NYTimes - The Art of the Steal

[ceffa2000]

Not sure if this has been posted yet:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/11/sports/b...1podsednik.html?

[Jake]

Could you post it?

[ceffa2000]

July 11, 2005

The Art of the Steal: Podsednik Keeps Pitchers on Edge

By IRA BERKOW

 

CHICAGO, July 10 - Last Friday, on a night the gods conspired to make perfect for baseball - shirt-sleeve summer weather, the flags fluttering only slightly in the breeze, the grass sparkling under the lights - the 33,623 fans at U.S. Cellular Field watched Scott Podsednik lead off the first inning for the hometown White Sox against the Oakland Athletics. In typical fashion and with the shot-from-a-cannon speed that has made him the premier base thief in all of baseball, with 44, and a newly minted All-Star as well as the American League leader in infield hits, with 25, Podsednik beat out a slow roller to the right of the mound.

 

Podsednik, who causes pitchers and many who try to pronounce his name (Puh-SED-nik) equal consternation, took a rather long lead off first base, wearing the lightweight black baseball shoes he carefully selects, cutting out the tongues, he said, for "less drag" when taking flight.

 

The pitcher, the right-hander Kirk Saarloos, glanced over his shoulder as he assumed a stretch position. The look in his eyes was nothing if not baleful. He understood that the lean 6-foot, 190-pound player with the knee-high black socks who was crouched on the infield dirt several yards away, staring at him with possible mischief on his mind, had the potential to make this beautiful evening a rotten one for him.

 

The modus operandi for the White Sox, who possess the best record in baseball, at 57-29, is that Podsednik gets on base, and then he steals a base. Then maybe there's a base hit or an infield out and the runner advances to third, and maybe another of the same and Podsednik scores. The opposition finds itself swiftly and, in frequent cases, irrevocably in the hole. While the White Sox have some power in the lineup - Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye - the team relies on speed, on defense, and on pitching in, well, underwhelming, but nevertheless whelming, the opposition.

 

Going into the weekend, the White Sox led their opponents in runs scored in the first inning, 64-34, and no small part of that substantial difference was one Scott Podsednik. They also lead at the All-Star Game break in winning one-run games, with a 22-9 mark, and stolen bases, with 91. "On offense," White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen said, "our most valuable player is Scott."

 

Saarloos, before throwing his first pitch to the second batter, Willie Harris, threw to first base, to alert Podsednik to the fact that he was not forgotten. A valentine of sorts. Then Saarloos threw quickly a second time to first. And a third. And he still hadn't pitched to Harris. A smattering of sardonic boos came from the White Sox fans.

 

"Oh, he's disruptive," said Lou Piniella, the manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, whose team had played the White Sox earlier in the week. "He makes the pitcher really concentrate, and he takes attention away from the hitter. And then, because of fear of him stealing, the rest of the batting order sees more fastballs than breaking balls. And then the infield has to shift a little differently, open wider holes in the defense. That's what speed can do for you. And a good leadoff batter - and Podsednik is one of the few really good ones in baseball - is the catalyst for any team.

 

"I tell my pitchers: 'Just don't let him get on base. Make sure you don't walk him. He's going to have to hit his way on if he's going to get on.' "

 

And while Podsednik had been caught stealing 12 times going into the weekend, six of those times he had been picked off first base, three when he was fooled by the pitcher and was eventually thrown out at second.

 

And what does the manager say when Podsednik is picked off? "I tell him, 'Get on base and get picked off again,' " Guillen said. "You can't be a good base stealer and be afraid."

 

Podsednik, the White Sox' left fielder, echoed those sentiments. "You can't be afraid of failure," he said. "Once you become hesitant, you've lost the edge."

 

Podsednik has the green light from Guillen to try to steal a base whenever his heart is set on it.

 

"I go by instinct, and when I feel I have the pattern of the pitcher down," he said earlier in the day, sitting on the dugout bench. "I study the pitchers, in films and on the bench. Each one has his own rhythm."

 

Podsednik's study has been so good that he has almost single-handedly (leggedly?) brought back the art of stealing bases and is on pace to steal 90 this season after leading the major leagues with 70 last year.

 

Once the province of wondrous players like Maury Wills and Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson, base stealing seems to have faded to a great degree in contemporary baseball.

 

"One reason is that when young guys watch 'SportsCenter,' they see diving catches and guys hitting home runs," Podsednik said. "They don't see guys doing the little things that day in and day out win ballgames: laying down bunts and running the bases, especially stealing bases."

