Rule Two: Second Guessing is Dumb

“The kick and the pitch, it is hit a long way to deep centerfield. Going back is the centerfield, and all he can do is turn and watch, I guess he shouldn’t have thrown that pitch.”

I guess he shouldn’t have either, but maybe he should have. Is it our job as baseball fans to second-guess every move a team makes? Bob Gibson hated the media to ask him what pitch he threw when he gave up a homerun. He felt that people just didn’t understand that sometimes good pitches get hit. Pitching is one of the most second guessed aspects of the game. The fans believe that their pitcher no matter who he is should be able to get the batter out no matter who he is, and if he doesn’t then the pitcher made a mistake. A better example of second guessing comes with managers, because most fans don’t care about every single pitch.

The most securitized moves a manager can make are the ones that affect his pitching staff. A manager can try and save his bullpen by sacrificing a starter by allowing him to go a couple innings too long, but this will result in a lot of second guessing. A manager can lift the pitcher because he trusts his bullpen, but if the new pitcher gets hit then that move will be wrong. There is really no way to win in these situations. The right move will always be the one the manager didn’t make.

If the philosophy behind the move is the right one and it doesn’t work out can we really criticize it? If a manager has a poor left handed batter coming up to bat against a left handed pitcher with runners at first and second and one out, and he lifts this batter for a right handed pinch hitter who is a much better hitter. Can we really say it was the wrong move if the batter grounds into a double play? We cannot. It was the right move to make. Every decision cannot be easy. If they were then it wouldn’t be a decision.

Second guessing is something that a lot of fans do. A day after a tough loss, where a move didn’t work out, take some time to listen to the common fan. They will question why a move was made or a pitcher threw a certain pitch or any number of other things. It is easy to see what should have been done from the future. The only thing we can do is examine the philosophy behind the moves, and if that is wrong then we should question the decision, but if it was a good move that just didn’t work out then it is just petty second guessing.