Why Bobby Cox can’t (and won’t) start Conrad in Game 4
Managerial mercy required. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Well, I’ve slept on it (though not well), and I’ve decided: Bobby Cox cannot start Brooks Conrad in Game 4 of the NLDS tonight. This has nothing to do with baseball strategy. It has everything to do with human kindness.
Brooks Conrad is a journeyman whose journey has led him into the wilderness, and he can see no way home. It’s incumbent on someone (meaning Cox) to come rescue him. It isn’t that Conrad has developed Steve Sax/Chuck Knoblauch Disease, where he can’t throw straight. Poor Brooks is so confused he can’t even think straight.
We saw it last night even at those times he wasn’t making an error. He looked to second base before throwing — accurately — to first base, and in the game’s strangest moment he called off Derrek Lee to run over and catch a pop that should have been the first baseman’s all along. It isn’t that Conrad isn’t trying. On the contrary, he’s trying so hard he can barely remember where to stand.
Credit Conrad for facing reporters after the worst postseason game any Brave has ever had. (Let’s recall that Lonnie Smith ducked out after stopping at second base in the Metrodome in 1991.) But now it’s up to Cox. He has to do the right thing: He has to bench Brooks.
If that means playing Troy Glaus at third base and letting San Francisco bunt three times an inning, so be it. (The Giants are starting Madison Bumgarner, who’s a lefthander, so having Glaus at third — as opposed to Eric Hinske — makes a bit of tactical sense.) Omar Infante can move back to second, and Conrad can go back to being a pinch-hitter.
The important thing is to get Conrad in the dugout. He’s doing no one any good at second base, himself least of all. (His evocative postgame words: “I wish I could dig a hole and sleep in it.”) And there’s no percentage in inflicting further indignity on the tough little guy whose big hits helped get the Braves beyond Game No. 162.
He’s doing his best, but at the moment his best isn’t very good. I’m not certain what Bobby Cox will decide, but if I’m anything of a Bobby reader after 25 years of study, I’d say he’d made up his mind last night. This would not be a punitive benching, a Charlie-Finley-trying-to-deactivate-Mike-Andrews-in-the-World-Series thing. This would be an act of mercy.
Update: The Braves have announced their lineup for tonight’s game. Glaus is starting at third base. Conrad isn’t starting.
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800 comments Add your comment
Robert
October 11th, 2010
3:18 pm
Well I for one thought nothing but good thoughts about Brooks during the season. I mean he was a folk hero with game winning hits! But most of them were pinch hits, and yes we had 2 key injuries to two main guys in our infield, but are you telling me that Brooks is the best replacement we have defensedly in our entire farm system? And Bobby Cox the great icon. I’m sorry but he is the reason the Braves only won one World Series, dispite being in the playoffs 14 straight years! Him and the fact that we rarely have any offense to go with our great pitching! Frank Wren thank you for going out and getting Adam Dunn! Oh yea that’s right you didn’t go get him. Can’t win too many games, if you don’t score more than one run! And if you are having trouble scoring, don’t you think you should have the best possible defense behind your pitchers?
BJ
October 11th, 2010
3:19 pm
Does Cox ever use data to make a decision? He is SO obsolete. Left handed hitters against Kimble have a lower batting average than against Dunn. Huff has a higher batting average against left handed pitchers than against right handed. Cox never switched Wagner to match up lefty vs righty. Who was calling the signs for Kimble’s pitches? Sanchez could not catch up with Kimble’s fast balls and so a slower pitch is called (by Brian or Cox?) Wells and Eckersly were in agreement after the game that you never take the fast pitch away from a fast ball pitcher when batters cannot catch up to it. Does Cox know that Hinske played third base for the Yankees for 3 years?
