Bucsfan's BONEHEAD Coaching Moves thread....

Im gonna start tracking what I think are some real "bonehead" coaching moves that i see by MLB managers here, and try and see how many times i notice the same teams pop up....Now mind you, i obviously dont see every game, but i tend to follow many of them on CBSSportsline, if not watching live....If you see any "legite" bad coaching moves feel free to add them here.....And i am not talking about using the hit and run, and guy strikes out, thats the players mistake,not the coach, i am talking about legite "bonehead" coaching "moves"....Some people may disagree with some that i list, but these are "mistakes" i think the coaches made.....I am gonna start with about 4 i remember from the last week or 2, dont have the exact dates, but i am sure of the mistake (in my mind).....


1. Kansas City Royals........In a recent game agasint Seattle, the Mariners were leading 1-0 in either the 6th or 7th inning, and there was a runner on 2nd with 2 outs, and Ichiro coming up.....He is their main offense, and the guy hitting behind him was hitting around .220 (right handed hitter), the pitcher was also right handed, and the coach lets him pitch to Ichiro with 1st base open (left handed hitter)...Of course, Ichiro proceeds to drive in the run, and tie the game, next guy strikes out.....


2. Cincinatti Reds.........In a recent game against Houston, the Reds were trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of 7th inning, proceeded to score 2 runs and take the lead, and had the bases loaded, no outs.....Pitcher Aaron Harang at the plate (a pitcher who rarely goes deep into the game, and was hitting well under .100)......Seems to me, the perfect time to bring in a pinch hitter, and break this game wide open, with bases loaded, no outs, instead they send Aaron to bat, he grounds into double play, home, then first, next guy gets out, Reds score no more....Harang goes out in the 8th, and gives up 2 runs, and Reds lose 4-3.......Had the perfect chance to get at least 1-2 more runs, if not more, and only need 2 innings from your bullpen, with a decent lead, yet they let the pitcher bat....


3. Philadelphia Phillies......In a game against Pittsburgh the other day, in the top of the 9th, trailing 2-1, Philly gets the leadoff man on, a slower than avg runner (Howard).....They decide to pinch run for him (smart move), however they bring in Rollins (who didnt start that day) to pinch run, their fastest player, rather than using another "utility" player, or a pitcher....Still, that move would make sense, if they thought Rollins could steal 2nd, however, on the very first pitch, they bunt him over.....Now they have given up an out, and taken their BEST PINCH HITTER from the bench, and he never batted....next 2 guys strike out, and they lose the game....I dont disagree with using a pinch runner, nor do i disagree necessarily with bunting him over, however the combo of the 2 moves, made no sense....Why take out your best pinch hitter (when they were at the bottom of the lineup) to put him in because of his speed, then not give him a chance to use it...you either need to use him as PR, and give him a couple of shots to steal, or use a pitcher as PR, bunt him over, then pinch hit with Rollins......


4. Texas Rangers.......We all know where this is going....Texas takes a 9 run lead into the top of the 9th inning, and brings in a "lesser" reliever to start the inning, something alot of teams would do, no big deal....However, he starts getting lit up right off the bat.....2 singles, and a home run, makes the game 12-6......Manager brings in antoher "lesser" reliever, still not warming up the closer, and he proceeds to allow 3 more straight batters to reach and now its bases loaded, no outs, and still the manager does not bring in the closer, because he cant get a "save yet"...He waits for another batter to reach, and yes the next batter reaches as well, and now its 12-7 bases loaded, and he decides to do something......he waited too late, and now when the closer gives up a hit, we have the tying run at the plate, in a game where they were leading by 9 runs....Luckily he got out of it, but 2 seperate players had a shot to tie the game, when it should have NEVER gotten that far....

