Yankees 3, Girardi 2

So twittered Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina at the end of last night's surprising Yankee loss in Anaheim.

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi, who continues to not win over any fans in his 2nd year on the job, has been justly criticized for costing his team a victory in Game 3 of the ALCS. In a high-impact situation, he removed an effective reliever for no readily apparent reason, and replaced him with someone who instantly gave up the game-winning run.

Last night's misadventures were less clear-cut. Girardi is taking heat for sticking with his starter, A.J. Burnett, who was coming off five consecutive scoreless innings and hadn't thrown too many pitches. On the other hand, it was the 7th inning, and Girardi had a fully stocked bullpen to rely on, and Burnett had been on the bench a while. TV announcers Tim McCarver and Joe Buck questioned the decision immediately, and looked wiser when Burnett proceeded to give up a single and a walk before exiting the game. I'd classify this as a 50/50 decision, and there are no guarantees that starting the inning with another pitcher would've yielded a better result.

His next move, however, was to hand the ball to a situational lefty, and there was a best and obvious choice: Phil Coke. He had been the team's #1 lefty all season long, and had checked in with an ERA around 4.50 for the season. But Girardi instead chose Damaso Marte, whose ERA during the season was 9.45. Less attention has been paid this morning to that call, since Marte managed to get two outs (one a sacrifice bunt) before Phil Hughes gave up the game-turning hits.

Bringing in Marte, though, is a continuation of something we Bostonians have seen from the happily-behind-us days of Jimy Williams and Grady Little: a maneuver that goes against prevailing wisdom for no readily identifiable reason. There are aggressive managers, like Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon, who make moves that buck convention, for a reason. But Girardi's odd habits with shuffling his lineup and his curious management of his pitching staff make very little sense, even to observers more charitable than I.

There are at least seven MLB managers from whom you never see this type of behavior: Tony La Russa, Jim Tracy, Charlie Manuel, Joe Torre, Terry Francona, Mike Scioscia, and Ron Gardenhire--the managers of the other playoff teams. I would go so far as to say that Girardi is clearly the worst manager in this year's playoffs. Et tu?

MILES:

Girardi's made some very questionable and infuriating decisions with his relievers. However, in last night's game, everybody's favorite manager Mike Scioscia made two dubious decisions that could have (should have, really) cost his team the American League pennant: 1.) Removing a dominant John Lackey in favor of the less effective Darren Oliver, who quickly gave up a bases-clearing triple to the now-right-handed Mark Teixeira, and 2.) Taking out Jered Weaver, who blew through the Yankees in the 8th, in favor of Brian Fuentes, the Angels' ersatz closer, who did everything in his power to give the Yankees the game. 

I respect Mike Scioscia, but last night was not his finest managerial hour. Nor was it Girardi's. 

But, I don't think you can get on him for calling on Marte, especially since he got Bobby Abreu to ground out. Marte, despite his bloated ERA, did what he was called on to do. And, lest we forget, the last time Abreu faced Phil Coke, he doubled into the gap, but was thrown out in between second and third base. 

Girardi's primary mistake, I think, was leaving Burnett in to face Erick Aybar after giving up a lead-off hit to Jeff Mathis. I wanted Girardi to call on Joba Chamberlain there, but he didn't. And it cost him, but only because Phil Hughes didn't locate his last pitch to Vlad. For all his curious maneuvering, Girardi was still a Hughes' curveball or eye-high fastball away from getting out of the inning with a 6-5 lead. Rivera would have then pitched the eighth and ninth innings. 

Giradi is not the best manager in the league, but he's certainly not as bad as Jimy Williams or Grady Little. I'd put Girardi in the middle of the pack, behind Francona, but in front of Torre.  

BEN:

This is a surprise--you think he's better than Torre? As in, you think the Yankees would be a worse team with Torre at the helm this year?

And for the sake of the public record, apart from Torre, which are the other playoff managers you think are worse?

I totally agree that Scioscia made the wrong call pulling Lackey, but it doesn't shake my belief--shared by most everyone, I think--that he's the better manager. He's put his stamp on the team, the players and media respect him, and he has an outstanding career record as a manager. Most to the point, he seems to have a coherent and consistent philosophy built around defense, speed, and contact hitting, and his decisions all work within it.

Girardi also made other dubious decisions that didn't affect the box score. Failing to get Rivera up in time, and having to use stall tactics to rush him out there; pinch-running for two of his best hitters in a close game that could easily have gone into extra innings. More importantly, it seems like patterned behavior--he seems to get rattled, and to make inconsistent decisions, and that can be deadly.

Yeah, he's probably better than Grady Little, and certainly better than Jimy Williams, who has to be one of the worst managers I've ever seen work. But that's pretty faint praise, when you get down to it.