RMJ 123 June 18

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18 ● Kansas City, vs Royals

I shook up the lineup today. I told Gerry that I was inclined to see if we could play better defense with Tim Bogar at short and Pat Listach in center field. We certainly couldn’t play much worse. We could, however, hit worse.

There are few clearcut choices in this business.

Bogey made two fine plays tonight — plays that our other shortstops may not have been able to make. Listach didn’t get any fly balls in center. Bogey got a bloop single, and Pat had a sacrifice bunt and a single. But we lost 6-2 to a pitcher named Jim Pittsley, who came into the game with an ERA above 6.00.

After the game, I was asked why we can’t hit pitchers we haven’t seen before.

“I don’t know,” I said. “These other teams haven’t seen him either, and they hit him all over the yard. Give him credit, though. His biggest problem has been walks, and he didn’t walk anyone.”

Donne Wall walked Jay Bell in the first after consecutive singles by José Offerman and Thomas Goodwin. Then Jeff King hit a homer. The game was over before we even got an out.

At the time, I wasn’t concerned. I thought we would score a lot of runs, as we had the night before. Now I don’t know what to think.

Maybe I should just go with a set lineup, and ride it out. That would be a lot easier to do if the defense was good, but it’s barely adequate.

At least Luis Gonzalez hit for the twenty-second consecutive game. One more and he’ll tie Art Howe’s team record.

           

Gerry came by after the game to tell me that Chucky Carr was about to start playing again, and we may be able to call him up by the beginning of next week. At this point, I’m ready to try anything.

One thing I have learned is that players like to know where they stand, even if they don’t like it. Before the game, I found Ricky Gutierrez down at the end of the bench and took the opportunity to tell him that he would be sitting for a while and that Bogey would be getting some starts at short. He didn’t get flaming mad; didn’t even raise his voice. But he did express his frustration.

“Every year, it’s somebody else,” he said. “I think I’m getting better, and I can play every day. But I didn’t have spring training. I’m just now getting more comfortable. Now I have to sit again. If you just let me play, I can do the job.”

I didn’t have a good response. Just told him we wanted to see what Bogey can do. That it is not permanent. That he should keep working with Gene Coleman on his footwork.

“It’s not about hitting,” I said. “I know you can hit. This is about defense. Your range has improved, but you need to be a little quicker with your footwork so that you can get rid of the ball faster.”

No amount of reasoning makes any sense in a deal like this. All I could do was tell him that it is not fun for me to tell a guy that he is going to be benched.

“This game is a lot of fun when we win,” I said. “But when we get to going like this, it is tough on everybody. Just keep working hard. You still have a chance to be the everyday shortstop. After the All-Star game, we will look at the team and try to come up with a regular lineup.”      

Gerry was watching from the other end of the bench.

“I could tell from the body language,” he said. “He didn’t take it too well, did he?”

“No,” I said.  “But he was decent about it. I’m not looking forward to telling Tank and Mouton that Pat is going to play center for a while.”

If we could just get hot and run off eight or ten wins, all of these little irritations would go unnoticed in the communal spirit.

 

At least we lost fast. We should get back to Houston a little early, right?

Wrong.

Our plane was late. We had to wait an extra hour at the ballpark before departing. We have the day off tomorrow, and I will endeavor to keep baseball out of my thoughts. 

Yeah, right!