Well, today's excerpt was about former Detroit Tigers manager, Billy Martin. It focuses mostly on his time with the Twins, but it's a fantastic look into what a gambler he was. Here's the part I enjoyed/was shocked about the most:
Martin’s approach to the base paths demonstrated how he wanted his team to play. In the second game he managed, Minnesota’s Rod Carew stole home. This was no fluke—by the end of the month, Carew had three steals of home and by the season’s conclusion he tied Ty Cobb’s single-season record with seven such swipes. Three of them came on triple steals. On another occasion, Cesar Tovar stole home as part of a successful triple steal. Four triple steals are the most by any one team in the last half-century, and probably the most since the deadball era.
On another occasion, opponents tagged Tovar out at the head of another triple steal—which Martin called when the Twins enjoyed a six-run lead. Graig Nettles, of all people, was once thrown out stealing home. Technically he was picked off of third and made a break for it, but he must have had a good-sized lead to draw a throw, as pitchers normally do not try picking runners off of third. Even slow-footed Harmon Killebrew, at age 33, stole eight bases that season. He had 11 the rest of his career. Billy Martin truly did not fear a damn thing.
Say whaaa? A triple steal? I've seen double steals fairly frequently, but the triple steal has never even entered my mind as a possibility in a baseball game. Ever. And I like to think that I'm fairly outside-the-box thinking. Maybe I'm not. That is astounding.
But, please, click through to read the entire thing. It's a great read from what is shaping up to be a great book. If you do like what you read and want to pre-order it, I would really recommend doing it through the publisher, as that nets Chris the most money, and lets face it, making money in from publishing a book (especially one in this sort of niche-market) is not easy.
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