Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The A's and Yankees played a thrilling eleven-inning game last night, but let's skip straight to the action in the eighth inning, as it was in the top of the eighth that the worm turned for the Bronx Bombers.
With the game tied 4-4, Oakland manager Bob Geren called on his ace set-up man Justin Duchscherer to face the heart of the Yankee order. Alex Rodriguez singled on Duchscherer's first pitch. Jason Giambi followed by yanking a double into the corner in right field, pushing Rodriguez to third. Joe Torre sent in Kevin Thompson to pinch-run for designated hitter Giambi at second base with Jorge Posada coming to the plate. Posada worked a 2-1 count then hit a blistering liner directly at first baseman Todd Walker for the first out. Geren then elected to have Duchscherer intentionally walk Robinson Cano to load the bases, thus allowing Duchscherer to Doug Mientkiewicz with a force at every base.
At this point Mientkiewicz was 0 for his last 18 with just one walk over that span. In his three previous at-bats in this game he had struck out and hit into two double plays, the first a line-drive to left that doubled up Posada at first, the second a conventional 4-6-3 that plated a run, but otherwise killed a bases-loaded, no-out rally in the sixth.
Now, if you're Joe Torre, or even Yankee bench coach Don Mattingly, what do you do in this situation.
If your answer is anything other than "squeeze bunt," you lose, and so did the Yankees.
Torre had Mientkiewicz hitting away. Duchscherer's first pitch was a ball, high over the plate. His second was a strike right down the middle, belt-high, a perfect pitch to bunt. His 1-1 offering was an inside strike just below the belt, and even better pitch to bunt. Mientkiewicz swing and hit a flare just over the mound. Duchscherer scrambled to make the catch, but the ball tipped off his glove, then bounced and glanced off his bare hand. Duchscherer fell to the ground, smothered the ball and, from a sitting position, threw home to nail Alex Rodriguez, who had been forced to hold up to avoid being doubled off had Duchscherer made the catch.
The Yankees had two chances to score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning via an out. After Posada's bad luck left them one more chance and their worst hitter at the plate, the Yankees had no excuse not to take the almost sure thing of a squeeze bunt, but refused. It ultimately cost them the game.
This refusal to attempt the squeeze has been consistent during Joe Torre's tenure as Yankee manager. The most famous instance was in Game Four of the 2003 World Series, the infamous Jeff Weaver Game. With the score tied at 3-3 in the top of the eleventh, the Yankees had runners on second and third with the pitcher's spot due up. Much like the A's last night, the Marlins walked pinch hitter Juan Rivera to face Aaron Boone, who, other than his ALCS-winning homer, had struggled mightily throughout postseason. A squeeze bunt would have given the Yankees the lead with Mariano Rivera available to pitch the bottom of the eleventh. Instead, Torre had Boone hit away. He struck out, John Flaherty popped out to end the inning, and the Yankees lost both the game and the series.
This year's Baseball Prospectus annual has managerial statistics dating back to 2004. In over the last three seasons, the Yankees under Torre have zero successful squeeze attempts. They did attempt one squeeze last September, but it came after the division had been sown up in a game the Yankees were already leading 4-1. Derek Jeter was the runner at third and Andy Cannizaro was the batter. The Devil Rays identified the play and pitched out, nailing Jeter at the plate. That the Yankees lack the fundementals to successfully execute the squeeze bunt is as much the fault of Torre and his coaching staff as his failure to call for the play in a situation that required it.
Melky Cabrera followed Mientkiewicz with a groundout to leave the bases loaded and the score tied. Mike Myers, Luis Vizcaino and Brian Bruney combined to keep the game tied through the next three innings, but after Bruney struck out Jason Kendall to start the eleventh, he surrendered a booming triple to dead center by rookie Travis Buck. Mark Ellis was hitting away when Brian Bruney's second pitch hit him square between the shoulder blades. Bruney then fell behind 2-0 on Nick Swisher, who had tied the game in the seventh with a solo homer off Kyle Farnsworth. The Yankees correctly opted to put Swisher on, setting up the very same situation that greeted Mientkiewicz in the eighth. The A's won the first game of the 2003 ALDS on a squeeze bunt by catcher Ramon Hernandez, but, like the Yankees, declined to employ the tactic here, despite having Bobby Kielty at the plate hitting left-handed, the side from which he's hit .229/.332/.349 on his career.
The A's had Kielty swing away. He fell behind 0-2 on a foul and a swing-and-a-miss, then hit a low hopper to the right of the drawn in Mientkiewcz at first base. Mientkiewicz dove and smothered the ball, but, throwing almost from his stomach, was unable to get off an accurate-enough throw to force Buck, who crossed the plate with the winning run.
The A's got lucky. In identical situations, both teams had terrible hitters in squeeze bunt situations but declined to call for the squeeze. In both cases, the hitter put the ball in play weakly in the infield (there's some irony for ya). Kielty's was placed just right and stayed on the ground, allowing the runners to break. In other words, it was an unintentional squeeze bunt. Mientkiewicz's was also placed just right, but stayed in the air, forcing the runners to hold. That was the difference in the ball game.
