1 Down, 10 to Go

We are all experts. We are always right once we have seen what has happened. We can all second guess.

What differentiates being a baseball manager from a football or baseball coach is that every move you make is under a much greater microscope. In football or basketball, coaches call a play for every single play of the game. As a result, players are often second guessed far more than coaches.

But in baseball, this is not the case. In baseball a manager makes five and at most ten decisions a game.

Every decision either works or it doesn’t with rarely any room in between.

Last night we were all experts. Or at least everyone at Shea was.

When Willie pulled John Maine with 1 out in the 5th and Kenny Lofton coming to the plate (who Maine had struck out twice before), I looked at AFOMG with a puzzled look.

A little early, no, Willie?

I joked that Willie had thrown on a mustache and a Yankee t-shirt the night before and went to Yankee Stadium. That once he saw Joe pull his starter a little too early, he felt he needed to do the same.

But all kidding aside, there were a ton of good reasons for his decisions.

If he wants Maine to go on 3 days rest in Game 4, then he has only thrown 80 pitches and is far more likely to be ready.

Let’s keep the kid’s confidence level high. Let him leave the game with a lead and get a standing O at Shea.

If Feliciano/Bradford get us through the 5th, then we have Mota, Hernandez and Heilman to get us to Wagner. Let’s role the dice with that.

The people of subway promised to make a new fresh toasted sub named after Willie, called the Meatballsy Willie.

The move turned out to be a great one. Feliciano and Bradford retired Lofton and Nomar to get us out of a jam.

Willie is a GENIUS!!!

Fast forward to the bottom of the 6th. Guillermo Mota threw about as perfect a top 6th as possible. I looked at AFOMG, the big guy, and said, why not have him throw another one? He agreed.

Paul LoDuca led off the bottom of the 6th inning. 8 spots till the pitcher would be up. No action in the pen.

Then the Mets started rallying. After David Wright’s double extended the lead to 4-1 and Cliffy was intentionally walked, the Dodgers went to their pen.

First and third and one out. In retrospect, this is when Willie could have got Hernandez up and throwing.

Shawn Green struck out. Two outs and two on.

The Mets have people starting to warm in the pen, so there is no way Grady Little is walking Valentin. Willie looks like he is in the clear. His failure to get Hernandez earlier will not be a problem. Valentin gets a hit and the Mets are up 5-1. Valentin gets out and it is time for Mota to pitch.

Neither happened. Valentin was hit by the pitch and Willie was caught.

From there Mota went on to blow the lead in the top of the 7th. There wasn’t a single person at Shea who didn’t want Willie’s head.

This, 2 innings after his smartest managerial move as a Met.

Yes, Willie had the chance to put the game away, but if Mota pitches an easy 7th then no one cares.

This is the beauty of being a baseball fan.

I was telling my father the other day about the beauty of poker. Poker allows every fan to be a pro. All you need is a chip and a chair.

In poker, when you beat your opponents it is because you were smarter. You made the right decisions and outplayed the people at your table. However, when we lose, we rationalize otherwise. We were not outplayed, we simply got fucked, or caught a bad beat. In retrospect, we were right and they were wrong or maybe the gods just weren't on our side.

As baseball fans it is so easy to second guess. When a manager makes a decision that is right, we see it as him making the obvious decision. It made sense at the time and then it worked. Very simple.

But when a manager makes what turns out to be the wrong decision, he was wrong and we were right along. We KNEW that the manager made the mistake, how could he not see it himself, right?

Just imagine if Feliciano gives up a hit to Lofton after Maine struck him out badly in his previous two at bats? "WILLIE!!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!"

Then imagine, Mota, a converted SS, slaps that ball 10 feet more to the right, clearing the bases. He then goes on to dominate the 7th!

"WILLIE IS A FUCKING GENIUS."

It is always so easy to second guess. But that is why we are in the stands and they are on the field. For 163 games this season Willie has led us to 98 victories. Like it or not, he is our guy and he is going to make the calls.

So, in Willie we must trust, even if you think you are the next Phil Ivey.

Whatever you think of Willie, the Mets went onto win the ballgame last night, even if it was in heart attack-inducing fashion.

Willie’s decisions may be controversial but I am going to step up and not second guess but rather defend Willie. To me, Willie plays by the book. But I also think Willie really understands the book.

Anyone who knows this team knows its strengths.

All week we said get us into the 7th in a 4-4 game and the Mets are in good shape. Our bullpen would outpitch theirs.

On Wednesday, Willie was at a luxury. After David Wright’s double, the Mets were up 4-1. We had our lead and now we had out bullpen.

Mota would pitch the 7th, Heilman the 8th, Wagner on 9th.

From a pregame gameplan, you couldn’t draw it up any better. And I think that is why Willie hesitated to get another reliever up in the bottom half of the 6th. He had so much confidence in that 1-2-3, Mota-Heilman-Wagner, with a 3- run lead, that it didn’t matter what we did at the plate.

In the end, it all worked out.

It always seems to with this team. I’ll be in section 43 row R tonight in a Jose Reyes jersey and a slightly tilted orange mets hat.

Come find me at the game.

Next year is now this year.

Vays con dios,

Sip