Ain’t That A Kick In the Pants? « Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness

Ain’t That A Kick In the Pants?

August 10, 2008 at 4:49 am | In Hong-Chih Kuo, Joe Torre, Jonathan Broxton, Manny Ramirez |

I realize that an inherent weakness in fandom is that it’s so much easier to second-guess poor decisions than good ones. You never hear two fans in a bar going, “Hey, remember when Torre double-switched in the 7th inning last night and everything worked out smoothly? What a brilliant move! And… fistpound.” It’s unfortunate, and it’s really just not fair. But guess what? That’s how things work, and I’d be remiss if we didn’t discuss the nightmare that was the bottom of the 10th inning in San Francisco just now.

Hiroki Kuroda was masterful through eight innings, including working out of a tough spot in the 8th to conclude his night (and yeah, we’ve got a Kuroda-centric post that I think you’ll find pretty interesting coming up in the next day or two). Jeff Kent’s homer in the top of the 10th put the Blue up 2-1… and this is where the wheels started to fall off. From there, we’ve got some concerns to discuss…

Wait, before we get to that? A big “thanks for nothing, chump” to umpire Larry Vanover for his horribly blown call in the top of the 9th inning. With a man on and two down, Andre Ethier blooped a ball down the left field line which clearly landed right on the chalk, yet was called foul. Even the super homers on the Giants’ television network said that the Dodgers got jobbed on that, so thanks, Larry! One of the worst calls I’ve seen all year.

Back on track…

1) The decision to lift Hong-Chih Kuo. This isn’t going to be the most egregious thing we talk about tonight; in fact, there’s a pretty decent defense to it, if you’re old-school. But it’s first because we’re going chronologically here. Kuo’s been excellent all season long, and blew through the Giants in the bottom of the 9th on just 8 pitches. Now I realize that I’m going to be going against most time-honored baseball strategy, here. Yeah, you’re up a run, but with a guy in scoring position and two outs, you’re going to pinch hit for your pitcher. I got it, it’s in THE BOOK and we all know Torre would never go against THE BOOK. But how much longer do we have to go with the fantasy that maybe Andruw Jones is finally going to get it together? He struck out looking and hell, Kuo could have done that. Worse, according to THE BOOK, if you’ve got a man who has the job title of “closer”, then gosh darn it, you bring him in at the end of a close game with a lead. We’ll get to Broxton later, but the problem here is that I think we all know that even if there’d been no one on and two outs, Kuo still wouldn’t have come out to finish the game off. Because he’s not the “closer” - even though he’d just mowed down the Giants on 8 pitches, and even though he’s been one of the most effective pitchers in all of baseball this season, Broxton included. Why couldn’t Torre have just let Kuo start the inning with Broxton in reserve? Don’t we all agree that right now, Kuo is a more effective pitcher, job titles be damned?

2) Why was Manny Ramirez playing left field in the 10th? Okay, we’re beyond issue #1, and the decision has been made: you’ve pinch-hit Jones for Kuo. Fine. So then why was Manny still playing in the outfield in the bottom of the 10th? I shouldn’t even have to explain or back up the idea that Manny’s not on this team for his defense, and while Jones might not be the sublime defender he once was, he’s still miles better than Manny. Just as there’s no question the best hitting outfield alignment is Manny/Kemp/Ethier, there shouldn’t be much of a question that the best defensive alignment is Ethier/Jones/Kemp. So then why was Broxton not inserted into Manny’s spot in the lineup, rather than the 9th spot then occupied by Jones? If it’s because Torre was worried that the pitcher’s spot would then be up 4th in the following inning rather than 9th (and rather than Manny), then you’re doing the most dangerous thing a manager can do: you’re playing not to fail, rather than playing to win. Sure, if Broxton gives up precisely exactly one run (rather than zero or two) then you’ve lost Manny’s bat the next inning. On the other hand, if you get a better outfielder than Manny in the game… you massively increase your chances of never having to find out what the next inning looks like in the first place.