I was more disheartened with last night’s loss than any in memory (and I have watched or attended every game for past 5 years)..As for Jason, someone last night said that Terry had been working with him to get his swing fixed. Tell me one hitter who become a better hitter after Pendleton’s coaching? Two weeks ago Chipper (and I hope he does become our batting coach) in an interview on t.v. said that what “they” were doing to help Jason was not what he would do. If we lost tonight, at least Cox will be gone….no more sitting in the dugout yawning, picking his nose, and NEVER talking to a member of his own staff.
I guess he knows it all….which equals ZERO.
David k. Reed
October 11th, 2010
3:20 pm
I think that Bobby Cox should start Troy Glaus at third and Omar Infante at 2nd. In the offseason, I would like to see the braves have Craig Kimbel as our new closer, and get Carl Crawford. By the way, I would like to see either Joe Torre or Freddie G. come to Atlanta and become our new manager.
extremus
October 11th, 2010
3:21 pm
It’s times like this when you begin to wonder if it’s accurate to define sports as entertainment. Come the playoffs (if your team makes it that far), it becomes more akin to the sensation of hanging off a cliff for nine innings (or four quarters, or whatever)…and then either the exuberant release of jubilation for one (and only one) team and its fans in the end while all the others only feel the very correct analogy of “the agony of defeat”. These aren’t some two or three-hour movie where usually the ending is a foregone, happy conclusion, nor a videogame where if you fail you get to immediately try again; they’re the culmination of months and hundreds of hours invested into training and playing by the players and watching by the fans. That kind of investment is truly only rewarded, if we’re honest with ourselves, if it ends with a World Series, Superbowl, or some other title.
For Atlanta fans, that’s why I think they are considered by many to be “fair weather”, and perhaps unfairly. When watching the Braves during the 1990s and 2000s, by the middle of that divisional winning streak I was so wrung out emotionally by intense, nail-biting one-run contests that decided the fate of whole seasons that I started just tuning in at the ends of games or even reading about them afterward. Not that I didn’t care; I literally couldn’t deal with it health-wise. No other team and no other city has had a run of simultaneous success and excruciating heartbreak to compare after getting that close for so long. No, the vitriolic and nasty comments toward Brooks Conrad and Bobby Cox are not justified. But they’re the lashing out of folks who’ve been through this song and dance before and like me were lulled by the 2010 Braves into believing this season might be different. And now on some levels we feel betrayed by all that time and passion we put in, because of absolutely fundamental errors that MLB teams should NEVER let slide without addressing. The defense was a huge problem especially since Chipper and Prado went down; Conrad is only the poor guy who happened to make all the crucial gaffes in that particular game. My heart wants to believe this team is still in it, that they can still win, and I’ll keep rooting for them until that’s no longer the case. But my head tells me they’re out of miracles and that no matter how well they pitch they just can’t win at this level when A) they have NO offense and B) they beat themselves in the field.
Hope they win, but I’m already looking forward eagerly to those winter meetings…
Brooks and Dunn need to go back to Nashville
October 11th, 2010
3:22 pm
They sing better than they play.
@CyberCox6
October 11th, 2010
3:22 pm
It’s be super cool if Jayson Heyward got a hit at some point in this series.
sam i am miller
October 11th, 2010
3:24 pm
First
Jesse Stone
October 11th, 2010
3:28 pm
MB- It’s not fair that the ajc has an advertisement including the word “airbag”, right above your picture
Turtsnap
October 11th, 2010
3:30 pm
Their Rookie is better than our Rookie!
extremus
October 11th, 2010
3:31 pm
TurtSnap,
Their Rookie has a better batting coach, too.
Turtsnap
October 11th, 2010
3:32 pm
Extremus….. got that right! I keep saying it, hoping J-Hey will come out of his funk, because in the long run, he will be the better player…….. I keep hoping!
DOCTOBER
October 11th, 2010
3:33 pm
Don Carmen
October 11th, 2010
2:43 pm
hey oh……question for ya’ll — is this current Phillies team…
a) great
b) really great
c) Historically Great
Yo, Don…All of the above!! GO PHILLIES!!
reckingball
October 11th, 2010
3:33 pm
Jesse……..I get it, you are a big time Glaus hater. But putting aside the hating, Glaus is the best option to play 3rd, and should have been started yesterday. They would not be in the playoffs without his contributions to the team in the regular season.
