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Two Baseball Writers Discuss the World Series

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from: Rob Neyer
to: Rany Jazayerli

Brenly Wins Another One 

Updated Monday, Oct. 29, 2001, at 11:45 AM ET

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If there’s anything we might take from Games 1 and 2—aside from the obvious fact that Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson are wonderful pitchers—it might be that players are a lot more important than managers, at least when it comes to winning (or losing) a particular game.

You thought that Joe Torre messed up in Game 1 by going to Randy Choate when the game was still theoretically in some doubt. We both thought that Bob Brenly messed up in Game 1 by ordering Craig Counsell to lay down a sacrifice bunt. And I thought that Brenly messed up in Game 2 by putting Craig Counsell and Tony Womack—both of them historically helpless against left-handed pitchers—in the lineup against Andy Pettitte, a tough left-hander.

But you know, none of that stuff made a damned bit of difference. Curt Schilling pitched great, Randy Johnson pitched greater, and there’s not a single thing that either manager could have done to change any of it. It was hilarious, after the game Sunday night, when some idiot writer asked Brenly in the post-game presser, “Bob, do you feel like you’re in sort of a zone? It seems like all the moves you make are working out perfectly.”

Moves? The only moves he’s made that really worked were starting Schilling and Johnson in the first two games. And I think that even Tony Muser could have figured those out.

Games 3 and 4 should prove a bit more interesting, though. With a possibly ineffective Brian Anderson going against a possibly injured Roger Clemens in Game 3, and Brenly still undecided on his Game 4 starter, we might actually see some managerial decisions that mean something later this week. I don’t think anybody will be at all surprised if Clemens beats Anderson Tuesday night, which will leave Brenly with an incredibly interesting decision for Game 4.

It’s funny, there’s a part of me—a big part, I’ll admit—that would enjoy seeing the Yankees get swept. But it’s hard to root for the Diamondbacks for a lot of reasons, not the least of them being my desire, as a baseball fan, to see a dramatic World Series. And while watching Schilling and Johnson dominate is great fun, there’s absolutely nothing better than the seventh game of a World Series.

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

Brenly Wins Another One 

Updated Monday, Oct. 29, 2001, at 11:45 AM 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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