We've seen the Brewers blow a lot of leads late this year, and though last night's doesn't count toward that tally, the events that unfolded were just as infuriating, if not more so.
In case you missed it:
Yost and La Russa had been going back and forth all series. For the fifth game in a row, Ned didn't like the calls. La Russa didn't like that Ned was arguing the calls, and apparently he also didn't like that Hart took two bases on a throwing error. My god, are you kidding me? Tony also didn't like the fact that Prince was going yard every other time he came up, and that Suppan threw a pitch near Pujols during a walk Monday night.
So La Russa has his guy hit Prince early Wednesday night. Instead of forgetting about obeying one of baseball's unwritten rules - you hit our star, we hit yours - Ned decides to to bring in McClung to bean Pujols while we're down one run in the eighth. Ned and McClung get tossed, Turnbow comes in, and you know the rest. T-Blow's four-pitch walk of Stinnett was the most pathetic display of clutch pitching I've ever seen. (photo by Benny Sieu of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
The Brewers go down 7-2, which wouldn't have been a big deal if Braun hadn't driven in Weeks in the ninth to score what could have been the tying run. Of course, Pujols is a great hitter and may have reached base without the beanball, but why put him on automatically when you need to win the game? And why does Turnbow keep getting the ball in important situations?
My conclusions:
1. La Russa is on my sh!t list. My buddy Austin has been telling me for awhile that he hates the guy, and I never quite understood it. I do now, it's personal. He's screwing around with his mind games on behalf of his awful, eliminated team while we're trying to get to the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.
2. I've defended Ned's actions to friends and family, but this one is inexcusable.
3. Pujols gave Prince a tap upon reaching first after being hit. He's a class act.
4. After the game I tried explaining this to Jana, the situation, the unwritten rules of baseball, why I was so mad. She responded with some very salient points, like "it's like the mob" and "if women ran the world we wouldn't have any wars" and "this is why I don't like baseball." She was looking for a reason to reinforce the last one, but her other points are well-taken.
Argh.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Use your heads, guys!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
14 comments:
It would have been great if Ned would have shown a little emotion like this during their slump.
Unfortunately, he chose exactly the worst time to get worked up. I have questioned Yost's management quite a bit this year but this takes the cake. Way to think this one through, once again, Nedly.
Aaaaargh.
P.S. LaRussa is a smug a-hole. Right now he reminds me of a little brother that knows just what buttons to push to get you worked up.
But Yost is still a lock to come back, right?
As far as I know he's coming back, per Attanasio.
"Ned is safe" = Kiss of death ... I hope Attanasio was just paying lip-service on a question he was asked.
Getting ejected in 3 of your last 4 games ... way to handle the pressure, Neddy.
I guess my deposit on NLDS Game 3 tickets will be coming back to me. It sure won't go toward a 20-game pack next year if that dingbat returns.
Have you noticed the similarities between the Brewers this year and the '98 West Bend East Suns? Crafty lefty starter struggles to find his stuff after a strong start and ends up in the bullpen (Cappy-Dueces). Second baseman making costly errors down the stretch to ruin playoff chances (Weeks-Jansen).
How many home runs did the 98 East second baseman hit, and what was his on-base percentage? Just trying to complete the comparison.
As our buddy Jimmy Polzin stated via a text message, couldn't Ned have just swallowed his pride?
Ned's late inning decisions merit criticism: how many times in the last month has he batted a pitcher and then pulled him the following inning for another reliever?
Why do the comments from every post lead back to JV baseball glory days?
Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
It's varsity, not JV, or as we called it in the big city, American Legion ball.
This from the Sun-Times Jay Mariotti:
"If not for Yost, my guess is the division would be tied and America would be buzzing about the latest Cub choke.
The Milwaukee skipper, as misplaced in a pennant race as Piniella is well-suited, somehow prioritized a purpose-pitch battle with the Cardinals over the urgent act Wednesday of winning Game No. 158. Yost bit the bait of an old baseball fox, Tony La Russa, and chose to retaliate by hitting Albert Pujols in the eighth inning of a 3-2 game. The Cardinals responded with four runs and won, prompting Pujols to say, ''The error that the manager made cost them the game. I can't believe he hit me right there. He cost them four runs.''
And, it appears, a division. When Yost was suspended for Thursday's game, the Brewers should have considered it a blessing."
As much as Mariotti is generally a horse's ass, he's dead-on here.
Rupert Jones
Maybe this team will have a Buck Rodgers-Harvey Kuenn like shake-up in 2008.
Home Run stats for 1998 West Bend East second baseman
To be fair, these stats are only through the first 8-10 games for that season. But I do believe the trend held up through 29 games...
I need to get a sweater like that.
Post a Comment