2 out bottom of the 9th intentional walk, tied game men on 1st & 2nd

[andyfox]

Obviously one would rather face Escalona than Jeter, but would you walk Jeter with 2 out and men on 1st and 2nd?

[Edge34]

Since there's already one runner in scoring position, putting one more guy on isn't going to make as big of a difference.

Didn't see the game and haven't seen the highlights yet, but I think the decision to face the worse hitter is a good gamble.

[kyro]

Depends on who is on second base I think. If it's a guy with speed, I don't think it really matters. If it's Cecil Fielder, walking him would be stupid.

[Voltron87]

the runner was jorge posada.

[Voltron87]

since posada was on 2nd, this was a bad move by the jays.

also, the pitcher threw two pitches which were balls, so they didnt call it immediately.

and escalona had respect playing as his intro song.

[DougOzzzz]

This was a terrible decision.

First, there is a big difference between a man on 2nd and a man on 3rd. It matters only a little how fast the runner is. "Scoring position" is an arbitrary term and makes little sense. Batters score from 2nd on singles about half the time - a little more with 2 outs, but no one is anywhere near 100% to score from 2nd on a single.

Second, the walk to Jeter loaded the bases. Now a walk would win the game. Walks are actually very common in this situation (see Proctor, Scott) - far above the normal walk rate.

Escalona hit over .300 in AAA last year. He's no Derek Jeter, but he is a long ways from being bad enough to justify this decision.

Jeter's pseudo "clutchness" might have won this game. If opposing managers continue to make moronic decisions because of his reputation, then maybe this ability is more useful than I thought.

[MrFeelNothin]

I always disagree with walking the bases loaded in a crucial situation such as tie game or 1-run lead.

Too much pressure to throw strikes to the next hitter with nowhere to put him. If the pitcher fails to throw the first one over for a strike, he is forced to serve up something to ensure he doesnt fall behind 2-0. If he falls behind 2-0 then he is really screwed as one more ball and the batter KNOWS he is coming in the zone, so he HAS to come with something over the middle here. etc, etc.......this is one of a few moves that I vehemently disagree with. another would be bunting a man from second to third, but we can discuss that elsewhere.

[Voltron87]

the fact that the pitcher went 2-0 on jeter definitely played a part. i guess they didnt want to have to give jeter that many strikes, because of the nature of jeters abs.

also, "scoring position" is overrated, but j-po is such a bad runner it is significant.

walks being more common is a good point, especially since batista was having a control issue. however escalona is a hacker and rarely walks, but its still a good point.

[technologic]

please don't call jorge j-po. that's a disgrace.

[Voltron87]

better than calling him po-sada like every commentator.