I think that Maddon argued that Hamels didn't pick up Pena's intent to steal until after Pena took off -- that is, that Hamels didn't "read" the steal.

Or, what the hell do I know, he could have been complaining that Hamels stopped coming to the book club and who the hell is Maddon going to talk about the new Barbara Kingsolver with now?

My guess is Maddon was saying Hamels typically decides to go home or go to first before he moves at all, that he doesn't pause in his delivery with a big leg kick to 'read' the runner.

But, unless it's telling us again that curve balls *curve*, McCarver isn't going to be much use in explaining much of anything.

I'm no expert, but my guess is that a "reader" is a pitcher who lifts his leg in the wind-up, then take a quick read of the first base runner before making his move to home plate or coming to first (there are some esoteric aspects of the leg kick such as crossing over and whatnot, but a "reading" pitcher has a leg kick designed to allow him to go to either home or first). Pitcher usually have a first base move with a leg kick (a "read") or the snap throw ("nonread")

In this instance, the pitcher has not been a reader. His leg kick was always towards home plate and he didn't even check the runner during his move. He only checked before the leg kick and threw over. So using the manager's theory, by starting his leg kick he is signaling a move to home plate that the runner is entitled to rely upon. By only going to first in the middle of his leg kick in this one instance, he is deceiving the runner (the key to a balk).

The ump was essentially saying that he doesn't look at subjective stuff like whether the pitcher is a "reader" but instead only looks to the direction of the step. If the guy steps to first, no balk. If the guy steps to home, balk.

Just a guess though.

yeah, his library card's expired. simple, right?

my first thought was he's not engaged with reading signals from the catcher; therefore, he's entered his windup motion. but i'm probably wrong about this.

mccarver sucks! the lamest moment for me was after buck explained all the ground rules around the catwalk rings inside tropicana -- another reason it's a joke of a stadium, by the way, along with the "rays" swimming around in the aquarium that parents let their kids dip their hands in -- and afterwards mccarver said, "these players are interested in winning different kinds of rings..."

yuk-yuk-yuk! lame pun, dumbass! mccarver does this at least five times a game. give me the TBS crew any day.

Some left handed pitchers, Jamie Moyer, for example, lift their leg from the stretch and, in those first moments, "read" the base runner: If the runner takes off they throw to first, if not, they throw home.

Maddon's point is that Hamel's is not one of these pitchers. He throws harder than Moyer and one of the reasons why is he uses his lower body more. It is harder to read if you "load" your lower half as Hamels does. So, while Moyer's center of gravity will not be moving towards home plate when he throws to first, Hamels' was, and that is what Maddon means when he says, "He's going home all the way." If your body is moving towards home plate, it is much harder to step towards first base. It is still possible, and Welke claimed he saw Hamels step about a foot towards first base, which is why he didn't call a balk.

Scouting reports would have told the Ray's staff that Hamels was not a "reader" and so they told their base stealers to "go on first movement." This is not something they would likely try with Moyer, but was worth the risk with Hamels. Maddon went out to discuss this so that the next time Hamels pitches the home plate umpire will watch his right foot more closely to make sure it is stepping towards the base.

I totally agree with you about the huge Logos. I didn't get to watch much of last night's game, but that is one thing that stuck out and bothered me.

Regarding, Tim McCarver, I know many people are bothered by him, but the one thing I like about him is that he is almost always into the game, and by that I mean he is always talking about what is happening abouth the game at hand, which I really appreciate. Too many broadcasters get carried away with topics not related to the game they are watchinga and broadcasting. McCarver keeps you involved with the game, and for that reason I enjoy the games he covers.

Your favorite Dodger fan here to save you again, King Kaufman. BTW, if you told me Torre was going to hit Russell Martin clean-up all series, I would've told you the boys in blue would've lost, too. Martin is the oldest of the young core of Dodgers, and he's not yet a true veteran when it comes to keeping his emotions in check. So with a young-ish catcher who, say, watches His pitcher give up a home run and then questions his own pitch calling (as even his battery-mate Chad Billingsley did), a manager needs to take pressure off his younger catcher in every other area so he can focus on his pitchers -- that means not hitting Russell Martin 4th. The Dodgers can do just fine with him hitting second -- Andre Ethier makes much more sense hitting 4th, 5th or 6th anyway (and less lefty/righty alternating wouldn't make a difference). Nobody cares about the Dodgers right now except their fans who know spring training will be more exciting than it has in a long time... if they sign Manny :) ...I felt like I was 13 again when I was at this year's NLCS Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, my age when I watched Gibby hit the homer from my season seats in the '88 World Series -- in between, I soured on ownership after letting Steve Sax go over the $50,000 extra the Yanks were offering, Strawberry/Davis disappointments, Piazza and LoDuca trades, Kevin Brown/Darren Dreifort/Andruw Jones and Brad signings and Brad Penny/Jason Schmidt fruitlessness...Jason Bay is a stand-up guy but he doesn't bring that Manny intangible that makes adult fans feel like kids again.

THE BALK RULE EXISTS ONLY SO THE PITCHER DOES NOT CHEAT THE RUNNER -- IS HE GOING TO HOME; IS HE GOING TO FIRST? THE UMPIRE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THERE WAS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN A HAMMELS PITCH VS. A HAMELS PICK-OFF ATTEMPT -- THE ARGUMENT FOR NOT CALLING A BALK. BUT THE RAYS MANAGER SAID IT DOESN'T READ FOR THE RUNNER... STANDING ON FIRST BASE, A PITCH LOOKS THE SAME AS A PICK-OFF MOVE TO FIRST FOR THE RUNNER TRYING TO READ THE PITCHER -- THE ARGUMENT FOR CALLING A BALK. TIM MCCARVER WAS DOING THE FOX GLOW PUCK (HOCKEY)/SCOOTER CARTOON (BASEBALL) THING BY EXPLAINING A BALK, WHICH MOST WORLD SERIES VIEWERS KNOW, INSTEAD OF GETTING THE VIEWER IN THE HEAD OF THE BASERUNNER: NO READ ON THE PITCHER AND YOU'RE FROZEN LEADING OFF AT FIRST OR LEANING BACK TO THE BAG EVERY PITCH. UMPS WILL REVIEW THE TAPE AND CALL A BALK ON HAMELS IN GAME 4 OR 5.