O's errors on bases leave Trembley in fits

Roch Kubatko -- On Baseball

By ROCH KUBATKO ROCH AROUND THE CLOCK

July 20, 2008

The basic theme of manager Dave Trembley's post-game talk with the media after the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night - the first game of the second half of the season - centered on the club's latest base-running follies.

On Nick Markakis' attempt to take second base on Aubrey Huff's fly ball in the third inning:

"I have a saying that's real simple: If you're going to make a decision, make a good one, make the right one, but don't second-guess yourself. When you start and stop, you've got to shut it down. And to be quite honest with you, that mistake has happened way too often. It just seems like there's some indecision there. If you're going to go, go. But if you stop, don't try to start again, and that's what he did right there. It's like anything else, the first decision that you make, stay with it. Don't try to get yourself cluttered and outthink yourself."

Stay with your first decision? This man obviously hasn't met some of the women I've dated.

Asked what can be done to correct the mistakes, Trembley said: "I just asked a couple of the coaches for a couple suggestions because it would appear that it's been too repetitive of a mistake, and the game is a game of decisions. But the game is also a game of anticipating what you're going to do before it happens. So maybe that would probably be better, to remind people of situations before they occur."

More from Trembley, related to Melvin Mora being thrown out at the plate and Ramon Hernandez getting caught in a rundown between third and home:

"When it's first and third, nobody out or one out, it's just basic baseball that on a ground ball, you go. But if the ball beats you to the plate, you stop and stay in a rundown. [Third baseman Brandon] Inge made a heck of a play on the first and third, the ball that he backhanded, because what Melvin did, Melvin hesitated, No.1. And when Melvin hesitated, now he played right into Inge's hand because he threw the ball to second and [Placido] Polanco, who has a very good arm, made a heads-up play. You cannot hesitate. First and third, no outs or one out, you go if the ball's on the ground. If the ball beats you to the plate, you stop and stay in a rundown and you let everybody else move up 90feet. But once you stop, just stay there. Don't try to get it started again because you're going to get yourself in trouble. But those things happen. I hate to harp on it. You get as many hits as we got tonight and have the right guys up there at the end of the game and it doesn't happen, it doesn't sit well with anybody."

roch.kubatko@baltsun.com

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