Sandoval looked good at third, by the way. But Loney's go ahead run was off a missed ball at third. Didn't think it at the time, as the focus on tv was the miss (and the kid was kicking up a fuss in a back room after his bath). The Hardball Times picks up:
Buster Posey may be the great test case for whether people only accuse minority ballplayers of lackadaisical, addle-minded play. The run which broke the 0-0 tie was the result of Posey's poor decision and poor throw trying to pick Matt Kemp off third. Yet, when it happened, the ESPN crew actually blamed the bad play on Pablo Sandoval, saying that he asked for the throw and didn't do a great job trying to catch it. Maybe he did ask for it, but Posey is the catcher and he's in charge out there. He should have thought better of it. And sorry, there was no way Sandoval could have gotten to that throw. Then, in the ninth, Posey hit a little roller to first base that James Loney at first misplayed but then recovered and shoveled to Jonathan Broxton for the out. The ESPN crew lauded Loney for the play -- which they should have, because it was a good recovery -- but they made no mention of the fact that Posey was shuffling down the line with all the urgency of a condemned prisoner walking the green mile.
The booth walked back their comments regarding the pickoff throw after the commercial break, but both there and in the ninth the impulse to absolve Posey of his baseball sins seemed irresistible. All I could think was how different the reaction may have been had it been B.J. Upton or Hanley Ramirez making those decisions and not running out that roller.
I read this less as a test case for soft bigotry and more of a pass given to guys with reasonably cool names like Buster. Nothing against Mantle's greatness, but a share of his cool certainly must have been the fortunate choice of the name Mickey.
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