Stock Doc: Stick to Your Guns

This past Sunday, in the second inning of a baseball game, I stood on first base after hitting a single with two outs.

I play in a wooden-bat semi-professional baseball league in Central Park as a way to relax each weekend. My team was playing against a new and unfamiliar opponent on that day, and I had no awareness of whether the catcher had a good throwing arm or if the pitcher had a good pick-off move. We had a weaker hitter at bat, so strategically I knew that it would be in my best interest to attempt stealing second base.

So after the pitcher went into his motion on the second pitch, I made the decision to take a risk and try to steal the base. Unfortunately, despite my sound strategy, I was just barely thrown out after sliding feet-first into the base. I was told that I probably would have been safe, had I gone in with a headfirst slide. Lesson learned! ...