{"id":2136,"date":"2011-08-07T09:56:09","date_gmt":"2011-08-07T13:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2136"},"modified":"2012-10-11T13:24:43","modified_gmt":"2012-10-11T17:24:43","slug":"debate-was-jimmy-rollins-steal-against-baseballs-unwritten-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2136","title":{"rendered":"Debate: Was Jimmy Rollins’ steal against Baseball’s “Unwritten Rules?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jimmy Rollins steals lots of bases: did he steal one too many vs the Giants friday night? Photo: Thearon Henderson\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

(editor’s note: this post started with an email conversation amongst friends, where the Phillies fan amongst us didn’t think Rollin’s steal was “bad baseball.”)<\/p>\n

The Giants and Phillies mixed it up<\/a> in Friday 8\/5’s game, a 9-2 victory (box\/gamer<\/a>) for Philadelphia that featured some “unwritten rule” discussion over the actions of Jimmy Rollins<\/strong> and subsequently Giant’s reliever Ramon Ramirez<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here was the situation: the Phillies had just scored 2 runs to extend their lead to 8-2 in the top of the 6th inning.\u00a0 The Giant’s starter Jonathan Sanchez<\/strong> had been knocked out of the game, and reliever Ramirez gave up a 2-run scoring single to Rollins.\u00a0 Rollins promptly stole second base, and the next pitch plunked batter Shane Victorino<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I believe it was a deserving retaliation by Ramirez and\/or the Giants.\u00a0 Stealing with a lead is a sliding scale; had Rollins done it in the 2nd inning with a 3-run lead it wouldn’t have gone punished, but the 6th is iffy with a 6 run lead.\u00a0 Essentially, when the game appears to be out of reach, major leaguers have a tendency to just “play out the string” and expect this “conceding behavior” to be matched by the winning team.\u00a0 Having been on both sides of many blowouts, there’s definitively a list of things you don’t do with a massive lead.\u00a0 Steals and bunts are definitely out.\u00a0 Curtailing aggressive play (taking extra bases, take-out slides, etc), swinging at 3-0 pitches and swinging out of your ass trying to hit homers are all examples of no-nos.\u00a0 Certainly admiring homers and showing up a pitcher is a no-no, at nearly any point in the game (the Weaver incident earlier this week).<\/p>\n

My Phillies friend apologist countered that the game was still close enough, that the Giants still had 4 at-bats, and the steal (though borderline) was justified.<\/p>\n

Here’s some stats on the Giant’s offense and their capabilities of coming back, courtesy of baseball-reference.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n