Say it ain't so Joe, but you're blowing this one
LOS ANGELES -- Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer apparently is a nice guy, a class guy, a charitable fellow who is decent to the media and fans and small children and stray animals. I knew all of that, and still I ripped him after his horrible performance in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. I ripped him, and I didn't -- and still don't -- feel badly about it.
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| Joe Torre is losing the NLCS with his pitching moves. (Getty Images) |
I'm about to rip Joe Torre.
Torre should never be ripped. One brother died, another brother has health issues, and his sister is a nun. He was abused as a kid, and he has had the courage and the humility to discuss it and even start a foundation to prevent it from happening to others. Plus he has won 2,151 games and four World Series rings as a manager. He's apparently pretty good at it.
Add it up, and if anyone in the sporting world is off limits, it's Torre.
But nobody is off limits, not even Torre, so here we go. Today we rip the least rip-able guy in sports. Because today he deserves it.
Torre, the Dodgers' first-year manager, is having one hell of a bad NLCS. Not a mediocre series. A bad one. Terrible. Thanks to a 7-5 victory Monday night, the Phillies lead the NLCS 3-1, and in all three of those losses by Los Angeles, Torre mishandled his starting pitcher.
All three losses.
Now you're mad at me, and I don't blame you. I'm mad at me, too. Picking at Torre feels like picking at my grandfather. Who picks at his own grandfather? Apparently I do. And you'll read it, because reading the truth is never a harmful thing. And this is the truth:
Torre is the biggest reason the Dodgers are one game away from being eliminated. You can argue that he has been unlucky in this series, but you can't argue this: He has been unsuccessful. And isn't that what it comes down to? Success and failure? Wins ... and losses? Torre has had failures. The Dodgers have had losses.
We'll go in reverse, which means we'll start with the most recent loss, this 7-5 shot to the solar plexus in Game 4 at Dodger Stadium.
Starting pitcher Derek Lowe came out too early. Yes, Lowe was pitching on three days' rest. But he had thrown just 74 pitches when he was removed, and after being rocked in the first inning he was cruising when Torre pulled him after the fifth.
The Phillies' first two batters of the game scored. None of the next 19 batters who faced Lowe scored. Few of them reached base at all. He had retired 12 of 14 hitters, including a 1-2-3 demolition of the top of the lineup in the fifth, when he was pulled. Not for a pinch hitter. Just ... because.
