Boston goes up 2-0. 28 comments


Dave Roberts can’t help himself. He read a book called How to Manage in the Age of Analytics and cannot manage any other way.

He cannot let the action on the field dictate his decision making. He cannot use his eyes. He can only use the data given to him by a nerd who probably never played the game, a dweeb that pre-determines every decision from which one cannot deviate.

Hyun-Jin Ryu committed the cardinal sin of allowing a baserunner after the fifth inning. He had two outs and a 2-1 lead, then the best offense in baseball loaded the bases on him. So out he comes. And away went the lead.  Roberts’s mandatory substitute pitcher immediately allowed a walk to score a run and a single to score two more.

And it was over.

So now Dave Roberts’s team goes back home down two games to none. You have to think that with a manager like Jim Leyland or Whitey Herzog—two guy who would never have a chance in hell of being hired today because they managed with their smarts and their eyes—the Dodgers would be going home up two games.

A starting pitcher could go four innings of perfect baseball, striking out every batter he faced on three pitches. He allows a batter to reach in the fifth, even on an error, and he is done.

On his post-game commentary, David Ortiz said players in the dugout feast off this sort of thing. When a pitcher is dominating all they want is for him to leave the game so they have a chance at someone else. That other guy might shut them down as well, but at least there’s hope he won’t.

The Dodgers are halfway to losing two World Series in a row. The last team to do that resides in Arlington. They had a smarter manager. At least in my book.

*****
NO GAME TODAY.