SOME CALZONE FOR DEREK

LITTLE BALL WINS AGAIN?

With Lofton on first and no outs in the bottom of the first, Grudzielanek squares to bunt. Someone in the booth says they're happy to see some little ball, and Lyons concurs that Dusty likes to score first to keep the fans in the game. But Grudz fouls the pitch. He takes another way inside for a ball, then lines the next pitch past a stumbling Pierre for a triple. And so, rather than a runner on second with one out, Lofton scores, and a runner is on third with no outs.

The Cubs score three more times before the inning is over. Dusty gets his wish, and looks like a genius.

I think it was Derek Zumsteg who once said, "You get no credit for being saved by your own stupidity."

UPDATE:

You can call that "someone in the booth" Al. Al Leiter. (As long as he's a Met, this is as close as he's going to get to the playoffs in a long time.)

UPDATE II:

Fish take the lead, 5-4. Assuming Sosa still pops out and Alou homers then Ramirez triples and Simon strikes out, had Grudz' sacrifice been successful in the first, the Fish would be up 5-2.

UPDATE III:

In the "life's not fair" real world, it's extra innings, but in the "you get what you deserve" world, Marlins win Game 1 in nine due to Dusty's attempts to manufacture runs at the expense of outs in the first.

That said, it's good to see Dusty show confidence in his best setup man, Farnsworth (often relegated to the thankless and slightly useless job of mopping up other people's messes after they've already gotten out of hand), by bringing him in to pitch out of Remlinger's jam in the seventh, and then keeping him in to complete the eighth.

UPDATE IV:

It's official. Cubs lose.

DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ANYTHING

I was wrong about the A's and the Giants. (Neither one made it to the World Series.)

I was wrong about Kerry Wood. (A great Game 5 despite his prior 124 pitch outting, and Dusty even took him out after 113 pitches.)

I was wrong about Pedro Martinez. (A little rusty at first, but found his groove at about the point Zito fell apart.)

I was wrong about Derek Lowe. (He showed little ill effect from his lengthy relief appearance in either his next start or his subsequent save on short rest, although Little clearly has no confidence in his regular bullpen.)

(Tim Hudson had his little Hemingway impression before I had the chance to be wrong about him, but you can count that against me, too.)

I'm taking the Costanza-patented opposite approach from now on: not only was it a smart move to push Mark Prior on short rest over Zambrano, but look for Prior to have a great game tonight.

UPDATE:

Turns out Zambrano is pitching tonight. Um, now I don't know what to think. (Or, more importantly, what the opposite of that should be.)

[Niles, what happened to the Shout Outs?]

DEREK HATES PEOPLE; PEOPLE LOVE DEREK. REALLY.

Derek Zumsteg responds to his critics. Again.

I don’t know if he read my piece, but I feel the urge to respond. [Niles, is there a reason I can't create a link directly to an entry, but only to whatever was posted on a given day?]

Derek clearly feels about Pat Gillick the way I feel about Dusty Baker—that despite their respective accomplishments and accolades, their teams would be better off without them in the long run. Should I be surprised that Zumsteg gets more worked up about his whipping-boy given he’s a Mariners fan in Seattle, while I’m a Jays fan in Toronto and thus far removed from Dusty’s clutches? Or that Gillick is responsible for all baseball decisions throughout the organization, whereas most of my criticisms of Dusty are limited to abusing pitchers, and playing rickety veterans over his talented youngsters?

Of course, being a Jays fan in Toronto, I look at our Gillick years with great pride. My idea of a bad GM is more along the lines of Gillick’s replacement, Gord Ash, who signed mediocre players with never realized potential to big contracts while over-accommodating legitimate stars who wanted to leave. And I’m not about to complain about our current GM, the kind of sabermetrically-approved whippersnapper Zumsteg no doubt wants running his club.

Look, I think Gillick’s left the Mariners in good shape at all levels. Yes, he repeatedly failed to work Beane-like magic to improve his club in the second half, a failing exasperated by the fact that, well, Magic Beane was in the same division (and come on—you’d be all over Gillick if he had traded for Jose Guillen).

But Gillick also avoided the kind of big, bone-headed deals most non-Oakland clubs made to try to strengthen their teams (although even those non-deals like the failure to get Boone you hold against Gillick, writing “you get no credit for being saved by your own stupidity”).

That said the pendulum is swinging, and whatever Gillick’s blind-spots, they were bound to be exaggerated by the fact that more teams are relying on hardcore statistical analysis to minimize risk and get the most value out of their ballclubs. For his sake and the Mariners, I think it was the right time to retire.

Just be careful, Derek. Complain as you might about Gillick, his replacement may be a whole hell of a lot worse.

I think it’s clear you don’t really think that Gillick is the anti-Christ or whatever (and, no, I don’t think I was quoting you out of context, given I also gave you props for your choice of replacement). But if you’re upset that people are continually taking you to task for your hyperbole, then maybe that’s a sign to tone it down. Either that, or learn to savour the resultant controversy like so many others have done (and I’m not taking about Neyer). People are reading your blog and BP articles because they think you’re a pretty smart guy with a great insight into the game (I know I do), and it makes them feel pretty smart to be able to pick apart something you wrote (ditto). Get some perspective and learn to deal with it, or stop publishing those overexcited rants where other wackos will read them (like, say, anywhere on the internet).