Nyjer Morgan Fail
Yesterday, with two out in the top of the ninth inning, in a tie game between the Brewers and White Sox at US Cellular Field, Nyjer Morgan was caught attempting to steal third — what he was thinking, however, every Brewers fan (and probably every other member of the Brewers organization) would like to know. (Sorry: for some reason MLB video didn’t offer the option to embed this clip.)
To make this NotGraphs-eligible, I’ve creatively recreated this play in my office at work:
The wind-up circus bear here represents the spirit that possessed Morgan on the play. The circus bear is an unpredictable soul, aware that it is display for the amusement of the masses, sometimes prepared to awe, sometimes lashing out against his own best interest. Such has been the dramatic career of Nyjer Morgan.
He thought there were 2 strikes and 2 out when the count was 3-1. Simple as that. Still not good, but that’s what he was thinking.
Your rational, reasoned, well-thought-out responses have no place here. Away with you now!
/Dick Allen joke.
Also, I guess the implication is that when you’re a professional, in that situation, you should not be thinking it’s a 3-2 count when it’s a 3-1 count. Period. So the “What was he thinking?!” bit was more rhetorical than literal.