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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Bobby Valentine files wrong lineup after researching opposing pitcher on cell phone

File under “Stuff that only works in Japan”

Guapo Posted: April 26, 2012 at 03:45 PM | 31 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: red sox

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1. Guapo Posted: April 26, 2012 at 04:54 PM (#4117066)

Edit: Link was deceased, but appears to be working again.

2. Nasty Nate Posted: April 26, 2012 at 04:58 PM (#4117073)

///// throws cell phone

3. JJ1986 Posted: April 26, 2012 at 04:59 PM (#4117074)

I hope most managers do more preparation than looking up a pitcher's stats on a phone.

4. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: April 26, 2012 at 05:18 PM (#4117095)

Impressive. Some MLB cities don't find a scapegoat for its team's futility until June.

5. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: April 26, 2012 at 05:19 PM (#4117096)

Bullpen help. Is there an app for that?

6. The Yankee Clapper Posted: April 26, 2012 at 05:30 PM (#4117108)

If only Bobby had used BB-Ref. Perhaps the Red Sox fans here can spring for a Play Index subscription.

7. cardsfanboy

Posted: April 26, 2012 at 05:33 PM (#4117109)

Impressive. Some MLB cities don't find a scapegoat for its team's futility until June.

Boston and Philadelphia don't play around when it comes to that kind of action.

8. Monty Posted: April 26, 2012 at 05:53 PM (#4117119)

You know how sometimes an Internet Know-It-All mouths off and someone says something like, "Oh, I suppose you think you could manage a baseball team better?"

I'm not saying that. But I am saying if it were my job, I'd do more research on the next day's pitcher than "look him up on my phone."

9. Heinie Mantush (Krusty) Posted: April 26, 2012 at 05:59 PM (#4117120)

I thought this was an Onion headline.

10. Greg Franklin Posted: April 26, 2012 at 06:01 PM (#4117121)

If only Bobby had used BB-Ref. Perhaps the Red Sox fans here can spring for a Play Index subscription.

m.bbref.com is designed for tricky situations like this... it's my go-to "app." Wonder if Bobby V is willing to name and shame the bad app he was using.

11. BDC

Posted: April 26, 2012 at 06:05 PM (#4117124)

Back in the day, Casey Stengel once went three years thinking that Cal McLish threw left-handed. Long before cell phones, and you bet nobody pointed it out to him.

12. PreservedFish Posted: April 26, 2012 at 06:24 PM (#4117133)

But I am saying if it were my job, I'd do more research on the next day's pitcher than "look him up on my phone."

I'm kind of amazed that Valentine doesn't get a binder of information on every starting pitcher the team is slated to face. But, maybe he does receive such a binder, and he just ignores it.

13. Zipperholes Posted: April 26, 2012 at 06:39 PM (#4117150)

No harm done, right? None at all, except to Valentine's reputation, and the confidence his team (and fans, for whatever it's worth) have in him.

Serious question: Aside from game recaps, is there any site where one can read baseball news without having to sift through some clown's conjecture and opinions?

14. BDC

Posted: April 26, 2012 at 06:51 PM (#4117155)

where one can read baseball news

The items on Rotoworld are, as you can imagine, geared toward individual players, but they are very informative and unclownish. Try Fangraphs, too: opinions are expressed there, but backed with lots of facts.

But heck, I get most of my baseball news here. I come for the conjectures and opinions, and add my own clownishness.

15. Joe Bivens, Minor Genius Posted: April 26, 2012 at 07:03 PM (#4117159)

Ahhh. You put your best lineup out there. He found out there was a rookie righthander out there, he pulled a couple of RH bats out and replaced them with a couple of LH bats. I see no need for further research. What body of work would he have at his disposal to refer to?

16. Dale Sams Posted: April 26, 2012 at 07:05 PM (#4117160)

Is it because Hendriks is from Australia, where they do everything backward because it's Down Under and the water drains counter-clockwise and the platypus?

Yes. Yes it is.

17. Zipperholes Posted: April 26, 2012 at 07:07 PM (#4117162)

The items on Rotoworld are, as you can imagine, geared toward individual players, but they are very informative and unclownish. Try Fangraphs, too: opinions are expressed there, but backed with lots of facts.

