Baseball 101

[Satyr3206]

You don't bring your closer in unless it's a close situation. I said it when JJ came in and we see what happened. Very poor move by Buck. Not to mention leaving Patton in too long. He got bailed out of that one.

[The Wedge]

You don't bring your closer in unless it's a close situation. I said it when JJ came in and we see what happened. Very poor move by Buck. Not to mention leaving Patton in too long. He got bailed out of that one.

That's 101? Because I see the closer come in for the top of the 9th in a tied game A LOT.

[gallden]

You don't bring your closer in unless it's a close situation. I said it when JJ came in and we see what happened. Very poor move by Buck. Not to mention leaving Patton in too long. He got bailed out of that one.

John Smoltz and Heyman disagree.

[hokiefan]

You don't bring your closer in unless it's a close situation. I said it when JJ came in and we see what happened. Very poor move by Buck. Not to mention leaving Patton in too long. He got bailed out of that one.

So your opinion is that you never pitch your closer as the home team when a game is tied after 8 innings?

[ccbird]

Actually, Baseball 101, at least over the last decade or so, is to bring your closer into the game in the top of the 9th in a tie game at home.

[Satyr3206]

John Smoltz and Heyman disagree.

They have a right to their opinion. It was a bad decision strategically and tactically.

[Orioles West]

You don't bring your closer in unless it's a close situation. I said it when JJ came in and we see what happened. Very poor move by Buck. Not to mention leaving Patton in too long. He got bailed out of that one.

You may need to retake the class. It is standard operating procedure, especially at home in the playoffs to bring a closer in for the top half of a tie-game. Patton could have been taken out sooner, I agree, but no one was hurt by it.

JJ had a bad day, it happens.

-Don

[BarclaySouthway]

Baseball 101

You don't bring your closer in unless it's a close situation.

Is that from Joe Morgan's Correspondence Course for Baseball Managers?

[Satyr3206]

You may need to retake the class. It is standard operating procedure, especially at home in the playoffs to bring a closer in for the top half of a tie-game. Patton could have been taken out sooner, I agree, but no one was hurt by it.

JJ had a bad day, it happens.

-Don

That tactic makes no sense. If JJ goes 1-2-3 and the Orioles don't score for a few innings you have no closer. You save the man for the role he has played all year.

[gallden]

@Britt_Ghiroli: Jim Johnson had allowed one earned run in previous 26 games coming in. 3rd time this year he has allowed more than two runs in an outing.

I think he's earned that spot.

[The Wedge]

That tactic makes no sense. If JJ goes 1-2-3 and the Orioles don't score for a few innings you have no closer. You save the man for the role he has played all year.

Once you get to the ninth in a tied game at home, your closer will NEVER pitch with a lead, you know that, right?

[Enjoy Terror]

Good closers belong in high leverage situations, not necessarily save situations. To bring Johnson into a tie game headed into the ninth was fine, and anyone to say different is more concerned about preserving baseball traditions (that may not even exist) than analyzing statistics. Mariano Rivera was 6/6 in non-save situations last year. It happens.

[Orioles West]

That tactic makes no sense. If JJ goes 1-2-3 and the Orioles don't score for a few innings you have no closer. You save the man for the role he has played all year.

It happens all the time, and the reason they do it is to give the team the best chance to win in the bottom half. It certainly happens less often in the regular season, but managers can't hope or plan on a bunch of extra innings, they are playing their best players sooner, rather than later in the post-season. If Buck brought in Hunter and Hunter imploded instead, every manager in the game would calling Buck on that decision. Bad luck on a good decision.

-Don

[Satyr3206]

It happens all the time, and the reason they do it is to give the team the best chance to win in the bottom half. It certainly happens less often in the regular season, but managers can't hope or plan on a bunch of extra innings, they are playing their best players sooner, rather than later in the post-season. If Buck brought in Hunter and Hunter imploded instead, every manager in the game would calling Buck on that decision. Bad luck on a good decision.

-Don

I would have used Hunter before JJ.

[The Wedge]

I would have used Hunter before JJ.

Well, that's great. But calling it Baseball 101 when it's clearly not...not so much.