by David Fleitz

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P.S. Sparky Anderson managed 23 World Series games for the Reds, and not one of his pitchers ever threw a complete game.  But when Sparky's Tigers reached the Series in 1984, he let Jack Morris throw not one, but two complete game victories.  Why?  Because Anderson knew that a Jack Morris, or a Bob Gibson, or a Curt Schilling rises to the occasion in a big game.  

However, I do want to make one point.

You can only win the game that's in front of you right now.

You can't make decisions with an eye on some game in the future that may or may not ever take place.

Bob Brenly, the Arizona manager, had the Yankees on the ropes in Game 4.  He started Curt Schilling on short rest, and Schilling pitched masterfully, giving up only one run in seven innings and taking a 3-1 lead into the eighth.

So, since the Yankees proved time and again that they couldn't hit Schilling at all, did Brenly send Schilling out to start the eighth?

No, although Schilling had thrown only 88 pitches up till then, and was begging Brenly to let him pitch the eighth.  Brenly wanted to save Schilling in case he would be needed in Game 7 four days hence.

So Brenly sent his closer, Byung-Hung Kim, to pitch the eighth inning.  Closers usually only pitch one inning, but Brenly gambled that Kim would be able to get six outs instead of his usual three.

It almost worked.  Kim struck out the side in the eighth, but he looked a little tired when he came out to pitch the ninth.  Sure enough, the Yankees got to him.  They tied the score 3-3, and since Brenly had already called on his closer, the Diamondbacks had no other option but to send Kim out for a third inning in the 10th.  And, if Kim had gotten through the 10th, who would Brenly call on to pitch the 11th?  Or the 12th?

It didn't get that far.  The Yankees scored in the 10th and won the game.  Even worse, Kim threw an astounding 62 pitches in his three innings of work.  The Diamondbacks have no bullpen to speak of (even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have stronger relief pitching) and when Kim had to pitch the next day, he was exhausted and lost that game too.

The moral of the story is, if you've got a starting pitcher like Curt Schilling and he's got the Yankees in the palm of his hand, leave him in.

If Schilling had stayed in for the eighth, and Kim had been fresh for the ninth, Arizona would have won Game 4 and taken a commanding 3-1 lead in games.  As it stands now, the Diamondbacks have to win both Games 6 and 7 to win the Series.

However it turns out, it's clear that if Arizona loses the Series, they wouldn't have lost it in Games 6 or 7.  They would have lost it when Brenly took out Schilling too early in Game 4.  An experienced manager, like Casey Stengel or Sparky Anderson or Joe Torre, would never have made such an egregious mistake.