Presumably Manuel was trying to keep people fresh, and not risk an injury in a blowout game. Given how thin the lineup is, I can't argue with it. LaRussa batted the pitcher 8th today also. He's done that on and off for many years. His argument is that by batting a better hitter 9th, it's more likely that he'll be on base when the top of the order (in particular, Pujols) comes up (he did it a lot when McGwire was hitting HRs for the same reason). Sabermetric analyses show that in fact it makes virtually no difference - over the course of an entire season batting the pitcher 8th might result in an average of one extra run scored. LaRussa does it because it reinforces his own view of himself as a genius.
Those answers were really helpful! Thanks so much for explaining all that. I was definitely raised a football fan and am only recently getting more into baseball and trying to learn the intricacies of managing and all. Thanks again!
great win! good way to go into the Subway series and keep pressure on the Phils. granted it is because the Phils aren't playing great ball, but it is amazing this team is as close to first as they are.
awesome series great team heart right now.maybe not the best ball players (church a clean up hitter??) i hope we can build on this and get our pieces back
Good series win for the Mets. Still gonna be tough to take 2 out of 3 from my yanks but the cardinals series was a very gutsy performance from this team.
