The Cardinals steal 4 bases on 1 pitch, a breakdown
What Happened
In a thrilling moment from the 1985 season, the St. Louis Cardinals showcase their base-stealing prowess against the opposing team. It's a close game, with the score tight and the stakes high. Vince Coleman, the Cardinals' speedy outfielder, leads off the inning on first base. With the count at 1-0, he takes off, stealing third base. The opposing team's third baseman attempts to tag him, but Coleman deftly avoids the tag and continues running, ending up in a rundown situation. As Coleman navigates the rundown, the trailing runner, Willie McGee, also decides to steal, taking third base while the defense is distracted. The first baseman fails to cover home plate, allowing Coleman to score. Moments later, McGee seizes the opportunity and takes off for home, but the play is ultimately ruled invalid as time had been called during the previous commotion. The umpires and coaches engage in a heated debate, discussing the legality of the plays and the official scoring. Some argue that Coleman should have been out on the initial tag, while others contend that he did not intentionally run outside the baseline. Ultimately, the official scorekeeper awards Coleman two stolen bases and McGee one, despite the unconventional nature of the sequence. Vince Coleman, known for his exceptional speed, had an impressive rookie season in 1985, leading the National League in stolen bases with 110. However, his career was not without controversy, as he was later involved in an incident where he threw fireworks at a group of children, an act that drew widespread criticism. As the dust settles, the Cardinals' display of base-running prowess and their ability to capitalize on the opposition's momentary lapses have left an indelible mark on the game. Fans and analysts alike are left in awe, questioning whether this could be the most stolen bases recorded on a single pitch in the history of the sport.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthis is from 1985 so we don't have the
full game footage we don't have multiple
camera angles we don't have even the
whole play here but we have this one
highlight i found it super interesting
it's first and second vince coleman
steals third
over slides the bag he's in no man's
land doesn't know what to do gets up
just runs away from the glove runs say
the third baseman looks at the ump says
hey i tagged him didn't i um says no so
coleman starts jogging he's got to get
in a pickle now
little rundown he should be dead he's
caught up in between both of them
and at this point the trail runner is
coming to third and you can see the
third base coach saying slide slide
slide ron say here's that
turns around to check on that runner
then turns back to check on coleman
and the first baseman never covered home
so
coleman scores really the first
baseman's fault here
and now mcgee's just standing on third
wall they argue about the tag and he
takes off for home and now
no no no no obviously you can't do that
come on man
time has been called but we all
appreciate the effort but we all
understand it doesn't matter
they're arguing two things over there
and then later on they kind of argued
that the official score
screwed this up is that joe west's dad
is that joe west both answers could be
correct
no one knows so when he overslides the
bag first they're arguing that
he tagged him which i don't think he did
i slow-moted i looked at it then
they argued that he ran out of the
baseline
but he kind of didn't do it on purpose
so i don't think that's the right call
either
vince coleman was super fast they gave
him two steals on this play
which i think is fair but mcgee
shouldn't have gotten two steals
one should have been a fielder's choice
i guess but then isn't the trail runner
in a double steel always a fielder's
choice so maybe it is four steals
on one pitch that's got to be the most
amount of steals you can get on one
pitch
without an error or a fielder's choice
you would think
or bases are loaded everyone takes off
for one bag
that's three and then for some reason
people go brain dead
and then the two runners take off again
another run scores
that would be five stolen bases and then
the runner who was on first is on third
now
they're brain dead again he goes home
maybe you can have six stolen bases in
one pitch i don't know i've never seen
it if anyone
has let me know maybe a little league
game anyway vince coleman was fast as
hell man he stole 110
bases his rookie season 107 the next 109
he led the league the national league
and stolen bases from age
23 to 28 he was also kind of not a great
guy through fireworks at little kids and
hurt him and that's not fun i don't like
that at all
i like baseball though and i got a
podcast called talking baseball and you
should check it out because it's a
really good podcast
if i say so myself but of course i would
say that because it's my podcast and i'm
on it so you check it out tell me if i'm
right or wrong