Eric Wedge

[Oldcrow1945]

Today is another reason why I don't care for Eric Wedge. I believe he over manages.

 

His constant shuffling of the line up drives me crazy, but today after only 90 pitches and completely dominating the Yankees he pulls Pavano for the ol' lefty vs lefty matchup.

Perez comes in and gives up a double and a single, gets no one out and they just took him out for Lewis.

 

If the Yankees come back to win thsi game I hold Wedge completely responsible.

[Oldcrow1945]

Lewis just gave a up a two run HR.

 

Dispute or not....Thank you Eric Wedge.

[CIMO.]

Perez hasn't been good this year, but when he's right, he's better than a lefty-lefty matchup. He's a guy with late-inning stuff and Wedge (I think) wants to give him the full 7th inning job, regardless of who's batting.

 

It didn't work out but I wouldn't really call it over-managing. Until our starters show some consistency he wants to let the slightly more proven bullpen handle the though stuff.....it would just help if the bullpen started pitching like they deserve it.

[samoth]

We've only won when we score a billion runs in a game and our bullpen stinks. Today's game was a farce, that homerun clearly shouldn't have counted. The game the other day when the Yankees got the final strike called on a high and outside pitch was also a joke.

[Oldcrow1945]

Perez hasn't been good this year, but when he's right, he's better than a lefty-lefty matchup. He's a guy with late-inning stuff and Wedge (I think) wants to give him the full 7th inning job, regardless of who's batting.

 

It didn't work out but I wouldn't really call it over-managing. Until our starters show some consistency he wants to let the slightly more proven bullpen handle the though stuff.....it would just help if the bullpen started pitching like they deserve it.

 

Pavano had four strikes out today...All left handers. Swisher had three of them. He was spotting his pitches better than any pitcher I've seen this year. Nothing up in the zone. Hitting the corners. Good braking ball. He was tougher on the lefties than he was the right handers. He had given up one extra base hit to right handed Jeter.

You can't pull a starting pitcher who has only thrown 90 pitches that has been that good and completely dominating....It just makes bad baseball sense. It makes no sense at all.

 

The two lefties coming up for the Yankees was the bottom of the order and two guys that had been hitless off of him today.

The obvious thing to do is allow him to start the inning and throw to at least one one. If he gives up a hit or walk to cano then you go get Perez to not only match up lefty againt lefty in Matsui, but it'll also help hold Cano closer at first due to Perez being a lefty.

I swear Wedge can't think ahead.

 

I don't care if Perez is the best set up man in baseball. This move by Wedge is defenseless....As well as sensless.

[Beanpot]

I don't care if Perez is the best set up man in baseball. This move by Wedge is defenseless....As well as sensless.

 

I honestly think it was perfectly defensible. It was a textbook move and one that Wedge *should* have made if he was going by the book. I was listening to the Yankee feed and Sterling (sign of the cross) mentioned as much.

 

I'm all for riding Pavano as hard as possible given his contract but he hasn't pitched seven innings in a game since April 9th of 2007.

 

It obviously didn't work out, thanks to Raffy P, but I understand the move. This team has supposedly built a solid bridge to Wood and it's moments like these where you should use it. The fact the bridge broke isn't on Wedge.

 

Beanpot

 

[ClevelandFanForLife]

i have never had anything against wedge but i am starting to think he is not the manager we need. yesterday he could have put any releivers in to pitch and get some work in and he puts in kokeyashi and chulk? these two guys have been alright this year and have not been teh worst in the pen. he uses kobe for 2 innings in a game that we were going to win anyway, making him unavailable for today. in a close game today, he puts in our two worst releivers thus far this year: perez and lewis. this is absolutely rediculous. he could have put them in yesterday and noboyd would have cared if they gave up 10 runs combined. this loss today was on eric wedge, plain and simple

[Beanpot]

yesterday he could have put any releivers in to pitch and get some work in and he puts in kokeyashi and chulk? these two guys have been alright this year and have not been teh worst in the pen. he uses kobe for 2 innings in a game that we were going to win anyway, making him unavailable for today. in a close game today, he puts in our two worst releivers thus far this year: perez and lewis. this is absolutely rediculous.

