YOUR MANAGER’S WHITE FLAG!
You know what I’m talking about. That one guy on your team’s pitching staff that the manager brings in that just makes you want to grab a gun and just start shooting. That one guy that creates a huge moan out of the 40,000 plus fans in a stadium when he comes marching onto the field with his head buried in his jersey already. Every baseball team has one of these guys and the Cardinals are no exception.
This year, LaRussa’s white flag has been the combination of Dennys Reyes and Todd Wellemeyer. Reyes, though his main stats look alright, has been somewhat worthless. He has inherited 36 runners this year and allowed 10 of them to score. While this may not seem that bad, it means a lot in a close game in the eighth inning and your guy in the bullpen is giving up runs.
Wellemeyer has statistically been the worst pitcher in baseball this year. With an ERA closer to 6.00 than 5.00, players are hitting well over .300 against him. His demotion to the bullpen was a step in the right direction. The next step is completely cutting ties with him.
Unfortunately, two negatives don’t make a positive as Reyes and Wellemeyer combined their forces to help the Cards drop the fourth game to the Dodgers by the score of 5-3. Reyes put two men on for Wellemeyer and it only took him three pitches to allow both runners to score. It ruined what could have been a four game sweep of the Dodgers, the team that currently has the best record in the National League. Three out of four isn’t bad, but when the separation between the top two teams in the National League Central Division is only a half game, every victory counts.
There are a couple reasons why time after time, a manager will wave the white flag and go to the same guy each time to signify defeat:
1. You’re really kicking the other teams behind and want to taunt them by throwing the guy that gives up home runs out there just to tease them.
2. You are the one getting the snot kicked out of you and you don’t want to waste your good pitchers to finish off your own demise.
3. You are coming off a very hard earned victory in which you are emotionally and physically drained, which means everyone worth while needs rest so you can start another winning streak. This means the guy that sucks gets thrown to the wolves so that a tough loss can be blamed on one player as opposed to a team just not having enough.
Through the last decade, Tony LaRussa has had several white flags. Join me now as we take a walk down memory lane and boo these players one last time.
2000: HEATHCLIFF SLOCUMB
ERA: 5.44
Between May 17 and June 10, the team lost five of six game in which Slocumb appeared. During that time he allowed six runs, five of which were earned.
2001-2002: LUTHER HACKMAN
’01 ERA: 4.29, ’02 ERA: 4.11
Hackman has the dubious distinction of being the only player this decade to be used as a white flag for two years. The Cardinals lost Hackmans’ first six appearances and lost 16 of the 35 games in which he made an appearance in 2001. Several games he appeared in were blowouts in the opponents favor. One game against the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) went into extra innings. Instead of burning all of the useful bullpen pitchers, Hackman was thrown out there multiple innings until the Cardinals either won or the Expos scored. The Cardinals lost 5-4.
2003: JEFF FASSERO
ERA: 5.68
Fassero was a home run machine, which isn’t good because he was a pitcher. He gave up 17 home runs in 62 appearances. Three of those homers were on the first pitch he threw. Eight of them were given up to the first batter he faced. Of his 62 appearances, 51 of them were when the team was down by four runs.
2004-2005
These teams were too good to need a white flag. When you are winning 100 games a season you don’t need to give up. You could make a case for Cal Eldred who, in 2004, made 42 of his 52 appearances when the game was within four runs. But his 3.76 ERA was pretty solid.
2006: RANDY FLORES
ERA: 5.62
Flores was one of the most well-liked guys in the Cardinal Clubhouse. Unfortunately his pitching was less than likeable. With two outs and runners in scoring position, batters hit .308 against Flores. Most of his appearances came in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning, during which batters scored 25 runs off of him while hitting .282.
2007: KIP WELLS
ERA: 5.70
The first starting pitcher to be used as a white flag. Wells lost seven games in a row at one point. During that stretch he gave up five or more runs in four of those starts. Wells lost 17 games in 2007 and was eventually demoted to the bullpen. To just show how bad of a clutch pitcher he was, batters hit a healthy .382 against Wells with the bases loaded. If the bases were loaded and there was less than two out, hitters licked their chops as they swung their way to a .417 average.
2008: THE ENTIRE BULLPEN
2008 was a frustrating season to watch unfold. As soon as the starting pitcher left, it wasn’t a question of would the Cardinals hold on to win, but a question of how would the bullpen blow it? Jason Isringhausen completely lost his pitching mojo last year as he blew seven of nineteen save opportunities while compiling a 5.70 ERA. Izzy was removed as the team closer in early May which left the bullpen in utter chaos as nobody had a set role. The bullpen blew 31 saves in all which tied for the Major League lead. And just think, if the club wins half of those blown saves, they win the Central Division by one game.
HONORABLE MENTION:
JEFF BRANTLEY: Closer in 1998. In 48 appearances he managed to give up 12 home runs. When he left he claimed the fans “never gave me a chance.”
RICKY BOTTALICO: In 68 appearances during the 1999 season, Bottalico managed to give up 45 runs. His time with St. Louis was so bad that every picture of him wearing a Cardinal uniform has been destroyed.
As long as there is baseball, there will be a player that a manager always uses to blow the game or make things worse. It’s just part of the game. If you are having trouble picking your team’s white flag out, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
When the player appears do you:
Throw up in your mouth a little?
Suddenly want 20 more beers?
Want to punch a baby?
Think the Apocalypse can’t be much worse than what you are about to see?
If the answer to all of these questions is yes, than you’ve found your manager’s white flag.
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