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Why manager don't do it

Posted By Cameron

Managers frequently try weird things, but the truth is that organized sport at a major league level is not the most fertile breeding ground for innovation.

In this weeks issue of Baseball Weekly they talk about a strategy that Tony LaRussa once used (when managing in Oakand I think). He split his pitching staff into three groups and rotated them on a three day schedule. Each pitcher pitched approx three innings on their day. The experimant failed not because of the results, but because the statisticains are not equipped to handle something untraditional. The players eventually became upset because they were not accumulating their usual stats.

Player's ego is another aspect of MLB that we don't have to consider in PB. If you want play Mo Vaughn as a DH instead of 1B, you don't have to hear him gripe about it or worry that if he's not happy he won't perform as well.

Don't assume that because something is not done in MLB that it can't be effective. MLB is about as innovative as a bowling ball is sharp.