The A’s never run. Ever. Even if you allow for Davis doing his own thing, how do you explain Crosby and Jack Fucking Cust stealing a base. Davis actually made three steal attempts (one successful, one caught, and one that ended up being a hit and run, but he had the bag stolen).
If we see more people attempt to steal on Rob Johnson, we’ll know the league has figured something out as well.
You can’t really blame this one on him, right? That ball bounced at the worst possible spot – right before it got to Johnson and on the dirt, not the grass. He had no time to react to the ball and basically had to put the glove down and hope the ball bounced right into it.
A real catcher makes that play because they watch the ball into the glove. He didn’t, and the only reason he gets playing time is that he’s supposedly a good defensive catcher.
I don't think people are accounting for how skewed those reputations are.
The term “good defensive catcher” translates directly to how much pitchers like throwing to him.
Adam Moore had 23 passed balls last season and 21 the year before in roughly 105 games. The only guy who would have rated worse on that front last season was Kevin Cash, who had fourteen in 57 games. In most other years, you see far far less, provided it’s not a Doug Mirabelli situation and you’re catching Wakefield much of the time.
One of the things I’ll ding Fontaine on is that he probably undervalued defense a bit, drafting a lot of infielders that were only really able to handle a bat well and catchers who essentially operated in the same way, but had leadership skills and other similar bullroar.
I really doubt that a real catcher makes that play more than a few times out of 10
He has no idea how high that ball is going to bounce when it hits the grass/dirt (it landed right on the edge of the grass so I’m not sure what surface it really bounced on) so the period of time for him to watch the ball into the glove was from when it bounced 5 feet before him and when it got to him. That isn’t very long.
Anyone notice what Kenji (or whoever) did there? Seemed to me like Johnson had more than enough time to go get that ball then making the tag as the runner was going by instead of waiting for it and letting it hit him in the chest. Yeah, its a tough play, but going and getting the ball and turning for the tag is a play that a major league quality catcher should be able to make. Heck, we’ve seen Johjima do it a couple times.
The hops in those plays were far easier than the Johnson play
Those balls bounced well out on the infield grass and took nice easy hops. And as for the statement that Johnson should have gone and got that ball, I think normally when a catcher goes and gets a ball it is when the throw is off line. Ichiro’s throw was right on the money and it probably looked like it was going to make it to Rob on the fly until it ended up bouncing just a few feet in front of him. He’s blocking the plate, sees the ball coming right on line and by the time he realizes its going to be just a few feet short he really doesn’t have time to do anything but try to short hop it.
That's just a long way of saying Johnson misplayed the ball.
He didn’t expect the hop that it took, which wasn’t the toughest short hop I’ve ever seen by a long shot, and missed it. People who play baseball for a living should make that play.
Catchers drop the ball on plays at the plate all the time.
It’s really freaking hard to short hop a ball like that with a catcher’s mitt when its a bullet thrown by Ichiro from right field and when the short hop occurs on the edge of the grass/dirt. I’m not sure how that short hop could be much tougher
Yeah I didn't mean to challenge the spirit of this post
because Rob Johnson is everything I loathe in a baseball player – completely terrible yet beloved by media and the coaching staff because of intangibles and shit. I just can’t blame him on this particular play though
Ok now you guys are really going to get pissed off at me but
What made me more frustrated was Ichiro swinging at ball 4 in the dirt on a 3-1 count in the bottom of the 9th. I’m not really even pissed at him – thats just Ichiro and I love him – but couldn’t we just give him the take sign in that situation? Ichiro’s chance of getting a single can’t decrease that much depending on 3-1 vs 3-2. God dammit this game sucked
Ichiro swung at a pitch a few inches under the zone but at that point there were two outs with none on and Endy Chavez on deck. It didn’t really make that much of a difference.
But after watching the replay, it just seems like Johnson screwed that up by spending too much time preparing for a collision at home plate than actually fielding the ball. This looked like the equivalent of muffing up a double-play at 2nd by trying to throw to first base while the ball bounces off the glove.
This wasn’t even an unusual hop. It hit the dirt and Johnson didn’t adjust.
This must have been what watching Jose Vidro score in the Cubs game felt like.
