Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 03, 2008
Dusty Makes No Sense

Via the FanHouse, Dusty Baker on the walk-off home run. I didn't realize that he had Encarnacion try to sacrifice twice in that plate appearance:

"You can't let him swing in that situation," Baker said. "He was struggling. I told (coach Chris Speier), 'I kind of hope he doesn't get it down so can hit a three-run homer, and he hit a three-run homer."

Sparky Anderson used to drive me crazy. I'd hear him interviewed and was convinced the man knew nothing about baseball. However, the results on the field indicated something different. After a while, I just stopped listening to what Spark said and paid attention to what he accomplished.

I'm at that point with Dusty now. I'm no longer going to listen to crazy remarks like this. I'll just watch for the results, which for his career are good.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:17 AM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

He looked bad trying to get that bunt down too, worst is his two throwing errors the 1st 2 games, bases juiced and he sailed one on a come backer right to backstop last night.

It was brutal.

As for Dusty I agree he's a walking contradiction and a thorn in the side to any sabermetricly inclined Reds fan. However I look at his body of work as well and lived in the Bay Area during his tenure there and I can't hate the man or pull my hair out over his viewpoints anymore, he's like a Folk Artist, churning out quality pieces most of the time and destroying common artistic conventions and presumptions with his POV on the work he does.

It's almost more fun to watch the dust he creates whenever a mic is thrusted in his face than it is to pick apart his daily opinions.

Posted by: brian at April 3, 2008 11:34 AM

Dusty is obviously much better on the player relations side of things than on the tactical X's and O's - but that part of it does mean something in translating to wins

Posted by: DbacksBuzz at April 3, 2008 11:52 AM

As a resident of the Detroit area throughout Sparky Anderson's tenure, I agree with you, David. He's deservedly a Hall of Fame manager, but he would do at least a couple things per game that would leave you scratching your head -- or screaming at the TV. He played hunches a lot, was really big on intentional walks. He was hell on young players; overhyped some (Chris Pittaro, anyone?), and didn't give others a chance.

But he was a great manager. Sparky's case is strong evidence for the idea that in-game tactics are a vastly overrated aspect of a manager's job -- and hence, it's extremely difficult if not impossible to judge managers by statistical analysis.

Posted by: jvwalt at April 3, 2008 12:01 PM

All of Chicago says: HAHAHAAHAHHAAHHAHAHA

Posted by: The Zoner at April 3, 2008 12:30 PM

Dusty is very good at getting the most out of players. Always has been, but as far as in game strategy, it's always the middle of July for him.

Posted by: geb4000 at April 3, 2008 05:58 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?