Postgame power blog: Goodbye Anaheim edition
Posted on August 24th, 2008 – 9:34 PMBy Joe Christensen
ANAHEIM — I made a note on my scorecard today the minute the White Sox completed their controversial, A.J.-inspired victory over Tampa Bay.
The sixth inning had just ended here at Angel Stadium, and the Twins led 3-1.
For several moments, it had looked like the Twins would end the day leading the division by 1 1/2 games. (Again, they haven’t led by that much since May 12). Instead, they fell from first place — for the fifth time this month.
(I wrote some of this in my game story, which looks ahead to the Seattle series, and some in my notebook, but I’ll let you relive some of it now with bonus material. Darn nice of me, eh?)
TURNING POINT
The game changed on a seemingly harmless single by Mike Napoli in the seventh inning. Left fielder Jason Kubel froze as the ball bounced in front of him.
Howie Kendrick saw that hesitation and dashed from first-to-third. Kubel’s throw bounced off Kendrick’s cleat (total fluke) for an error, allowing Napoli to reach second base.
Manager Ron Gardenhire said Kubel “non-chalanted it. No excuse.”
Kubel said, “I kind of went a little too slow anticipating anything. I just wanted to make sure I caught the ball first of all and just got it in.”
Justin Morneau said, “They catch us on a play that shouldn’t have been a first-to-thrid play. That pretty much turned the game around.”
Who knows how the inning would have played differently if Napoli had stayed at first base? The key point is Kendrick should have been held at second on the hit. Gardenhire pulled starter Kevin Slowey and replaced him with Dennys Reyes, who got two ground balls, with Nick Punto making two good plays (the first one bobbled but at least salvaging an out) and Morneau making a huge scoop to end the inning.
HOME RUN REVERSAL
Kubel nearly attoned in the eighth inning, when he crushed a home run barely foul down the right-field line against Jose Arredondo. (OK, going to assume you know what happened, with the call correctly being reversed.)
Kubel didn’t watch the replay. “I was already mad enough,” he said.
Gardenhire said there was no reason to argue.
“What are you going to say?” he said. “Four guys go and say it’s not a home run. What argument do you have to tell you the truth? Everybody in our dugout probably thought it was a foul ball, too.”
Crew chief Randy Marsh told the Associated Press, “It was pretty unanimous right from the beginning. Nobody likes to reverse one, and I’ve been involved with some in pretty big situations like that. But when you get the call right, everyone’s behind you — the media and the teams on the field.”
EIGHTH-INNING DECISIONS
Gardenhire let Reyes start the eighth, and Mark Teixeira, who killed the Twins all series, hit a leadoff double.
With Vladimir Guerrero coming to the plate, Gardenhire turned to Jesse Crain instead of Matt Guerrier, who warmed up a few batters later.
Vlady was 1-for-6 with a walk and no strikeouts against Crain and 0-for-6 with an RBI and two strikeouts against Guerrier.
“Jesse’s been throwing the ball,” Gardy said. “He had one inning [Thursday] where he just blew people away. We wanted fastballs there in that situation. That’s the guy we wanted to go to. Matty had a good outing [Thursday], and we’re not going to push it as much as we can. We’re going to use them both.
“Jesse’s got the gas [Yes, he said gas] and that’s what we wanted. We wanted hard-inside on [Vlady], and that’s what Jesse had, hard-inside.”
Crain’s first pitch was nearly perfect, and Guerrero hit a lazy foul down the right-field line just out of the reach of Morneau & Co. The next pitch was aimed inside and ended up outside.
“It was actually a good pitch, but it wasn’t the pitch we were trying for,” Crain said. “Supposed to try and go in. I left it — to any other hitter, it’s probably a good pitch but he can reach that part of the plate and hit it pretty good.”
Over Carlos Gomez’s head — very similar to the play Gomez missed in the Angels’ big third inning Saturday.
GOMEZ MISSES AGAIN
Should Gomez have caught this one, too?
“He hit it awfully hard,” Gardy said. “Whether he did [catch it] or not, he’s got to keep running. He jumped too quick, probably lost where he was at. But it was a rocket. It was just a bad pitch — throw one out and over the plate to Vlady right there, that’s what’s going to happen.”
BACK TO CRAIN
Crain followed with a big strikeout of Torii Hunter, who finished the series 2-for-16.
Then Crain had a 2-2 count to Gary Matthews Jr., when Matthews hit his RBI triple into the right-field corner.
