Do Your Best

Today I was watching First Take, and to no surprise Skip Bayless took a hard line when asked if Nelson Cruz was to blame for last night's Rangers loss in Game 1 of the World Series. He said yes, absolutely. This wasn't particularly shocking, though as you will see I disagree, but what was even more astounding was that the entire panel seemed to vehemently agree that Nelson Cruz and basically argued that he absolutely SHOULD have caught that ball. That ball slicing away from him at top speed as he slid to make a catch!

I was talking to my girlfriend this morning and mentioned that I hadn't put up a scouting related post in awhile. She's right. And then I thought about Nelson Cruz, and how he was getting lambasted for not making an incredibly difficult catch. Before we go into Cruz's efforts, I think it is worth pointing out that the Rangers' manager, Ron Washington, pointed out that it was not his team that lost the game as much as the Cardinals won it. Too true.

I don't know what it is about the over-sensitized media juggernaut of ESPN that makes it so necessary to always ask who or how one team lost, when it seems far more appropriate to congratulate the winning team. If I were Ron Washington in the Rangers clubhouse today I think I would say, "Guys, great job last night. Let's try and be a little more patient and get better pitches to hit tonight. But remember, you just lost last night to a perennial Cy Young candidate in his own ballpark, in one of the most notorious baseball cities in America. Don't worry about it and let's get 'em tonight!"

Back to Cruz. I've seen easily 10 to 12 replays of this play at this point, and I can't shake the notion that Cruz did absolutely nothing wrong! The scout oath (even as early as Cub Scouts) says that you should do your best. I honestly and sincerely believe that that was EXACTLY what Nelson Cruz was doing in trying to catch Allen Craig's slicing liner. He was clearly running very hard for the ball, knowing that it was slicing toward the foul line. It's not like he was pulling a Hanley Ramirez from a few years ago, he was hoofing it to the ball! And here's the thing I don't understand people giving Cruz flak for: He slides. Many people have argued that he either should have kept running or dove headfirst for the ball. First of all, I cannot disagree more. Second of all, talk about the luxury of hindsight! Of all the split-second decisions in sports, I can think of only a few that are more clearly irrelevant to judging whether a player is to blame for not making a play than Cruz's decision to slide.

Add to this the fact, that you only have to go to the last playoff series of Cruz's play to reveal that diving isn't always a good option. In the Tigers 7-5 win over Cruz's Rangers in the ALCS, the Tigers monster scoring inning was begun with, wait for it... Yes! of course! A Victor Martinez triple on a slicing line drive toward the right foul line that just escaped the grasp of a DIVING Nelson Cruz! Going back to last night, while Cruz did not make the catch as his glove came within inches of the ball, his leg did trap the ball from going any further, keeping the Cardinals trailing runner at 3rd and Craig at 1st. The way I see it we shouldn't be vilifying Cruz for missing the catch, we should be praising him from keeping more damage from being done in the inning!

I realize that this is by no means the only case of pundits somewhat irrationally questioning the decisions of pro athletes without putting those decisions in the proper context, but it seems particularly preposterous to assert that somehow this was a play that Cruz SHOULD have made. There is no doubt in my mind that Cruz was, in every sense of the word, doing his best. Unfortunately, and this is a lot of people's favorite part of the game of baseball, the sport does not always reward a player for doing their best or hustle. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't recognize it and congratulate it when it occurs, despite the result.