It's over

You can come out from hiding, base runners.

No, no, don't fret. It's safe. Come on out. Have a look around. Enjoy the view.

That white thing you see over there is home plate.

What's that you say?

Indeed, it does look warm and inviting. And just think: you can go there as often as you want.

Joel Skinner will guide you there safely.

Yes, the rumor you heard is true. Jeff Datz is no longer the third base coach of the Cleveland Indians. No, Jeff Datz wasn't fired--we tried. But he won't be standing not in the third base box flailing his arms at Victor Martinez to stop just as he rounds third. He won't be standing near third base looking like a deer, either. And this, frankly, is good enough.

We are surprised it took Eric Wedge so long to listen to us--100 games is a slow learning curve--but there is no need to harp on this glorious day.

Victory is ours. Victory is ours. It's a wonderful day to be an Indians fan, friends. Victory is ours.

Another baserunning error

There are a number of unofficial rules that govern how baseball is played. For instance, one never sits next to a pitcher who is throwing a perfect game. Well, yesterday two of those rules came colliding together when, with runners on first and second, Todd Hollandsworth lined a ball deep into the outfield. Ken Griffey Jr. picked up the ball and threw it home in an attempt to prevent an Indians run from scoring. The ball went past the cutoff man, straight to the catcher, who immediately bumbled the ball, dropping it to the ground. Hollandsworth took second, following unofficial rule #1: If the ball isn't cut off, take another base. Aaron Boone, who was on first, stopped at second, following unofficial rule #2: Never make the third out of an inning at third base. I'm not sure which rules supersedes the other, but the result was confused runners, Hollandsworth and Boone, holding an impromptu meeting at second base, at which point they thought it best if Boone tried to make it to third. So Boone took off, only to be thrown out at third base by nearly five feet. Out three, inning over, rally ended.

Mr. Datz, please coach your players. If anything, tell them what to do when they are running the bases. You know, your job. Perhaps you tell Hollandsworth to stop at first. Perhaps you wave Boone to third when the throw isn't cut off. Either would work. Perhaps you do something other than stand there while Hollandsworth and Boone look like lost children. Like lost children, Mr. Datz. Like lost children.

Back at it

Aaron Boone is on second, Grady Sizemore on first. Jason Michaels is at bat and is 2-2 on the night. What happens? No outs. Fourth inning. We aren't sure. It looked like a hybrid between a double steal and a hit and run, very much like what happened on April 12th against the Mariners (see the post Datz From the Past). Either way, it went terribly wrong, as Boone was essentially picked off trying to run to third base.

Mr. Datz, please teach your players how to run the bases. Please. Pretty please. If there is a hit and run tell them not to run before the pitcher throws the ball. If it's a double steal please don't attempt it when 1) it's early in the game, 2) there are no outs, 3) at bat is a player who's hit in 14 of the last 15 games, 4) that player is 2-2 in the game, 5) and he is capable of bunting, 6) and Travis Hafner is on deck.

If it was a double steal attempt, the fault lies with manager Eric Wedge. But given the circumstances, and the fact that Eric Wedge is extremely passive when it comes to base running, it is more likely that whatever it is that happened on the bases was a botched hit and run. Which falls in Mr. Datz's domain.

The Jeff Datz Blunder cost the Indians at least one run. Good work, Mr. Datz.

Unknown powers

Jhonny Peralta was moved out of the third spot of the lineup tonight, dropping all the way to the six hole. We at Fire Jeff Datz didn't realize that we had the power to move Peralta, and now are disappointed that we didn't broach the subject of Peralta's poor hitting sooner. It took Eric Wedge two months before he acted, but we aren't going to harp on his tradiness and instead just celebrate that he finally arrived at the party.

Of course, with a tied game in the sixth inning the Indians had runners on first and second with no outs, and instead of allowing the .230 hitter--Peralta--to attempt to sacrifice bunt the runners into scoring position, Wedge decided to let Peralta swing away...and swing right into a strikeout. That's some learning curve. Mr. Wedge.

Focus attention elsewhere

Jeff Datz has done a serviceable job recently as the third base coach of the Cleveland Indians. Enough of a serviceable job, in fact, that we have been able to focus our critical eyes on personnel other than Datz. And we have found another bitingly obvious problem standing in the way of countless Indians wins: Jhonny Peralta. In particular, Jhonny Peralta batting third. You know what this means.

Here he is. The rally killer. The indolent assassin. The strikeout machine. The pitcher's best friend and the manager's biggest mistake. The slothful blunder head of the batter's box, Mr. Jhonny Peralta.

Wait, wait wait.

Is it Jhonny Peralta's fault that he is fourth in the American League in strikeouts, with 61, and that he consistently manages to hit into double plays in crucial moments during a ballgame? Is it his fault that his batting average is below .240, that his OBP is below Casey Blake's batting average, and that he's hit only 15 extra base hits this season? Well, yes. He isn't a good hitter. He isn't an average hitter. What is one to expect?

