2011 WS IST - Rangers & Cards

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Wow. That was Albert's hero moment there, and it couldn't make it happen.

[Frayed Knot]

Be nice if Feliz stopped gifting the Cards a free pass to bring the tying run to the plate.
Nolan can't be too feliz with Feliz right now.

[Edgy MD]

I was just about to put up a sarcastic post asking if LaRussa was going to change pitchers right after Lynn came in just for the IW But real life turns out to be as strange as fiction.

La Russa just created another type of specialist: the ROBIWGY (Righty One Batter Intentional Walk Guy). Genius!
--- Brian Costa (Wall Street Journal)

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: Gwreck: Didn't Bobby use Dennis Cook for that exact purpose in the Ventura game? I don't remember it, but I suppose it's possible. It's also a different story if, after the IW, the other team PH's and changes the matchup. In this case though TLR brought Lynn in strictly for IW purposes which seems to make no sense.

Hmm. I guess that must have been what Bobby was doing that game. I think Wendell went 2-0 on Jordan and then Bobby brought Cook in who finished the walk. Cox pinch-hits with Hunter (a righty) and then Bobby brought Mahomes in, which meant that Cox would've then needed to burn another player if he wanted to avoid a L-L or R-R matchup.

BRAVES 7TH:
Williams popped to right;
Boone was hit by a pitch;
NIXON RAN FOR BOONE;
WENDELL REPLACED HERSHISER (PITCHING);
C. Jones struck out; Nixon stole second;
COOK REPLACED WENDELL (PITCHING);
Jordan was walked intentionally (walk was charged to Wendell);
HUNTER BATTED FOR KLESKO;
MAHOMES REPLACED COOK (PITCHING);
Hunter walked [Nixon to third, Jordan to second];
A. Jones flied to left.
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Braves 2, Mets 2.

[G-Fafif]

Awesome La Russa excuse: the crowd ate my pitching change.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Tony La Russa thought he was making a simple request of the bullpen: get closer Jason Motte ready. Turns out it was anything but simple. What happened after the call was a comedy of errors that played out like something from the "Can you hear me now?" cell phone commercials. Cardinals bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist thought La Russa only asked for Marc Rzepczynski to start throwing, when the manager really wanted both left-hander Rzepczynski and right-hander Motte to get loose. La Russa realized the problem once he put in Rzepczynski and saw no one else warming up, so he called back and asked for Motte again. This time, Lilliquist told Lance Lynn to start throwing, even though he was only supposed to be used in an emergency. The series of miscommunications left Rzepczynski on the mound against Mike Napoli with the bases loaded, a lefty-righty matchup that clearly favored Texas. The Rangers' catcher delivered with a two-run double that sent Texas to a 4-2 victory Monday night. "That phone in a loud ballpark, it's not an unusual problem," La Russa said. "I mean, it doesn't make it right, but ... " As the pitchers came and went, La Russa's deployment seemed curious. But he's the winningest active manager and he's known for his unconventional use of the bullpen, which is probably why nobody questioned whether there might be something wrong. Rzepczynski and Motte didn't even know there was a mixup until after the game. "I go out there, the phone rings and we get going when we're told," Motte said. "I started throwing when I was told to start throwing." And when was that? "When Lance Lynn walked out," Motte said. "I don't need a whole lot of time anywhere." Lilliquist said the problems were caused by noise from the fans. "It was loud," he said. "A lot of places are like that. The phone is as good as any phone anywhere." What if the Rangers win the World Series in part because of the noise level of the 51,459 fans at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington? "They all get rings," said Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, though he added that he's not buying. He added: "If that's the truth, I can believe it, because it's been incredibly, incredibly loud. I think everyone in here has said it before, we've been to Tampa, Detroit, New York, St. Louis, San Francisco, and this is the loudest outdoor ballpark we've even been at. They are great fans. It's a great way to go out. Hopefully, they'll be that loud screaming at the TV when we're in St. Louis." La Russa said the noise problem is not unusual with bullpens "that are right amidst the fans and excitement." The visitors' bullpen at Rangers Ballpark is in left-center field, with fans on either side. "Maybe we need to come up with some ear mikes or something," La Russa said. Considering all the technology available these days, there's got to be a better way to do this -- right? "Yeah, smoke signals from the dugout," La Russa said. "There are times, like what happened in Philadelphia (during the first round of the playoffs). The phone went out, and so we used cell phones. And then the Phillies brought down walkie talkies, and they fixed the phone." The eighth inning began falling apart for St. Louis when Octavio Dotel took over for starter Chris Carpenter and gave up a leadoff double. An intentional walk followed, then with one out, Rzepczynski came in for a lefty-lefty matchup with David Murphy. Texas could've gone to a right-handed hitter, but stuck with Murphy. He hit a comebacker that ricocheted off Rzepczynski's leg to second baseman Nick Punto. He couldn't field it cleanly, loading the bases. "He made a great pitch, but it happens," La Russa said. "Sometimes it happens for us, today it happened against us." Rzepczynski said he wasn't surprised to remain in because there was a lefty on deck, Mitch Moreland. "I've done that all year, where if there's a righty in between, I'm going to go out there and get the chance to get the righty out," Rzepczynski said. La Russa added that he didn't think it was a matchup doomed to fail. "We had a chance with Rzepczynski's stuff to get Napoli on the first pitch," La Russa said. "And then he put a nice swing on a breaking ball." Napoli drove a pitch into the wall in right-center field on one hop. Rzepczynski struck out Moreland, then La Russa went to the mound and tried bringing in Motte. Only he hadn't warmed up yet. So when he called for the righty, in came Lynn. "I said, 'Why are you here?'" La Russa said. With first base open, Lynn was told to intentionally walk Kinsler. La Russa then returned to the mound and finally got the reliever he'd wanted several batters earlier, Motte. Only now St. Louis was down by two runs and the bases were loaded. The bearded closer struck out Elvis Andrus on three pitches, which only made the regrets of what might've been tougher for Cardinals fans to swallow once they learned of the wacky breakdown. La Russa's constant mixing and matching of pitchers was celebrated as a big reason the Cardinals overcame a 10� game deficit down the stretch to make the postseason, and his deft handling of the bullpen helped them get past Philadelphia and Milwaukee in the first two rounds. But things haven't been the same since Motte closed out a victory in Game 1. Relievers have given up eight runs over their last 11 innings. Motte lost Game 2, Mitchell Boggs allowed a game-breaking three-run homer -- to Napoli -- in Game 4 and Dotel was the loser in Game 5. Now the Rangers head to St. Louis with a 3-2 lead in the series. The Cardinals are facing elimination, something no one needs to explain more than once.

