A hunch that might have back-fired
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A hunch that might have back-fired
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The cool thing about Twitter is that it makes market research available to anybody. And if Charlie Manuel's use of John Mayberry Jr. were a pilot episode, there's a good chance it never would have made it onto the airwaves. Most people weighing in at Twitter.com/HighCheese felt the manager erred in tapping Mayberry to hit with the bases loaded in the seventh. And the ensuing strikeout gives their beef some merit.
Long story short, Manuel played a hunch. Ross Gload wasn't hurt. There wasn't a lefty warming in the bullpen. Manuel just wanted to use Mayberry.
According to the Official Managerial Handbook, the situation called for Gload, a veteran left-handed hitter who had faved the soft-tossing Livan Hernandez six times in his career (with a couple of singles to show). The bases were loaded and the Phillies were trailing 5-1 with the pitcher's spot in the order due up. So with righty Heranandez on the mound, the pinch-hitter-to-be represented the tying run. But there was only one out in the inning, and there were still two more frames to be played.
Still, Manuel liked the right-handed Mayberry in that situation.
Here was his reasoning after the game:
“I put Mayberry up there because, actually, I liked him on Hernandez, although Hernandez threw a couple of slow hooks there and he kind of chased them. I liked Mayberry most of all because the wind was blowing out to left field. With the bases loaded and one out, I thought maybe if he doubled or got one up in the air, that’s about the only place we were going to have a chance to hit the ball out of the yard. He’s definitely capable of doing that. We weren’t going to hit one to right field unless Howard got into one. The ball that Ankiel hit, he crushed it, and it didn’t go anywhere. And Mayberry’s been hitting good. I figured we’d still have Gload in the ninth.”
In the end, Mayberry struck out, and Shane Victorino quickly followed suit. The Phillies would score two runs in the eighth and a run in the ninth (lefty Sean Burnett closed the game, so Gload didn't get a chance to hit), but wound up losing 7-4.
There's no telling whether Gload would have come through. The odds still would have been against the Phillies. But this was one instance in which his gut apparently mis-led him.
Hey, it happens. The Phillies are 7-3, and on Wednesday Roy Halladay faces the Nationals, who haven't scored a run in their last 22 innings against him (the only run Halladay allowed against the Nats last season came in the first inning of the season-opener).
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Comment removed.- Comment removed.
Cholly gets a mulligan on this one because good managers ignore the "book" from time to time.— flyerdup- It's easy to second guess him afterwards, but I agree with his logic, and his move. The wind was holding everything up from CF to RF up in the air to be caught...— PhilliefaninAZ
- Phils didn't need a HR or two bagger there, a single knocks home two. Ol Cholly has a habit of playing for the 3-run homer too much. Small ball can not only win you games but bring you back in them also. Food for thought
- Absolutely stupid move to put a right-handed hitter up there who can't hit anything but fastballs against a right-handed pitcher who throws 58mph curveballs, especially in a key spot like that.— comin4ya23
- Cholly isn't exactly known for his game time decisions. Just another example. Everyone had the exact same thought. Why is Charlie putting a inexperienced fastball hitter against a total junkballer.— Sewellmatt
- If Mayberry is a big league player, he will have to learn to hit against guys like Livan Hernandez.— road515
- Mayberry was 3-4 as a pinch hitter until then. Charlie thought he was still hot.— mike l
- I have to agree with I gotarmyguns. You have to play for a base hit there, not a homer. Charlie's comment revealed his tendencies, and thus, the way this club plays. They used to live by the homer, and last year they dies by the homer. The homers will be fewer and further between as this club's personnel ages--if they are going to have any shot this year, they are going to have to chip away and get their runs in dribs and drabs, not in bunches, like they've been doing this season so far.— jrwoznicki
- Mayberry was embarrassed— shawnmac
- I don't know about second guessers, but I knew exactly what Charlie was doing when Mayberry stepped into the batter's box. It made all the sense in the world.— Ron
- If Mayberry had homered, Charlie would have looked like a genius. Hey, you can't win em all. No one knows if Gload would have done any better. Give Charlie points for creative thinking.— SteveS11
- Gload's the better bet against a wiley veteran. I would not have played that hunch.— Grazman
- had no problem with it whatsoever...100% defensible move by Charlie....so it didnt work out. Given the wind conditions, taking a flyer on Jr after how well he has performed was a worthwhile hunch— TheLon