 

I follow your point but are you really saying that Kobayashi and Chulk are better than Lewis and Perez? Their career body of work suggests otherwise. I swear, I would have gone apeshit if Wedge had brought in either of those two RHPs over Perez. And I like Lewis more than the other two as well.

 

Beanpot

 

 

 

[BrownB499]

The pitch by Lewis to Pasada was inexcuseable today

Fastball right in the wheel house,really fooled him with that one Jensen

[Oldcrow1945]

i have never had anything against wedge but i am starting to think he is not the manager we need. yesterday he could have put any releivers in to pitch and get some work in and he puts in kokeyashi and chulk? these two guys have been alright this year and have not been the worst in the pen.

 

This is a great point....Absolutely great point.

 

[Oldcrow1945]

I honestly think it was perfectly defensible. It was a textbook move and one that Wedge *should* have made if he was going by the book. I was listening to the Yankee feed and Sterling (sign of the cross) mentioned as much.

 

I'm all for riding Pavano as hard as possible given his contract but he hasn't pitched seven innings in a game since April 9th of 2007.

 

After just 6 innings and 90 pitches? When he dominated lefties all day?

I love ya Bean but you are I are miles apart on this one.....But that's ok.....My dad and I would always argue about Mike Hargrove too! lol!

 

I firmly believe that Eric Wedge just tightened his own noose today.

[ClevelandFanForLife]

I follow your point but are you really saying that Kobayashi and Chulk are better than Lewis and Perez? Their career body of work suggests otherwise. I swear, I would have gone apeshit if Wedge had brought in either of those two RHPs over Perez. And I like Lewis more than the other two as well.

 

Beanpot

i am saying that this year chulk and kobe are better than lewis or perez. the past is the past and we should not think too much of it. i hope that we can right this ship soon.

[BrownB499]

For a long time I've felt like could do a lot worse than Wedge, but enough of the slow starts already.

If this team digs another fox hole in April like it appears their going to,then we got start talking about sending him down the road.

Problem is who do you replace him with ? my opinion is Shelton & Willis are a big reason why we struggle,we rarely seem prepared for the starting pitching we face and our staff at times pitches like they've never seen a scouting report on our opponent

 

Do we really want another Joel Skinner internship?

 

Players need to except their share of the blame as well and while Sat.exhibition was awesome it wasn't reality,Sun was

 

and several veteran players basically went through the motions yesterday rather than seize the opportunity to take a series and get this thing on track.

Shoppachs inability to advance Crowe was one example I for one am done with this experiment,sit down Tim Laker your a backup,we'll call ya in about 30 days when Victor needs a rest.Really wondering why he's out there ? I get the Sunday lineup change ,but again we're diggin a whole here Wedgy,play your best 9 and lets take this series

 

Grady look'n at a 2 strike belt high fastball with one out and a man on 3rd,now I love this kid but son you have to be thinking

RBI that's a pitch you drive I don't care who's coming up behind you

 

Then De'Rosa & Martinez had weak at bats with bases loaded,this is the same Yankee bullpen you've bitch slapped all weekend,

work a count and get pitch to hit.

 

Next comes the pitchers,I don't know about anybody else but I'm really tired of the deer in the headlight look of Carmona,Perez, & Lewis

Carmona and Perez have looked scared shitless against everybody since the Boston playoff and I can't figure out why, they both got wicked stuff,use it and believe in it .

Did ya see the way Wood took the mound? Christ he looked like Clint Eastwood,Posada wanted no part of his shit,he headed back to the dugout before the ump could call strike three,that's what I call mound presence.

