You would expect more from a manager with 14 years of experience as a catcher in the Major Leagues, especially one who put up really good numbers (.262 batting average, .995 fielding percentage) over a career that came up just one short of 1300 games. But, the postseason is a different animal from the regular season and Mariners’ manager Dan Wilson had a major brain fart during the American League Division Series Game 1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. This wasn’t any run-of-the-mill brain fart. This was one that you could easily argue cost his team the win. Later, we will consider the logic in sending a runner home when an infielder has the ball in his hand and can easily throw him out at home.

This is Wilson’s second year in the top spot with Seattle, but in those 14 years in the league as a catcher, he was known for his intelligence and ability to manage a game. He also spent six of those years catching Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson and Johnson’s polar opposite on the mound, Jamie Moyer.

But in Game 1 he failed to see the tide turning with his starter, George Kirby, at a critical time in the fifth inning. Kirby was absolutely fantastic through his first four innings. But, in the fifth, he started to struggle. Javier Baez roped one to right field for an out. Parker Meadows put together an eight-pitch at-bat before singling and advancing on a groundout. You could just feel the tide turning and disaster coming. Normally a manager will try to give his starter a chance to get through at least one tough spot. But these are not normal times. These are win-or–go-home times. With a 2-0 lead, Wilson kept Kirby in the game, despite Kerry Carpenter and his four career home runs off Kirby coming up. Kirby had already thrown 85 pitches. And, again, you’ll normally leave a guy in for as long as possible to save the bullpen during the regular season. But these aren’t normal times. And this wasn’t a normal matchup. Managers are fond of saying postseason offense is a different animal than the regular season. There’s more small ball, but there’s also a greater reliance on the home run. And, there is no saving of the bullpen. There are more frequent days off. Also, these are the best starters that baseball has to offer. In this case it was obvious that with the lefty, Gabe Speier, in the bullpen ready to go, that the starting pitcher needed to go.

But no. Wilson stuck with his guy and, to be honest, it looked like he made the right choice. Kirby got two quick strikes on Carpenter before Home Plate Umpire Alex Tosi totally missed an obvious strike three call. Kirby then decided not to see if Carpenter would chase or he just missed his spot and put a meat ball right in the middle of the plate. Carpenter sent it 409 feet and tied the game.

Anyone can second guess after the move or non-move in this case, but it was obvious to anyone not in the dugout that Kirby needed to come out. Zach McKinstry wouldn’t have had a chance to win the game in the 11th if Carpenter hadn’t gone Yard in the fifth.

Now, of course, you can say, “Nobody can say what might’ve happened if the lefty reliever had come in,” but you can say the matchup was way better and the bullpen – which had five days of rest – should’ve been leaned on more. Give Dan Wilson credit, though. At least he learns from his mistakes. The very next night in almost exactly the same situation he pulled Luis Castillo and brought in the lefty, Speier.      In this case, the reliever won the battle and the Mariners won the game in the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back doubles by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez.

But, in that win -and that inning- there was another major strategic error by Seattle, which seems to be shared by baseball in general: the base runner at third breaking for the plate on contact, regardless of where the ball is hit.

In Game 2, a ground ball to third base by Eugenio Suarez did not result in a throw across the diamond to get the runner at first or with Julio Rodriguez staying at third base. Instead, Rodriguez broke for the plate early and third baseman, Zach McKinstry made the much easier -and shorter- throw home to get him. The better play with one out would have been for Rodriguez to fake going and try to get McKinstry’s attention to disrupt the throw to first or to try to get first baseman, Spencer Torkelson to throw the ball away.

The Dodgers have had at least three runners at third base thrown out at home this year in non-force out or less-than-two-out situations. Any Little League coach can tell you you do not try to advance from 2nd to 3rd or third to Home when the ball is hit to the left side of the diamond, but for some reason, it has become part of teams’ game plans to try to score when an average throw will result in an out. The Los Angeles Dodgers tried to force the issue in last year’s playoffs and had two runners thrown out at home when there was no force-out situation. The Yankees had six men thrown out at home trying this in 2021 according to a video montage put together by double-dose-larry on Reddit. The video also includes nearly the same number of men being thrown out by a wide margin trying to score from second. This is not “pressure on the defense.” This is a “stupid way to make an out. Leaving a pitcher in to face a guy who has four home runs against him is a stupid way to lose a game.

We will see if more stupidity ends up costing the Mariners the series.