Did Buck Showalter Just Tip His Hand?

It was Vince Lombardi who once famously said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Of course, Lombardi lifted the phrase from Red Sanders, the legendary UCLA Bruins football coach. It might very well be the most quoted phrase in all of sports, right up there with, "The best defense is a good offense," which traces its roots all the way back to, if you can believe it, George Washington.

The bottom line is this: we celebrate the winners in this country and quickly forget the losers. If you don't believe me, recite, in order, all the teams that have LOST the Super Bowl - without looking it up. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Buck Showalter is quite aware of what happened last season. The Mets entered the month of August five games up on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, only to fade like a cheap pair of jeans in the dog days of summer. Going into last night's game, the Amazins were up three and half games over the Braves - four in the loss column. Would this be a case of, to quote the late, great Yogi Berra, "deja vu all over again?" Buck was determined to do everything possible to ensure it wouldn't.

Which explains his decision to go with his closer Edwin Diaz to get the last six outs of the game when his set-up man Adam Ottavino could've pitched the 8th inning. He had allowed a run on two hits in the 7th, narrowing the Mets lead to 6-4. At one point, they were comfortably ahead 5-0. A Braves comeback in front of the hometown faithful was something that had to be avoided at all costs. Even if it meant Diaz would be unavailable for tonight's game. 

But Showalter's decision to have his closer pitch two innings might have inadvertently revealed something else about his thinking that should be far more worrisome to Mets fans. Apart from Diaz, there isn't a single relief pitcher he can trust to protect a lead.

Consider what happened in Washington. The Nationals scored a total of three earned runs in 18 and 2/3 innings against Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt. But against the bullpen, they scored nine earned runs in just 7 and 1/3 innings. And all of those runs, mind you, were scored after Juan Soto and Josh Bell were dealt to the San Diego Padres. That's right: against a lineup that had almost as many Triple A hitters as it did major league hitters, the vaunted Mets bullpen was lit up like a pinball machine. What do you suppose a team like the Braves would do to it?

Now you know why so many baseball analysts were scratching their heads when the Mets only added one reliever at the trade deadline. Seriously, if you think that the acquisition of Mychal Givens and the return of Trevor May from the IL is going to intimidate teams like the Braves, Dodger or Padres, you've taken one too many leaps off the Pepsi Porch. Yes, I know it's now called the Coca Cola corner, but Pepsi Porch just sounds better.

Here's the thing: Buck Showalter knows he has arguably the best starting rotation in baseball. He knows he has a pretty deep lineup capable of putting up a lot of runs. But even with all that, he also knows that this team will go only as far as Edwin Diaz takes it. And now, thanks to him tipping his hand last night, the entire National League knows it too.

Bill Buckner Didn't Cost the Red Sox the '86 World Series

"Little roller up along first. Behind the bag, get's by Buckner. Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!" - Vince Scully

As a Mets' fan, I have watched the above play from the bottom of the 10th inning in game six of the 1986 World Series hundreds of times. With the exception of the Giants' upset of the Patriots in Super Bowl 42 and the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1994, it remains my favorite sports moment.

Up in Beantown, however, it was anything but a fan favorite. Bill Buckner's flub at first base became the latest in a long line of late season collapses that proved beyond a doubt that the Bambino curse was real. Buckner was the perfect scapegoat for frustrated Red Sox fans. It would not be until 2004, when Boston finally won their first World Series in 86 years, that the Fenway faithful would "forgive" him.

But looking back at the play, while it's clear that Buckner did commit the error that allowed Ray Knight to score the winning run, he was NOT responsible for the eventual outcome of the Series. There were two culprits who must share the blame. The first was the Red Sox bullpen, which was simply dreadful, particularly in the last two games.

After taking a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning off Mets reliever Rick Aguilera, Calvin Schiraldi, who was working his third inning of relief, got the first two outs but couldn't close the door. One after another, the Mets kept the inning alive. First, Gary Carter singled, then Kevin Mitchell and Knight followed with singles of their own. With the score 5-4, manager John McNamara brought in Bob Stanley to get the final out, but Stanley wound up throwing a wild pitch allowing Mitchell to score the tying run.

Two pitches later, Mookie Wilson got just enough of the ball to hit a weak grounder down to Buckner. The first baseman, playing back and protecting the line, and no doubt worried about Wilson's speed, took his eye off the ball just long enough to let it slip under his glove. But here's the thing. Even if Buckner had come up with the ball cleanly, there's no way either he or Stanley, who got a late break off the pitcher's mound, would've beaten Wilson to the bag. In other words, the inning would've continued and the Mets would've had runners at the corners with Howard Johnson at the plate. The way Stanley was pitching, does anyone have any doubts at all that Johnson wouldn't have gotten a hit?

Lightning struck again in game seven. After being staked to an early three run lead, starter Bruce Hurst gave it back in the sixth. Enter Calvin Schiraldi, who picked up where he left off in game six by allowing the Mets to score three runs in a third of an inning and take a lead they would never relinquish. They would go onto to win the game 8-5 and the series 4-3.

But as atrocious as the bullpen was, McNamara's managing was even worse. It was his decision to go with four starters instead of three that limited Roger Clemens - the best pitcher in baseball that year - to only two starts in the Series. Oil Can Boyd started game three and, had it not been for a rain out which delayed the start of game seven, he would've started that game as well. Imagine, the most important game of the season and your best pitcher is unavailable.

And speaking of Clemens, why did McNamara pull him in game six after only seven innings? He was cruising along, allowing only two runs - one earned - and recording eight strike outs. Thanks to an error by Knight in the top of the 7th, which allowed Boston to score the go-ahead run, he had a lead to work with and only nine outs to go. You've worked hard all year to get to this point. Why on Earth wouldn't you give your Cy-Young award winner the chance to close out the Series? But no, McNamara pulled him and asked Schiraldi to get the final six outs. Schiraldi promptly gave up the lead in the 8th and imploded in the 10th.

But McNamara saved his best move for last. With his team up by two going into the bottom of the 10th in game six, instead of pulling Buckner for a defensive replacement, McNamara opted to keep him in the game, later explaining that he wanted Buckner to be on the field when the Red Sox finally won. The move, like so many others he made, was inexplicable. Buckner may not have been the worst defensive first baseman in the league, but he was hardly Keith Hernandez. No manager should ever put loyalty to a single player above the welfare of his entire team. As I mentioned above, the Wilson miscue did not cost the Sox the Series, but it definitely cost them that game. And as any sports fan knows all too well, when you blow a chance to close out a series - especially when you're on the road - it can affect the psyche of the whole team.

Bill Buckner had himself a pretty good career. He was a solid hitter and a clutch player. It's a shame that many fans only remember him for the one play he didn't make instead of the many he did. And had his manager and bullpen both done their jobs, he most likely would've been celebrated as a member of the team that broke the Bambino curse, rather than the scapegoat who prolonged it.