On this date in 2003, pitched a complete game shutout to lead the Marlins to a 2-0 victory and a World Series championship against the Yankees. What many Yankees fans remember most vividly about that series was a decision made by Joe Torre in Game 4. In an article about Tony LaRussa’s interesting evening in Game 5 last night, Jay Jaffe referenced Torre’s gaffe:
If a Hall of Fame-bound manager has had a worse night in a nine-inning World Series game—for the sake of argument, we’ll chalk up Joe Torre’s decision to pitch in 2003 as an extra-inning folly—then I haven’t seen it.
Let’s take a look at Torre’s decision and see whether it was quite as awful as we remember.
After losing Game 1 by a 3-2 score, the Yankees strung together consecutive 6-1 victories and were looking to take a stranglehold on the series in Game 4. was matched up against future pain in the butt , and Pavano stuck it to the Yankees by pitching 8 innings of one run ball. A key moment came in the 2nd, when the Yankees loaded the bases with no one out. However, struck out, managed a sacrifice fly, and Clemens grounded out (yay NL baseball!) to end the threat. Pavano then settled down, retiring 18 of the next 20 hitters, while Clemens allowed 3 runs over 7 solid frames. then pitched a shutout 8th, setting the stage for a dramatic 9th inning.
Future attempted murderer replaced Pavano and retired to start the inning. Bernie Williams followed with a line single to center, walked, and a Posada grounder forced the runner at second. Torre then made two good moves, hitting Ruben Sierra for Garcia, and running for Posada with . With two on, two outs, and the game hanging in the balance, Sierra delivered a triple to right, evening the score and taking the air out of the Marlins. Aaron Boone could not bring Sierra home, but the damage had been done and it seemed like the Yankees were closing in on another World Series title.
Jose Contreras followed with two shutout innings, while pitched a shutout 10th inning. This sent the game to the 11th, where things began to get complicated for Torre. Bernie doubled to start the frame, and Matsui followed with a walk. Dellucci bunted the runners over, bringing the pitcher’s spot up and necessitating the use of a pinch hitter. Juan Rivera entered and was promptly intentionally walked. With the bases loaded, entered the game, and he got Aaron Boone to strike out and to pop up to end the threat. That turned out to be the turning point of the game and the Series, as Torre was now faced with a pitching dilemma.
While had pitched two innings the previous evening, he had done so on 23 pitches and was certainly available for a save situation. Other available pitchers (assuming starters were not available) included:
Felix Heredia
Jeff Weaver
(Wow, that is a crappy bullpen)
The first 3 guys are all left-handed, which is significant because the next 5 Marlins hitters were all righties. While Hammond and Heredia both actually had a reverse split for 2003, their career numbers are worse against righties, while White was not very good at all. I can see why Torre avoided using any of them for that stretch of the lineup. This meant that Joe had to choose between two pitchers. He could go to Jeff Weaver, who had not pitched in 28 days and had a 5.99 ERA on the season, with his worst work coming in August or September. Furthermore, he was far from a world beater against righties, with a .750 OPS against them in the regular season. Or he could go to Mariano Rivera, extend the game, and then figure out what to do in a save situation if it presented itself.
Torre went with Weaver, and the rest of the contest had a feeling of inevitability about it. Weaver actually retired Conine, Lowell, and Lee in order in the 11th, using just 8 pitches to do so, which earned him plenty of rope from Torre. The Yankees went quietly in the 12th, and Alex Gonzalez stepped to the plate for the Marlins to start the bottom of the frame. On the 8th pitch he saw, Gonzalez lined a Weaver offering over the wall in left, sending the Marlins into a frenzy and eventually costing the Yankees the series.
So now we come to evaluating the decision made by Torre. Using Weaver over the lefties may have been a mistake considering the rust on Weaver and his subpar numbers against RHB, but it certainly was not egregious. It would be like using AJ Burnett as a reliever rather than to face righties. The real problem is that Torre held Mariano Rivera for a save situation.
