I suppose it can't hurt to ingratiate yourself with the umpires, as a new manager, but I think Mike Matheny is being a little too generous when he suggests that Monday night's lineup card malfunction—in which the St. Louis Cardinals lost Allen Craig because Bob Davidson miscommunicated the double switch they were making to Ozzie Guillen—was his fault. Don't get me wrong—lots of things to do with Monday's game were Mike Matheny's fault, particularly the decision to intentionally walk the bases loaded, but this particular gaffe was entirely on Balkin' Bob's broad shoulders.
↵Come to your own conclusion—Derrick Goold has a comprehensive recap here. But if Davidson can't watch Matheny make a change on a lineup card and then communicate that change to another manager... well, I'm not sure what else Matheny could have done, except maybe made the game a little shorter by not making such a bad decision to intentionally walk the bases loaded with Eduardo Sanchez on the mound. (Just spitballing there.)
↵Luckily for all parties concerned, Joe Kelly, the Cardinals' rookie starting pitcher, is apparently among the fastest players on the team, and legged out a crucial infield single for an RBI. Mike, Bob—looks like everybody gets one huge mistake, but I don't think you should count on Kelly bailing you out a second time.
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