Nobody I'd rather have behind the helm in 2017 than Buck

[helloharv]

This anti Buck, it's Buck's fault stuff is absurd. He's the best manager in the game. If

we used ZB in 11th and didn't score, and later grabbed the lead, who would close out the game, Jimenez?

this is simply a stunning statement ---- best manager in baseball ???

[evenparthrough9]

This anti Buck, it's Buck's fault stuff is absurd. He's the best manager in the game. If

we used ZB in 11th and didn't score, and later grabbed the lead, who would close out the game, Jimenez?

Bundy or even Hunter

[DrungoHazewood]

this is simply a stunning statement ---- best manager in baseball ???

"Best" is highly subjective, but I'd hazard a guess that he's well ahead of anyone else in baseball in (actual wins - preseason projections) since the Orioles hired him.

[helloharv]

in all seriousness , would any of the best managers in baseball not used the best relief pitcher in baseball in an 11 inning do or die wildcard game?

[DrungoHazewood]

in all seriousness , would any of the best managers in baseball not used the best relief pitcher in baseball in an 11 inning do or die wildcard game?

People do strange things all the time. Are you telling me (insert awesome manager here) is 100% immune to poor decision making? Earl once batted Juan Bonilla (slow, with a .243/.311/.296 slash line) leadoff 44 times in one season where his team finished 73-89.

[TINSTAAPP]

"Best" is highly subjective, but I'd hazard a guess that he's well ahead of anyone else in baseball in (actual wins - preseason projections) since the Orioles hired him.

I honestly believe last night severely tarnished Buck's reputation nationally. Whenever anybody mentions Buck as one of the two or three best managers in baseball, somebody else will always bring up last night as a counterpoint.

[Dannyboy]

Baseball managers I'd rather have than Buck

Bruce Bochy

Joe Maddon

Terry Francona

Joe Girardi

Jeff Banister

There's five right there. Hell, even John Gibbons was smart enough to use his closer and best reliever Roberto Osuna in a non-save situation. Typically you don't use closers in extra innings at home but even Gibbons realized the urgency of every inning was and didn't wanted to risk going down with bullets left in the chamber.

You couldn't be more wrong. You typically don't use your closer on the road until you get the lead. At home, yeah, you do go to your closer.

[baltfan]

Completely agree. I don't understand not going to Britton, and I get the meltdown from the fans here, but Buck gives the team a better chance to win almost every night than almost any O's manager I've seen in 37 years.

Here is more support. We consistently more than any team outperform our expecations.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-orioles-are-better-than-we-thought-again/

Best explanation is Buck.

He made a mistake. It happens.

[DrungoHazewood]

I honestly believe last night severely tarnished Buck's reputation nationally. Whenever anybody mentions Buck as one of the two or three best managers in baseball, somebody else will always bring up last night as a counterpoint.

Yes, humans have a strange capacity or tendency to boil down decades of accomplishment to one mistake. It's hard for the mind to digest 11,221 good decisions and 1,093 questionable ones. Much simpler to just throw somebody into a black/white bin based mostly on emotion.

[Bradysburns]

this is simply a stunning statement ---- best manager in baseball ???

Well, he's certainly the winningest in the AL over the past SEVERAL years. So despite the fact that we lost a game yesterday, yes. (Edited to clarify.)

[Aristotelian]

Baseball managers I'd rather have than Buck

Bruce Bochy

Joe Maddon

Terry Francona

Joe Girardi

Jeff Banister

There's five right there. Hell, even John Gibbons was smart enough to use his closer and best reliever Roberto Osuna in a non-save situation. Typically you don't use closers in extra innings at home but even Gibbons realized the urgency of every inning was and didn't wanted to risk going down with bullets left in the chamber.

That's wrong. The book says you use your closer at home because you never know when you are never going to have the lead. The only scenario you win is a walkoff. So you can use your closer any time. On the road, you wait until you have a lead. If a lead never comes, so be it.

[Aristotelian]

Yes, humans have a strange capacity or tendency to boil down decades of accomplishment to one mistake. It's hard for the mind to digest 11,221 good decisions and 1,093 questionable ones. Much simpler to just throw somebody into a black/white bin based mostly on emotion.

I would say one "decision". It was not a mistake. It was the right call (or at least a defensible one) but it got a bad result.

[TINSTAAPP]

Yes, humans have a strange capacity or tendency to boil down decades of accomplishment to one mistake. It's hard for the mind to digest 11,221 good decisions and 1,093 questionable ones. Much simpler to just throw somebody into a black/white bin based mostly on emotion.

If Theo Epstein and the 2003 Boston Red Sox felt the same way you did, they never would have fired Grady Little. Little essentially got fired for making one mistake.

[TINSTAAPP]

That's wrong. The book says you use your closer at home because you never know when you are never going to have the lead. The only scenario you win is a walkoff. So you can use your closer any time. On the road, you wait until you have a lead. If a lead never comes, so be it.

Can I name a manager who did use his closer in a must-win game in the postseason when his team didn't have the lead? Bruce Bochy. He used his closer Sergio Romo during a tie game in the bottom of the 9th inning in Game 3 of the 2012 NLDS against the Reds when they were one loss away from going home. The Giants ended up taking the lead the following inning and wound up winning the game and later the World Series. But then again what does Bruce Bochy know? He only has three WS rings for making decisions that go against the book in the postseason.

[DrungoHazewood]

That's wrong. The book says you use your closer at home because you never know when you are never going to have the lead. The only scenario you win is a walkoff. So you can use your closer any time. On the road, you wait until you have a lead. If a lead never comes, so be it.

Well that's a poor book. The Orioles would have eventually scored a run, likely on a homer, if the game had lasted long enough. The best way to make the game last longer was to pitch your best pitcher(s).