8 October 2023
Brandon Hyde called it a “miscommunication.” Gunnar Henderson said Hyde made the call. Aaron Hicks declined to say what the sign was, echoing his manager’s description.
So … what actually happened?
When Henderson singled to lead off the ninth inning of Saturday’s playoff game, it gave the Orioles a glimmer of hope as they trailed the Texas Rangers, 3-2, in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Hicks was at the plate with the count against reliever José Leclerc at 2-1. Henderson then took off for second and was thrown out by Rangers catcher Jonah Heim to calm Camden Yards’ roaring crowd. Hicks struck out, and Adam Frazier grounded out to end the game, putting the Orioles down 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
As Henderson attempted to steal, he looked back at home plate multiple times, as if he was expecting Hicks to swing for a hit-and-run. Hicks took the pitch, called a ball even though it was in the strike zone, and Heim, an Orioles draftee in 2013, nabbed the 22-year-old rookie at second. Heim is rated as an above-average throwing catcher by Baseball Savant and ranked second among qualified catchers in caught stealing percentage this season.
Hyde said there was “a little miscommunication” on the deflating play, but the fifth-year skipper didn’t elaborate further. Henderson said he was trying to get into scoring position to improve the Orioles’ chances of tying the game, noting Leclerc’s slow delivery to home plate.
“I thought it was a good time to try and take it,” Henderson said. “It didn’t happen, so … I hate that it didn’t happen, but if it did, we would have had a better chance to score.”
Added Henderson when asked if Hyde called for the attempt: “Yeah, it was his. I was just trying to get out there and play hard, and we felt like we had a good chance to do it. … It was a good opportunity right there.”
Hicks wouldn’t say what the miscommunication was.
“I don’t know how else to explain it besides it being a miscommunication,” Hicks said. “But, you know, we move on.”
When asked whether the sign was a straight steal or a hit-and-run — a play when the runner is stealing second expecting the batter to swing at any pitch in or close to the strike zone, hoping to take advantage of the defenders moving out of position to cover second base for the steal — Hicks again said, “We move on.”
So, none of the three Orioles explained what happened on the pivotal play. If neither Hyde nor third base coach Tony Mansolino were the cause of the miscommunication, there is realistically one of two explanations. The call was either a hit-and-run and Hicks missed it or failed to swing; or the call was a straight steal and Henderson misinterpreted it as a hit-and-run.
The failed steal was far from the only mistake in the Orioles’ loss, and there’s no guarantee had there not been a miscommunication that Baltimore would’ve tied or won the game. In fact, it’s not certain Henderson would’ve been safe at second had Hicks swung through the pitch or if Henderson had focused his sights fully on the bag instead of toward home plate.
Either way, mistakes like that one will be even harder to overcome in Game 2 against Rangers ace Jordan Montgomery. Hicks said he believes in the Orioles’ ability to bounce back from the tough loss.
“We’re a team that is not going to give up,” Hicks said. “We’re going to fight until the end.”
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