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silveradeptThe Double Play is a wonder, whenever it appears. One batted ball results in two outs for the defense. This is in part because the rules provide for many ways to get hitters and runners out on batted balls. This is also because there is an impressive amount of coordination involved in any double play.
Take, for example, the "garden variety" double play - a ground ball hit to either the shortstop (position 6) or second base (position 4). If they field the ground ball cleanly, they must quickly get the ball to the fielder covering second base. That fielder has to arrive, catch the ball with a foot in contact with the base, and then keep moving so that they can set and throw down to first base before the runner that is sliding into the base...or them...prevents the exchange from happening. If there is someone on the receiving end for the throw, then the double play can complete.
This is a thing being taught at the learning levels, but it may take a few years if developing arm strength and mental focus before there is the possibility that this exchange might happen the way it is envisioned. By the time we get to the Major League Baseball level, the entire exchange, from bat contact to second out, takes about fifteen seconds at most. The entire field is moving in concert, and it is beautiful to behold. Even though the television commentators may not be as appreciative of it, because they have seen it done time and time again, a triumph of execution and practice.
There are, of course, rarer forms of the double play that catch the excitement of the crowd and the commentators more. 5-4-3 (third base -> second base -> first base) is exciting because the ball has to travel a good deal farther around the diamond to achieve the same result and usually has a much tighter window of execution associated with it. The "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" double play is more properly recorded as a strikeout of the batter and a caught stealing against a runner, but there's something exciting about the catcher having to catch the pitch that the hitter is swinging at and then still make an accurate throw to catch the baserunner. It is a testament to concentration and the sometimes unappreciated throwing ability of most catchers. Infielders can create great double plays by catching a sharply struck ball that nobody thought they could get to and then throwing over to a base to catch a runner too far away from safety, having thought the hit would be a safe one. Those are plays that will energize the fanatics.
The most dramatic of double plays, however, almost always involve the outfield. Fly balls to the outfield that are not too deep or too shallow set up a showdown between the outfielder and the runner on base. The outfielder has to hit a very precise target on a couple bounces or less to give the fielder the ability to apply a tag to a very small and fast-moving window of opportunity. They are delightful to witness, especially when you know the fielder making the throw has an extremely large caliber launcher to fire with. Some of those double plays are also the kind where knowledge is the only reason why they happen - at the learning leagues, an outfielder making a catch is often sufficiently excited about making the catch (as fly balls to the outfield are quite rare) that they have to be reminded what to do after the catch is done. If the fielder remembers, and the infielders have remembered their roles, too, sometimes you get an extra out because the person on base has forgotten theirs. I've done that at least once in my career.
Double plays are responsible for at least one rules patch - the Infield Fly Rule. Because it is so much easier to be able to read whatever it is the baserunner expects you to do with the ball (catch or not), and then do the opposite so that your have a leisurely time to put them out and prevent the offense from being able to advance their agenda in a fair and equal manner. Baseball is supposed to be something approaching a fair game, so situations that consistently upset that fairness get patched out very quickly.
If this card appears in your reading, it's a sign of applied teamwork producing results. More than 99 percent of double plays executed need two or more players to act in concert, and the most "common" ones need three. Congratulate and acknowledge the team members that helped produce your result, no matter how routine it seemed to all of you, so as to make sure that the team dynamics continue to run smoothly.
Of course, if you're the hitter in this situation, well, making two outs is not the best result for your at bat, but you can take comfort in that most of the time in a double play, you tried to avoid it and just hit it to the wrong place. Lots of other players have done the same thing, and many other ones will continue to do so. Mistakes happen and you have to keep going. If you feel like the baserunner, it's probably a sign that you've been caught by surprise and misread a situation. (Or that you need to get into your takeout slide.)
Two outs, one play. Not bad work, if you can get it.
Take, for example, the "garden variety" double play - a ground ball hit to either the shortstop (position 6) or second base (position 4). If they field the ground ball cleanly, they must quickly get the ball to the fielder covering second base. That fielder has to arrive, catch the ball with a foot in contact with the base, and then keep moving so that they can set and throw down to first base before the runner that is sliding into the base...or them...prevents the exchange from happening. If there is someone on the receiving end for the throw, then the double play can complete.
This is a thing being taught at the learning levels, but it may take a few years if developing arm strength and mental focus before there is the possibility that this exchange might happen the way it is envisioned. By the time we get to the Major League Baseball level, the entire exchange, from bat contact to second out, takes about fifteen seconds at most. The entire field is moving in concert, and it is beautiful to behold. Even though the television commentators may not be as appreciative of it, because they have seen it done time and time again, a triumph of execution and practice.
There are, of course, rarer forms of the double play that catch the excitement of the crowd and the commentators more. 5-4-3 (third base -> second base -> first base) is exciting because the ball has to travel a good deal farther around the diamond to achieve the same result and usually has a much tighter window of execution associated with it. The "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" double play is more properly recorded as a strikeout of the batter and a caught stealing against a runner, but there's something exciting about the catcher having to catch the pitch that the hitter is swinging at and then still make an accurate throw to catch the baserunner. It is a testament to concentration and the sometimes unappreciated throwing ability of most catchers. Infielders can create great double plays by catching a sharply struck ball that nobody thought they could get to and then throwing over to a base to catch a runner too far away from safety, having thought the hit would be a safe one. Those are plays that will energize the fanatics.
The most dramatic of double plays, however, almost always involve the outfield. Fly balls to the outfield that are not too deep or too shallow set up a showdown between the outfielder and the runner on base. The outfielder has to hit a very precise target on a couple bounces or less to give the fielder the ability to apply a tag to a very small and fast-moving window of opportunity. They are delightful to witness, especially when you know the fielder making the throw has an extremely large caliber launcher to fire with. Some of those double plays are also the kind where knowledge is the only reason why they happen - at the learning leagues, an outfielder making a catch is often sufficiently excited about making the catch (as fly balls to the outfield are quite rare) that they have to be reminded what to do after the catch is done. If the fielder remembers, and the infielders have remembered their roles, too, sometimes you get an extra out because the person on base has forgotten theirs. I've done that at least once in my career.
Double plays are responsible for at least one rules patch - the Infield Fly Rule. Because it is so much easier to be able to read whatever it is the baserunner expects you to do with the ball (catch or not), and then do the opposite so that your have a leisurely time to put them out and prevent the offense from being able to advance their agenda in a fair and equal manner. Baseball is supposed to be something approaching a fair game, so situations that consistently upset that fairness get patched out very quickly.
If this card appears in your reading, it's a sign of applied teamwork producing results. More than 99 percent of double plays executed need two or more players to act in concert, and the most "common" ones need three. Congratulate and acknowledge the team members that helped produce your result, no matter how routine it seemed to all of you, so as to make sure that the team dynamics continue to run smoothly.
Of course, if you're the hitter in this situation, well, making two outs is not the best result for your at bat, but you can take comfort in that most of the time in a double play, you tried to avoid it and just hit it to the wrong place. Lots of other players have done the same thing, and many other ones will continue to do so. Mistakes happen and you have to keep going. If you feel like the baserunner, it's probably a sign that you've been caught by surprise and misread a situation. (Or that you need to get into your takeout slide.)
Two outs, one play. Not bad work, if you can get it.
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Date: 2016-07-02 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-02 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-02 02:16 pm (UTC):)