Jake Arrieta Stole a Base
Let’s think about reactions. Think about how people respond to things that don’t go their way. You learn a lot about maturity, which is a lot about emotional command. Years ago my stepdad told me he feels bad for people who are angry — anger is an ugly display, a senseless expression, the avenue of the underdeveloped. It took me a while to know what he meant. The thing about anger is how satisfying it feels in the moment. When provoked, it’s almost a craving. The thing about maturity is remembering the other moments.
Wednesday night, Sean Rodriguez’s anger was provoked. One of the enduring images from the wild-card game is Rodriguez beating the life out of a lifeless orange cooler, an act that’s previously sent Rodriguez to the hospital. To Rodriguez’s credit, he didn’t do that to another living person, not that he didn’t try. He was tossed out for throwing a punch; he subsequently threw several more. Rodriguez needed to let his anger out, the pressure having mounted, and the release was violent, paroxysmic. Rodriguez thought of nothing other than resolution through his fists.
Wednesday night, at nearly the exact same time, Jake Arrieta’s anger was provoked. That which provoked Arrieta provoked Arrieta’s teammates, and it was Arrieta’s teammates who provoked Sean Rodriguez. Unlike Rodriguez, Arrieta remained an active player in the game. And very much unlike Rodriguez, Arrieta channeled his anger into something non-violent and constructive. The night saw Arrieta demonstrate his superiority in more than one way.
That which started it:
The Pirates might say that isn’t fair. The Pirates might say Arrieta started it, by previously hitting two of their batters. Never mind that one was grazed on the fingers, and that the other was struck by a breaking ball. Never mind that the Pirates organization very famously instructs many pitchers to work dangerously inside. You have to know that emotions run high in these things. You have to know that inside pitches trigger something, and that a baseball still hurts when it’s going 80 miles per hour. The Pirates were upset, with Arrieta, and with their circumstances. So Tony Watson threw a fastball at Arrieta’s butt. Arrieta wore it, and no one was injured, but the intent couldn’t have been more clear. Words were exchanged more than blows ever were. Within Arrieta, emotions were brought near the surface.
Only 10 times in history has a pitcher been hit by a pitch in a playoff game. It happened to John Lackey last year, but before that, you’d have to go all the way back to 1977. One naturally becomes upset when injured. One naturally becomes more upset when injured by another on purpose. Arrieta identified that feeling within himself. He kept it in its place. While teammates and adversaries milled around and heatedly approached the edge of actually doing something to one another, Arrieta considered his anger and thought to make something of it.
As events settled down and returned to in-game normalcy, Arrieta stood on first base, looking at the left-handed Watson while the left-handed Watson looked at Dexter Fowler. First-base coach Brandon Hyde sneaked in behind Pedro Alvarez to whisper a message into Arrieta’s ear.
The message, probably: take off, if you think you can make it. The rest was up to Arrieta, but he had his permission. And with his anger, he created 90 feet.
Symbolically, Arrieta did what he pleased. Symbolically, his attempt was entirely uncontested. The Pirates had thrown at Arrieta on purpose, and while maybe they didn’t know what the exact result would be, they might’ve hoped for an emotional response that would knock Arrieta off his game. Instead, the only player who lost it came out of the Pirates dugout, and Arrieta very calmly turned one free base into two. The Pirates could do nothing but accept it, accept the micro-defeat within the macro one. Watson tried to pull Arrieta into the muck. Instead he found a path around and above it. Safely on the other side, Arrieta could look down upon his opponents.
It was the seventh time in playoff history that a pitcher has stolen a base. It was done once in 1908, when the flag had 46 stars. It was done again in 1952, and here’s what that looked like:
Incredibly, it was done again by John Smoltz in 1991, 1992, and 1995. Then Cliff Lee stole a base in 2009, crediting first-base coach Davey Lopes. Finally, Arrieta, Wednesday night. Only Arrieta took off after having been hit by a pitch. And, as far as we know, only Arrieta stole on the first pitch after, at the first opportunity. Arrieta didn’t wait to observe. Arrieta didn’t do anything to time Watson’s delivery. Arrieta saw his presence on base was being neglected, and as quickly as he advanced to first, he advanced to second. There was zero hesitation. Arrieta knew exactly where his anger should go.
