RMJ 47 April 2

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2 ● Houston, vs Atlanta

Got a call from Tal Smith this morning: an invitation to attend a presentation on the new downtown ballpark. Cubby dropped me off at the Convention Center, and Gerry took me to the Dome.

It was an impressive presentation, but it seemed like preaching-to-the-choir to me. I get the impression that the legislature will ultimately pass some sort of bill that will allow us to move forward on this project. I just hope they do it during this session. Drayton can be an impatient man, and there are a lot of cities that would love to adopt the Astros.

I arrived at the Dome about 3:15. This seems like a good time to me. Not too late to make lineup decisions and visit with players. Not too early, either.

 

Tonight’s game boiled down to one difficult decision: whether to play the infield in, halfway, or back. Unlike last night’s game that played according to script, this one lunged to a fortuitous conclusion.

Mike Hampton started for us, and he flirted with trouble but escaped most of it for six innings. I wanted him to pitch the seventh, but he came up to bat with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

To pinch-hit or not? That was the question.

I let Mike hit, knowing that he has a groin injury that could be a cruel blow to us if aggravated. Mike is fast, and he likes to run. I was a little worried, letting him hit. But I did.

My worst fears were realized when he topped a ball and took off like a sprinter.  Luckily, he did not pop the muscle.  Can you imagine having to pinch-run for a pitcher you could have pinch-hit for? What if his weak hit didn’t score the run, and he was injured for several weeks?

Well, it could have been a disaster. It was anything but.

Mike pitched a valiant seventh, striking out the last hitter. When he came in to the dugout, he was finished. I decided to bring rookie Tom Martin in for his debut with a 4-2 lead. You heard me right, 4-2. We scored four runs in the third inning against Greg Maddux. We got some help from Ryan Klesko in left field that inning, and Klesko got hurt.

If Martin could just pitch a scoreless eighth, how great it would be! A confidence-builder for him, and a perfect deal for John Hudek to close.  But this one didn’t work that way. Martin pitched well, but he left with only one out and two on.

When I brought in Hudek, homeplate umpire Joe West chastised me for not calling for him as I came out of the dugout, suggesting that I was not in compliance with speed-up-the-game procedures. He was right, but I found it ironic. My philosophy is to have relievers loose, so that I don’t have to send the pitching coach out to stall. This was a first visit, so it really didn’t stall the game.

Earlier, West had given me some grief about not knowing the Astrodome ground rules on Opening Day.

“That’s why you sent Virdon out with the lineup tonight,” he said smugly.

It looks like Country Joe will be hard to win over. I thought Paul Runge was genteel about my lack of experience last night. I mean, with all my concerns right now, I simply forgot to look up the rules. I forgot to tell Virdon too, but just for a little comic relief I will have Cheo Cruz read the ground rules at home plate when he serves up the lineup tomorrow.

 

Hudek got out of trouble in the eighth, but he found it in the ninth. With one out and one run in, it was 4-3 with Jeff Blauser on third. I brought Billy Wagner in to face Kenny Lofton.  That’s when I faced my most-difficult decision. 

When I got to the mound, Biggo asked me, “do you want us to play in or back?” I had not considered all the options, but I knew I was in pretty good shape if they should tie the game. Bobby Cox had already used most of his reserves and three relief pitchers trying to catch up. I was on my third pitcher, but I had all but one reserve player left.

“Play back as far as you can and still throw Blauser out on a hard-hit ball.” I said. My fear was that Lofton would reach first and steal second, and the winning run would be in scoring position, with Mark Wohlers ready to come in for the save.

When I got back to the dugout, I asked Bill and Cubby. They were emphatic about it:

“You have to play in,” they said in unison. So I moved the infield in, but I was still uncomfortable.

Wagner threw three 96 MPH fastballs to Lofton. The count was 1-2 when Kenny swung at another and hit a screaming liner down the third-base line. Luckily, Bill Spiers was there to catch it and step on the bag for a double play, and another win. It turned out that the shading left-to-right was more critical than in or back. We lucked out.

           

When I got finished with the press, I joined the coaches in the lunchroom. Vern said he would play the infield in, and so did Biggio. Everyone felt that we had to go for the win and not settle for a tie — except Mac.

“We still got the bottom of the ninth,” he said. “I like our chances if it’s tied.”

Biggio brought up an interesting point: “The dirt in front of home plate is so soft, you have to play in. If you play halfway, the ball will never get to you.”

At this point I made several mental notes.

One was to hit a lot of fungos off that dirt to see if he is right, which I suspect he is not. Bidge likes hard dirt in that area because it helps a hitter with speed.

The other note is to conduct a study on two things:

When the infield is in, halfway, or back with no outs or one out, how many times do you score one run? How many total runs do you score? 

The second note is the same type of information on intentional walks.

I also want to get a blackboard with a field superimposed, so that we can diagram defenses and plays.

           

I felt a little more tension tonight than I did on Opening Night; things didn’t go the way I hoped they would. I have a feeling this will be the case, more often than not.