Did Braun, a rookie, give himself the greenlight to steal? Whose in charge of this team anyway? And, like jason21nl pointed out, Hart went at the exact same time. It sure seemed like something was in the works and failed, but I digress... I'm not sure what Yost would gain from blaming one of his rookie players. I'm not trying to defend Yost, but it is a possibility that Braun did go on his own, and I think Hart is a smart enough baserunner to watch Braun in front of him take off. the trail runner isn't watching the front runner. There is no way hart is paying attention to what Braun is doing on base. They both went at the same exact time. If Braun was going on his own, Hart would have been a good second or two behind him. I have no idea why Ned would deflect blame, but thats what Ned does.