Current Mets manager Buck Showalter once ordered Barry Bonds – the best hitter in baseball at the time — to be walked with the bases loaded.
But Corey Seager?
Angels manager Joe Maddon had pitcher Austin Warren issue a free pass to the new Rangers shortstop with the bases loaded in the fourth inning of Friday’s game in Texas. The move initially backfired with the Rangers scoring two additional runs in the inning, before the Angels came back to post a 9-6 victory.
“I thought by walking Seager, it would avoid the big blow,” Maddon explained after the game. “And just to stir up the group, quite frankly. It’s not something you normally do. I thought by going up there and doing something like that, the team might respond to something like that.”
Maddon had tried this once before during his 19 seasons as a big-league manager, walking Texas star Josh Hamilton with the bases full as manager of the Rays in 2008.
Showalter’s decision to walk Bonds with the Diamondbacks in 1998 was the only other instance of a bases-loaded intentional walk since 1950. There previously were five recorded instances, including of Hall of Famers Nap Lajoie in 1901 and Mel Ott in 1929.
Seager, the former Dodgers shortstop who signed a 10-year contract worth $325 million with Texas as a free agent in the offseason, is batting .333 with one home run and six RBIs in seven games this season.
Following the intentional walk, Mitch Garver lifted a sacrifice fly and Warren balked home another run for a 6-2 Texas lead. The Angels scored five runs in the top of the fifth – including a homer by Shohei Ohtani – and two more in the seventh to improve to 4-4 this season.
“Absolutely, it surprised me, but I’m not going to tell Joe Maddon no,” Warren said after the game. “I trust Maddon a lot and it worked out.
“Whatever it did, it sparked us. Because we put up five runs the next inning. So it all worked out.”
Texas manager Chris Woodward also admittedly was surprised by Maddon’s move.
“I think everybody was [surprised],” Woodward said. “I’ve seen it done to the best hitter in the game in Barry Bonds. It’s obviously a compliment to Seager, to how good he is. Who knows, maybe it’s a grand slam or maybe it’s a double play? But that wasn’t the reason they won. They didn’t get out of it because of that. And because of that, we ended up scoring a few runs.”
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
