just tried to beat the runner to first on a comebacker and failed. The only reason I remember it is because I’m a Yankee fan and my best friend is a Mets fan and I thought it was the funniest thing ever watching that with him

[@skiprockjr.6881]

Don't give up hope. Someone finally uploaded the game I was looking for for years. It was a Daryl Boston walkoff HBP in the 13th Inning to win 1-0. The ball didn't hit Boston's body, it went in between the buttons and ended up inside his jersey and he fished it out while walking to first. The last game I'm waiting to get uploaded is 7/5/2000 Mets-Marlins where Eric Cammack hit a triple in his only career MLB at bat.

[@avgjoe555]

Just got home from that game. What a fun play for the home crowd.

[@AT-dx9pf]

Adam Laroche-2005 NLDS. Put head down on routine grounder and jogged lightly to first and was beaten. Supposedly Chipper gave him a sort of parental talk (likely a loud one). But he hit a grand slam so he made up for it. 18 innings I believe. They lost.

[@AT-dx9pf]

Supposedly had trouble with attention problems and got on Adderall (at one point at least). Could've just done exercises to train his attention span imo but instead got to take amphetamines while other players would've been suspended for doing so. If I can say "got to" as if it's a good thing. Its a pharmaceutical fish-hook.

[@mikecumbo7531]

@@AT-dx9pfplayers can get medical wavers for Adderall. Chris Davis, former Oriole, had a waver, then it expired and got suspended but then got another waver.

[@copp214]

He zoned out. I was stunned by the pitcher. He gingerly walked to the bag until he snapped out of the fog his brain had encountered. CRAZY!!

[@dorkboi267]

I love this! Questions for Matt: What is the strangest meeting you’ve had pregame?

[@kennyd2600]

Oakland is providing us next level comedy this year.

[@brc537]

The bird flying over distracted him!

[@JungleCrook]

good breakdown dude keep it up i keep tellin myself ima start streamin blah blah but youre doin it and doin it well.

[@davidbohn8955]

I'm wondering what the ruling is for this. There was no fielding or throwing error made so was this an infield single?

[@crichards1986]

This is why you run everything out all the time. Much respect to a player on a last place team to run out a ground ball to the pitcher! I watched Derek Jeter his entire career and I can't recall a single time where he loafed it, EVER! And that's why he ended his career with over 3,000 hits.

[@dio696]

Yeah no, Jeter’s body wore down a ton by the end of his career and he become a horrible defender. Teams now will tell their stars to jog it out if it isn’t close to keep that from happening.

[@crichards1986]

What a laughable comment. Yeah, coaches telling their players to not run balls out because by the 19th and 20th year of their career, they will be slower...LOL@@dio696

[@chocolatecoveredgummybears]

lol no@@dio696

[@oswaldomayberry9260]

Great stuff man! Did you write your own Wikipedia just curious

[@ntataryn]

Apolutely great breakdown

[@Mitten4371]

Yea I pitched from little league to highschool and at age 13 I played travel baseball for coaches that played pro or college. But I have never seen a play like this at any level that I played on but we were taught to know the speed of the runner. Because if the runner doesn't run well you can take your time in throwing the runner out because your making the runner run out the play and you wear the runner out intentionally. But all this pitcher had to do was flip the ball to the firstbase man. But teams who are out of it like the Athletics are pretty much in spring training mode and they are seeing what players that they have in their system. So plays like this are things that organizations look at

[@jefffinlayson3002]

The pitcher fielded the ball and kept it in his glove with his throwing hand at his side. He didn't leave himself any chance to throw or flip the ball to first.

[@ThunderPants13]

Like Matt said, this is why you hustle as a baserunner. When Manny Machado was with the Dodgers, he basically said that he wasn't going to run hard on routine grounders, and to this day (as a Padre), he still doesn't. When you're getting paid tens of millions a year to play a game, you better run as hard as you can on every ball in play, or you don't deserve to be in MLB.

[@georgemartin5980]

The irony this time was if he’d been hustling, the pitcher probably wouldn’t have screwed up. But still, he should have been hustling.

[@drewmcclintock7034]

Manny 35 million a year to jog to first. Not bad at all.