Is Hernandez a rookie or a second year player? Either way he has very limited experience in the MLB.
kkong
October 11th, 2010
3:33 pm
Atta boy, Mr. Bradley…take another shot. You’re great at kicking someone when they’re down. Yeah, Brooks screwed up. We’re so glad that you’re perfect.
Brave Hokie
October 11th, 2010
3:34 pm
@extremus
Besides the multiple years of postseason failure, what eats me is that so many of the current short comings where seen through the season w/next to nothing being done to improve anything.
The Braves should taken a lession from Twins & Reds and quitely gotten swept; but no, 2010 will go down as the postseason when some imbecile named Conrad set a new standard in fielding errors…
The last 4 postseason where so nice & peaceful.
King of Stone Mountain
October 11th, 2010
3:34 pm
Thanks, Kenny. That was my point from the previous page. That freakin slider was a flashback to our meltdown of the 90’s…same pitch Mark Wohlers served up on a platter to Jim Leyritz.
Jesse Stone
October 11th, 2010
3:35 pm
reckingball- Not a hater, just someone that knows he’s limited…very limited on defense. The Braves would not be in the playoffs withoud Conrad’s contributions either. Glaus was good at one time, but not since June.
Jason Hey-would
October 11th, 2010
3:36 pm
Now, Now
My traveling coach says I am playing fine…
.000 is not THAT bad at the major league level…
Jesse Stone
October 11th, 2010
3:36 pm
BravesHokie- A true Braves fan would NEVER wish for his team to be swept.
Sonny Clusters
October 11th, 2010
3:38 pm
We was upset after last night’s game. We have never seen so much animosity on one player.
Sonny Clusters
October 11th, 2010
3:38 pm
Last night we was so disappointed.
Jesse Stone
October 11th, 2010
3:38 pm
Everyone was screaming for Glaus to get benched. The Braves send him to Gwinnett, fans feel sorry for him, and now the tide has turned and for some reason everyone wants him back. Someone even posted a lineup with him batting 4th. I just don’t get the Glaus-love.
Sonny Clusters
October 11th, 2010
3:39 pm
Our comments aren’t posting.
Concrete Pete
October 11th, 2010
3:39 pm
Buck Belue just said it best: “Show up and support the Braves, because that’s your team!” Let’s go Braves fans lets be loud and proud tonight. There are 6 teams still playing and we’re one of them!
King of Stone Mountain
October 11th, 2010
3:39 pm
Jason Hey-would………….oh that’s messed up!!! baaaaaahahahaha
Rick
October 11th, 2010
3:43 pm
Dang, there’s a LOT of excellent baseball players posting here today!
A Giant Comeback | KQED News Fix
October 11th, 2010
3:44 pm
[...] Here's why Cox can't start Conrad in Game 4 (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) [...]
Peter
October 11th, 2010
3:48 pm
The rubber meets the road tonight……we shall see how the Braves handle the pressure.
Will the fold like an old tent, or hang tough like experienced vets ?
Giants should play loose tonight…..all will be interesting.
ijudgenot
October 11th, 2010
3:48 pm
THE CURSE OF DAVID JUSTICE WILL BE BROKEN THIS YEAR
October 11th, 2010
2:54 pm
TO ALL OF YOU BOOBY SUPPORTERS,WE LOST 2 PLAYOFF GAMES WITH HIM COACHING,AND WE WON 1 PLAYOFF GAME WITHOUT HIM!