“If you make pitches right there, you have a chance,” Gardenhire said.
SPAN’S EJECTION
Denard Span took a called third strike to end the game and had a heated reaction, drawing an ejection from home plate umpire Brian Gorman. (Yes, you can be ejected, even when the game’s over, apparently.)
Not sure if Span will be penalized for his actions, but he slammed his bat and got in Gorman’s face before first base coach Jerry White intervened.
The pitch definitely looked like a ball. You can see the call and the beginning of Span’s reaction here (hat tip on the link to MudCat.)
SHORT HOPS
(*) Joe Mauer and Nick Punto extended their respective hitting streaks to 16 and 12 games.
(*) Slowey allowed two runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. That’s four good starts in a row, as he is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA since getting roughed up by Cleveland on Aug. 2.
(*) Morneau joined Harmon Killebrew (1969-71) as the only Twins who have reached 100 RBI three consecutive years. Morneau downplayed it because of the loss, but when asked a second time about having his name mentioned with Killebrew, he smiled.
(Morneau absolutely loves Killebrew, by the way, and you’ll note below that he knows exactly how many home runs Killebrew hit.)
“He’s a Hall of Famer — 573 homers,” Morneau said. “He’s the guy who’s got all the power records in our organization. To have my name next to him is pretty nice, but I’ve still got a long way to go to come close to what he did.”
(*) On a personal note, I’m very proud that I haven’t mentioned a certain scoreboard presence here, a certain simian, even once. I’ll check back with you tomorrow from Seattle. … And yes, there will be one last stop at In-n-Out Burger tonight on my way to LAX.
73 Responses to "Postgame power blog: Goodbye Anaheim edition"
let’s just be glad we have 7 games agaisnt the M’s and A’s and the white sox get 8 against the O’s and Red Sox. this is a week the twins need to play well, and i wouldn’t be surprised to see them 2 or 3 games up.
Joe, have you heard anything more on the Twins pursuing a deal for Guardado?
Great stuff Joe. After today the Twins are 2-7 in August when they are either tied for the lead or hold the lead in the division outright.
I really hope that trend doesn’t continue.
Umps should be ejected for atrocious calls, not the players
Are the Twins close to acquiring Everyday Eddie from Texas? It could be a nice homecoming and a much need bullpen addition. Regardless of his not-so-dominating statistics, I have faith that Gardy and Rick Anderson could find the right spots to encourage success vs. average play.
All that matters is who has the lead on the last day of the season. Hopefully it is the Twins.
[…] Originally published by Around the Majors […]
Wow!!! Nothing like the manager and all star completely throwing Jason Kubel under the bus. I thought the Twins didn’t do stuff like that!
did anyone see the interference call in the chicago-tampa bay game. i cannot believe that call. aj pierzynski threw out his arm to initiate contact. There was NO WAY aj is safe at either 2nd or 3rd. further aggravation to the day. that is bush league crap.
on another note, i have to say, the white sox announcers have to be the most irritating, biased, homers in the league. i understand that you want your team to win, but its just painful to listen to their broadcasts.
I think Kubel is trade bait - please let be so and send Gomez a huge message - sit him for a while or send him down for two or three weeks.
Man, Gardenhire really does play favorites. Gomez makes two terrible reads this series but it’s ok because they were hit by Vlad? I didn’t see anything after last night’s game, but what did he say about Buscher’s errors? Anything?
This is a frustrating day, between that crap and AJ’s complete BS at the end of the Sox game. Aybar doesn’t even touch him. What a joke.
You’re a major league manager, Ron. If you want to say Kubel non-chalanted it, you do it behind closed doors. You don’t throw one guy under the bus to the media. Even Ozzie at least called out the entire team.
Our bullpen failed AGAIN. Span got ahead 3-0 on K-Rod and took three straight strikes to end the game (though the last one was indeed a bad call). Gomez misreads another fly ball in center.
Why not call any of them out? The team lost the game today. I guarantee that if Punto had made a bad throw in a crucial spot, it would’ve been, “well he was hustling out there and the ball just got away. Morney couldn’t pick it. These things happen. That’s baseball. The other team was great today too. They really battled, didn’t get down on themselves when they were behind. That’s key. They’re a great club. We found that out the hard way today.”
Ugh. Gardenhire just makes me irate sometimes.