 

As far as Bentancourt,he's the best when he's on..but...guess that's goes with role,if I remember Shuey was the same way

lights out for 10 straight appearances then the wheels would come off.

What I want to know is Rick Manning just got done saying on tv that Swisher appeared to be waiting on a fastball and then Bentancourt delivers one ,

now if Manning knows this why doesn't Willis and Martinez?

Anyway just my .02

[Oldcrow1945]

Problem is who do you replace him with ? my opinion is Shelton & Willis are a big reason why we struggle,we rarely seem prepared for the starting pitching we face and our staff at times pitches like they've never seen a scouting report on our opponent

 

Do we really want another Joel Skinner internship?

 

Triple A Manager Torey Lovullo was supposedly one of the most asked about Minor league managers in baseball.

Reports said numerous clubs have talked to the Tribe about the right to talk to him but the Tribe hasn't permitted it.

 

I think he is your next manager.

 

[JohnG71097]

Triple A Manager Torey Lovullo was supposedly one of the most asked about Minor league managers in baseball.

Reports said numerous clubs have talked to the Tribe about the right to talk to him but the Tribe hasn't permitted it.

 

I think he is your next manager.

 

It doesn't matter who the skipper is with numbers like this.

 

The Starters have to pitch longer into games

 

 

 

65 2/3 - innings pitched by the starters, an average of less than 5 1/3 per game

44 1/3 - innings pitched by the relievers, an average of more than 3 1/3 per game

6.50 - relief ERA

1 - save situations for Kerry Wood

[Beanpot]

After just 6 innings and 90 pitches? When he dominated lefties all day?

I love ya Bean but you are I are miles apart on this one.....But that's ok.....My dad and I would always argue about Mike Hargrove too! lol!

 

I firmly believe that Eric Wedge just tightened his own noose today.

 

Ah, I have no ties to Wedge and won't shed a tear if he's removed from his duties if things continue to go bad. I'll continue to consider it to have been lunacy if he had brought in a RH RP to face Cano and Matsui and don't find it one bit loony to have removed Pavano, but we'll just agree to disagree.

 

Man, I loved arguing about Grover with my buds. Good times, good times!

 

Beanpot

 

 

 

[CIMO.]

I can't imagine you were too pleased with the Jensen Lewis situation today, but I have to give credit for yanking him after the 2 runs and putting Sipp in there. Man he looks like a great player. Whiffing Morneau with some mid-90s cheese and tying up Kubel with that slider in a huge situation. Shapiro might've been dead on with his decision of stockpiling arms in the bullpen to see who works out. By the end of the year we could see a completely unexpected bridge to Wood.

 

 

One interesting stat I found looking for reasons why we can't score runs to help our pitchers...

 

With runners in scoring position and 2 outs, we're dead last in all of baseball, batting .135 in 74 ABs.

 

 

I haven't been reading enough of the Tribe news to see if that's been talked about much, but it seems pretty obvious that's what's kept us down. You can blame the bad start from pretty much the whole pitching staff all you want, but you really can't expect to compete without clutch hitting.

[ClevelandFanForLife]

even mark prior think adam miller gets hurt too much.

[Oldcrow1945]

Whoever is to blame for a 8-14 start, Wedge is the one that has to take the responsibility.

 

I know many will say it's not Wedge's fault but there have been thousands of managers fired and it was never their fault as well. But managers are still fired and it's for many reasons.

This Tribe team should be better than their 8-14 start and the buck stops with Eric Wedge. They started out poorly last year and it caused them to lose a chance at the post season. This year is a repeat of that again. How long does this FO allow an Eric Wedge team to come out of Spring training playing like this? It's time for him to go.

 

[Booker]

Does Peralta have any options left?

[Oldcrow1945]

Does Peralta have any options left?

 

I'm not exactly sure how it works but I think he has options because he's part of the 25 man active roster. I think the only time a team can lose a player through re assignment and then waivers is if he is only on the 40 man roster and has three years pro experience.

