The Official Fire Dusty Baker Thread

[WvuDieHard]

Ok lets talk DustraMetrics. You have finally got Frazier hitting the ball and you call up a player who has stolen his first 10 bases, a player who is electrifying and a game changer. So, Choo gets an injury and what do you do as a manager? You sit Frazier and keep Hamilton on the bench for Hannahan and Derick Robinson. End result: 0-7 combined. Now that is the definition of DustraMetrics. Oh, but don't get to relaxed, their will be more to come. At least DustMop can blame the Reds demise now on Choo getting hurt. This kind of managing would be consistent with Pete Rose managing the club and betting against the Reds. It makes ZERO sense. It goes back to my point I have made for 3 years, DustMop doesn't put his team in a position to win and this is a classic example of it.

 

[eburg5000]

totally agree WVU

 

[eburg5000]

I also wanted to say This is not the time to be resting players. I know Choo was injured but there is absolutely no reason to rest Frazier.

 

[JohnU]

I also wanted to say This is not the time to be resting players. I know Choo was injured but there is absolutely no reason to rest Frazier.

Evidently on some small sample size, Frazier doesn't rate out very well against Burnett.
So we sent Hannahan up there to strike out 4 times instead.
I wasn't down on the Robinson start but putting him at leadoff just because he's the center fielder, just shows how little Dusty is allowed to think outside the lines that have hemmed him in.
All in all, blame Baker and his brain-dead hitting coach.
And for the next guy who says the hitting coach doesn't matter, then why do we have one?
St. Louis will, once its rookie pitchers get more experience, leave the Redlegs in the gravel unless this moronic Baker and the nimrod Jacoby are replaced.
You can't get 5 hits and win. Every pitcher the Reds face makes them look clueless, confused and overmatched. Not very many exceptions once you get past Houston.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Someone has to replace Choo if he can't go, but Frazier ? The BS on Robinson instead of Hamilton was that Dusty didnt want to put pressure on him... So he plays another rookie- Robinson hitting .240. I suppose there is less pressure today when the series is on the line ? Heisey hitting 2nd today. Dusty is a real random kind of guy, that obviously thinks it doesn't matter who he throws out there. Sometimes, he's right. Sometimes the Reds win anyway. He's hard on confidence, though.

 

[JohnU]

The trick is to get Hamilton plenty of PT before the league gets a book on him.
Robinson was a nice one-trick pony early in the season. He's not a big-league hitter.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The "book" on Hamilton is going to have to start and end with him missing the ball, because if he makes contact on the ground, he's a tough out. He hit a chopper back to the pitcher and was only out by a half step. A 3 hop GB to the SS is a hit half the time. A bunt is almost a sure thing....if Dusty will allow him to slap, chop and bunt, instead of trying to Stubbs him into a power hitter, the guy could be the next Cool Papa Bell...I use than comparison because not many have a clue who he was, and have never seen anyone like Hamilton either.

He's a unique weapon there is no ready defense for. I don't buy Dusty not playing him because of pressure, because all the pressure is on the defense when he's at the plate or on the bases. It's senseless not to use him.

 

[WvuDieHard]

Absolutely mind blowing to set Billy Hamilton with Choo injured. Can not fathom that ploy. It ranks up there with Simon bunting for the 1st time in 7 years, down 1 run in 7 inning, and then pull him (uninjured might have you) to pitch the top of the 8th. These type of moves are known as Dustmopotology which means there is no known precedence to a such move. Fresh, original bonehead, off the wall dunderhead antics, that make you go--BOOM! If the Reds did win the World Series, I would tip my cap and say gee --we just witnesses one the greatest teams in Reds History to be able to overcome that type of mismanagement.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I try to remind myself it's easy to criticize from the living room, or the moon deck. In the kind of guy that might, in that one game playoff game, do something "insane" like lead Hamilton off in the top of the first, and have him steal second AND third on Choo's first 2 strikes, and start Aroldis Chapman, and ask for 3 innings, just because there would be no pre-game plan or scouting report for the Pirates for such, and it would be my goal to take their head put of what they planned on doing, and have to react to the unexpected...because unless you win that game, there aren't any more this year.

Likely, I might win that first one from sheer suprise, or make it a challenge anyway...or Hamilton might make 2 errors and Chapman walk in the only run of the game, or if we won anyway, then Id
be faced with questions-who closes game 1 of the NLDS, why I didn't include whoever in the playoff roster, etc..and I might get fired if things didnt go as planned regardless...

Dusty makes ill timed moves, but they are usually within the safe confines of what he's done before, this season, or last week. People get used to it. It softens the senses some and makes gor esdier acceptance for the casual fan, and to the agony of us nitpickers. Heisey had hits yesterday- a long shot in my book, but he justified Dusty's move. It reinforces the likelihood we'll see more oddball "strategy" with Dusty.

Dusty is Dusty...and even more so when the camera is on him. Scary.

 

[bengaldoug]

There's nothing we can do about Dusty now. Just cross your fingers and toes, and pray that God might keep Dusty under control for the next several weeks, and grant him temporary wisdom.

 

[redsfan03]

It really is excruciating to watch Dusty get such badly outmaneuvered by a manager who has absolutely nothing to play for. That 9th inning was one of the most frustrating innings the Reds have had.

 

[Redsfan1507]

It's hard for me to believe that Dusty knows so little about the game. There must be some other reason behind his apparent random approach, but I couldn't guess what it is. Manny Parra tossing breaking balls to righty Mets doesn't worry me nearly as bad as it will when he's doing it against playoff teams. If Walt is awake, he needs to cut Duke before the playoffs. Ludwik is our 4 hitter...Votto walks 5 times and Ludwick fails 5 times. Hamilton is hitting .400 and gets in the game as a runner at 1st with 2 out. Ludwick is due to make about $9 mil next year, so I'm betting he plays alot then, too.

