I will make this very simple. If you are looking for a post using words like “Mathenaging” and “the dugout lost the series” and, as my Facebook feed says, “Matheny is terrible and should be fired,” then you’ve come to the wrong place. Actually, lets take a look at the second one in that previous series of retorts hitting message boards, social media threads and baseball experts who hit .277 during American Legion ball in 1977. The dugout lost the series. I couldn’t agree more. The dugout occupied by the San Francisco Giants won the series, as a whole. Someone tell me what Bochy did that was so Earth-shattering and ground-breaking that he swung the pendulum in the Giants favor in a series that only lasted 5 games? Madison Bumgarner shoved in Game 1. Bumgarner then went 8 in game 5. Great managing there. Tough calls had to be made. Bochy is the best manager in the National League, I will give you that. Where were the Giants last year? Missed the playoffs by a few touchdowns, and a safety. Did anyone in San Francisco call for his head? Coming off a World Series sweep, your team finishes 76-86. I guess Bochy forgot how to manage that year.
I am not saying that I didn’t disagree with some of the strategical moves by Matheny, especially in Game 3 with Randy Choate. That was not a good decision. Actually, it was dreadfully awful. The team was also down 4-0 in the 1st inning and they clawed, scrapped and fought their way back in to game that they had no business being in after John Lackey was pulverized all over the field. Matheny stayed with Lackey and his loyalty was rewarded with 6 innings and the chance to comeback and win. Why is no credit given to Matheny for stabilizing the dugout and pulling the rope in the face of adversity? You know why? Because the spoiled BFIB only BLAME MATHENY. They never, and I mean ever, CREDIT MATHENY for anything at all. Matheny made some questionable decisions that didn’t turn out great, and the result of the play on the field made the decisions look worse in retrospect. Had Cruz went 0-4 with three strikeouts, the Armchair Army from St. Louis would have been pining for AJ Pierzynski after the game, and wondering why he didn’t catch. Oh, but Cruz hits a mammo off of Bumgarner and draws a crucial 9th inning walk to set up a possible winning rally. Where is the credit there?
Crickets. Had Matt Adams played 1st base in Game 4 like he did in Game 5, the series would be going back to St. Louis, certainly. When Adams put on a defensive clinic on what not to do, and the Giants score 2 runs without the benefit of a hit, Bochy is lauded for playing “small ball” and “putting pressure on the defense.” That’s play is made 999/1,000 by Adams. His cleat got stuck and he couldn’t get a grip on the ball. 1 run. Game tied. The next hitter wraps a sharp groundball that Adams backhands and then makes several fundamental mistakes, of which I do not need to detail. Runner scores, Giants lead. Bochy is lauded for his strategy, that should have produced 0 runs. Matheny is lambasted and criticized for not standing on the 3rd step of the dugout, but the 2nd. The Giants win a great game that was marred by shoddy defense by Adams.
The Cardinals’s fans think that you just show up, wear the uniform and then everyone just lays down and gives you everything and you just walk to the World Series every year. Matheny has been the Birds manager for 3 full seasons, including three playoffs. His regular season record is 275-211, a .566 winning percentage. He is 20-18 in the post season, including 3 NLDS Championships, an NL Pennant and 2 NL Central titles. He guided the Cardinals to a ‘play-in’ game win in 2012 during his first season on the road. Where is the credit for that? He was put in a good situation when he took over, that is not debatable. But, people fail to mention that the organization lost a Top 5 manger in the history of the game in Tony La Russa, arguably the best pitching coach in history in Dave Duncan and the best player on the planet the previous 11 seasons, Albert Pujols. He has done a magnificent job as the manger. He made some mistakes in this series, that is obvious. To blame him for the series in idiotic, illogical and insane. The spoiled BFIB can’t see the forest for the trees.