But hey, it’s not like it ended up directly affecting the team… since the first two batters of the inning hit safely to left. While the first hit was too deep for anyone to grab, there’s a pretty decent chance that an outfielder with more range than Manny might have been able to snag the second hit. This isn’t an indictment of Manny; outfield range is simply not his game, and we should all know and accept that. Joe Torre should have known that too, and this (yet another) example of poor decision-making can be directly pointed to as a cause for this crushing loss.

3) Jonathan Broxton - what the hell? It’s really tempting to bash Broxton for blowing the save, but I also think it’s a little unfair. Yeah, giving up a hard-hit leadoff double to Dave Roberts, of all people, really hurt. But look at what happened after that. A dinky fly to left that a better outfielder may have turned into an out; an weak infield hit on which Broxton made an incredibly athletic play to nearly get the runner at the plate; a hit batter which didn’t hurt as much as it seemed (with men on second and third in a tie game, that run is completely irrelevant, and served to set up the double play after the upcoming strikeout), and a strikeout of Benjie Molina. Aaron Rowand singled to right to win the game, and the argument can be made that if you’re going to be the “closer”, you’ve got to man up and get that strikeout or double play ball there - fine. (Hard to say for sure, but if the infield wasn’t drawn in to get the runner at home, that might have actually been a double-play grounder).

The point is, other than the leadoff double, Broxton was much more unlucky than ineffective. I’ve got to say, he’s having one of the weirdest seasons I can remember. It sure seems like he’s not been nearly as dominant as in the past, right? But the numbers just don’t back that up. Since taking over as “closer” for Takashi Saito, Broxton was a perfect 7-for-7 in saves until this game, and he’s sporting the lowest WHIP of his career to this point. Sure, the saves haven’t all been pretty, but he got the job done. This time - again, other than the leadoff double - Broxton was more victimized by not having the outfield defense he should have and some lucky hits for the Giants. No, Broxton wasn’t as good as he needed to be tonight. But let’s not start up the “he doesn’t have the stuff to be the “closer” chant just yet, either.

A simply crushing defeat all around, really, and it took a team effort to get there. Besides Torre’s questionable decisions and Broxton coming up short, you can’t ignore the staggering 24 men the Blue left on base tonight. This is going to be one of “those” games - the kind you look back upon with disdain when you miss the playoffs by one game on the last day of the season.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. The Dodgers could have been in first place.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness

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I was SO hoping that we wouldn’t get to the pitcher’s spot in the top of the 10th, so that Kuo would stay in the game for the bottom of the inning, but I agreed with PH’ing Andruw even though Kuo might be more likely to get a hit. It made sense as Andruw should be a bigger threat to hit and he would come in for defensive purposes anyway. Thus, I was shocked as well to see Manny still in LF and Kemp still in CF at the bottom of the inning. Curious series of moves.

Comment by kennerbuggy — August 10, 2008 #
How about Kent’s “Roger Dorn” impression at the end of the game?

Comment by Kochilin — August 10, 2008 #
Just as I finished reading this entry — Kuo comes to the plate in the 9th inning. According to ESPN Gamecast, Kuo’s hitting .500 vs lefties & .400 vs righties. And, Now he’s standing on first after an error by Aurilia. Maybe Torre is finally catching “The Illness?”

Second guessing is always a problem for us Dodger fans (I think Grady brought it to a whole new level prior to this season ). Mike, you put it very well as you showed the “train of thought” from the manager’s standpoint as it derailed in spectacular fashion last night. Hard to criticize Torre for going “by the book” but I agree that Manny being in the game seems to be an oversight/poor decision. But, we also have some smart coaches who I think deserve some blame in this case. No doubt, Torre is the skipper, but why isn’t mattingly or bowa stepping up to say, “hey, uhh, skip? I know you’re completely focused on winning this game, like the rest of us, and we were thinking, you know, (cough) Manram’s been carrying this team like a dreadlocked Atlas for the past week, while Fatdruw has been holding onto a sub-Mendoza line batting average tighter than a Box of Twinkies — on the pine no less. Skip, I’m just sayin, despite his addiction to buffets and donut holes, Fatdruw legs are fresh - so he’s going to have a little more range out there.”

