Cardinal Sins of Baseball

We often speak of the Cardinal Sins of Baseball, which are acts that when committed by a ballplayer are almost unforgivable.  Almost all of them are committed out of over-aggressiveness and fear.  More importantly, with discipline, they are avoidable.  I've decided to rank what I believe to be the top ten Cardinal Sins of Baseball.

Charles Gipson was a cardinal sinner with the Yankees

10-Hitting into a Double-Play.  This is always a killer for the team at-bat and great news for the team in the field.  I rank this at the bottom of the list because it's possible for a great hitter to hit into double-play against a great pitcher after having worked the count to 3-2 in a 12-pitch at-bat.  What makes this act sinful, however, is when it takes place with the bases loaded, when it ends an inning, when it ends a rally, when it happens against a pitcher who is on the verge of losing his composure and getting pulled, or, most importantly, when it ends the game.

9-Getting doubled-up on a fly ball.  Coaches have to take some of the blame in these situations, as it is really the job of a base coach to tell the runner what to do.  However, in cases where a runner misreads the flight of a fly ball out and doesn't make it back to the bag in time, it's a shameful walk back to the dugout.  On the same note, failing to tag up and advance to the next base on a long fly ball may be equally as sinful.

8-Throwing a wild pitch as part of an intentional walk.  Or even worse, having an intentional ball hit for an RBI (Yes, Miguel Cabrera did this with this Marlins).  There's often been an argument that when a team wants to intentionally walk a batter, the batter should be allowed to take first-base without throwing four balls.  Well, to quote John Sterling, "this is why they play the games."  This shouldn't be a difficult act for any pitcher but fail to do it properly and you are sure to get a rousing set of jeers.

7-A two-out walk.  The beauty of baseball is that there is no clock and that the inning doesn't end until three outs are recorded.  Once you've gotten two outs, do you really want to extend the inning and put a runner on base?  While not probable, there's nothing that prevents a team from scoring ten runs with two outs versus doing the same with no outs.

6-Walking the lead-off batter.  A two-out walk seems unnecessary.  A lead-off walk is dangerous.  It's been said that a walk is as a good as a hit.  Nothing like starting off the inning with a runner on base and no outs.  It's automatically advantage in favor of the hitting team and the pitcher is on the defensive (and pitching out of the stretch).

5-Walking the #9 hitter, specifically if it's a pitcher (thanks to Bleacher Report for that one). I've already stated that both a lead-off walk and a two-out walk will come back to haunt you.  How about a two-out walk to the pitcher?  Or better yet, why don't you start the inning by putting a weakest hitter in the lineup on base with the top three hitters due up?  Care to explain that one to your manager?

4-Swinging on the a first pitch of an at bat after the batter has thrown several consecutive balls.  It's hard to give the specific circumstances of when this applies.  The best example would be when A.J. Burnett throws eight consecutive balls to walk two hitters.  Swing at the first pitch and you're a fool.  Make an out and you might get sent to the showers before you have a chance to redeem yourself.  I couldn't locate the box score, but I believe Tony La Russa pulled a player once for doing this.

3-Getting picked off as the tying and/or winning run in the 9th inning.  Some believe that attempting a stolen base and getting caught is equivalent to giving up an out.  What's worse is getting called out before you even try to make it to the next base, especially when  you are a pinch-runner!  Any Yankee fans remember Charles Gipson?  He was signed as a backup outfielder and pinch-runner by the Yankees in 2003.  He was picked-off TWICE at first base within a matter of a few weeks.  In a May 14 loss to the Angels, Gipson, who had pinch run for Robin Ventura, was picked off for the third out of the seventh inning.  In the second game on June 8, he represented the tying run at first with two outs and the Yankees were in the middle of a rally.  Down by one run, he was picked off of first-base.  Needless to say he wasn't long for the team and was cut about two weeks later.

2-Popping up a bunt.  Some people think giving up an out to move a runner over is bad enough.  While I'm not always with the majority on that one (yes, I know that the statistics support your case), popping up a bunt for an out is even worse.  You are literally giving up an out for no benefit whatsoever.  The same applies to a bad bunt which results in a lead runner being forced or called out.  If you don't know how to bunt, chances are that you're better off trying to swing the bat.

1-Giving up a bases loaded walk.  This is an even greater sin when the run scoring is the tying, go ahead, or winning run.  It represents worst in a pitcher, in both cowardess and fearfulness.  It's often said that a manager would rather see a pitcher throw a meatball and have it hit for a grand slam than to see a pitcher walk in a run.  Neither solution is desirable, especially since a grand slam scores three more runs.  But the only way to generate outs is to throw strikes and pitchers who throw strikes generally have more faith in their stuff and, therefore, more faith in themselves.  David Cone, despite having won four rings with the Yankees, will never forget having walked in Doug Strange as the tying run in Game 5 of the 1995 ALCS against Seattle.  Sure, he pitched his heart out and was known as a pitcher who never wanted to give in and have to throw a strike.  He said that he would not have changed his approach and would have regretted it more if he had given Strange something to hit and he did indeed hit it.  Yet it still eats at him, which tells me that he certainly wishes he had done something different (and in fairness to Cone, he was gassed at the time).

(Photo of Charles Gipson courtesy of The Replacement Level Yankee Weblog).