I stole third!

[capt_taco]

I don't think I'd ever pulled this off before except in the case of a player fuck-up. But earlier tonight, I was the Mets against St. Louis (CPU), and managed to STEAL THIRD with Lenny Dykstra, and on the second at-bat of the game, to boot.

It was supposed to be a hit-and-run, but I swung and missed at a sinker from Tudor, then decided to just let Dykstra keep running. It was still the first inning, so the pitch had to be in the high 60s or low 70s, and it wasn't a bad throw from the catcher either. Just a straight steal of third, which I'd been thrown out so many times at over the years that I believed it was impossible. Even with Vince Coleman.

How about that, fools! Bet that doesn't happen every day.

[Gantry]

I find this shocking, but it's been so long since I've tested.  Taco - do you think you can steal 3rd against a normal player with Dykstra?  I would say never but honestly nobody ever tries anymore so maybe it's possible...

[fknmclane]

The sinker definitely helps as does a subpar throw from the catcher.  While it's a rare occurence, it's not as rare as a pitcher homer or something like that.

[Gantry]

Agreed, but taco said it was a normal pitch and a decent throw from the CPU.  I just don't see it happening against a human in normal conditions, but I'm willing to listen...

[capt_taco]

I honestly don't know whether this would work against a human or not, since I rarely get to play against good ones, and also since I'd never seriously tried to steal third in years.

I spent a few minutes tonight just making throws between the catcher and third, and it does look like there's a crappy throw, which ends up about as effective as a normal throw elsewhere, because of the short distance. There's a normal throw that doesn't bounce (which is a very good throw), and a "quick" throw that does bounce (and is an AWESOME throw).  I believe I made it safely on a very good throw, but not an awesome one.

However, the "quick" throw between catcher and third was an awkward throw that seemed damn hard to do consistently (much harder than a typical "quick throw" -- does it have anything to do with the slightly-behind-home position of the catcher, or that you change screens immediately beforehand? Or maybe because nobody has much practice at that throw?).

My suspicion is that you can steal third on a sinker, with a good jump by one of a handful of the fastest runners. But a truly great throw seems like it might still get the runner out.

Still, I was stoked to actually steal third. And I'll bet my ass it works the next time I play a decent human opponent, because, let's face it, nobody's expecting you to actually try stealing third. Unless your opponent's timing is excellent, the play will be difficult, and the element of surprise (plus the fact that it's not a typical throw you have to make) might just be enough to mess that timing up.

Screw it, I'm going to take more shots now.

Edit: Upon further investigation, I've pulled off the steal of third twice more with Dykstra against the computer (one sinker, one curveball), but got thrown out twice also. I was also thrown out easily using Davy Lopes and Vince Coleman (though I couldn't face StL using Coleman, so it was against Alexander from Dt, who might be a bit faster pitcher). I honestly thought I made it with Raines against StL, but got called out anyway.

Dykstra still seems to be able to do it all right, though. Also of note is that all three times I've made it have been on swinging strikes -- does this take up a little more time, giving you a base-stealing advantage?

I'm in way over my head on the technical stuff. Again: More shots are in order.