Game 7 of the 2014 World Series: a few stories you might not have heard

Funny what you remember and what you forget...

If you’re a sports fan you might have noticed there’s not much on TV these days. You know things are bad when we’re reduced to watching pro athletes play video games.

Then I saw that Game 7 of the 2014 World Series was going to be rebroadcast and since I was at that game and never heard what the TV guys said, I decided to watch.

Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for Wednesday, October 29, 2014.  

A little World Series history

It’s funny what you remember and what you don’t and if you put a gun to my head and asked me to name the two Game 7 starting pitchers, I still never would have remembered Tim Hudson or Jeremy Guthrie.

I also didn’t remember that Eric Hosmer became the first guy in World Series history to get called out on an instant replay challenge.

Not sure how this helps you unless you’re trying to win a trivia contest, but figured I’d throw it in anyway.

Three plays I didn’t remember

When you watch a game live something important will happen in the early innings that’s totally forgotten by the game’s end and Game 7 was no exception.

Everybody remembers the ninth-inning Alex Gordon play – and we’ll get to that in a moment – but there were three earlier plays that changed the game’s outcome just as much as the play we all remember.

Second inning: Pablo Sandoval got grazed by a pitch when he declined to move his right elbow out of the way, was awarded first base and came around to score the first run of the game.

If you’re thinking there’s a rule that says a batter has to make some attempt to avoid getting hit by a pitch or he doesn’t get his base, you’re right, but what’s in the rule book doesn’t matter; it’s how those rules are interpreted on the field and big league umpires rarely enforce the rule requiring a batter to avoid a pitch.

Fourth inning: This time Sandoval reached safely on an infield hit when KC second baseman Omar Infante’s foot slipped on the grass and Omar couldn’t get much on his throw to first base. Once again Sandoval came around to score.

Fifth inning: The Royals failed to score a run when Nori Aoki sliced what looked like a sure RBI-double down the left field line, but Giants outfielder Juan Perez was right there to catch it.

Which reminded me of something Royals outfield guru Rusty Kuntz once said: as a series goes on, defensive positioning should get better.

Everybody knows what the overall numbers say, but good teams pay attention to what opposing players are doing right now. So defensive positioning should be better in the third game of a series compared to the first game and if you play a seven-game series defensive positioning should be outstanding and in the Giant’s case, it was.

The final score was 3-2, so change a hit by pitch, a slip in the grass or an outfielder hugging the left-field line and you change the outcome of Game 7.

How the Royals helped Madison Bumgarner become the MVP

Take nothing away from Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner; he threw 21 innings, pitched in three games and was named Most Valuable Player – but the Royals did their part to make Madbum the star.

There’s a pretty good history of star players underperforming in the World Series and there’s a pretty good reason that happens. Smart team will decide certain opposing players aren’t going to beat them and give them nothing to hit. Those players need to realize what’s happening, lay off the bad pitches, take their walks and turn things over to a teammate. But some stars want to be the star even when it’s not possible.

And if a player is going to chase pitches out of the zone, why would any sane pitcher throw him a strike?

Madison Bumgarner threw five innings in Game 7, but by my count, in those five innings Royals hitters chased pitches out of the strike zone 17 times. Salvador Perez made the last out of the game, swung the bat four times and only one of those pitches was a strike.

The Gordon play

OK, time to rehash the biggest play of the game, but first there are a few things you should know.

Gregor Blanco was the Giants center fielder that night and had briefly played for the Royals in 2010. While he was in Kansas City, Blanco made more than his share of mental mistakes and he’d make another one in Game 7.

Let’s start with “no doubles” defense.

When an outfield coach waves a hand behind his head he’s telling his defenders to play “no doubles.” That means backing up far enough that any ball over their head will be a home run, but it also means no risky plays that might result in extra bases; if an outfielder isn’t sure of a catch, pull up and play it for a single. Give up a single and it takes two more singles to score a run; allow an extra-base hit and it takes only one more single to score a run.

The second thing worth knowing is how outfielders let base runners know what to do.

Base runners have a lousy angle on the ball, so they watch the outfielder instead. If an outfielder runs back, that tells the runner he can make an aggressive turn at first base and think about going to second: the outfielder is headed away from the infield and will have no momentum on his throw.

If the outfielder runs in on the ball, that tells the runner it’s probably going to be a single at best and he should be wary of making too aggressive a turn at first base.

So when Gregor Blanco ran in on the ball that told Alex Gordon to slow up; he’d have to settle for a single. You don’t just run around the bases like your hair’s on fire until you get thrown out; you read what the defense is doing. But Blanco got too close to the ball and didn’t block it with his body – another mistake – so Gordon had to kick it back into gear and head for second. Then left fielder Juan Perez kicked the ball and that allowed Gordon to get to third.

Eventually, the Giants got the ball in the hands of shortstop Brandon Crawford and third base coach Mike Jirschele held Gordon at third base.

I’ve heard all kinds of people who didn’t play baseball question Jirschele’s decision, but I’ve never heard a word of criticism from a big league player.

The aftermath

Jirschele’s decision to hold Gordon up became a hot topic in Kansas City and just about everybody had an opinion.

The day after the Series ended, Mike went to get a haircut and the woman doing the cutting asked him if he’d seen the game the night before. Mike said he watched it, but didn’t mention he watched it from the third base coach’s box. The woman then asked Mike if he thought that coach should have sent Alex Gordon home and Mike said he didn’t think so.

When Mike was asked why he didn’t tell the woman who he was, he pointed out that she didn’t seem too happy with the call he’d made the night before and she was holding a pair of scissors in her hand.

So Jirch made two good calls in less than 24 hours.

Later, I heard that Royals GM Dayton Moore was asked about Mike’s decision and Moore asked the questioner if he knew the Royals third base coach’s name; when the questioner said no, Moore said you would if he’d sent Gordon home.

Getting a runner thrown out by 20 feet to end a World Series is a good way for a base coach to get famous.

The next time Jirschele ran into Brandon Crawford he asked why the Giants shortstop didn’t throw the ball home so everyone could see Gordon would have been out by a lot. Crawford said because he wanted Jirschele to send Gordon home; that’s how confidant Crawford was about throwing Gordon out.

Pretty much everyone who knew what they were talking about, thought Jirschele made the right call and, assuming I have any clue about baseball, that includes me.

Up next

Big league ballplayers will tell you experiencing the postseason once really helps if you ever get there again. You figure out what works and what doesn’t and that helps second time around.

So now I’m hoping they replay the 2015 World Series…I can’t wait to find out what happened.

OK, that’s it for today – stay safe, everybody.