I've watched the play a few times and I'm trying to keep an open mind
because you guys all disagree with me, but for the life of me I can’t see how that was anything less than a really difficult play to make. The ball bounced so close to Johnson – he has to put his glove where he thinks the ball is going to go. There’s no way he has time to adjust to the hop. He hoped the ball would stay low and it ended up bouncing higher than he thought.
Here’ my two cents. Ichiro’s throw short-hopped at little bit, but the ball was perfectly true and was about two feet high when it passed directly over home plate. It passed straight through the strike zone. Johnson, though, had his glove-hand fingers pointed at the ground the whole time fielded Ichiro’s throw as though it were a breaking ball. In effect, Johnson gave up on catching the ball cleanly, and thus on tagging the runner out.
Had Johnson positioned his glove like this,
he would have had no problem catching the short hop. If the ball stayed low, he could’ve just backhanded the ball (easier with a catcher’s mitt than fielding it like a first baseman).
Instead, Rob Johnson, trying to block the plate, positioned himself as though he were blocking a breaking ball in the dirt, like so.
When he field sthis way, Johnson has little chance of catching the ball cleanly because, in this position, his glove has almost no scope for lateral or vertical movement. It’s just stuck between his crotch. Even if he does field Ichiro’s throw cleanly, he’s still starts in a tough position (longer distance to the runner, plus he must flip his hand over) to lay the tag down. Johnson, essentially, made it almost impossible for himself to catch the ball cleanly, which killed a golden, golden, golden chance to kill a guy at homeplate. To me, a mental mistake like this is inexcusable at the big league level. That’s what convinces me that Johnson is not a major league caliber player in any aspect of his game, except perhaps throwing out runners, but that’s hardly more than a fraction of a win impact in a full season. He just sucks.
But it’s one that a major league catcher makes probably 8-9 times out of ten. If you look at the .gif below you can see on the side-angle replay, Johnson should have been able to get his glove in position to at least make a play on the ball rather than let it bounce harmlessly off his chest pad. Yeah, the ball was coming in hard, but not so hard that he couldn’t react to its path and get his glove close to the ball.
Seriously why would set yourself up to recieve the ball like that
if you actually had half a mind to catch it and apply a tag? I get that the ball bounced in the dirt but that wasn’t even close. He was more worried about blocking the plate than making a play on the ball.
Don't Forget Ham Porter.
Decatur - May 2, 2009
Some know him as the Great Hambino
JAH - May 3, 2009
Clement's strength > Johnson's strength
evidently.
PLU Tim - May 2, 2009
Gross.
JLProck - May 2, 2009
So what did Johnson do?
I didn’t see the game.
Mariner John - May 2, 2009
Gave the game away by muffing a throw to the plate from Ichiro which had the runner dead to rights in the top of the 9th
OlSalty - May 2, 2009
Ah.
Shocking.
Mariner John - May 2, 2009
You know when Ichiro makes a throw to the plate to stop the go ahead run scoring in the top of the 9th, 2 outs
and it’s a great play and has the runner beaten by 15 feet?
Johnson forgot to catch it.
Graham MacAree - May 2, 2009
If he had just stuck out his arm six inches he would have come up with that throw.
It’s like he wasn’t even trying to glove the ball.
BrianL - May 2, 2009
But it short hopped him!
Johnson was distracted by the runner bearing down from 3rd! The throw could have been better!
…
…
…
…
(just reciting the excuses from the radio post-game)
appleshampoo - May 2, 2009
It pretty much hit him in the solar plexus
Graham MacAree - May 2, 2009
I question if Rob Johnson was even aware there was a runner coming from third.
BrianL - May 2, 2009
I think he was far too aware of it
And that’s why he didn’t catch the ball
OlSalty - May 3, 2009
It bounced off of his glove.
He should have caught it. No excuse, really
appleshampoo - May 2, 2009
Forgot one...
PositivePaul - May 2, 2009
Even with his eyes closed he's better than Rob Johnson.
BrianL - May 2, 2009
The lady in the lawn chair is better than Rob Johnson.
PositivePaul - May 2, 2009
I was going to include that but had no idea where it was
Graham MacAree - May 2, 2009
I'd probably close my eyes if I wasn't catching with a catcher's mitt as well.
r0ry - May 3, 2009
At least when he screws up it's cute.
Slurvey - May 3, 2009
Minor Upgrade
ThundaPC - May 2, 2009
-
Aaron Campeau - May 2, 2009
Catcher's mitt on a stick?
