by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

AP photo: San Francisco Giants brass Larry Baer team CEO, Bobby Evans Sr Vice president & general manager, Executive vice president Brian Sabean, and field manager Bruce Bochy address the media after announcing their hunt for a closer in the off season and the firing of base coaches Bill Hayes and Roberto Kelly

SAN FRANCISCO–No doubt about it, it is my opinion that San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy is a Hall of Fame manager. He won three World Series during the last 5 years with the Giants.  Tony LaRussa was inducted into Cooperstown as a manager a couple of years ago.Tony La Russa managed for 33 seasons in the big leagues.Tony also won three World Series, two with St Louis one with Oakland and he is the third-winningest manager of all time. Tony was one of the first managers to often make use the bullpen, most of the time, but he had a bullpen. I remember when Dennis Eckersley got to Oakland and Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa made him a reliever, The Eck’s plaque in Cooperstown is not far from Tony’s today.

Game Four of the NLDS between the Chicago Cubs and the  Giants  took place in AT&T Park, San Francisco this past Tuesday. The final score was Cubs 6 Giants 5. It was a microcosm of how the Giants were the worse team in the major leagues the second half of 2016. Their bullpen was simply a bad one. San Francisco starter  Matt Moore had pitched a tremendous game holding the Cubs to two runs over eight innings, throwing a total of 120 pitches (in late August Matt Moore threw 133 pitches, tops in his career and was within one out of throwing a no hitter vs. the Dodgers, when Bochy pulled him out of the game). During Game Four of the NLDS Bochy took Moore out after eight saying “he did a great job for us”and decided to go to his bullpen.

I cannot understand why Moore could not have just started the ninth inning, and then if the first batter gets on, then take him out, and go to the pen. But what has been the difference between 120 pitches or 122 ? What happens if Moore get two quick outs? The Cubs where ‘lost in the woods’against Moore all night long. Bringing this bullpen in this case was like to bring an arsonist to the ‘Burning Man’ gathering at  Black Rock Desert in Nevada. We know what happened. Five men cross the mound at AT&T Park as fast as the Cubs could hit the ball, and when the night was done, so were the Giants.

Yes, I am questioning Bruce Bochy, but this is now common in baseball. Managers become fixated to their bullpen and an alarm goes in the dugout when a pitcher has surpassed 100 pitches, like they expect the arm to fall of his socket. But this is not going to get much better, “a quality start” is six innings for a starter in the game today.

Kansas City won the World Series last year with that system and with three relievers programmed a starter completes six innings, then one reliever for the seventh, one for the eighth and then the closer. However, in this case the Royals had The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse for the last three innings, the Giants this year had a gang of five, that could not make three outs.  Huge difference.

The game has changed so much that most managers feel so attached to their bullpen that they tend to over-manage in many situations I have seen. On the other hand, the systems have change and most of the young pitchers today, from the minor leagues have a limit of pitches expected from them. In 1963 at Candlestick Park.  Giants great Juan Marichal threw 227 pitches. The game was won by a walk off home run by Willie Mays 1-0 against Warren Spahn. At one time during that game Giants manager Alvin Dark was going to take Marichal out of the game, but Marichal told him, referring to Warren Spahn: “If that 40 year old guy is still pitching for them, there is no way I am coming out”

When I was broadcasting Giants games in the late 90’s I remember asking Juan Marichal (when he sat with us inside our broadcast booth), “Juan, what would you have told your pitching coach back them if he told you, -give me six quality innings?”. Juan smiled looked and me:  “Me imaginaria que estaba loco” translation “I would believe he was crazy”

It is understandable that the younger generation of  fans see Madison Bumgarder as a God, and he is a tremendous pitcher, but just for the record: Juan Marichal completed 244 games and won 243 in his 16 year Hall of Fame career, he didn’t need a reliever. His pitching was not just noted because of his unusual high leg kick, and the reason he has a statue at the park is because he was one of the old time greats.  Also in 1963 the average price of  a new home was $12,000, the average annual income was $5,000, a gallon of gas was .29 cents and a loaf of bread was .22 cents. So yes, times obviously have changed, so have the mentality of managers.

Notes: The Giants fired base coaches Bill Hayes and Roberto Kelly as announced Thursday at a Giants press conference at AT&T Park

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com