Posted on 05/15/2006 6:11:51 PM PDT by pjsbro
ATLANTA-Adam LaRoche knows how it looks. He doesn’t seem to be trying hard. He comes across as inattentive, sluggish, a little too laid-back to be a professional athlete.
When LaRoche was coming-up through the minors, countless coaches and instructors told him to show more emotion. “They would tell me, ‘When you’re playing, we know you want to win, but it doesn’t always look like it,”’ said LaRoche, the Atlanta-Braves’ first-baseman. “They would say, ‘You’ve got to fake it. You’ve got to fake some excitement. You’ve got show them you’re giving 100-percent.”’
LaRoche’s relaxed approach—and a disorder that makes it hard for him to concentrate—have come under scrutiny after the most embarrassing moment of his three-year-major-league-career.
On Sunday, after scooping up a routine grounder that should have been the third out of the inning, LaRoche took his time getting to first and was stunningly beaten to the bag by Washington’s Nick Johnson, who was hustling all-the-way.
The error allowed the Nationals to score four unearned-runs on their way to an 8-1 victory, and led to LaRoche being benched for Monday night’s game against Florida.
Standing at his locker beforehand, LaRoche stressed that he doesn’t want to blame attention-deficit-disorder for his mental-blunder. He was diagnosed with the condition in high school, and it would be easy enough to stamp a medical explanation on Sunday’s boneheaded-play. “I just need to pick-it-up a step,” LaRoche said. “If I was going to blame this on ADD, I would need go get some medicine to treat it. But that had nothing to do with it.”
An admirable stance, to be sure, but a leading-expert on ADD believes that LaRoche should take this opportunity to address an issue that is surely having an impact on his life—and perhaps serve as an inspiration to others with the disorder.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
ADD? Please.
As a Braves fan who watched the game, it was because he moved to slowly. That's it. A lack of attention didn't have anything to do with that.
Was the play scored as a hit or error?
Error.
The runner ran 90 feet in the time it took Adam LaRoche to run between 10-15 feet.
Tie went to the runner. As it should be. I saw that play. Lazy.
What's OCD?
Now be fair, it did take some time for the ball to actually get to the first basemen.... so lets say the batter had 3/4 sec head start.
[/sarcasm]
Obessive Complusive Disorder
You got it. Lack of hustle. I'd bench him for a week.
Sounds just like Garret Anderson of the Calif.... no, Ana.... no wait, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The real reason for the play wasn't LaRoche but the batter, Nick Johnson. When LaRoche last saw him before turning towards first, Johnson had slowed up as if accepting being out at first, but immediately once LaRoche turned around, Johnson sped up.
LaRoche would have made the tag if Johnson had kept pace, and to be honest, he had no reason to think he wouldn't, because there is a serious deficit of hustle throughout MLB.
The other day, the White Sox turned a (IIRC) 3-4-6 Triple Play. Runners on 1st and 2nd got caught when Konerko charged in and caught a bad bunt attempt right off the grass, but with the time it took for him to turn around and get the ball to Iguchi who was covering 1st, and then from him to Uribe covering 2nd, the Twins' runner on 2nd might have had a small shot of getting back safely if he'd stopped and turned back - yet he's clearly seen trotting past 3rd once he realizes Konerko's caught it and put the play into motion.
I'm not defending LaRoche's lack of hustle, but as the rest of you have stated, his ADD didn't cause that, and IMO he's not the worst offender in MLB when it comes to slacking off by players who either think the play is going to be easy for them (like LaRoche did), or too hard/close to bother (like the Twins runner on 2nd).
LaRoche's mistake was not being aware that Johnson had changed gears. Instead of all the talk on LaRoche, I'd rather hear from Johnson, because I'd love to know if he was being intentionally deceptive from the moment the ball left the bat (and he realized how terrible a hit it was), or if he simply reacted to the opportunity after the fact, once he realized LaRoche wasn't looking or speeding up himself.
I didn't see the play, but you make some excellent points.
What about cases where fielders would have an easy play at first, but they try for an unsuccessful play at Home Plate? Is the scorekeeper supposed to determine whether the infielder used good judgement in thinking the play at Home was possible?
Yes, there is and its been going on for years. The current pros need to take a look at some college games. They still play the game like they care.
On a different note, the college teams still wear their uniforms right. They way most of the pro players wear their pants, they look more like Jai Lai players.
The dropped ball in center is an error and counts against the hitter in the batting average category, however it increases his On Base Percentage (OBP)...tough luck, however now he has a chance to score or steal bases which help his stats. Second question. This is a fielders choice and is scored against the batter regardless of what the scorekeeper thinks. Really the only thing left up to the scorekeepers discretion is the difference between hit and an error.
It does, even though the play if completed would not have (an RBI fly ball is not considered an at-bat)?
yeah it counts against the batter. The scorekeeper can't assume a sacrifice (sac). What if the batter hits what could be an RBI fly ball and the runner at 3rd doesn't go, or trips and falls and doesn't score or leaves early and gets out on appeal...then no sacrifice and its just an out (or error if it was dropped). The RBI fly ball doesn't count agaianst the batter as it is viewed that the batter sacrificed his at bat to score a run. The RBI fly ball is a sac fly only if the runner scores. An RBI fly ball is only a sac if the fielder catches it. If the center fielder misreads the ball and runs away from catching the easy fly ball then it is a hit. They have tried to take away judgment calls and make scoring quick to note without having to go back and make changes based on what happens after the play. It isn't always fair but it is a team game. These kinds of situations make hit streaks and on base streaks that mmuch more special.
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