BrianL - May 2, 2009
Also...
SethGrandpa - May 2, 2009
Yes even him
Mariner John - May 2, 2009
I might be taking it too far.
MFAN - May 3, 2009
Yeah...he was so dreadful...
SethGrandpa - May 3, 2009
You forgot:
Vatinius - May 3, 2009
Oh man
just wait til Halos Heaven sees that last one.
Eyebrows - May 3, 2009
Oh shit
Big Jared - May 3, 2009
I forgot about that swinging strike. Who was that again?
DAMellen - May 3, 2009
My memory may not be serving me correctly...
But I think it was Pudge.
dkulich - May 3, 2009
Yeah, it was Pudge
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
?
Goose - May 3, 2009
Howard Johnson is right about Olsen Johnson being right.
msb - May 3, 2009
WHOOO
Bearskin Rugburn - May 3, 2009
...
Matthew - May 3, 2009
Don't tease
It’s a hard time this evening.
jimmimoose - May 3, 2009
Heck.
msb - May 3, 2009
.
positiverage - May 3, 2009
SMALLER
Aaron Campeau - May 3, 2009
I can see his bulge!
JI - May 3, 2009
O_O
royalcurve - May 3, 2009
ETA on when this devolves to some sort of sexual reference?
Mariner John - May 3, 2009
Adding to the list
Big Jared - May 3, 2009
Awwww.
Pat and Joe.
msb - May 3, 2009
Also, Oakland has figured something out.
The A’s never run. Ever. Even if you allow for Davis doing his own thing, how do you explain Crosby and Jack Fucking Cust stealing a base. Davis actually made three steal attempts (one successful, one caught, and one that ended up being a hit and run, but he had the bag stolen).
If we see more people attempt to steal on Rob Johnson, we’ll know the league has figured something out as well.
The Typical Idiot Fan - May 3, 2009
Please also see the companion to this post:
An exhaustive list of Rob Johnson’s career highlights
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
Well played.
aestivalis - May 3, 2009
Oh. So that's how it is done.
MaineMariner - May 3, 2009
I hate Rob Johnson and think he sucks, but...
You can’t really blame this one on him, right? That ball bounced at the worst possible spot – right before it got to Johnson and on the dirt, not the grass. He had no time to react to the ball and basically had to put the glove down and hope the ball bounced right into it.
Zack - May 3, 2009
Yes you can
A real catcher makes that play because they watch the ball into the glove. He didn’t, and the only reason he gets playing time is that he’s supposedly a good defensive catcher.
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
I don't think people are accounting for how skewed those reputations are.
The term “good defensive catcher” translates directly to how much pitchers like throwing to him.
Adam Moore had 23 passed balls last season and 21 the year before in roughly 105 games. The only guy who would have rated worse on that front last season was Kevin Cash, who had fourteen in 57 games. In most other years, you see far far less, provided it’s not a Doug Mirabelli situation and you’re catching Wakefield much of the time.
Adam Moore is a “good defensive catcher”.
JY - May 3, 2009
Yeah, I know about the fuzziness in the defensive rep
Why is the entire system full of catchers who can’t actually catch?
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
Some can probably catch.
They can’t hit though.
One of the things I’ll ding Fontaine on is that he probably undervalued defense a bit, drafting a lot of infielders that were only really able to handle a bat well and catchers who essentially operated in the same way, but had leadership skills and other similar bullroar.
JY - May 3, 2009
I really doubt that a real catcher makes that play more than a few times out of 10
He has no idea how high that ball is going to bounce when it hits the grass/dirt (it landed right on the edge of the grass so I’m not sure what surface it really bounced on) so the period of time for him to watch the ball into the glove was from when it bounced 5 feet before him and when it got to him. That isn’t very long.
Zack - May 3, 2009
If I don't make that catch (although I wouldn't make the tag) I'd be beyond embarassed.
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
.