WITH BOOBY 0-2
WITHOUT BOOBY 1-0
I think this is an overexageration, but If Cox was calling all the shots from tunnel in game 2 as some have suggested, how do you explain the move that brought in Glaus for Conrad at third after only one Conrad error, and putting Infante at second, and the move in ninth to take Glaus out and put in Diory at third. Now if the same guy who made those moves was managing yesterday, wouldn’t you expect similar moves yesterday after Conrad had already committed 2 errors? And if the answer is that Braves did not have lead when Glaus was brought in for more offense, then the move to replace Glaus in the ninth was for defensive purposes, so why was not the same move made with Diory in the ninth last night?
Its tough to reconcile the thinking process in game 2 with the thinking process in game 3 and say that it was done by same person.
Peter
October 11th, 2010
3:49 pm
Enter your comments here
Armydawg
October 11th, 2010
3:49 pm
Time to lay off Conrad. I cant imagine the insults, cursing and agony he has had to endure these past 24 hours. He is human and made mistakes but baseball is a GAME. Even the SF Chronicle called him their best weapon. How much can one man endure? We can settle this by letting the first perfect person to post here continue the criticism.
Brave Hokie
October 11th, 2010
3:51 pm
Getting swept would feel better than I did last night…
I guess if I was a better fan I would have seen the “brightside” like many of the pollyannic souls on this blog…
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
October 11th, 2010
3:51 pm
(Donnie) “Moore was so depressed for the 3 years after his gopher pitch that he shot himself.”
Was his wife catching, cause he shot her too..
ijudgenot
October 11th, 2010
3:54 pm
If same person who made the late innings managing moves in game 2 was the same person who made the late innings managing moves in game 3, then how do you explain Glaus replacing Conrad after 1 error in game 2, but not after 2 errors in game 3? Why was Diory used in the ninth inning as defensive replacement in game 2, but was not used in same way in game 3?
nique
October 11th, 2010
3:54 pm
Abner Doubleday – couldn’t disagree with you more on not pinch running with diory for the simple reason that you’re trying to score one run to continue the game. This game isn’t that complicated – wouldn’t you want someone with speed on the bases? I think the game has passed you by old man:)
Abner Doubleplay
October 11th, 2010
3:57 pm
John, I suppose you could PR Hernandez AND double-switch (put Ross in for McCann, and the pull Conrad for Hernandez. I know you make defensive substitutions to protect a lead, but the Braves were behind and if they don’t score, it’s moot because Hernandez never takes the field. Sure, you’d like a little more speed, but Ross – like Conrad – is a MLB player. You expect him to run the bases well, and if it takes two at bats to plate him, as opposed to “a triple” so be it. In the 9th inning of a one run game, when you’re the home team you can’t just “burn” players and “hope” you’ll win. It wasn’t the ideal move, but Bobby didn’t have much choice. Basically, it would appear he went with the “faster” catcher.
Chris G.
October 11th, 2010
4:01 pm
Enter your comments here
Obee
October 11th, 2010
4:01 pm
no matter what move Bobby makes, half the people on this blog will think it’s the dumbest move ever.
Bill Donohoo
October 11th, 2010
4:04 pm
Allot of criticism at Cox but if I was Johnny Sanchez I would have really been upset with Bochy. That was one of the worst move I have ever seen.
nique
October 11th, 2010
4:04 pm
I’ll admit the Phillies are great this year, but the Eagles suck!!!! Hahahaha. And so do the Sixers. Hahahahaha. And so do Phillies fans who troll Braves blogs. Find something better to do with your day.
Abner Doubleplay
October 11th, 2010
4:06 pm
nique, I didn’t see your post. As I noted to John, once you PR for Mac, you have to replace him. NOT using Ross to PR burns a player. What if the Braves tied it? They have no more catchers, and they’ve lost a potential PH in Hernandez for the bottom of the 10th. I suppose you might have used Lowe to PR, but my guess is, Ross is a better base runner. This isn’t celebrity poker. Maybe Peter Rose gambles, but it was the smart move for Bobby. You don’t understand the difference between a starter and a bench player. If Bobby uses Hernandez as a PR, he might as well start him and have Conrad off the bench. You want to “call” Bobby on thayt, be my guess, but as I said, in the bottom of the 8th Bobby was using his bench masterfully. You can’t go “all in” in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on base. You have to believe your guys will get him over and get him in.
