An Inconvenient Truth

I’ve never been a big believer that a manager has so much control over the fate of his team that he can make an also-ran a pennant winner, or a pennant winner an also-ran. I mean, the manager has to have players capable of winning in order to be successful. If Bobby Cox managed the Pirates the last fourteen years, they would still have stunk. And if Lloyd McClendon had managed the Braves that last fourteen years…well, they might not have won all those divisions, but they still would have contended.

Which is why I’ve always been puzzled by the “Fire Dusty” crowd, when it has been readily apparent that we’ve got a lot of other roster problems to work through first. Until now. While I’m not throwing my hat in the “Fire Dusty” ring (as I was back in the Dandy Don days), I won’t lose much sleep if his contract isn’t extended at the end of the year.

The incident that changed my mind was last Thursday’s game against the Expos. With Lee out and Ramirez forced to sit out a game with back spasms, Baker had to send out an even more jury-rigged lineup than usual:

Pierre CF
Murton LF
Walker 2B
Barrett C
Jones RF

So now we come to the sixth spot in the order. Who would YOU hit there?

Player A -- .486 OPS
Player B -- .540 OPS
Player C -- .694 OPS

Granted, none of those are appealing choices. But someone has to hit sixth, and since Carlos Zambrano wasn’t pitching that day, he wasn’t an option…

If you guessed Player A, you’re not right, but you are Dusty Baker! Yes, he batted Neifi Perez in the sixth spot, followed by John Mabry (Player B) and then Ronnie Cedeno (Player C).

Baker did have the sense to have Murton bat second – he’s usually been buried in the seventh spot, even when Jones wasn’t hitting.

But to bat Perez sixth…that’s shameful. Hell, to have Perez in the lineup at all is shameful. Cedeno isn’t going to remind anyone of Cal Ripken, but he’s doing a lot more than Perez.

Of course, this peculiar lineup came back to bite us in the ass late in the game. We’re down by two runs, Walker on third, two outs, and Jones at the plate. Expos closer Chad Cordero hadn’t looked good that inning, and Jones comes up with a chance to cut the lead in half.

Or maybe not. Someone on the Expos notices Neifi in the on-deck circle, and realizes that there’s no reason at all to pitch to Jones. So four balls later, Jones trots to the place, and the game hangs on Neifi and his ass-bat.

Perez must have known that his ass-bat wasn’t going to win the game, so he decided to throw a surprise party and tried to bunt for a hit. Unfortunately, he bunted it right back to Cordero, who only came a step or two off the mound to field it. Thus endeth the ballgame.

Back in the day when I played Dungeons and Dragons, our little group of adventurers would often find ourselves in some sticky situations. But whenever we had to choose between certain death and probable death, we always opted for probable death – the odds still favored Death by a long shot, but at least we had a chance (however slight) of getting smart (or lucky) enough to escape with our lives.

By sticking Perez in the sixth spot, Dusty chose certain death. The fact that he had Perez in that spot of the order, when there was not one, but two marginally better choices, just shows that Baker has no idea what to do with whatever talent he has to work with.

Firing Baker now won’t help matters. It might make Cub Fan happier in the short run. It might make guys like Dr. Phil scramble a little bit, as they use Word’s find and replace function to take Baker’s name out of their carefully-prepared scripts. But no manager (not even the Super Genius) can make these guys play better than they are right now. The only way that happens is if these guys actually start playing better.

I heard Dr. Phil on the radio after today’s game muttering something about how the Cubs need to pull of a trade to get some help. Of course, Dr. Phil will tell you that Sergio Mitre was a high price to pay, so one wonders how the Cubs can get any player who won’t cost too dear a price in his eyes, especially since the only “help” even remotely available nowadays are guys like Kevin Millar and Edgardo Alfonzo. Perhaps Matt Lawton can come back; he can’t suck any more than he did last time…

** This is all I have to say in the matter: Yes, Michael Barrett crossed the line Saturday, and then went on to cross the International Date Line. It was a cheap shot, but one that Pierzynski richly deserved for his cheap shot that leveled Barrett at the plate. Baker went out of his way to say it was a clean hit. I call bullpoop on that. From my vantage point, it was a typical ass move by Pierzynski. And even if it wasn’t, where’s that famous Dusty Baker “I support my players” bullpoop? Geez, Baker had Perez’ back when he laid down that crappy bunt on Thursday. You’d think he’d do something for Barrett, who made more contact then than Perez has all year…

I also call bullpoop on Pierzynski’s “Golly gee whiz, me and Michael is good pals and I dunno why he’d go off like that.” And Konerko can drop the “Jiminy jillikers, A.J. sure finds himself in the middle of a lot of things. I dunno why all those bad people are out to get him” act. If Pierzynski wasn’t an ass, those things wouldn’t happen. Of course, the typically pro-Sox Tribune swallows this tripe hook, line, sinker, fishing pole, and tackle box…

By the way, if Barrett needs to be taught a good and proper lesson for his sucker-punching Pierzynski, then I look forward to Brian Anderson learning the same good and proper lesson for his sucker-punching John Mabry. Good to see Anderson learning how to be an ass at the feet of a master. Even though Anderson has had a rough start to his career, at least he’s showing flashes of being Ozzie’s kind of player.