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=3483757
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=2623837
Anyone notice what Kenji (or whoever) did there? Seemed to me like Johnson had more than enough time to go get that ball then making the tag as the runner was going by instead of waiting for it and letting it hit him in the chest. Yeah, its a tough play, but going and getting the ball and turning for the tag is a play that a major league quality catcher should be able to make. Heck, we’ve seen Johjima do it a couple times.
dkulich - May 3, 2009
The hops in those plays were far easier than the Johnson play
Those balls bounced well out on the infield grass and took nice easy hops. And as for the statement that Johnson should have gone and got that ball, I think normally when a catcher goes and gets a ball it is when the throw is off line. Ichiro’s throw was right on the money and it probably looked like it was going to make it to Rob on the fly until it ended up bouncing just a few feet in front of him. He’s blocking the plate, sees the ball coming right on line and by the time he realizes its going to be just a few feet short he really doesn’t have time to do anything but try to short hop it.
Zack - May 3, 2009
That's just a long way of saying Johnson misplayed the ball.
He didn’t expect the hop that it took, which wasn’t the toughest short hop I’ve ever seen by a long shot, and missed it. People who play baseball for a living should make that play.
Zwakamatsu - May 3, 2009
Catchers drop the ball on plays at the plate all the time.
It’s really freaking hard to short hop a ball like that with a catcher’s mitt when its a bullet thrown by Ichiro from right field and when the short hop occurs on the edge of the grass/dirt. I’m not sure how that short hop could be much tougher
Zack - May 3, 2009
I think it bounced on the grass.
And if we’re going to carry a catcher who can’t make that play anyway, why not Clement?
Rollo Tomasi - May 3, 2009
Rob Johnson is useless
and I’d be elated to see Clement replace him
Zack - May 3, 2009
It's not a play he should make every time but it's a play he should make a lot of the time
plus we’re angry
Jeff Sullivan - May 3, 2009
Yeah I didn't mean to challenge the spirit of this post
because Rob Johnson is everything I loathe in a baseball player – completely terrible yet beloved by media and the coaching staff because of intangibles and shit. I just can’t blame him on this particular play though
Zack - May 3, 2009
I don't want to place 100% of the blame on him but that was an awful way to lose and he was right in the middle
Jeff Sullivan - May 3, 2009
Ok now you guys are really going to get pissed off at me but
What made me more frustrated was Ichiro swinging at ball 4 in the dirt on a 3-1 count in the bottom of the 9th. I’m not really even pissed at him – thats just Ichiro and I love him – but couldn’t we just give him the take sign in that situation? Ichiro’s chance of getting a single can’t decrease that much depending on 3-1 vs 3-2. God dammit this game sucked
Zack - May 3, 2009
I'm not pissed off at all
Ichiro swung at a pitch a few inches under the zone but at that point there were two outs with none on and Endy Chavez on deck. It didn’t really make that much of a difference.
Jeff Sullivan - May 3, 2009
Ichiro needed to hit a home run to do anything useful there
He tried
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
That would be nice.
But after watching the replay, it just seems like Johnson screwed that up by spending too much time preparing for a collision at home plate than actually fielding the ball. This looked like the equivalent of muffing up a double-play at 2nd by trying to throw to first base while the ball bounces off the glove.
This wasn’t even an unusual hop. It hit the dirt and Johnson didn’t adjust.
This must have been what watching Jose Vidro score in the Cubs game felt like.
ThundaPC - May 3, 2009
I've watched the play a few times and I'm trying to keep an open mind
because you guys all disagree with me, but for the life of me I can’t see how that was anything less than a really difficult play to make. The ball bounced so close to Johnson – he has to put his glove where he thinks the ball is going to go. There’s no way he has time to adjust to the hop. He hoped the ball would stay low and it ended up bouncing higher than he thought.
Ok I’m done now
Zack - May 3, 2009
OK, here's the problem with what Johnson did.
Here’ my two cents. Ichiro’s throw short-hopped at little bit, but the ball was perfectly true and was about two feet high when it passed directly over home plate. It passed straight through the strike zone. Johnson, though, had his glove-hand fingers pointed at the ground the whole time fielded Ichiro’s throw as though it were a breaking ball. In effect, Johnson gave up on catching the ball cleanly, and thus on tagging the runner out.
Had Johnson positioned his glove like this,
he would have had no problem catching the short hop. If the ball stayed low, he could’ve just backhanded the ball (easier with a catcher’s mitt than fielding it like a first baseman).
Instead, Rob Johnson, trying to block the plate, positioned himself as though he were blocking a breaking ball in the dirt, like so.
