Band of Brothers, Opponent Pitchers, and the Bases Loaded
When the Yankees’ batters load the bases, I think that many of the opposing pitchers must dig deep and think of themselves as the paratroopers in the Band of Brothers from the epic HBO series and wonderful book by Stephen E. Ambrose. These soldiers thrived under the most extreme circumstances during World War II.
When the Yankees load the bases, they seem to be unable to seize on the initiative and use that moment to produce a big inning.
This happened again in yesterday’s loss. The Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the fourth inning. Adeiny Hechavarria then struck out and Brett Gardner followed this by popping out to third in foul territory. Andrew McCutchen then walked to “drive in” a run (the last run the Yankees would score in the game) before Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to second to end the inning.
This bases loaded failure is nothing new this year. The great Katie Sharp has noted this Yankees trend throughout the season on Twitter:
.233 BA (31-133) Here’s the stats entering today so you can keep updating it in real time if you want https://t.co/QauZezcY5k — Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) September 9, 2018
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In addition, last week Katie Sharp shared the following noting how the Yankees rank in baseball in bases loaded situations.
Yankees entered tonight ranked 21st in BA (.240), 23rd in OBP (.283), 20th in SLG (.388) and 22nd in OPS (.671) with bases loaded this season. https://t.co/WPyoJSv3Tj — Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) September 6, 2018
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Yankees (to Opponent Pitchers): “We have you surrounded.”
Opponent Pitchers (to Yankees): “We are not worried. We have you right where we want you.”
