Read Sports Geek’s argument and Loyal Homer’s arguments about which was the most pivotal coaching decision of the 2009 World Series.
New York Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi has taken a lot of criticism this year for being a micro-manager in how he led the Yankees through the 2009 season. Look who is laughing now!
In a twist of ironic fate, it was Girardi’s critical analysis, combined with a lack of critical analysis by his World Series counterpart, Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, that ended up winning him his first World Series ring as a manager, and the 27th World Series championship for the Yankees.
At a crucial point in the series, after the Yankees had just taken a 2-1 lead in the series, Girardi decided it was time to play strategy, while Manuel decided to play convention. It was a move with very high risk, but also very high reward!
During Game One of the series, Cliff Lee, the ace in Philadelphia’s pitching rotation, had put on one of the most dominant performances in the history of the World Series. Lee threw a complete game against the very dangerous Yankee offense, giving up only one run on six hits. Lee had done his part for the Phillies, outshining his former teammate, Yankees’ ace C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees responded strongly, though, winning the next two games to take that 2-1 lead in the series.
It was at this point that Girardi saw an opportunity to position his team to win the series. Rather than go with the fourth pitcher in his rotation, he decided to pitch C.C. Sabathia again, on only three days rest. With that move, Girardi was attempting to position his team to take a 3-1 lead in the series, which would be extremely difficult to overcome. How did Charlie Manuel respond? He stuck with a conventional rotation.
Instead of putting his best pitcher, Lee, up against Sabathia in an attempt to give his team the best matchup possible, he decided to rest Lee for the extra game. The matchup he seemed comfortable with was to have the fourth pitcher in his rotation, Joe Blanton, take on the 19-game winning Sabathia. As expected, Sabathia went on to pitch 6.2 solid innings, with the Yankees going on to take that 3-1 lead in the series.
During the next matchup, Cliff Lee, who was by far the most dominant pitcher of the series, won his second game with another very impressive showing, but it was too little too late. Manuel had already handed the series to Girardi by not pitching Lee one game earlier.
Girardi had made a strategic decision that gave his team the edge it needed to steal victory away from the Phillies. Had Manuel pitched Lee in Game Four instead of Game Five, he may have been able to give his team a better chance to draw even in the Series at 2-2. Instead, he seemed unwilling to deviate from his rotation, not wanting to put too much strain on Lee.
What I don’t understand is the benefit that Manuel felt he was gaining by saving Lee for the extra game. This wasn’t the sixth week of the regular season, this was the World Series. You need to play to your strengths at all times. Entering into Game Four, the assumption had to be that Sabathia, despite pitching on only three days rest, would still outperform Blanton. Even IF Lee managed to win Game Five, the Phillies would still have to win Games Six AND Seven in order to take the title. In the case that the Phillies did manage to reach Game Seven, though, Manuel would THEN be faced with the prospect of pitching his ace, Lee, on shorter rest than Sabathia. It essentially created a lose-lose situation for Manuel and the Phillies. Either way, he was faced with the need to pitch Lee on short rest, so why not do it on the same night that your opponent is pitching HIS star on short rest? The only way the plan would have worked in Manuel’s favor would have been the very unlikely event that Blanton outpitched Sabathia in Game Four.
Baseball is a situational game. Although Girardi took a lot of heat during the season for sometimes overthinking a situation, he understood the philosophy of allowing the situation to dictate his play. Rather than stick with conventional wisdom, he saw an opportunity to leverage the situation into his favor, which is why he is celebrating a championship today instead of Manuel!
