Sports: October 1999 Archives

OK, I know you just "don't do this". But I just cannot see pitching your best pitcher against what may be the best pitcher ever. Of course, it remains to be seen if Pedro Martinez is the best ever. But he certainly is, by far, the most dominant pitcher in the game today. And if you are the Cleveland Indians, you need to realize that he will likely win every game he pitches.

So what is it that you don't do? What you don't do is put your worst starting pitcher (that would be Steve Karsay in a four-man rotation, or Dave Burba in a three-man rotation) in the lineup against him in Game 1. What you do is pitch your best, Bartolo Colon, because you are not supposed to concede the loss.

But you should concede. You will lose in all liklihood, and your job is to win games 2, 3, and 4, because you will probably lose games 1 and 5. And really, pitching Burba or Karsay is not much of a concession. Burba and Karsay both have better records than the Sox' number two man, Bret Saberhagen. But all of them are good pitchers. Burba has 15 whole wins, and Karsay and Saberhagen have ERAs under 3.00. We are talking about quality staffs here.

So if I am the Indians, I put in an excellent pitcher who isn't my ace. I play the odds, and say, "OK, if we are going to win this one, it will be by hitting Pedro's pitches, and tomorrow when Colon is on the mound, we'll make them do the same to us."

It has been said that pulling Colon would send the wrong "message" to the team. What message is that? The manager would be sending the right message. It's like a wrestling match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and whoever is the champion of the midget wrestling league. Pedro is on another planet. You have to assume that if you are going to win, it is going to be because Pedro is having a bad night or you get lucky; in either case, you won't need your ace on the mound to win such a game.

The Cleveland Indians won't do it, though. I can't say I am displeased. This really could be Boston's year, I think.