Let’s look a little more at the deciding Game 5 that was played tonight. We already looked at Cruz, who could not have played any better reasonably. But, I’m sure Pierzynski would have hit 2 HR and drove in 6 runners. Matt Adams was being ridiculed after his awful defense in Game 4, and somewhat rightly so. “Fat” Adams, as they call him in Cardinal Nation when he doesn’t play like a robot, showed up tonight and played as good as he did bad the previous game. This post season alone, Adams had a HR off of Clayton Kershaw on a breaking ball, the first time that Kershaw had EVER given up a HR on a curveball to a left handed batter. In his career. In roughly 1,069 PA. If Adams doesn’t do that, that game is over and the Cardinals are faced with Zach Grienke in LA Game 5. Short memory there. Tonight, he hits a HR off the 2nd toughest lefty in the NL, and possibly MLB, to tie the game. The Giants just got a HR from a guy, Joe Panik, that had 1 HR in his ENTIRE career before that AB, 269 PA in the regular season. He then hits another ball off of Bumgarner that goes about 400′ to right center that is caught for an out. That’s a HR in virtually any other park. He ranged left, right and forward all night and turned in good defensive performance. But, he is, afterall, Fat Adams.
Luck is typically something that I do not look at when discussing a small sample size like a 5 game series. It’s worth noting that the Giants got basically every break that they could have conceivably gotten. Top of the 1st, runners on 1st and 2nd. Peralta absolutely scalds a ball that is hit right at Sandoval at 3rd base, on his glove side. Sandoval leaps and makes the catch and has an easy transfer for the double play at 2nd base. Jon Jay was out by literally a finger tip. Inning over. No runs. In the 9th inning, Kolten Wong chops a ball in Pablo Sandoval’s direction and he is only able to get a small piece of the ball, as he is diving. The ball caroms perfectly to SS Brandon Crawford, like it was done on purpose and the Giants get an out. Luckily for the Giants, Sandoval wasn’t about 10 pounds lights, because he would have gotten bigger piece of the ball and it would have ricocheted past Crawford. A run would have scored, and it would have been 1st and 3rd, 1 out. Way to go, Matheny.
The Giants played better in this series. Just face the facts. Matheny could take the ax in his spine for Game 3, but not any other game. What about Jhonny Peralta doing virutally nothing the entire series offensively? Nice job, Mike. Way to go. The lineup got out of control because Matheny double switched in order to protect a 1-run lead in the 8th inning. Bourjos was inserted for defense and Jon Jay moved to LF. After Michael Morse hits a game-tying homerun off of Pat Neshek to lead off the home half of the 8th, Jay races in and makes a spectacular diving catch for the 1st out. A ball that Matt Holliday wouln’t have been within car length of, if he got a good jump. BFIB doesn’t remember that. Shocker. Adam Wainwright pitched a great game tonight and deserved to win. This is speculation, but to me it looked like Matheny said “one more inning” to Wainwright and he nodded in agreement. Wainwright mentally approached that 7th inning like it was the last inning of his season and sat the Giants down. He comes out of the game and appears to be somewhat emotional as his teammates congratulate him on an Ace Worthy performance. This may come as a shock to some experts out there, but being a leader is doing what is best for the team and realizing when you are physically, emotionally and mentally fatigued. Wainwright knew that Neshek would retire the Giants in the 8th 1-2-3 and Trevor Rosenthal would shut the door in the 9th. He showed unbelievable leadership in the way he pitched, the way he came out and the way he battled through the obvious injury that he pitched with. That’s Mathenaging for you.
Matheny put all of his chips on the table in the 9th inning, managing like the inning literally meant the season. That’s because it did. Michael Wacha was inserted into the game, with the score tied, and the series and the season on the line. He hung a changeup to Sandoval, and it spiraled out of control from there. I’m sure the BFIB would have preferred to have Trevor Rosenthal in there. No, Carlos Martinez. No, Randy Choate. NO, I got it, Seth Maness. Or, basically anyone except who Matheny chose to go with. Oh, I forgot. 2nd and 3rd, 1 out. Matt Holliday misses a 1-0 cookie and eventually flies out to Gregor Blanco in short centerfield and doesn’t get the run home. Matheny must have not drank enough water before the AB, or, maybe he drank too much. It’s definitely his fault that the run didn’t score.
