Fire Lou

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=99345:date=Jun 1 2010, 01:59 PM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Jun 1 2010, 01:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=99342:date=Jun 1 2010, 12:50 PM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jun 1 2010, 12:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I believe a bad manager can have a far greater impact (in a negative way, obviously) than a good manager can have (in a positive way).

All I ask from my manager is they put the team in the best position possible to win and not make idiotic decisions. Lou has been making some shockingly bad decisions this season. Of course -- if Lee and Ramirez were hitting, it would mask some of those decisions. But with our offense, there is a much smaller margin of error and Lou's mistakes get magnified.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


See, that's sort of my point. Your idea of idiotic decisions, is, by default, entirely subjective. You'll note, I'm not saying your view of those decisions is wrong, just that it's YOUR view. Lou has reason for what he does. Reasons you might know, reasons you might not know. For example:

Look back, I don't know if it's this thread or not. People are terribly upset that Lou hasn't found a way to work Colvin into the lineup. Forget for a moment that the 3 OF's we have really haven't given him a reason to work Colvin into the lineup, just realize that many on this board this Lou is an idiot for not putting him in. Now, in the SAME thread, someone calls Lou out for pinch hitting for Soto in the 9th inning of a 1 run ball game. They (logically) explain how Lou is an idiot for taking out a guy with a good OBP when we badly need baserunners. So Lou is an idiot for taking out Soto. Unsaid in the thread is that Lou pinch hit a lefty to face a right handed pitcher. Now if he hadn't done that, and Soto made an out, I am certain many would feel Lou was an idiot for not pinch hitting a lefty. But more than that, the lefty he used off the bench? Tyler Colvin. So in the same thread, Lou was an idiot for NOT using Colvin and was an idiot FOR using Colvin. The only way he would not have been an idiot was if the players had come through, and won the game. At which time exactly ZERO guys on this board would credit Lou for making the right decisions. Which goes back to my original argument. By the way, I'm not criticizing anyone for making arguments about Colvin one way or another. They were logical arguments. It's just that essentially the manager is blamed when players don't perform, and gets no credit when they do perform. The pinch hitter who strikes out is always the wrong guy. The reliever who lets up the winning run is always the wrong reliever. It's the nature of fandom.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think I know exactly which game you're talking about, and there's nothing subjective about how poorly Lou managed the late innings of the game. Let me outline it for you.

- May 20 vs. the Phillies.

- Top of the 7th:
- Lee homers to bring the Cubs within 2 runs (CHC 2, PHI 4)
- Byrd grounds out
- Soriano walks
- Fontenot singles, Soriano to 2nd
- Castro singles, bases loaded
<b>*offensive substitution: PINCH HITTER TYLER COLVIN REPLACES KOYIE HILL*</b>

- Bottom of the 8th:
- Jeff Stevens is pitching -- Polanco grounds out.
<b>*with Utley, Howard, Rollins, and Ibanez due up: JOHN GRABOW REPLACES JEFF STEVENS*</b>

- Top of the 9th:
- Soriano hit by pitch
- Fontenot singles, Soriano to 3rd
- Castro strikes out
<b>*offensive substitution: PINCH HITTER ARAMIS RAMIREZ REPLACES JOHN GRABOW*</b>

OK. Without following each of the bolded managerial decisions with the results of each of those decisions, let's take a look at the problems here:

- In the 7th, Lou pinch hit Colvin for Hill <b>when Soto would have to replace Hill anyway.</b> Why not just pinch hit Soto? It burns a pinch-hitter for absolutely no reason at all.

- In the 8th inning, Lou brings <b>OUR WORST POSSIBLE RELIEF PITCHER in to face the fattest part of the Phillies' batting order.</b> Keep in mind, Grabow *does not* pitch more effectively to LHB, so you can't even use the "handedness" argument here.

- In the 9th inning, Lou had to bring in Aramis in a crucial moment in the game. It was really his only option. EXCEPT...if he didn't burn Colvin in the 7th for no reason, he could have used him here -- instead of Aramis.

Here's a game that was completely winnable. We ended up losing it by one run -- and Lou cost us the game. There is nothing subjective about that statement, either. The loss was a direct result of piss-poor managing.