behind the dugout

Watching this game on TBS there were a handful of things that stood out. From personnel changes to umpire calls and even to decisions that have long ago been made by Major League Baseball.

I’ll take a look at some of the points that I thought were critical in this playoff deciding battle between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies.

Major League Baseball counting the stats for the regular season

The Situation : Unlike any other sport baseball holds it’s stats to a sacred level. No other sport even has a “playoff game” to determine who gets in the playoffs. Every other sport that I know goes by head to head match ups, strength of schedule, point differential. It may be confusing at times but there is no way a player is going to get an extra game to pad his stats. No way is he going to take advantage of this to lead the league in a statistical category.

The Result : Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox reached 20 wins this season. Beckett was the only pitcher in baseball to reach this threshold which despite any other stats you may put up means you had a “great” season. Jake Peavy entered this game with 19 wins and though the idea was tossed around to start him on Sunday manager Bud Black went ahead and held him off for this match up. Peavy didn’t get the win leaving in the seventh with 19 wins on the year.

The extra game allowed Adrian Gonzalez to reach 30 home runs and 100 RBI when he hit a grand slam off of Josh Fogg.

Coming into the game Philadelphia Phillies first basemen Ryan Howard led the NL in RBI. Howard had played in only 144 games compared to Matt Holliday’s 157 but alas he led the league in RBI 136-135. Holliday had aleady played in 13 more games then Howard but it was the 14th game that would give him the RBI crown. Holliday tied for the lead before extra innings started. How fair for Howard? Now Holliday was going to get extra innings to best him. A double in the 13th to drive in Troy Tulowitzki would give Holliday 137 RBI to go with his league leading .340 batting average.

From the Couch : As much as I like Holliday and feel he is the NL MVP I don’t believe he was a better RBI producer then Howard. After all Howard produced 0.944 RBI a game compared to 0.867 for Holliday.

The Padres ragtag lineup

The Situation : The San Diego Padres have possibly the best rotation and bullpen built for the playoffs out of any team. Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Greg Maddux in the rotation, not to mention Trevor Hoffman, a surprising Heath Bell and a gritty Doug Brocail in the pen.

However their lineup has been suspect all season. Outfielders Mike Cameron and Milton Bradley had recently been lost to injury. Cameron when Bradley stepped on his hand, Bradley when he had to be restrained by manager Bud Black for arguing with umpire Mike Winters.

The Padres had picked up guys who were castoffs from other teams, they weren’t the best offensive team and ranked near the bottom in everything but with the Padres pitching you could argue they don’t need to score many runs.

The Result : Take a look at the guys Black had to run out there in this game.
Scott Hairston - picked up from Arizona after hitting .220 something
Kevin Kouzmanoff - acquired in a trade with Cleveland
Josh Bard - acquired in a trade last season with the Red Sox. Wasn’t even the starting catcher till midway in the season.
Brady Clark - a guy who was hitting .224 with the Dodgers before they cut bait

Here’s the reserves he had to work with
Michael Barrett - Cubs catcher from earlier in the season
Chase Headley - played in Double-A most of the season
Morgan Ensberg - picked off from the Astros
Oscar Robles - a bumb who had a few at-bats with the Dodgers the last two years
Brian Myrow - 31 year old who had spent almost all season at Portland
Jason Lane - another cast off of the Astros

Those were just the guys who played. The team was also carrying Colt Morton (Double-A), Craig Stansberry (Triple-A), Drew Macias (Double-A), Rob Mackowiak (White Sox) and Terrmel Sledge (Triple-A).

Black didn’t exactly have first pick on the sandlot today.

Sure the team scored 8 runs but from the 9th to the 13th had lead off man on base after lead off man only to fail to move him around. In total they left 30 men on base compared to 21 by Colorado.