And, now, Kuo’s just blown the save, courtesy of a Blake Bumble. Maybe this team is scared of first place.

Comment by VegasBlue — August 10, 2008 #
I go back to the game Johnson lost in extra innings. Everyone screamed that the great Broxton or the great Kuo should have come in and Torre was a nut for not doing so. Well yesterday Torre obliged with Broxton and Broxton screwed the pooch. Today terrible Torre went with Kuo and the great Kuo screwed the pooch. What do the armchair manager’s think we should have done yesterday and today? I know, I know…blame it on Torre ’cause he should have put himself on the mound for the save. hehehehehe

Comment by Earl Farmer — August 10, 2008 #
And yet, you were saying something about the pitching being so good. They’ve been very good, but I wonder how long the can handle being minus Saito. I have yet to see anybody that doesn’t make me nervous in the ninth.

Comment by Rob McMillin — August 10, 2008 #
There is no blame here as far as I am concerned. Three games lost by having Johnson in, Broxton in and Kuo. In my above “hehehehe” at the end of the comment does not mean I am laughing at our losing, but that some are second guessing every move Torre makes. Johnson holds them a few days ago and Torre is smart. Broxton holds them last night he is smart. Kuo pitches like he is capable of, then Torre is smart. They have a bad outing then Torre should be fired. Gets old.
It will turn around and we will win the division
Kemp is awesome of late. Kent in the three hole looks like a different hitter. I will say this, I do not care how big a bat we put in the line up we cannot win with one person. It takes a team and that means position players, SP’s and the Bully. We are not getting that right now. Three games of late that could have us in 1st was lost no because of our hitting but because our usually strong pen let us down.

Comment by Earl Farmer — August 10, 2008 #
I didn’t see today’s debacle, so I can’t speak too authoritatively on it. But from what I’ve been able to glean from the box score and message boards, it seems as though Kuo didn’t actually perform all that poorly, but was massively let down by the defense. Blake had a big error and it seems both Berroa and Ozuna made mistakes that don’t show up in the box score, but really hurt the team. Far as I can tell, Kuo was never hit hard, but had NO support behind him, and what pitcher’s going to be able to succeed like that? I guess that’s to be expected when your middle infield consists of two guys that NO other MLB team wants. So when can we see Hu back up already?

Earl, I stand by what I said before. Broxton and Kuo were both better options than Johnson two days off throwing 87 pitches. Yesterday, I felt Kuo was a better option than Broxton based on how smoothly he’d made it through the 9th inning. Again, I didn’t see today, but I don’t see the problem lying with either Torre or Kuo, but with the lousy infield defense.

Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness — August 10, 2008 #
I listened to the radio broadcast, and it seemed like Kuo just got a little rattled once Randy Winn got the leadoff single. The second single was even worse, and Casey Blake’s clank was the coup de grace. I take it as both illustrative and fitting that Berroa mangled the game-losing play; he was a bad idea to begin with, and now we can tie him to a specific loss in which his weak fielding has directly cost the Dodgers a win.

Comment by Rob McMillin — August 10, 2008 #
Mike, is that two kicks in the pants now since the Dodgers’ pen blew two games in a row? This team continues to frustrate.

Comment by shmolnick — August 11, 2008 #
Enough with the Torre bashing, seriously. Sometimes it’s just the players faults. “It’s really tempting to bash Broxton for blowing the save, but I also think it’s a little unfair.” Really? You might like the guy but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t rightfully say something when he royally screws up.

Comment by Clay — August 12, 2008 #
[...] an improbable comeback to snag a share of first place. Away we go… * Thanks, beautiful! Remember the other day when I wrote, regarding the debacle in San Francisco, that This is going to be one of “those” games - the [...]

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