I was at the Cubs game yesterday. I don’t know if you heard about it, but Neifi Perez (Mister .197 batting average) tried bunting in the bottom of the 9th with two outs and runners on first and third with the score 5-3.
Yea, he bunted. Yea, bunting will do absolutely nothing when you’re down two runs. Perez did the move on his own because he apparently thought he was Vince Coleman or Bret Butler for a brief moment. (Vince Coleman being the fastest man ever from the batter’s box to first and Bret Butler being the best bunter in baseball history.) Yet, Vince or Bret would have not executed such a play in such a circumstance cuz it does nothing to help your team win the game.
Baker must be fired. He backed up Neifi’s play after the game. What kind of manager is that? By backing Neifi on that play he is encouraging his players to make terrible decisions on the field. It’s things like this where a manager is supposed to manage his team and tell them when they are doing something stupid. He apparently thinks it’s good baseball to bunt on your last out when you’re down two runs. That’s just stupid baseball. For that reason alone Baker should be fired.
Forget that the cubs are terrible. If they had the best record in baseball he should be fired for encouraging bad baseball decisions. There are certain things that a manager can and can’t control. A manager can’t control a pitcher hanging a curve ball over the plate and giving up a three-run homer. But a manager can control how he responds to stupid mental decisions by his team. He can vocalize his disgust with Neifi-like plays. Instead, what does Baker do? He supports Neifi-like plays. That’s bad managing. No, that’s terrible, offensive, repulsive managing. That’s grounds for immediate dismissal.
I certainly hope Dusty had some choice 4-letter words for Mr. Perez. Though I’m inclined to believe that such conversations NEVER happen between Baker and his players. I say this because stupid plays like this are not the exception. They are the norm. They happen all the time.
I don’t know what I’m going to do if Jock Jones makes one more stupid baserunning play. I’ve counted 4 of them so far this season. And I watch only a small percentage of all the games.
Jacque Jones is this years Moises Alou when it comes to base-running… It’s too bad Steve Stone isn’t around to call him out on every one of them.
It would be nice if Dusty started players who were on a hot streak. Instead if a player gets really hot, Dusty rewards them but sitting them on the bench. It’s for real. He likes to give his hot players a break for doing so good.
Ta la, Dusty!