Brady Clark playing Center field

The Situation : Brady Clark formerly of the Dodgers and the Red Sox minor leagues was playing center-field for the Padres. Clark had played in 23 games in center for the Padres this season and was filling in for the injured Mike Cameron. He had not made an error in center field this season but made four last year while with the Milwaukee Brewers. In his career Clark has played 728 games in center compared to 390 in right and 93 in left.

The Result : Despite playing in the NL his whole career Clark looked completely lost in center. He misplayed at least three balls, two that resulted in triples to Seth Smith and Troy Tulowitzki. Both would score.

Clark was replaced by pinch hitter Terrmel Sledge in the 10th who was replaced by Cameron on the base paths following a walk. Cameron went ahead and played center-field for an inning before giving way to Jason Lane.

From the Couch : Brady Clark? This guy is a bumb. Black didn’t have many options here though. Lane isn’t quite a true center-fielder and Clark probably was the best hitter this season of the three. That Clark looked so awful in center speaks volumes about how bad the Padres team really was.

Bud Black leaves Jake Peavy in for 6 1/3 innings

The Situation : Jake Peavy pitching on normal rest after being held out of the previous game in case a one game showdown was needed. Peavy had 19 wins and led baseball in strikeouts and ERA. A sure CY Young year for a guy pitching in just fifth big league season.

The Result : Peavy gave up 2 runs in the first inning and a home run to Yorvit Torrealba in the third. The Padres were down 3-0 early. They rallied back for five in the third only to see Peavy give one back in the bottom of the inning on a homer by Todd Helton. The Rockies again scored in the fifth and sixth and Peavy left with the loss on his shoulder.

Peavy gave up 10 hits, four walks and struck out six. In Peavy’s previous 33 starts he had allowed just 11 home runs. He allowed two of them in this game. He finishes the year with 19 wins a a 2.54 ERA.

From the Counch : I kept yelling for Black to take Peavy out of the game. He never did. Maybe it was his plan to pitch Peavy to the seventh to bridge things to Hoffman. Still both teams were working with 40 players and Black should have taken advantage of everyone they had. By the time Peavy was taken out the team was looking to come back rather then hold the lead.

Bell, Brocial, and Tatcher alowed just 1 hit and 3 walks over 5 2/3 innings of relief when they finally got the ball.

Clint Hurdle pinch runs for Garret Atkins

The Situation : Up 6-5 Clint Hurdle turned to Jamey Carroll to pinch run for Garret Atkins in the seventh. Hurdle was looking for an extra run and Carroll was more speed on the base paths. Carroll is also considerably a better defender then Atkins.

The Result : The Rockies fail to get the run. They lose a guy who was hitting .345/.404/.527 since the break. Instead of having Holliday, Helton, Atkins they have Holliday, Helton, Carroll in the 3-5 spots.

From the Couch : Carroll cannot be that much better then Atkins at third. Please no Ian Stewart, please no Ian Stewart, please no Ian Stewart.

Seriously Jamey Carroll? The guy was on fire last season for the first half but he hit .225/.300/.317 this season. Maybe his grandma is what really keeps Clint Hurdle feeling so young? Jamey Carroll?

Hurdle gives the ball to Jorge Julio

The Situation : Jorge Julio comes in the 13th inning of a 6-6 game. He had a 12.54 ERA with the Florida Marlins before a trade to the Rockies and now finds himself in a must win game. Julio is 13-33 in 410 games and has a 4.31 ERA for his career. He’s had trouble with wild pitches, walks a ton of batters, has been a victim of the long ball and generally is not someone you would trust in more then a mop-up role.

The Result : Julio allows two runs to score on a home run by Scott Hairston. He parts the game with a man on first. Ramon Ortiz who isn’t much better then Julio records the final outs of the inning and the game looks like the Padres to lose. Trevor Hoffman who had been saved for the last four innings has warmed up and is coming into the game.

From the Couch : I’ve seen Julio far more then I have wanted in my life. As a member of the Baltimore Orioles he was supposed to be the guy who could lock the game up. Instead he made us wish we had our eyes removed. Julio may be able to throw hard but he can’t find a strike zone, is fragile on the mound and was eventually sent to the Mets for Anna Benson and her husband Kris. I could complain about Kris Benson but that’s a whole other article.

