Intentional Walks?

What was the score and innings the IBB happened? Sounds like they were early in the game based on it was the first two at bats.

To me you IBB someone who is just a freak of nature hitter or it's late in the game, need a force play anywhere and score dictates it.

This doesn't sound like textbook IBB times but don't really know the whole situation.

This is totaly different as my response pertains to 11u travelball but it matters in this instance.

We played a tournament this weekend that had we walked the #4 hitter with bases occupied at 2nd and 3rd it would have made the difference between 2nd place trophies and 1st place gold rings.

Now to an adult (me) it matters not as the tournament was rained out after pool play and awards were awarded by pool play results but to those 11u kids they would have rather gotten rings instead of a 2nd place trophy. The #1 team gave up 2 runs and the #2 team (us) gave up three runs. That #4 hole hitter knocked in the boy on 2nd and 3rd. The next batter K'd and the next batter grounded out to SS, inning over!! Had we walked him we would have given up only 1 run.

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"Are intentional walks used alot?"

Only when absolutely necessary...







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quote:

We played a tournament this weekend that had we walked the #4 hitter with bases occupied at 2nd and 3rd it would have made the difference between 2nd place trophies and 1st place gold rings.

Had we walked him we would have given up only 1 run.

By walking the bases loaded, it changes the game. The pitcher may pitch more carefully and the next hitters might've done damage. Now if there's a huge dropoff in the #4 hitter and the next guy it begs to walk him and your pitcher can throw strikes, you walk him but to say for sure what would've happpened after the fact, you don't kbnow that because the situation never happened.

Another gotwood4sale classic!

Yesterday, with my son on the mound, bottom of 7th, us with a 3-1 lead, 2 outs and runners on second & third, our coach decided to walk the #3 hitter (and the other team's best player) in favor of pitching to the #4, who hadn't done much all day. It was the only walk of the game. In Ohio, the pitcher does not actually have to throw the pitches, the coach can just tell the ump that the batter is walked. Anyway, #4 hitter grounded out to second, end of game, good guys win. At the time, the "great baseball minds" watching the game thought it was a bad idea to put the winning run on base, but it worked out in the end.

On a side note, our team's pitching coach told the pitching staff at the beginning of the season that if anyone pitched a complete game with no walks, he would buy the entire staff a steak dinner. After the game, my son inquired about his steak. "You had 1 walk," said the pitching coach. "No, I didn't," replied my son, "the head coach did!"

Several years ago we were playing on the road and we had one out in the bottom of the 9th or 10th inning in a still tie game. We get the first guy out but the second guy up hit a single into CF but they had an old tree stump out there and it kicked away so the guy ended up at third with one out. It was a high scoring game so everybody in the line up has had success that day so I went ahead and walked the next two guys to load them up.

The guy coming up at the plate had two hits that day but neither were hard hit. My best reliever was on the mound and he usually got ground balls. Knowing that I brought my CF to play right at 2B and put my other OF shallow in the gaps. We played the IF about halfway in for the option of a traditional double play with the CF making a quick turn or go home for hopefully a plate to first double play. Plenty of options here.

First pitch my guy hits the batter to force in the winning run. I felt pretty smart about what I was doing up until that point.

Interesting question. You often here different theories at the MLB level, really at all levels, about the wisdom, or the lack of it, in trying to steal bases, sacrifice bunts, hitting behind the runner and so forth. Both sides have what appears at the time, to be valid supporting evidence.

Bottom of the 7th in a big Region Game last week, my son received an IBB to load the bases with one out to set up the double-play and to pitch to a hitter that had looked bad the entire game (my son was 2/2 and had hit a HR against them earlier in the year). So the move made sense. But the hitter worked the count for a walk and the GW RBI ... we went on to score three more. Does the Coach look back and think, gee the guy I put on 1st could have hit into a double play?

I see too many Coaches, acting like poor umpires, trying to force "their will upon the game." Sometimes, if you are into and feel the pulse of the game, you are better off just letting it happen.

don't ya think?

I'm not convinced that all the statistical, by the book moves, really live up to the promise or can be backed up statistically. Sure seems they fail more often than not!

quote:

I see too many Coaches, acting like poor umpires, trying to force "their will upon the game." Sometimes, if you are into and feel the pulse of the game, you are better off just letting it happen.

don't ya think?

I think so. Sometimes they micromanage and outsmart themselves.

All that's been proved here is that memory is selective and hindsight is 20/20....