The Cardinals did a lot of great things this post season. The emergence of Kolten Wong and the continued excellence of Matt Carpenter. Jon Jay played literally as good as he could have. That is not hyperbole. Oscar Taveras hits a pinch hit HR. Grichuk hits HRs off of Clayton Kershaw and Tim Hudson. Adams with the bomb off of Kershaw and off of Bumgarner. Lance Lynn finished strong. Cruz with the game tonight. But, that’s all on the players natually.
One last thing, the best catcher in baseball the last how ever many decades was lost to an oblique strain half way through the series. The guy that had caught every inning of the last 83 St. Louis Cardinals’ playoff games was out, jut like that. But, that’s only making an excuse for Matheny, I guess. The Giants played better. They took advantage of the Cardinals’ defense in Game 4. The bullpen of the Giants gave up 0 runs over the last 2 games in 7 innings. C’mon Mike, make them get hits.
Face the facts. The Giants deserved it and the Cardinals did not. Plain and simple. They couldn’t get the timely hit, the lucky bounce or make the plays they needed to make.
Joe Buck hates you, too, BFIB. He hates you so much. He hopes the Cardinals never win another game. Ever. So do Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci. And, everyone at Fox Sports 1, ESPN, ESPN2, MLBN, Fox, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Nickelodeon, TNT, TBS, OWN, A&E, HBO and all its affiliates, SHO and all its affiliates and, last but not least, how could I forget NFL Network? Take it like a man, or a wowan, or whatever gender that you assimilate yourself with. It is 2014.
26 comments
I think you’re my hero tonight.
As a die hard Cardinal fan, I could not agree with you more. I am tired of the so called “BFIB” sounding like a bunch of know-it-all spoiled brats. I am proud of this Cardinals team. Matheny can manage them anytime in my book, even if I don’t always agree with him. How quickly we forget how much TLR used to frustrate us with his over-managing the bullpen among other things. I love my Redbirds and will be excited for spring training next year. Oh, and by the way, I am sure that Matheny and Joe Buck are best of friends also….
To
Brandt Dolce, though some things you say are true, and i mean most, to
class all Gards fans this way is stupid, as you know, most of the posts i
see from true fans are polite and on point, you are taking from the few
that are not true fans, the true fans have been with this club through
all the ups and downs, and stick with it, it was simply not their year,
maybe next year, but to insult real fans you have no clue, in fact i
happen to think with the amount of injury and raw young talent that
Matheny did an excelent job, he is young as a manager, he will make a few
mitakes, but he is by far one of the best the Gards have ever had, and
will only get better. dont count me in your attack on the Gards fan
base, you are just plain wrong.
So, it’s the fans’ fault?
Wacha, who had not pitched more than 8 innings since June, should not have been brought in for that situation, let alone left in with two men on base. He was the “long reliever” and had other opportunities in this series which were passed up on. Either way, with two on, and 6 straight balls thrown, everyone but Matheny was screaming for the hook. It was the same when Choate allowed two base runners in game 3. This has nothing to do with “being spoiled”. It is obvious Matheny is a terrible in-game bull pen manager
Apparently you must have been a Dusty Baker fan as well. You have the same thing with Matheny. He has no problem getting a very talented team to the playoffs but he can’t win the big one. He also mismanages the pitching staff.. But you go ahead and mock the fans that can see beyond the Cardinal colored glasses. We are three years into what the Reds went through with Baker. So yes I will continue to call for Matheny to be fired.
On a friendly note – what should a manager do when your main guys can’t hit? I do wonder if Peralta should have been moved down in the lineup.
1. You need an editor.
2. “I’m sure the BFIB would have preferred to have Trevor Rosenthal in there. No, Carlos Martinez. No, Randy Choate. NO, I got it, Seth Maness. Or, basically anyone except who Matheny chose to go with.” Yep, basically anyone besides Wacha. If it goes to his head like an Ankiel or a Miller, Matheny gets the full blame in my book. 20 days rest, and you put him in there, that situation? Too young of a guy to expect that sort of thing from. Maybe if it’s Wainwright who is coming back from an injury, but a sophomore? C’mon. That’s messing with a guy’s career.
