Awful Computer Manager

Plus April 23, 1949 Roundup

Awful Computer Manager

We all make mistakes.

In this case, the best game of April 23, 1949 was a game that I decided not to record. Apologies — that was my mistake.

Reds at Pirates

This was a quiet affair until the top of the 4th inning. With one out, Jimmy Bloodworth singled for Cincinnati, after which Virgil Stallcup came up:

This brought up Lloyd Merriman with two on and one out. I thought for a few minutes about what to do, and finally decided to pitch to him:

I was certainly not expecting that to happen. Charge that wild pitch to Pirates starter Cliff Chambers.

Meanwhile, Reds pitcher Ken Raffensberger was at the plate, and he was no easy out:

Pittsburgh did get out of that inning without any more harm being done.

The score was now 2-0 Reds. Ralph Kiner, as always, managed to put a charge into one in the bottom of the 4th:

Up came Wally Westlake with a runner on second and nobody out, down 2-0:

Well, so much for that thought.

Cincinnati threatened again in the top of the 5th inning. Two straight singles with nobody out brought up Hank Sauer in a position to do a lot of damage:

That’s just the sort of game this one was. The Pirates walked Bloodworth to load the bases, but got the next two Reds out, and the score remained 2-0.

Late Drama

Cincinnati added another run with two outs in the top of the 7th inning, making the score 3-0.

The Pirates did manage to get one back in the bottom of the 7th. Pete Castiglione came up with two outs and the bases empty:

And now, with the score 3-1 Reds, we were ready for the drama to come.

Stan Rojek led off the bottom of the 8th with a base hit for Pittsburgh. He was followed by Monty Basgall:

With the score 3-1 Reds, two men on, nobody out, and pitcher Chambers due up in the bottom of the 8th, I went to my bench to see what we had available. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much:

I decided to ask Chambers to bunt:

You can argue about whether that was the right call or not, but at least it got the job done.

That brought up Johnny Hopp:

The score was now 3-2 Reds. Wally Judnich popped up to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

Idiot Computer Manager

Chambers fell apart in the top of the 9th.

Grady Hatton walked to lead things off. Danny Litwhiler came up, and then this happened:

I felt like a fool for not pinch hitting for Chambers after this happened. I know that it was technically a passed ball and that the blame should go to Ed FitzGerald, but I still feel that this wouldn’t have happened if Chambers weren’t in there.

Out went Chambers and in came Hal Gregg. And then the Diamond Mind computer manager made one of the strangest moves I’ve ever seen:

I’ve mentioned before that the Diamond Mind Baseball fan base has asked for years for an “undo” button to prevent the computer manager from doing stupid things like this. It’s still happening. We’ve known that this is a problem for over 20 years now, and yet there has still been no change. It’s absolutely infuriating. The only way to avoid it is to control both teams by yourself, which makes the base running game pointless.

There is simply no reason why Chuck Kress should pinch hit for Ted Kluszewski here. Both Kress and Kluszewski were left handed hitters, which means that you don’t gain any platoon advantage by making this move. Gregg was more effective against left handed batters in 1949 anyway. Kluszewski was a star player hitting his prime, while Kress was a career minor leaguer enjoying his single season in the sun.

You could argue that Kress had a better average against right handed pitching. The sample size issue kills that argument, however. He had a total of 20 plate appearances against right handed pitching and 13 against left handed pitching during his brief time with the Reds in 1949. There’s simply no statistical significance here, and the computer manager really ought to recognize it.

I know I’ve been rambling on about this for a few paragraphs now, but this really is a concerning issue. This move is beyond unrealistic. It completely breaks the spirit of the project. And there’s no way to undo it — and that makes me extremely upset.

Anyway, up came Kress:

Now there was 1 out after that incredibly stupid managerial decision. Up came Sauer:

At least Kress could run the basepaths.

Bloodworth came up next, but I didn’t want any piece of him. With two outs and runners on second and third, I decided to walk him intentionally:

And now here came Stallcup, with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, up 3-2, and with the bases loaded:

Now it was 4-2, and up came Merriman:

And that wasn’t even the most exciting part of the game!

9th Inning Drama

Ralph Kiner opened up the bottom of the 9th the right way:

The score was now 4-3, and Pittsburgh had something going. Westlake grounded out to third, which brought up Castiglione again:

Now came up one of those real hot water situations for the manager. Do I bunt with FitzGerald, or do I swing away? I decided to swing away with one out:

That one made up for the passed ball, in my opinion.

Extra Innings

Bobby Adams pinch hit for Raffensberger in the top of the 10th. Raffensberger had pitched quite well for the Reds, going the distance and holding one of the best offenses in the National League (at this point in the season, at least) to only 4 runs.

Adams walked, but we didn’t let that get us down:

That was the end of the drama for a little while, until Castiglione came up with two outs in the bottom of the 11th, the score still tied at 4:

Up came FitzGerald with another chance to redeem himself:

And, just like that, the Pirates were 5-0!

The Reds left an amazing 15 runners on base in this game. Chambers went 140 pitches; there’s no wonder that he started to fall apart in the 9th. And it really pains me to see Kress in that boxscore.

Results and Standings

Red Sox 2, Yankees 1 (13): At Boston, Matt Batts gets the big hit to send the Fenway faithful home happy. See extended writeup here. Watch the game here.

White Sox 5, Browns 3: At Chicago, Bill Wight held the Browns at bay, earning a complete game victory.

Indians 4, Tigers 1: At Cleveland, the World Champions managed to score 4 runs on only 4 hits, taking advantage of their limited opportunities. Watch the game here.

Athletics 7, Senators 5: At Washington, the Senators’ woes continued, as their late comeback fell just short. See extended writeup here. Watch the game here.

Dodgers 5, Phillies 4: At Philadelphia, the Brooklyn Dodgers finally win a game. See extended writeup here. Watch the game here.

Giants 6, Braves 1: At New York, the Giants improve to 5-0 by trouncing the defending National League champions. Watch the game here.

Cardinals 6, Cubs 3: At St. Louis, Stan Musial’s grand slam turns this game completely around. See extended writeup here. Watch the game here.

Pirates 5, Reds 4 (11): At Pittsburgh, strange Cincinnati managerial decisions allow the Pirates to get back into this one. See above.

It’s still too early to make any conclusions, other than that the Cubs and Senators are both awful.