It is cheap when your team is up by more than 9 runs. It could be argued that you will see "cheap" bases less frequently at higher levels because the dumb players do not make it through playoffs. Personally, in a game where one run decides the winner versus loser, I love manufactured runs. Creates excitement and wins.
the unwritten rule of shutting it down up by 9 after 7 innings is foolish, there are countless times that a team has come back to win from being down alot
@Sherry Faron I agree that there have been great comebacks in many competitions, but in youth baseball games you usually have a game after your game and cannot let the game go over by hours. I coached one team of fast kids that stole almost at will and were good hitters. Without the 'mercy rule', the score could easily have been 45 to 3. I actually told the kids to stop stealing. This let the other team still play and practice, and also kept them from being humiliated. Also, in a playoff situation, you don't want your best pitchers to exceed the allowable pitch count over several games.
You are dead-on, man. Those who call this cheap baseball are ones I would assert are not real baseball lovers. It is precisely this sort of heads-up, wily, athletic play that I find most exciting. One such daring, alert move is far more interesting and exciting than 98% of all home runs in the same circumstances.
Whenever runners are on base, you must keep an eye on them no matter what. This is a great video. People who say it is cheap baseball are just mad that they got caught being either stupid, inattentive, or lazy. Once again, this video is great.
I 100% agree with you. Being aggressive on the bases is important at all levels. At younger levels it teaches the runners how to look for openings, and teaches the D that you have to be alert. I've seen it happen in many higher level games, where the D just went to sleep, and a runner took advantage. This is part of the game.
I've been umpiring LLB for 9 years,as an umpire I love aggressive baseball,when tournaments starts you see first hand the teams that are really good,it's usually the teams that love CHEAP baseball.
Back when I coached my son in little league we were facing an undefeated team halfway through the season. We were playing at home, my son was on third, it was the bottom of the 6th, the game was tied and I was coaching third. I noticed that the pitcher nor the catcher weren't paying any attention to my son after the pitch. I whispered to my son "next pitch steal home". He looked at me like I was crazy and I told him to just try it. There as only 1 out so we didn't have much to lose. Needless to say, my son got the game ball that game as we handed the undefeated team the only loss of the season that year!
I played organized baseball for most of my childhood and on into my 20s. We were taught base stealing. We were taught to study the playing habits of the other team. Stealing bases is totally good heads up baseball. If there is a coach that would sit a kid for aggressive base running he is an idiot and needs to be replaced. He doesn't know the game.
@@brianhammer8968 He just did by saying it happened. Are you one of those guys who needs proof if I tell you I have 10 fingers and 10 toes? Or perhaps if I tell you I have brown hair? lol. That's as idiotic as your stupid comment.
LOL...I coached Little League and tournament baseball for around 10 years and I had the boys running those bases like wild horses....We scored so many freaking runs that way and the boys just absolutely loved doing it.....I did get a lot of crap from the other coaches and parents who were getting schooled.....I loved it even more when they tried to pull the same crap on my team....When I taught the boys how to run those bases I also taught the defense how to defend against it....Man that was such a great time in my life....Don't regret a single moment of it.
Is it cheap to bunt to third base when the third basemen is out of place/sleeping? What about outfield moving in or out based on a batters previous at bats? What about when a person making an attempt at second and the fielders forget about the guy standing on third? Is it cheap when he scores because the other team was sleeping?
Snowflake Baseball means that the score ends in a tie and that no one feels bad after the game. Stealing, strikeouts, and bunting are not allowed in Snowflake Baseball. It will hurt someone's feelings.
Great video man. Oh how i loved Aggresive base running as a kid. I didn't have the speed to pull a steel like this off. But i did have that fast start so i would take a very tempting lead that just begged the pitcher to try to pick me off. My fast start always got me back to the bag in time. But usually after about 2-3 attempts, they would be trying so hard to get me they would end up over throwing the ball and I'd take the next base. Sometimes on some fields, even two bases. Man that was so much fun. Now I'm a paraplegic (thanks to a motorcycle accident) but I'm just as Aggresive on the bases in Wheelchair softball as i was as a little leaguer. Once getting a team to pickle me between 1st-2nd while the bases were loaded. Once all the runners ahead of me had scored, i took second. So much damn fun. I didn't always get away with it, but i did get away with it about 80-90% of the time.
You want your kids to be alert, and look for the opportunities, but you also want to be strategic about when you take those opportunities. Doing it in an early season game where you're winning or losing 8-1 isn't the time to do it. Remember the tendencies of the team and take advantage when the run has meaning, and surprise. What you don't want to do is teach an opposing team their shortcomings in a meaningless game so that they learn the lesson and don't repeat it.
I agree. We will wait for two outs or hold off if we don't need it for that very reason. In this game, the stakes are very high and you may not have your good runner in place again, so take a run when they are giving it. As it turned out, the next play was the hit to center field and a double up out on the kid who was on second, so it ended up being the right move in the end.
You need to be at high alert in baseball it's not a lazy game, it can very well be a fast pace game, but I do agree with shpaget1 no reason should you be doing this if you are up or down by a ridiculous amount, this is more of a move to do when you are tied and or down by one to hopefully give your team the lead or win in an important game.
shpaget1 - but on the other hand doing it when the opportunity arises when it's 8-1 is good practice. After all you don't want to try it for the first time ever when everything is on the line in a tight game.
jhanks2012 wrong, to do it when up by a lot of runs is bad sportsmanship, and it may lead to the losing team getting back at yours by hitting batters or something similar.
Had the same comments back in the 90's when I coached 12 under..other coaches didnt like 10 stolen home plates during the season until in the playoffs another coach did his homework and caught us..best years of my life
The other reason it is more difficult at higher levels is because of the increased distance between bases. In Little League the bases are only 60 feet apart. And a fast player can cover that distance pretty quickly. When you factor in the reaction time for a pitcher/catcher to realize what is happening it becomes difficult to throw out a surprise stealer. At higher levels the reaction time for the pitcher/catcher is the same, but the distance to cover for the base runner is much longer. So it is harder to catch a pitcher/catcher by surprise.