[…] Joe Christensen’s postgame blog: Howie Kendrick saw that hesitation and dashed from first-to-third. Kubel’s throw […]
I’ll second the comment about the ChiSox broadcasters. Listening to those clowns is just BRUTAL…Hawk sounds like the annoying 12 year old kid sitting behind you and cheering for the other team. I get Extra Innings on DirecTV and hear all 30 teams’ announcers, and Chicago is by far the worst. Can’t MLB put a muzzle on them or tell them to tone down their annoying act now that all games can be seen nationally?
I think the fact that LA is in 1st place sort of disguised how frustrating these last 2 losses should have been (or were), given the way the Twins beat themselves. Put “Mariners” uni’s on the opponent these last 2 games, and people would be screaming bloody murder.
Also, does anyone else get the impression that LA gets more scratch hits (seeing eye grounders, bloopers) than any team in the league?? Same story when we lost to them in the playoffs.
Steve. Gardy did say something yesterday that Gomez should have made that catch yesterday.
AJ should be fined for acting the way he did. He tried to throw an elbow and make contact (which he didn’t even make contact) with Willy Aybar, and he got the call to go his way. This is the same type of thing the NBA is fining players like Kobe for (he got fined for throwing his arms up and making contact with other players to try and get a call to go his way). It completely takes away from the integrity of the game and AJ should be fined and/or suspended for costing the Rays a baseball game. The umpires involved should receive some sort of punishment as well - how do 2 umpires that close blow such an obvious call.
On another note … 6 days to get David Weathers on the playoff roster.
Matt, did you catch any of the rest of the Rays game? I kept flipping between the Twins and the Rays.
YES, for sure the AJ call by the umps was totally ridiculous. Do the umps just go back to their hotel rooms after games and knock back a few cold ones and never watch any sports news shows??? Are they totally oblivious to all of baseballdom except Sox and their fans unanimously screaming about AJ’s antics in influencing umpire decisions usually to his advantage? Why do they continue to side with him? Maybe MLB should set the instant replay rules as only plays involving boundaries PLUS anything involving AJ!!
Back to the Rays game in general. There were two reasons AJ should never even been relevant. The Rays should have won the game but for their catcher unable to catch a throw from LF Zobrist (or a less than perfect throw from Zobrist - take your pick) and tag the runner out thereby sending it to extras. The Sox runner would have been out by a couple of yards if the catcher had caught and hung onto the ball since he was well in front of the plate and the runner had not gotten there at all when the ball hopped right into the catcher but not his glove.
Then BJ Upton totally nonchalants a ball that he should have immediately tossed into 2nd. If Gardy throws Kubel under the bus for being nonchalant, he needs to see the clip of Upton. What would Gardy have to call that? Total reckless disregard? At worst AJ should have been left at 1st. At best the pest would have thrown out at 2nd and none of the other nonsense on the basepaths would even have happened. It will be interesting to see if Maddon benches him again. Certainly well deserved again for a second time.
There is occasionally discussions on the Strib blogs about Delmon and his history with the Rays. Haven’t there been allegations about Upton not being a clubhouse favorite? While Delmon’s hitting and defense have not met fans’ expectations, at least he has hustled and not acted the way Upton has. So maybe the Twins way is rubbing off on Young.
JOE, several of us on the blog tonight have expressed surprise at the quotes you’ve attributed to Gardy and Justin, especially Gardy, concerning Kubel’s throw on the Napoli single. This is the first time I can ever recall Gardenhire publicly calling out one of his players like that, even when others have made way worse plays or even had an entire way worse season (e.g. his little buddy LNP).
Much to many fans’ irritation Gardy always says all his usual cliches about working their tails off, getting after it, etc. etc. even when most of us would probably prefer a public scolding. So what’s the deal with Kubel??
I hope you’re willing to take a journalistic risk here and make some comments on why Kubel isn’t one of Gardy’s little buddies. What has he ever done or maybe not done to be in Gardy’s doghouse? And if you’re not willing to comment, could you pass this request on to PR…I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to write an entire column on the subject. Thanks.
Personally, I think the biggest problem with a lot of the umps out there is they seem to be very full of themselves. How dare anybody challenge anything they say do. He wanted a big dramatic strikeout to end the game so he could do his fancy strike call. Plus, if he walks Span with the meat of the order coming up, the game could go into extra innings.
Span was robbed of a walk and the Twins were robbed of a possible 9th inning comeback to stay in first.
How did you overlook the most obvious turning point, Joe?