I THINK this is the way it works. You can reassign an active 25 man roster guy at any time.

 

Maybe someone else can fill us in if I have it wrong.

 

[CIMO.]

From Castro, and sums up what I feel pretty well.

 

 

 

 

What is going on with the Tribe's offense? One week, they are firing on all levels. The next, they can't do a thing. Who is to blame? Wedge or Shelton?

-- Kenny K., Elyria, Ohio

 

Are those my only options? Can't I blame the hitter's problems on ... oh, I don't know ... the hitters? Wedge and Shelton can talk to them (and inquisitive reporters) until they're blue in the face. But if a guy is going to strike out with runners in scoring position, that's on him.

 

The Indians have, for the most part, done a fine job working the opposing pitcher deep into the count, as evidenced by their 99 walks drawn (most in the league). But this has not been an opportunistic offense, as evidenced by the 186 men they've left on base (second most in the league).

 

The Indians try to downplay the impact of the strikeout, but Tribe batters have struck out 62 times with runners in scoring position (Peralta and Grady Sizemore are the main offenders, with 11 each). That team total is by far the most for any club in the AL. Second place goes to the White Sox, with 45. When I watch this team play, that troublesome trend really stands out, particularly in the late innings.

[Oldcrow1945]

From Castro, and sums up what I feel pretty well.

 

 

 

 

What is going on with the Tribe's offense? One week, they are firing on all levels. The next, they can't do a thing. Who is to blame? Wedge or Shelton?

-- Kenny K., Elyria, Ohio

 

Are those my only options? Can't I blame the hitter's problems on ... oh, I don't know ... the hitters? Wedge and Shelton can talk to them (and inquisitive reporters) until they're blue in the face. But if a guy is going to strike out with runners in scoring position, that's on him.

 

The Indians have, for the most part, done a fine job working the opposing pitcher deep into the count, as evidenced by their 99 walks drawn (most in the league). But this has not been an opportunistic offense, as evidenced by the 186 men they've left on base (second most in the league).

 

The Indians try to downplay the impact of the strikeout, but Tribe batters have struck out 62 times with runners in scoring position (Peralta and Grady Sizemore are the main offenders, with 11 each). That team total is by far the most for any club in the AL. Second place goes to the White Sox, with 45. When I watch this team play, that troublesome trend really stands out, particularly in the late innings.

 

This is my biggest problem with Grady and why I won't call him a great player yet. His strikouts and lack of average are not good. He's the kind of talent that should be hitting .300. I wonder if the coaching staff does anything with him to get him to cut down on his swing?

If you keep the ball up and on the outside of the plate you have a good chance of getting Grady out either by K or by a ground ball.

 

Just think if Grady would cut down his swing, especially with two strikes, and go the other way? Wow!

 

[Beanpot]

Does Peralta have any options left?

 

Short answer is I don't think so, but I'm not certain.

 

I know that every player has three options and that the clock ticks only when the player is placed on the 40-man roster. Each option lasts for the entire year the player is on the 40-man roster and the team can treat him like a yo-yo that entire year while only using one option.

 

I'm certain that all of that is out the window once a player has accrued five years of service time. In that case, the player can refuse the option.

 

Either way, we're kicking serious tail if removing Peralta from the roster is the only thing keeping this team from greatness.

 

Beanpot

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

I think Wedge has a form of tourettes syndrome. If you watch him when the camera shows a shot of him his face is always twitching.

[samoth]

I am officially on the "fire Wedge" bandwagon after last night's game.

 

In case you missed it, Cliff Lee had thrown a very good 2-run 8 inning game, with his pitch count around 100. Wedge pulls him for the 9th inning and puts in Wood to get the save since we were up by 3. Wood retires the first batter and then gives up 4 straight runs to blow the save and lose the game. There was no reason to take Lee out of the game, especially with how our bullpen has been performing and that error lies solely on Wedge.

