I watched this a few times and am still a bit confused. The long and short of it is that Jean Segura actually stole first base on Friday night. If you don’t believe me check out the insane video and even more insane play-by-play call made by the good folks at Yahoo!.
Thanks to the Big League Stew we have one of the most complex step-by-step rundowns of a rundown:
• Segura, the Milwaukee Brewers new starting shortstop who was a terrific base stealer in the minors, successfully swiped second base in the eighth inning.
• After Ryan Braun walked, the Brewers had runners on first and second with no outs and elected to call for the double steal.
• The double steal is thwarted by Shawn Camp, who attempts to pick Segura off and start a good old-fashioned game of pickle.
• Segura instinctively retreads to second, which by that time is occupied by Braun.
• Segura’s instincts quickly vanish, because even though he made it back safely, he incorrectly assumed the bag belonged to Braun. As the lead runner, it actually belonged to him, so the moment he touched, Braun was out.
• Usually when we see the two runners occupying a single base situation play out, it ends with the two players standing hands on hip staring at each other for a few seconds. As you’ll notice in the video, Braun plays his role perfectly. Segura, however, takes off for the first base dugout meaning he’s at risk of being tagged out. Luckily for him, the initial rundown had moved all Cubs defenders out of the area, and with no one in the stadium expecting a baserunner to willingly run from second base to first base, he was able to get there safely once he realized his predicament.
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