Dusty Baker Is Almost Trying To Lose

Micah Owings hits a game-tying homer and we all praise Dusty Baker. Let me tell you, boys and girls, Dusty Baker doesn't deserve your praise.

Micah Owings should not have been at the plate down one with two outs in the bottom of nine. No, not because he's just a pitcher. Surely you're not dumb enough to think I'm dumb enough to write something like that. Micah Owings shouldn't have been at the plate in the ninth because he should've been used earlier in the contest.

Darnell McDonald batted in the seventh down two with two runners on base.

Chris Dickerson faced a lefty -- A GODDAMN LEFTY -- in the eighth down two with a runner on.

Willy Taveras came to the plate in the eighth down two with two runners on.

McDonald and Taveras struck out. Dickerson smoked a pop fly to left field. Predictably, all three were overmatched. I say "predictably" because McDonald, Taveras and Dickerson are routinely overmatched. This is the kind of thing that happens to bad hitters. Bad hitters, I might add, with NO POWER. None. Nothing resembling it, actually. The situations called for one game-changing swing...not small ball.

And my biggest fear in this situation isn't Dusty Baker not knowing about Micah Owings' hitting prowess. My biggest fear is Baker pinch hitting McDonald and Dickerson (and leaving Taveras in) because they're position players, while Owings is a pitcher -- and it's disrespectful to bring a pitcher to the plate instead of an able-bodied position player.

Regardless, Baker was lucky to be able to send Owings to the plate down a run in the ninth. Lucky. Which is a little different than genius. Had Hairston not hit a lead-off HR, it's likely Owings would've have come to the plate down two with nobody on base.

Baker will tell you he was saving Owings for the big moment, but he really just had his head up his ass. The Reds are a limited team, and Dusty Baker isn't doing everything he can to win games. Owings needs to pinch hit in every game he's not starting. Every game. He might be the third best hitter on the club.

Micah Owings thrilled Reds fans with a game-tying HR in the ninth. He could have sent them home happy with a three-run HR in the eighth.

Cardinals 8, Redlegs 7.

Me want to punch people.

Happy Mother's Day, shitheads!

-Brad Spieser (Brad@TwinKilling.com)
5/10/09