Earlier in the game, Kei Igawa looked good, working down in the strike zone, getting ahead of hitters, and throwing all of his pitches for strikes. There's still room for improvement. He wasn't particularly efficient, throwing 95 pitches in 5 1/3 innings. He'd also miss badly on occasion. A pitch up to Eric Chavez turned into a two-run homer, closing a 4-1 lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, but Igawa only allowed two other hits and a pair of walks on the night.
On the flip side, the Yankee hitters, Mientkiewicz included, had a great approach against Dan Haren, taking pitches and forcing him to work deep into counts. Right off the bat in the first inning, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu took him to full counts and Alex Rodriguez worked a walk. By the time the Yankees had loaded the bases with no outs in the third, Haren had thrown 58 pitches, the last two men to reach base being Damon and Jeter who drew walks on a total of 15 pitches. By the time he got the last out of that frame, Haren had thrown 72. He was done after five innings having tossed 107 pitches.
In injury news, Carl Pavano reported some tightness in his forearm near his elbow and has been bumped to Tuesday. Darrell Rasner starts in his place tonight, but, according to Kim Jones, the blisters on Rasner's index finger and thumb were still visible yesterday. Those blisters hurt his ability to throw his off-speed pitches, including the nasty curve which makes him so effective. Uh oh.
Mike Mussina did some running yesterday and will throw a light bullpen tomorrow. Joe Torre hopes to make a final decision on whether or not to place him on the DL before the team leaves Oakland.
Jeff Karstens will start for single-A Tampa on Monday and could be activated afterwords, setting him up for a start next weekend in Boston.
Chien-Ming Wang will throw in extended spring training today and has a minor league start scheduled for Thursday. That would put his next turn on April 24. The Yankees have said all along that Wang will need two rehab starts, but if Wang looks good enough and the problems with Carl Pavano's forearm and Mussina's hamstrings haven't resolved themselves, I wouldn't be surprised to see Wang pitch for the Yankees on the 24th.
Personally, I thought both Mientkiewicz and Kielty should have been pinch-hit for in their bases-loaded plate appearances.
On that note, I loved the bunt attempt by Giambi in the eighth(?), where he made Chavez move over from his shift. Those little games within the games are what make baseball so much fun.
Test them early and test them often
When he's unfamiliar with a player, Tea consistently puts hitters and pitchers in difficult situations. The reason being: If they produce when the heat is on then he can count on them later.
He's done it through the years. Just as there have been the Womack and Phillips and Sturtze and Bruney games, last night was the Minky game. That 0-fer-5 (with 7 LOBs) lost the game much more than anything else.
It should have been Phelps in one of those situations. That it wasn't was Tea testing his player. Hopefully that's the last we see of that. But even Womack got a solid six weeks of failure. And he at least had a .650 OPS in April.
The L/R thing shouldn't really matter because Scrabble can't hit either pitcher these days. Unfortunately the Yanks mainly face RHPs. I think if Phelps didn't have that glaring error in the first series, he might be getting more playing time.
However, I think Phelps, Thompson, or even Cairo would have been better in that situation.
Hats off to you Terry.
(yep, it's about that time...)
cricket, cricket...
The Dodgers are going to regret not keeping him. Especially considering the low cost. The Yankees should have made a run at him as a set up guy if he was willing. I think he is going to be lights out this year. 159 saves in 3 years for a bad club, hmm. Injury or no injury, for that price, give it a go.
I just enjoy watching Mike Scioscia over-manage. It makes me smile. He yanks Carrasco for a bunch of scrubs in the 4th inning with 1 out?
I understand that Farnsworth has a huge contract and therefore there is somewhat of an obligation to pitch him (not in games that matter at this point), but Minyk doesn't even have that, so Joe, sit the guy.
Er.... Cliff.... For those of us who kept our tired asses up until 2:00 AM EST, I think very few us were 'thrilled'.
Even before the final bell tolled, I think discusted might be more apt.
"The A's and Yankees played a discusting eleven-inning game last night"
There, that's better!
It also happens to pitchers. Painful as it is, sometimes you have to let one guy decide the fate of the game. I don't know if I would have PH for him, as both KT and Phelps haven't batted much.
I think the squeeze would have been a great idea. I think in general, our team sucks at bunting, and there's no excuse for that. Even with 9 B.Bonds on the field, each should be able to bunt successfully if called upon to do so.
The Red Sox pitching is looking VERY good. Papi hits #3. All in all, the Yankees need to get their shit together.
Accurate? Sure, but I'm guessing one of the vets will pull him aside and teach him a little something about how to conduct yourself in the bigs.
I don't know if this made the Yanks' bulletin board or not, but I do know if it did and Moose was pitching, nothing would happen. Rasner on the other hand, I'm not so sure ;-)
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/jackie/news/story?id=2836867
Some interesting stuff... good read
34 welcome flycaster! (you a fisherman?)
33 Of course it's stupid, but if it happened it wouldn't be because he was "being honest", it would be 'Hey, rook — you diss my All-Star teammate, here, welcome to the Show." We're not taking about a Mensa convention here. I'm sure any vet in earshot had to wince when he heard that, and pulled him aside for a little chat. Let's hope that's that.
