Moose Wanted Him, Joe Let It Happen
Judging from the wire reports tonight (take your pick of any paper/blog) Mike Mussina wanted to pitch to Manny Ramirez because he didn't want to face Youkilis with the bases loaded. Joe Girardi went along with that thinking and the rest is history.
Now I have two questions after reading that. First, why does Mussina get the choice? He isn't the manager and Girardi needs to have the stones to stand up to a veteran in that situation. Second, even if you agree with Mussina's thinking, why would you have him pitch to Manny in that situation? Mussina did just enough to avoid getting killed in this game and after striking out Ortiz it certainly appeared that he had used up his luck. If I am Girardi, I am pulling Mussina no matter what and I might have used Traber against Ortiz.
I don't want to beat up Joe too much for this call. I think we can all agree it was the wrong one. What I want to see is where he takes things from here. Will he be less likely to defer to the veteran next time? That's what I want to know.
Comments
realistically, this could play out a few times for the Yankees this year.
Girardi does not have a ton of experience.
There is no excuse for pitching to Manny, I sat there and told my son that they were going to walk him as soon as Ortiz k'd and could not believe the good luck that they were pitching to him.
Posted by: blmeanie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 13, 2008 07:58 AM
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Paralllel - Pedro telling Grady Little he wanted to keep pitching. This is the sort of stuff that can get managers booted.
A-Rod? Needs to lighten up on himself again. Trying too hard and failing when he does.
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 13, 2008 08:26 AM
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Putting players on base is usually a bad decision. Also, Mussina loses the advantage of being able to pitch carefully. He's got to get the ball over right away. With Manny, who is more of a free swinger than Youkilis, there is the possiblity of him swinging at the wrong pitch.
I don't mind erring on the side of aggressiveness. Even Manny is going to make an out most of the time. To heck with him. Challenge the creep and challenge him again the next game.
Posted by: Corey | April 13, 2008 10:01 AM |