5. Philadelphia Phillies (#2).....In Saturday's game, Philly comes to bat in the bottom of the 9th, tied 0-0....Abreu leads off with a single...(now just days before, on the road, needing 2 runs to win, they bunted the runner over), today, only needing 1 run to win, they let Burrell bat, and strike out....Now i know, that Burrell isnt gonna bunt often, and that must have been the reason, but that was very risky with a slow runner at the plate....Still had good hitters behind him, he should have been bunting, to get runner over to win...Luckily Utley came up behind him, and singled, and the eventually scored the run....


6. New York Yankees......Yesterday, trailing Cleveland, 7-6 in bottom of the 9th, both Williams and Jeter reach, and its 1st and second, no outs, and Cano at the plate....(now i am not sure if he was bunting or not, on sportsline it was strike looking, foul ball, usually it will say , bunt foul, but i will give benefit of the doubt and say he was bunting foul) however, he shouldnt have taken the first strike, and even with 2 strikes, i still think he should be bunting...if he fouls out, still its 1 out, and Sheffield, and Rodriguez will both get a shot to drive one in....Instead with 2 strikes he swings away, and grounds into a double play......

I will give you one from last nite in the San Diego/Colorado game. 1-0 top of 9th the Pads get their first two batter to reach base. Runners on first and second nobody out, then they have G. Blum batting (whats he batting .230 or so), instead of bunting the two guys over to second and third, they decide to let him hit only to strikeout. That was the first boneheaded move of the inning. The next move was to pinch hit Nady for Roberts. Are you kidding me, pinch hit for a singles hitter with speed for a guy who bats around .260. Nady proceeds to strike-out. So, now you still have 1st and 2nd with two outs. So, what does Eric Young do, he gets on base courtesy of and error, so base loaded two outs and Brian Giles strikes out. Hmmm....if they would have tried to move the runners over with no outs, maybe the error would have scored a runner......sometimes makes you wonder wtf these coaches are thinking.

shale said:

I will give you one from last nite in the San Diego/Colorado game. 1-0 top of 9th the Pads get their first two batter to reach base. Runners on first and second nobody out, then they have G. Blum batting (whats he batting .230 or so), instead of bunting the two guys over to second and third, they decide to let him hit only to strikeout. That was the first boneheaded move of the inning. The next move was to pinch hit Nady for Roberts. Are you kidding me, pinch hit for a singles hitter with speed for a guy who bats around .260. Nady proceeds to strike-out. So, now you still have 1st and 2nd with two outs. So, what does Eric Young do, he gets on base courtesy of and error, so base loaded two outs and Brian Giles strikes out. Hmmm....if they would have tried to move the runners over with no outs, maybe the error would have scored a runner......sometimes makes you wonder wtf these coaches are thinking.

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you took the words right out of my mouth. Blum attempted to bunt on the first three pitches, the count got to 2-1 and Bochey takes it off. Why? Unreal.

shale said:

I will give you one from last nite in the San Diego/Colorado game. 1-0 top of 9th the Pads get their first two batter to reach base. Runners on first and second nobody out, then they have G. Blum batting (whats he batting .230 or so), instead of bunting the two guys over to second and third, they decide to let him hit only to strikeout. That was the first boneheaded move of the inning. The next move was to pinch hit Nady for Roberts. Are you kidding me, pinch hit for a singles hitter with speed for a guy who bats around .260. Nady proceeds to strike-out. So, now you still have 1st and 2nd with two outs. So, what does Eric Young do, he gets on base courtesy of and error, so base loaded two outs and Brian Giles strikes out. Hmmm....if they would have tried to move the runners over with no outs, maybe the error would have scored a runner......sometimes makes you wonder wtf these coaches are thinking.

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Thats definitely a good one, SD gets a "vote" as well..

I was going to write out a bunch of occurences of bonehead moves, but I think I can sum it up real fast. . ..

DUSTY BAKER. . .. Need I say more?

Kruser6 said:

I was going to write out a bunch of occurences of bonehead moves, but I think I can sum it up real fast. . ..

DUSTY BAKER. . .. Need I say more?