True to a certain degree. I was able to take 2nd and 3rd on passed balls on my HS field growing up bc the backstop was so far back. We legit had some space behind the umpire, than our track and than some more space before the backstop. I was also our catcher and learned quick that if I block everything we have a huge home advantage
Don't let anyone tell you this is cheap - this is part of the game. Part of baseball is knowing when you can sneak another base - just like you can trick runners into taking extra bases and then picking them off, the more these kids learn when they're younger - the better they'll be as they grow up.
The issue I see is in the youth levels where- in bases loaded situations- R1 and R2 are practically 2/3's to their next base. It's all with the goal to catch the defense to make a mistake, and disappears as soon as you get to 90 foot bases. Why coaches teach this is incredulous, as is the same reason it mystifies me why coaches will spend 2 hours of a practice going through defensive signals and schemes with runners on 1st and 3rd, all with the hope to 'catch' the runner at 3rd making a mistake. Here's the breakdown based on seeing this 100's of times: 10 out of 20 times, R1 takes second base anyway. 8 out of 20 times, the defense screws up and R3 scores. 1 out of 20 times, both runners score! and 1 out of 20 times, the defense gets an extra out. Why coaches insist on teaching this at the youth level when by 90 foot bases you just let them have second base is perplexing! The time would have been so much better spent focusing on fundamentals.
People say that this won’t happen at a higher level but I’m playing high level baseball and I do this all the time. It’s smart baseball and taking advantage of what you got
Paying attention is as fundamental as it gets. Being creative with fundamentals can be difficult to teach sometimes, without this kind of visual aid. Thanks.
I think it is cheap baseball at the 7-9 age range when kids are just learning to pitch, catch and learn situations. It's very frustrating to watch a 7-8 year old game that ends up with time limit being called in the 2nd inning and the teams are scoring 10+ runs by primarily just stealing bases. Kids at this age are just trying to learn the fundamentals. However 10+ I say it's perfectly fine.
That is why leagues have special rules at that age preventing stealing home or stealing on throw backs to the pitcher, etc... I totally agree at the younger age, but at the 9-10 year old level they need to learn this stuff before they get to Little League Majors because leagues at that level can't make rules preventing this type of thing. Or, if kids are playing Travel ball, by 10U, they need to get this stuff figured out because at 11U, they will walk all over teams that can't stop the running game.
It's best to learn it at an early age. I can almost guarantee this players will never let that happen again. They may make other mistakes. But I am confident they won't make that one again.
2:20 incorrect, it is because the bases are 90 feet in higher level baseball. Also that kid would have got him out if it weren't for his extra step and hesitation.
You have to watch till the end of the video. Similar situation happened to K-rod a while back. The extra 30ft helps, but the clip at the end really does prove what the uploader says. You cant have your head in the clouds when you have the ball is in your hands.
baseball is a game meant to be fun and for entertainment. Aggressive base running is fun (if you can get away with it) and it certainly is entertaining.
Moral to the story, ignore stupid comments from people with no clue. This is the way the game should be played. I guess some folks just want to sit in the stands and see participation prizes handed out.
The only way that stealing a base is “cheap baseball” is if the game is lopsided and you continue to run up the score. My rule of thumb is that if a league has a mercy rule it’s fair game to play hard until you’re ahead by that amount of runs, then you back off the aggressiveness.
this reminds me of when i was in little league. one thing my coach was always yelling at us was never throw the ball to first. one time i was playing right field and our coach yells at us a reminder to never throw to first. batter hit kind of a short line drive right at me. there was a runner on first and he went halfway between first and second incase i dropped the ball. i didn't. rather i quickly fired the ball to first and would have gotten the runner if the first baseman hadn't been asleep on the play. after the game i found out from my mom that the coach turned around and told the guys on the bench "okay, thats the only time you throw it to first." he never admitted to me what i did was the right play, but never said it was the wrong one either.
i think the nature of the league makes a difference. if it is a recreational league, this sort of thing *is* cheap because in such a league the technical skills of throwing and catching are modest. If it is a competitive league, however, all bets are off.
in my opinion, this is EXACTLY when you should teach this kind of base running. because when they get to high school, it will yield results. too often do young players have little to no base running skills. same holds true for other baseball fundamentals... like bunting. I think you are right... let them be aggressive young.
@Ulysses432 when the OP said "its not against the rules so why is it cheap" im pointing out that if it were against the rules it would be 'cheat' then. It isnt that hard to understand
My LL coach permanently benched me for refusing to stop stealing bases/home. Not when we were winning, either; we lost almost every game in an effort to show good sportsmanship. I stopped playing baseball.
It was my first game of the first year they let you steal and my dad was coaching first when I drew a walk. I trotted to first, my dad stood in the box with his arms folded watching the defense, and he held up two fingers. I hit the bag running and didn't stop until I was safe on second. That's how I was taught and it's how everyone should be taught.
1:01 Watch the first two pitches, first pitch in left hand batter's box, rightfully called a ball. Second shown pitch, which appears to be 3rd pitch in the at bat, shown from overhead, is in the left hand batter's box as well and is called a strike. I know that is OT from the intent of the video, but that ump is bad.
Nope, I play at a high school level, and I do this all the time. Not necessarily home, but almost every game I am taking a bag when the pitcher or who ever has the ball is being inattentive.
