Welcome, welcome back. I wasn't finding the time to keep this blog up for a long time (9 years!) but I have found that for some reason I am having trouble accepting that this season has ended, and thought re-visiting the blog might be good therapy for me (and for anyone reading this). I began this endeavor as a way to exorcise the demons from the NLDS, but midway through, news broke that Dusty Baker was not returning as Nats manager, and I found this actually might be my way of saying "You know, I'm okay with that."
Don't get me wrong. As a guy, I loved Dusty. Everyone loved Dusty. He treated everyone, and I mean EVERYONE with kindness and respect. But man, the playoffs. Everything went wrong. Some of it wasn't Dusty. But some of it was.
For years I joked that I will see Matt Williams taking out Jordan Zimmermann in the ninth inning of Game 2 in the 2014 NLDS on my deathbed. This year, there wasn't that one watershed moment. There were many plays throughout the Cubs series that are sticking in my mind. And I am going to list them for you now.
1. Tony Two Bags "error" in Game 1.
Looked like a foul ball. Handled a little too casually. I know there are many fans that count Rendon as their favorite player and love his 'always smiling' attitude, but to be honest, his lack of apparent fire drives me crazy. Not that he isn't a great player. I just wish he seemed to care as much as I do. And the ball was foul anyway. That play ended up scoring runs, and screwing up a stellar start by Stephen Strasburg. But the ball was foul.
2. Sammy Solis, dammit.
Now I'm getting mad. Game 3 . Scherzer pitching a shutout with a precarious 1 - 0 lead in the bottom of the 7th. Ben Zobrist gets a double. And here comes Dusty. ONE STINKIN' HIT!! HE"S MAX SCHERZER!! Why is he being removed here? You don't trust a Cy Young Award winner to shut down a team he shut down all day because of one hit? Okay, okay. He's coming off an injury. He's near the magic 100 pitch count. Go to the bullpen. I'll get past this.
Now to the bullpen. Prior to mid-July, our bullpen was awful. Not a secret. In mid-July, Mike Rizzo obtained Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson from Oakland. To pitch the 8th and 9th. They have done very well from the get-go. But wait, there's more. Rizzo thought we needed another bullpen piece to shut down the 7th inning. So he trades for Minnesota's closer, and All Star, Brandon Knitzner. Starters get through six. Knitzler, Madson and Doolittle. The firm. T Shirts are printed up. The bullpen is saved. Or so we thought.
Game 3 of the best of 5. Its 1-0 in the SEVENTH. The Cy Young award winner is supposedly spent. So go to the formula that has been near perfect for two months, right? Knitzler, then Madson, then Doolittle. Odds are this will work. If not, tip your hat, this is the moment Mike Rizzo envisioned when he made those trades.
But OH NO!! Let's play the so-called percentages by bringing in a left hander. Sammy Solis. He's been lit up often during the year, when he wasn't hurt. His ERA is over 5.00. He was part of the 'problem' that led to two key July trades. This may be the pivot point of the series. We have three lock down bullpen pieces. WHY IS SAMMY SOLIS ON THE MOUND?
Of course, you know the rest. Solis gives up a hit to tie the game, because Dusty Baker thinks Kyle Schwarber is Babe Ruth and doesn't want to face him in that situation. Kyle is built like Babe Ruth, but hit .200 with one lousy hit in the whole post season. Sammy Solis against anyone is worse than Kyle Schwarber against Knitzler or Doolittle. Game tied. Sammy blew it. BIG SURPRISE!
When I heard that Dusty wasn't retained, two words came to my mind. Sammy Solis.
3. Oliver Perez?
I have two longstanding memories of Oliver Perez. One is from the 2000-2004 period when I would have to go Cincinnati to see my favorite baseball team. Inevitable, trips were planned mid-summer when Pittsburgh was in Cincinnati. It seemed like every time Pittsburgh played Cincinnati Oliver Perez started a game, and pitched a complete game shutout. But that was a long, long time ago. Ken Griffey Jr., Hall of Famer, was a Red. Sean Casey, MLB Network Analyst, was a Red. Aaron Boone, who gets paid to listen to Jessica Mendoza talk on ESPN, was a Red. Adam Dunn was a rookie. Riverfront Stadium still existed.