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:monsters-

We can add the Pirates manager to the list....

Pittsburgh leading 4-1 in 8th inning, his reliever gives up 2 hits, then a sacrafice, he leaves him in, to give up a double and bring the score to 4-3, well that can happen....he then brings in his closer, in the 8th, to get out of it....No problem there either, however the closer is due up 5th in bottom of inning, and he DOESNT do the double switch.......Mesa gets out of the jam, and Pitt leads 4-3 going into bottom of 8th.....Pittsburgh gets a run, and has bases loaded with 1 out, and a shot to blow the game wide open, Mesa due up......now had he double switched wouldnt have been a problem, but he didnt, so he now lets Mesa bat with bases loaded, and 1 out, instead of bringing in Macowiak, or Ward, to break it open and let someone else close.....so Mesa strikes out, and they get nothing more....Now Mesa may well save the game, but he hasnt been AUTOMATIC by any means this year, so why wouldnt u want to break the game open? I would prefer another reliever with a 4-5 run lead for an inning, over Mesa with a 2 run lead.....

Didnt seem like a good move, we will see...

I think my biggest argument here is, not just the move, but the fact that you know he did it just because Mesa is the "closer", and its the RULE...

Totally Agree On The Pitt Game.

I Hade A Huge Parlay On Pitt -1.5 And The Over; But What Can You Do?

Just Wanted To Let You Know You Are One Of The Best, Keep It Up And I Wish You Luck. I Will Continue To Follow You.

Go Get Um

Let me start off by saying that Bobby Cox is the best manager in baseball but SOSA has a 3 hit shutout going right now and Cox pulls him in favor of Foster. I dont care how this turns out. That a dumb move.

Lets give Phillie's Manager another vote tonight....

Philly trailiing 3-1 in bottom of the 10th, and the first 2 guys get on, 1st and 2nd, and Rollins comes up, with Michaels, Utley, and Abreu to follow....

tying runs on base, at home, but he doesnt have Rollins bunt them over, instead he strikes out, next 2 guys fly out, and game is over....all the strategy changes if they are moved into scoring position, but no, he doesnt do it...

Add Toronto's manager to the list....Bottom of 11th inning in tied game, first 2 men get on, what do you do?....I dont care who is at the plate, you bunt them over....Hinske, the #8 hitter is up, and he lets him hit....Of course he grounds into a tailor made double play, and now its runner on 3rd with 2 outs....YOU ONLY NEED 1 RUN TO WIN, you bunt them over, and trust your next hitter to be able to ground it up the middle, or hit a fly ball, anything that scores the run....

Geesh....

lol i agree dude unreal jays dont want to win tonight:drink:

You beat me to the post as I was just watching this on MLB.Com.

What could they possibly be thinking? This is a mandatory bunt situation without any question.

tigers take the lead on none other than a two out two strike rbi infield single by .145 hitter vance wilson:hump:

Let this be a lesson to all the Baseball managers out there. In the bottom of the 7th inning and a 2-2 tie in the Baltimore game, Brian Roberts with a .325 BA sacrificed the runner from 1st to 2nd with nobody out. This is a manager that is trying to win the game unlike that pathetic display in Toronto last night.

Result 4-2 Baltimore in the bottom of the 7th!!!!

Chisox lead NYY 2-0 headed to B9

Who does Ozzie bring in? Hermanson did you say?

NO

Cliff "I suck donkey dicks" Politte - who is just that to opposing hitters and gives up a "jack" to A-rod making it 2-1

Then he brings in Damaso (Promounced: Dam-Ass-O!) Marte who throws more gas on the fire

NOW - when there are runners on the corner and 2 out - NOW Ozzie brings in Hermanson to try and put out a fire that NEVER should have been started! he is facing 500-year-old Bernie Williams so there is hope - but still - NEVER should have gotten this far!

Hermanson cums thru to save the win but it NEVER should have gotten to this point!

NEVER!