[@kens2328]

That’s why Machado is a b****.

[@Bcr26420]

I played through college and amateur ball and even coached D1 ball for a year.....AND was an Umpire for 37 years....Nope.... I've NEVER seen this happen.

[@johnmoore4]

0:27: Maybe that black crow flying overhead distracted him.

[@skiprockjr.6881]

LOL. He could have tagged him too but he went for the bag.

[@markhayes2265]

I think the pitcher was thinking about what kind of dance 🕺he was going to do!

[@tempyshorts]

Never seen it bro

[@doublebass1985]

wouldn't be surprised if we see that pitcher in AAA next month

[@aaronholloway2]

Every single one of us have Screaming Brain Farts that we thought were going to be silent, every now and then!

[@fionam3554]

batter jogged, pitcher caught it, ran a couple steps, then HE started to jog. Batter sees this, and that the pitcher has his back to the batter... so he turns it on. You also leave out, if the pitcher lunges off the mound here and takes a step or two to the ball ... he should easily beat the batter to the bag if he takes a few more steps, as if he was going to cover. If I'm the pitcher, and it's not a Trea Turner busting out of the box in a gear I just don't have, I run it over to first unassisted. The chance of me throwing it poorly or first just dropping it is a lot more than me falling as I run over.

[@LaggingBack]

Base runner turns it up when he sees the pitcher taking that out for granted & realizes he has a chance to make it bang-bang at 1st. Love the effort to get on base even when the Nats have left to really play for.

[@Brxxzyishot]

What was he thinking?? Bro thought he was in an edit

[@rubenowitzv.3135]

Las Vegas bound✍🏻🤣

[@jkfan2005]

Pitcher went out that day using the "Dock Ellis Method" (if you know what I mean) but it didn't work out so well.

[@randomlyrancannabis7020]

LSD

[@perman66]

This sums up the season for the A's. They're packing it in knowing their moving to LV

[@WHOOP1976]

I was at a high school game and pitcher threw a wild one and catcher just stayed in the box and both runners scored and the batter (who swung at it) got a weird ass double out of it.

[@COLETHORN10]

Is it ruled a hit?

[@JoeBob23]

Did this get counted as an error or a base hit?

[@kathyclark3168]

Ummm I watched this once, twice, three times and thought I wasn't seeing the play right but I was!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂

[@TaterChip91]

About a month ago the Cubs were playing I don't remember who but Cody Bellinger was playing 1st with a runner on. I believe Kyle Hendricks was pitching. Anyway, the runner took off a little early and the pitcher threw a pick off to Bellinger...the runner was still a good 70 feet from 2nd and basically gave himself up ...but Belli literally just stood there , I don't think he even looked over to 2nd at all. That play instantly landed in my top 3 "what the fuck are you doing" moments so far this season. It was really weird and really dumb

[@billh4301]

I also don't understand the base runner positioning? You must stay inside the 2 lines, he seems to be to the left of the baseline, which also would have made it easier for pitcher to have tagged him.

[@robbarbieri8676]

That's not called unless it interferes with the throw. In this case, no throw so no call. Plus, he wouldn't have been in the path of any throw from the pitcher, if he had remembered to make one, ha ha!

[@danielking1850]

So was that an E?

[@erickpine8277]

Always run through first base even if you know you will be out. The running will help your agility, speed, and conditioning.

[@9mmtrilla]

100 mph pitch from Medina too... velocity, folks!

[@user-zp2gx7vh4s]

Will Craig pirates first baseman tops this

[@MrROFloyd]

Did not the runner run out of the baseline? Isn't he supposed to be in between the white lines? He even steps on the grass. I'm curiuos as to what the rule book says.

[@TaterChip91]

The runner must remain in the in the base path he established, meaning once he goes it must remain a straight line and can not zig zag and only has to be between those two lines a few feet from 1st base. To be considered out of the baseline he has to deviate 3 feet to either side

[@MrROFloyd]

​@@TaterChip91Hmm.. Ok, assuming the rules for first base are not different than other bases, and going by your explanation, the runner was not between the two lines before touching the base. Out? The umpire's did not call him out, nor (apparently) did the opposing team object, so I have to conclude that he was indeed safe. Is perhaps the rule, re:first base running, different in the majors?