But heck, I get most of my baseball news here. I come for the conjectures and opinions, and add my own clownishness.

Thanks. That was a dig at TFA BTW, not here. I expect opinions here. What bothers me is these mainstream sites--Yahoo, CBS, NBC, etc--where you click on a link with a headline appearing to be news, and it takes you to a blog post with some guy's musings on the story.

18. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: April 26, 2012 at 08:57 PM (#4117201)

I always wondered if a bench coach or someone proofread the lineup card. I would think you want to make 100% certain that the 25 guys you list are the 25 guys you have on your roster on any given day.

19. Guapo Posted: April 26, 2012 at 09:03 PM (#4117204)

You could always ask Siri.

20. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: April 26, 2012 at 09:17 PM (#4117213)

Is it because Hendriks is from Australia, where they do everything backward because it's Down Under and the water drains counter-clockwise and the platypus

and RI leaves a 3' overhang*

*there are 3 people in BBTF that will get that

21. Lassus Posted: April 26, 2012 at 10:12 PM (#4117246)

WTF are the Valentine haters going to do when Boston claws its way back to 1st place in the division?

More of this, I guess.

22. The Mohole* of David Wells (* - Piehole)

Posted: April 26, 2012 at 11:04 PM (#4117272)

Who gives a ####?

23. cardsfanboy

Posted: April 27, 2012 at 12:45 AM (#4117315)

The items on Rotoworld are, as you can imagine, geared toward individual players, but they are very informative and unclownish. Try Fangraphs, too: opinions are expressed there, but backed with lots of facts.

So fangraphs dumped their version of war, wpa, and the silliness of their relief pitching stats? Might be worth visiting again.

24. Dale Sams Posted: April 27, 2012 at 01:00 AM (#4117318)

WTF are the Valentine haters going to do when Boston claws its way back to 1st place in the division?

Same thing Epstein did with Grady. Just wait for the shoe to drop.

25. Dan Posted: April 27, 2012 at 01:47 AM (#4117330)

I always wondered if a bench coach or someone proofread the lineup card. I would think you want to make 100% certain that the 25 guys you list are the 25 guys you have on your roster on any given day.

Joe Maddon started having Dave Martinez proofread his lineup cards after a game a few years ago where Longoria was supposed to DH but Maddon accidentally wrote both Longoria and Zobrist in at 3B. Subsequently the Rays lost the DH and Andy Sonnanstine had to bat third in the lineup.

Edit: Shockingly, this game was very easy to find by looking at Sonnanstine's game logs for hitting.

26. villageidiom Posted: April 27, 2012 at 08:52 AM (#4117381)

Bobby Valentine at his worst is less incompetent than Joe Maddon at his worst? I'll take it.

27. John Northey Posted: April 27, 2012 at 01:03 PM (#4117676)

Gotta love it - the Rays won the game that Maddon screwed up the lineup with a pitcher batting 3rd as Sonnanstine was 1 for 3 (a double at that) with an RBI.

28. vortex of dissipation Posted: April 27, 2012 at 01:55 PM (#4117728)

Even having a bench coach check it doesn't always work. The Tigers batted out of order in 2002 when Felipe Alou, Luis Pujols' bench coach, copied the lineup card incorrectly when writing the lineup cards posted in the dugout. And in the game, all hell broke loose...

29. Ron J Posted: April 27, 2012 at 02:36 PM (#4117760)

all hell broke loose

As you might expect, Chris Truby was involved. Coincidence? I don't think so.

30. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: April 27, 2012 at 02:40 PM (#4117764)

Even having a bench coach check it doesn't always work. The Tigers batted out of order in 2002 when Felipe Alou, Luis Pujols' bench coach, copied the lineup card incorrectly when writing the lineup cards posted in the dugout. And in the game, all hell broke loose...

That's a great story. It seems like the umps got it right except for the conversation with Pujols though.

31. The Clarence Thomas of BBTF (scott) Posted: April 27, 2012 at 02:50 PM (#4117775)

It's been a while since we've had a good Truby joke.

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Bobby Valentine files wrong lineup after researching opposing pitcher on cell phone

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