Red Sox greatest Stolen Base

YTF

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I was there that night out in the right field boxes. I'm looking out at Ellsbury, third baseman Angel Berrora is way off the base toward short, you've got a lefty (Pettitte) on the mound paying him no mind. Els just sort of drifts about a third of the way down the line and just as he breaks for it I tell my wife, "I think he's gonna go." No sooner were the words out of my mouth and he was gone. With a lefty at bat in J.D. Drew, Posada had a clear view of it all and could do nothing but wait for Pettitte to deliver the pitch. Outside of Lester's no hitter I'd have to say it was the coolest thing I've seen while in the stands at Fenway. As far as I was from the action, I could see it all unfolding and sensed it just before he turned and started his sprint.
 

trekfan55

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Oct 29, 2004
11,587
Panama
My young daughter is starting to watch sports and she asked me "Has anyone stolen home?" I said yeah, it happens but it's really hard.i go to dinner with my friens, game's on and we watch the stolen base. I just called her and asked for the lottery numbers. We still get a laugh out of that.

Very cool moment.
 

lexrageorge

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Jul 31, 2007
18,099
The best thing about the Ellsbury stolen base was the over the top outrage by posters in the game thread about the "recklessness" of the attempt.
 

Pitt the Elder

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Sep 7, 2013
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Bonus points for anything against the Yankees in a championship season, right?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqgjMNlefe4

ED: Also this single-player/double-steal/double review

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZkDvcriOT0
Sigh, too soon.

Also, didn't Billy Hatcher steal home standing up?

EDIT: I that Billy stole home twice for the Sox twice, once standing up, but I couldn't find a reference to it. I did, however, find this, which I think is better: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/hatcherzone/
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
42,283
AZ
How about an honorable mention for the base not stolen?

After Papi's home run in the bottom of the 8th in another one-run game with elimination a possibility, Millar walked again and Roberts pinch ran again in game 5. As in the prior game, Roberts took huge leads and the entire stadium seemed to think he was going to go but he didn't. Instead, he rattled Gordon who fell behind Nixon. I'm not sure I love the Red Sox chances a second time in two nights against Rivera if Roberts gets thrown out, and getting in position to tie the game with a RBI by making an out on a sac fly (or passed ball, or error, or deep ground out) seemed important at the time.

Rivera was relatively easier to run on both in 2004 and in general than Gordon was. Gordon wasn't necessarily great but he was better at holding runners and his CS percentage was closer to league average. In earlier years he was a pretty good pick off/CS guy. The night before it was pretty clear how close it can be when everyone knows you're going and the pitcher is focused on you. Tito's and Roberts' decision not to go in game 5 seemed as well timed as the decision to go in game 4 was.