[Frayed Knot]

Verducci pretty much slaughters TLR and his [crossout]excuses[/crossout] explanations in his SI.com piece this morning.

* After noting that Washington wasn't afraid to roll the dice by leaving Murphy in there against the LHP Lynn -- "my how that must chap the manage-by-data crowd, the ones who cannot make a decision without a binder" - he picks apart the supposed causes for the various and supposedly phone-related mix-ups.

* on TLR shrugging off the phone problems as something that's "not unusual" -- "Not unusual? This is a guy who fights for every inch of an advantage, who once complained this year about the ribbon boards in Miller Park giving the Brewers an edge because the bulbs were brighter when they were batting."

* on intentionally walking Cruz -- It made no sense. Dotel's job is to get these right-handed hitters out. And by walking Cruz -- and barring a double play, an event that cannot be counted on -- La Russa was making sure that Napoli, the hottest hitter, would get to the plate.

* La Russa countered by saying he thought he had closer Jason Motte ready for Napoli, specifically "Well, I was more thinking that we had a real good chance with Rzepcynski with a pinch-hitter [for Murphy] or not, and if we got an out or not we were going to pitch around Napoli and then go after the left-hander." -- Stop right there. That ["whether we got an out or not."] is gibberish. If Rzepczynski did not get the next hitter [Murphy or a PH] the Rangers would have the bases loaded and there would be no possible way to pitch around Napoli. And that's exactly what happened.

* Verducci goes on to also take apart the strategy of twice having Craig running with Albert at the plate, noting that Pujols had a lot more HRs (37) than he did singles to the opposite field (11) -- Really, my head hurts trying to figure out what La Russa did to this game but mostly how he tried to explain it away. It was like being stuck in a gigantic corn maze. Blindfolded. At midnight. After getting spun around 38 times. Every explanation led to another turn that led to another dead end or false exit. The bottom line is he lost the game having a matchup he didn't want -- a left-hander pitching to red-hot Napoli -- and he lost his last opportunity by getting a runner thrown out who, while down two runs, didn't mean anything. I've never seen a game even close to this one and I hope never again to have to try to explain one like it.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Unprepared for Game 5 of the World Series. It's unimagineable.

[Edgy MD]

LaRussa clearly out-thought himself, and I celebrate that as a blow to his arrogance, but Verducci is still a banana. the "manage-by-data crowd"?

LaRussa's not the only annoying snotty guy in baseball, Tom.

[Frayed Knot]

This all reminds me of the time in the '05 WS when Ozzie was signaling for a RH reliever when two were warming up.
When the guys in the pen looked confused as to which one he wanted Ozzie started pantomiming a really tall and wide guy with his hands at which point everyone instantly knew that he wanted Bobby Jenks.

