RMJ 199 September 2

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 ● Houston, vs Milwaukee

Three days at home is hardly enough. Didn’t see Ashley or Julia at all. Barely had time to pay the bills and answer the fan mail.

I took a shortcut on the fan mail this time:  I didn’t answer the letters offering free, expert advice — the letters sent to help me set my lineup and organize the starting rotation.  

Most of suggestions are intended only to help. They start with, “I’m a great fan. I watch every game. You’re doing a great job, but … ”  The majority of these letters come from doctors, lawyers, and CPAs. They are neatly typed, are free from grammatical and spelling errors, and are full of logical arguments.

I’m sure the authors give themselves congratulatory nods as they sign them and send them off: they know that the Astros are just a few days away from salvation.

What they don’t realize is that I have considered every possible permutation of the lineup; that I have considered everything they have written about, and more.

Some suggest that I take strong disciplinary action against repeat offenders. I wonder if they have anybody working for them who makes $2 million a year and belongs to a strong union with unlimited funds and a litigious nature. I wonder how they would discipline this type of employee.    

I am finished reading letters like this, no matter how well-intended or how well-typed. Into the can they go, and on to the next.

The worst letters are the ones composed by children, with no return envelope. The club will take care of the postage, but it takes time to address the envelopes. It takes time to remove the baseball cards from their plastic sheaths too. The volume of mail is increasing, and it will probably intensify when the SI piece comes out.

 

Well, we jumped the gun on SI. We’re having our slump in anticipation of the so-called cover-story jinx — not because of it. Tonight we lost to the Brewers 4-2.

D.K. pitched a marvelous game. When I took him out with runners on first and second with one out in the ninth, the score was tied at 2.

Should I have left him in there? Probably. The second guess is always easier than the first.

 
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Darryl Kile, L (17-5) 8.1 5 4 4 1 7 1 2.39
Billy Wagner 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.78

Throughout the game, he looked a little off. His curve ball was erratic. But his confidence is so high that he got good results anyway.

I thought Billy could pitch out of the ninth inning. The end of the lineup was due. If Billy got the outs and we got a run, he would be a winner, and his slump would be history. He needed to pitch, because he hasn’t been to the mound at all during this six-day skid.

Well, he got the outs, all right. He didn’t give up a hit. He walked the first batter and then gave up a sacrifice fly. Chuckie Carr overthrew the cutoff man in a futile attempt to throw a fast runner out at the plate from more than 300 feet away. Both runners moved up. Then Billy uncorked a wild pitch. Both of the runs were earned, and were charged to Darryl.

I really felt bad for him. I should have left him in there.

Phil Garner continued to court Lady Luck. We got runners at first and second with one out in the ninth. Doug Jones, a slowball specialist, was on the mound again. Tony Eusebio, an off-field righthanded hitter, was at the plate.

This is a difficult defensive problem. Tony usually hits to right field, but Jones usually gets hitters out in front, pulling the ball. Phil had his third-baseman right on the third-base line. His shortstop was playing up the middle. I couldn’t believe it: they were giving Tony the entire left side of the infield.

As I told the press later, “They could have marched the Rose Parade between the shortstop and the third-baseman.”

But Gar was right: the proof is in the results. Tony smashed one up the middle. Jose Valentin snagged it, ran to the bag, and completed the game-ending double play.

 

I talked with some of the players and coaches after the game. Nobody seemed peeved or panicky. I don’t think we have an attitude problem, but I don’t think anyone — the doctors, lawyers, accountants, coaches, or players — has a simple solution.

We have been stranding a lot of baserunners, hanging a few curve balls.  We need some clutch plays in the worst way. We need them tomorrow, before we hit the road. 

 

When I got home, I went to the deck with the dogs, and found no solace. I came back in and went to bed with my new book, Goat Brothers. The Mask of Apollo was interesting and informative, but I expect this to one to move faster.

I read for style; for substance; for intellectual stimulation; for the love a good story.

It is nonfiction — the story of five fraternity brothers who attended Cal-Berkeley in the early 1960s. A then-and-now retrospective.

The author, Larry Colton, pitched one inning for the Phillies in 1968, and a photo of him in uniform is what got my attention.

I expect his book will be like The Boys of Summer for me: I will laugh (already have), and I may cry before it is over.

I read for style; for substance; for intellectual stimulation; for the love a good story. Some of my favorite writers are John Irving, Larry McMurtry, Robertson Davies, Cormac McCarthy, Wallace Stegner, Peter Matthieson, and Tom Robbins. All of them hold my interest with both hands.

For me, the really great writers go beyond the hands and the mind, and go for the heart.