Skip Schumaker explains move to pitch to Shohei Ohtani during 50/50 chase: 'That's a bad move, baseball-wise'

Merlin 2024/09/21 06:44


Much like the rest of the sporting world, Marlins boss Skip Schumaker watched on with bated breath as Shohei Ohtani attempted to carve a chunk of history for himself.


The Dodgers supernova's chase for 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season brought an outburst of support from the baseball-watching masses. It ended with a flourish on Thursday afternoon after Ohtani sent three balls into orbit vs. Miami, the highlights of a 6-for-6, three HR, 10 RBI game that also included two doubles, two stolen bases and 17 total bases.


Schumaker might've not wanted such a showing to come against his Marlins side. However, he wasn't going to avoid pitching to him, either. Especially not as history beckoned.


What did Skip Schumaker say?


With Ohtani at the plate, runners on second and third and Los Angeles holding a commanding 11-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning, Schumaker very well could've signaled to reliever Mike Baumann to give Ohtani the free pass. After all, he had already wreaked havoc on Miami's pitching by then — at that point, he was 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and two stolen bases.


Schumaker wasn't having it, though. He insisted on having Baumann pitch at Ohtani. It wasn't an act of anger or frustration that led to him making such a move. Rather, it was respect; cameras caught Schumaker using NSFW language to assert that he would have his pitching staff pitch to Ohtani.


“F— that," Schumaker appeared to say in the dugout. "Too much respect for this guy for that s— to happen.”


Ohtani responded in kind, connecting with a 1-2 Baumann knuckle curveball which caught too much of the plate and sent it into the cheap seats. With an exit velocity of 109.7 mph and a launch angle of 27 degrees, Ohtani's blast would've cleared the fences in all but one stadium — Camden Yards.


Schumaker offered a little more context on his decision to have Baumann go at Ohtani during Thursday's postgame presser.


"That's a bad move, baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball-gods-wise," Schumaker said when asked if he considered walking Ohtani. "You go after him and see if you can get him out."


"Out of respect for the game, we're gonna go after him. He hit the home run, that's just part of the deal."


Schumaker also made sure to give Ohtani flowers for his performance, both on Thursday and throughout the season. The former big league veteran called Ohtani the "most talented player" he's ever seen, high praise considering he spent most of his career sharing the diamond with former Cardinals Albert Pujols.


"He is doing things that I've never seen done before in the game," Schumaker added. "If he has a couple more of these peak years, he might be the best ever to play the game."


Miami's loss brings its record to 56-97 with nine games left in its regular season. Understandably, that wasn't the main takeaway from Thursday's contest, however.


"It was a good day for baseball, a bad day for the Marlins," Schumaker said.

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