I understand that managers are often married to convention and that they prefer to hold onto their closers in a tie game on the road. I am willing to give them some leeway when they have a reasonably competent alternative ready to pitch instead of the closer. Even someone like circa 2011 would suffice. I would not like it, but I could at least understand that the manager is in some ways a slave to the methods of the industry and is simply working within the parameters set forth by those that preceded him (Torre stated that he had no choice, adding, ”If he’s not in the game there, he shouldn’t be on the roster.”). But when the alternative is a guy who had one of the worst seasons in franchise history and had not pitched in a month, how do you not extend the game with the greatest reliever of all-time?
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Craptaculous decision? Sure. Worst ever? Not sure if Jeff Weaver in the 2011 Scott Proctor role would be that.
Gabe White: another excellent album of why you don’t run out and get the hot middle reliever of the moment.
While I generally agree, I think the fact that it was 8,9,1 up (the one being Juan Pierre) the calculus in Torre’s head was they were not home-run threats that Weaver would keep the ball in the ballpark which he obviously didn’t’. Yankees had Matsui, Dellucci and the pitcher up in the next inning, so no matter what it was going to be his last inning– and using Mariano in that spot would mean he would have been lifted in the following half inning anyways, right? That means Heredia, White or Hammond would have been the only options for the rest of the game other than an SP on super short rest.
I can still see that Aaron Boone at-bat with the bases loaded and for better or worse it has stuck with me (like A-Rod’s oft forgotten chance to extend the Yankee lead with Jeter on 3rd and 1 out in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS when he K’d vs. Timlin).
In retrospect, it does not seem so bad to me — even though they lost the reasoning seems ok.
Dumb, dumb decision by Torre. Even if Mo had to come to bat the next inning I still can’t agree with it. Isn’t it better to gamble on Mo holding the fort for a couple of innings and scoring a run than having to go through Weaver before you break the bullpen emergency glass?
I also remember Boone swinging at ball four 2-3 times with the bases loaded.
I would have to agree that Torre’s move was nowhere near as dumb as the sum total of LaRussa’s Game 5 moves. I enjoyed that meltdown immensely as I can’t stand LaRussa and his managerial style.
I don’t remember what Torre’s other options were for that last roster spot but it seems to me that he’s right that the bigger mistake was putting Weaver on the roster when he hadn’t pitched in so long as wasn’t very good to begin with.
There weren’t a lot of good non-Mariano arms in the BP at that point though and even if they had gone to Mariano, it would have likely been for the 11th and only for one inning. So Weaver or one of the lefties would have had to come in to pitch the 12th anyway right? Or do you really think Mo would have been available for 2 innings 2 days in a row?
Great post, Moshe. Has that nice “trip down memory lane” feel to it, but in a bad way. I think I actually watched this game at my HS girlfriend’s house and I’m pretty sure her family thought I was nuts by the time the game ended.
1) It wasn’t that long ago, but I always forget about the whole Urbina attempted murder story. Gasoline and machetes are a scary combination, and I think I just got my Halloween costume idea for this year.
2) This has to be the first time in a long time that Chad Fox got mentioned on a Yankee blog.
3) Fox, Heredia, Gabe White, AND Weaver together in a postseason bullpen??? That’s horrific. Almost makes me complaining about Ayala this year seem like a waste of time by comparison.
4) In that situation, you HAVE to go to Mo. The whole idea of saving closers only for save situations has always been insane to me. In a situation like that, game on the line, you want your best on the mound and Mo was/is the best. The postseason is the one time where I don’t mind riding guys for multiple innings or multiple days in a row, and Torre should have done that in that situation with Mo. If you’re going to lose, lose with your best guys or at least having used all your best guys. Never good to leave bullpen bullets in the chamber, a la Game 2 of this year’s ALDS.
I am used to Rangers managers and management making horrible decisions. It is so much fun to be on the side that is doing the right thing for a change.
That said, LaRussa’s decision to stick with Scrabble last night instead of bringing in Motte was abysmal. I know all about the explanation that it was the fault of the loud crowd, etc. I don’t buy it. How do you not use a cell phone or a text message to back that up? I know TLR is 150 years old, but surely one of the techo-savvy 20somethings on his team could have hooked him up.
And when you add the silly decision to send Craig the 2nd time (I think the 1st CS was Pujols calling a botched hit and run) TLR had the worst night ever on a stage this big.
Frankly, I am glad he did. My Rangers have caught bad breaks for the past 40+ years so we are owed some breaks here.