[JohnG71097]

They slowed it down enough for me last night

so I took advantage and hopped off the Keep Eric Wedge Bandwagon.

 

 

 

 

 

The B-List: 5/19

May 20, 2009 · By Steve Buffum

 

I used to be disgusted,

Now I'm even more disgusted

-- E. Costello, updated

 

1) Cursory Look I: Masterful-Lee Done

 

Cliff Lee threw 8 innings of 2-run ball. Ho hum. This marks the 4th time this season in 9 starts that he has gone 8 innings. In his past six starts, he has pitched 46 innings, and no fewer than 7 in a start. This performance, which was excellent, lowered his ERA by 0.10. At this point in time, I think we have enough evidence to say, "This is Cliff Lee." He will make $10M between 2008 and 2009 combined. Tim Lincecum is a bigger bargain. There aren't many other starting pitchers in this category.

 

Lee was not entirely dominant, giving up 8 hits and striking out only 3. His 65 strikes in 101 pitches did not suggest superior control, but his command was sufficient to induce a number of weak outs. The only troubling feature of the start was that he elevated a bit in the zone, resulting in a backwards GB:FB ratio and two booming doubles: each of the runs he gave up were the result of a single-double (or double-single) combination, so that's something to watch out for.

 

Lee's K:BB ratio now stands at 45:13 and is going in the right direction. His 101 pitches were the fewest he's thrown (in the most innings) since his poor Opening Day start.

 

2) Cursory Look II: Shop Smash!

 

Kelly Shoppach smashed a pair of hits, including a two-run homer off Brian Bannister. The homer came with two outs and should have been a key to winning the game, had it been key and had we won the game. Shoppach is not hitting well this season, but he did not strike out in four trips to the plate, and the homer was not cheap, being to straightaway center and clearing the fence by a fair margin.

 

3) Cursory Look III: Blue Moon Special

 

Luis Valbuena got a hit!

 

4) Cursory Look IV: Hubbawhazzit?

 

Luis Valbuena got a bunt single!

 

And Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a bunt single!

 

And then Grady Sizemore followed with the standard 3-6-3-4-2-3-6-3-4-2 double play. ESPN's play-by-play writeup then tells me that Luis Valbuena was out at home, and Luis Valbuena was also out at third, so this appears to be some very bad baserunning by either Luis Valbuena or Luis Valbuena. Perhaps they should platoon.

 

(In reality, Cabrera got caught in a rundown, and Valbuena tried to score. It was a pretty good play all around, actually: kudos to the Royals for executing pretty well, and I don't fault the Cleveland baserunners for being aggressive there.)

 

5) Cursory Look V: Nice hose!

 

Given a chance to play center field in place of a season-slumping Grady Sizemore, Ben Francisco made an excellent throw in the 2nd to peg Mark Teahen trying to advance from second to third on a fly ball. I'm not sure Grady makes that throw, but then, I would have said that Francisco was unlikely to make that throw, too, so I could be wrong.

 

In addition, Alberto Collapse-o tried to stretch a single to right into a double, and Shin-Soo Choo was able to place his rocket within a parsec of second base for a change, gunning down Collapse-o.

 

6) Cursory Look VI: Ho Hum Dept.

 

Victor Martinez singled and drew a walk. This lowered his batting average.

 

Martinez ranks 1st in AVG in the AL at .400: he also leads the AL in OBP (.478) and OPS (1.104). He is 5th in BB, 5th in SLG, and 4th in total bases. He leads the team in RBI, and has struck out fewer times than Travis Hafner, who has played in 17 games. He has only 3 more strikeouts than David Dellucci, who has 38 AB. He would like better teammates.

