Because he's not a good game manager. So far, Cooper seems to bring intensity to the ballclub... but not a whole lot else.
Not to defend Coop, but seriously now. One manager bunts, and the fans b**** about it. The next one doesn't, and the fans b**** about it. What's the common denominator? The fans b****. At least there's fans.
This is beyond pathetic of a game managing situation: Bottom of the order 2 men on, nobody out Still have Hakwins on the mound, and Valverde rested in the pen YOU ARE DOWN ONE FREAKING RUN And you're at home. I don't care if Pudge has never laid down a bunt in his life... either motivate him to do so, or get somebody in there who can... hell, I'm sure Roy O would be able to get a sacrafice bunt down in a pressure situation. All you need is ONE run. Instead, we choose to play the inning out as if it was the first inning in a scoreless game. Awful.
my god....this dumb manager does not know what hes doing. pathetic how you dont bunt in that situation. simply horrible.
There are situations you bunt, and situations you don't. Smart managers know those situations. The above stiuation I just described was a no-brainer... not to mention that the Royals are piss-poor besides Greinke (who was already out of the game), and our chances of winning go up exponentially if we can get this into extra innings.
I was screaming at the TV telling the Astros to bunt. It was a NO-BRAINER! He is the manager who for the entire Twins series every time a runner gets on base to lead off an inning he bunts. Now in the PERFECT situation to bunt he sends Pudge out there swinging away. Astros deserved to lose this game.
"not a good game manager". that's a gross understatement. this is beyond not being a good manager. he has no brains. none. throw every ****ing poster on cc.net's name in a hat, and pick one out (the asians who speak no english included), and i honestly and wholeheartedly believe that they would be a better manager than cooper. i dont know how you even give the moron credit for bringing intensity to the ballclub, when by all accounts they all hate him and he inspires nothing in them, but whatever. if drayton had any brains or balls, this would be the straw that broke the camel's back. perfect time to make a statement, and can the fool while the season is still salvagable, the playoffs are in shouting distance, and we have an easy stretch of matchups heading into the break. i'm sick to my stomach.
haha! perhaps... OK, one nit, picked: "By Dick Justice's account" hardly translates to "by all accounts". Do consider the "source".
was bad, but, not to defend him, but he was hamstrung. the ump screwed him over calling 2 high, outside pitches strikes, which he then called the exact same pitch a ball vs michaels since he could see it was inside against a right handed batter, and kaz was probably afraid of getting punched out. f it though, i dont want to divert this thread from talking about what an insult to managing cooper is.
in terms of on-the-field situation, you're right. it was just the general irony, not the validity of the argument. hey--my favorite team sucks! I gotta find *something* to laugh about.
cooper's explanation made no sense, he presented it like it was fact and a no-brainer, and, unsurprisingly, alyson footer, now employed by the astros, agreed with every word of it. pudge is an rbi guy. the batters behind him aren't rbi guys. pudge has been in that situation millions of times (really? runners on first and 2nd, no out, down 1, in the 9th? millions??). pudge has to drive in those runs. footer: pudge can't lay down bunts. so, in a nutshell, cooper is saying that the only situation he will ever bunt in that situation is with keppinger from the 2-hole. and basically, he is saying he concedes the game if pudge doesnt get a hit there, because he's the last "rbi guy". and hey footer, if pudge doesnt have the ability to bunt, maysonet does. i'm just in disbelief and disgust.
So do Oswalt, Moheler, Backe.... hell, even Wandy could probably get one down. But, I'm sure Cooper would use some idiot excuse like "what if the game went extra innings... we need those guys in the bullpen." He's really starting to wear on me. We already know he's not likeable (not by the media, players, or the fans)... which could be ok if he was still making good baseball decisions. Compound his personal problems with bad baseball decisions, and then you have a BIG problem on your hand. The clubhouse chemistry sucks. The lineup is a random mess on a weekly basis. He has somehow salvaged a decent bullpen, thanks largely to Sampson. But regardless, I'd take 1M over this clown any day of the week. At least with him, when he had to explain why he did what he did, he'd either say "managers decision", or actually give published statistics of certain situations. Not make up things like "Pudge has been in that situation millions of times... and he's the one who needs to win the game."
