YOU CAN'T CURE STUPID
There is no time like a victory for analyzing slow Joe's deficencies as a field tactician. One can take pleasure in the recognition, without the bitterness that attends defeat.
Top of the eighth. Proctor has just finished a nice 2/3, but now his ass is on the pine, from which, as we know, it never returns the same. The Yanks lead 6-2 and Cairo leads off with a double. This is the perfect time to squeeze out another run, late in the game with a weak bullpen at your back. One of the few Yankees that can actually bunt, JD, is available to pinch hit and Melky, whose been great at making contact, will follow. Needless to say, slow Joe lets Proctor bat. He doesn't get it done, Melky's grounder can't get the run in and the Yankees don't score (thanks in part to yet another base running snafu). The lead remains 6-2, and Proctor goes out and gicves up a homer to Bonds and a single to the following batter, necessitating a 2 inning stint from Rivera. They could have been up 7-2, Bruney could have gotten them through the eighth etc. etc. Instead the Giants actually had the tying run up to bat in the 8th. Ultimately no harm done, but a game that could have been lost on the sheer obtuseness of the manager. He won't play small ball, even when it's the obvious option and he can't learn from the patterns of his bullpen arms in order to manage them effectively. Torre is living proof that Ron "Tater" White is entirely correct: you can't cure stupid.
Top of the eighth. Proctor has just finished a nice 2/3, but now his ass is on the pine, from which, as we know, it never returns the same. The Yanks lead 6-2 and Cairo leads off with a double. This is the perfect time to squeeze out another run, late in the game with a weak bullpen at your back. One of the few Yankees that can actually bunt, JD, is available to pinch hit and Melky, whose been great at making contact, will follow. Needless to say, slow Joe lets Proctor bat. He doesn't get it done, Melky's grounder can't get the run in and the Yankees don't score (thanks in part to yet another base running snafu). The lead remains 6-2, and Proctor goes out and gicves up a homer to Bonds and a single to the following batter, necessitating a 2 inning stint from Rivera. They could have been up 7-2, Bruney could have gotten them through the eighth etc. etc. Instead the Giants actually had the tying run up to bat in the 8th. Ultimately no harm done, but a game that could have been lost on the sheer obtuseness of the manager. He won't play small ball, even when it's the obvious option and he can't learn from the patterns of his bullpen arms in order to manage them effectively. Torre is living proof that Ron "Tater" White is entirely correct: you can't cure stupid.
posted by joe valente | 12:38 AM
1 Comments:
What was most shocking to me wasn't Torre's stupidity in letting Proctor bat there--we know about that. It wasn't even Proctor's inability to lay down a bunt. It was the fact that he didn't even try. He squared on 2 consecutive pitches right over the plate and then didn't make an effort to make contact. So he's clueless at the plate--that's what happens to America league ptichers. But if he's not going to lay down a successful bunt, he could have at least had the decency to flail awakwardly at the ball and pop it up to the catcher. I guess he was too busy planning his pitch sequence to Bonds.
But the real story for me in last night's game was Igawa. What the fuck has he been working on in the minors? He is still as wildy inconsistent as any pitcher I can recall on the team. More so that Contreras, and more so than Weaver, who was at least consistent in his suckiness. I know he put in 4 decent innings, but that's what is so puzzling about watching him implode in the 5th. It's like there's nothing in reserve there. He has not guts, no craftiness, no guile, nothing to bail him out once the water gets above tepid. who scouted this guy, not just in terms of mechanics etc., but in terms of his "makeup?" He's a complete cipher as a competitor.
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