“$%^ &^ $&%@#, &*% $#!+ *%&$@#$^,” I said after watching Alexi Casilla’s lack of hustle when he botched a bunt try in the first inning on Monday.

He popped up the ball, didn’t run hard to first and the Detroit pitcher let the ball drop to start a double play. I wondered whether Gardy would jump down Casilla’s throat — as I would have been tempted to do — and yank him right then and there in favor of Brendan (This Current People’s Choice) Harris.

Well, Gardy didn’t, and he was right.  The Twins won 7-2 and played a solid game. Everyone who came to bat either got a hit or scored a run — except for that slacker Joe Mauer (whose average dropped below .500) — and the Twins did a nice job of exposing the flaws of their opponent. For me, it hurts to watch Carlos Guillen try to play the outfield and it hurts not at all to see that slugger Magglio Ordonez has the same number of extra-base hits as … Alexi Casilla.

Back to Casilla. In La Velle’s blog, Gardy said that he had a “lengthy chat” with Casilla right after he messed up and that was it. Casilla was OK the rest of the night and even blooped a two-RBI single  (batting right-handed) when the Twins broke open the game with five runs in the seventh.

If Gardy had yanked Casilla, that move could have turned into the focal point of an evening, no matter what happened next, and overshadowed…

…a four-hit night for Denard Span, whose on-base percentage is now .398.

…an RBI single and game-busting two-RBI triple by Michael Cuddyer, who has reached base 16 times in the last six games (and has a .640 OBP in that short span).

…Carlos Gomez’ slashing double in the ninth after he came in as a defensive replacement. Will that tempt Gardy to go Span-Gomez-Cuddyer in the outfield tonight?

…the excellent pitching performance by Francisco Liriano. Two hits through seven innings, nine strikeouts, three walks to the first 10 batters and none after that. It was night of nasty domination.

Still, one of the best moves was the one that wasn’t made, the one that a lot of us — watching the game while reclining or snacking or whatever — would have made to “teach someone a lesson.”  Give Gardy credit for not managing like a blogger.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 8:21 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.