But is it his fault that he bats third in the lineup? Is it his fault that he has the most at-bats with runners in scoring position of any player on the Cleveland Indians?

No, friends, it isn't Jhonny's fault. Don't blame Jhonny. Blame Wedge for keeping him there, with the burdensome weight of so many failed expectations planted firmly on his shoulders, thus preventing him from getting his bat through the hitting area with any speed or accuracy, leaving exposed a hole in his swing the size of David Ortiz. How can he possibly succeed? He isn't meant to bat third. It isn't entirely clear that he's even meant to bat in the majors at all.

Good thing Peralta is such a wiz in the field.

In any event, if the Indians have any chance at competing for a playoff spot that chance is greatly diminished if Jhonny Peralta is batting third every night. So in the interest of Indians playoff baseball, we propose to Eric Wedge that he slide Peralta down in the order, preferably to eighth or ninth, if not entirely out of the lineup, at least until he remembers how to swing a baseball bat again. And we don't think Mr. Wedge should worry about damaging Peralta's fragile ego--his sub-.200 batting average with runners in scoring position is already taking care of that. It's not entirely clear that a bruised ego would cause Mr. Peralta any more problems than he's already experiencing. Is it possible to have a batting average lower than one's weight?

We are going to start chronicling all of the moments when Jhonny Peralta hits into an inning-ending double play, or fails to drive in a run with runners in scoring position, or...you know what? That's probably enough.

Together we can make it through these tough times and with one voice, loud and determined, shout to Eric Wedge PLEASE DON'T BAT JHONNY PERALTA THIRD IN THE LINEUP ANYMORE!

A Datz From the Past

Let's hop in the way-back machine to revisit one of the earlier Jeff Datz Blunders of the season.

On the night of April 12th the Indians lost to the Seattle Mariners, 9-11, at Jacobs Field. If only for Jeff Datz...

The Indians entered the fourth inning trailing 3-6 and managed to close the gap to 5-6 after Casey Blake singled to score Ben Broussard and advance Ronnie Belliard to third. With Blake on first base Grady Sizemore ripped a Gil Meche pitch down the first base line--an easy double, possibly a triple for the speedy Sizemore. Blake took off for second with thoughts of possibly scoring on the hit; at the least he was going to make it to third. But after Sizemore's hit shot past Richie Sexson it struck umpire Tim McClelland and the ball gently sailed to the Mariners' second baseman, Jose Lopez. At this point Casey Blake is about 25 feet from second base but he's unaware that the ball is actually in Lopez's glove; Blake still assumes the ball is heading into the corner of right field.

And apparently so is Jeff Datz. Instead of signaling to Blake to hold at second base Datz does nothing until after he rounds second and is on his way to third, at which point Lopez tosses the ball across the diamond and easily puts out Casey. The crowed at the game booed Blake, but Blake had no way to knowing that the ball took an unfortunate bounce--the play was behind him. It was Datz's responsibility to communicate to Blake that he needed to stop at second base. Alas, no such timely communication happened.

But let's rewind the way-back machine just a few innings, to get a fuller appreciation of Jeff Datz's skills as a coach.

Seattle scored one run in the first inning and the Indians were in prime position to tie the game in the bottom of the first. With one out, Jason Michaels and Jhonny Peralta managed to get on second and first base, respectively, which brought Travis Hafner to the plate--a wonderful scoring chance considering Hafner was hitting over .400 and had already hit 4 home runs. So what do the Indians do? Put on some sort of hit-and-run, trying to avoid the possible double play. Only the hit-and-run was bumbled.

Standing on the mound, wishing he'd become a florist, Gil Meche checked Michaels at second and looked back toward home. And then turned back to second to check Michaels once more, only Michaels wasn't there. He was on his way to third! Befuddled, Meche turned and threw to second to capture Michaels in a run-down. Michaels, feigning effort, was easily caught in the run-down. Peralta, equally befuddled and unsure what to do, tried to make it to second base...only to be thrown out at second by 10 feet. The Indians put on the hit-and-run to stay out of the double play only to run into a double play before the ball was even pitched.

Jeff Datz likely didn't put on the hit-and-run, but his job is to coach the players on how to run the bases and how to properly put into motion the hit-and-run--and his players failed on both counts. Good times.

Passive Datz

Almost as old as baseball itself is the adage that one should never make the first or third out of an inning at third base. Grady Sizemore heeded no old sayings, though, when he tried to stretch his double to lead off the game last night into a triple. He was thrown out by a reasonable margin, albeit after two nice throws by the outfielder and short stop. Only if Sizemore could have made it to third standing up should he have attempted to stretch that double into a triple in that situation (leadoff batter, first inning). Sizemore, as he rounded second, was able to see the play and decided that he was going to go for the triple, so the blame doesn't fall entirely on Jeff Datz, but Datz could have made an effort to stop him or could have coached him up earlier in the season on when the appropriate times are to stretch a double into a triple. In the end, this was another base-running error.