Atlanta Braves: What was Ender Inciarte thinking?…or Ron Washington?
By Jeff Schafer
The ole Inside-the-Park Home Run Is Rare Thing in the MLB
The Atlanta Braves’ fans were going wild!!! — then the ump called Ender Inciarte out.
A lot of fans attend a Major League Baseball game to see their favorite star smash the ball out of the park for a home run. Once that ball clears the fence the crowd goes wild and the player takes his nice stroll around the bases.
However, something that gets the crowd even more excited and gets the stadium rocking even more is an inside-the-park home run.
But this is extremely rare.
Reason being is that a lot of the MLB stadiums just are not big enough for a routine hit in the gap to allow a player to make around every base and score before the opposing player gets the ball.
What needs to happen is the opposing player misplays the ball and the ball goes rolling past him into a gap, or all the way to the wall.
Which is what happened for Atlanta Braves leadoff hitter Ender Inciarte Monday night against the Colorado Rockies. Well, we almost saw an inside the park homer…
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But Should Inciarte have tried for an Inside-the-Park Home Run?
Inciarte hit a little dinker to left field — which it looked like he kinda tried to foul it off — which fell in front of the Rockies left fielder Gerardo Parra (he dove and missed it).
After Parra misplayed the ball, the ball rolled to the fence, as Inciarte rounded the bases. As Inciarte got to and rounded third base, Parra got to the ball and sent the throw in.
Rockies shortstop Trevor Story received the throw and threw a dart at Jonathan Lucroy. Just as Inciarte approached home Lucroy got the ball in his glove and tug Ender out at the plate.
Why go here?
The Braves only have 120 home runs on the season, ranking twelfth out of fifteen National League teams and Inciarte has eight home runs on the year…that would have been number nine for him.
Braves third base coach, Ron Washington definitely sent him here…this wasn’t just Ender’s decision.
As Ender was rounding third base, never in a million years would I have thought the Rockies would get him out at the plate. It was almost a for-sure thing!
It literally took two perfect throws to get Inciarte out here. The first one by Parra to get the ball in from the left field fence and then the next throw from Story. The Rockies shortstop made a heck of a throw to Lucroy…a perfect throw I should say.
Braves would have gone up 1-0 here and maybe had some momentum to get more during those quick short innings on Monday night. The Braves eventually lost 3-0 to the Rockies.
The best part about baseball though, you forget about last night’s game and move onto tonight’s!
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So thinking back on the play in the first inning, did Inciarte and Washington make the right call by trying to score? Or should they have played it safe?
Of course, hindsight is saying should have stayed at third base, but what do you think? I said it then and still now, might as well go for it! Braves are now 52-64 for 2017, they’re on the road and just looking for something to happen. You go Ender! Run baby run!