Gardenhire should have used JOE NATHAN, the best reliever on the team, to face the heart of the Angels’ order in the 8th. Using Crain is inexcusable.
Here’s an analogy. Say the Twins are batting in the eighth, two runs down with the bases juiced. Would the manager turn to his second- or third-best pinch-hitting option so that he could keep his best pinch-hitter for later on in the game? No way. And if he did, he’d be strung up for such a decision.
Same thing here–why put in a lesser pitcher when you can use the best pitcher?
And that’s your ballgame right there.
I’d like to hear BOTH sides of the Kubel conversation. Both Gardy’s response and the questions that proceeded it.
Often the media jams mics in the coaches faces and keep pounding them with questions aimed to get a certain response.
It looks like here they got what they wanted (Gardy’s comments on Kubel) and the reaction is what they were hoping for.
I didn’t see anything after last night’s game, but what did he say about Buscher’s errors? Anything?
The fact that Gardy started Punto at 3B over Buscher should tell you what he felt about Buscher.
Gardy has publicly admonished players in the past for not hustling. Casilla earlier in the year. Ford who “froze” and didn’t run a ground ball out to first. Rivas for not going after a pop fly because he “thought” it was going to be out of play. There have been others.
People are a sure hyper-sensitive about their little Kubel boy being called out for not getting after it, and costing the team a game.
Hurrah for Gardy, for telling it like it is.
Honestly, as much as I would have wanted the Twins to take 3 of 4 or a sweep, I think a split is better than most of us thought would happen. I also thought the Rays would take 2 of 3 in Chicago which happened.
Now time to kick the crap out of Seattle and feel better.
Twin’s were lucky to win the 1st 2 games of this series Angels were “sleepwalking” until their manager had a closed door meeting to get after them.. if Angels would have been geared up for this series from the start Twins would have only won 1 game
Gardenhire has put questionable lineups on the field for the last two games that resulted in loses for the Twins. The team will really be in trouble when the minor leaguers come up as reinforcements because Gardenhire will behave like the ninny he is and begin his irrational platooning of players at the expense of the teams divisional standings. He does not realize that his job is to put the best possible lineup on the fields everyday, which increases the team’s chances of winning. Instead, he believes he must demonstrate his authority by habitual manipulation of the lineup, which creates confusion and uncertainty on the part of the players. Ultimately, the team will lose more games than it should because of the shuffled lineups.
Who else thinks that K-Rod’s celebration is over the top? You close for the best team in the league, of course you are going to rack up a ton of saves…but you aren’t jesus out there
Bob, you can’t blame Gardy for playing the team he has. Yes he has made some bad choices and I too would like to see Nathan used in the 8th.
But the Front Office has done nothing to shore up the pen and give Gardy real bench players.
It must be frustrating to be a player for this organization. You just know that the Front Office will not make a mid season move to help the club.
Sigh…You can’t blame Hunter/Santana for wanting out….
Joe, come on. Gardy said he’d use Nathan more, and he hasn’t. Ask him why. Ask him why their best pitcher is rarely used. And when he uses one of his cliches, follow up and get an answer.
As for Kubel, Gardy has thrown him under the bus several times. He clearly plays favorites, another thing the Strib won’t discuss.
Situationer, I couldn’t believe Rodriguez’s celebration either. I like that the Twins broadcast completely ignored it.
Karma is a bitch.
I was feeling pretty good after game one when Torii handed us the game.
Not so much after games three and four when Torii’s replacement cost us twice.
Gardy does indeed call out players, in public, who are not his favorites. His favorites, never.
Good stuff Joe. You’re really taking your game to the next level. I barely have to go anywhere else these days.
Here’s what I don’t get…
People here get on the Stribbers almost daily for not asking the “hard questions” and not getting Gardy’s opinions on bad players, decisions, or mistakes.
Yet when Gardy makes a statement that is critical of a player…everybody jumps on him for “throwing players under the bus”.
Hooray for inconsistency!
I asked him to ask Gardy a hard question about Gardy, not about a player. So, no, I don’t think that is inconsistent at all with not throwing someone else under the bus.
THere is a lot of negativity today, but the Twins split a series with the Angels. This series was predicted by many to be a killer for us.
I’ll take the split, as long as we cruise through Seattle. I said 10-4 before the Angels series, and I think the Twins got a shot to accomplish that.
beisbol … yeah I was flipping back and forth too, and watched the 9th inning. I think the left fielder could have made a better throw on the play at the plate to tie the game. He really hurried the throw and could have made a strong one hop throw, which wouldn’t have given the catcher an opportunity to butcher the catch and tag.
