Torre: Baseball's I Ching?

Not sure I would call the third base situation “terrifying”. I told the story around the campfire and nobody got scared (old joke).

Hopefully I’m not one of those “move McCann to first, move Freeman to third” fans, but if everyone else is hitting, at the worst Janish could play third. In game 4 of the 95 Series Torre pinch ran for 1B Cecil Felder. He was resigned to playing 2B Duncan at first the next inning, then 3B Charlie Hayes asked Joe if he needed to play 1B, as he had played a little first earlier in the year for the Pirates. Torre also mentioned all the suggestions Don Zimmer would make, usually by asking questions as opposed to giving his opinion. Said Zimmer was a lot of fun. In Atlanta Zimmer noticed Torre’s sister (a nun) dancing the Macarena, and pointed it out to Joe.

In his book Torre makes a point to discuss how a manager could make a game decision based on whether he’d be questioned about it by the press…or blasted by the press for the decision. Do you think Freddie wouldn’t bat Uggla leadoff because his batting average has been so low? DOB has often mentioned Uggla’s high walk rate, as have the Braves radio and TV announcers. But if it mattered to Freddie, batting Uggla

leadoff could be used against Freddie by the press…turning even more fans against him.

Hitting Uggla leadoff might boost his confidence as well, though it seems Fredi has gone out of his way the past few years to keep boosting his confidence. ANOTHER Torre story: He was going to start Tim Raines in right for Game Four, then stuck with Paul O’Neill only to keep O’Neil from getting too down on himself. O’Neill made the running catch on the warning track to end the game, then made a big contribution in Game Five.

While Joe wrote about his entire life in his book, he goes into particular detail about each game of the 95 Series against the Braves…good reading. I should finish tonight. I received a second friend request on GoodReads. I’ve seen lots of friends how signed up, then let their account go dormant. Only a few like Jeff Henderson.

Slow weekend. Friday night we watched Duck Dynasty. Hilarious show. For supper Ceil fixed bacon & egg biscuits, and grits.

Saturday morning I woke Matthew up early. He wanted to open a checking account. We hit Kroger to get a mailing envelope, then the bank, which took a while. Then to the Post Office to mail off a Bears jersey I had sold on eBay. Next to the auto parts store in Roswell, then lunch at McDonalds to use the gift cards we’d received for Christmas. Pulled up next to Anna, driving the van to go eat lunch with her friends. On the way home we stopped back by Kroger. The checkout girl remembered us from earlier that morning. I like that Shallowford Falls Kroger…they have a clearance sale section. We had leftovers for supper to clear out the refrigerator.

Sunday Anna was going to the 11 am service so she could babysit Margaret Ewing’s daughter. Ceil said the van needed gas, so I drove off to get some. I didn’t have time to get air in the tire, so Anna took my car. Later I went out to get air. The two closest QT’s had broken air pumps, and I found the third QT just started a construction project, wiping out that air pump. By the time I got home I was sneezing again. My boss says I need to check for mold in the ducts, a good idea. 

Watched a good chunk of the PGA tourney. Also read my Joe Torre book…almost finished. For supper Ceil crock-potted beef stew.  Passed by the east Cobb Chucky Cheese around 8:30. Anna and Matthew always liked to ride the little car that took their picture sitting next to the mouse, but it’s been a few years since we have been.