gordonguy
October 11th, 2010
4:06 pm
Saw the comments about Buckner and Conrad looking like him. It was a horrible thing to happen, but let’s remember something – there were men on base because of a walk and two singles. The score was tied because the pitching failed. The Braves only managed 4 hits. It’s very easy to blame this loss on Conrad, but even if he catches the ground ball, the Braves still have to score, which they’ve had a horrible time doing lately. Buckner booted that ground ball, but what no one remembers is that the Red Sox pitching had already given up the lead when that happened. Most games do not turn on one error, they turn on failure to execute. And all you Bobby Bashers out there need to sit in a dugout and actually manage sometime, and not in Little League or the next morning. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone booed you every time you made a mistake at your job? Wouldn’t it be something if every time you cost your company some money that a whole bunch of people who couldn’t do your job if they tried wrote in to a blog to tell everyone what a sorry piece of junk you are? Play professional baseball for a while, manage professional baseball for while, and then let’s see you criticize.
Chris G.
October 11th, 2010
4:06 pm
I know Conrad is the goat right now because of his Glove but he can’t take all the blame. Infante has missed a few that he should be able to get and so has Heyward. Heyward does not have a hit yet. That is killing us. Heywards bat looks slow. He can’t even catch up to the breaking ball. I think Glaus could be that spark we need in the lineup. They should play Linciceum saying f yeah and shutup on the the scoreboard before the game. He is a classless jerk anywayz. we will still win this series and then the giants will cry like babies
thickfreakness
October 11th, 2010
4:10 pm
Cox has decided to put his differences with Glaus aside and deploy a lineup that may score more than 1 run in 9 innings. What a genius and HOF Manager.
Abner Doubleplay
October 11th, 2010
4:10 pm
Ijudgenot, Because you manage differently on the road. You take into account “last at bats”. When you are on the road, in a 1 or 2 run game, you want to keep the game “close” so you might use your closer in the 8th, or make a defensive substitution in the 8th to “extend the game”. At home the game is “extended” for you, so you manage more conservatively (as in “conserving” reserve players for future use). You don’t have to be Tim McCarver or Bob Brenley to know this about baseball.
nique
October 11th, 2010
4:11 pm
Abner, I completely understand the point that you’re making. I just disagree. I don’t see how you can play the game assuming that you’ll score a run to tie it in the bottom of the ninth and not worry about the speed on the base paths, especially with this group of hitters. I’ve honestly never heard of a manager taking the approach that you’re advocating.
THE CURSE OF DAVID JUSTICE WILL BE BROKEN THIS YEAR
October 11th, 2010
4:13 pm
TAKING UP FOR (MARK RICHT,BROOKS CONRAD,BOOBY COX,MIKE BOBO AND MIKE WOODSON) NOW I SEE WHY WE DONT HAVE WINNERS HERE IN ATLANTA!
reckingball
October 11th, 2010
4:13 pm
Jesse@3;38……”I just don’t get the Glaus-love.” I don’t get the Glaus-hate.
I also don’t get the Cox-love that you exhibit.
Are you the designated Bobby Cox apologist, for the Braves organization.
Abner Doubleplay
October 11th, 2010
4:14 pm
Bill Donohoo, And it was Bobby’s move. He PH for Ankiel with Glaus, knowing he had a switch hitter in Hinske. Bochy knew it too, but either way, Hinskie is batting for Ankiel. It’s a tough call for Bochy, and Cox knew this. Personally, Sanchez was in the zone, and I like Sanchez vs. either Glaus or Hinskie, but that’s the thing about playoff baseball, it’s guts and by the books.
thickfreakness
October 11th, 2010
4:15 pm
Now, if we can just get Bobby to go back in his mind and remember the tough situations Kimbrel has put himself in and gotten out of those tough situations – we should be okay.