On Saturday July 23, 2022, during the first game of a doubleheader that the White Sox lost 7-4 to the Guardians, we had yet another one of those amazing “Steve Stone Moments”. I’m talking about the moment when Stone accurately describes exactly what will happen in the next minute or two of the game (or in this case, what COULD have happened). It’s one of the reasons he’s one of the best baseball color analysts ever. Here’s the video and how it went:
Jose Ramirez comes up with 1 out in the top of the 5th, a runner on 3rd and the Guardians leading 3-1
STONE: “I know that they don’t like to put guys on, but you set up a double-play with Reyes, who’s 0-for-2 against Cueto.”
Ramirez hits a Sac Fly to right on the first pitch.
STONE: “That’s just 77 runs batted in by one of the premier run producers in all of baseball…”
Franmil Reyes grounds out to third on the first pitch.
You can hear Jason Benetti do a quite incredulous spit-take (“tpt!”) followed by silence until the ball gets to first.
BENETTI: “That’ll do it.”
STONE: “Yeah. It will.”
Simply Amazing!
On the one hand, it’s Stoney being Stoney. You can’t blame him for calling the game like he sees it, and with his lifetime of baseball knowledge as a player and analyst – he is as sharp as ever.
On the other hand, it shows the utter lack of strategy coming from White Sox manager Tony La Russa, and how it hurts the team. The White Sox lost the game when it was tied 4-4 in the ninth, and La Russa thought it would be a good idea for his closer, Liam Hendriks, to pitch the inning.
This move is baffling for two reasons: One, because it’s been proven over and over that a closer pitches best with a lead or as a savior coming in the game to put out a fire (hence the closer nickname of “fireman”). And when the closer comes in in a tie game, hyjinx will occur. Two, Tony La Russa invented the one-inning closer with Dennis Eckersley – why the hell does he even THINK about using his closer in a non-optimal position.
Unsurprisingly, Hendricks didn’t have good stuff, gave up 3 runs and the White Sox lost the game. One wonders how things would have turned out had the Sox walked Ramirez in the 5th and Reyes grounded into a double play, keeping the Guardians at 3 runs. I bet Hendricks is sharper with a 4-3 lead in a save opportunity.