Maybe Tony needs to take some mime lessons for getting his wishes through when the crowd is too loud.

[Edgy MD]

I totally agree that he looks really weak here throwing his bullpen coach under the bus.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: I totally agree that he looks really weak here throwing his bullpen coach under the bus.

If Dave Duncan had gone out to the mound, told the pitcher what to throw, and the batter had hit that pitch for a game winning homer, would Tony have thrown him under the bus?
I seriously doubt it.
But then again, its Tony.

Later

[HahnSolo]

I throw this little tidbit around whenever we get deep into a WS...

Since the last team to win a WS Game 7 on the road (1979), home teams have gone 20-4 in WS games 6 and 7.

[Gwreck]

The 4 losses are:
1. 2003, Florida is up 3-2 and wins Game 6 and the series at the house of evil;
2. 1981, Dodgers are up 3-2 and wins Game 6 and the series at the house of evil;
3. 1997, Florida is up 3-2 but comes home and loses Game 6 to Cleveland before winning Game 7;

and...what's the fourth? I honestly can't remember it.

[G-Fafif]

Gwreck wrote: The 4 losses are: 1. 2003, Florida is up 3-2 and wins Game 6 and the series at the house of evil; 2. 1981, Dodgers are up 3-2 and wins Game 6 and the series at the house of evil; 3. 1997, Florida is up 3-2 but comes home and loses Game 6 to Cleveland before winning Game 7; and...what's the fourth? I honestly can't remember it.

Braves lost Game 6 at home and thus the Series in 1992.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I need a GIF of that LaRussa "Oh my head!" reaction shot, stat.

Thanks, stranger at Deadspin!

[Frayed Knot]

John Sickels does a prospect/career retrospective on Mike Napoli.
Seems like both the walks and power were always there even back in the minors.
Folks worried about his low-ish BA and about his defense, specifically about his (lack of) mobility as his pitch-blocking and runner-throwing-outing numbers are actually pretty decent.

His double-trade this past winter went very much under the radar (at least here in the east) so I admit this is almost entirely hindsight - but, jeez, how good would his skills have been in a NYM uni this season? ... splitting time with Thole plus the occasional 1B while Ike sat against LHPs and then maybe there more often after his injury. Wouldn't have had to DH the likes of Willie Harris either.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Game 6 is a rainout.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Extends our exclusive Jose negotiating period by a day.

I'm not getting the sense that Sandy is taking advantage of this window. I hope I'm wrong, and that there's some intense hush-hush discussion going on.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Extends our exclusive Jose negotiating period by a day. I'm not getting the sense that Sandy is taking advantage of this window. I hope I'm wrong, and that there's some intense hush-hush discussion going on.

Given his quotes about it being "Reyes month" ,I can't imagine that they haven't talked.

[Frayed Knot]

Game 6 is a rainout.

Upcoming Forecast for St Loo
Thurs: leftover rain in the morning then clearing. High around 60, low of 37
Friday: Sunny during the day, high 62 - low 35

... and this is the year they didn't go into November

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

This postponement would allow Carpenter to go in Game 7 but Game 6 is the one they need.

[HahnSolo]

Possible tweaks to the game 7 starters? Washington almost has to go to Holland, doesn't he? For LaRussa, I don't get think there's any great difference between Lohse and Jackson.
*Or Carpenter on 3 days rest, as Bucket says. didn't think of that.

[Frayed Knot]

The one-day postponement also gives Tony and his coaches more time to learn and practice their semaphore signaling skills in case the "phones go out" again.

[metirish]

Andrew Keh wrote this great and quirky piece about bulpen phones in the NY Times last Saturday .

