Interleague Play makes it interesting for the managers
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Thanks for your comments about the new stadiums. Today's blog will be about Interleague play. Just as we saw with my last blog about favorite stadiums, and just like everything in life, everybody is entitled to their opinion.
Personally, I like Interleague play; I think it was a great idea by Mr. Selig, and judging by the attendance figures for Interleague games, a lot of fans seem to agree.
Being on the field, I like the fact that we get to compete against different teams, visit new cities/stadiums that we normally don't visit, and face the impact players from the American League.
I also believe that Interleague play has helped create and develop important rivalries, some new and some old: Dodgers vs. Angels; Giants vs. A's; Mets vs. Yankees; and our Beltway Series.
I really enjoyed a few years back, when I got to see Ichiro for the first time, Carlos Beltran in KC, Mauer in Minnesota, or being able to play in Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, the Metrodome, and Kauffman Stadium. Each of these experiences was great and none of them would have been possible without Interleague play.
Our Beltway Series has the potential to be a good one, and it's picking up already. Once both teams become more competitive within their respective divisions, I think things will improve drastically. Those series where the competing teams are physically close to each other are the most enjoyable because fans from both teams can show up at the park.
From the standpoint of a National League manager, there are less decisions to make when we play at an American League team's park because the DH rule takes away my decision of whether to let the pitcher hit after the fifth inning if you are trailing in the game; nor do you have the double switches and other nuances that I have to make in a National League game. Unfortunately, I also feel that the AL teams generally have the advantage when playing at home because of the extra hitter, and let me explain that.
American League clubs are designed around 9 hitters, so as most of you know, their DH is a very important part of their offense and is usually a very expensive player. Actually, did you know that in 2008, the DH position received the HIGHEST average salary of any position in all of MLB? Yep! More than even Starting Pitching and more than $7.5 million on average!
In the National League however, the team spends money on having a quality extra player to add depth and/or versatility. So when we go to the AL parks, our DH is usually either our first guy off the bench, or I decide to rest one of our regulars and play one of the guys off the bench in the field. Yes, without question, the AL team has the advantage when playing at home. On the other hand, as a NL manager playing at an AL park, I like the fact that we can rest some of the everyday guys by having them DH and get some important at bats over the course of the series.
Now, when we play an AL team at our park, it is a completely different ball game. The AL manager has to manage differently, and without the DH, they either lose one of their big boppers or are forced to play him on the field. Also, their pitcher is forced to hit, and unless the pitcher has spent enough time in the National League, hitting and bunting can be tough for them since they don't spend much time working on it in the AL.
I am a huge believer in maintaining baseball's traditional feel, but I like what Interleague play has done for our game.
Have a nice week NatsTown and feel free to send your comments and questions.
-MA
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Categories (click for archive)MASNblogs | Manny Acta |
Thanks Manny. I agree with you; I'm a new-traditionalist who likes Interleague play. I don't like a lot of what Bud Selig has done (mostly with respect to the Nationals), but I agree that the way Interleague play is set up is nice.
In your opinion, is the American League better than the National League. By that I mean, is that league filled with more skilled players overall? In a story that ran last week on the Boston Globe website Tony Massarotti lists "five reasons why the Red Sox dominate in interleague play." #5 is, curtly, "The NL stinks." You get to see a lot more of the NL than most people, what do you think?
Manny, you're doing a great job, I hope you'll be with us when the club is rebuilt and competing for a pennant in the NL East!
Manny,
I asked Boz this after watching last nights game and thinking yet again.....what is Manny thinking......care to explain why you refuse to take on this part of a managers job?
Section 135: Hi Boz,
Did Acta and his coaching staff get schooled last night by the Red Sox Staff. Early in the game, Youkilis did not like a strike call and instantly you could see the bench go to work, so well orchestrated that Terry Francona got a free shot at ump face to face about balls and strikes without having to leave the dug out. It was amazing and it worked, the next inning Ortiz should have been called out on a 3rd Strike call but the next pitch he hit the HR.
Acta and his staff do not even understand what just happened to them. Why is this part of the job excluded from Manny's job description and at what cost?
Tom Boswell: Thanks. Perfect example of Manny's biggest problem. And the nats FO has talked to him about it. He just doesn't want to change. I thought the 2-2 pitch call the next inning, immediately followed by the full-count three-run homer by Ortiz, was exactly the reason that ALL big-league m,anaers should have SOME fire. The team wants to be defended, think the manager has their back. Nobody is classier than Francona, but he gave a clinic on how a sane man can keep his dignity and still give the HP ump a good chewing. He started off hot, then really got in Davidson's face __truly seemed mad, not just "wroking the ump" and trying to get to Stammen_ then backed off. You can't prove he got a"amke up" call, but I certainly think he did. And I bet the Nats think so, too.
This IS part of any manager's job description __including the sainted joe Torre, who knows how to argue and bench-jockey when it's appropriate. The Nats had a very "live" bench in '07. Less so now. If anything costs Acta his job, it will be his passivity with umpires. You can be sane and mature with your own players in private __or not. It's a choice of management styles. But you have to have a "hot" bottom in a sport that's so competitive and where half the games are decided by one-or-two runs. You just have to have some EDGE. And if you don't have natural leaders on the team __and the Nats don't__ then it flls even more to the manager. And Manny isn't providing it.
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How about if we keep interleague play, but lose the DH entirely? I think that ship has sailed.
Also, I second Steve's comment.
Steve and natsfan1a,
Can you give ANY examples?
JayB, I have no desire to get into a virtual shouting match with you.
Fair Enough then....I have given my examples for the day and I just though the comment you seconded sounded hollow..."Your doing a great job".....needs some examples in my view. My example was backed up by Boz yours seems to just be wishful thinking. That approach really has gotten us nowhere in my view.
JayB,
Do you really think Manny will change the way he is if you keep coming on here and hassling him?
No becuase that is the exact personality trait that kills him as a manager. He refuses to learn and adapt. What I expect is he will be fired by those who watch games carefully just as I do. He is the worst manager in baseball and Rizzo knows it and Stan knows it. It is just like with Jimbo who was the worst GM in baseball.....we are just waiting for Lerner to wake up and give the OK.
Hi Manny Apologists and Manny,
Why is it OK for Guzman to walk away head down from a dropped 3rd strike to end the game last night. If that the type of fire and effort we were promised from this team? Is it OK to give up sometimes and not others? If it too much to as a professional baseball player who makes millions and has over 100 days off a year to play the game the right way. What does that Guzman effort say about our manager? What does that lack of effort and professionalism say to the fan base and my children?
I'm a Red Sox fan who happened to search "interleague play" on Google and found this article. After reading it, naturally, I moved to the comments.
I just want to say, from my perspective, that I believe the Nat's problems are on the field and not primarily in the dugout. While there may be some significant skills that made Joe Torre and Terry Francona the managers they are today, there is nothing they can do without good players.
Think about when Francona was in Philadelphia. He didn't really appear to be a good manager then, did he? Given that they are all adults and supposed "professionals" in MLB, there isn't much Acta can tell Guzman, a fellow adult, that will change they way he goes about life unless Guzman is willing to listen.
And sorry guys about what the Red Sox have been doing to the Nats and the O's the past couple weeks :) all's fair in love and war. "And Drew wallops that one, right center field, that ball is way back, Nick Markakis warning track, wall, UP, aaaaand it is gone, goodbye homerun. J.D. Drew..." *coughs* jeez, sorry, I didn't mean for all that to fall out.