Watching that absolutely disastrous Lofton/Skinner decision-making collaboration last night brought back indelible memories of another October base running boner so HUGE, at absolutely the worst time ... the Lonnie Smith vapor lock sequence against the Twins, Game 7 in the '91 Series. Lonnie was going with the pitch off first, and Pendleton rocked one off the wall in left-center. The Twins SS did a deke on Lonnie as he rumbled into 2nd, he got confused, loitered a bit, then finally saw the ball caroming far afield, and made it only to 3rd. Ohmygod!! Lonnie, of course, did not end up scoring the go ahead run in that inning, and the Braves lost the game 1-0, and the Series. (Ron Gant and Sid Bream, like the ill-fated Casey Blake, were unable to bring the runner in from 3rd with less than 2 out).
For the TV audience and the crowd, it seemed like the baserunners (& Skinner) were the only persons in the world who didn't grasp the situation and incredible opportunity it represented, which added to its torturous dimensions and sense of loss, especially if you were rooting for the Tribe (or the Braves in '91). For me, ex-Cards Smith and Pendleton gave the October partisanship a little extra juice ... and then pain.