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Much has been made of Jose Reyes getting thrown out at third on Luis Castillo’s sacrifice bunt in yesterday’s ballgame. However, if you saw the play — with a full view of the field — you would 
have seen that Reyes took off for the bag because no one was covering it. For him to be thrown out, the Nationals had to execute perfectly, which they did. Bad idea? Probably. But, at least it was an aggressive mistake.
In contrast, consider the David Wright fly ball dropped by Austin Kearns in the third inning. There were two outs at the time, and Luis Castillo on first. Castillo jogged to second, continued jogging to third, then started running when the ball fell to the ground. At the same time, Wright was watching the ball in the air while jogging slowly to first. After the game, Willie Randolph said he didn’t think Castillo would have scored had he been running full speed, but that’s not the point. The point is, both Wright and Castillo should have been hustling, and they weren’t. Randolph had a chance right there to set a new tone for the season by benching both players immediately. After all, if Wright and Castillo aren’t hustling, why should anyone else?
I’d much rather see players make aggressive mistakes while trying to do too much, than see them lose opportunities due to a lack of hustle.
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Plus, there’s the case to be made that Reyes was interfered with, as Guzman was in the baseline to tag out Jose.
jose didn’t make contact with guzman until after he had the ball. no interference at all.
And the term you’re looking for is “obstruction”. Interference is an offensive violation. Obstruction is a defensive violation.
Catcher’s interference is a defensive violation.
Thats because Catcher’s Obstruction just sounds wierd.
Benching them would be a hit harsh, I think….but to AT LEAST say in the press conference that BOTH players were completely out of line and it will be addressed would have been something to get the point across.
But nah, Willie said he talked to Wright about it and Castillo got a free pass. Typical Willie garbage. Let the vets get away with whatever they want, but always beat down on the kids.
PLEASE get him out of here, Wilpon….I am begging you. Heck, I think you can take a collection from the fans to pay off his salary that is left to get him out of town!
I am willing to sell my bottle of champagne and contribute to the Willy going away fund.
It’s Willie.
Agree totally, and I posted about this today as well.
Great narrative, Joe, exactly what we’re all thinking!
I second that
This is true, although Reyes should be aware of the game situation. There is no reason that you can’t be aggressive AND smart. But yeah, hustle is a good thing, Castillo and Wright’s loafing not a good thing.
Why can’t they steal first, bunt second? Or why can’t he steal third after the bunt instead of making the risky play? He’s a good base stealer. That’s what he should be thinking.
Joe, you are completely correct. Randolph’s “things just didn’t go our way” attitude after the game doesn’t change the mindset, and doesn’t force players to take responsibility for their lack of hussle.
I wasn’t anti-Randolph but it is starting to look like there needs to be a change in the mentality of this team, and it won’t happen unless there is a change in the on-field leadership.
Just because Randolph didn’t blast his players publicly doesn’t mean he didn’t address the issue privately. We don’t see everything.
That is the problem….he blasted Reyes IN PUBLIC last year. When you treat your players differently, you lose a lot of respect in the clubhouse.
I don’t disagree with your point, but it could be a change in philosophy. Or it could simply be Willie not being consistant.
Allow me to surmise how the conversation with Wright went:
WR: Hey David, you know, you really should’ve been hustling on that fly ball.
DW: Yeah, I know, Skip. Sorry.
WR: OK. Go get ‘em tomorrow.
haha. Great post.
LOL I don’t doubt that is probably EXACTLY how it went…
Maybe the players that are slumping right now should try what Giambi and some other yankees do: where a yellow thong! check out today’s ny post:
nypost.com/seven/05162008/sports/jason_giambi_wears_gold_thong_for_luck___111139.htm
great post Joe
This is probably the nastiest thing I’ve ever read. Here’s part of the article. If this isn’t gross I don’t know what is:
Baseball players are legendary for their superstitions, but Jason Giambi’s technique for snapping a batting slump may rank among the strangest : He puts on a gold lame, tiger-striped thong.
“I only put it on when I’m desperate to get out of a big slump,” he told Portfolio.com.
Giambi has shared his slump-breaker with other Yankees, including Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Robin Ventura and Robinson Cano.
“All of them wore it and got hits,” he said. “The thong works every time.”