When he field sthis way, Johnson has little chance of catching the ball cleanly because, in this position, his glove has almost no scope for lateral or vertical movement. It’s just stuck between his crotch. Even if he does field Ichiro’s throw cleanly, he’s still starts in a tough position (longer distance to the runner, plus he must flip his hand over) to lay the tag down. Johnson, essentially, made it almost impossible for himself to catch the ball cleanly, which killed a golden, golden, golden chance to kill a guy at homeplate. To me, a mental mistake like this is inexcusable at the big league level. That’s what convinces me that Johnson is not a major league caliber player in any aspect of his game, except perhaps throwing out runners, but that’s hardly more than a fraction of a win impact in a full season. He just sucks.
Decatur - May 3, 2009
Perfect explanation
Bad hop or not, it was like watching my 4-year-old try to catch a high ball using a basket catch – it’s just not going to work.
westfried - May 4, 2009
It wasn't a particularly easy play,
But it’s one that a major league catcher makes probably 8-9 times out of ten. If you look at the .gif below you can see on the side-angle replay, Johnson should have been able to get his glove in position to at least make a play on the ball rather than let it bounce harmlessly off his chest pad. Yeah, the ball was coming in hard, but not so hard that he couldn’t react to its path and get his glove close to the ball.
Schaefer - May 3, 2009
How about this guy?
tootthekazoo - May 3, 2009
Nah, I want this guy
msb - May 3, 2009
I call bullshit on Gerber being better than Johnson
Robert - May 3, 2009
Badass helmet
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
Elliott is though.
Kirsten Schlewitz - May 3, 2009
That seems like it will only drive up his demand throughout the league.
Robert - May 3, 2009
Have I mentioned lately how much I despise you and all that you stand for?
Kirsten Schlewitz - May 3, 2009
SEA!
Robert - May 3, 2009
HAWKS!
Robert - May 3, 2009
DUCKS OWN GOAL HAHAHAHAHAHA SUCK IT
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
This isn't an off-topic post, sir.
Please keep the discussion relevant to Seattle Mariners baseball.
R.J. Anderson - May 3, 2009
ANAHIEM OWN RUN HAHAHAHAHAHA SUCK IT
Although they’re winning now
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
Your baseball knowledge seems limited.
Perhaps you should lurk around this site more before taking part in the comments section.
R.J. Anderson - May 3, 2009
That totally undoes 2007.
JI - May 3, 2009
The Oakland broadcast has a perfect replay but my computer is being a faggot right now so no gif.
JI - May 3, 2009
Oh whatever would we do without your quality gifs.
Robert - May 3, 2009
Kill yourselves probably.
JI - May 3, 2009
I would have guessed not lived live any differently
We must have vastly opposing views regarding the quality of your work.
Robert - May 3, 2009
You told me you liked the Sens own goal gif
JI - May 3, 2009
I'm about to start giffing on my own and I will use a better gifomatic than you.
Robert - May 3, 2009
You think this is a threat and that's cute.
JI - May 3, 2009
I could be threaterning
Robert - May 3, 2009
Learn how to spell.
JI - May 3, 2009
I had to invent a word to show just how fucked you are.
Robert - May 3, 2009
Polesmoker
Jeff Sullivan - May 3, 2009
This is huge
Jeff Sullivan - May 3, 2009
Mine was half as long
JI - May 3, 2009
A certain dead meme comes to mind.
Zwakamatsu - May 3, 2009
Don't bore us get to the chorus
JI - May 3, 2009
Ew.
Zwakamatsu - May 3, 2009
I mean twice
JI - May 3, 2009
On third thought just as long but only one angle
JI - May 3, 2009
He didn't even try to catch it
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
No glove movement
I gonna bet he didn’t see it
JI - May 3, 2009
Seriously why would set yourself up to recieve the ball like that
if you actually had half a mind to catch it and apply a tag? I get that the ball bounced in the dirt but that wasn’t even close. He was more worried about blocking the plate than making a play on the ball.
Zwakamatsu - May 3, 2009
Also that is an awesome .gif and thank you Jeff.
Zwakamatsu - May 3, 2009
The focus on Johnson
allows us to forget that Aardsma gave up the winning hit to a AAA infielder.
Paytheline - May 3, 2009
Pitchers give up hits.
It happens
Graham MacAree - May 3, 2009
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