A win is a win. Just playing for home field in the play-in game now, really...All else equal, it could be worse...the Pirates are champaigning like they won something tonight. Bad karma, IMO unless just getting there is enough gor this year... play-in goes to Atlanta, I believe ( best record), and although they've schooled the Reds, their entire OF is hurting, and have a couple pitchers really dropping off lately. I think the Dodgers could be a runaway freight train to look out for, and you never know about the Cardinals.

It will be interesting...the Indians are still in the ALWC...hmmm.

 

[JohnU]

When Cueto gets better hacks than half the guys in the lineup, something strikes me as wrong.
Do these guys not discuss anything in the dugout? Harang is an old salt, but he walked 6 guys.

I can't say Dusty is liable for that offensive abomination, but somebody in the dugout needed to be having some chats with guys who were in that game. I can't say for sure, but it doesn't seem like guys coming back to the dugout would not at least discuss it with somebody.

Phillips and Ludwick were beaten in the 9th inning on pitches that they KNEW were coming.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Dusty is a guy that professes he doesn't want his team to get too high or too low. Unfortunately, his disk tone offensive philosophy and frequently mismanaged situational play often puts this team to sleep. Granted, the players aren't the best at focus. They look like they are all over medicated in games like last night. Whenever a player energizes the team, he's always on the bench the next day...ever notice that ?

 

[WvuDieHard]

It truely is amazing how DustMop make out a lineup card. He will go against the book often. Lefty/righty pitching and hitting combinations mean nothing to DustMop. A player on a hot streak, means nothing to DustMop, in fact he will usually sit that guy. Players leaving 10 on base in a game, a sure 4 hole hitter tomorrow in the DustMop handbook. Then you have a lightning bolt like Hamilton and you sit him on Saturday and PR him with 2 out on Monday. Unfathomable! WTF is that retard thinking? If the Reds have any chance of getting to or winning a WS, Billy Hamilton is the guy who energizes this club and propels them forward. I truely believe that. He is the ingredient the Reds have missed all year and now they have it. The problem is DustMop won't take advantage of it, he will squander using BH because of his stubborn old foggie beliefs. I fear what you will see in a 1 game playoff or even a short series. The Gaffes are sure to not go away. All you can do is hope that the 9 players on the field play above their heads and at a high level as to overcome the stupidity that oozes from the dugout.

 

[bengaldoug]

Let us pray.....................................

 

[Redsfan1507]

Hopefully, if any good can come by being beaten by the Mets, it becomes apparent that regardless of his stats against the forgotten others, Mike Leake IS the 5th best starter in a 3-1/2 man playoff rotation.

 

[Redsfan1507]

BP said today on WLW700 that he thinks Hamilton "should play more and be at the top of the lineup"...he volunteered to hit "5th or 6th" adding "were trying to win, right" ?

We'll see what Dusty thinks.

 

[WvuDieHard]

Aha--even BP has the same thinking. Don't you think there are other guys in that locker room who have the same opinion? It all goes back to a statement I made back in the spring which was "How does these stupid manager's decisions affect the morale of this team? If the Coach manages like he doesn't care, why should I? DustMop is a cancer and has been from day one. He will never get the best from his players because they doubt him as a Coach but would never come out and say it. The media won't come out and say it but bygod I will. He fucking sucks and is ruining the most talent Cincy has seen since the Big Red Machine. Let me quantify that statement: HR's : '76 Reds=141 '13 YTD Reds 156. And here is one that will lead credence to firing the hitting coach: '76 Strike outs in a season by the hitters: 902 2013 Reds YTD 1211. Coaching and managing is the problem here folks and it is easy to see that on a daily basis. From Lineup cards to hitting instruction, to the use of pitchers, it all plays into a poor formula. That is a statement that is hard for any reader to take seriously when a team is in the playoffs and has 90 wins but not hard to believe if you know the talent on this team and have watched the last 485 games. This club should have 95 wins right now at a minimum with just baseball 101 managing instead of the bull shit we get from DustMop. It truly is an insult to every Reds fan.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Even though the game looks the same, there are several differences in the players today, and of 40 years ago....and if PEDs are truly in a decline, there will be more changes coming still.

The pitching is more abundant now ( 12-13 man pitching staffs and more teams), but the talent is thinner...placing more emphasis on specialty roles and matchups. Mounds are lower and parks are smaller, players are bigger and stronger, placing more emphasis on the long ball. Non-wood bats in ametuer play reinforce power is more important than contact in many eyes now. The DH may only exist in the AL, but those who play and coach and manage float between the leagues, and inter league play, and the residuals of a quarter century of PED assaults on HOF benchmarks like HRs, has reduced the use of small ball, situational play, and sounder fundamentals.

Dusty may feign old school, but he's more a product of the newer power first generation than the generation of managers he grew up with. I've always seen him as an AL manager miscast in the NL. There are lots of managers that were pitchers that still manage hitters well, and former hitters that manage pitching well, but the consensus among managers is, they are verwhelmingly much the same- they manage little compared to managers in the 70's. They're always exceptions- Earl Weaver and Dusty are a lot alike in they both distain the steal and bunt, and wait a long time on the 3 run HR.

I can't buy into playing the defense in, with 1 out and runners at 2nd & 3rd, and not walking the 8 hitter to get to a pitcher, or a pinch hitter replacing their closer, with the game on the line, though. Neither would Earl. Weaver didnt often hit Mark Belanger in the 2 hole, either. Just saying.