For those of us who were blessed to have had Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully as our nightly tutor during radio and / or televised Dodger games, we were often reminded by the great orator that (now) 31-year-old Willemstad, Curacao native and Dodgers three-time All-Star closer Kenley Jansen speaks five different languages: English, Dutch, Spanish, French and, of course, Papiamento, the official language of Curacao. Any way you slice it, you have to be remarkably intelligent to be able to do this and do it well enough to be interviewed in these five languages on television or radio.

But during Friday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium, the 6′-5″ / 265-pound gentle giant – who is as fierce of a competitor as you will find anywhere on the planet – took his remarkable intelligence to an entirely new level; he committed an intentional balk with two outs, a runner on second base, and the potential tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth inning.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘How on earth can you possibly call such a move intelligent,’ right?

Here’s how:

The guy on second base was 29-year-old / 10-year MLB veteran Jason Hayward, about as savvy of a ball player as you will find anywhere and one who knows that Jansen (himself a 10-year MLB veteran) has two primary pitches: his signature 92(ish)-mph cutter and a 94-mph four-seam fastball. However, what the Cubs veteran outfielder might not know is that the Dodgers veteran right-hander added a new pitch to his repertoire this season – an absolutely filthy 83-ish mph jaw-dropping slider. And even though Hayward was already on second base (the result of a fielding error by Dodgers rookie first baseman Matt Beaty), he was in the best possible position on the field to see the signs that Dodgers catcher Russell Martin (a 14-year MLB veteran) was putting down for Jansen and could easily relay this information to Cubs pinch-hitter Victor Caratini who, as noted, represented the tying run.

Because Hayward’s run would have meant nothing in the 5-3 contest (or as Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis put it: “Hayward’s not the run that matters, this one does”), intentionally balking him over to third base to prevent him from being able to see what pitch he was going to throw was a stroke of pure genius on Jansen’s part. Additionally, having Hayward on third base instead of second base would allow Dodgers shortstop Chris Taylor and second baseman Max Muncy to play in a more traditional defensive alignment instead of having to worry about keeping Hayward close to the bag at second.

Worth noting is that Jansen’s intentional balk was not a surprise to Martin or Taylor. With an 0-2 count on Cubs pinch-hitter David Bote, Jansen called for a meeting at the mound with Martin, which Taylor joined in on. There is no doubt whatsoever that this is when the decision was made to intentionally balk Hayward over to third, which he did after striking out Bote on three pitches (all cutters) and before making his first pitch to Caratini.

After striking out Bote and before making his first pitch to Caratini, Jansen was clearly seen on the television broadcast mouthing to Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner “I’m going to balk.” After the intentional balk and after a cutter in the dirt for a ball, Jansen struck out Caratini on his next three pitches – all cutters – to secure the 5-3 win for left-hander Rich Hill (4-1 / 2.60 ERA), while notching his 20th save of the season; the eighth time in his career that Jansen has had 20 or more saves.

Sheer brilliance.

Play Ball!

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