I just got home from the Columbus/Scranton game, seeing the Clippers defeat the Red Barons 5-3. Our team did not lose as much as they were done in by sheer managerial incompetance and stupidity. Let's take a look at a few game situations. Game logs are courtesy of Milb.com.

 

Scranton/WB Bottom 5th

 

* Danny Sandoval flies out to left fielder Kevin Reese.

* John Castellano singles on a ground ball to pitcher Alex Graman.

* Ryan Howard singles on a ground ball to center fielder Colin Porter. John Castellano to 3rd.

* Chris Coste pops out to second baseman Gabe Lopez.

* Carlos Ruiz doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Kevin Reese. John Castellano scores. Ryan Howard out at home on the throw, left fielder Kevin Reese to shortstop Andy Cannizaro to catcher Wil Nieves.

 

The ball was nearly to the infield when Ryan Howard rounded third, Gene Lamont frantically waving him home. Gene Lamont has eight years of MLB managerial experience, another eight years of minor league managerial experience, and played professionally for thirteen years. If I, having not played baseball since I was 11, can see that Howard was going to be TOAST at the plate, why can't Lamont?

 

Scranton/WB Bottom 7th

 

* Shane Victorino doubles (9) on a ground ball to right fielder Mike Vento.

* Danny Sandoval walks.

* John Castellano ground bunts into a force out, pitcher Colter Bean to third baseman Andy Phillips. Shane Victorino out at 3rd. Danny Sandoval to 2nd. John Castellano to 1st.

* Pitcher Change: Wayne Franklin replaces Colter Bean.

* With Ryan Howard batting, Danny Sandoval caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Wil Nieves to third baseman Andy Phillips.

* With Ryan Howard batting, John Castellano caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Wil Nieves to second baseman Gabe Lopez.

 

Note the bolded text, as that addresses the topic of this post. There are runners at first and second, no one out. Castellano is the #3 hitter, and Howard is on deck. Let us say the sacrifice bunt is executed successfully. You have runners second and third, one out, with Howard at bat. What is the other team going to do? THEY ARE GOING TO WALK HIM. In essence, you have now taken the bat from both your #3 and #4 hitters. And that is if your strategy works according to plan.

 

It does not, so now we have runners first and second, one out, Howard at bat. Now, Ryan Howard is hitting .390 in the International League. He is what we call a dangerous hitter. But do we trust him to get the big hit, or do we attempt to steal third base? Great move. So now we have two outs, ONE on, for Howard. The last at bat is slightly misleading, as the ball bounced a few feet away from the catcher, and that is why Castellano attempted to take second.

 

So in four pitches, we go from two on for the best hitter in the International League, to not having him bat at all that inning.

 

Scranton/WB Bottom 9th

 

# Pitcher Change: Scott Proctor replaces Jason Anderson.

# Anthony Medrano hit by pitch.

# Shane Victorino strikes out swinging.

# Danny Sandoval called out on strikes.

# John Castellano singles on a line drive to right fielder Mike Vento. Anthony Medrano to 2nd.

# Ryan Howard singles on a ground ball to second baseman Gabe Lopez. Anthony Medrano out at home, second baseman Gabe Lopez to catcher Wil Nieves. John Castellano to 2nd.

 

The Red Barons were down by two. With runners on first and second, Howard hits a single into the hole that is fielded by the second baseman. The runner at second will NOT tie the game, but acting manager Sal Rende (Lamont was tossed in the eighth) sends the runner around third. He of course is toasted at the plate.

 

We lost four, maybe five outs to managerial stupidity. If the other team shuts down your offense, or gets the big hit, it is understandable. But losses like these are frustrating beyond words. I do not harbor the antipathy towards smallball that I once did. But it is not a crutch. There are times when you go for the big inning, ESPECIALLY when your bullpen is unreliable.

 

I'm seriously considering mailing my copy of Weaver On Strategy to the Red Barons' front office.

Al sorta reminds me of Billy from Little Big League when he's discussing in-depth strategy. I agree, though, this smallball craze is out of control. It fits in a lot of situations, but some managers are so willing to give up an out just to move a runner to the next base. What if the guy coming up after that strikes out a lot? Then you've gotta make something happen with two outs.

I'm seriously considering mailing my copy of Weaver On Strategy to the Red Barons' front office.

I said that once regarding Dusty Baker and/or the Cubs front office, but I didn't want to part with Earl's words of wisdom. But how cool would it be to get people together and have them all do this? Maybe on Sportscenter we'd hear about the latest trend of "Weaverbombing," then they'd go to Joe Morgan who would say it's all a bunch of nonsense, and what are they going to do next, send that Moneyball book that Billy Beane wrote?