Athletes must occasionally have faith in their instincts. That adage’s most recent illustration comes from Bryce Harper.
Harper was on first base in the bottom of the eighth inning of the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Miami Marlins Wild Card Game 1 on Tuesday night. Harper had singled to start the inning. This brought Nick Castellanos to the plate after a flyout. Even though the Phillies led 3-1 at that time, they would have appreciated an extra run as the ninth inning approached.
Castellanos fouled off Steven Okert’s first pitch, a left-handed slider down in the zone, but he did not miss the second. Harper launched into a dead sprint as he lined a liner to the wall in left field.
Coach Dusty Wathan at third base raced past the stop sign there:
As Harper rounds second and moves toward third, as was said on the radio, he has a clear vision of how this play is developing. He is the best person to know at that point if he has a chance to score on this play.
He threw off his batting helmet, sprinted around third base, and then crossed the plate to score the insurance run, showing that he plainly felt he could.
After the game, Harper gave a response that Delaware Online referred to as coming “straight out of central casting,” in which he claimed to have missed Wathan’s sign.
On a night when Wathan was receiving some criticism, Harper made a hasty retreat. Alec Bohm lofted a fly ball into right field in the first inning with Kyle Schwarber on third base and nothing out. Wathan raised the stop sign, causing Schwarber to retreat to the bag as he waited for the green light to tag up.
Particularly after the throw-in from the right was off the line, Schwarber appeared to be a little upset with the choice:
Given that the order’s center was approaching, Wathan probably felt that the danger was not worth it. J.T. Realmuto flew out to center and Harper struck out, therefore the Phillies lost the game.
Wathan then made another choice in the fourth inning that drew some criticism. The Phillies had runners on second and third with nothing out and a 1-0 advantage. Realmuto was able to score after Bryson Stott’s center-field single. Castellanos, the runner on second, was similarly ignored by Wathan.
He was expelled from his house:
Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies could not help but wonder if two potential runs had been eliminated since it required a perfect throw and tag to catch him. Fortunately for them, Stott reached base on a wild pitch, moved to third on Cristian Pache’s single, and scored to put Philadelphia up 3-0.
Being a base coach is a challenging position with many moving parts. You must make quick decisions based on the fielders’ positions, your understanding of their arm strength, the runners involved, and the situation, all while attempting to suppress your emotions. Even though 50,000 supporters are yelling for another run, it’s occasionally necessary to put up the stop sign.
And occasionally, as an athlete, you have to go against your better judgment and cross the stop sign.