That’s the other part of it — as good as acting out can feel in the moment, if you’re able to harness your anger, you can turn it completely back around. It was the Pirates who acted on emotion by hitting Arrieta in the hip. And it was the Pirates left feeling most emotional after Arrieta took his base and then took another. In that way Arrieta won both the smaller confrontation and the bigger one, the one he controlled from start to finish. Out of the way that he felt, Jake Arrieta did something constructive and stayed on his mission. Over the course of his career, it isn’t just Arrieta’s pitching that’s developed.
Jeff made Lookout Landing a thing, but he does not still write there about the Mariners. He does write here, sometimes about the Mariners, but usually not.
This piece is insufferable. I’ll channel my anger by pretending you didn’t waste the time in writing it.
Ditto…about your comment
Jenny, I’d like to pull you into the muck, too. Can I call you at 867-5309 with some lewd suggestions?
Turn off the radio.
You missed the strategy component.
First. The pitch was placed at the hip pointer location. Arretta’s pitches the next inning were all high, with location control issues, indicating that Watson had indeed caused a hip pointer injury. That would explain why Jake was so angry. One would expect that injury to be much more painful the following day. I would expect him to miss his next start. And for the record, I have 20 years experience in sports medicine and have worked at the University of Pittsburgh sports medicine centre. It was genius to hit him in that location. They just should have done it in the 6th inning.
The reason the pitcher was able to steal a base could have something to do with the catcher having been hit in his throwing hand with a pitch. Remember that? Remember who threw that pitch at his throwing hand? So before you make Jake out to be a hero in this shallow biased article for stealing that base, remember who injured The Catcher in the first place. The man with pinpoint control who happened to throw a fastball at a professional ball players hands, risking his career. The genius who knew he was coming to bat the next inning.
You’re giving wayyyyyy too much credit to the control these guys have. If you’ve watched Arrieta at all, you would see that he really doesn’t have perfect control, and didn’t last night.
WILLIAM, it’s pretty amazing that you were able to type that whole message with your eyes all squinty from eating so many sour grapes.
Also, He hit the catchers left hand IIRC
Hands are the easiest thing to move out of the way of a pitch. Granted it doesn’t always happen and players get fooled into starting a swing. But to suggest that Arrieta was aiming or hoping to hurt a batter’s hand is like saying a hitter was aiming to hit a triple.
Did the author not read anything other than the Chicago Cubs fan page? Not only did Sean Rodriguez say that is Chicago Cubs player choked him, that player admitted to it but said that he accidentally put his hands around Rodriguez’s throat. I’m not going to mention the Chicago Cubs player by name, because he does not deserve the publicity. But to make Rodriguez out to be some kind of lunatic when he had a right to be irrate about being thrown from the game, after trying to punch a man who had just put his hands on his throat… that smells of an author with a strong bias. FanGraphs is better than that. I know its playoff time but come on. Don’t pander to the city with the larger population. FanGraphs is better than that.
One last thing. Where were all these Chicago Cubs fans at the end of July when the team was 4 games over .500? You all act like you’ve watched the team all year or something. From the posts, it’s obvious you haven’t.
To compare Kris Bryant to Ted Williams? After one season? Are you all high? I know you don’t like to discuss batting average, but 275. Only league average. Not Ted Williams 400 or anything.
Then Bryant backhanded a ball hit right at him at third base. No movement required. And people say that makes him a great third baseman. Maybe he is? But that play was fairly routine for a competent MLB infielder. Josh Harrison makes that play all the time. As does every third baseman in baseball at the pro level, and most at the Triple A level.
I bought my season tickets last January. I bought into what Jed and Theo were doing the day they were hired. Troll elsewhere.
Cubs fans have always been around, in fact the Cubs outdrew the Pirates the last couple years when the Cubs were terrible and the Pirates were a playoff team.
How is this not catchers indifference?
It’s hard to tell because we don’t see the angle where he breaks, but there’s a difference between catcher’s indifference and catcher doesn’t throw the ball because he has no chance. If Watson just wasn’t holding Arrieta at all, which it looked like he wasn’t, maybe Arrieta had way too big a jump for Cervelli to even try to get him.
