Sunday, April 09, 2017

MICRO-MANAGING AT IT'S FINEST

Can't you see how smart I am?
Joe Girardi is known as a metrics guy. He has his notebook and computer and stats and uses them. Sometimes, he over-uses them.
Last night, the Yanks blew a 4-1 lead and lost 5-4 to the Orioles. They a lost a game they should have won. More specifically, Girardi lost a game they should have won. There they are with a 4-3 lead in the 7th inning with one out and the bases empty. Adam Warren, in relief of Masahiro Tanaka, had just retired the four batters that he faced, and out pops Girardi to change pitchers. WHY? Michael said, "Joe is going to mix and match the rest of the way." He wanted to have a lefty pitcher face a lefty hitter and so forth, the rest of the way. Again, why? Warren has no particular problem against righties or lefties, but there's Girardi, over-thinking the problem. He brings in a lefty. the result a double. Girardi brings in righty to face a right-handed hitter. Then, a single (run scores), an out, a stolen base - because it's easy to steal off of Bettances - another single and the go-ahead run scores. That's the ball game, folks. Maybe I'm old school - and I am - but the hell with the book, Joe, when you get a hot hand, ride it. I won't listen to the post-game press conference because I already know what I'll hear from Girardi.
"I played the odds but the players didn't perform." Or words to that effect.
Baseball people say that Girardi is masterful at handling the bullpen. I don't buy it.

Everybody's doing it, so it must be okay. 
A baseball stuck to the chest protector of Yadier Molina on Thursday. Stuck good and for a long time. How could that happen? Obviously, there was some kind of foreign substance either on the chest protector or on the ball. Obviously. So, according to the rules, someone - the catcher or the pitcher - has to be ejected. What happened? Nothing. Pretty much every pitcher in baseball uses some kind of substance to "improve their grip."  I emphasize the grip thing, but it has to have other effects, too. Everybody know that it goes on, you can often see it on TV because it's that obvious, but umpires and opposing managers turn a blind eye to it. Ask players about it and they just lie, lie, lie. It's a rule everybody breaks and baseball looks silly because they let it happen. Buster Olney thinks he has the answer:
"The fix seems relatively simple: Just alter the wording of the rule so that specific substances are permissible so long as the volume is not excessive -- and just have the players check with the umpires on that before they go to work, just as pitchers do when they ask for the OK to blow on their hands on cold days."
I have an easier answer: Announce to everyone that it's illegal and enforce it completely. The same situation occurred in the 90's about steroids. Baseball tried to ignore it until it became ridiculous and finally just began to enforce it. There are still those who try to circumvent the rules but it's no longer widespread. I think we need the same logic here.

There's more to worry about than injuries.
Yes, all teams suffer through injuries, but there is a new problem. Flu-like sicknesses. At least two teams, Boston and Tampa Bay, are being devastated by the flu or similar sickness. The Yankees say their players aren't feeling that good, but it hasn't kept them out of the lineup yet. It's probably going to spread, so watch out for your favorite team to have problems in the future.

Another issue of mine.
CBS dumps Phil Simms in favor of Tony Romo. Why did they get rid of one of the best analysts on the air? Here's what Phil Mushnick says.
"It wasn’t supposed to end this way. The way I figured it, CBS eventually would dump Phil Simms because he was too candid for comfort, not because he had been deemed stale. Simms would be a superb selection to sit beside during a football game.  As for Tony Romo, one must understand the mentalities of TV shot-callers’ eagerness to hire any suddenly available big name based on nothing stronger than a wish. Would I have hired Romo? Yes. He is engaging, self-deprecating, often funny. Would I have made him my No. 1 guy from Day 1? Not a chance."

***THEY SAID IT***
"An employee of the National Firearms Museum in Virginia, which is run by the NRA, was injured on the job Friday. He was taking part in firearms training and accidentally shot himself. Mean bitch karma and her friend irony for the win."  -- Janice Hough

"After their team’s tournament loss to North Carolina, Kentucky students burned a box, a TV, a T-shirt, couches, chairs and more clothes. Then they left for spring break to get rowdy."  -- Brad Dickson
"RJ’s Groaner of the Week  Hear about the Wisconsin farmer who took 12 female pigs and 10 male deer to the Green Bay Packers’ ticket office? He'd heard a game-day suite would cost 22 sows and bucks."  -- RJ Currie
"Wednesday, in case you missed it, was National Walking Day. Which might explain why Royals pitchers promptly went out and walked nine Minnesota Twins."  -- Dwight Perry
"Cubs admit feeling pressure to win a World Series every 108 years now."  -- SportsPickle.com

" The NCAA final between North Carolina and Gonzaga was a snooze fest that featured 47 fouls. One Zag fouled out early, and during that timeout, the refs had their whistles re-gripped."  -- TC Chong
"There’s online footage of a snowboard competitor being chased by a bear. If this happened regularly, snowboarding would be the No. 1 spectator sport in the world."  -- Brad Dickson
"Friday night after  a Tiger-free tournament in Augusta. Anyone know who’s leading the Masters?  Yeah, me neither. -- Janice Hough
"Why has the Masters coverage on TV  increased from 2½ hours in 1956 to 18 hours today: Jim Nantz’s descriptions of the azaleas in bloom.”  -- Brad Rock
 "Egypt now has “rage rooms” where people go to take out their frustrations and anger. Americans sometimes call places like this “golf courses.”  -- Brad Dickson
"A town of 60 people in Pennsylvania is up for sale for $US 1.5 million. If you pay cash, they'll throw in the 76ers"  -- RJ Currie
"The Oakland A’s hired Jose Canseco as a TV analyst. I’m not sure which was the bigger blow to the city of Oakland: losing the Raiders or gaining Canseco."  -- Brad Dickson

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