Arizona’s Kirk Gibson offered his hand to shake, and Cincinnati’s Dusty Baker kept his to himself, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert wrote Monday. The managers had what was described as a “testy” meeting at home plate over whether to use the DH in the Diamondbacks-Reds’ Cactus League game.
As the home team, the D-backs had the privilege of choosing. That’s the rule for spring training, even in a game with two NL teams that don’t usually use the DH during the regular season. Arizona wanted right-hander Brandon McCarthy, who has spent his entire career in the AL where pitchers don’t usually hit, to get some batting experience during a game. Fair enough. The Reds wanted to use the DH so Shin-Soo Choo could get some plate appearances without having to play the outfield. He’s nursing a sore quad. Sounds right.
Gibson wouldn’t budge. The DH was not used. Choo didn’t start as a precaution. Baker didn’t shake hands.
Here’s Gibson’s take, via Gilbert:
“It was a good locker room talk. Read between the lines.”
And Baker’s, via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com:
“We didn’t have a very pleasant encounter at home plate,” Baker said. “That’s how it goes. It’s over.”
This is why the DH needs to be universal. No more arguments ever!
Repoz
Posted: March 05, 2013 at 12:16 AM |
25 comment(s)
Login to Bookmark
Tags:
d-backs,
reds
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
1. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: March 05, 2013 at 12:37 AM (#4380698)Well, there was nothing preventing the Diamondbacks from playing the game with DH rules then opting not to use one. It would put them at a competitive disadvantage, sure, but I can't see why they'd care about that in a ST game.
That said, if its home team picks its home team picks, get Choo his ABs next time your home.
This would be the typical move by anyone with typical professional courtesy. Just a dick move to deny the other team the use of the DH in a freaking Spring Training game if they need it to get a guy some ABs.
Maybe nobody thought of that.
Agreed. Gibson would seem to care a bit much for this game, or is just trying to raise Baker's ire. Baker, however should have just taken the high ground, shaken his hand and walked off the bigger man.
It looks like McCarthy did indeed get one AB and grounded out on the first pitch.
This was a Spring Training game, right? Why is Baker so upset?
Because it was a spring training game, so there was no reason for Gibson to refuse Baker's request.
Probably because Dusty, having managed in the NL for 20 years, knows there's absolutely no upside for the home manager to reject the request, and doing so is, as Dan notes, just dickish.
Look at this sitaution here: The Diamondbacks cited reason for not wanting the DH was to get McCarthy some looks at live pitching. Fine. But if you opt to use the DH, rather than not, you could get McCarthy two or three at bats instead of just the one he was almost certain to get by playing under NL rules.
If you use the DH, you can start someone in the DH hole, then lift him for McCarthy at some point in the game, letting McCarthy get some ABs. Then, instead of letting McCarthy pitch the first 2 innings, you designate him to pitch the last two (and you can ensure 8-9 are the last two by telling Dusty that you'll agree to the DH rule if he agrees to end the game after the ninth inning), removing the DH from your lineup when you shift your DH to a field position. Everyone wins.
Gibson didn't just limit Dusty's options, he limited his own.
By the 8th inning, the Reds might be fielding an AA line-up. That's why you seldom see a team use its closer in the 9th inning in early ST -- more often than not they follow the starter to pitch against the other team's better players. Seem like Baker could have alleviated some of the difficulty by pinch hitting for the pitcher. Much about nothing.
If that's important to you, then you simply opt not to use a DH yourself. But there's no non-spite based reason to turn down a request from the visiting team in Spring Training. You can criticize Baker for the handshake snub, but Gibson was undeniably in the wrong here.
Gibson had options (as stated above by simply opting to use DH but have McCarthy hit anyways)
Dusty had options (Shake his hand and/or have Choo PH)
They're both childish pricks.
I wouldn't shake my hands with Moises Alou either, though maybe this is your point.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main