Was Ron Darling right about the Red Sox violating unwritten rules?
"I would find that offensive, personally."
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Ron Darling complaining about Benny swinging the bat in 3-0 count because “there used to be a book” is baseball trying to kill itself in prime time national broadcast. Cc @GlobeChadFinn
— Dave Benoit (@DaveCBenoit) October 9, 2018
I know, this isn’t in the form of a question, but it is an ideal entry point to discuss a topic that has been filling up my inbox in the last 18 hours or so.
Did Ron Darling have a point about the Red Sox gracelessly breaching baseball’s unwritten rules last night, or was this silly get-off-my-lawn stuff that should have gone the way of Joe Kerrigan’s managing career a long time ago?
With the preface that I like Darling a lot as an analyst (especially when TBS has paired him in the booth with Dennis Eckersley), it was absurd to give the Red Sox any grief about trying to continue to score even with a huge lead.
When Andrew Benintendi stole second in the fifth inning with the Red Sox leading 10-1, Darling said: “Well, I guess from the school of not taking anything for granted. You don’t usually see that. In the postseason, maybe. Regular season, never.”
In the seventh, with the Red Sox still leading 10-1, Benintendi took a big cut on a 3-0 pitch, leading Darling to say this: “So I was saying before that, on a 10-1 score, Benintendi took off to run. And stole a base. I found that unusual, but you know, you can still keep pushing the envelope.
“But boy, swinging 3-0 in the seventh with a 10-1 lead. There used to be a book. There’s no book anymore. Everything’s gray. But I would find that offensive, personally.”
Perhaps the Yankees found it offensive, too. Maybe it will be motivation in Game 4. But in a small way, there was a thread of respect in the Red Sox still trying to add to their totals. The Yankees hit a million home runs this year, the Red Sox bullpen is not exactly a strength, and it was not out of the question that Aaron Judge could hit a three-run homer, Giancarlo a two-run shot, and suddenly Yankee Stadium is rocking (at least the fans who remained would be) and a 10-6 lead would feel awfully tight.
It’s the playoffs. Of course, you try to score, at any time, by any means. Plus, baseball’s unwritten rules are stupid. I hope the Red Sox keep violating them.
What do you guys think? Was Ron Darling wrong in suggesting the Red Sox were violating the unwrittens? I’ll hear you in the comments.
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