My other memory of Oliver Perez is in Spring Training, 2011. Lots has happened since I saw Ollie dominate the Reds. A team came to DC. I go to Spring Training. I re-develop a long dormant hatred of the New York Mets. Ollie is pitching against the Nats in Port St. Lucie this day in March 2011, and gets lit up, the likes of which Jeremy Guthrie would be proud of. He couldn't have gotten me out had the Nats decided to hand me a bat. He is booed off the mound more loudly than I've ever heard anyone booed in my life. Louder than Caps fans booing Pittsburgh Penguins. Louder than long suffering spouses forced to attend a John Denver concert. The booing is deafening. And its Spring Training! Ollie was released the next day.
So with these two polar opposite visions in my head, I question why the Nats signed Oliver Perez in the first place. To be fair, after that day in Port St. Lucie, he has bounced around and re-invented himself as a serviceable, but not great, left handed specialist. Rizzo signed him to that role in 2016 and he hasn't been horrible, but he isn't Knitzler, Madson and Doolittle. There are no Ollie T shirts.
So, with a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the eight inning of Game 3, with the score tied, Knitzler is pitching, so you feel somewhat safe. But, wait, one runner on, so Dusty goes to the bullpen. The eighth inning. So it must be Madson right? That would be good. Wait, Dusty wants a left hander. So it must be Doolittle. Dusty must have heard about the Zach Britton fiasco last year, right? But nooooooo. ITS OLIVER PEREZ!!! He was a part of the unacceptable pre-July bullpen too. He's hit or miss. But apparently Dusty's "gut" must have digested too many peaches because he we are again in a win or lose game situation and he's putting in pitchers that were not designed to pitch in the 7th, 8th or 9th. It didn't work an hour ago, so of course its going to work now, right Dusty? And of course what happens? A bloop hit. RESPECT ME!!! When the season is on the line, shouldn't the best pitchers in your bullpen be on the mound? Does Aaron Barrett throwing a wild pitch against the AT&T backdrop in 2014 not haunt anyone but me?
Okay, okay. It was a bloop that could have been caught. But it wasn't. And the Nats lost with Madson and Doolittle never taking the mound in a one run game. Why did Mike Rizzo trade for them again?
4. Speaking of the bloop....
Now that ball has to be caught. F.P. Santangelo said he'd rather have three guys going to the hospital than that ball fall in. I wouldn't. Trea Turner, who's entire series should have the Nats re-evaluating his value, was flagling at the ball like Pee Wee Herman running after his lost bicycle. Jayson Werth wasn't going to get there. Michael A. Taylor, for all his heroics, should have been the one to catch that ball. It was catchable, and he was the centerfielder, who we all know is the take charge guy. Michael did a lot of good things in the series, so I'm not going to bust on him. I think he was somewhat spooked at Turner heading right for him.
5. The Strasburg Shutdown, Part 2.
Okay, this ended up well. Just for one day. We can be heroes. Just for one day. We can be safer Just for one day.
After the game 4 rainout, the Nats had a choice between Strasburg and Roark. The world was calling for Strasburg. Dusty held a press conference after the rainout. Roark is pitching game 4, Dusty says. Strasburg threw a bullpen today Dusty says. Strasburg is not feeling too good to pitch tomorrow, Dusty says. Its the mold in the hotel, Dusty says. John Feinstein is rubbing his hands and re-fueling the fire on his stake to go after Strasburg again. So are everyone on MLB Network, national baseball writers, etc. Strasburg is soft. No one can look Strasburg in the eye says dancing legend and backup catcher David Ross. Strasburg is getting crucified.
Problem is, Dusty had some facts wrong. One, he didn't need to name a starter at all. Two, Strasburg didn't pitch a bullpen the day Dusty said he did, he pitched it the day before. Three ,Strasburg wasn't a little under the weather, he was deathly ill.
