Marty Noble, in an article at www.mlb.com, discusses Jerry Manuel urging Carlos Beltran to attempt to steal more bases.
NEW YORK -- When Lance Johnson was a Met, and stood as the foremost triple threat in the big leagues, he was proud, and perhaps foolish, to claim he had never been thrown out, while running out a triple. And Dallas Green was happy to point out that a perfect record was not the objective.
"He's got to push it, take a chance," the manager said.
Similarly, former Mets manager Willie Randolph was incredulous in early 2005 when he was told of Carlos Beltran's base stealing preference.
"I'd rather steal 25 bases and never get thrown out than steal 45 and be thrown out five times," Beltran said.
"He said that?" was Randolph's reaction.
Now, Randolph's successor would like to change Beltran's approach.
"It's going to be addressed," Jerry Manuel said on Monday night before the Mets played the Mariners. "He's going to run into a couple of outs. That's OK."
The new manager wants his center fielder to "get that percentage thinking out of his mind."
Easier said, than done.
"I don't like to get thrown out," Beltran said when told of his manager's remarks. "I like to push it when I feel I can make it to second base. If it's a 3-1 count and they tell me I have to go, I'll go. But I don't like to get thrown out when I'm on my own."
(I can understand Beltran’s thinking. He’s not helping the team, if he runs into outs. If Manuel wants Beltran to run more, give him the steal sign, or start hit-and-run situations with Beltran on base. I would like to see Castillo, Wright and Chavez run more, too, in the proper situations.)
Beltran stole third base in the fifth inning on Monday. The steal was his 11th in 12 attempts this season. His career percentage, 88.1, is the highest among active players with at least 200 steals.
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