Johnny Damon's steal last night.

[cjclong]

Johnny Damon's steal of second and then third last night was one of the most brilliant plays in a long time. After Damon got the hit with 2 out in the ninth he decided to steal second and then, with the Phillies having the shift on for Teixeira, go on to third if the 3rd baseman covered 2nd and left 3rd open which is what happened. His reasoning was he thought Lidge would be reluctant to throw his slider with a runner on third. ARod thought the same thing and hit a fastball for the game winning hit. I am really critical when big league players make mental errors, but I have to hand it to Damon for brillant thinking.

[WadeInBmore]

It was a heads up play that showed the baseball intelligence of Johnny Damon. Great Mo swing...if you were rooting for the Yanks. I saw this on SportsCenter with the TV muted and didn't realize what was going on AND was about to yell at Damon for such a stupid move...then I realized Lidge didn't cover third like he was supposed to. Another BS for Lidge in this postseason (even though I don't think it was a save op...so its just a plain old LOSS for Mr. Lidge).

[allstarsplus]

didn't realize what was going on AND was about to yell at Damon for such a stupid move...then I realized Lidge didn't cover third like he was supposed to.

I had the sound on and was shocked as I thought Damon was faked out by the 3rd baseman covering 2nd base (? Do I have that right?). That was the play of the game as it turned out.

[3arod13]

You could see as Damon was popping up from his slide, he was turning his head, looking at third. He was already thinking about it as he slide into second. It was a heads-up play!

[suicide_squeeze]

Damon's a player.....the Yankees are lucky he's with them.

That's why he'll have yet another ring shortly, and A-Rod will have his first.

He isn't a hack, like Jonathan Broxton, or Brad Lidge. And I must say, Damon, like any great baseball player, makes his teammates better. Just ask A-Rod....he'll tell you.

[TomTimmerman]

It was a great play. My 11-year old pointed out that he must have learned it from Brandon Phillips.

[gorilla777]

Afterwards Damon was being interviewed on the play, and said he would try and make that dash on anyone but maybe Chone Figgins.

[byergo]

Johnny Damon should still be a Kansas City Royal. Baseball is a broken sport with an unlevel playing field because of money. The rich buy their way into the playoff and World Series, while many other teams languish like minor league teams with seemingly no chance to ever get over the hump, and certainly no chance to stay there should they have a break out season or extremely short run.

Good for the haves, not so good for the have-nots.

[joelsabi]

"What I had to see before I could start running to third base was how Pedro caught the ball," he said, noting that the throw pulled Feliz off he bag just enough. "I'm just glad that when I started running, I still had some of my young legs behind me."

Damon also was thinking that if he were on third base, it would take away Lidge's ability to throw his best pitch — a slider in the dirt — as that would risk a wild pitch.

"In that situation I was trying to be aggressive and trying to get in scoring position," Damon said. "It just worked out that way where there was a throw, the third baseman covered and the pitcher did not. So I kind of had to see all that stuff develop."


it never seizes to amaze me the lack of fundamentals, not covering third by the pitcher, at this level of play. its amazing damons calculation of feliz being pulled off the bag was enough to take third. that little burst of speed by damon off the second base was enough. felix's look to third was his only hope since felix knew he could not run down damon. damon put on a clinic on the ninth inning.

[joelsabi]

Afterwards Damon was being interviewed on the play, and said he would try and make that dash on anyone but maybe Chone Figgins.

thanks for the post.

i was wondering what third baseman could chase down damon in that situation. felix didnt even try.