It's very possible on 90 feet bases. My coaches have us, in particularly me, take third and occasionally home on the exact same plays, against some very good 16u travel teams. (I think I get the sign a lot because I'm tall and a good head first slider and I take an especially aggressive lead off second) But it's not cheap, makes me pay attention when I'm on the mound a lot more, it's part of the game. Also it's very nerve wrecking to do cause you don''t know if A: they'll even notice B: Get you out or C: if it'll be close, it's just a full sprint to that base.
When I payed Baseball as a pre teen our school ruled! ... when I got a first base only hit ... I routinely stole ALL the bases and got home ... sometimes I'd get first base and just calmly walk to second as the pitcher was setting up for the next batter.
People call it "cheap baseball" because they don't see this type of base running at higher levels. But the REASON they don't see it at higher levels is that the defense is always alert and they have antidotes for base running gimmicks. If the fielders are not alert nor have been trained to defuse some of these base running gimmicks - they will continue to fall victim to them. Once they demonstrate that they are not easily fooled, the gimmicks stop. Classic example: In youth baseball, with runners on 1st and 3rd, it is a very common "trick" to have the runner on 1st leave early while the pitcher is still in the set position. Of course, their obvious intent is to distract the defense enough to allow the runner from 3rd to score. It often works. But why is this almost never done at higher levels? It's because those fielders are alert enough and have the arm strength to zip the ball anywhere they it need to be in an instant. They may even get BOTH runners out. Runners don't pull these stunts at the MLB level because they are trying to avoid playing "Bush League" baseball. They don't do it because they don't work at that level. Believe me, if those stunts typically worked, they'd do it, too.
I was the fastest kid on my team and stole bases all the time and not once did my coach get mad! That coach that said he would bench his player is full of it 😄
Please name the idiots that said they would bench their kids for doing this, said upper leaguers never do this, and called it "cheap baseball" so we can be sure never to let our kids play for their teams. They are utterly wrong on all three counts and should not be teaching the game if they feel this way. I'd love to see them argue with Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, or Ricky Henderson that you shouldn't take advantage of lazy or inattentive fielders.
last year on one of my teams coach said to me and other fast runners if we see the pitcher get into any rhythm of looking once at us or not at all we had a green light.
they arent even allowed to steal bases they have to wait till the ball crosses home plate. with this disadvantage in mind this is definitely good base running the defense has nothing to worry about if they in fact are paying attention. especially from teams that are good enough to compete in the LLWS
I had a grand slam but it wasn’t it was a double with an error, I got to two when I saw the pitcher didn’t know what just happend because I just cleared the bases and the third basemen was far from third so I ran and the pitcher quickly threw and missed I ran home, the other team were dumb and thought we all were cheating, our side just knew we had good base runners, our whole team were, then when we were fielding an a possible double play the second basemen got the force but couldn’t throw because the runner didn’t slide, this was a rule break and made the double play anyway(we still would’ve had it) I think the other team should work on base running cause they clearly don’t know anything about or how to do it😔
about the 1st thing,it's the coaches fault they didn'twork on stealing.my son is a pitcher,and the coach MADE them practice this.its not dirty ball, it's playing the RIGHT way
If he is stealing bases the person holding him on yells runner so the pitcher can focus on strikes and the catcher can focus on framing after the player yells runner the catcher can throw down it's not always the pitcher and catchers fault
I once slid into first base on a force out in high school and then managed to get myself in a rundown between 1st and second on the very next pitch so that the batter could reach 1st and the run could score.
My problem with this type of base running is when it’s done at the lower levels and it’s really just taking advantage of kids who can’t play catch, and my real problem is that it teaches bad base running. I have kids who play 9u and 13u and some 9u team’s whole strategy is to win by engaging in ridiculously aggressive base running that would get them thrown out over and over and over again if they tried it at the13u level. It works at 9u b/c a lot of the kids are slow baseball thinkers and simply can’t play catch. It’s a different situation altogether when this type of thing is done at higher levels.
And how are the 9U players going to get better on defense if they are not challenged? When a 10U team I coached played a much better team, they ran on us like crazy. Beat us 32-2. That was a watershed game for that team! They not only learned in one game how to stop the run game, they also learned to take advantage of lazy defenses. Obviously by 13U every team has had this experience and it rarely works anymore, but that's all part of learning the game as you get older. At some point a team needs to do this to your boys so they can learn.
Not cheap baseball at all. When I played, I was a catcher, and always tried to keep my head in the game. If there were runners on base, I always looked for flaws in their game in order to get a pickoff. If a runner found a weak spot in my game or in the pitcher and took advantage of it, that runner earned a little more respect from me.
I coached a travel team. I stole home a lot, at least once a game. 9u-12u. It worked each level. I would send my runners just before the pitcher started his wind up. They were great at timing it. I would have the batter swing and miss so the catcher had to stay to catch the ball. The runners would go for the front of the plate where batters gave them room but still blocked catcher some. We were 80% successful. We also stole home from a first and third situation because we knew they were expecting first to steal. We knew they had a play to throw to SS or catcher fake throw to try to catch runner at third off the bag. Everyone has that play. We also knew, a steal home would not be expected so it could cause a mistake, and it did. Either the pictcher would freak out and balk, The catcher would freak out and interfere with our batter swing or we straight up just made it. In all the confusion at the plate, the catcher always forgot about the kid who stole second and while he is checking with the empire to see if he got the tag down in time, the other baserunner stole third. So when the kid stole second he didn’t even slow down he went straight to third. Now the catcher jumps up and tries to make the throw to third, sometimes he overthrows it and we score but either way now everyone’s freaking out. The coaches, parents, and players. If the catcher did not overthrow it, then we would steal home again on the very next pitch. We knew the players are all shook up and freaking out. After we executed that steal, the other team just folded.
