All mark and humor aside, it strikes me that one of the beautiful things about baseball is that this one pitch, no matter how magnificent, could be negated if Johnson hangs the next one and Ramirez goes yard. In that instance, if not for Cistulli, this moment would be lost. Like tears in the rain.
3-2 pitches out of the zone always make me uncomfortable. That was clearly a nasty pitch, and in particular I know that a pitch that starts at the outside part of the plate and breaks out of the zone is one of the hardest for righties to lay off, but I always wonder how certain the pitcher/catcher feel that a pitch is going to induce a swing. Obviously the player’s swing rate, his rate of swinging on the particular pitch being called, his aggressiveness during the at bat, the previous sequence, and the count all play a role in that likelihood, and I think an analysis on how likely Hanley was to swing at the pitch based on those factors would be interesting, but I still feel like throwing a pitch and hoping the batter will do something is an iffy strategy.
The fallacy is, obviously, that if he had thrown a pitch in the zone he’s doing it in the hopes that Hanley won’t crush it over the fence.
I love your work, Carson. In particular, I feel like you’re largely responsible for the increased usage of GIFs here on Fangraphs. Maybe I’m just a visual-oriented person, but I get more excited about a post when I see that it has a GIF embedded in it.. In fact, right here in this moment, I’ve come up with a new acronym for blog posts: NGDR (No GIFs, Didn’t Read). Through your posting of select GIFs I’m able to enjoy baseballing exploits I wouldn’t normally be exposed to.
MikeS says:
August 26, 2012 at 12:52 am
All mark and humor aside, it strikes me that one of the beautiful things about baseball is that this one pitch, no matter how magnificent, could be negated if Johnson hangs the next one and Ramirez goes yard. In that instance, if not for Cistulli, this moment would be lost. Like tears in the rain.
Bryz says:
August 26, 2012 at 10:04 am
Except it was a full count, and that slider struck out Hanley.
Hooray baseball!
Bip says:
August 26, 2012 at 11:56 am
3-2 pitches out of the zone always make me uncomfortable. That was clearly a nasty pitch, and in particular I know that a pitch that starts at the outside part of the plate and breaks out of the zone is one of the hardest for righties to lay off, but I always wonder how certain the pitcher/catcher feel that a pitch is going to induce a swing. Obviously the player’s swing rate, his rate of swinging on the particular pitch being called, his aggressiveness during the at bat, the previous sequence, and the count all play a role in that likelihood, and I think an analysis on how likely Hanley was to swing at the pitch based on those factors would be interesting, but I still feel like throwing a pitch and hoping the batter will do something is an iffy strategy.
The fallacy is, obviously, that if he had thrown a pitch in the zone he’s doing it in the hopes that Hanley won’t crush it over the fence.
Sorry says:
August 26, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Carson, I’ve often thought of you as a douchey writer but this is beautiful post.
Carry On My Heyward Son says:
August 27, 2012 at 3:25 am
I love your work, Carson. In particular, I feel like you’re largely responsible for the increased usage of GIFs here on Fangraphs. Maybe I’m just a visual-oriented person, but I get more excited about a post when I see that it has a GIF embedded in it.. In fact, right here in this moment, I’ve come up with a new acronym for blog posts: NGDR (No GIFs, Didn’t Read). Through your posting of select GIFs I’m able to enjoy baseballing exploits I wouldn’t normally be exposed to.
Schuxu says:
August 27, 2012 at 8:19 am
Did you already meet this new Jeff guy?
dp says:
August 27, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Thanks, Cistulli. I ruined my undergarments and won’t be able to escape my cubicle for another hour. It was worth it.