It occurred to me as I was describing the safety squeeze pulled off by the Blue Jays in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game against the Yankees, in the last series with the Yankees in 2016, a play that brought in the tying run in a scintillating come-from-behind 4-3 Toronto win, that a little primer on the squeeze play, both safety and suicide, might be in order, especially for the newer fans who might not be familiar with the terminology.
Briefly, the Yanks were ahead 3-2, Melvin Upton was on third, Kevin Pillar on first, and Zeke Carrera at the plate, with nobody out. On the first pitch from Yankee reliever Tyler Clippar, Carrera pushed a nice bunt into the gap between the pitcher and the first base line. As soon as the ball hit the ground in fair territory, Upton broke from third. Clippard, who was closest to the ball, did not get to it in time to have a reasonable chance to throw out Upton at the plate, which would be a tag play, and little chance of getting Carrera, who was flying down the line well past him to first.
Upton easily scored the tying run on the play, and Clippard, probably flustered at having to deal with a bunt at that point, made a bad decision and tried to bat the ball toward the catcher with his glove in a desperate attempt to make the play. His aim wasn’t great, though, and the ball shot by the catcher for an error on the “throw” and Pillar ended up on third and Carrera on second as a result. The advancement of the runners was an unexpected bonus of the play, since it created the conditions for the winning run to score.
With first base open, the Yankees elected to walk Josh Donaldson to load the bases and bring the infield in, hoping for a home-to-first double play on a ground ball to ease the pressure. However, Edwin Encarnacion drove a hard grounder up the middle, the Yankee second baseman dove for it to keep it in the infield, but couldn’t make a play anywhere and Pillar scored the winning run while everyone was safe at their base.
So, the squeeze play is an elegant play used to score a badly-needed single run. It can only happen with a runner on third and less than two outs, and it is never used with the bases loaded, because a ball that is bunted too hard back to the pitcher can easily be converted into a force play at home, and even a double play to first.
There are two kinds of squeeze play, the safety squeeze and the suicide squeeze. The safety squeeze is far more commonly used than the increasingly rare suicide squeeze but even the safety squeeze isn’t seen all that often. The safety squeeze would be seen with more frequency in the National League, where bunting is a more advanced skill for many players because the pitchers, who are generally weak hitters, have to hit. Many pitchers in the National League have turned themselves into skilled bunters, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see an R.A. Dickey or a Mark Buehrle, with their long years of National League experience, be sent up to pinch hit in a situation where a bunt is absolutely demanded.
The essential difference between the two types of squeeze play is that on the safety squeeze, the runner at third does not break for the plate until the ball is bunted and hits the ground. Bunts are often popped up, and if the runner breaks on contact with the ball, he risks being doubled off third. The bunt needs to be well-placed, so that it can’t be fielded quickly by the pitcher and played to the plate in time for a tag play. Thus the awkward position of Clippard created by the skilled placement of Carrera’s bunt. Because he is right-handed, and the bunt was to his left, had he fielded it cleanly and in time, he still would have had to turn his body around enough to make a throw to the plate. On the third base side, he would have been able to bare-hand the ball and throw across his body.
The suicide squeeze is a thing of absolute beauty, like the Rosetta Stone or Michelangelo’s David. This may sound like hyperbole, but if you ever saw one executed correctly, you would know exactly what I mean. On the suicide squeeze, the runner breaks from third as soon as the pitcher is committed to throwing the pitch to the plate. It is essentially an attempted straight steal of home (now that’s a rarity!) except that the batter is expected to get his bat on the ball and get a bunt down. Properly executed, the runner should be twenty feet or less from the plate when the ball is bunted, and should be able to score standing up.
Obviously, the suicide squeeze requires a superior bunter, because a popup would result in an easy double play, and a missed bunt would result in the runner being tagged out by the catcher. A foul tip would not be of much concern, as the ball would be dead and the runner would return to third. While you need a superior bunter at the plate to execute the suicide squeeze, you do not need a perfect bunt, because if the ball is down and the runner fast, it’s impossible to defend against. Well, there is one defence, and I’ll get to that in a minute.
The essential thing about both squeeze plays, if properly executed, is that they are intended to be sacrifice bunts, and it’s irrelevant if the batter is thrown out at first. The one run is deemed sufficiently important to sacrifice the out. If the runner should get on, as Carrera did (it was a good bunt and he was credited with an infield single, advancing to second on the error), that’s a bonus.
The one way to defend against the suicide squeeze? It sounds pretty hard-nosed in this day and age, but the pitcher has to throw at the batter. By the way, the suicide squeeze should only be done with a right-handed batter at the plate. Otherwise, the catcher has a clear shot at the runner and the pitcher just has to throw an outside pitch that the hitter can’t reach: the runner runs right into the tag. So, when the pitcher throws at the right-handed batter, if he hits him, the ball is dead, the hitter goes to first, and the runner returns to third. The pitcher then has a fresh chance with the next batter. If the hit batsman loads the bases, no more squeeze play. If he doesn’t hit him, and the batter bails out, the catcher has the ball waiting to tag the runner, always assuming the catcher catches the ball. It’s risky to try and throw an outside pitch that can’t be reached to the right-handed batter, because the batter is going to lunge at the ball and get in the catcher’s way, creating the possibility of a wild pitch or passed ball, and guaranteeing that the run scores. Also, catching the ball pulls the catcher away from the plate and away from the runner.
By the way, though the Carrera bunt on Sunday was a perfectly executed safety squeeze, it wasn’t, properly speaking, a squeeze play. According to Manager John Gibbons in his post-game interview, he did not call for the squeeze, and it was entirely Carrera’s initiative to bunt. By definition a squeeze play is planned and signalled to the batter and runner to take place on a specific pitch. In this case, the play succeeded because Carrera made an excellent bunt, and Upton has enough experience to have recognized and reacted properly to the play as it developed.
To end with an explanation of the “Coach Dave” moniker: I was “Coach Dave” to dozens of rep ball players in Etobicoke for about ten years. It is a name I have always cherished, bestowed on me with the respect of my players. Now, I’m just “yer humble scribe”, but that’s good, too.
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