I have maintained for the past two seasons that Ben Broussard runs the bases relatively well. Every now and then Ben does get caught trying to take an extra base on the throw home, but usually Ben's under the radar enough to get that extra base.

Friday night, Ben provided the greatest baserunning gift in the ninth inning that he could provide, a chance for us to win the game, but the gift was not answered by the lead baserunner and our third base coach, Joel Skinner.

With runners on second and third and no outs in the ninth inning and Indians trailing 1-0, the Indians tied Chicago 1-1 when Ronnie Belliard grounded out to the shortstop. Unfortunately, the runner at second, Vic Martinez, who had had another clutch ninth inning double, could not advance to third base on the grounder. However, the lead runner did score from third, and that did tie the game.

The White Sox then walked Ben Broussard to set up a possible double play, this put runners at first and second with one out. Aaron Boone then hit a grounder to the second baseman who attempted to tag Ben Broussard as Ben was running towards second base.

Ben, did the best possible thing, Ben stopped and reversed his direction! Ben took a couple of steps towards first and actually fell to the ground before the second baseman could tag him out. The second baseman had no choice but to throw the ball to first to get Boone. As this was happening, Vic had rounded third and the hold was sign was given by Joel Skinner.

Ben was on the ground between first and second, but still he was a live baserunner. Because Boone was thrown out at first before Ben had been tagged, Ben was no longer a force out and was free to try and get to either first or second base, and Vic, yes Vic was also free to try and score.

The first baseman now threw the ball to the second baseman, and the chase was on. I timed the play and the entire play took MORE than 8 seconds, and from the time that Aaron Boone was out at first, FOUR MORE SECONDS ensued before Ben was finally tagged out.

Yet Vic never made it home. If Vic had scored before Ben was tagged out, we would have won the game 2-1. It looked like the first baseman might have briefly looked to see where Vic was. The pitcher had put himself near the first base line during the rundown, directly in line to obstruct the catchers view if the throw were to come home, so if Vic had kept running the whole time, it's quite possible he would have scored.

As a fan I feel cheated that Vic wasn't sent home. As a fan I feel cheated that we didn't consider putting a pinch runner in the game for Vic. As a fan, I feel that once the Indians blew their 600,000 dollars on Juan Gone back in April, they tried to save the money on the back end, during the September run, by not calling up enough "spare parts".

Spart parts such as a couple of speedsters and a couple of bunt specialists from the minors. When Chicago finally won the game in the 13th inning, they did it by replacing Paul Konerko, who wasn't even the lead runner, but the speedster they put in was able to score from first on a double even though the relay throws were quick and accurate. That second run ended up being the difference maker after Ronnie Belliard hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 13th inning.

September is a time when rosters are expanded and ballplayers not quite ready, or too specialized in their talents to be on the roster all year long, get a chance to contribute their speed, bunting, or throwing arm strength so they can help their team late in a game.

It appears the money spent on Juan Gone in April reduced the amount of call ups and as a result, the best we can now hope for as we head into final day of the season is a Boston loss to New York and a Cleveland win against Chicago, and a one game wild card playoff.

And Ben, instead of being remembered as a hero for keeping the play alive longer than most any other baserunner would have, and long enough for most runners to score from second, will instead be remembered for not being able to get a clutch hit in his next two at bats, at bats that never would have been necessary if Vic had scored on that ninth inning play.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 02, 2005 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>