If we played a team twice and they fell victim to our baserunning. It was easy for us to get in the pictchers, defense and coaches head. While we’re at third base, all the defensive players, including the outfield, dugout, coaches and opposing team parents, are all staring at the runner on third waiting to yell, “runner”!! So we had our batter crowd the plate. The pitcher was so focused on the runner that he had a hard time throwing strikes. I would tell the baserunner he was going to steal home this at bat. I would say it loud enough so the third baseman could hear me, and he would warn his team. But I took my hat off, which was the sign to do the opposite of what I say. The runner knew his job was to make it look like he was going to steal. We would read the situation. If it was 0-3 or 1-3, The baserunner would take off like he stealing home, everyone would yell “runner”. Pitcher would see him out of his peripheral vision and usually throw ball 4. Meanwhile the runner stop halfway turns around and quickly runs back to third base. We were hoping the catcher would try to throw down and get him going back to third. This will sometimes cause an overthrow and we could score and have a guy, that walked, at second base. Sometimes I would yell back when I saw the catcher throw down to third so the runner can reverse and take off home. Most of the time, in youth baseball, the catchers can’t throw to third and get the throw back home in time with a very fast runner.
9u we won 7 of 11 tournaments. 10u we won 10 of 13 tournaments. 11u we won 8 of 13 tournaments. 12u we won 5 of 12 tournaments but went to the championship game in 9 of the 12 tournaments.
Whatever coach told you he would break that kids probably one of those last place coaches that never wins games and he's just happy to be out there and give the kiss participation trophy
And, the frustrating thing about people who criticize it is that this sort of tactic is actually one of the great levelers of the playing field. There's always going to be a disparity in natural talent - that's just how things are. EVERY kid can learn to be alert and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the other team, however. I'd rather see a smart- well-trained team win than one who happened to get lucky in the genetic lottery.
Please tell me if this is cheap. FYI I play 13u AA ball in Canada. My team had the bases loaded, 1 out. The other team had a meeting on the mound and gave the the ball to the short stop. When my teams runner at second took his lead the ss tagged him. The team who did this was up by 5 runs also.
I love this. Cheap baseball? No such thing! Ha! Just kidding. Stealing and aggressive base running IS youth baseball. My 14U team is painfully aware of how to pay attention always, but especially between 3rd and home. They also watch for the pitcher and catcher who are not looking down third or who have too much routine. It's a risky move and there is a fine line between aggressive and risky. :)
it's a part of the game and if you don't want it to happen then you have less chance of winning. One time (on the big field) i was able to steal 3rd because the guy had his glove off and the pitcher was looking right at me. knowing all aspects of the game is important
i stole home once in 90ft baseball. The pitcher/catcher didnt care at all that i was on third. So i led off halfway to home and took off as soon as the catcher threw it back
From 10+ they need to be aggressive not at age 7,8 or 9 you are absolutely right the players need to learn to be aggressive on base and be alert in the field. I would tell my players to steal often if given the chance if I was a coach. I do steal quite often because players just are not alert
It is cheap when your team is up by more than 9 runs. It could be argued that you will see "cheap" bases less frequently at higher levels because the dumb players do not make it through playoffs. Personally, in a game where one run decides the winner versus loser, I love manufactured runs. Creates excitement and wins.
the unwritten rule of shutting it down up by 9 after 7 innings is foolish, there are countless times that a team has come back to win from being down alot
@Sherry Faron I agree that there have been great comebacks in many competitions, but in youth baseball games you usually have a game after your game and cannot let the game go over by hours. I coached one team of fast kids that stole almost at will and were good hitters. Without the 'mercy rule', the score could easily have been 45 to 3. I actually told the kids to stop stealing. This let the other team still play and practice, and also kept them from being humiliated. Also, in a playoff situation, you don't want your best pitchers to exceed the allowable pitch count over several games.
I agree it does not matter people should still be aggressive and you should still be an aggressive base runner
I agree it’s really cheap the coaches only do this because they care about winning more than having a fun time playing little league
@@nickd.8614 it’s the catchers fault because they weren’t paying attention
Can't even count how many times when I got walked and ended up just jogging to first then just sprint to second. Never got thrown out
Yup. Happens all the time in our league. Especially with a runner on third. If he throws to second, run scores
😂 that’s awesome
That’s got to be 12u or younger though
it's not cheap baseball everybody on the field needs to be aware of the runners and as a runner needs to be alert on what's going on around the person
nick slibowski you don't see it in the majors is because paying attention
You are dead-on, man. Those who call this cheap baseball are ones I would assert are not real baseball lovers. It is precisely this sort of heads-up, wily, athletic play that I find most exciting. One such daring, alert move is far more interesting and exciting than 98% of all home runs in the same circumstances.
Agree with you. The dissenters have no idea how to prepare kids for the higher level. They are teaching that "everyone is a winner".
Jon Larue its true mate
So basically the people who wrote all the dumb softball rules into little league "baseball"?
Whenever runners are on base, you must keep an eye on them no matter what. This is a great video. People who say it is cheap baseball are just mad that they got caught being either stupid, inattentive, or lazy. Once again, this video is great.
The only people calling it cheap are the losing coaches, who are butt hurt.
Yup xD
Exactly I would tell my coaches go cry about it if they did that to me but they don't they encourage it and because of that we win more games
stealing bases is apart of the game
+Zbj productions Not anymore apparently.
DrunkSamurai yeah it sucks now it's all about homeruns
+GD XxGeoGod41xX RBIs too. Stealing should be brought back.
Not in little league lol. Their rules are stupid.
Can u tell your words apart
I 100% agree with you. Being aggressive on the bases is important at all levels. At younger levels it teaches the runners how to look for openings, and teaches the D that you have to be alert. I've seen it happen in many higher level games, where the D just went to sleep, and a runner took advantage. This is part of the game.
