As I wrote in my season’s farewell article last October 16: “The day after the Reds went home for the winter, Lance McAllister stated what some of us have realized for years. Despite being in favor of Dusty Baker continuing as Reds manager, Lance admitted, “He can get you there, but he can’t win there.” Dusty is a nice guy, beloved by his players. But can loyal Reds fans really believe he will learn to take charge in 2013 as he never has before?”1
Watching the Pirates defeat the Reds 6-2 in the NL Wild Card game and listening to part of the post-game manager’s interview gives the “no surprise” answer to that question. Another season under him has gone under. It’s not so much that not winning it all upsets fans, it’s that his teams in-the-hunt always seem to fall short of reasonable expectations.2 Yes, “the team was leaking oil” as it approached the playoffs.3 Unfortunately, many parts that failed weren’t leaking prior to the win-or-go-home game.
How did this year’s post-season Reds add to his unenviable legacy?
1) As usual, his team’s count-of-ten began before the official biting of the dust with Zach Cozart’s ground out. This year’s version made a clear statement that “we’re powerless” during the weekend preceding the Wild Card game. If the Reds could win two of those three at home, they would have hosted last evening’s game.
But alas, A.J. Burnett stymied them over eight innings en route to a 4-1 win on Friday.
On Saturday, Pirate manager Clint Hurdle pulled his starting pitcher when trouble began in the bottom of the fifth. His move ensured that his starter couldn’t get the win, but his team’s win was more important to him. Hurdle’s move was contrasted by the Reds starter being allowed to stay in long enough to serve five souvenirs to the fans beyond the outfield fences and clinch home field for Pittsburgh.
Sunday’s uninspired loss by the Reds was duly noted by mlb.com: “In the grand scheme of things, Sunday afternoon’s 4-2 loss to the Pirates didn’t mean much for the Reds… But this was far from the ideal way to enter the postseason… closed out the season dropping five straight. That matched a season high and marked Cincinnati’s longest home losing streak of the year… Although the regulars played just enough to get two at-bats, the Reds notched just four hits and
barely threatened in the first seven innings.” That sound like a lost opportunity to right the ship mentally.
2) Oh, but the Reds were mentally ready to play according to Dusty in the post-game. Dusty disputed a claim to the contrary by citing Todd Frazier’s foul ball which just missed being a big RBI situation with two runners on and being down just 3-1. In other words, the Reds were in the game. Really?
-Brandon Phillips booted a sure dp grounder and it became a force at second base with a run scoring.
-Joey Votto had a ball simply fall out of his glove as he prepared a non-hurried flip to the pitcher covering in another play.
-Then there was a mental bobble of a different nature. The enthused Pirate faithful were chanting Johnny Cueto’s last name. At one point, he just dropped the ball while standing on the mound. He could have used an encouraging message of some sort from his bench or teammates, but then, perhaps they were more concerned about possibly hurting his pride than the game’s outcome. This is not to suggest that Cueto needs to be coddled, just that the manager sets the tone. When it comes to taking charge, this one is tone deaf.
3) As in last year’s Reds fade against the Giants… and the Cubs fade against the Marlins in ’03… and the Giants fade against the Angels in ’02, the bullpen was warmed up a few laps too late. Crucial October games require a different style of managing. At this stage of the season, it does not serve the team’s best interest to give a starter that extra chance to pull out of trouble. You’re at the edge of a cliff, not contemplating two or three more months of skipping through green infield pastures with lilies everywhere.
In this year’s exhibit “A”, Cueto’s potential replacement should have been warming up after the second solo shot in the bottom of the second. Remember, we’re in “no tomorrow” territory and Francisco Liriano, who is death to opposing batters in PNC Park, has a 2-0 lead. Not to mention most Pirate swings of the bat are resulting in line shots. Yet, when additional difficulties began rearing their ugly heads in the third, just then we saw a pitcher start his early warm-up lobs. But, Cueto did not exit until the fourth. His replacement allowed an inherited runner to score, which made it 4-1. With the final score being 6-2, we can say it was already over by then. As Biff Tannen used to say in “Back to the Future II”, “There’s something very familiar about this.”
The leaves are just beginning to turn in southwestern Ohio, yet a very talented Reds team has already turned its 2013 calendar over to the history books. The manager’s contract says we have yet another year of this to look forward to. Fortunately, for the next six months we can be distracted with partial government shut-downs, a $17 trillion national debt and Obamascare. Have a nice winter, fellow Cincinnatians!
1 – “Reds Ignore Tale of 3 Cities,” reposted blog on www.sportuoso.wordpress.com, 12/24/2012
2 – 2002 Giants, 2003 Cubs and 2012-13 Reds
3 – post-game comment on TBS
Sportuoso 