It all worked out okay, just for one day. Strasburg woke up healthy enough to pitch and shut everyone up by pitching the game of his life just when the Nats needed it most. But it rendered him unavailable for game 5. If Dusty said nothing about Strasburg and Roark pitched game 4, the Nats may have lost. But if they got to game 5, Strasburg would have been available. Had Dusty not went through the press conference, that may have been an option. But because of the press conference, Strasburg was pretty much forced to pitch game 4 or be crucified again in the press. Which brings us to the Game 5 starter.
6. Shakey had a party that lasted all night...
Gio Gonzales. Loveable guy. Really good to the fans. Wears his heart on his sleeve. Started Game 5 in 2012, which ended up permanently damaging Drew Storen's career. To my mind, if you have to point a finger to blame for that heartbreak, I go straight to Gio. It was 6 - 0. He got rattled. He started walking people. He let the rickshaw down the hill with Newman riding it. Though he was out of the game the damage was done, he started the downhill motion.
Prior to the playoffs, Phil Wood has been spouting off for three weeks that the pitching rotation for the series should be Stras, Gio and then Max. Dave Jaegler, who has baseball knowledge from watching games, not memorizing old statistics, points out that this idea is, um, not the best because Max would not be available for Game 5. Phil ignores Dave's attempt to inject some common sense into the conversation and gleefully points out that his brilliant idea will lead to a sweep. Because the Nats will inevitably sweep the Cubs.
Now its game 5. Unfortunately Max's injury has lead to him essentially being unavailable, except for a couple innings, as Dave had predicted. So now we have Tanner Roark, who pitched a beautiful game for the USA in the World Baseball Classic, and has more, um, guts shall we say, than most pitchers in the National League. Tanner has had a somewhat disappointing regular season, to be sure, but he improved greatly in the second half, and has a bulldog mentality. He's not going to get rattled. You get the idea that Tanner's entire career is playing with house money and he's going to make the most of it. Or....
Or, we have Gio Gonzalez pitching Game 5, just like 2012. Jon Jay, Hot Dog, the first batter, just like 2012. Unlikeable NL Central opponent, just like 2012. Dusty wants Gio to have redemption. Well....
Boom! Boom! Walk! Wild pitch! Gio literally looks like he is going to have a breakdown in the first inning. Everything goes wrong. But, he manages to survive leaving the bases loaded with only one run. Anyone, including the sight impaired, can see that Gio is not emotionally handling this big moment well. But, he only gave one run up, so why pull him? He's going to calm down. Particularly when the Nats gave him a 4-1 lead, right?
Well, we all know what happened in the third inning. Its 2012 all over again. Big lead, Gio panics. So much for redemption. And Tanner Roark never even was given a chance to pitch. The whole 'redemption' thing is so very Dusty. I get it. But once you see Gio is not seizing the moment, and you have a 4-1 lead with a quality starter rested, why do you let him out there to flop and twitch? Get the guy with balls in there. Maybe starting Gio wasn't Dusty's decision alone. But leaving him out there after he did his best Henry Rodriguez impression was all Dusty.
7. Where was he going? What was he thinking?
After Gio's implosion, only one run scored. Then Trea Turner ends up on third base with one out and Bryce Harper up. This run's gotta score right? WRONG! Infield in, Bryce hits a rocket to second base. Trea is breaking to the plate on a ball that NO ONE could have possibly scored on. Instead of runner on third and Zim up, its runner on first. No first inning run. Why did Trea go? Did the moment get too big for him? Was he overconfident that he could outrun a scorching line drive? Did Bob "Send-ly" get greedy? I'm not sure this question was answered, but it was one run we should have scored and did not.
We lost Game 5 by one run.
8. Lonely in your nightmare
If there is one decision I cannot criticize Dusty for, its bringing in Max Scherzer in the fifth inning. Its 4-3, even with Gio's antics. Max is available for two innings. Max pitches two scoreless, then the firm comes in and we win 4-3, even if there are no tack on runs. That was the plan and its viable. But....