I've been umpiring LLB for 9 years,as an umpire I love aggressive baseball,when tournaments starts you see first hand the teams that are really good,it's usually the teams that love CHEAP baseball.
h1989w7373 My Team was never the cheap team. I was the guy on the team who would still try picking everyone off and stealing second on a walk.
h1989w7373 yeah my little leage team made it to sectionals this year but we won the first 2 and lost the second 2
Back when I coached my son in little league we were facing an undefeated team halfway through the season. We were playing at home, my son was on third, it was the bottom of the 6th, the game was tied and I was coaching third. I noticed that the pitcher nor the catcher weren't paying any attention to my son after the pitch. I whispered to my son "next pitch steal home". He looked at me like I was crazy and I told him to just try it. There as only 1 out so we didn't have much to lose. Needless to say, my son got the game ball that game as we handed the undefeated team the only loss of the season that year!
I played organized baseball for most of my childhood and on into my 20s. We were taught base stealing. We were taught to study the playing habits of the other team. Stealing bases is totally good heads up baseball. If there is a coach that would sit a kid for aggressive base running he is an idiot and needs to be replaced. He doesn't know the game.
Aggressive base running is fun to do and to watch. Get to the next base at any opportunity.
To borrow a line from you, “Aggressive base running WINS the game”.
It's smart baseball, I once did that in a game and it caught the pitcher off guard by a mile.
Prove it
doesnt everone in travel baseball do that? thats basics
SoggySpy 007 did this many times in travel ball. Close at plate but it works.
@@brianhammer8968 He just did by saying it happened. Are you one of those guys who needs proof if I tell you I have 10 fingers and 10 toes? Or perhaps if I tell you I have brown hair? lol. That's as idiotic as your stupid comment.
@@coryCuc lol get trolled
LOL...I coached Little League and tournament baseball for around 10 years and I had the boys running those bases like wild horses....We scored so many freaking runs that way and the boys just absolutely loved doing it.....I did get a lot of crap from the other coaches and parents who were getting schooled.....I loved it even more when they tried to pull the same crap on my team....When I taught the boys how to run those bases I also taught the defense how to defend against it....Man that was such a great time in my life....Don't regret a single moment of it.
You sound just like my old coach.. lol i love it
Is it cheap to bunt to third base when the third basemen is out of place/sleeping? What about outfield moving in or out based on a batters previous at bats?
What about when a person making an attempt at second and the fielders forget about the guy standing on third? Is it cheap when he scores because the other team was sleeping?
Snowflake Baseball means that the score ends in a tie and that no one feels bad after the game. Stealing, strikeouts, and bunting are not allowed in Snowflake Baseball. It will hurt someone's feelings.
It's not cheap to bunt when there's no one on the left side of the field or when it's a sac bunt that's just strategy
God, everything's politics.
show no mercy
only if it is the last inning and the pitcher is tossing a No No and your team is down 7 runs
Great video man. Oh how i loved Aggresive base running as a kid. I didn't have the speed to pull a steel like this off. But i did have that fast start so i would take a very tempting lead that just begged the pitcher to try to pick me off. My fast start always got me back to the bag in time. But usually after about 2-3 attempts, they would be trying so hard to get me they would end up over throwing the ball and I'd take the next base. Sometimes on some fields, even two bases. Man that was so much fun. Now I'm a paraplegic (thanks to a motorcycle accident) but I'm just as Aggresive on the bases in Wheelchair softball as i was as a little leaguer. Once getting a team to pickle me between 1st-2nd while the bases were loaded. Once all the runners ahead of me had scored, i took second. So much damn fun. I didn't always get away with it, but i did get away with it about 80-90% of the time.
You want your kids to be alert, and look for the opportunities, but you also want to be strategic about when you take those opportunities. Doing it in an early season game where you're winning or losing 8-1 isn't the time to do it. Remember the tendencies of the team and take advantage when the run has meaning, and surprise. What you don't want to do is teach an opposing team their shortcomings in a meaningless game so that they learn the lesson and don't repeat it.
I agree. We will wait for two outs or hold off if we don't need it for that very reason. In this game, the stakes are very high and you may not have your good runner in place again, so take a run when they are giving it. As it turned out, the next play was the hit to center field and a double up out on the kid who was on second, so it ended up being the right move in the end.
You need to be at high alert in baseball it's not a lazy game, it can very well be a fast pace game, but I do agree with shpaget1 no reason should you be doing this if you are up or down by a ridiculous amount, this is more of a move to do when you are tied and or down by one to hopefully give your team the lead or win in an important game.
Seems like this team did that perfectly. It is baseball at its finest.
shpaget1 - but on the other hand doing it when the opportunity arises when it's 8-1 is good practice. After all you don't want to try it for the first time ever when everything is on the line in a tight game.
jhanks2012 wrong, to do it when up by a lot of runs is bad sportsmanship, and it may lead to the losing team getting back at yours by hitting batters or something similar.
Had the same comments back in the 90's when I coached 12 under..other coaches didnt like 10 stolen home plates during the season until in the playoffs another coach did his homework and caught us..best years of my life
Everybody is a winner “if your on the winning team”
👍🏾 at a-boy
*you're
You’re. Not your.
Great find at the end. It was exactly, with 90 foot bases, the same play you showed earlier with 60 foot bases.
Love how you called out the haters!
It isn't cheap baseball, it's SMART baseball!! I would award a kid that is smart on the base path
The other reason it is more difficult at higher levels is because of the increased distance between bases. In Little League the bases are only 60 feet apart. And a fast player can cover that distance pretty quickly. When you factor in the reaction time for a pitcher/catcher to realize what is happening it becomes difficult to throw out a surprise stealer. At higher levels the reaction time for the pitcher/catcher is the same, but the distance to cover for the base runner is much longer. So it is harder to catch a pitcher/catcher by surprise.
True to a certain degree. I was able to take 2nd and 3rd on passed balls on my HS field growing up bc the backstop was so far back. We legit had some space behind the umpire, than our track and than some more space before the backstop. I was also our catcher and learned quick that if I block everything we have a huge home advantage
Don't let anyone tell you this is cheap - this is part of the game.