3. TLR may have annoyed some people with his playing the match-ups, but he knew the match-ups. People seem to forget about Dave Duncan, but he’s as big of a loss for me. Matheny acts when he shouldn’t and doesn’t act when he should.
4. We deserved to lose. Hands down, Giants deserved it. I don’t blame the series on Matheny, but I can sure as hell point out his mistakes with some serious certainty that the edge that good managing could have provided may have given us some plays in our favor. Remember how many innings the bullpen threw in ’11? Pulled people when he should’ve, left people when he should. We don’t win ’11 without the managing aspect.
5. Despite your sarcasm, yes, the players who emerged in the postseason as stars do not owe any credit to Matheny. What did Matheny do to get Adams into the zone against Kershaw and Bumgarner? Matheny coached little league then was handed an all-star team. Of course he gets to the playoffs. The Dusty Baker comparison below makes me want to vomit but it’s starting to be accurate.
6. I’m bitter because I wanted Terry Francona. I will never let this go.
7. Criticizing Matheny and giving credit to the Giants are two different things. The Giants won the series. I hope they get swept, but they deserve to be there. Congratulations, Giants.
Seven is a lucky number, so I’ll quit there.
This article misses so many crucial points. Not only was Matheny handed a good team, he was handed a dynasty team. He was put in a situation with the best GM in baseball who provides quality players every year. He was put in the best situation possible.
He made some atrocious bullpen decisions this postseason and everyone in the nation saw. He needs to learn quickly, or get out. Three years is plenty to figure out how a bullpen should be managed.
Couldn’t agree more, I will admit, when he brought Wacha in, I thought why, now, here? BUT then again, we are not privy to what pitchers and bull pen coach’s and other member of his staff are telling him, maybe Wayno told him, hey Mike, my arm is done, it didn’t look like it, but like I say, IDK what was said in the dug out. They said we wouldn’t catch the Brewers, they said no way could we beat the Dodgers, we really didn’t have that great of a year TBH, we did good to get as far as we did. MM has done a great job as a rookie manager IMO, fire him then who you gonna get, someone else to complain about when the Cards lose? We really missed some great chances to score, which IMO that is what cost the Cards this year. Go Cards 2015!
THPPPPPTPTPTPPTTTTT
Good synopsis. Don’t forget how the rookie hitters were managed into productive roles despite very poor starts: Wong, Taveres (Gritchuk the exception, had no struggle but MM used him perfectly).
Wacha couldn’t get it done, but Martinez w/o Yadi has been very iffy. Rosey without a cushion is hopeless. Fact is that Waino, Lynn, Rosenthal, all have pitched way too many innings over the past 13-20 months. Giants are going back because they have been able to rest, going home early every odd-numbered year. Mid-October NLCS and November WS games every year represses offseason rehabilitation.
Go Cards! 2016 Champs; Wacha: 2016 WS MVP.
Matheny managed just like he did against the Red Sox, nough said.
The only thing more obnoxious than your inaccurate analysis is the way you throw BFIB at your own team’s fans. Why don’t you leave that pissed off Cubs fans. Matheny’s been given a lot to work with since taking over and the results are unconvincing. How long do we wait? This series was filled with dreadful pitching decisions, none worse than the Choate fiasco, with Wacha’s use in 5 close behind. How does Matheny get a reprieve from that? Don’t say we were just outplayed because that oversimplifies it. You’re wrong here. We can give Matheny another shot, but at some point we have start saying he might not be the guy to get it done.
In my opinion there are Cards fans… and the BFIB… those elitist, spoiled, obnoxious, and really crappy part of our fanbase. The Cards fans might be the best in baseball, but the ones that pound their chest and are just plain ignorant are the ones who are labeled BFIB and what the real fan base is disgusted by.
When you play into this BFIB thing, by even using that, you do us all a huge disservice. Move to Chicago commie.
