Did Gardenhire make the right managerial decision?
Following are opinions from Mille Lacs County Times editor-sports editor Gary Larson, reporter Luther Dorr and former Times intern Logan Marxhausen who’s now on the sports staff at the St. Cloud State University Chronicle. Note: This feature is written on Monday each week.
********
•Question: In the seventh inning of last Friday’s game against the New York Yankees, with the Twins leading 4-3 with one out, Minnesota Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire elected to intentionally walk Mark Teixeira, to load the bases and allow Matt Guerrier to pitch to Alex Rodriguez. In his career Rodriguez was 4-for-6 against Guerrier with three home runs, a double and a walk. Rodriguez then smashed Guerrier’s second pitch over the left-field wall for a grand home run to put the Yankees ahead 7-4. New York won the game 8-4. What did you think of Gardenhire’s decision?
-Dorr: I had no problem with Gardenhire walking Teixeira intentionally. But the fact that Gardenhire, usually such a go-by-the-numbers guy, brought in Guerrier to face Rodriguez, especially in the seventh inning, surprised me for two reasons. One, Guerrier is usually called upon in the eighth inning and, two, the career numbers of Rodriguez against Guerrier were staggering (and got worse). I’m sure Gardenhire thought Guerrier was his most reliable pitcher at that point and I’m sure he felt the pressure to end the Yankee winning streak against the Twins. And, Guerrier got ahead on the count, 0-1, and then threw a pitch down the middle, a pitch he said later he was trying to throw out of the strike zone to try to get Rodriguez to chase. I don’t think I would have brought Guerrier into that situation but I think Gardenhire departed from the norm because he felt the pressure to beat the Yankees. A few more clutch hits will cure the team’s ills and take most of those decisions out of the manager’s hands. The Twins were 8 for 51 with the bases loaded this year until Jason Kubel’s homer Sunday and in the Yankee series the Twins were 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position until that point.
-Marxhausen: I have always been a firm believer in what Ron Gardenhire decides. Sure, there has been some disagreements such as the use of reliever Jesse Crain and other player’s roles with the team, but other than some small adjustments, Gardy knows what he is doing. The move obviously painted a bad picture for Gardenhire and his decision, but the fact is he has done numerous things that have benefited the Twins that he hasn’t received public recognition for. The decision for Guerrier to take on Rodriguez was maybe a bit of a stretch, thinking Guerrier was due for an out, but the righty against righty situation didn’t work out. In general baseball terms, that should work, but A-Rod once again punished the Twins for showing up that day.
-Larson: What was old Gardy thinking? There’s logic to walking Teixeira to load the bases and set up a double play and force plays everywhere but I would’ve taken my chances against Teixeira rather than Rodriguez. But, in allowing Guerrier to pitch to Rodriguez, Gardenhire went against what’s become one of his trademarks as a manager. How many times have we heard Gardenhire say he used Player B instead of Player C because statistics show Player B has fared better against a certain pitcher? Or, that he brought in a certain pitcher because that pitcher had good stats against a certain batter? Did somebody hide Gardy’s blackbook? It was a game-deciding decision that went bad.
Gardenhire has gotten pats on the back when his decisions paid off and there have been many that resulted in Twins’ victories. This time, however, he deserved a boot in the you know where.
What was sad was listening to Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven steadfastly defend Gardenhire at the opening of Saturday’s TV broadcast, without even dwelling on Gardenhire’s options. I guess whatever decisions Gardenhire makes will always be the right ones in their biased eyes.
********
•Question: The St. Paul Saints, an independent minor league baseball team which plays at Midway Stadium, began their 18th season last week. The team has led the American Association in attendance for several seasons, thanks in part, to offering “outdoor” baseball. Will it continue to thrive now that the Minnesota Twins have Target Field?
-Dorr: I don’t think the attendance for the Saints will drop off very much, if at all. I’ve never been to a Saints game, nor had a desire to attend, just because the game was played outside. I think the Saints are more of a novelty for people, rather than an outlet to see baseball played outdoors. I’ve had people say to me that a Saints game was just as good as a Twins game and, on top of that, it was outdoors. Not as a knock against the Saints, simply because I want to see any baseball team do well at the gate, but the caliber of play isn’t the same as what you will see at Target Field. It would be nice if the Saints and the Twins both have good attendance.
-Marxhausen: The St. Paul Saints have an entrenched group of fans. The Metrodome didn’t have that “outdoor” feel, whereas the Saints used an outdoor park to work on their success. The Saints worked hard over the years to sell fans a contending team that played outdoors. The main reason the Saints had high attendance wasn’t because of the outdoor feel, but because of the success and the foundation of talent and work that helped bring this team to successful seasons.
-Larson: I’ve attended three Saints games. They were enjoyable and the $5 ticket price was right. I didn’t go because of the sometimes strange promotions put on by owner Mike Veeck, who’s the son of legendary baseball owner and showman Bill Veeck. I’m not a big promotions guy. And, I didn’t go because it was “outdoor baseball.” There’s always been outdoor baseball in Minnesota, even during the Metrodome years. But, some fans were just too lazy or conceited to look for it. The Saints, Northwoods League teams, college teams, prep teams, American Legion teams. town teams and youth teams have been providing outdoor baseball thrills for years. I went to those Saints games because I was curious about the level of play. And it was pretty good.
With the arrival of Target Field, Saints’ attendance may dip a little. But, its core fan base will still be there.
And, did you know that before it housed the Saints, Midway Stadium was home to a pro slow pitch softball team? The Minnesota Goofys, later the Norsemen, played there, hosting teams from across the country in the mid-1970s. The Minnesota team even had old “Benchwarmer” Bob Lurtsema on its roster for a couple of seasons.
********
•Question: After the Associated Press voted Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing National Football League 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year in January, the NFL announced that Cushing was suspended for four games in the upcoming season because he had tested positive in a drug test during the 2009 season. Last week, in a re-vote, a panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters again voted Cushing the honor. What message does that send? If you had originally voted for Cushing, would you still have voted for him a second time?
-Dorr: I think the main message it sends, without knowing anything about the situation, is that the writers and broadcasters wanted to show the NFL they didn’t appreciate the NFL overturning their earlier vote. I would need to know more about the situation to decide if I would vote for Cushing again or not.
-Marxhausen: This clearly shows that some sportswriters and broadcasters don’t express the extreme opinions against performance enhancing drugs that others do. Cushing took a fertility drug that is currently on the banned substance list as a performance enhancing drug. He seemed pretty OK with the four-game suspension and is ready to move on from his predicament. Many sportswriters/broadcasters didn’t see much cause to deny Cushing the rookie of the year trophy because he still had the stellar rookie season. For me, it didn’t make much sense for media people to change their ballot for the re-vote.
-Larson: Cushing broke the rules and was punished for it. He received 39 of the 50 votes the first time and 18 votes the second time as roughly half of the writers and broadcasters were influenced by his suspension. I would’ve voted for Cushing in January but switched my choice to Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews in the re-vote.
That said, I don’t think there should’ve been a re-vote and by doing so an uncomfortable precedent may have been set that could carry over to other sports. Are we going to do “re-votes” every time an award winner is later found to have broken the rules. That amounts to changing history.
********
Do you have an opinion on any of this week’s questions? Do you agree or disagree with the sportswriters? Let us know by sending an e-mail to editor.millelacscotimes@ecm-inc.com or a note to Mille Lacs County Times, 225 S.W. 2nd St. Milaca, MN 56353. Or comment online.