Part of baseball is knowing when you can sneak another base - just like you can trick runners into taking extra bases and then picking them off, the more these kids learn when they're younger - the better they'll be as they grow up.
The issue I see is in the youth levels where- in bases loaded situations- R1 and R2 are practically 2/3's to their next base. It's all with the goal to catch the defense to make a mistake, and disappears as soon as you get to 90 foot bases. Why coaches teach this is incredulous, as is the same reason it mystifies me why coaches will spend 2 hours of a practice going through defensive signals and schemes with runners on 1st and 3rd, all with the hope to 'catch' the runner at 3rd making a mistake. Here's the breakdown based on seeing this 100's of times: 10 out of 20 times, R1 takes second base anyway. 8 out of 20 times, the defense screws up and R3 scores. 1 out of 20 times, both runners score! and 1 out of 20 times, the defense gets an extra out. Why coaches insist on teaching this at the youth level when by 90 foot bases you just let them have second base is perplexing! The time would have been so much better spent focusing on fundamentals.
People say that this won’t happen at a higher level but I’m playing high level baseball and I do this all the time. It’s smart baseball and taking advantage of what you got
Love your videos, keep them coming.
In high school, the baseball and softball coaches told us if you go for the steal, you better be fast enough to have it.
As I'm running to second I can hear Coach yelling no,no,no. As I slide in safely I hear Coach yell YES!
Paying attention is as fundamental as it gets. Being creative with fundamentals can be difficult to teach sometimes, without this kind of visual aid. Thanks.
It's baseball
period...
learn how to play, if this bothers you
And if it bothers you..........DON'T PLAY!!!!!
It doesn't happen often at higher levels because of larger base paths. The Myers clip is extremely rare.
Im 17 and coached 11-12 year olds and we ten run ruled every team we played this season cause of aggressive base running
had a kid I played with in little league that, when walked, would routinely run to first and go right around and straight to second.
I think it is cheap baseball at the 7-9 age range when kids are just learning to pitch, catch and learn situations. It's very frustrating to watch a 7-8 year old game that ends up with time limit being called in the 2nd inning and the teams are scoring 10+ runs by primarily just stealing bases. Kids at this age are just trying to learn the fundamentals. However 10+ I say it's perfectly fine.
That is why leagues have special rules at that age preventing stealing home or stealing on throw backs to the pitcher, etc... I totally agree at the younger age, but at the 9-10 year old level they need to learn this stuff before they get to Little League Majors because leagues at that level can't make rules preventing this type of thing. Or, if kids are playing Travel ball, by 10U, they need to get this stuff figured out because at 11U, they will walk all over teams that can't stop the running game.
John Davis there twelve - fourteen BRUH....
It's best to learn it at an early age. I can almost guarantee this players will never let that happen again. They may make other mistakes. But I am confident they won't make that one again.
Then you don't know a hell of a lot about kids. Or even humans.
John Davis this isn't 7 or 8
Whoever said that this wouldn't work in bigger levels, look at all the videos of major leaguers taking advantage unattentive pitchers and catchers
Good vid as usual, bro. :)
2:20 incorrect, it is because the bases are 90 feet in higher level baseball. Also that kid would have got him out if it weren't for his extra step and hesitation.
You have to watch till the end of the video. Similar situation happened to K-rod a while back. The extra 30ft helps, but the clip at the end really does prove what the uploader says. You cant have your head in the clouds when you have the ball is in your hands.
I agree. The pitcher took too much time to make the throw.
Gunther then explain the clip of it happening IN MLB?????????
Guess you commented without watching the whole f'ing thing.
Great commentary. videos are well done.
baseball is a game meant to be fun and for entertainment. Aggressive base running is fun (if you can get away with it) and it certainly is entertaining.
Moral to the story, ignore stupid comments from people with no clue. This is the way the game should be played. I guess some folks just want to sit in the stands and see participation prizes handed out.
The only way that stealing a base is “cheap baseball” is if the game is lopsided and you continue to run up the score. My rule of thumb is that if a league has a mercy rule it’s fair game to play hard until you’re ahead by that amount of runs, then you back off the aggressiveness.
I am the same way. I get to 10 and I call off the dogs.
this reminds me of when i was in little league. one thing my coach was always yelling at us was never throw the ball to first. one time i was playing right field and our coach yells at us a reminder to never throw to first. batter hit kind of a short line drive right at me. there was a runner on first and he went halfway between first and second incase i dropped the ball. i didn't. rather i quickly fired the ball to first and would have gotten the runner if the first baseman hadn't been asleep on the play. after the game i found out from my mom that the coach turned around and told the guys on the bench "okay, thats the only time you throw it to first." he never admitted to me what i did was the right play, but never said it was the wrong one either.
um look at the shortest guy in the MLB, he steals bases like crazy.
steals more than bases
i think the nature of the league makes a difference. if it is a recreational league, this sort of thing *is* cheap because in such a league the technical skills of throwing and catching are modest. If it is a competitive league, however, all bets are off.
Don't forget the 2015 MLB playoffs when Daniel Murphy noticed nobody covering 3rd and took off
in my opinion, this is EXACTLY when you should teach this kind of base running. because when they get to high school, it will yield results. too often do young players have little to no base running skills. same holds true for other baseball fundamentals... like bunting. I think you are right... let them be aggressive young.
On our Little League teams, four balls was a... 'RUN!!' Always go for two :)
It's not against the rules so why is it Cheap
Cause you are only too participate not win. I mean this sarcastically.
cheap and cheat are two different words.
@@dreamrsix5366 and neither applies to aggressive base running
@@2AForever-wi8yj Did I say it did? I pointed out that "cheap" doesnt mean its agaisnt rules. That would be "cheating".