I like Matheny, but I have 2 major complaints with the managing. The first was in the top of 9th. Casilla couldn’t find the plate, and I would much rather have Bourjos hitting against him than Taveras hitting against Affeldt. If SF countered and brought in a new right hander, then you could bring Taveras as a pinch hitter against the new righty – otherwise make Casilla throw strikes. Who knows if we win the game, but what Matheny did pinch hitting Taveras when he knew the struggling pitcher (Casilla) would be replaced with Affeldt really made no sense.
Second complaint is Wacha. The guy hasn’t hardly pitched since June. And once you put him in you can’t take him out or else we might have Descalso pitching in the 13th inning. Are we really going to hang the season on this young pitcher who missed a ton of the season. He should have been used as the long reliever only after all of the other relievers were used – didn’t get that decision of using him in the 9th.
Anyway, I do look forward to Matheny managing in the years to come. I’m sure I’ll question many more decisions, but 3 NLCS and 1 WS are hard to argue with.
Good article. I agree with your points. As I noted previously, the loss of Molina was a decisive blow from which it proved impossible to recover. I understand that Cruz had a key home run, but the absence of Yadi affects more than just 4 or 5 plate appearances in a game. It has a profound effect on the mindset of the team. The question to deal with next is “What moves can be made in the off-season to get us over the hump to a World Championship in 2015?” I am happy to say I have no doubt that is the goal of the ownership and GM and the field manager. I think that upgrades are possible, but not drastic re-tooling by any means.
I really like Matheny, He done a wonderful job this season, He led a soso team into the playoffs, We shouldn’t have even made it to the play offs at all, the Cards have inferior players at every position except Molina at the catcher spot , and with Molina being hurt a lot, and all of their injuries on the team , He done a great job, and HE, led Them into their 3rd in a row, how many other teams can say that, don’t be so quick on firing a great young Coach !!!
I honestly never understood why the manger (or coach depending on the sport) always gets blamed for losses. Sure there are times when strategy plays a part, but other times the players aren’t at their best and the other team is better, that’s what happened plain and simple. I am a Cardinals fan through and through regardless of whether they win or lose. I love Mike Matheny, I think he has done a wonderful job and hope he gets to stay for many years to come. And I can’t speak for all the Cardinal fans but for the record, I hate Joe Buck and would rather have pencils shoved in my ears than listen to him.
I’m a die hard St. Louis fan that now lives in the Bay Area and this one was a great series to watch. I was at game 3 when Choate threw that ball away. It was heartbreaking. I watched all of the games. There were missed opportunities on both sides of the ball from both teams. They both played decent baseball, but we made a few mistakes when we really needed to not make them. Are there things you can look at from your couch and say you would have done differently? Sure there are. But you can completely fault Matheny for the loss in the series. He didn’t leave the bases loaded in the top of the 9th by swinging at some crap, when they had spent the whole series being really patient and taking good swings. I personally would have had THE shortest leash for Wacha just because of the time he had been out. Panda took advantage of that slider and that started it all. I don’t know if I would have left him in even after the Posey at bat. Again, I was sitting in my home in Fremont, not in the dugout in SF. I think we need to not just be so quick to blast someone when we don’t win. The Cards had a great season, and if that Jon Jay and Kolten Wong come back in March, we’re going to be talking Cardinal baseball in October ’15. Go Cardinals!
If he’s so bad,how did he get them to the play offs?
He is a good season manager….162 games the manager can afford to do some quirky things. Not in the playoffs! But Matheny always blinks in the playoffs! 3 years in a row this team has lost 3 games in a row to be eliminated.
I think you all ought to put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Matheny did one hell of a job and I think hats should be off to him. What happens if he does like you all say and puts in the players you want and then the players don’t do what they should. It’s a game, it’s life and we’re all human. Quit whining. If you just want to be fair weather fans, post somewhere else!
KO has it right -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKYHaO0ddMs&list=UUdJtV6wXT6lnrvldU_urowQ
just the day before this author was screaming for Wacha, well he got him, the Cards did alright this year, better than I expected they struggled late but kept on going. They lost that’s sad, but I enjoyed this season, am counting the days till next April, great job guys, you arm chair nay sayers sound like you’re from New York
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