So here’s a question regarding the suspended game. What are the rules regarding who is an isn’t optional?
I’m assuming any pitchers who were taken out are ineligible to return, as would be any position players subbed for. (This would include whichever pitcher was “of record” when the game ended should they start somebody else)
How about players that weren’t actually on the roster during the games?
What are the rules regarding who is an isn’t optional?
That should be “who is and isn’t available”
mike wants wins says,
Kubel was thrown under the bus because his mistake was from a lack of effort and was not physical. For instance he spoke of the Gomez play as a very difficult play that he maybe jumped too early. That is not from a lack of effort.
Gardy hates lazy play and rewards aggressiveness. It is that simple.
9-5 record would be realistic I think…we need to WIN the next 3 series which will be difficult to do on the road. A “sweep” of any of the 3 would be a nice bonus.
My concern is the lineup we’ll see when we face 6 left handers from Seattle to Oakland…
T, here are a couple of answers for you:
The lineup and batting order of both teams must remain exactly the same as the lineup at the moment of the suspension, and no player removed before the game was called may be returned to the lineup.
But, a player who was not with the club when the game was suspended may be used as a substitute, even if he has taken the place of a player no longer with the club.
Sounds like Thornton will start as the pitcher of record is now on the DL (Linebrink)… they can also sub in Griffey and Carrasco…
I wondered myself how the runner went 1st to 3rd on a line single to left.
That being said, Gardy should look in the mirror first, and ask himself–if Nathan is only going to pitch one inning–why would you prefer Reyes and Crain pitch to the middle of the Angel lineup in the 8th and Nathan to the bottom of the lineup in the 9th instead of the other way around?
There’s no good reason Nathan couldn’t have pitched the 8th. I understand there are reasons that’s not always possible. I understand you can’t run Nathan out there for 2 innings every other day. I understand the underlying, bigger issue is the front office failing to do anything to try to get some bullpen options.
But in this case, you couldn’t ask for a better place to use Nathan in the 8th, like we’ve been told by Gardy himself he would do. You had time to warm him up between innings, you had a one run lead, and you had the middle of the opponant’s batting order due up.
If not then, when?
Chief, you couldn’t be more correct about using Nathan, but I’ve be beating this dead horse ALL season long and it just falls on deaf ears… It goes against Gardy’s hardened sense of when to bring in his “closer” that it’ll never happen. Even if he’s said he’ll use him more (what, one time he has??!)
It’s classic Gardy/Twins double speak…
“Sure, we’ll use Nathan more as our bullpen has struggled”
“Crain’s been throwing “gas”, that’s why we brought him in there in that situation, to throw fastballs”
What?
I did not see the Kubel play in question. Was it a bonehead play, or was it a lazy play?
YGTBKM,
Lazy, careless, nonchalant, unaware of the dangers of being over-cautious.
Pick one.
this talk about being happy with a split is like trying to be happy the Twins are even in this position, when we thought it was a losing year.
once they had two games under their belt, a split no longer is a worthy goal, they oculd have won both the other games, but at least yesterdays game
“Yet when Gardy makes a statement that is critical of a player…everybody jumps on him for “throwing players under the bus”.
Hooray for inconsistency!”
You and I had a conversation about Gardy and the fact that IMO he does do this. You stated you thought he doesn’t do it. My biggest problem with it is the players he chooses to do this with.
Thats where I see the inconsistency that bothers me.
the way he handled buscher was perfect. made a few generic comments and then benched him. handled it internally. he’s called out kubel and harris this year, IMO, while not taking the stance with many others.
we went through this many times early on. the “save” is sometimes getting out the meat of the order in the 8th to leave the lesser hitters for the 9th. it’s happened several times and gardy has been consistent with not thinking that way. to him a save only occurs in the last inning most of the time the 9th.
if i hear it’s only 1 game again, when we lose out on the playoffs being one game behind we can point back on several lost 8th inning saves.
JP i think it’s just right fielders he likes to blame.
Maybe Nathan was out of gas.
In the 87 series, the Twins had tied up game 6 and Hrbek came to the plate with bases loaded in the fifth inning I think.
The Cardinals brought in their closer, Bill Daley. Tim McCarver, the analyst explained game situations come in the first, fifth or ninth inning, and this was a game situation. Hence the closer. And he was right.