Yankee fans must be so proud, it won’t be long until we start seeing members of the grounds crew wearing them while performing to YMCA…
That…is TRULY nasty. Give me Turk Wendell’s bear claw necklace (and other quirks), Carlos Gomez talking to his bat, Mike Piazza changing his facial hair, or even Davey Johnson’s tee shirt he wore without washing during winning streaks ANY day.
wear. not where.
I apologize for my typo. As you pointed out it’s “wear” not “where”. I will try to spell better from now on.
OK, go get ‘em tomorrow.
Reyes was aggressive true, but he also didnt run hard to second, as I understand it. And I’m all for aggressive play, but you got to know the situation. A single scores Reyes easily.
Frankly, I’m more annoyed that Randolph didnt give Reyes a chance to steal second in that situation. Speed is supposed to be a game changer.
As for Wright/Castillo, well, sadly, that sort of jogging on what looks like a routine out is a general problem with todays ballplayers, not just the Mets.
correct, reyes loafed it over to second and THEN decided to make a play for third. he does this far too often, where he jogs and then goes for an extra base.
so the play was the rare mix of first not hustling and then later making a terrible decision. i’m not giving him a pass on that.
at least castillo didn’t run his team out of an inning, and as annoyed as i am at that play, and even though i don’t buy the excuse, i don’t think he would have scored.
he might have scored.
I cant believe dykstraw said it but he’s right. I dont think he would have scored either. The ball was way too shallow and pretty much bounced right back up to Kearns who has a very good arm.
Lets also think of this in another way. Do we really want Castillo with his injury prone legs going full bore on a pop up that even Kranepool said would be caught 999 times out of 1000? At the very least we would want him to make it to third and he did that. Home was only an option if the ball was booted far away from Kearns. Now Wright should have been the one to get a talking to because he definetly should have been on second.
I agree with most of what you wrote, except about Wright. Castillo should have been hauling butt around the bases because he had nothing to lose, Wright however simply had to get to first, maybe he should have done it quicker but the odds of the ball being dropped first, then being picked up after the drop and throwing out the runner going first is slim. Castillo is the one to really blame on this play, had he ran outright he may have scored, if there’s a play at the plate force Kearns to make the play, if your out at least it’s on an aggressive play, plus forcing the play at the plate also moves Wright to second on the throw.
As far as Reyes, where do you start? He’s a spoiled kid who may never see his true potential. He loafs on plays one day, runs them out the next, no consistency from the biggest play maker on the team equates to a sub-par team and season. If he gets right so will the team.
yeah…i think reyes is gettin too much of a bad rap on that play
i think it was a great move, and exactly what this team needs
if he made it, that would have gave us some momentum and energized the players and fans as well as providing a much needed spark for this offense
I agree. People dont realize what a great play Aaron Boone made. If that play happens 10 times, I bet 5 times the ball goes past Guzman and Reyes walks home to tie the game, and is being praised beyond belief by Metsblog, SNY, and ESPN after the game. Boone hit a moving target going full speed and Guzman made a great play. The way Wright was swigning, getting to 3rd with 1 out was his only chance of bringing Reyes in. I wholeheartedly agree he should have had the chance to steal second before the bunt, but this is nothing new, Willie does this everytime. In all seriousness under that strategy we might as well have Wright or Beltran lead off because Reyes is at the top because of his speed, not his OBP so if you dont let him try to steal a base in that spot there is no reason to even bat him leadoff.
I think a bunt-and-run would have been more desireable, bunting it down third. It would have safely moved Reyes up to second but he would have already had his sights on third. He didnt take off for third until three steps before second when he saw no one covering. But in that same camera shot, just before he took off, you could see Guzman who was 2 to 3 steps toward third, take off to cover it. Reyes was behind all the way. A bunt-and-run would have had him running full speed all the way and outrunning anybody to third. But then again, with their luck so far, Castillo would have popped up that bunt and Reyes would have been doubled off.
unaggressive and dumb.
agressive and dumb.
Either way, the constant is ‘Dumb”.
I want smart ball players.
i think the comment willie made that castillo wouldnt have scored is the last straw for me. he has to identify how this team just doesnt hustle, and for me , thats probably the worst thing a team can do.
Very true. By saying he wouldn’t score Willie is essentially saying, “yeah he didn’t hustle, but who cares?” It’s crap. The fact is when you hustle, the fielders feel pressure. Kearns just dropped the ball. If Castillo were running hard, maybe he’s have kicked it in his haste to pick it back up. Run hard every time!!!!
