No, I'm not talking about Peter Brady's voice cracking saga, I am talking about Jerry Manuel's fan cracking saga. It's really just way, way, way past time for Jerry Manuel's dismissal.
We've been through the litany of his bad moves and ineffectiveness all season, in fact, there is a list I kept somewhere back that I could dig out, but it's really just not necessary right now.
Just look at the simple fact that the team cannot win more than one game in a row. Or the fact that the team is devoid of any spark whatsoever.
But what really got to me last night was the fact that one day after proclaiming Hisanori Takahashi his "8th inning guy", Jerry pulls him after giving up a walk and a single after he got the first two outs....
and went to Manny Acosta.
This is not a manager that has a strategy, much less a winning strategy.
This is not a manager that understands leverage.
This is not a man who understands advanced statistics, trends, and match-ups.
This is not a manager that will fight with every dying breath, and at all costs, to win.
A manager has four basic functions: Keep the players motivated to play their best and win, put out the best starting lineup, manage the bullpen, and make the tactical in-game moves that maximize the team's chances to win.
In my opinion Jerry fails on all four counts, and his most egregious failures occur with his bullpen moves and in-game tactics, like bunting a man over in the first or second inning of a game.
Not putting in Frankie Rodriguez with 2 outs in the 8th in a 2-1 ballgame was just mind-boggling. Not staying with his anointed "8th inning guy" becuae he was in the slightest bit of trouble was bad. And going to Manny Acosta as the choice was just one more example of what an awful in-game manager Jerry Manuel is.
Time for a change......way past time.