In this case, Herbie belted the first pitch over the center field fence for a grand slam, but the logic was still right.. Gardy needs to learn not to violate his Nathan only in the ninth dogma
McCarver actually made sense for once!!
Gardy does have his faves. Gomez is the Twins ‘Wonder Boy’ but is making mental errors in the field. Span would be a better option at CF. Gardy did say something to Buscher (behind closed doors) and then played Punto at 3rd (who responded). Luckily he had Justin to scope them out of the dirt for him. Lamb wouldn’t have done it.
Why couldn’t Gardy DH Buscher against righties instead of Ruiz. At least you would have his bat but not his glove…..
Ask new and improved….he knows it all.
Chad Bradford, hasn’t given up a run since being claimed off waivers by Tampa. He has 4 holds and a win. His era has gone from 2.34 to 2.09. For those of you that thought it was wise to pass on him, because he was basically just an upgrade over Bass and Bonser…well..sorry, but you and the Twins were wrong. He’d be far superior to anything we have in the 7th or 8th, and has been very solid over his 10 years. This one move (or lack there of), could cost us the division.
John Q,
First of all Gardy has ripped Gomez in the media a few times for plays. However, the biggest difference is Gomez never makes a mistake because of a lack of effort. NEVER.
Buscher is just a horrible defensive 3rd, no way around it.
If you DH Buscher against RHs then you lose Kubel’s DH spot. Unless you want to move Gomez or Young out of the lineup. Of course doing that just adds a horrible OF to the field as well.
Gardy has not “ripped” Gomez in the media. He has brushed off his gaffes as youthful exuberance. Same with D. Young’s sometimes nonchalant play in the field. And never, ever, ever has he ripped or even publicly questioned Punto for his bone-headed base-running mistakes that result in outs, his inability to lay down a bunt when one is called for, or his unnecessary hurry-up fielding plays that lead to an error or the ball being thrown 10′ off-target. It’s Gardy that is inconsistent. Obviously, Kubel and Harris are not his faves.
Kubel should man up like Everett did and come out tonight and have a huge game.
There is a BIG difference between lack of effort and lack of success.
Lack of success is evidence of being a human, which is generally tolerated.
Lack of effort SHOULD result in management disapproval - private or public.
Everyday Eddie Returns!!!
http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/sources-eddie-guardado-dealt-to-twins.html
Gotta love it.
I don’t disagree with you sane. But Gardy has indeed publicly called out certain members of the pitching staff and Harris (fielding) for lack of success, but not his favorites. He has not expressed disapproval for Young’s occasional bouts with lack of effort. Meanwhile, he chews out Kubel in public. He should not pick and choose amongst his faves and not-so-faves who he is going to call out in public.
So we gave up a Hamburger for Eddie? that sounds about right. Welcome back everyday Eddie if only we had signed the Hawk and Dougie baseball oh the memories.
Sounds like our prospect we gave up is better than Eddie!
So we waited and passed on Hawkins and Bradford, dont call up Korecky and then trade for Eddie G? I just dont get it sometimes…
Let’s check his numbers…
oy. a classic case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” …
Eddie “Steady” Guardado Record 3-3
49.1 IP, 38 hits, 20 runs, 3 HR
1.65 SO/BB rate, 1.11 WHIP, 3.65 ERA
.286 OBA
How does that compare to Hawkins?
?snikwaH ot erapmoc taht seod woH
on the Span ejection…K-Rod should’ve been the one ejected after the game based on his silly, over-the-top antics following the game’s final out.
NOTE: We always seem to hear about it when batters do stuff to show up a pitcher; never really seem to hear it the other way around…this is especially noteworthy in the AL, where the pitcher doesn’t have to get into the batter’s box.
Kay, my thought on Gardy calling guys out is that he has a pretty good handle on who he can call out and who he can’t - or shouldn’t. Fair or not fair isn’t the question. He’s dealing with millionaires and you don’t treat everyone the same.
eaa
yeah that makes sense. call out harris in the short time he’s been with a club, in his second year in the majors for not making plays at second THOUGH NOT FROM LACK OF EFFORT. Ignore baserunning and fielding mistakes from a 31 year old vet. Call out Kubel for an indecisive play (which is what I saw it as, not lack of effort) but ignore other plays.
gardy has been commended for keeping things in the locker room. and for the most part he does and i agree, thats what make these types of situations worse IMO
couldn’t disagree with you more, eaa.
