4.29.07 The team in the dugout
This entry was posted on 4/28/2007 10:13 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
Today was a brutally tough day for the Lynx. A 6-2 lead against Austin after five-and-one-half innings turned into an 8-10 defeat. Forty-five minutes later, a tired and hungry Rhodes team faced the rested and well-fed Millsaps Majors. The game spiraled slowly, then rapidly downward, ending in a 1-11 defeat for Rhodes after seven innings.
Rhodes has, in effect, two teams: the team on the field and the team in the dugout. The team on the field makes it into the box scores and record books: it has already done great things this year. But the team in the dugout is bigger and nearly as important in explaining the Lynx's success in 2007. Understand, these players aren't just watching the game like the rest of us. They are making major contributions in a variety of small ways.
During today's games against Austin and Millsaps, for example. here is what various guys were doing:
--Brandon Valentine and Evan Malone kept the spray chart: one page for each opposing hitter showing where he hit the ball in each at bat
--Robert Flanagan and Corey Dardennes kept the pitching charts on Rhodes and the other team, respectively: a running tally of balls, strikes (called and swinging), and types of pitch.
--Carter Ragan scored the game in the game book, then passed it on to Brooks Royer or Patrick Tolivar when he went in to pitch.
--Max Gertz, Kevin McAlpine, Gordon Chadwick, and Brad Atkins kept pitch counts on the Rhodes and other teams' pitchers, using clickers to keep up.
--Charles Simmons warmed up right fielder Mason Mosby between innings, partly to loosen up his own arm but mostly to help out.
--Stephen DelBello, Brooks Royer, and Brandon Valentine warmed up various pitchers in the bullpen or, in DelBello's case, between innings when catcher Matt Beesley needed time to get into his gear.
--Not today, because it was so hot and every pitcher potentially was needed, but during most games, Andy Holt, Gordon Chadwick, Robby Piper, Brad Atkins, Max Gertz, Chris Catalanotto, Kevin McAlpine, and others take turns sitting behind home plate training the radar gun on the pitcher and recording the results.
--During most games, too, Derek King would be filing Livestat reports from a laptop. (By the way, none of the flaws of Livestat are due to Derek.) Also, Ralph MacDonald would be chasing down balls that were fouled out of play; today it was Will Leibner, Gordon Chadwick, and Brad Atkins who took on that job.
--Last, but the farthest thing from least, Jeff Mueller and Matt Jack kept up a steady line of chatter and got the rest of the dugout going whenever the noise level flagged. As best I can tell, these two guys never sat down or got quiet. Ever.
Chatter--let's call it The Art of Chatter--will be the subject of my next post.
Rhodes has, in effect, two teams: the team on the field and the team in the dugout. The team on the field makes it into the box scores and record books: it has already done great things this year. But the team in the dugout is bigger and nearly as important in explaining the Lynx's success in 2007. Understand, these players aren't just watching the game like the rest of us. They are making major contributions in a variety of small ways.
During today's games against Austin and Millsaps, for example. here is what various guys were doing:
--Brandon Valentine and Evan Malone kept the spray chart: one page for each opposing hitter showing where he hit the ball in each at bat
--Robert Flanagan and Corey Dardennes kept the pitching charts on Rhodes and the other team, respectively: a running tally of balls, strikes (called and swinging), and types of pitch.
--Carter Ragan scored the game in the game book, then passed it on to Brooks Royer or Patrick Tolivar when he went in to pitch.
--Max Gertz, Kevin McAlpine, Gordon Chadwick, and Brad Atkins kept pitch counts on the Rhodes and other teams' pitchers, using clickers to keep up.
--Charles Simmons warmed up right fielder Mason Mosby between innings, partly to loosen up his own arm but mostly to help out.
--Stephen DelBello, Brooks Royer, and Brandon Valentine warmed up various pitchers in the bullpen or, in DelBello's case, between innings when catcher Matt Beesley needed time to get into his gear.
--Not today, because it was so hot and every pitcher potentially was needed, but during most games, Andy Holt, Gordon Chadwick, Robby Piper, Brad Atkins, Max Gertz, Chris Catalanotto, Kevin McAlpine, and others take turns sitting behind home plate training the radar gun on the pitcher and recording the results.
--During most games, too, Derek King would be filing Livestat reports from a laptop. (By the way, none of the flaws of Livestat are due to Derek.) Also, Ralph MacDonald would be chasing down balls that were fouled out of play; today it was Will Leibner, Gordon Chadwick, and Brad Atkins who took on that job.
--Last, but the farthest thing from least, Jeff Mueller and Matt Jack kept up a steady line of chatter and got the rest of the dugout going whenever the noise level flagged. As best I can tell, these two guys never sat down or got quiet. Ever.
Chatter--let's call it The Art of Chatter--will be the subject of my next post.