Hoffman blows critical save

The Situation : Staked to a 8-6 lead the Padres turned to their best pitcher, a guy with a record 524 saves to closeout the game. Hoffman had saved 42 games this season and had saved 40-plus each of the last four seasons. In addition he held a 2.53 ERA, a WHIP around 1 and a BAA just above .200. Prior to his blown save on September 29 Hoffman had allowed just 0 runs to score in his last 7 appearances all of which resulted in a save or a win. Looking further back Hoffman had a save without a blown save in his last 11 outings.

Some will point out Hoffman had blown 6 saves in his 48 games against the Rockies and has a 6.03 ERA against them for his carrer.

The Result : Hoffman folded again with the cards on the table. Had Hoffman recorded the save in Milwaukee this game wouldn’t even have taken place.

The inning started with a double with a 2-0 double to right by Kaz Matsui that was followed by a double by Troy Tulowitzki. Matt Holliday continued the rally for the Rockies as he hit a triple to the right-field wall. Before Todd Helton even was intentionally walked the Padres were already defeated. They had wated until the 13th inning to bring in Hoffman and had no other options but to trust in him.

Flashback: Clint Hurdle pinch runs for Garret Atkins

The Situation : Up 6-5 Clint Hurdle turned to Jamey Carroll to pinch run for Garret Atkins in the seventh. Hurdle was looking for an extra run and Carroll was more speed on the base paths. Carroll is also considerably a better defender then Atkins.

The Result : The Rockies fail to get the run. They lose a guy who was hitting .345/.404/.527 since the break. Instead of having Holliday, Helton, Atkins they have Holliday, Helton, Carroll in the 3-5 spots.

Carroll is now in the fifth place and will face Trevor Hoffman in the 13th with a man on second.

After the free pass to Helton, Jamey Carroll hit a liner to right. Brian Giles quickly riffeled the ball home. Holliday was rounding third and he was met at home where he would meet Michael Barrett and the ball.

From the Couch : How could I have doubted a guy with a .272/.353/.350 career line who managed to hit only .217 this season?

Trevor Hoffman blew the 2006 All Star Game also. I don’t care how many saves he has (524 regular season) he’s never pitched in the pressure. He blew Game 3 of the World Series in 1998 for crying out loud. The Padres got swept in that series because of him. Maybe Randy Myers hip was hurting from the millions of dollars the Padres were going to have to pay him to sit and watch a ballgame.

Matt Holliday not touching home plate

The situation : The Rockies had tied up the game 8-8 and Matt Holliday as rounding third. Brian Giles had made a great throw to home where catcher Michael Barrett was there to recieve the ball. Holliday slid face first at the plate making a swipe at it that would win the game for the Rockies. In all the bedlam Barrett had positioned his left foot to block the plate. Barrett then picked up the ball from the collision and applied a tag to Holliday. Was he safe or out?

The result : Veteran umpire Tim McClelland was in position but seemed affraid to make a call. After all no one wants to be the next Doug Eddings. McClelland sat there behind the plate for what seemed like an eternity before making a very hesitant, non-chalant safe call that gave the Rockies their first taste of the playoffs since 1995.

From the couch : Oddly I was not even on the couch as this was happening. From my computer chair I yelled “He didn’t touch the plate” as Holliday continued his face dive towards the dugout. When McClelland called him safe I was furious. I had just spent somewhere around five hours of my life to see a great game blown on a missed call. I don’t know Tim McClelland from Tim Cheeta but I know a missed call when I see it.

Replays only furthered my belief that Holliday never touched the plate but it was too late. The Rockies had already stormed the field, McClelland had already made the call. The Padres were about to take a very dejected flight back to San Diego.

We’re going to hear about this one until the NLDS starts and then again when the Rockies and Padres play next season. It’s not going to go away.