Idiots Write About Sports

During the eighth inning of last night’s eventually disastrous A’s-Rangers affair, as pinch-hitter Kevin Mench strode to the plate to face Chad Bradford with two on and two out, the Fox Sports Southwest telecast placed the following statistic on the screen:

Kevin Mench, career against Bradford, 4-8, 1 HBP

Now, granted, nine plate appearances is hardly a relevant statistical sample, certainly not enough to definitively declare that Mench has achieved mastery over Chad Bradford. But it’s probably also safe to say that Mench wasn’t exactly standing at home plate plagued with self-doubt.

Time for Ken Macha to pop out of his hole and replace Bradford with a pitcher who might put up more of a spirited battle against Mench, right?

Well, no. Macha remained on the bench doing whatever it is he does once he fulfills what he apparently considers to be his only managerial duty of filling in the lineup card. (Checking his stocks? Finishing up that Proust biography he’s been thumbing through? Practicing the bland pleasantries — “There’s still a lot of baseball left to play,” “[Insert pitcher’s name here] was really throwin’ out there tonight” — he’ll mouth to the media during postgame interviews?) And so Chad Bradford remained in the game to plunk Kevin Mench with his very first pitch.

Whoever’s in charge of stats in the Fox Sports Southwest production truck: that’s now 4-8 with two HBPs.

You can probably guess the sequence of events from there: Laynce Nyx hit a two-run single to left to give the Rangers the lead, followed by a two-run Michael Young single to pad out the score. During the entire time, Macha remained in the dugout, apparently frightened by the sight of his shadow (which A’s fans will take as a sign that we’re in for six more weeks of ineffective relief pitching).

Macha took some time out of mouthing bland pleasantries to explain his inaction: apparently, Ricardo Rincon was the only available pitcher left. (Lehr had already pitched. Justin Duchsherer is nursing a sore back. Chris Hammond pitched two innings the day before. Jim Mecir had a made a brief appearance on Thursday, but back-to-back appearances are problematic for Mecir. And Octavio Dotel had pitched on three of the last four days, including a 19-pitch appearance on Thursday.)

“[Rincon] was my last pticher,” Macha told the Chronicle’s David Bush. “I didn’t want to use him then. And he wouldn’t have seen left-handers, anyway.”

Which is a passable explanation, I guess, until you consider the fact that Chad Bradford clearly didn’t have it last night. To leave him in there to flounder was to invite a come-from-behind effort from Texas. And a loss last night evens this four-game series at a game apiece; if the A’s have any hopes for even the modest goal of a split, they’ll need a win from either Barry Zito or Mark Redman — Shaky and Shakier on scorecard — in the two remaining games. Ergo, nailing down last night’s win — even if it meant pitching Rincon in the eighth and trying to sneak pitching coach Curt Young out there for the ninth — seemed rather imperative.

There are times when you play things by the book and times when you roll the dice and do something a little bit unusual if it improves your chances to win. A good manager knows when these times are. Ken Macha does not.

Draw your own conclusions.