[@rickygoodman1294]

I remember when i was a kid, it must have been 1969 or so, the tigers were playing on the game of the week. Norm Cash was playing on first. And whoever they were playing had a runner on first with no outs. And the guy hitting was a lefty and trying to move the runner over he drug a perfect bunt right up the first base line. Norm Cask fielded it with the hitter about 6 feet from cash and he stopped. And cash was staring at the baserunner they had just sacced over, and i guess he totally forgot to tag the guy or step on first And the hitter just kind of slowly walked right by Cash to first. Norm Cash for those that never saw him play, was a ball player.

[@ronpeacock9939]

This is the video coaches should show their hitters about running the entire way.. .Put pressure on the defence and they can crack… even at the MLB level.. Sadly, I’ve seen this happen at youth levels… but usually by HS.. never happens again.. oh wait.. rarely happens it seems.

[@McClimber234]

Yep, every softball and baseball player needs to see and learn

[@stich21]

Except if he was running full speed he’d of been out. It was deception

[@jereuter01]

It had something to do with that blackbird flying above the baseline from home to first. I'm sure of it.

[@mikecatcher50]

I was at this game and keeping score. Let's see. Wasn't really a hit (although the Official Scorer gave him one). Can't call it an error. I know he got to 1b on a stupid.

[@kerrytodd3753]

Wow

[@MrGameMeister]

At what point does the runner running so far out of the base line become a consideration? Only where throws result in potential interference? What about runner and fielder interference as they both run to the bag? @closecallsports

[@randomlyrancannabis7020]

My understanding as a coach and was as a player I had 3 foot from my base path to stray, not the line, but I set the path so that's subjective I feel.

[@MrGameMeister]

@@randomlyrancannabis7020 there have many instances and videos recently of players being called out as they cross to the infield side of the line. This is why the 45 foot line exists. Clearly from the video the runner is on the grass and a case could be made for interference in the last few steps to the bag. The call does seem subjective and was probably overlooked as everyone focused on the lack of throw to first. It seems the rule may only apply to throws to first and not to the fielder running to tag first.

[@lloydharris5255]

And they ruled it a hit.

[@cizzymac]

Which is the correct call. There was no technical error to call here.

[@leavemanycredits]

@@cizzymac which is why having errors go against batting average and OBP is just ridiculous imo. If you get on base (safely that is) you get on base

[@philiphaberkorn6988]

Yes, Ive seen it occasionally , in Little League to the majors. Pitchers misjudge the runner's speed. They think "he has to run twice as far as I do, he can't catch up with me."

[@FadkinsDiet]

Wonder if the ball got stuck in his glove and he knew the rule that you're not supposed to detach equipment, but didn't realize if the bal is already in the glove you are specifically allowed to throw the glove with the ball stuck in it.

[@PrometheanRising]

Actually, i gotta say. If he runs hard the whole way he probably gets thrown out. I don't think it was intentional, but the fact that he appeared to be phoning in the run to first probably contributed to the pitcher zoning out.

[@billbellinger6866]

The runner played heads up baseball. He read the pitchers lackadaisical attitude and took advantage on the play. He played possum and caught the pitcher napping, if you will!

[@KiccinShitWKay]

Did the ball hit the ground??

[@rockyhoughtaling2007]

My favorite part is the first baseman turning his glove over and putting his hands up like wtf are you doing?

[@OaseDaniel]

Unbelievable

[@georgiabradanick5509]

Pitcher's hand rule, Sir. Playing ball in the front yard without enough kids to fill out a full 9, just call "pitchers hand" and the batter is automatically out if the pitcher has the ball in his "hand." My man forgot he was playing MLB!!!! WTF!?!?

[@matthewbrothers2823]

He was distracted by the bird flying by

[@rddavies]

I have suspicion that for some reason pitchers are afraid to make throws in the infield as they have a tendency to overthrow the target. I think this could be a partial explanation.

[@synchronium24]

I think you have the pitcher's thought process right. Still a bad decision by him.

[@BarryStanky]

Did he think he caught it before it hit ground?

[@miked51]

The first baseman was hands out like WTF? Weird.

