ONE MO' THING, 8/9/12
-Programming Notes: ESPN1530 in the afternoon, 700WLW at night. Rinse. Repeat.
-Promotional Notes: Come to River Downs on Saturday. Listen to me announce a race. Win a chance to do the same. I'll be there at 3:00. Make a bet, have a beer, win stuff.
-Dusty Baker, like all managers, has certain managing philosophies. I don't agree with all of them. Some of them actually drive me nuts. They don't work with every group of players and hopefully they evolve as both the complexion of his team and the circumstances surrounding it change.
With the 2012 Reds, Dusty's managing style has dictated that guys are going to get periodic rest. Aside from Votto, Phillips, and Bruce, the other players are going to get intermittent rest. Rolen will be used judiciously, time will be split between the left fielders, Cozart and Frazier will ride the pine on occasion, and neither catcher will get an overwhelming amount of playing time.
It might not make total sense on a day-to-day basis, but more than two-third of the way through the season, it's hard to argue with the results.
The Reds are 66-45.
At some point, you want this strategy to change - if the Reds fall way behind, or if the race is tight and the Reds are within the final week or two of the season, and every manager changes what they do come October - but we're not there yet.
Yesterday was August 8th. The Reds played game number 111. They're in first place with just under a third of the season to go. Their game against Milwaukee was important, but not critical, it was big, but not do-or-die. With each passing day, the next game does take on added importance, but we're not to the point where each loss significantly torpedo the season.
We're not to the point where Dusty Baker should change the way he manages.
What he did yesterday - resting Rolen, Cozart, and Hanigan - fit in with the way he's managed his team all season, a way that's worked to the tune of a lead in the Central, and has helped guide the Reds to one of the best records in the National League. Maybe had those guys played, the Reds would've won and avoided one of the biggest nut-punch losses of the year, and maybe not.
What Dusty did in resting those players not only fit in with how he runs his team, it made sense. This team looks gassed. They've had one day off since the break, they've had emotional series against St. Louis and Pittsburgh, they've played without their best player for three weeks, and played a stretch without their second best. I know we like to think of these guys as baseball-playing automatons immune from mental and physical fatigue, but they're not. They're tired.
If I'm managing a tired team I'm looking at two types of players, the older ones and the less experienced ones. Scott Rolen needs his rest. For three years we've talked about how if the Reds are going to get the most out of Rolen, they need to use him judiciously. Yesterday was evidence of that. And we've recognized the fact that rookies often hit the proverbial wall, that having never played a 162-game grind can take its toll on even the most promising young players.
Zack Cozart will be at his best late in the season if he's relatively fresh. You keep him that way by parking him on the bench once in a while. Todd Frazier, for his part, looks like a guy in need of a day off too. Hopefully that comes in Chicago.
This is how Dusty has handled this team all season and it's worked. This isn't video game baseball, it's not fantasy baseball, and these are not baseball cards we're talking about here. They're people. And people get get worn out. This particular group of people is being led by a manager who might make his share of tactical errors and who might do and say things that make little sense, but the one thing their manager has exhibited all season long is a good feel for the mood, temperature, and pulse of his team. And his managing style has aided a record of 66 wins in 111 games.
We'll get to a juncture in the season when that record demands some flexibility.
We're not there yet.
-This is making the rounds this morning. Jamie Ramsey, Assistant Media Relations Director for the Reds, made a big mistake. He sent a regrettable direct message on Twitter to a follower. Deadspin has the summary of the events. Jamie has addressed it on his blog.
I know Jamie on a professional level. He is among the best media relations pros in the city. I also know him on a personal level, and while things I might say or write about the Reds could make that uncomfortable at times, I know that Jamie is a really, really, good dude.
Jamie has a public role as a representative of the Reds. This means a couple of things....unlike you and I, he's naturally only going to spin things in a positive direction on his Twitter feed and his blog. I've even joked publicly that Jamie has made being negative about the Reds uncool. It also means that he has a responsibility to represent the Reds in a positive way. Clearly what he did yesterday isn't how a Major League team wants its employees to behave. It reflects poorly on the organization, and if I think it'd be fair to expect some sort of internal discipline for Jamie.
What happens is between Jamie and the Reds, though I think terminating his employment would be a severe overreaction. Jamie has worked for the Reds for well over a decade, in a few different capacities, and has put together a very, very, good body of work. He's represented the team well, and has served the players, media, and fans with respect while often going above and beyond.
What's troubling is how many in the Twitter world have resorted to reactionary character assassination of a good guy who made a big mistake. What I've learned in following the reaction of many is that we are surrounded by perfect people, who despite their perfection, hide beyond the anonymity of a Twitter handle.
We are in a day and age where people are not only taking sports waaaaay too seriously, but are using social media and the internet to bully. I see it, and yes, I've been baited by it. I've also sent one or two tweets and/or emails I regret. I'd like to think I learned from them. I hope Jamie learns from this. And maybe instead of anonymously destroying someone's good name and hoping to dance on their professional grave, we learn from it.
But it was, ultimately, a mistake. It was a lapse in judgment fueled by emotion and one person pushing another over a tipping point. We've all done that, whether it be a text, email, or simply saying something you later regret. Emotions get high, people do dumb things. That's how people are wired.
Now yes, it's different when you're acting on behalf on an employer, which Jamie is. But he and his employer will discuss it and I'm assuming some sort of action will be taken. Maybe the rest of us can take a deep breath, stop the virtual frothing at the mouth that is starting to ruin Twitter, Facebook, talk radio, the internet, and people's basic ability to have rational discussions, and re-examine things just a bit.
Everyone's opinion has merit. And we should be able to share them without being bullied, harassed, or threatened.
And people are taking sports, life, and themselves a shade too seriously.
Jamie got pushed over the edge by someone, and what he did was wrong. I'm sure he feels awful about it. I can't imagine the Reds are happy about it.
But to take delight in a relatively harmless mistake by one person and point and laugh at him while he twists in the wind is both wrong and a nod to the idiots who are ruining otherwise useful 21st century tools.
Jamie's Twitter account is closed, I fear his blog will be shut down, and I worry about his future employment with the Reds. For either of them to meet their demise would be a victory for the bullies.
