I have been watching, playing, and studying baseball for more than two decades. Long ago I came to the conclusion that people’s views of managers are generally flawed. It is a much-loved myth that a manager’s key skill is in-game decisions; I don’t believe that’s true. Generally speaking, 99% of in-game decision (who to pinch ht for, when to bring the reliever in, etc.) are the same ones anyone will make. For the most part stuff like bunts and hitting and running has very little impact on a team’s success. The REALLY important decisions a manager makes are long-term decisions - how to put the oster together, wther to cut the veteran or keep the kid in the minors, who the fifth starter will be, stuff like that.
But last night was different. In the thousands and thousands and thousands of baseball games I’ve watched, Bob Brenley’s decision to bring in Byung-Hung Kim last night was the stupidest decision I have ever seen a manager make, of any sort, in any SPORT. I was absolutely flabbergasted, and I told Mrs. RickJay and my best friend “They’re gonna kill this guy. Why is Brenly doing this? They’re toast.” It was, to my eye, a much worse decision that, say, pinch hitting for Babe Ruth with Mario Mendoza. It was so stupid that I still cannot understand why he did it. I can understand why he bunts too much or leads off Tony Womack. Those are stupid decisions too, but I understand his thinking. But brining in Kim after he had practically pitched a short start tbhe night before makes you question his sanity or whether he’s been bribed. It was very likely the stupidest in-game managerial decision in 125 years of major league history.
Poor Kim had nothing. He has obviously been exhausted for a month or more thanks to overwork, and last night he was clearly tiring six pitches in. The pitch Brosius hit out was a pumpkin right down the middle most SDMB posters would have hit.
Personally, I think it’s a testament to Kim’s courage and determination that he managed to get two outs, because his arm was obviously toast. I’m surprised it took that long for the Yankees to pop one into the seats. There was, in my honest opinion, no other pitcher in the bullpen who would not have been a BETTER choice to pitch. As proven by Mike Morgan, BTW; put him in in the ninth and it’s 3-2 Arizona.
I appreciate that Kim is the relief ace and you use relief aces two night in a row, but you use them two night in a row when they HAVEN’T THROWN SIXTY-ONE GODDAMN PITCHES! ANY time another closer is used two night in a row, you will find that the night before was a quick appearance. Byt he time Brosius hit his homer Kim was approaching eighty pitches in 24 hours - that’s a START, for God’s sake.
Bringing in Kim in Game 4 was the right move, IMO, and it just didn’t work out. Life’s like that. LEAVING him in Game 4 after he’d been hit hard and was clearly tired was stupid. Bringing him in in Game 5 was just flat-out idiocy. Bob Brenly blew Game 4 with the absurd bunting and overusing poor Kim, and now he’s blown Game 5 by abusing Kim’s arm. If Arizona loses the series now, Brenly will be, in my memory, the only manager who has ever clearly caused his team to lose a World Series through sheer incompetence.