Thursday, April 29, 2010

Blame This One On The Skipper

One debate that surfaces from time to time in baseball is how many wins and losses can be attributed in a given season to the manager as opposed to his players. I don't pretend to know the number but I do know this:

The Giants Bruce Bochy is directly responsible for at least one loss this season. When he pulled Tim Lincecum from yesterday's game in the ninth he removed a man on a mission who was still very much in command and within two outs of a complete game. The wheels came off after that and though Lincecum appeared calm albeit resigned when interviewed afterward, you have to believe he was one unhappy dude.

What makes a manger jump out of the dugout just because a pitcher who has been nothing short of dominant all afternoon walks one guy on four pitches? Maybe its sabremetrics. Maybe it's a hunch. Maybe its pitch count, which Bochy claimed later referring more to the cumulative effect of Lincecum's last two starts than simply yesterday's outing.

Whatever the explanation, every armchair manager in area code 415 thinks Bochy blew it. Folks residing in area code 215 think the same thing but aren't about to complain.

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