06-01-2010, 10:24 PM
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Sorry, BT -- just because you can argue another side doesn't mean that they are good arguments.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No, they are good arguments because they make sense. Or to put it another way, Sorry Butch-- just because you don't agree with the argument doesn't mean it's a bad argument.
Because you are Butch, I'll try to be as polite as I can, but you are fucking nuts.
Pinch hitting your BEST hitter in a crucial late inning situation is NOT the actions of a senile old man. I don't give a fat flying fuck if Soto was coming into the game anyway. There is nothing wrong with using you BEST hitter from the bench in that situation. How this is arguable is beyond me. Worst though, you describe the manager of the Cubs using his BEST bench hitter, who also bats opposite of the pitcher, as PROOF that he doesn't know what he is doing.
My burden of proof is so much lower than yours, it's not even funny. All I have to do is prove that it's a reasonable move. You, on the other hand, have to prove that no creditable manager would even try it. That any manager dumb enough to put in his BEST left handed hitter against a righty in a 1 run game in the seventh inning is not only wrong, but laughably so. I'd argue that at least 20 of the 30 managers in the major leagues would do EXACTLY what Lou did in that situation. Obviously I can't prove it, but putting in a lefty to face a righty is such a no fucking brainer move it's laughable.
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Fucking ANYONE. Anyone other than Grabow. Pick a fan out of the fucking stands. I would have been OK with any pitcher in that spot other than Grabow. Name a pitcher on our roster, and I would have been happier with that decision.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Putting aside the fact that the rules don't allow Pinella to put in a fan, his choices were Berg, Grabow or Zambrano. Stevens and Russel had already pitched. Marmol was unavailable, making Marshall unavailable. Berg had an ERA of almost 7. Zambrano had pitched the day before, AND it was just announced that he was going back into the rotation. AND was mostly ineffective out of the bullpen. AND had an ERA of almost 7.
So in your world, the way a manager proves he is smart, the way he DOESN'T lose a game, the only rational thing to do is to put in 1 of 2 completely ineffective right handed pitchers to face 3 tough lefties who are worse against left handers. Clearly only an irrational senile bad manager would chose the lefty out of that group.
Add to that the fact that the only way to prove he was a good manager the inning before was to put in a right hander to pinch hit for a right hander against a right hander, with the bases loaded, down by one, while leaving a good left hander on the bench JUST IN CASE WE NEED HIM LATER.
that is your proof of Lou's inability to manage.
For something to be indefensibly bad, it has to be, by definition, indefensible. Those moves are completely and utterly defensible. Not throw-some-shit-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks defensible. But defensible as in, the kind of shit every manager does every night in baseball defensible.
No, they are good arguments because they make sense. Or to put it another way, Sorry Butch-- just because you don't agree with the argument doesn't mean it's a bad argument.
Because you are Butch, I'll try to be as polite as I can, but you are fucking nuts.
Pinch hitting your BEST hitter in a crucial late inning situation is NOT the actions of a senile old man. I don't give a fat flying fuck if Soto was coming into the game anyway. There is nothing wrong with using you BEST hitter from the bench in that situation. How this is arguable is beyond me. Worst though, you describe the manager of the Cubs using his BEST bench hitter, who also bats opposite of the pitcher, as PROOF that he doesn't know what he is doing.
My burden of proof is so much lower than yours, it's not even funny. All I have to do is prove that it's a reasonable move. You, on the other hand, have to prove that no creditable manager would even try it. That any manager dumb enough to put in his BEST left handed hitter against a righty in a 1 run game in the seventh inning is not only wrong, but laughably so. I'd argue that at least 20 of the 30 managers in the major leagues would do EXACTLY what Lou did in that situation. Obviously I can't prove it, but putting in a lefty to face a righty is such a no fucking brainer move it's laughable.
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Fucking ANYONE. Anyone other than Grabow. Pick a fan out of the fucking stands. I would have been OK with any pitcher in that spot other than Grabow. Name a pitcher on our roster, and I would have been happier with that decision.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Putting aside the fact that the rules don't allow Pinella to put in a fan, his choices were Berg, Grabow or Zambrano. Stevens and Russel had already pitched. Marmol was unavailable, making Marshall unavailable. Berg had an ERA of almost 7. Zambrano had pitched the day before, AND it was just announced that he was going back into the rotation. AND was mostly ineffective out of the bullpen. AND had an ERA of almost 7.
So in your world, the way a manager proves he is smart, the way he DOESN'T lose a game, the only rational thing to do is to put in 1 of 2 completely ineffective right handed pitchers to face 3 tough lefties who are worse against left handers. Clearly only an irrational senile bad manager would chose the lefty out of that group.
Add to that the fact that the only way to prove he was a good manager the inning before was to put in a right hander to pinch hit for a right hander against a right hander, with the bases loaded, down by one, while leaving a good left hander on the bench JUST IN CASE WE NEED HIM LATER.
that is your proof of Lou's inability to manage.
For something to be indefensibly bad, it has to be, by definition, indefensible. Those moves are completely and utterly defensible. Not throw-some-shit-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks defensible. But defensible as in, the kind of shit every manager does every night in baseball defensible.
I wish that I believed in Fate. I wish I didn't sleep so late. I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders.