NEWSLETTER
There was so much random fun stuff and quoting and thinking and what-have-you about Javy Báez’s magical baserunning play yesterday that I wanted to gather some of it up here. I’d started to incorporate into the Bullets, and it was just way too much. That tends to happen when you’re talking about a play about which every observer remarks, “I have never seen anything like that before.”
A note up front to the fun-haters: Everyone knows the first baseman screwed up badly. But do you really think Javy Báez played zero part in baiting him into that screw-up? Do you really think there was absolutely no reason that the entire Pirates bench wasn’t screaming ‘first base’? Or that the catcher didn’t simply take the throw and immediately indicate first base, rather than trying to tag Contreras? Or that two defenders simply dropped the ball as Javy came upon them? There are multiple factors here, and at least one of them is that Javy just does crazy shit that throws guys off their kilter in the moment.
Consider that the league average for a player reaching base via error, if he plays a full season, is about five, per baseball-reference. Since 2016, Javy Báez is at 35 reached-on-error, or nearly six per season … and that includes this year, where we aren’t even to June yet. And that’s to say nothing of the errors that take place while he’s already running the bases. We’re all Javy homers here, but come on. He is clearly a part of the equation when fielders temporarily forget how to play baseball.
Or, as Jim Deshaies put it:
People keep saying Craig should have just stepped on first- failing to realize that Javy would have made the base disappear
— Jim Deshaies (@JimDeshaies) May 27, 2021
Some of the quotes …
From the man, himself, keeping it simple: “Let’s say I improvise,” Báez said. “At the moment, I can react pretty fast to things like contact and stuff like that. But I’m pretty good at tagging and not letting people tag me.”
From the guy who has seen it for years as a manager, an exec, and a teammate: “He has just this way about him, whether you call it swag or baseball IQ,” David Ross said. “He plays the game like a kid. I think that’s why a lot of people fall in love with him. He plays it like the kid in Little League that’s better than everybody else. He just keeps running and nobody can tag him. Something bad happens for the opponent. They throw the ball away (or) he just makes crazy things happen. I’ve seen it. He runs in moments and guys just forget how to play baseball sometimes.”
And more from Ross: “Only Javy disappears on the base paths more than any person I’ve seen. It really is a magic act. He just creates havoc, man.”
From the pitcher who is glad he isn’t on the other side of it: “Definitely haven’t seen anything like that,” Kyle Hendricks said. “Don’t think you’ll ever see it again …. The things you see him do on a daily basis, it’s unbelievable, the type of player he is. It’s a treat to be on the same team as him and to be able to watch him day in and day out and things he does.”
I wondered how the Pirates would react to The Javy Play after the game. Didn't disappoint. https://t.co/6tMgZV6g0I pic.twitter.com/UsEC4J4l5K
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) May 27, 2021
One more from Pirates manager Derek Shelton: “They say if you stay in the game long enough, you’ll see everything. I’ve never seen that before. That’s on me. We got to know [how to execute] that. I guarantee you’ll never see it again while I’m here.”
Another thing: make sure to give Willson Contreras plenty of love. If he hadn’t been busting it to third and then just kept on running, then Báez never would’ve even had the opportunity to juke the first baseman and the catcher into thinking they needed to be doing something other than simply walking the ball back to first base. Great job, Willson.
Miscellaneous fun:
Underrated detail: Javy calling “Safe!!” at home before sprinting to first where he needed to be or else the run wouldn’t count @BleacherNation pic.twitter.com/m8eKdxiA15
— OBVIOUS BASEBALL (@obvious_bb) May 27, 2021
Maybe he’s not a magician. Maybe he’s a comedian. #Cubs #ElCómico #ElMago pic.twitter.com/rDdVEYPEXv
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) May 28, 2021
El Mago put a “FOLLOW ME” spell on Will Craig today. #Cubs #ElMago #baseball #javybaez pic.twitter.com/CJZg37B7qG
— Tim Souers (@CubbyBlueDotCom) May 27, 2021
Looooooooool pic.twitter.com/kUTLbHpgrw
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindner) May 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1398074829526519813
Suicide squeeze with the first baseman crashing super hard and then Javy deciding to turn around and watch for some reason?
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) May 28, 2021
