A Game of Wits

In today’s sporting world, I have seen that victories are earned more often by the team that can make “smarter” decisions than the team which boasts the strongest and fastest athletes.  For example, Butler can make two consecutive final fours with subpar “athletes”, Wes Welker can become a top 5 wide receiver in the NFL and even the brilliant Tony LaRussa’s Cardinals can be defeated by a team that seems to be playing consistently smarter all over the field. 

I saw this come to fruition last night in the Ranger’s 4-2 win over the Cardinals.  It was a great example of how much the mind can affect a game that is determined by physical exertion.   The story of Game 5 has been plastered all over the internet today.  See “GAME 5 SUMMARY” if you want the back story.  But to quickly summarize, the Cardinals made crucial mental errors the each of the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th innings.  In the 7^th and 9^th, Craig should not have been stealing.  And in the 8^th, Motte should have been ready to pitch to Napoli.   These errors are in sharp contrast to what I wrote last Thursday about Elvis Andrus and the 3 “smart” plays that he made in the 9^th.  We saw last night how crucial it is to remain mentally sharp on the field.  No matter how strong or fast you are, if you lose concentration for just one play, you will likely be outmatched by your opponent. 

Before I continue, I want to make a few disclaimers.  I DON’T want to imply that the Ranger’s physical abilities were not essential to last night’s game.  They scored 4 runs on 2 homers and a double.  Also, the lack of ability shown by the Cardinals by going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position played an equally crucial part.  I also DON’T want to imply that Tony LaRussa is not a smart person or manager.  He is one of the greatest and most brilliant managers of all time. 

It just seems that throughout history the athlete has unjustly earned the dumb jock stereotype, when in reality being a successful athlete requires a greater amount of mental prowess than most people understand.  And, with the advent of more and more complex defensive systems in both football and basketball as well as increased stats and sabermetrics in baseball, being able to think quickly on one’s feet as both a coach and player is becoming an even more sought after trait.

Was Derek Holland's Dominate World Series Performance Wasted?

Derek Holland's brilliant performance last night in Game Four has me second guessing Ron Washington’s decision to move Holland down to fourth in his World Series rotation.  I am not usually a big fan of second guessing; but after examining the decision a little more carefully, I think that if the Rangers go on to lose the series in seven games this could be a major storyline.

Heading into the playoffs, to no one’s surprise Holland had been named the number two starter (over Lewis and Harrison) due to his superb regular season in which he led the team in wins (tied with Wilson with 16) and shutouts (4, three others tied with 1).  He also finished with a 9-1 record after the all-star break, the best on the team.  I would say that most people would have agreed that Holland had earned his place in this position. 

He went on to start Game 2 and appear in relief in Game 4 of the ALDS and then to start Games 2 and 6 of the ALCS.  And sadly, he seemed to struggle a little with the added pressure.  We didn’t see the dominate Derek Holland that we saw during the regular season.  He gave up 8 runs in 13.2 innings and looked surprisingly off his game in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Tigers, going only 2.2 innings and giving up 3 earned runs and walking 4 players.    

Because of this, moving Holland down to start Game 3 would have been easily explainable in my mind.  Colby Lewis, who had pitched well in the playoffs thus far and had been excellent on the road the entire season, would be able to use his experience from last year’s World Series to pitch on the road for Game 2.  This would have left Holland to pitch in front of his home fans Game 3 and then have the opportunity to dominate, like he had all season, in Game 7 if needed (see 4 shutouts mentioned before and 8 1/3 innings pitched last night). 

However, was Washington’s confidence shaken so much that he would rather have Matt Harrison in a decisive game 7?  For some reason it seemed to be.  Washington who has become known as a coach with will stick with his players (see “leaving Michael Young hitting 4^th in the ALCS”) didn’t stick with his guy who had rightfully earned his place as the 2^nd best starter on the team.

Now, we will just have to wait and see.  Will the Rangers miss out on using the pitcher who gave us one of the most dominate World Series performances in recent history for a second game?  How Matt Harrison performs in Game 7 (if necessary) will only tell us if Washington’s move paid off.  For now, I’m excited for Derek and how excellently he performed on such a grand stage; but, I have to say, I would much rather see Holland and his grotesque mustache take the ball in Game 7 instead of Harrison. 

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Not a Game for Idiots!

For those of you that watched the World Series game last night you saw one of the things that I love most in sports.  Smarts! Elvis Andrus made three, straight-up, smart plays in the 9^th inning last night.  Maybe they weren’t the most “brilliant” of plays, but he made the right play when he needed to and didn’t try to do too much. 

The first of these was not bunting when Kinsler was stealing second.  That may not seem like a lot and I know that these guys are pros, but let’s look a little more at the situation.  We know that Wash didn’t put on a “hit and run” or anything there and that Kinsler decided to take off on his own.  (A play that I’m not too sure I agree with; but since it worked, I’ll back off Kins for now).  But, we do know that Wash did have Elvis up there bunting (he already tried twice before) in order to move the runner up to second.  In those sacrifice situations the usual case is that the hitter is concentrating so much on getting a quality bunt down that it is acceptable if not expected to ignore everything else.  However, Elvis was able to react in milliseconds and make the correct decision.  If he bunts, or even fouls off the pitch, Kinsler doesn’t steal second and we have an entirely different game. 

The second and third remarkably smart plays were advancing to second and then to third respectively. In advancing on the mishandle (that has now been ruled an error) by Pujols, if Elvis isn’t immediately ready to move as soon as that play is made, he is out at second.  And again, we have an entirely different ball game.  Now, advancing to third is a much easier play, but we just have a situation where the right play was made in a split second of decision making. 

Let’s remember that Elvis is only 23 years old!!! He’s still a kid making the right decision when he is called upon to do so.  Also, don’t forget the amazing defensive plays that he made in the 4^th and 5^th innings.  Go RANGERS!