He didn’t attempt to throw him out because he got such a large jump and would have been safe easily. You can even see Walker covering second base for a throw in the replay
Because it’s 4-0 and the 2nd baseman covered
I am indifferent as to whether or not this was a stolen base or defensive indifference! If I was the Pirates I would consider a defensive indifference more embarrassing than a stolen base there. At least Walker tried to cover.
Because it is defensive indifference, not catcher’s indifference. And because Walker moved to cover the base. For indifference to be ruled no defensive player is supposed to move to cover the base, the runner cannot be held and no throw can even be faked. Also the scorekeeper would also have to rule that the base have no effect on the game, and while it is 4-0, indifference is normally when the trailing team takes a base to eliminate the force at 2nd (and the possibility of a GIDP with less than 2 out) when that runner scoring would have no real effect on the game, generally a large lead in the 7th or 8th, and having a 2+ run lead in the 9th or later.
It’s not defensive indifference because the defence tried to defend against. They held him on, the middle infielder covered second, the catcher simply didn’t throw because he knew he was beat.
Jeff, a great piece about what baseball can teach us about life.
In another universe, it was Kluber stealing that base for the Indians in a play-in game in which he’d pitched a gem.
Strangely enough, that universe had the Indians winning the 2015 WS in Back to the Future II and the Cubs were depicted in the Major League films…
This is what you do. You get back at them on the field. I had a teammate who always chatted at the other team. He was intentionally hit. He didn’t say a word, got on first, and stole second and third. It was awesome
Remember what I did with Cole Hamels? As a teenager who should have been acting out…
Is there confirmation that the plunking of Arrieta was intentional? If so, it seems remarkably dumb. Put the worst hitter in the line up on base and then get to face the guy with the “hot bat”?
Nobody will ever admit to it being intentional. You won’t get a confirmation.
No question in the world that it was intentional. It was a fastball right to the butt. MLB pitchers don’t miss with fastballs that badly, and the fact that it hit him exactly where you are supposed to hit a guy when throwing at him on purpose leaves absolutely no question about the intent.
You can’t say absolutely no question about the intent. It could just be a coincidence. If what you said is true Matt then the odds of being a coincidence are just lower than if he was say hit in the head or something. Still a chance that it was just an accident in both situations.
Per Jeff in the article: “the Pirates organization very famously instructs many pitchers to work dangerously inside.” If Watson was simply throwing an inside pitch, it’s possible he could’ve hit Arrieta by missing his spot by a mere 6-8 inches. That’s not outside the realm of possibility.
That being said, there seems to be near unanimity that Watson was aiming for Arrieta, so I won’t put much effort into arguing the contrary.
I guess what really bothers me is that I can’t find any discussion of just how bone-headed such a decision would be. The Pirates were in no way out of the game and if they really wanted to retaliate, there’s always next season, when they’ll face Arrieta probably 2 or 3 times, at least. Given that Arrieta didn’t score and the Pirates never made it a closer game, I doubt I’ll see that discussion.
But hitting Arrieta has the chance of rattling his nerves, making him a less effective pitcher. There were two outs in the inning so its not like the cubs had a serious scoring threat with Arrieta on base (until he stole second).
Yeah it’s a bone-headed call, except if you’re the Pirates and you think the best way to defeat Arrieta is to get under his skin and get him on tilt. It didn’t work, as Jeff explains very wonderfully, but it might have been the thinking considering beating him at hitting his thrown baseballs wasn’t working so well for the Bucs.
It was the ideal time to drill him. Win Probability only went from 5.5% to 5.3%.
Are you seriously quoting the author of this article to support an argument you’re making? With all the factual inaccuracies in it? Like Sean Rodriguez have no reason to be mad when we now know that I Chicago Cubs player had his hands on Rodriguez’s throat? And Maddon told him to stop being a baby.
Read “Big Data Baseball”, and learn what you’re talking about. The reason they pitch inside. And has everything to do with the frequent IF shifting that you saw in the game, if you were smart enough to look for it. I noticed the Cubs didn’t shift at all. Good thing Jake got those strikeouts.
