Over and Out
Date:
Friday, August 31, 2001
From: Kevin Hench
Subject: Over and Out
Joe Kerrigan is a miracle worker, a wizard, a sorcerer. He is
accomplishing something heretorfore deemed impossible. He is making Jimy
Williams look smart. We knew this house of cards could collapse at any time.
We just didn't know the manager would bump the table in the second week of his
tenure and send the cards tumbling.
Has anyone been able to keep track of how many outs we've made on the bases in
the Kerrigan error, I mean era? It's amazing. Pretty much the only way this
team could have gotten worse is if they abandoned the station-to-station
approach that was not born of conservatism but of necessity. Rule one: Know
your personnel.
When you look at the on-base percentages of some of these guys - Offerman,
Hillenbrand, Stynes - you'd think the team would comprehend the preciousness
of baserunners. It's frustrating when Major Leaguers are so confused by their
jobs. Like Bichette in Texas, Hatteberg could well have been safe at home had
he slid. At least Hatteberg ran the catcher instead of surrendering like Mr.
Softy.
Trot is down in the .260s, Offy down in the .240s, Carl's pinch hit lifted him
out of the .250s. We stink. But we can unload $50.7 million in payroll in
the off-season, which is nice.
I'm off to Chicago for the weekend, a great city where there is still a team
in contention.
