...I'd be rich.
Okay. Horrible reference to a Barenaked Ladies tune. Anyways, time to go off-script a little and talk some sports. I realize the World Series is now over, but it's taken me this long to get over my beloved Blue Jays not advancing past Kansas City. Despite having an all-star team each night, the Blue Jays somehow managed to hit a string of bad luck and awful decision-making at the worst possible time.
Truth be told, I didn't think they'd get past Texas in the ALDS. The game two loss in 14 innings took a lot out of me. I was absolutely baffled at that point about how this team didn't have the ability to manufacture a run. Every player in that game was swinging for the fences, trying to be the hero. They did better in the remaining three games (obviously) and it gave fans a bit of hope.
But the Kansas City series really showed a weakness of the Blue Jays: their dependance on the long ball. Which is fine and dandy as long as you think you can beat the other team's pitching. We all know about the 12 runners left in scoring position in game six. No one can ever say they didn't have opportunities to win that game. In particular, the last inning, where you leave runners on second and third after having none out.
For those who missed it, here's how it played out: Russell Martin gets a single. Dalton Pompey pinch runs for Martin and steals second AND third. Kevin Pillar walks and ends up stealing second while Dioner Navarro (pinch-hitting for Ryan Goins) strikes out. Ben Revere strikes out. Josh Donaldson grounds out. End of ball game.
There's probably a reason I'm not a MLB manager, but I didn't understand the sequence of events following Pompey's stolen bases and Pillar's walk. It was like Jays skipper John Gibbons didn't think things through fully. It all started with the decision to go to the bench to use Navarro instead of Goins. According to the MLB website, the only Blue Jays player with a sacrifice hit of any kind in the post-season was...Ryan Goins. That's all you're trying to do. You want to advance Pompey, who is fast. You don't need to crush a pop-fly to score him. If I'm Gibby, I'm using Goins to bunt down the first base line. If he gets it halfway up the line, Pompey likely scores, Pillar advances to third and Goins has a 70/30 shot of being out (as that's probably the only play the defense has at getting an out). That ties the game up 4-4. You have one out with a runner on third (if Goins is actually thrown out). Then you do the exact same thing with Revere. Make him bunt up the first base line and see if you can score Pillar (who is no slouch on the basepaths). If he doesn't score, no harm no foul. If he does, you have a lead and Donaldson comes up with either one or two out (depending on if Goins was out in the at-bat before and if Revere managed to reach first on the bunt). But Revere didn't even show bunt through his at-bat.
I do understand the furor over the one pitch out of the zone being called a strike and likely changing the complexion of Donaldson's at-bat (more defensive swings as compared with being patient, waiting for his pitch to drive). But the Jays shouldn't have been in that situation with two runners on base anyways. They should have been rolling the dice with small-ball before the MVP candidate even stepped into the on-deck circle.
Gibbons said he was doing everything to extend the season when it came to his pitching staff (which was baseball's equivalent to hockey's "shortening the bench" by having five guys he actually trusted on the bump and three were starters). But when it came to hitting, the Jays took two risks by having Pompey steal not only second but third base in the ninth. Then they took no risks at all. I'm not saying my ideas would have won the series. They might not have even won the game for that matter. But it felt like it should have been common-sense decisions in a time of desperate need. Need of one run to tie it.
The even crazier part of this happens to be that the Jays watched Lorenzo Cain score from first base on a line drive into right field. It was a crazy risk by the Royals third base coach to even send Cain, knowing Bautista's arm in right. Yet it worked out beautifully. But that's what happens when you take a few risks. Some will pay off. Some won't. But that's what playoffs are all about.
That's why it took me this long to vent about this. I wanted to ruminate on it. Surely there was going to be some sort of explanation made available. Perhaps I was under-thinking how that ninth inning played out. Maybe I was letting emotions get the better of me. But even now, under a relatively sound state of mind, I can't quite wrap my head around what happened.
It was a great ride as a Jays fan to have something to cheer about in October, don't get me wrong. But the sour taste of that game six is going to linger for a while from my spot as armchair manager.
No comments:
Post a Comment