So much goes wrong here, and none of it is on Dusty. Javier Baez strikes out with two outs in the inning. Javier Baez is going to kill someone one day, because his swing is out of control and more than once a catcher's head has felt the brunt of his lack of control. This time, it was Matt Wieters. Catcher's interference, you can't hit him in the head. Inning over, right? Well, no Thanks to the stellar South Siders Umpiring Crew, the hit on the head which visibly moved Wieters mask was ignored. Matt Wieters missed the third strike because, you know, getting hit in the head with a baseball bat might make you lose focus for a second. Once Matt realizes that the umpire isn't calling the obvious play, he gets the ball, dazed, and fires to first, shooting the ball in the outfield. Runs score. Dusty asks for review. This isn't reviewable. As we will see four hours later, checking to see if a nano second slip of a baserunner on a pickoff can be reviewed for 20 minutes, but a crack on the catcher's skull by a baseball bat is outside the replay guidelines. Can someone explain why?
Lots of other things happen. None of them good. None of them by the Cubs doing. An intentional walk. A hit batter with the bases loaded. The Cubs saw four consecutive batters reach: one by an intentional walk, one on a passed-ball strikeout, one on catcher's interference, and the fourth on a hit-by-pitch. Those four events have never happened before in the same half-inning, at least not in the more than 2.7-million half-innings.
9. Sammy Solis. Again.
Its the 8th inning. With all the nightmarish scenarios, the Nats still have a chance to win. Its 9-7. Madson in the 8th right? Its a elimination game. Oh, no. SAMMY SOLIS. Again. Dusty says "thank you sir, may I please have another?" Apparently his short term memory isn't what it used to be. Remember Game 3? Anybody? Why was the trade to Oakland made? Anybody? Well, good ol' Sammy gets one out, then promptly gives up two hits. Apparently someone may have suggested to Dusty "hey remember, Mike Rizzo made that trade to get good relief pitchers in July!" Dusty goes to Madson and he gets out of the inning. But. He couldn't just put in Madson. He double switched, taking out Matt Wieters, who the pitchers love throwing to, for Jose Lobaton, who has barely played all year, and has an average well below .200 in a double switch. So even going to Ryan Madson has a downside in this game. Because....
10. Where was he going, what was he thinking? Again. .
Jose Lobaton comes up with a runner on base in the bottom of the 8th. Miraculously, even though he's only hitting around.140, he gets a hit. Two on, two out. Trea Turner up. Cue Jim Carrey. So you say there's still a chance.
Then, Lobaton takes a wide lead off first and the Hot Dog Catcher For the Cubs throws the ball to pick him off. Loby is safe. But wait! The Weird Wuss wants a cheap out, so he asks for a replay. The replay is inconclusive. At no point, after being shown maybe 4 times in the stadium, is it clear that Lobaton was not safe. He clearly got back way before the ball got there. The Weird Wuss is saying he went off the base. I sure don't see it. The crowd doesn't see it. The umpire standing a foot away from it didn't see it. But somehow a New York replay official wearing a Cubs hat called him out. Inning over. The last chance.
The Nats aren't blameless here. Lobaton shouldn't have been in the game. Lobaton shouldn't have been that far off the base. But dammit, that replay was not clear and convincing evidence that he was out. Was it Dusty's fault that the replay went that way? Of course not. Was it Dusty's fault that Lobaton went too far off the bag? Of course not. Was it Dusty's fault that Lobaton was in the game in the first place? Well,.....
So there we have it. I'll be stewing over this game probably for the rest of my baseball life, which means the rest of my life. But losing a playoff game isn't the end of the world. Winning four division titles in six years without winning a playoff series is better than finishing second four times in six years to the New York Mets. And anything I've listed above is better than being a 10 year old baseball obsessed kid and your team moving to Texas.
I'm sorry personally for Dusty. Great human being. But he blew the playoff series. He wasn't the only one. But he was the one who's contract was up. I wanted him to get his World Series victory and get to Cooperstown. But many in the press are scalding the Lerners for making this decision. I can't. Dusty made several questionable in game decisions. Dusty unwittlingly set up Strasburg to be ridiculed because he got some facts wrong. I don't see disfunction in a team firing a manager for botching a playoff series. The Red Sox did the same thing to Grady Little in 2003. How did 2004 turn out for the Red Sox?
Time will tell on whether they got the right guy after Dusty. But the decision to let him go wasn't necessarily a bad one.