As for Castillo’s supposed “lack of hustle”…
This is a player who’s coming off double knee surgery and missed the last three games due to soreness on the operated knees. Do we really want him sprinting at full speed when 999/1000 times, it won’t matter at all? If Castillo sprints there, and the ball is caught, but then he misses the next three games due to more soreness, everyone would be calliing him dumb for that. And don’t say, “I wouldn’t care if that happened because at least he was being aggressive”, because that’s what you’re blasting Reyes for.
When the team doesn’t win, this all gets blown up. If the Mets scored two runs yesterday by dumb luck, nobody would remember any of these plays.
If he can’t hustle, he shouldn’t be playing! Castillo’s speed is one of his few weapons. If he doesn’t have that weapon, he shouldn’t be on the field, he should be on the DL.
ags412,
If you can’t play baseball the way it should be played, you shouldn’t be playing. Castillo is valuable to this team because of his speed. If he doesn’t have that to offer, he shouldn’t be on the field. Speed is an intangable and when errors are made, speed is the #1 skill that takes advantage of that. If Castillo physically can’t hustle, he has to sit and then the burden of him being on the team is placed in Omar’s hands. If Castillo is out there as a professional athlete, I expect him to hustle.
Beltran has had his health problems and so has Alou, but with all the beef we give these players for getting injured, I think we are all happy of the effort they show (ex. Alou stealing home and Beltran making all of his tremendous plays this year).
Thank you.
This is probably the most meaningless post on metsblog in a long time. And who the f is Joe Janish anyway. Probably some hack SNY threw at Matt. Matt clearly you need to change the title of the website.
Routine flyballs are rarely run out by any player. Wright is no exception.
Castillo should have been busting it. No excuse with 2 outs.
Reyes was doing what Reyes should do. making things happen.
It is so damned if you do damned if you dont around here.
Couldn’t agree more, Joe.
Can someone help me on this—My understanding is that on the Reyes play the ball should’ve been thrown to the bag. It was not a rundown play. Why is it that the first basemen was allowed to throw the ball to a fielder who was near the shortstop position running toward third rather than having to throw at the bag? Isn’t there rule about throwing to the bag? Reyes may have thought he’d beat a throw to the bag…and he would have. Meanwhile had Reyes run hard to second he might have caught Boone’s attention doing so…The success of the play depended on the element of surprise. Unfortunately the Nats executed well.
Also –What Willie says in the clubhouse and how he says it we have no idea..We know he chose to say in public and it obviously irks a lot of fans…Do sportswriters really know how players feel about Willie or are they just projecting?
There’s only a rule about throwing to the bag if you’re a pitcher on the rubber. once the ball is in play, you can throw the ball to the centerfielder if you’re so inclined. There is no rule about throwing to the bag.
It doesn’t matter whether or not it was aggressive if it was stupid.
With Reyes’ speed he doesn’t need to be on 3B. Late in a one run game, that’s just a stupid play, aggressive or not, and shows a lack of understanding of the situation.
Sure, you would love to have him on 3B, but it really wasn’t worth the risk at the time.
Thanks, Tidewater, for the clarification. You don’t see the ball thrown to any place other than the bag very often, except in a rundown…but your clarification makes sense.
I retract my statement that he was lulling the defense into thinking he was satisfied to stay at second…With a fielder between Jose and third base able to receive the ball anywhere, that was a very risky play at that point in the game and the team paid for it.
On a positive note, hopeful signs from Pelfrey.
Yes, it was a great game by effort. I admire your glass half full attitude!
Reyes at least had a CHANCE….Castillo and Wright’s total lack of trying was inexcusable. Willie’s excuse of Castillo “probably wouldn’t have made it” is piss poor. He is giving permisssion and excuses for lackluster lazy performance from some of the greatest players in the league.
I didn’t see the play, but it doesn’t matter. There are times for risks and times to be conservative. For someone with Reyes’s speed, the extra base there is virtually meaningless. On a normal hit to the outfield he scores from second easily. It’s just a boneheaded play.
Willie it seems does not have a clue on how to deal with his players. Its like he doesen’t want to lose their respect. Well, you got to have repsect in order to lose it.