Dugout Phones: Last Bastion of the Landline

By ANDREW KEH Published: October 22, 2011 The seed-strewn dugouts of baseball stadiums around the country may very well end up the final bastions of corded communication in this wireless era. While landlines in homes collect dust and serve increasingly decorative functions, the attitude among baseball clubs is a familiar one in a sport tied tightly to old-fashioned ways: why change what works? �The same old phones, the same old process,� said Derek Lilliquist, the bullpen coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. �I guess they�ve been that way forever.� Dugout phones have become key instruments during postseason games this October, which have featured managers making bullpen calls with the frequency of telemarketers. In the first two games of the World Series, there have been 16 appearances by relievers even though both games were low-scoring � 3-2 for the Cardinals in Game 1, 2-1 for the Texas Rangers in Game 2. Thus far, all those calls to the bullpen have gone through without a hitch. But every now and then, over the course of a long season, problems can arise. Lance Lynn, a Cardinals relief pitcher, recalled a game earlier this season in Philadelphia, when a complex technical issue forced the Cardinals� dugout to lose communication with the bullpen. �Somebody didn�t put the phone back on the hook all the way, so it wouldn�t ring through,� Lynn said, laughing. Manager Tony La Russa had to send Jaime Garcia, a young starter, across the field between innings to relay instructions to the relievers about who needed to get warmed up � and to tell them to put the phone down properly. �And that was a long run, too,� Lynn said. When the phone lines went dead during a Mets game late this summer, Manager Terry Collins was forced to use a combination of hand signals and towel-waving to convey which pitchers he wanted to start throwing. And then there are more deliberate malfunctions. In 2003, Eric Gagne, then the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, made the dugout phone at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco an outlet for his frustrations, snapping the cord in half while swiping at the receiver and in the process earning himself a $500 repair bill from the Giants. �You have technical foul-ups,� La Russa said. �That�s why I limit my technical exploits to paper and pencil.� La Russa, in particular, has been racking up minutes on the phone. A relentless strategist, he has used 10 relievers through Games 1 and 2 after adroitly using an army of them in the first two rounds of the postseason. Last week, he was asked for his opinion of the dugout phones in Busch Stadium. In St. Louis, there are two phones per dugout: one dials directly to the bullpen, the other rings the press box. (Mets fans may remember when Bobby Bonilla dialed the press box during a game at Shea Stadium to complain about being charged with an error on a play.) The phones, manufactured by Avaya, are secured in black and white shells labeled �telephone� from top to bottom and emit a high-pitched but surprisingly discreet ring. Teams in various stadiums in the past have had issues hearing dugout phones over crowd noise. La Russa was asked whether he had any complaints about the phones and if he thought the technology could be improved in any way. �Do you work for AT&T?� La Russa said to the reporter, drawing laughter in the room. �No, I never thought about how to make it better.� But others have. In 2006, the Chicago Cubs and Motorola announced that the company�s i580 wireless phone would be used in the dugouts at Wrigley Field � �ushering in a new era for bullpen phone communication,� according to the news release, which also proclaimed that the phone used in the first game would be sent on to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. One of the phone�s features was that it could clip onto a manager�s belt. But there were issues, too, as Dusty Baker, then the team�s manager, quickly discovered. It only had half-duplex capabilities, meaning that it worked like a walkie-talkie and that only one person could talk at a time. Motorola�s engineers worked with the team and Major League Baseball to remedy the problem, introducing a new phone with full duplex capability, according to Kristine Mulford, a company spokeswoman who worked on the project, but the phone still fell out of favor with the team. Jason Carr, a Cubs spokesman, said the phone was phased out before the end of the season. And the historic i580 never made it to Cooperstown, according to Sue McKay, the director of collections at the Hall of Fame. Exactly when dugout phones began to be used in baseball is unclear. The Hall of Fame could not pin down a date; nor could Major League Baseball. A search through the archives of The New York Times found mentions of dugout phones dating at least as far back as the mid-1950s. The phones have remained largely unchanged for decades, and baseball seems ambivalent about launching any other projects to advance the technology. The few issues that arise each year have not prompted baseball officials to review the matter. According Peter Woodfork, a senior vice president for operations with Major League Baseball, the only regulation is that the phones remain a single line that connects the dugout to the bullpen, with no outside calling capability. �We�re not against them,� Woodfork said of new phones. �What we want to avoid is a situation where the communication allows one team an advantage. I think as long as it�s one line, if someone had a different device, we�d look into it.� And as some players noted, the introduction of mobile phones could bring a new set of issues, like the dreaded �Can you hear me now?� problem. �With a cellphone, you never know when you might lose your signal,� Lynn said. �I think for now the hard lines are just a little easier to work with.� Especially when Tony La Russa is your manager.

[Edgy MD]

Subjects of online baseball chatter the last few days:

Mike Napoli 54%
Nelson Cruz 24%
Albert Pujols 12%
Tony LaRussa 6%
Derek Holland 2%
Darryl Strawberry 1%
Other 1%

[Edgy MD]

Just getting in now from Lou's City Pub, where there's a TV screen every eight an half inches.

Hey, Napoli. Slide, man.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Sloppy Ass Baseball.

[Frayed Knot]

Man, this game is like a contest to see which side can give it away.

Hey Holliday, where were you goin' man?

Texas should be up by like a half-dozen runs.

[Frayed Knot]

As McCarver has mentioned, nothing out of the IF for the last 3 full innings for StL - and yet they've scored twice during that time.

Meanwhile, Texas has sent 31 hitters to the plate thru 6 and has put 15 of them on base yet has only scored 4 of them.


oe: OK, now it's 32 hitters with 16 on base but FIVE scored.

[Frayed Knot]

NOW should be the time for LaRussa to go out to Lance Lynn and ask; "What are you doing here?"