Jay Bruce The Young and the Breathless

Jay Bruce screwed up as Dusty Baker would say "big time."

The 10-2 loss to the Pirates on Saturday ended when Bruce, in his 112th big league game, rounded second on Ramon Hernandez's long fly to centerfield with one out. He was easily doubled off first.

Every knotholer knows that it is a sin to forget the number of outs. Bruce knew the situation.

"He even told Edwin and held up a finger, one out," Baker said. "And Hatch (firstbase coach Billy Hatcher) told him one base at a time."

But for some reason Bruce was overly aggressive when the ball was hit. In a 10-2 game the base runner is not supposed to make things happen. The team needs more than his run to get back in the game. The runners in that situation have to be more conservative.

"Jay came in to my office yesterday," Baker said. "He came to me before I went to him. It was a case of a young guy trying to do to much. He felt terrible. He knew what he'd done. I was pissed off but when I saw how terrible he felt it was hard to stay pissed off. You know when you're pissed off at your kid and you're about to spank him. But he comes in and says 'dad I screwed up'. You say ok don't do it again."

It is the paradox of baseball. You have to be quick but not too quick. You have to be patient but you have to be aggressive. It is the how and the when that talented baseball players take years to learn in the minor leagues.

Bruce 22 on April 3.

He has 356 games total as a professional.

It was a case of a young guy trying to do too much at the wrong time.

"You need to be alert," Baker said.

Baker draws on his experience as a player but is also a deep thinker, who is a speed reader. He read a book by John Wooden, "Be Quick and Don't Hurry". It's about breathing. You have to continue to breath. It sounds silly but if you hyperventilate, especially in clutch situations, your mind's not clear. I talked to Sadahru Oh when I was with the Dodgers. He said you have to continue to breath to get oxygen to the brain. Let your mind control your heart, rather than the heart controling your mind."

Baker wants them to have that ability, "it" now.

"Some players got it. Joey Votto's got it but he's four years older than Jay. Some guys get it sooner, some guys get it later and some guys never get it. My job is to help them get it."