[Dierker] Intentional Walk

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2857016

Intentional walk leaves manager up for criticism
By LARRY DIERKER

"I thought I was having a good year, but they were walking him to get to me."
— Hall of Famer Johnny Mize on Martin Dihigo, Cuba's Babe Ruth, during the time when they were teammates on a winter-ball team in the Dominican Republic

I probably would have walked Dihigo, too. And I know I would have walked Lance Berkman in the ninth inning Monday night. Tony La Russa will surely face some criticism for issuing the pass, because Jeff Kent hit the next pitch out of the park to complete the Astros' three-game home sweep of the Cardinals.

During the five years I managed the Astros, I probably called for fewer intentional walks than any other manager. As a pitcher, I liked having the open base and was often able to get a hitter to swing at a pitch out of the strike zone. The hitter in that situation is trying to drive in a run or two and often becomes overly aggressive.

A lot of managers issue walks to set up double plays. Knowing the ground-ball double play to be a 1-in-10 shot, I only walked a batter because I didn't want to face him — not to get the twin killing. Most of my free passes were issued with two out in the inning, while many managers do it with one out or even with nobody out. I didn't want to help my opponent put a crooked number on the board.


The Bonds incident
The only time I changed my thinking was when Rich Aurilia legged out a double in our last home game in the 2001 regular season. Barry Bonds was going for his 70th home run in that series. It was about the seventh inning, and we were down six or seven runs in the score. I walked Bonds because I was angry with Aurilia. When he hustled the hit into a double, it was like rubbing salt into a wound. So I walked Bonds with one out, mostly out of spite, which is not a good way to manage.

Ordinarily, I would not have walked Bonds in that situation but would have instructed our pitcher to pitch around the edge of the strike zone but not to throw a strike. Bonds probably wouldn't have swung at a bad pitch, and we would have ended up walking him anyway.

And though he probably wouldn't have chased a bad pitch, he might have driven the run home if our pitcher made a mistake and threw a pitch over the plate. In that case, I would have been the scapegoat for not walking him, and the pitcher would not have been criticized. But you can't manage to avoid criticism. The next hitter was Jeff Kent, and on that occasion, he hit into a double play.

On Monday, I would have walked Berkman because it was the bottom of the ninth and one run would win the game. There was no reason to consider a big inning. Only the runner at second mattered.


Kent a big rock
As with Bonds and Kent, Berkman and Kent can put you squarely between a rock and a hard place. Lance is more likely to walk and just a little more likely to get a hit. But Kent is swinging the bat well now and has come through in this type of situation before. If he had hit into a double play, La Russa would have been a genius. Now he is a dummy. Such is the fate of a major-league manager.

Most of the time, a ballgame is won by one team or the other without the manager's decisions playing much of a part in the outcome. But when your strategy fails in a critical game, it is hard to live with it. Bob Lemon once said that he didn't take the losses home with him but instead left a little bit of them in each bar along the way. I can identify with Lemon. I didn't leave many losses in many taverns, but I usually didn't get over them until the next day. In this instance, La Russa has an extra day to simmer down.

As for the Astros, they would probably have preferred to keep the momentum going by playing Tuesday night. Now the day off has given the wounds, physical and mental, some time to heal. And now we are back to square one. If the Astros don't win tonight, all the glorious victories at Minute Maid Park won't mean a thing. It will be one game, do-or-die.

 

I don't understand why people are saying its a dumb decision because Kent hit a homer. It was one out and he was coming up anyway even if the Cards got Berkman out. The decision was Berkman or Ensberg when ability to get a hit is the decision maker. No way you choose to pitch to Berkman over Ensberg.