Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
As the base running blunders continue to pile up, I can’t help but wonder how Mike Gallego became the third-base coach for the Oakland Athletics.
It’s not like the 13-year MLB veteran, 1989 World Series champ and Billy Beane all-time favorite was some genius base runner himself. Throughout his career, Gallego, who played eight seasons in Oakland, actually was thrown out more times (31) than he was successful (24 times) when attempting to steal a base. That works out to a 43.6% success rate for the second baseman, who was best known for his glove.
As the Athletics fell 5-6 at Great American Ballpark to the Cincinnati Reds, two more runners were tossed out at the plate. In the fourth inning, after cracking his second double of the day, Alberto Callaspo was absolutely hosed at home. The second baseman crashed awkwardly into the stout Corky Miller as both players were knocked out of the game. Callaspo’s injury has been described as a left forearm contusion, and the switch-hitter is expected to be ready to go on Friday in Toronto.
Then in the sixth, Eric Sogard, who had replaced Callaspo, got hung up in a rundown before getting tagged out just a few steps from the plate. That’s partially on Sogard, but the sheer volume of base running blunders is getting ridiculous.
Perhaps neither of those plays was ultimately Gallego’s fault. Nonetheless, the Athletics’ base running has been inexcusably awful in 2013. Technically, that might fall under the purview of first base coach Ty Waller, who is tasked with overseeing the outfield and base running. But at the same time, Waller isn’t the guy who seems to have literally gotten dozens of guys thrown out at home in 2013.
Flipping Waller and Gallego is far from the only shakeup that the scuffling team needs. However, the team lost by one run in a game in which two players were thrown out at the plate. Tonight, the Athletics could lose their lead in the AL West.
Karl Buscheck is an Oakland Athletics writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @KarlBuscheck and add him to your network on Google+.
