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Red Sox fly-catcher Jacoby Ellsbury knows a little bit about stealing bases -- after all, he led the majors in thefts this season despite playing in just 134 games.
To be sure, Ellsbury's plus-plus speed has much to do with his success, but he's also one of the best in the game at teasing out a lead-off and getting an outstanding jump on the pitcher.
Those skills were plainly on display in Game 2 of the ALDS on Saturday, as Ellsbury extracted this fairly ridiculous jump from David Price of the Rays:
So he was almost halfway to second by the time the pitch popped Jose Molina's mitt.
It's also not particularly easy to get that kind of absurd jump from first base when a left-hander is on the mound. Price, it should be noted, allowed 11 steals in 21 attempts this season, so he's not exactly Greg Maddux out there in terms of barely bothering to hold runners (about the only flaw of Maddux's, I should note).
Fittingly, Ellsbury, after scampering to third when Molina rushed the throw, scored on a sac fly.
Man, what a jump.