 

A few other reasons include smaller ballparks, which make hitting home runs a greater temptation, and the notion that singles hitters don't get the big bucks that sluggers do.

 

Podsednik, who is 29, played nine seasons in the minor leagues.

 

"Sure, there were times when I thought I would quit," he said, "but then I thought, what would I do? I don't know, detail cars? "

 

He finally made it full-time with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003. He hit .314 that year with 43 stolen bases and was named the National League's rookie of the year.

 

"I realized that my legs were my living and started cutting down on my trying to power the ball," he said.

 

Last winter, the White Sox made a stunning trade, sending Carlos Lee, who had hit 31 home runs and driven in 99 runs, to the Brewers for Podsednik and the right-handed relief pitcher Luis Vizcaino.

 

"We took a lot of flak for that trade," White Sox General Manager Ken Williams said. "But we needed to revamp our lineup, and get more speed, and build the team around defense and pitching. People said, 'Where are you going to get runs from?' Well, we've found a way."

 

The trade turned out well for both teams. Lee, hitting .266 with 22 homers and 76 runs batted in, and Podsednik batting .293 with no homers and 17 runs batted in but having scored 49 runs, made their respective All-Star teams for Tuesday's game in Detroit.

 

Podsednik made it as the last of 32 players, with an on-line vote by fans, beating out five others, including Derek Jeter of the Yankees. The White Sox promoted him with "Vote for Scott" T-shirts and buttons, and even his teammates, including pitcher Mark Buehrle, made public-address announcements on the field before games to remind fans to vote for Podsednik.

 

"I voted 25 times for him," said Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox. "Well, you know, this is Chicago, where the slogan is, 'Vote early and vote often.' And it would cost me money. He's got a clause in the contract that if he makes the All-Star team he gets a $100,000 bonus. But it's worth it."

 

Podsednik said: "Even if I didn't make the All-Star team, I was happy just for the opportunity to be in the running. After nine years in the minors, you come to appreciate such things. And if I hadn't made the All-Star team, I still would have gone home over the three-day break with a smile on my face."

 

And so he goes to Detroit, instead of home to Dallas. Oh, in that first inning against Saarloos of the A's, Podsednik stole second. His next time up, in the third, he singled again and stole second again. Neither time did he score. Unusual, and the White Sox lost, also unusual, 4-2.

 

But tomorrow was another day and Podsednik, with his green light bright, continued to lead the White Sox in their march toward the playoffs.

[ceffa2000]

Also:

[GoodAsGould]

If he wants 100 he is going to have to pick up the pace some. At the begining of the season it seemed like he was getting so many than he went in a stolen base funk for a bit.

[ceffa2000]

Yeah, that period of time when he had two games of four stolen bases was amazing. He has been in a little funk lately but he seems to be snapping out of it. He just might not have been getting good opportunities recently.

[Balta1701]

Another thing...I think he's really been on a roll lately in that it seems like no one is throwing him out. He had a stretch back there a few weeks ago where his throw-outs went up, but lately no one's been picking him off.

[ceffa2000]

"Sure, there were times when I thought I would quit," he said, "but then I thought, what would I do? I don't know, detail cars? "

 

Who would have thought he and Kerry Wood could have had a pretty nice dealership?

[SoxFan1]

Scotty is the man. He has quickly become one of my favorites. I just love his whole attitude and his swagger on the field. Socttyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....YES!

[crash]

I saw an article in today's New York Times that Scott Podsednic cuts the tongues off his shoes to reduce drag and steal bases. No wonder he has 44 stolen bases.

[Wise Master Buehrle]

Just a heads up Soxtalkers, this guy is a troll. You should ban him. He came by as the same name at South Siders.

[SoxFanForever]

Who is "Podsednic"?

[crash]

Who is "Podsednic"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The White Sox lead-off man. Forgive the spelling. My spelling sucks.

[ChWRoCk2]

The White Sox lead-off man. Forgive the spelling. My spelling sucks.

yeah, i dont think he will hit one hundred but he will get close

[crash]

yeah, i dont think he will hit one hundred but he will get close

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No way it will happen. The real intense heat is about to come, plus combined w/ the fact that they wear black when Garcia pitches. Ernie Banks said he probably would've stolen 100 bases if his uniforms weren't made out of heavy wool.

[PutItOnTheBoard]

good article.....i'm lovin podsednik