And regarding dangerous inside pitching, they have not hit a batter in the head in the last 5 years that I’ve been watching games. Exactly one player has been injured. Paul Goldschmidt, and he was hit in the wrist on a fastball that clearly got away. Game situation would not have allowed for HBP in that situation.
In fact Starling Marte is hit more often by pitches than almost anyone in the league, but he doesn’t cry about it.
Pitchers to get hit batting It’s a part of the game. Don’t like it, put a no trade to NL teams in your contract. Don’t sign with them as a free agent. Otherwise shut up and stop throwing at catchers hands.
Watson admitted in an interview that it was intentional – refreshing honesty.
Watson is scum for deliberately throwing at him, and so are the Pirate fans who cheered the HBP.
Throwing at a Cy Young candidate in a playoff game? The Pirates make the bush leagues look classy.
Cervelli throwing hand had been injured by little Jake earlier when he was hit by the pitch. He didn’t get a good grip on the ball. I still know people back with the Pirates medical team. I worked at UPMC sports medicine.
The ball hit his left fingers, he throws with his right hand.
“little Jake”???
Stop trolling…
Against Tony Watson. The best relief pitcher in baseball. Yeah. That was real risky. And it turned out real bad for Pittsburgh too. No wait… It didn’t
What part of that is wrong all you people putting up negative votes? Watson is the second best relief pitcher in baseball behind Mark Melancon…also a Pirate! And did he not get the third out with the next batter? He’s only given up a few RBIs all year with two outs, and most certainly not with a pitcher running from second.
Are all of you dick Cub fans so taken aback by Coghlan ending our SS’s season? “Oh how dare you throw at a Cy Young contender? The nerve!”. Nevermind our rookie of the year candidate, cleanup hitter, shortstop.
You mentioned that one ball “grazed on the fingers” and that no damage was really done. What if that pitch had broken Cervelli’s fingers instead of grazing them…would it be ok to hit Arrieta in the butt then? What if he hadn’t moved in time and the fastball that “grazed on the fingers” hit Cervelli in the head because he hadn’t gotten out of the way in time…would it have been ok to hit Arrieta in the butt then? I don’t think Arrieta meant to do any of that before but if the Pirates want to protect their players and hit the pitcher in the butt, then that should be it.
this is a dumb comment
Pirates motivation wasn’t protection, it was game strategy trying to rattle an ice-cold pitcher. This isn’t regular reason, it is one game play-in strategy. Their only option was to get Arrieta out of there, that’s what it was aiming to do.
It did do damage to Cervelli’s hand. He was unable to get a grip on the ball to throw up Jake in the bottom of the 8th. Hence no throw to second. I thought intelligent people came to this website. How come no one else even thought of this possibility? Why do you think he didn’t throw to second against a pitcher running the base path?
And for the record… If the Pirates really wanted to be jerks… They could have thrown to second 20 times making Jake dive back to second. In the process, aggravating the hip pointer they gave him by hitting him in the iliac crest. Not in the butt (gluteal mm.)
this comment is dumb
Anger is a gift.
Anger is a .gif
Official Police Report:
The suspect known as Jake “The Snake” Arrieta, burgled the Pittsburgh Pirates of two items on Wednesday, October 7th. The items included second base, and the Pirate’s dreams. The Pirates attempted a citizen’s arrest, but only succeeded in finding their demise.
Anger is an energy
Getting drilled in the butt and then stealing a base is sheer poetic justice. I want that Arrieta guy on my team. That Sean Rodriquez guy reminded me a lot of that crazy Milton Bradley. Jeez, lighten up Francis.
You realize one of the Cubs tried to choke Francis right? Watch the damn video. He had a right to be upset. You’re lucky he didn’t just knock out Madden
I forget the Cubs name, but the guy said his hands accidentally went around Sean Rodriguez’s throat. Sounds like OJ Simpson is playing on the Cubs.
There is nothing more enjoyable than getting to watch your enemies in defeat. Actually, its getting to watch them flail about with the mental gymnastics to rationalize their salt. xoxo.
You forgot to mention that you work, or worked, or knew someone who once had thought they worked with the Pirates at a sport medicine place. Oh, if you see Freewilly there say”Hi’
William/WillyG is one of the worst commenters I’ve seen here.
