The World Series is the time reputations are made or, in some cases, shattered. This may be most particularly true for managers.
Every choice made during a baseball game is a roll of the dice, some unorthodox moves inexplicably work; some well-thought out, conventional moves backfire. In the World Series, the microscope is on every dugout decision and fair or unfair, managers are remembered for them.
So the first game of the 2024 World Series may well be remembered as Aaron Boone’s day of infamy. With the Yankees holding a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 10th, Boone made a series of fateful decisions.
First, he decided not to send his closer, Luke Weaver, who had gotten four outs and thrown 19 pitches, to try to close the game. For this, Boone later second-guessed himself.
He brought in Jake Cousins, who got one out, then issued a walk and allowed an infield hit to insure the Dodgers’ best hitters would get another at-bat. Here, Boone called on lefthander Nestor Cortes Jr., who had been a starting pitcher for several seasons and had missed a more than a month with an elbow strain. Boone liked the matchups, but there was no way of knowing what Cortes’ pitches would look like after the long layoff.
Cortes got Shohei Ohtani on a fly ball, then after an intentional walk to Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, another lefty-lefty matchup, hit Cortes’ first pitch over the wall for a game-winning grand slam. Meanwhile another lefty pitcher, Tim Hill, an experienced reliever who had pitched well for the Yankees throughout he playoffs, was never called upon.
“Just liked the matchup,” Boone told reporters afterward. “The reality is he’s been throwing the ball really well the last few weeks as he’s gotten ready for this. I knew with one out there, it would be tough to double up Shohei if Tim Hill gets him on the ground and then Mookie behind him is a tough matchup there. So felt convicted with Nestor in that spot.”
Yankees fans have since been ready to convict the manager of malpractice. With the Yankees now down 0-2 in the Series going into Game 3 in New York on Monday night, only an epic comeback will get Boone off the hook of history.
And if does turn out badly, Boone will have plenty of company. World Series history is filled with managerial gambles, some coming up lucky sevens, some snake eyes.
Here are just a few:
1929: Surprise starter
Howard Ehmke, journeyman righthander, had pitched only 11 games with the A’s in 1929 and faded late in the season. In early September, manager Connie Mack told Ehmke he planned to let him go, but Ehmke, a 15-year veteran, had never pitched in a World Series and asked if Mack couldn’t consider giving him another chance, with Philadelphia certain to win the pennant.
Mack told Ehmke to leave the team, buy tickets and watch every Cubs game he could, since they would likely be the World Series opponent. And he told him to keep a secret: Ehmke would start Game 1.
When the Series arrived, Ehmke rejoined the team to the amazement of veteran players. Bypassing 20-game winners Lefty Grove and George Earnshaw, Mack kept his word and Ehmke beat the Cubs 3-1, striking out a then-record 13 batters. Philadelphia went on to win the Series and Mack’s reputation was cemented. Of course, he could afford to take a risk. He owned the team, and managed it until 1951.
Yankees manager Casey Stengel over-thought his pitching plans for the 1960s World Series, bypassing his long-time ace Whitey Ford in Game 1.
1960: Where’s Whitey?
The Yankees won the last 15 games of the 1960 season to nail down the AL championship and Whitey Ford, their long-time ace, was in top form in September. That year, Ford pitched to a 2.51 ERA at home, and 3.66 on the road, so after conferencing with coaches, manager Casey Stengel decided to hold Ford until Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, even though Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field had similar dimensions. Art Ditmar started, and he lost Games 1 and 5.
Ford pitched shutouts in Game 3 and 6, the latter on the road, but was unavailable to make a third start in the series, common for aces at the time, and the Yankees lost Game 7 on Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run. Despite winning 10 pennants in 12 season, Stengel, 70, was pushed out after that Series.
1975: Rookie’s tough break
The 1975 Series is still noted as one of the best ever, especially after the epic Game 6, which the Red Sox won on Carlton Fisk’s 12th-inning homer to stay alive. In Game 7, Boston held a 3-0 lead, but the power Big Red Machine from Cincinnati rallied to tie the game.
Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson chose not one of his top relievers, nor one of his starters, but rookie lefty Jim Burton, who’d pitched to only two batters that postseason, to start the ninth. Burton allowed the winning run, on a bloop RBI single to Joe Morgan, and the Reds won, 4-3. Johnson was fired midway through the next season.
1981: Down go Frazier, Yankees
After taking a 2-0 lead in the World Series, the Yankees lost three in Los Angeles and were fighting for their lives in Game 6. Tommy John, veteran winner of over 200 games, and Game 2 of that Series, was on the mound and the game was tied 1-1 in the fourth inning. With two on and one out, Yankees manager Bob Lemon went for broke, removing John for a pinch-hitter, Bobby Murcer, who flied to the warning track in right. John showed his frustration in the dugout.
Lemon then went to George Frazier, who had already lost twice in the Series. The Dodgers scored seven runs in the next two innings and closed the Series with a 9-2 win. Lemon lasted two weeks into the 1982 season before George Steinbrenner replaced him.
1986: Why not Stapleton?
Red Sox manager John McNamara had been subbing Dave Stapleton for aging Bill Buckner at first base whenever he was protecting a lead in the last inning. For Game 6 of the World Series, McNamara decided to leave Buckner in. After the Mets tied the game, Mookie Wilson’s roller went through Buckner’s legs and the Mets scored the winning run. Then they won Game 7. McNamara was let go in 1988.
1988: Hobbling hero
Kirk Gibson, with a serious leg injury, was ruled all but out of the 1988 World Series. But in Game 1, he was stubbornly taking batting practice during the game, in hopes of getting an at-bat. In the ninth inning, down a run, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda sent Gibson up to pinch hit against Dennis Eckersley.
Gibson hit one of the most dramatic homers in World Series history, limping around the bases, and the Dodgers were on their way to sweeping the heavily favored A’s. Lasorda got his second championship, punching his ticket for the Hall of Fame.
2003: No Dream Weaver
Joe Torre won four World Series with the Yankees, and had a long career of pushing the right buttons. Against the Marlins in Game 4 in 2003, with a chance to take a commanding lead after the Yankees rallied to tie the game, Torre turned to a struggling starter, Jeff Weaver, in the 11th inning, saving Mariano Rivera for a save situation. Weaver kept it tied for one inning, but in the 12th he allowed a walk-off homer to Alex Gonzalez and the Yankees ended up losing the Series in six games. Weaver redeemed himself with the Cardinals, winning a clinching World Series game in 2006. Torre never made it back to the Series, but his Hall of Fame resume was secure.
2014: Title via Madison Ave.
The 2014 Series came down to Game 7, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy would have loved to have his best pitcher, Madison Baumgarner, available. But Baumgarner had won Game 5, a complete game with 117 pitches. Bochy got through four innings with Tim Hudson and Jeremy Affeldt, then unleashed Baumgarner with only two day’s rest. This may have been common strategy in earlier eras, but not in the 2010s. Baumgarner threw five scoreless innings to win the Series. Bochy has won a total of four championships, three with the Giants and one with Texas in 2023.
2015: An affair of Harvey’s heart
The Mets were trying to stay alive in the 2015 World Series and their ace, Matt Harvey, was brilliant. After eight innings, Harvey said “no way” when manager Terry Collins told him it was time to go to the closer, Jeurys Familia. That one time, Collins went with his heart, and Harvey’s. But the Royals rallied in the ninth inning to tie the game, and won it in the 12th.
2020: Cashing out
Modern-day managers avoid having a starter face a lineup a third time, and Rays manager Kevin Cash took it to the extreme. Ignoring the eyeball test, which indicated Blake Snell, was unhittable in Game 6 against the Dodgers, Cash changed pitchers. Snell, who’d allowed two hits, walked none and struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings, was replaced by Nick Anderson, the first of four relievers. The Dodgers clinched the 2020 World Series with a 3-1 victory.