 

7) Incoherent Rant

 

I do not want to get too much on Eric Wedge's case for pulling Lee for Kerry Wood. I disagree with the move, and I would assume that in retrospect, Wedge feels largely the same way. Here is the synopsis of the argument, though:

 

With all due respect to the workmanlike stylings of Aaron Laffey, we have exactly One Pitching Asset. One. We have exactly zero relief pitchers worth a handful of rhinocerous feces. We have a starting rotation that currently features these ERAs:

 

2.90

5.70

6.33*

6.88

17.18

 

* this pitcher leads the team with three wins

 

I mean, that's actually hard to believe. Three of the five pitchers with ERAs under 4.00 are X-Treme Journeyman Clods, including one who has pitched in one game (Greg Aquino) and one that was designated for assignment (Vinnie Chulk). One pitcher has an infinite ERA. Cliff Lee has allowed no more home runs in 62 IP than any of the following relievers: Jen Lewis (6 in 20), Raffy Betancourt (3 in 20), Kerry Wood (4 in 13). A pitcher with a WHIP of 1.50 is below-average (the AL average is 1.44, the NL average is 1.41). Cleveland's TEAM WHIP is 1.57. Not surprisingly, this is the worst in the AL (tied with Bal'mer). Of the 20 pitchers Cleveland has used this season, 14 of 20 have a WHIP over 1.50. Rafael Perez can actually set things on fire just by looking at them.

 

We have ONE Pitching Asset, and he is Cliff Lee. Now I don't know about you, but when the Cleveland Cavaliers had a transcendent asset, they decided to commit to making sure that he was satisfied. They did not cater to his whims or anything, but they made sure he was involved in processes, made sure he understood the plans, made sure Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes and Jeff McInnis were sent away as soon as humanly possible, that sort of thing. They made LeBron James happy. And, as it turns out, a happy LeBron James is kind of a handy thing to have around.

 

Cliff Lee had thrown 101 pitches through 8 innings. This, as I said before, is the MOST efficient outing of the season for Lee. Not only does he regularly get up near 120 pitches (and is 30 years old: we are past the Injury Nexus here), but his number of high-stress 20-plus pitch innings were nonexistent. The Kansas City lineup in the 9th was Jose Guillen, Mike Jacobs, and Mark Teahen, the latter two of whom are left-handed hitters.

 

Let Cliff Lee finish that game. He deserves that win. Give him that win.

 

But since we're not going to do that, since we HAVE to give Kerry Wood his Precious Save Opportunity (which, really, a three-run lead, that's a cheap f*#&ing save), we send Wood out there to Borowski. Let's listen to Mr. Wood on the subject of pitching:

 

"I went with fastballs. The first guy [Jacobs] saw nine pitches. He's a low ball hitter, caught one down in the zone."

 

You know, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, "If Mike Jacobs is a low ball hitter, why not try throwing something other than a low fastball? Maybe something other than NINE low fastballs?" You think Jacobs had timed Wood's fastball by that point? Maybe something else there?

 

"I didn't have a second pitch today and scuffling to find an off-speed pitch."

 

Now, you cannot be serious. I mean, you've got to be shitting me, right? What was the problem with Borowski? That he felt he had nothing, right? Throwing through water or something? He had nothing, and they sent him out there anyway. Guess what happened? He got bombed. Big surprise! Alert the media! Larry King saw this coming.

 

So, if you warm up, and you realize, "Shit, I've got no offspeed pitch. I can't throw a curve. I can't throw a slider." You know what goes through your mind at that point, if you actually give a shit about winning ballgames?

 

a) Man, I suck

Call skipper back and tell him to leave Lee in there

 

Now, I understand that Wood is never, ever, never going to do this. But do we have a pitching coach? A bullpen guy? A f*#&ing catcher out there? Isn't SOMEONE supposed to notice that the guy doesn't have it? What the f&*# are we doing out there? Is this another one of these, "Gee, I wonder if Tony's going to throw a strike tonight, let's find out in a tight game," or "Gee, Raffy's set the rosin bag on fire by just looking at it, wonder if that's a bad sign?" things? May I have something other than, "It's his job," as an explanation for things?

