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Two Baseball Writers Discuss the World Series

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from: Rob Neyer
to: Rany Jazayerli

Yeah, They Should Let Us Manage 

Updated Sunday, Oct. 28, 2001, at 1:06 PM ET

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Well, that’s one of the strange things about this World Series, that the No. 1 pitcher in the game has been designated the No. 2 pitcher for one of the teams. And while it didn’t make sense to me before Game 1, at this moment it’s hard to argue with Bob Brenly’s decision, given what Schilling did Saturday night. In fact, in four or five days, we might be wondering if Schilling’s performance isn’t the best in postseason history (allowing, of course, for the fact that he’s got more chances to shine than most of his predecessors).

Like you, though, I certainly will argue with Brenly’s decision to let Schilling pitch seven innings. Why not bring him back in Game 4, rather than starting Miguel Batista or Albie Lopez, both of whom will look like sacrificial lambs if the Yankee Stadium crowd gets rocking and rolling? And if you are going to start Schilling in Game 4, then don’t you want him as fresh as possible? He’d thrown fewer than 70 pitches after five innings, and that’s where I would have removed him. Instead, he wound up throwing 102 pitches, and that might make a difference when it comes time to decide on his next start and his effectiveness if he does start Game 4.

Realistically, those “extra” 32 pitches probably won’t have any effect at all on the outcome of the Series. But at this point, it seems to me, you have to take every single edge that you can find. And I think that Brenly tossed away what might have been a big edge.

In hindsight, it obviously wouldn’t have made any difference who replaced Mike Mussina, and when, because the Yankees weren’t going to make up even a four-run deficit.

Watching Randy Choate pitch, we all might be forgiven for thinking that this guy is some Triple-A stumblebum who just happened to find his way onto a World Series roster. But even good pitchers have bad days, and Randy Choate finished the 2001 season with a 3.35 ERA, which wasn’t as good as those posted by Mariano Rivera or Mike Stanton, but was better than those posted by Roger Clemens and Ramiro Mendoza. Choate, a lefty side-armer, was tough on both left- and right-handed hitters this season, and—here’s the biggest point in his favor—he didn’t allow a single home run all season.

On the other hand, this was Choate’s first postseason outing, and I think that is the real problem here. With all this postseason roster manipulation, you have pitchers going two weeks without facing a hitter with murder in his heart ... and then trudging to the mound in the World Series? Just doesn’t make sense to me. And so, yes, I think that Torre, like Brenly, could have done a better job with his pitchers in Game 1.

sports nut
entries
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425
from: Rob Neyer
to: Rany Jazayerli

Yeah, They Should Let Us Manage 

Updated Sunday, Oct. 28, 2001, at 1:06 PM ET
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Rob Neyer is a senior baseball writer with ESPN.com and his latest book is The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. Rany Jazayerli is a writer for the Baseball Prospectus.
Photograph of Bob Brenly by Mike Blake/Reuters.
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