What DCPS is trying to say, is that he has no rational counter-argument to what I’m saying. In other words, he basically agrees with me. And I’m not going to post my medical license number on this forum to prove to him that I’m a physician. Or my name to prove I worked at UPMC Sports Medicine Center. (Idiots like him report false things to the Medical Licensing Board) I can name physicians from 20 years ago if you want. stuff you can’t find on the internet. Inside information about the Teams that I’m not supposed to disclose… due to non disclosure agreements. So yeah… keep trolling along there buddy.
I suppose you know where the blunt trauma location is to create a hip pointer? It’s exactly where Tony Watson hit Jake. Not a coincidence. The team doctor had to clue to him into that, probably in spring training. Probably reinforced that yesterday. With all the pitchers. Again, why do you think Jake was so upset? They are trained to do the same thing. He knew what they did. And he knew it could affect his pitching for the next two weeks. They screwed him.
Sean Rodriguez played for Joe Maddon. If you listen to any post game interviews, you will find out why Rodriguez was mad at Madden. Total disrespect for Rodriguez call me when Rodriguez approached him about the choking. That’s why I say he should have been punching Joe Madden. Maybe next year. One thing about the Pirates, they don’t forget. They put it in their computer, and it comes up later.
“Unlike Rodriguez, Arrieta remained an active player in the game.”
Rodriguez was already removed from the game in the third inning, as Pedro Alvarez pinch hit for him, so his ejection didn’t mean much as he was already inactive.
However, your point that Arrieta is a stone cold killer is well received.
Stone cold killers don’t hide behind a row of players after shooting off their big mouths. Nuff said.
This simply begs for an article on John Smoltz’s career as a basestealing playoff pitcher.
Three career stolen bases in 735 regular-season games.
Three career stolen bases in 42 post-season games.
Smoltz on his steal against the Pirates in 1992: “I had nothing to lose by going to second because if I was out, Otis would have led off the next inning. I don’t think he” — the pitcher — “even thought I would steal. I kind of deked him the first time just to see if he’d come over. Then I decided to go. If I got picked off, I got picked off.”
Smoltz is so awesome
One was done in July, when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
http://outfieldflyrule.com/2015/07/26/my-favorite-john-smoltz-fact/
Truedat on Smoltz’s awesomeness…belongs in HOF just on his base stealing
Wow, everyone here, starting with the article, is missing the strategic point of incurring warnings to both benches.
Arietta was pitching high and inside and losing control at the same time. By pegging him in the butt, the Pirates compelled the umpire to issue warnings (without incurring immediate ejections and fines, as a high and inside beaning with malicious intent would have done).
Now if Arietta wants to continue throwing high and inside, he risks being ejected. His game is now limited, and there’s a chance of an early exit — all of which is in the Pirates’ favor. The way the game is regulated now, this is in fact the only way a team can defend itself from a pitcher who is wild high and inside. There’s no way to politely ask the umpire to eject a wild pitcher the next time he hits a guy near his head.
Sean Rodriguez played for Joe Maddon. If you listen to any post game interviews, you will find out why Rodriguez was mad at Madden. Total disrespect for Rodriguez call me when Rodriguez approached him about the choking. That’s why I say he should have been punching Joe Madden. Maybe next year. One thing about the Pirates, they don’t forget. They put it in their computer, and it comes up later.
If you read my earlier post, that’s exactly what I said with one minor difference. They didn’t hit him in the butt. They hit him on the iliac crest with a quadricep muscles attach. That’s called a hip pointer. Very painful. You can cause a pitcherss pitches to go high and also affect control. The best part is… It can take 2 weeks to resolve. It would not shock me if he has serious control issues, primarily keeping the ball down, against the Cardinals. Thank you.
It was a truly genius move. Hitting our starting catcher in the hand was a dumb move on his part. Post game he said it affected his ability to grip the ball and that’s why he didn’t chance a throw to second. Local Pittsburgh radio got some of the best interviews out of the players.
I couldn’t care less about either team, but I’ve never read a more embarrassing sequence of whiny posts. Keep going William – you’ve nearly got us all convinced. The old hip-pointer HBP – I think that was common strategy exercised by Connie Mack, right? Genius.
Leave WillyG alone… he stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.
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