USA TODAY International Edition
Running mates
Designated runners again revved up and ready to make an impact for baseball’s playoff teams,
When baseball’s quickest pinch- runner needs to get loose in a hurry, Terrance Gore turns to a bottle of whiskey.
No, Gore doesn’t actually grab brown liquor but a liniment whose packaging so closely resembles whiskey’s his Class AA teammates gave that nickname to what he calls his “secret sauce.” Gore applies it before putting on his Kansas City Royals uniform, but it doesn’t soak in until he starts perspiring in the late innings, when he finds a treadmill, hallway or set of stairs in anticipation of entering the game.
“It only activates and starts warming up your legs when you start sweating,” Gore said. “That’s when my legs keep heating up — on fire.”
Gore is 11- for- 11 stealing bases in his short career, including three in last year’s playoffs. In 2014, he scored from second on an infield single to win a regularseason game and plated an American League Championship Series game- winner, helping make him a Kansas City cult hero.
That’s not shabby for a player who doesn’t have a big- league hit. Gore is 0- for- 6 and has reached base of his own accord twice, hit by a pitch both times. Manager Ned Yost doesn’t recall seeing Gore tally a spring training hit but nevertheless calls him a big weapon.
“Nope, not yet,” Gore said of ending the hitless start to his bigleague career. “I’m not worried about it, honestly.”
Gore has embraced his ultra-specialized role, increasingly shared by many in October baseball. When outs are at a premium, there’s value in advancing to scoring position without sacrificing an out with a bunt or ground ball — and it hasn’t been so hard in a generation: Steals are at their lowest rate since 1973, with 0.53 a team per game.
For as long as he can run, Gore figures to receive a call- up every September when rosters expand and stay through October, when off days during series allow clubs to afford having a niche player on the roster. Kansas City even has two, with outfielder Jarrod Dyson having stolen 147 career bigleague bases with an 85.5% success rate and, for this season, a majors- leading 82% rate of taking an extra base ( for example, going from first to third on a single).
That’s why the Chicago Cubs promoted Quintin Berry, who was 30- for- 30 stealing bases with three playoff qualifiers — the 2012 Detroit Tigers, 2013 Boston Red Sox and 2014 Baltimore Orioles — before getting caught for the first time Sept. 20. In Au- gust, the New York Mets acquired Eric Young Jr., who led the National League with 46 steals in 2013 but spent the majority of this season in the minors. The New York Yankees called up Rico Noel from Class AAA even though he was hitting .059 in 17 at- bats because he had 283 career minor league steals, including 90 swipes ( in 113 tries) in 2012.
“When I first heard of the trade ( to the Mets), the first thing that came to mind was Dave Roberts and helping out Boston in that postseason,” Young said.
Roberts, now the San Diego Padres bench coach, was the trailblazer — er, basepath blazer — for designated pinch- runners. His ninth- inning steal off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS sparked a game- tying rally and historymaking series comeback and is probably the most famous stolen base in history.
His method of warming up involved running around the cramped clubhouse and hopping to reach tall objects. “Jumping as high as I possibly could helped that explosion to get my legs ready to run,” Roberts said. Berry opts for an elliptical machine, jump rope and a leg- massaging machine to generate blood flow.
A month before Roberts’ playoff heist came an opportunity against Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada at Yankee Stadium in which Rivera remained in the stretch longer than usual to freeze Roberts at first base — he ultimately stole second anyway in a comeback win and cataloged that tactic for later use.
Roberts’ feat also inspired other clubs to find room on their postseason rosters for players with plus running tools.
“There’s a lot that goes into it, not just being fast,” Noel said. “There are fast guys that can’t steal bases, and there are just above- average or average runners that can steal bases. There’s an art to it.”
Coaches Milt Thompson and Mitch Maier mentored Gore in the minors, and first- base coach Rusty Kuntz has refined his trade.
“You could literally talk to Rusty for hours about baserunning — just baserunning,” Gore said. “It’s all about inches. He breaks it down to itty- bitty inches.”
Says Kuntz of Gore: “He really does have the ability to find that key, find that one spot, and then have his eyes move his feet better than probably anybody I’ve ever been around.”
The specialization can be a mixed bag, financially. Though Berry had an above- average .330 on- base percentage in 330 plate appearances as a rookie, he’s had just 12 plate appearances since.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to get back to the big leagues,” Berry said. “It’s tough, because when you get labeled a runner you don’t get the opportunity, really, to show anything else. You slowly get to collect time in the big leagues. I joke around with my agent — every time I say, ‘ Another eight years, and we’ll get to arbitration through September call- ups.’ ”
At a rate of one month per season, these specialists might never qualify for free agency by the time their speed wanes, but even one day of making the prorated major league minimum of $ 507,500 can be more than a player earns in a month of minor league ball.
Gore said the big- league pay scale helps him feed his family, which includes an 8- month- old son, Zane, who isn’t even walking, much less running.
“I can’t wait,” Gore said with a growing smile. “I hope he’s fast.”