slavish devotion to the righty/lefty matchup: C/D?

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Okay, there are situations in which working the matchup makes sense--you do not want Kent Tekulve throwing to a left-handed hitter. But really, if a guy is a good hitter/pitcher, does it really matter that much that the pitcher/hitter he's facing throws/hits from the wrong side? Play the game. and stop torturing my scorebook

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Monday, 24 May 2004 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

"Slavishness," when not supported by the evidence, is always silly. But the R/L switch holds true *most* of the time.

Deciding who should pitch or hit is playing the game.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 24 May 2004 18:48 (twenty-two years ago)

always dud, obviously. even when it is supported by evidence, it's going to come back to haunt you a couple innings later when you're on your fifth or sixth pitcher instead of your second or third. (that's regarding "slavish" devotion of course; naturally sometimes you've gotta go with the split, but i can tell morb isn't a cards fan. it's not only intolerable to watch, it also loses games)

― John (jdahlem), Monday, 24 May 2004 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)

What the adherence to lefty/righty matchups has done is give a free pass to managers. If you always make pitching changes "by the book", you can't be blamed when they go wrong. So you bring in Mike Stanton to face a lefty, even though that particular lefty is 5 for 6 off of him. It's still the "by the book" move, and the talk radio stations can't really blame you for it.

― JT, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Amen to what John said. La Russa is addicted to this. It's overmanaging and slows the game down. I can see it if you are facing a Bonds or Pujols or some monstrous threat, but otherwise let 'em play.

― bnw (bnw), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

If pitchers would just nut up and learn to throw both right and left handed we wouldn't have this game-slowing dilemma on our hands.

Switch-pitcher vs. switch-hitter would make for an interesting infield tango before the first pitch.

― mattbot (mattbot), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

mattbot otm

― Leee's a Simpson (Leee), Thursday, 27 May 2004 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

The Pirates had a pitcher in the late 80's who could supposedly throw both ways and even had a glove that would fit on either hand. I don't think he ever tried to switch-pitch in a game though. I can't think of his name right now, though.

― boldbury (boldbury), Thursday, 27 May 2004 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

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