@Ulysses432 when the OP said "its not against the rules so why is it cheap" im pointing out that if it were against the rules it would be 'cheat' then. It isnt that hard to understand
how is stealing a base "cheap" baseball? its part of the game... if the pitcher/catcher isnt ready, who cares?
My LL coach permanently benched me for refusing to stop stealing bases/home. Not when we were winning, either; we lost almost every game in an effort to show good sportsmanship.
I stopped playing baseball.
That coach is a loser and now I hate him too.
In Tennessee middle school based are now 90 feet and pitching is 60. Its crazy far for middle school
It was my first game of the first year they let you steal and my dad was coaching first when I drew a walk. I trotted to first, my dad stood in the box with his arms folded watching the defense, and he held up two fingers. I hit the bag running and didn't stop until I was safe on second.
That's how I was taught and it's how everyone should be taught.
1:01 Watch the first two pitches, first pitch in left hand batter's box, rightfully called a ball. Second shown pitch, which appears to be 3rd pitch in the at bat, shown from overhead, is in the left hand batter's box as well and is called a strike. I know that is OT from the intent of the video, but that ump is bad.
To your comment at 2:19 about "it wouldn't in higher league play" I have done it at a levels up till now.
Nope, I play at a high school level, and I do this all the time. Not necessarily home, but almost every game I am taking a bag when the pitcher or who ever has the ball is being inattentive.
It's very possible on 90 feet bases. My coaches have us, in particularly me, take third and occasionally home on the exact same plays, against some very good 16u travel teams. (I think I get the sign a lot because I'm tall and a good head first slider and I take an especially aggressive lead off second) But it's not cheap, makes me pay attention when I'm on the mound a lot more, it's part of the game. Also it's very nerve wrecking to do cause you don''t know if A: they'll even notice B: Get you out or C: if it'll be close, it's just a full sprint to that base.
That kid who stole home is Colin Lemieux. I’m from the same town as that RI team, Warwick.
Love your vids
When I payed Baseball as a pre teen our school ruled! ... when I got a first base only hit ... I routinely stole ALL the bases and got home ... sometimes I'd get first base and just calmly walk to second as the pitcher was setting up for the next batter.
Daniel Murphy also did that in the 2015 NLDS game 5
People call it "cheap baseball" because they don't see this type of base running at higher levels. But the REASON they don't see it at higher levels is that the defense is always alert and they have antidotes for base running gimmicks. If the fielders are not alert nor have been trained to defuse some of these base running gimmicks - they will continue to fall victim to them. Once they demonstrate that they are not easily fooled, the gimmicks stop.
Classic example: In youth baseball, with runners on 1st and 3rd, it is a very common "trick" to have the runner on 1st leave early while the pitcher is still in the set position. Of course, their obvious intent is to distract the defense enough to allow the runner from 3rd to score. It often works.
But why is this almost never done at higher levels? It's because those fielders are alert enough and have the arm strength to zip the ball anywhere they it need to be in an instant. They may even get BOTH runners out. Runners don't pull these stunts at the MLB level because they are trying to avoid playing "Bush League" baseball. They don't do it because they don't work at that level. Believe me, if those stunts typically worked, they'd do it, too.
I was the fastest kid on my team and stole bases all the time and not once did my coach get mad! That coach that said he would bench his player is full of it 😄
Please name the idiots that said they would bench their kids for doing this, said upper leaguers never do this, and called it "cheap baseball" so we can be sure never to let our kids play for their teams. They are utterly wrong on all three counts and should not be teaching the game if they feel this way. I'd love to see them argue with Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, or Ricky Henderson that you shouldn't take advantage of lazy or inattentive fielders.
That kid needs to learn how to SLIDE. He started to slide like half a foot from home plate.
Laser Show515 Starting his slide about 8 inches from the plate for one. Great way to get hurt.
knickknack07 he probably thought he was gonna be safe then realized we'll I slide just in case
take full advantage of every opportunity
Are you a tigers fan? I am. noticed you had a few tigers highlights :)
last year on one of my teams coach said to me and other fast runners if we see the pitcher get into any rhythm of looking once at us or not at all we had a green light.
they arent even allowed to steal bases they have to wait till the ball crosses home plate. with this disadvantage in mind this is definitely good base running the defense has nothing to worry about if they in fact are paying attention. especially from teams that are good enough to compete in the LLWS
My coach always tell me to ignore them but I always keep a eye.
I had a grand slam but it wasn’t it was a double with an error, I got to two when I saw the pitcher didn’t know what just happend because I just cleared the bases and the third basemen was far from third so I ran and the pitcher quickly threw and missed I ran home, the other team were dumb and thought we all were cheating, our side just knew we had good base runners, our whole team were, then when we were fielding an a possible double play the second basemen got the force but couldn’t throw because the runner didn’t slide, this was a rule break and made the double play anyway(we still would’ve had it) I think the other team should work on base running cause they clearly don’t know anything about or how to do it😔
about the 1st thing,it's the coaches fault they didn'twork on stealing.my son is a pitcher,and the coach MADE them practice this.its not dirty ball, it's playing the RIGHT way
In little league; minors, majors and juniors we taught our young men to run, run, run. Very effective.
With the will Myers one the pitcher just started walking away
I play just like this I steal every pitch lol
If he is stealing bases the person holding him on yells runner so the pitcher can focus on strikes and the catcher can focus on framing after the player yells runner the catcher can throw down it's not always the pitcher and catchers fault
Its part of the game baby. Adapt and overcome
Who ever complained about aggressive base running was probably a participation trophy winner. My coach would have me running laps if we sidnt
amazing, that major league shot at the end was amazing.. amazingly stupid.. great compilation sir, wll said
I once slid into first base on a force out in high school and then managed to get myself in a rundown between 1st and second on the very next pitch so that the batter could reach 1st and the run could score.
