So for those of you not watching the World Series last night… the BoSox were protecting a 2-1 lead in the 8th. Matt Holliday hits a wicked line drive that nearly takes out both pitcher Jonathan Papelbon. Second-baseman Dustin Pedroia snares it on a great dive, but can’t make a play. Holliday’s now at first, and the Rockies most dangerous hitter, Todd Helton, is at the plate. And… before even firing a pitch, Papelbon whirls and picks off Holliday — who is out by a mile.
“Probably will go down as one of the biggest outs of my career,” Papelbon said afterward.
This is the fascinating part for me. Watching it on TV, one might think — or at least, I thought — that this was just a random, lucky play. But of course, it wasn’t. From the Boston Globe:
It was not happenstance. Holliday was intending to steal – he confirmed so after the game – and the Sox had a strong suspicion he was going.
They knew that the Rockies were scouting them in the Division Series against the Angels, when Howie Kendrick stole second and third unchallenged against Papelbon in the eighth inning of a tie game.
“If you were advancing us, you would have said the same thing, that Pap is 1.8 [seconds] to the plate, and he doesn’t pick,” Mills said. “But it was a different situation in the game against the Angels. We didn’t care if he stole, because we had confidence in Paps getting the hitter and we didn’t want to take anything away from him to try to get the runner on that situation.
“We know they’re advancing us, they’re watching it. That night I was talking to Pap in the shower about that exact thing, and about what was to come. [Bullpen coach] Gary Tuck was talking to him about it, [pitching coach] John Farrell talked to him about it, about different things we were going to do.”
When manager Terry Francona went out with trainer Paul Lessard to check on Pedroia, Mills noticed that Glenallen Hill, the Rockies’ first base coach, never stopped talking to Holliday. Mills also had a color-coded chart he keeps on every player, that showed that Holliday likes to steal on the first pitch with two outs. “It was right there in my pocket,” Mills said.
Indeed, it was right there on the chart, multiple steal attempts Holliday had made on the first pitch with two outs.
“You put all those things together, and it comes up, ‘Hey, we’re going to pick once to see where he’s at, and then we’re going to slide-step.’
“And, we were watching. I got a big lump in my throat because he kept inching, inching, inching off, and Pap did a great job of holding the ball, letting him get off there. And then I’m sitting there, with a lump in my throat, hoping he doesn’t throw [it] away.”
Papelbon made the play, Mills said. “He made the great pick.”
But while it was nowhere as dramatic as Kirk Gibson knowing that Dennis Eckersley was going to throw a backdoor slider on a full count before Gibson hit one of the greatest home runs in Series history, it was a stunning example of how inside knowledge and paying extraordinary attention to detail can turn a Series.
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