[@carygriggs7]

The bird was flying faster than either player. 😀 😃

[@4thegloryofthelord]

Maybe that raven flying by had something to do with it all.🤔

[@samtremblaybelzile]

At this point I'm almost more surprised they didn't call the runner out for running out of the baseline and getting in the defender's way.

[@kerrytodd3753]

😂

[@codyross1000]

Only IN Oakland

[@KWillyzz1]

Bird Flys by confused too

[@SpinyBadger]

The pitcher knew it was a routine out, and thinking the only way it could go wrong is a bad flip to 1B. Which is the kind of thing that can happen when a side's been stinking all season. So he played the percentages to run it himself - he had plenty of time - but got too casual with it. Awful play, but I understand why he held it.

[@abrahamfarraj84]

The 2023 Oakland A's, ladies and gentlemen

[@randomlyrancannabis7020]

I honestly can't remember them putting fear into anyone since Jose and Mark hitting and Ricky stealing with Eckersley pitching. I'm a pirates fan and I'd be ashamed to be an As fan right now.

[@abrahamfarraj84]

@@randomlyrancannabis7020 They've seen a lot of really good talent come and go and I think that's what's the biggest issue with them over the years, they never managed to capitalize on having some of these guys.

[@rdwells]

That's not what happens to 33-win teams; it's how they become 33-win teams.

[@dio696]

No rdwells, they are a 33 win team because there is 0 talent on that roster

[@jimstepan3038]

@@dio696 ; that's what he said 😵‍💫 😂🤣

[@joshuaanderson4090]

It's a compounding issue. The players aren't good enough so they're losing a lot. And when they're losing a lot it saps their focus and energy so they lose more. The pitchers has already checked out and he assumes the hitter has checked out too.

[@supermanprime6758]

I’ve seen a runner round first, drift back and THINK he had his foot on the bag but was tagged out just standing there.

[@4eversteena]

This is EXACTLY why I believe in fining MLB players making frivolous errors like this.

[@plvsoundman5148]

Time out and coach player conference at the mound time.

[@blitztim6416]

The coach is so funny.

[@ryanbringhurst3554]

Only thing I cud think of is pitch count, which is stupid n shouldn't b on his mind. Every time a pitcher throws to a base they add a pitch to their count. Not just on throw overs. But throws for an out. But again. Stupid to not just toss it over.

[@shawnsheikh1183]

Remember when the Oakland A's had cool uniforms?

[@Mike1614b]

That's why hustling is always best- it creates breaks. ask Pete Rose about that

[@RobKandell]

He thought he was playing sandlot where the pitcher’s hand is out at first.

[@NickKaminski1980]

I have a feeling I've seen Ichiro do this in a game but I can't be sure.

[@randomlyrancannabis7020]

Probably. He only finished one game his entire career with a BA under .300 and that was his 2nd game of his rookie season. It takes a little calamity to do that.

[@markcappiello2315]

this is sandlot- this is high school- this is why you play every play, this is what fans absolutely love, when we were young deeking our friends and other teams, hidden ball tricks all that , fans still love this game (its the best in the world) that is the problem with the mlb -it has gone woke , it is a business, it is suite boxes for companies to give them tickets to clients in town ( who arent mlb fans or home team fans) its now about speeding up the game ( taking away the cat and mouse game between pitcher and batter or base runners) not allowing the shift as to reward a batter who can only freakin pull a ball- this is why i feel on the last comment i left u anton - u thought it was bogus to hit the guy for his big back swing which took out the catcher and i thought it was ok( the lobe to the hip ok, throw around the head absolutly not) is fans feel this game in their souls, loyalty to teammates ( like we were kids neighborhood, sandlot, midgets minors majors babe ruth jr high high school and college) teammates- family-friends we played TOGETHER. i think if you look back at some of the unwritten rules they are about protecting each other- teammates! that does not exist in todays baseball mlb so there is a disconnect from current players and old school mlb fans, no one sits around and laughs having a beer loving and being with people u did a business deal with you do that with people u played to win with, sorry so long but had to throw it out there

[@PrometheanRising]

Dude thought he was gonna step on the bag and continue to the dugout and just checked out.