A Schelling For Your Thoughts

MILWAUKEE — Nyjer Morgan ran through a stop sign from third base coach Ed Sedar on his way to scoring the winning run in Wednesday night’s 3-2 Brewers victory.

That much we know, and there’s no doubt about that. Unless of course you believe the replay showed Morgan being tagged out at the plate, then that’s an entirely different story.

But the question Thursday morning was this: Did Sedar put the stop sign up just for show, or was it definitely a signal for Morgan to retreat back to third base? Well, it depends whether you are more inclined to believe Morgan or Brewers manager Ron Roenicke.

“It was a deke for the other team,” Morgan said with a grin. “It was a deke. I can’t tell you that, but it was a deke. It got ’em, too.

“If you see the replay, he second-guessed himself that little bit.

“[Sedar] said, ‘Anything close, anything in the vicinity, I’m going to put up the stop sign, but still you go.

“Never underestimate the sneakiness, guys, come on.”

After further review, that is to say asking Roenicke about it, it would seem there was no decoy intended in Sedar’s actions.

“I guess I can’t answer that then, I’d give away his secrets,” Roenicke said, before acknowledging decoy signals are not common in such situations in the Major Leagues.

“But like I said last night, sometimes you want a player to instinctually do things that he sees. And even when it doesn’t work out, we have to be OK with that.”

Roenicke also noted that he’s been through similar situations in the past when he was a third base coach with the Angels under manager Mike Scioscia. Sometimes the coach has to make the decision too soon, especially if he stays up closer to the base. And when he goes farther down the line as Sedar did, the runner may put his head down and miss the sign, which Morgan indicated also was the case in this situation.

What the runner is supposed to do with Sedar up the line is to go, but pick up the sign on his way to the plate. But Roenicke still gives his players the freedom to make the decision themselves if they’re so inclined.

So, what did Morgan see on the play that made him decide to go home on such a short flyball?

“I knew we had to get home. It was a quick turnaround the next day,” Morgan joked.

“Caught him (Kemp) flat-footed. He’s still one of the best center fielders in the game, one of the best ballplayers in the game. I’m always up for a challenge, and it was one of those where we had the crowd in it, the momentum was there, time to go home.”

As far as the question or whether he was safe or out, Morgan definitively — and unsurprisingly — believed he was safe. The Dodgers saw the replay differently, as it appeared that the tag may have been applied just before Morgan dragged his knee across the plate.

“But you can’t change it now,” he said.

“I knew I was safe.”