Herman Edwards Defends Joe Girardi
by Bryan
Yankees manager Joe Girardi had an unlikely defender Wednesday: former Jets and Chiefs coach Herman Edwards.
Girardi was second-guessed by several outlets for pitching A.J. Burnett on three days’ rest instead of using fourth starter Chad Gaudin on four weeks’ rest. New York Magazine’s Joe DeLessio writes:
With a 3–1 cushion, though, Gaudin versus Lee isn’t nearly as crazy. By starting Gaudin last night, the Yankees would probably be conceding the game, since you can’t realistically expect much from a guy who hasn’t started in over a month. (Lee wasn’t particularly sharp last night, though, so who knows?) But Girardi would have been making a trade-off: Greatly weaken their chances in Game 5, but strengthen the rotation down the line, especially for Game 6.
In such a scenario, A.J. Burnett could have pitched tomorrow on full rest, and Girardi would even have an option for a potential Game 7: Andy Pettitte on full rest, or Sabathia on short rest. As it stands now, Pettitte — who’s 37, by the way — will likely start on three days’ rest for the first time since doing so with Houston in 2006. Girardi could have weakened the team for just one game; now, he’s weakened them for the final three.
I was sitting next to Herm when I read this on my MacBook Air (I own several of them), and I passed it over so he could see it. He had been smiling, but now his face was scrunching, and he looked at me with that familiar, disgusted look:
“Bryan!” he said. “Didn’t I solve this problem a long time ago? Didn’t I say the one thing that matters in this situation?”
I stammered, trying to make some excuses for DeLessio, but he wasn’t having it. He continued.
“Give up a World Series game?” he asked, incredulously. “You…” he started. “You play…” he started again, a little unsure. “You play to…” He fumbled for the words. He clearly couldn’t remember them, and was hoping I could help him out.
“Win the game?” I suggested.
“Exactly!” He said. “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!” Now he was getting aggravated. He looked at me again…
… and continued. “HELLO?” he asked. “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!”
He was right. The thought that the Yankees should have given up a game in the World Series to “increase” their chances of winning other games is ludicrous. Remember when Bob Brenly pulled Curt Schilling in game four the 2001 World Series so that he could start a game seven, if necessary? The Diamondbacks lost that game—and there was a game seven—only because he pulled Schilling, who gave way to a man named Byung-Hyun Kim. Herm’s lesson is clear and unmistakable: you play to win the game. The real reason the Yankees lost, per Baseball Prospectus‘ Joe Sheehan: “A.J. Burnett didn’t allow six runs in two innings because the Yankees started him on three days’ rest. He allowed six runs in two innings because he’s A.J. Burnett, and he sometimes shows up with nothing, and the Phillies will kill you if you show up with nothing.”
That’s about as concise as you can say it, and I was going to show it to Herm until he tossed my MacBook Air across the room, scattering it into hundreds of little pieces. This is what happens when you take a man away from the game—unresolved tension. He immediately realized what he had done and looked at me, sheepishly, and offered to buy me a new one. “It’s okay,” I said, “I got a million of’em.”
Bryan Joiner 
Whether or not AJ should have or shouldn’t have pitched on short rest, I’m surprised that nobody has called out the yankees for not having an acceptable 4th starter. Regardless of who is the better team, they’re the big bad Yankees who spent all this money and everything and the best they have is Gaudin? (I’m assuming in a perfect world they’d be comfortable with Joba, but they are obviously not.) You should be pitching guys on short rest because they are great pitchers not because your other options are lacking.
I also, think part of the reason for using Gaudin is the fear of all the lefties and switch hitters in the philly lineup.
We were actually in the middle of a game of Stratego. I felt bad, so I lost on purpose.
Did Herm go on to bake a turkey for 30 minutes and microwave gravy for 15?
do you consult with Allen Iverson when you debate going to practice?
I disagree with Herm here. You play to win the series. Each game is part of that series. Managers certainly need to act with much more urgency in a World Series game than a game during the 162-game regular season, but they shouldn’t totally ignore the effect on subsequent games. They shouldn’t “concede” the game, but starting Gaudin isn’t the same as forfeiting. How much worse could he have done than Burnett?
The question is whether the Yankees were better off with
3-day Burnett and 3-day Pettitte or
Gaudin and 5-day Burnett.
I think that was a difficult question to answer before game 5, and I think either decision was reasonable.
And Sheehan’s wrong. The correct statement is that we don’t know whether the short rest was a cause of Burnett’s crappy performance. We do know that pitchers in general perform better on 4 days rest than they do on 3.