 

Kerry Wood may be a fine closer, but I have seen no evidence of this. And he has made me hate everything.

 

8) A plea for mercy

 

In 2003, neophyte manager Tony Pena shocked the baseball world by cajoling and lucking his way into the first winning record (83-79) in recent Royals' history. He was lauded as Manager of the Year, and high hopes returned to Kansas City. Of course, this came crashing down in 2004 with a very poor 58-104 season, and when the 2005 Royals started 8-25, Pena resigned.

 

Now, this has had some pretty serious repercussions for Pena, who is currently not a major-league manager. The common consensus is that Pena quit on his team (which was, admittedly, pretty bad), and this colors all future perceptions of him as a managerial candidate. Dusty Baker was forgiven for ruining arms; Davey Johnson was forgiven for being a jerk; Tony Pena is unlikely to ever be forgiven for quitting in the face of adversity.

 

In 2002, Charlie Manuel was fired at mid-season after guiding a Cleveland team that had won 90 and 91 games in the previous two season. Manuel didn't agree with the direction the new GM wanted to take, but the GM fired him, and a few years later, he got another opportunity in Philadelphia, where he eventually won the World Series in 2008.

 

In 2007, Eric Wedge helped guide a Cleveland team into the playoffs and all the way to a 3-1 lead in the ALCS before bowing out. This came crashing down in 2008 with a pretty poor 81-81 season that required a heckuva hot streak to get to .500. The 2009 Cleveland Indians have started 14-26.

 

Many things have been said and written about the relationship between Mark Shapiro and Eric Wedge, but without going into two much detail, I think it's reasonably safe to say that the two men are friends. Mark Shapiro likes Eric Wedge. He would like for good things to happen to Eric Wedge. And that is why I am pleading with Mark Shapiro:

 

Fire Eric Wedge.

 

This is no longer the superstitious, amusing spewing of falsehoods from 2007. This is an honest, earnest plea to do the right thing for your friend. This team is bad. And it has to be killing Eric Wedge. Hell, it's killing ME, and I'm just some guy. The man is suffering. But if he resigns, he becomes Tony Pena and will never manage in the major leagues again. Don't make him run screaming into the night. Do the honorable thing and fire him. Then he can hem and haw and use all the powerful Wedgian rhetorical powers we've see over the years, such as the "Um" and the "Ah" and the "Mumble." But he will be able to say, "Well, I gave it my best, and it didn't work out." And then, some years later, a team will be willing to give him a chance to manage again. Peter Gammons tells me that Wedge is widely-respected in baseball circles. I don't agree with everything Wedge does, but then, I don't agree with everything ANYONE does. Certainly not my children or my co-workers.

 

But Mark ... please ... if you want your friend to be capable of future success ... please ... pull the plug. It's excruciating to watch.

 

Please fire Eric Wedge.

http://www.theclevelandfan.com/article_detail.php?blgId=4660

 

 

[Beanpot]

Thanks so much for linking an article from Buff. The guy is a must read.

 

Miles (remember him?) and I spent a ton of font in group emails with the guy and a few others back when we were on Bernie's 1.0. Buff is good people and he's dead on as usual with this column.

 

Beanpot

[SoCalBrownsFan]

I'm still on the Fire Wedge now bandwagon.

[Pumpkin Eater]

Today is another reason why I don't care for Eric Wedge. I believe he over manages.

 

His constant shuffling of the line up drives me crazy, but today after only 90 pitches and completely dominating the Yankees he pulls Pavano for the ol' lefty vs lefty matchup.

Perez comes in and gives up a double and a single, gets no one out and they just took him out for Lewis.

 

If the Yankees come back to win thsi game I hold Wedge completely responsible.

 

 

I agree. Why take out a pitcher who is cruising just to get a "better" metchup? Stupid, IMO.