BALTIMORE — Howie Kendrick was on first base in the second inning of a June 18 game against Houston when Shea Hillenbrand grounded a single through the shortstop hole. Kendrick never slowed around second, raced to third and beat left fielder Carlos Lee's throw, which was a few feet wide of the bag.
A split-second decision to make a daring dash to third, a gamble few major leaguers would take?
Hardly.
The seeds for Kendrick's aggressive baserunning -- which enabled him to score on Mike Napoli's infield single -- were planted years ago in the minor leagues, during spring training and fall instructional leagues, and the decision to go was based on a series of calculations weighed before the series against the Astros.
"It's one of the things they're always harping on, be aggressive on the basepaths, know when to go first to third, and if you make an aggressive mistake, learn from it," Kendrick said. "When you get to the major leagues, they expect us to have that instilled in us."
Kendrick, Reggie Willits, Chone Figgins, Napoli, Erick Aybar and Casey Kotchman are among the first generation of Angels big leaguers to be raised under Manager Mike Scioscia's organizational baserunning philosophy, and those who didn't come up with the Angels learn quickly.
The Angels want to run. They want to pressure opponents, and not just with the stolen base. They do it by going from first to third on singles, an often overlooked part of the game that helps the Angels maximize offense in the face of their limited power.
Entering today's game at Baltimore, the Angels have gone first to third on singles 57 times this season, most in the major leagues, and have been caught three times. Despite getting swept by Kansas City this week, the Angels rank fourth in the league in runs.
Since Scioscia took over as manager in 2000, the Angels, according to STATS LLC, have gone first to third on singles 759 times through Sunday's games, second in the big leagues behind Colorado (777).
Since 2002, the year they won the World Series with more of a go-go approach, the Angels have gone first to third on singles 571 times, most in the major leagues.
"From day one of spring training, Mike tells them he wants them to go first to third, and it carries into the season," third base coach Dino Ebel said. "When I managed [triple-A] Salt Lake in 2005, that's what we did. These guys do it every day, from rookie ball on up, and they're not going to get yelled at if they're thrown out."