My problem with this type of base running is when it’s done at the lower levels and it’s really just taking advantage of kids who can’t play catch, and my real problem is that it teaches bad base running. I have kids who play 9u and 13u and some 9u team’s whole strategy is to win by engaging in ridiculously aggressive base running that would get them thrown out over and over and over again if they tried it at the13u level. It works at 9u b/c a lot of the kids are slow baseball thinkers and simply can’t play catch. It’s a different situation altogether when this type of thing is done at higher levels.
And how are the 9U players going to get better on defense if they are not challenged? When a 10U team I coached played a much better team, they ran on us like crazy. Beat us 32-2. That was a watershed game for that team! They not only learned in one game how to stop the run game, they also learned to take advantage of lazy defenses. Obviously by 13U every team has had this experience and it rarely works anymore, but that's all part of learning the game as you get older. At some point a team needs to do this to your boys so they can learn.
Not cheap baseball at all. When I played, I was a catcher, and always tried to keep my head in the game. If there were runners on base, I always looked for flaws in their game in order to get a pickoff. If a runner found a weak spot in my game or in the pitcher and took advantage of it, that runner earned a little more respect from me.
I coached a travel team. I stole home a lot, at least once a game. 9u-12u. It worked each level. I would send my runners just before the pitcher started his wind up. They were great at timing it. I would have the batter swing and miss so the catcher had to stay to catch the ball. The runners would go for the front of the plate where batters gave them room but still blocked catcher some. We were 80% successful. We also stole home from a first and third situation because we knew they were expecting first to steal. We knew they had a play to throw to SS or catcher fake throw to try to catch runner at third off the bag. Everyone has that play. We also knew, a steal home would not be expected so it could cause a mistake, and it did. Either the pictcher would freak out and balk, The catcher would freak out and interfere with our batter swing or we straight up just made it. In all the confusion at the plate, the catcher always forgot about the kid who stole second and while he is checking with the empire to see if he got the tag down in time, the other baserunner stole third. So when the kid stole second he didn’t even slow down he went straight to third. Now the catcher jumps up and tries to make the throw to third, sometimes he overthrows it and we score but either way now everyone’s freaking out. The coaches, parents, and players. If the catcher did not overthrow it, then we would steal home again on the very next pitch. We knew the players are all shook up and freaking out. After we executed that steal, the other team just folded.
If we played a team twice and they fell victim to our baserunning. It was easy for us to get in the pictchers, defense and coaches head. While we’re at third base, all the defensive players, including the outfield, dugout, coaches and opposing team parents, are all staring at the runner on third waiting to yell, “runner”!! So we had our batter crowd the plate. The pitcher was so focused on the runner that he had a hard time throwing strikes. I would tell the baserunner he was going to steal home this at bat. I would say it loud enough so the third baseman could hear me, and he would warn his team. But I took my hat off, which was the sign to do the opposite of what I say. The runner knew his job was to make it look like he was going to steal. We would read the situation. If it was 0-3 or 1-3, The baserunner would take off like he stealing home, everyone would yell “runner”. Pitcher would see him out of his peripheral vision and usually throw ball 4. Meanwhile the runner stop halfway turns around and quickly runs back to third base. We were hoping the catcher would try to throw down and get him going back to third. This will sometimes cause an overthrow and we could score and have a guy, that walked, at second base. Sometimes I would yell back when I saw the catcher throw down to third so the runner can reverse and take off home. Most of the time, in youth baseball, the catchers can’t throw to third and get the throw back home in time with a very fast runner.
9u we won 7 of 11 tournaments.
10u we won 10 of 13 tournaments.
11u we won 8 of 13 tournaments.
12u we won 5 of 12 tournaments but went to the championship game in 9 of the 12 tournaments.
Whatever coach told you he would break that kids probably one of those last place coaches that never wins games and he's just happy to be out there and give the kiss participation trophy
It's actually happened in the MLB before. Look up Elvis Andrus stealing home.
And, the frustrating thing about people who criticize it is that this sort of tactic is actually one of the great levelers of the playing field. There's always going to be a disparity in natural talent - that's just how things are. EVERY kid can learn to be alert and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the other team, however. I'd rather see a smart- well-trained team win than one who happened to get lucky in the genetic lottery.
Once my friend stole home when the pitcher hadn't even thrown the ball
Please tell me if this is cheap. FYI I play 13u AA ball in Canada. My team had the bases loaded, 1 out. The other team had a meeting on the mound and gave the the ball to the short stop. When my teams runner at second took his lead the ss tagged him. The team who did this was up by 5 runs also.
These coaches should be telling these kids How to stay alert
I love this. Cheap baseball? No such thing! Ha! Just kidding. Stealing and aggressive base running IS youth baseball. My 14U team is painfully aware of how to pay attention always, but especially between 3rd and home. They also watch for the pitcher and catcher who are not looking down third or who have too much routine. It's a risky move and there is a fine line between aggressive and risky. :)
Do you like the Tigers 🐅 forMLB
it's a part of the game and if you don't want it to happen then you have less chance of winning. One time (on the big field) i was able to steal 3rd because the guy had his glove off and the pitcher was looking right at me. knowing all aspects of the game is important
i stole home once in 90ft baseball. The pitcher/catcher didnt care at all that i was on third. So i led off halfway to home and took off as soon as the catcher threw it back
It's called heads up base running
From 10+ they need to be aggressive not at age 7,8 or 9 you are absolutely right the players need to learn to be aggressive on base and be alert in the field. I would tell my players to steal often if given the chance if I was a coach. I do steal quite often because players just are not alert
Awesome video
Back in the day it was Good Baseball at the High School and College Level.
Why so many tigers clips? I'm a tigers fan btw
What town is the Maine team I live and Maine so I want to know