The Animal
10-28-2002, 12:51 AM
Let me preface this by saying I am a gigantic San Francisco Giants fan. My brother was a Dodgers fan during my youth and growing up in Philadelphia during the 60’s and 70’s there wasn’t much point in cheering for the local team.
“The Animal” has the utmost respect for San Francisco skipper Dusty Baker. No manager gets more out of the talent he’s presented annually. But Sunday night was a disgrace.
Starting Livan Herandez in game #7 of the World Series was not only poor judgement but a reversal in what’s supposed to be “the age of political correctness”. First let’s examine the credentials. The 15 defeats during the regular season suffered by Livan Hernandez gave him the dubious honor of being tied for the most in baseball. Hernandez issued eight walks in his first starting assignment of the fall classic. It was obvious from the very first inning in game #7 that Hernandez had no control of his off-speed stuff. The same problem plagued him in game #3. Analysts from Anaheim to Asbury Park could tell you the Angels are a fast ball hitting team. The fact that Baker refused to have anybody warming up in the bullpen (four lefthanders available) until the bases were loaded with nobody out in the 3rd inning was an indication that Baker was going with Hernandez regardless of the outcome. Fox announcer and analyst Tim McCarver, much like this viewer, thought that strategy was at the very least strange.
In game #4 of the World Series, San Francisco trailed 2-1 and were in a seemingly must-win situation. They called upon Kirk Rueter and all he did was completely keep the Angels off balance with his off-speed arsenal of pitches. Rueter displayed the same mastery in game #7, but by then the damage was done. Bet you didn’t know the following. Only Pedro Martinez has a higher winning percentage on the road among active pitchers than Kirk Rueter. Yet, despite that, he wasn’t qualified to start game #7 of the World Series on the road. The Giants players to a man stated following game #4 that they “wouldn’t have wanted anybody more than Rueter” in such a critical game. Obviously Baker didn’t share with those sentiments. It certainly had nothing to do with the theory that Rueter couldn’t go on three days of rest or wouldn’t be effective.
How could such a respected manager like Baker make this kind of mistake in a game of this magnitude with the ultimate prize dangling in front of him? Then again, what are the chances of a black manager having an opportunity of showcasing a black starting pitcher on the ultimate stage? Granted, the Cuban immigrant was 7-0 in the postseason prior to the fall of 2002. But it didn’t take an expert to see that Hernandez was a disaster waiting to happen. Facing a lineup like Anaheim and with the scary production they’ve displayed, the last thing a visiting team could afford was a starter that couldn’t throw strikes.
Only Dusty Baker knows the real answer for his choice in game #7. There are a million ways he could answer the question if asked or 2nd guessed by reporters.
On a separate issue, I have to chuckle about all the fanfare about Emmitt Smith breaking Walter Payton’s record. No disrespect to #22, but all afternoon I’ve heard the comparisons and rankings of the greatest running backs of all-time like Smith, Payton, and Jim Brown. Hello? Does anybody remember Barry Sanders? If Sanders doesn’t prematurely retire, Smith would be trailing Sanders by 3,000 yards or possibly much more. But when it comes to the Cowboys, what else can you talk about?
Mark
"The Animal"
“The Animal” has the utmost respect for San Francisco skipper Dusty Baker. No manager gets more out of the talent he’s presented annually. But Sunday night was a disgrace.
Starting Livan Herandez in game #7 of the World Series was not only poor judgement but a reversal in what’s supposed to be “the age of political correctness”. First let’s examine the credentials. The 15 defeats during the regular season suffered by Livan Hernandez gave him the dubious honor of being tied for the most in baseball. Hernandez issued eight walks in his first starting assignment of the fall classic. It was obvious from the very first inning in game #7 that Hernandez had no control of his off-speed stuff. The same problem plagued him in game #3. Analysts from Anaheim to Asbury Park could tell you the Angels are a fast ball hitting team. The fact that Baker refused to have anybody warming up in the bullpen (four lefthanders available) until the bases were loaded with nobody out in the 3rd inning was an indication that Baker was going with Hernandez regardless of the outcome. Fox announcer and analyst Tim McCarver, much like this viewer, thought that strategy was at the very least strange.
In game #4 of the World Series, San Francisco trailed 2-1 and were in a seemingly must-win situation. They called upon Kirk Rueter and all he did was completely keep the Angels off balance with his off-speed arsenal of pitches. Rueter displayed the same mastery in game #7, but by then the damage was done. Bet you didn’t know the following. Only Pedro Martinez has a higher winning percentage on the road among active pitchers than Kirk Rueter. Yet, despite that, he wasn’t qualified to start game #7 of the World Series on the road. The Giants players to a man stated following game #4 that they “wouldn’t have wanted anybody more than Rueter” in such a critical game. Obviously Baker didn’t share with those sentiments. It certainly had nothing to do with the theory that Rueter couldn’t go on three days of rest or wouldn’t be effective.
How could such a respected manager like Baker make this kind of mistake in a game of this magnitude with the ultimate prize dangling in front of him? Then again, what are the chances of a black manager having an opportunity of showcasing a black starting pitcher on the ultimate stage? Granted, the Cuban immigrant was 7-0 in the postseason prior to the fall of 2002. But it didn’t take an expert to see that Hernandez was a disaster waiting to happen. Facing a lineup like Anaheim and with the scary production they’ve displayed, the last thing a visiting team could afford was a starter that couldn’t throw strikes.
Only Dusty Baker knows the real answer for his choice in game #7. There are a million ways he could answer the question if asked or 2nd guessed by reporters.
On a separate issue, I have to chuckle about all the fanfare about Emmitt Smith breaking Walter Payton’s record. No disrespect to #22, but all afternoon I’ve heard the comparisons and rankings of the greatest running backs of all-time like Smith, Payton, and Jim Brown. Hello? Does anybody remember Barry Sanders? If Sanders doesn’t prematurely retire, Smith would be trailing Sanders by 3,000 yards or possibly much more. But when it comes to the Cowboys, what else can you talk about?
Mark
"The Animal"