May 11, 2008
Stealing with Abandon
The Oakland Athletics stole five bases in their 12-6 win over the Texas Rangers. That's something the team hasn't done since 7/23/1995. No one was caught stealing, which makes them 19 or 23 on the year. This is a team that only runs when they are extremely confident they can make it, so taking off five times means they felt the battery anchored by Saltalamacchia was an easy target. Obviously, the were right.
They got two of their steals on a botched pickoff play.
They got two of their steals on a botched pickoff play.
They got two of their steals on a botched pickoff play.
And Andrew got two of his comments on a botched click of the "post" button :)
Even taking out those two steals, or, more realistically, counting the Mark Ellis one as a caught-stealing, the A's were 3/4, which is still a lot more running than they usually do.