1997 Ad

After a long pitching and broadcasting career in the major leagues, Larry Dierker managed the 1997 Houston Astros to the National League Central Division title in his first season. His participation in this postseason was brief--the Astros were swept in three games by the Braves in the first round--but he still is involved as The Sporting News' World Series analyst. His "Mind of a Manager" commentary also appears after every Series game at www.sportingnews.com.

The interest for me in this World Series is that we have two teams known more for their hitting than their pitching. Not to say they don't pitch well, but I thought going into this Series there might be a lot of runs scored.

With that in mind, what struck me as curious in Game 1 is that both managers played their infield in early in a one-run game. Because even with Livan Hernandez's success his previous time out and Orel Hershiser's postseason success overall, I thought there would be some runs scored.

We had an ongoing discussion on our club as to whether playing the infield in is an offensive strategy or a defensive strategy. For me, it's a defensive strategy, a desperate act in a sense. It indicates you're not confident your team is going to be able to score many runs--especially early in the game. Late in the game, it becomes an easy call.

Early in the game, I feel as though you're admitting you don't think you're going to score, which means you're somewhat desperate. Yet when I talk to some of my coaches and other baseball people, especially pitchers who haven't hit, they feel like it's an aggressive act--you're telling a hitter he can't hit the ball through your infield.

The other thing that stuck in my mind about the first game was Hernandez throwing that fit after he was pulled out of the game. I thought back to the Division Series against the Braves (Game 6) when Kevin Brown talked his manager, Jim Leyland, into letting him stay in the game--and it was a difficult situation. You don't have much choice when a manager walks to the mound during an inning. It made me feel a little bit for Leyland, because I know how hard it is.

I know how hard it is to not consider the feeling of your players, because you put so much confidence in them throughout the season. That's the most difficult part of managing--you have to do things that are unpopular.

There was one player in the Series' first weekend I definitely would not remove from the lineup, although some people might not agree with me: Bobby Bonilla. I was listening to the NBC broadcast (three's a crowd, by the way--let's have some dead-air time), and they alluded to how much his hamstring was bothering him. I wouldn't take him out, especially being that far down in Game 2.

I feel that with his bat being what it is, he might come up with two on and hit one out of the park. Then you have a chance to win the game. I'm very reluctant to take home run hitters out when I have a chance to win the game. I put defensive players in when I'm ahead. Unless a guy tells me his hamstring is real bad or the trainer comes up and says the player could blow it and be lost for the rest of the Series, I would tend to leave that bat in the lineup.

Hershiser would be a bigger concern to me than Bonilla. The turning point in Game 1 obviously came on the back-to-back home runs by Moises Alou and Charles Johnson off Hershiser. He got the ball up a little bit. What I noticed is his stuff is a little below average now. His poise, his competitiveness ... all of those attributes that made him a Cy Young pitcher are still there, but he just doesn't quite have the stuff to pitch to his past standards.

Jeff Conine's fifth-inning at-bat was a great example. With runners on first and third, none out and Cleveland down, 5-1, Hershiser threw a great breaking ball, low and outside, off the knees. Right where you want it. Conine still hit it through the middle.

You have to wonder: Are you getting near the end? I'm not sure that's the case with him, but that's the thought that was going through my mind: Oh, boy, when you throw your best breaking ball out there and he still hits a line drive to center for an RBI single, you've got to be thinking, "What can I throw that he won't hit?"

When Hershiser used to dominate, you couldn't see his sinker on TV. That was the thing I found so amazing. When a guy throws a riding fastball, you can't see it. You can't see the ball ride on TV. You just see the hitters continually swinging under

But when a guy throws a sinker, you always see that tailing action. When Hershiser was at his best, I could not see that tailing action on TV. Everybody hit a ground ball off him. That's what all the hitters told me. When I watched him in Game 1, he had that tailing action, just like everybody else. The mysterious pitch had disappeared.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group