Bob Cooney- Questioning Our Teams After A Win Is What We Do
When Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt was playing for the Phillies he once said, “Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.”
You can react to that however you want. I think it’s funny, even though I was a former member of the print media. I think of this quote often, and I don’t equate it to players or the media so much, but instead I think of the fan base. And I love it.
I’ve always been a knit-picker when it comes to sports. A win is never good enough. A blowout win still has areas in which I will look for improvement. And don’t even get me started about losses.
So today, after the Phillies posted a masterful 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the lead story is just that. A step closer to a World Series appearance; home run hitting by Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber and, of course, the dominant pitching of Zack Wheeler.
But probably the most energetic conversations revolve around manager Rob Thomson’s decision to remove Wheeler after seven innings of one-hit baseball. As it turned out, the manager’s decision worked out perfectly, as Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado were able to get the final six outs and secure the win at Petco Park.
But the argument doesn’t, and shouldn’t, end there. Whether you are pro Thomson move or against it, it’s a viable conversation to have. And it’s what makes being a sports fan the fun that it is.
As I watched the game, I had the initial reaction that probably most did, and that was to question the reasoning of removing Wheeler after just 83 pitches and complete dominance. Then I sat back and tried to reason with it and I came up with a somewhat soothing solution and it was this: Who am I to question the decisions of Rob Thomson, especially when it comes to his playoff success in making said decisions? For example:
Look at how he has handled the bullpen, from games in which he needed to use six relievers to ones like last night. He’s been masterful. In Game 4 against Atlanta, Thomson chose Noah Syndergaard as a starter and it worked out wonderfully. Then there was his stubbornness (?) of sticking with Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins at the 1-2 spot of the order, which has worked out wonderfully. And let’s not forget him moving Bryson Stott to the seventh spot and dropping Brandon Marsh to nine in the middle of the Braves series. Stott then produced a nine-pitch RBI double and Marsh, of course, hit a monster home run.
Question what a manager or player does even in a huge win? Hell yeah. That’s not only who were are as Philly sports fans, but what makes us great at it.