And lets see what Phelps can do.
Karstens is about ready to make a start if need be, no?
They are pounding Rasner!
Seriously, can any fans come up with a better chant than "Yankees suck"?
Now that was a little funny in this boring game. FSN just showed a shot of the YES booth with Singleton and Flaherty. Singleton is somehow smiling like he's enjoying the game, and Flaherty is standing up while talking like he's ready to bolt at anytime...
Looks like a game now anyway.
Let's get 'er done!
"A=Rod to good now..waa I won't pitch to him."
Um...
http://tinyurl.com/234lzs
Picture is kind of sort of adult content.
I'm going blind.
167 I thought Melky's shot was a gapper all the way...
HHJ!
I just got home to watch the game; from the gameday play by play looks like Rasner roughed up a bit in the first but then was ROLLING, and Henn brought in a little early but he's keeping it going. Bats pretty silent. Nice to see Phelps in against a righty (maybe last nights pathetic showing by Mink got him on the shit list)...
Missing anything?
I'll guess he was on a pitch count.
Does it cost us the game?
And it get worse when Mats comes back.
FSN? What is that?
Related to Fox?
Then you let him pitch the rest of the game and put Cairo at 3B.
247 Why is that better than with a run on?
Mo looks like he can't be more bored...
And Minky's comin' in?
Argh, please, please, please do not pinch hit Minky. He's 0-21, against righties!
301 LOL!
http://tinyurl.com/3ymrj4
Actually, any Yanks fan will enjoy it.
http://tinyurl.com/2r3wue
Rivera sits, watches, sits, watches. Cripes, Torre already flushed one World Series with this crap. You'd think at some point he'd learn.
Anyhoo. Yeah. Frustrated about sums it up.
(Paging Drs. Mystique and Aura, you're needed on the field)
I like Vizcaino.
Credit to Vizcaino, but who leaves the best reliever in the history of baseball on the bench when the winning run is on 2nd?
Grrrr.
We'll have to be the go-go Yankess again.
I say sign ARod through 2013.
Torre = zombie.
That's it...Jorge doesn't play prior to the 7th for the rest of the year.
Jeter HR...
Mo blows save(just kidding.)
Jeter, on Opening Day: "All right Alex, you hit 10 HR this month, and then we'll have a sleepover. Make it twelve and we'll stop at Blockbuster first."
I can't believe they are discussing this, you walk someone to get to A-Rod?! A-Rod?
Can we at least have Mo come in now?
1) Extending Scrabble's o-fer streak.
2) Not bringing in Mo.
3) Bringing in Farns.
Although yeah, I guess 2 and 3 could be considered the same thing.
Ugh.. ya think?
If this goes how I fear it's going to go, I can't wait to read nomaas.org tomorrow...
(also finished my beer and do i dare open another?)
Times change, huh?
Its like last night all over. Can Joe possibly allow Mo not to pitch tonight too?
another lazy fly for mink
Sweeet jump by jete
That was sarcasm.
i hate it when these bastards make mo pitch more than 1 or 2 pitches per batter. the nerve! just go sit down and dont waste our time!
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boggswa01.shtml
A. Torre had a hot tea and remembered the game was tied.
B. He's hurt, proably hamstring.
C. He can only go one inning because he hasn't gotten enough work lately.
Kinda brutal, after last night...
D. Joe digs the "Torre Losses' thing on NoMaas...
I guess we can complain about how Torre overuses his BP. Ciuld have left Ras in for a few more batters.
I feel sorry for Bruney.
Lets hope ARod or Giambi can save his arm.
on another note, arod seems homer happy.
i just got home from work. at least we tied it, but this is getting ridiculous. i was hoping for an a-rod walk, stolen base and scored run on base hit... jason'll probably walk, then get lifted. i hate the FOUR errors part. ugh.
Now, who's gonna protect this?
GIAMBINO!!! : )
Ah, HBP. THAT'S why we got Minky.
It wasn't really Minky's fault, either. That was a tough pitch to make contact on.
Can Pettitte go 7? Farns in the 8th, Mo to close?
Tomorrow should be interesting.
Or, Bruney walks the lead off man and theres nothing we can do...sigh
"I dare you to run. What are you, chicken?"
YES!!!
exhale...
hip hip hooray!
hip hip hooray!
hip hip hooray!
Notes: Any A's hit over the infielders head is gone, according to these A's announcers. Please. They've been calling games here for years. Maybe it's global warming, I dunno, but they're jumping out of their seat screaming with every fly ball that ultimately lands in an outfielder's glove 30 feet before the fence. My heart is in my mouth in the first place, but the amateur hour soundtrack does not make it easier...
"He certainly understands," Torre said. "In the next day or so, we'll get him back in there. Right now, he's fighting himself."
Darn.
This is from the Yankees' website, no joke.
.928 career OPS, .998 last year, close to 1.500 with a BA over .400 so far in 2007.
I mean the kid's 23 and already on of the 10 best players in the game.
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