October 26, 2007
Turning the Tables
The pick off of Matt Holliday in game 2 was a result of steals against Papelbon in the LDS against the Angels:
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.
If you get the hitter, the runner can steal all he wants. That's why the Yankees should have ignored Dave Roberts in the 2004 ALCS. There was too much concentration on the runner, not enough on the batter.
"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.
Now that's being prepared. It's what I love about this organization, top to bottom, they're always thinking ahead. They found a way to turn a pattern others saw into an opportunity for an out.
They've become very similar to the Patriots in that they seem to go into every game with a plan and they usually execute it. Their players know the game and are great at understanding the situation.
The Red Sox coaching staff doesn't usually get a lot of credit for anything, so it's nice to see this. A huge moment, coming out of good planning.
Maybe Holliday should have been paying attention? He was out by so far it was embarrassing.
Holliday was caught mid-step. He was paying attention; it was just perfectly timed by Papelbon, which was equal parts lucky and smart.
Really, he wasn't even that far off the bag, he just had to re-plant before he could start going back.
Still inexcusable, just somewhat more understandable than not paying attention.
Mills looks for credit. Last year in a big game vs White Sox with Sox ahead by one run J. Dye rounded 3rd base but had to retreat to 2nd when batted ball was caught on fly. Dye never retouched 3rd nor came close. Francona was probably too busy to notice, but Mills should have caught this for an appeal play and 3rd out, but he never picked it up. Dye eventually scored to tie game and CWS won in extra innings. Those kind of losses kept Red Sox out of 2006 playoffs. Ask Mills about it.
I'd say a five-game Yankee sweep and injuries played a much bigger role than failure to appeal a play which at best maintained a tie had a little more impact...
Did Mills run over your dog or what, Bob?
