The four seconds that could have cost the Red Sox the Series

A Major League Baseball season lasts over seven months.  That is over 18 million seconds.  What would you say if I told you that the Red Sox could have very well lost the World Series because of just 4 seconds out of those 18 million? 

Below is a highlight video of the historic 18 inning game between the Red Sox and the Dodgers in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series.  The Red Sox were up two games to nothing and had a one run lead with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning.  A Dodger runner was on 2nd base.  One more out and the game (and pretty much the whole World Series) was over.  

Fast forward the video below to the 13:40 mark and watch the next 1:20 seconds until it gets to the 15:00 mark.  Then pause the video.

Now go back to the 14:20 mark which begins to show the best angle in order to see Kinsler before and after the pitch.  Be ready to push pause.  Keep your eyes on Kinsler and push PLAY to watch the next 8 seconds, then PAUSE at exactly 14:28.  

What you will see is a second baseman who is not in an athletic position to go after a ball hit to his right.  (Don’t worry, Ian.  Your center fielder is in a worse position with one foot in front of the other at the point of contact.)  The count is 1-1 with the two prior pitches being up-and-in fastballs.  The pitch that will be hit is another up-and-in fastball so it’s a little weird that Kinsler is leaning to his left on the pitch so much when he is clearly shading Puig to pull on the pitch.

Because Kinsler is not in an athletic position at contact (he’s too upright), his first movement after contact is to get into an athletic position instead of it being to break to his right.  This results in a late jump on the ground ball. Because he knows he is late, his body overcompensates and overruns the ball slightly.  Now he has to try to backhand a ball that clearly did not have to be backhanded. You’ll see that at the 14:01 mark.  His feet are in an awful position at this point but he doesn’t have time to set them correctly before the throw.  He rushes an off-balance throw that is no where close to being accurate.

Bad athletic body position led to bad feet.  Bad feet led to bad balance and a bad jump.  Bad balance led to a bad throwing position.  A bad throwing position led to a bad throw.  A bad throw led to a tie game in the 13th and an eventual Dodgers win instead of Boston going up three games to none in the series.

My point here is not in any way to pile on Ian Kinsler.  He is a FAR better all-around baseball player than I ever dreamed of being.  My message is for younger players who MUST learn the following about being a good defensive player:

On EVERY. SINGLE. PITCH. you need to be telling yourself that the ball is going to be hit to you so there is no surprise when it is.

Your feet have to be squared to the hitter at or before the point at which the batter makes contact with the ball.

Your body must already be in the most athletic position possible BEFORE the ball is hit or you will waste precious time getting into that position after contact instead of using that time to get to the ball.

Baseball is played from the ground up.  If your feet are not in the correct place at the correct time, the game will eat you up and pass you by.

Relax and take just one pitch off and the game can embarrass you.

This play clearly shifted the momentum towards the Dodgers who eventually won the game.  The Red Sox ultimately won the Series but if the Dodgers had come back to win, critics would have undoubtedly gone back and pointed at this four second play as the turning point.

18 million seconds in a season and it could have hinged on just four of them.  It doesn’t seem fair but then again … nobody ever said the game was fair. 

Thursday’s video post:  Runners, stay still at second base!