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The Classic Senators

Idiot Co-Manager

Pardon me for being blunt, but the Diamond Mind computer manager really struggles at managing its own roster.

I came in to this game hoping to start Mickey Haefner for the Washington Senators. However, I discovered that the Senators pitching staff looked like this:

I simply couldn’t justify using Haefner as the starter after he pitched 3 games in a row. I finally shrugged and decided to start Dick Weik instead.

This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you about how well it worked out, and about how surprised I was. Well, not exactly. Weik threw 8 straight balls to start off the game:

Weik calmed down after that, though, and this game rolled on.

Close Game

There wasn’t much offense to speak of. Philadelphia managed to eke out a run in the top of the 4th. The Athletics looked likely to score more when Pete Suder came up to lead off the top of the 7th:

That brought up Mike Guerra:

And that was the end of that rally.

The Senators had a rally of their own in the bottom of the 8th. It started with Clyde Vollmer, who was up with one out:

That brought up Al Evans, who is apparently fond of fouling off pitches:

Now, I do want to say here that the abundance of foul balls in Diamond Mind Baseball’s game engine is a concern. The community has complained for 20 years now that the rates for older seasons seem to be too high, and I agree wholeheartedly. There seem to be far too many at bats in which the batter manages to spoil tough pitch after tough pitch to wear down the pitcher — a strategy I’ve never seen attested to in any sort of baseball literature or analysis before the mid-1990s.

Anyway, I decided to hit and run with Vollmer and Evans in the end, and, well, this happened:

Classic Washington Senators.

Do or Die Time

Our story now moves to the bottom of the 9th in this still 1-0 game. Sam Dente came up with one out for Washington:

That brought up Buddy Lewis, who was batting 8th.

I took a quick look down the bench. Sherry Robertson caught my eye. However, I knew that I had Weik’s spot up after Lewis, and didn’t have anybody else on the bench that seemed to be a suitable pinch hitter. I decided in the end to bunt with Lewis and use Robertson in the pitcher’s spot.

First came Lewis:

Then it was Robertson’s turn:

And then I felt like a genius.

The score was now tied, 1-1, and we had a runner on second with two outs. Weik, who I had started so reluctantly, had gone a full 9 innings while giving up only a single run, and stood to get the win if we could just hit the ball out of the infield. And, of course, Eddie Yost was the batter.

If you thought they were going to pitch to Yost, you’re crazy:

Up now came the other Eddie, Eddie Robinson:

And that was that.

10th

Philadelphia managed a hit in the top of the 10th, but did nothing with it.

We started it off in much better fashion with this Bud Stewart walk:

That brought up Vollmer, and another chance to hit and run:

And so it is. In my mind, I see Eddie Joost just barely grab that ball, and ask myself why Vollmer couldn’t have hit it just 6 inches higher.

11th

With one out in the top of the 11th, Sam Chapman singled for Philadelphia:

I tell you, Chapman wasn’t going to fool around with foul balls and “quality” at bats. He came up, saw his pitch, and went with it.

Milo Candini, in there to relieve Weik (who was but a distant memory at this point), proceeded to walk Ferris Fain on four pitches:

Fain hasn’t been hitting at all so far this season, which makes this walk even more aggravating.

Two fly outs put an end to that rally, however, and on we went.

I will note that the computer manager decided to leave Philadelphia reliever Bubba Harris in the game to hit for himself, even though he came up with two men on in a clutch situation. That’s another one of those really puzzling decisions that just doesn’t make sense to me.

We managed nothing in the bottom of the 11th, and forwards she marched.

12th

Guerra managed a base hit with one out in the top of the 12th for Philadelphia:

Candini now faced Tod Davis, and seemed to calm down a bit:

There were two outs now, and up came the always dangerous Elmer Valo:

That put runners on first and third with two outs. I thought about a relief pitcher, but decided in the end to stick with my man. Visions of that shot of the bullpen from before this game started came to my memory. If we could get out of this one without using more than two pitchers, I’d be delighted.

Well, I had underestimated Joost:

Now that the spell was broken, it was time for Chapman to put us away for good:

We put up a gallant fight, though. Yost came up with one out in the bottom of the 12th:

Robinson barely beat out a double play ball to keep our hopes alive, and then came up Stewart:

I wasn’t about to take any chances, down by 4 with 2 outs.

Up came Vollmer, and I thought he might want to atone for that narrow miss in the 10th. And, well…

And that’s all she wrote.

Results and Standings

Red Sox 9, Yankees 4: In Boston, the Ted Williams and Vern Stephens show continued. Williams now has an OBP of .714, and Stephens is hitting .500.

Browns 4, White Sox 2: In Chicago, St. Louis barely outlasted the White Sox. See extended write-up here.

Indians 8, Tigers 3: In Cleveland, the World Champions blew this game apart quickly.

Athletics 5, Senators 1 (12): See above.

Phillies 5, Dodgers 3: In Philadelphia, Brooklyn played poorly and blew another one. See extended write-up here.

Giants 6, Braves 4: In New York, the Giants handed Boston their first loss. See extended write-up here.

Cardinals 3, Cubs 0: In St. Louis Stan Musial turned his early season batting woes around with a first inning triple, and the St. Louis pitching staff held Chicago to only 3 hits.

Pirates 6, Reds 5: In Pittsburgh, the surprising Pirates advanced to 4-0 after a close one. See extended write-up here.

None of us are surprised that the Red Sox have scored 28 runs already — but I bet you weren’t expecting to see the Braves with 27 runs scored. Maybe it will be an all-Boston World Series after all.