Ex-Cub/Giant Mike Krukow rips 'arrogant' Joe Maddon for 'over-managing'

[Auggie]

From an interview on the San Francisco Giants' flagship radio station:

"The Cubs won this thing despite over-managing from Joe Maddon. It was awful. It was awful," Krukow said on KNBR 680. "It was the arrogance that he was trying to put his signature on what was gonna happen. And it happened despite taking out Hendricks early, taking out Lester early, putting in Chapman when he was tired.

"And the bunt with 3-2? You're gonna be smarter than the game? I was so outraged at what I was watching ... look, he's done a great job, granted. I mean come on. He's done a great job. He was the guy that kept them going down three games to one ... but at some point in time, you cannot be arrogant enough to think that you have to put your signature on the game.

"And to me, that's what he was doing. It didn't make sense. He was not reading the room. He was not managing this game as it should have been managed. I just wanted to slap the guy. As it turned out, they won despite him, despite his over-managing. And it'll be forgotten by a lot of people, but it won't be forgotten by me and a lot of people."

SNIP

"Hats off to a lot of things that this guy has done," Krukow added. "I don't want to diminish what Joe Maddon has done. He's been brilliant keeping this team focused through all the success they've had -- success can be just as much a distraction as failure -- and he's been remarkable, and it's probably gonna put him in the Hall of Fame what he did here.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/krukow-rips-arrogant-maddon-over-managing-world-series

[erpowers]

1. I Agree

The Cubs won that game in spite of Joe Madden's managing. He made a number of bad decisions he did not have to make. There was no reason to take Hendricks out of the game so early. When he took Lester out, there were two outs and one man on base. Lester had been doing a fairly good job up to that point. I think he could have gotten himself out of trouble. Madden's main option, other than Lester, was an overworked Chapman. At least wait until there is real trouble before bringing in Chapman.

I get that the rebuttal to what I said can be that you bring in an overworked Chapman before there is any real trouble because if you wait until there is real trouble you may end up in a situation where the cannot be won. If you bring him in before any real trouble you can take him out if there is trouble and hope the team can fix the problem.

[Auggie]

2. I thought Francona removed Kluber too early ...

though I'll almost always side with the manager, coaches and battery mates because they know these pitchers better than anybody.

[world wide wally]

3. I tend to agree with Krukow

There was absolutely no reason to pull Hendricks that early. Especially since Chapman had put in two innings plus the previous night and there were two outs in the inning. One more out and Hendricks may have sailed through two more innings. What's the worse that could have happened? Hendrix giving up 3?

[True Dough]

4. This criticism would have had much more bite

if the Cubbies lost the World Series. I think Maddon's job is quite secure.

[Auggie]

5. Krukow's comments have nothing to do with Maddon's job security

[KamaAina]

6. Mmmmkay, Kruk. Now where's your analysis of how Bochy under-managed the ninth?!

[hughee99]

7. I think there's certainly some merit to this.

He'd already said he didn't want to bring in Lester in the middle of the inning, and Hendricks didn't look to be in awful shape. If necessary, bring in a reliever to pitch to a batter and then let Lester start a clean inning. It also resulted in bringing David Ross into the game when he was coming up 4th, although Ross bailed Madden out on that by hitting a surprising and out of character home run (good for him, too, I like Dave Ross).

As soon as Chapman came in, I said they should have someone in the pen warming up (which he didn't) because you don't know what you're going to get, and after watching him throw a few pitches, I knew he wasn't going to be able to finish that game.

As far as the 2 strike safety squeeze, it was the kind of WTF moment that I think I last experienced when the Seahawks tried to pass on the goal line instead of giving it to Lynch.

Madden made a number of poor decisions and got bailed out by his players.

[JonLP24]

8. I'll be the only one to disagree

I thought he did a good job going back to the Giants series. I remember when the Giants were bringing in relievers he was bringing in the right pinch hitters particularly with the Romo matchup.

Screw conventional wisdom.

[Auggie]

9. The bunt was crazy though

[JonLP24]

10. Actually a lot of what the article mentions I didn't see

Because I flipped to the Suns game in the 5th inning and went back to the Cubs game while it was in a rain delay. I probably shouldn't have commented and was speaking more to how he did the whole postseason.

[Auggie]

12. Yes, you did ...

apologies

[bluedigger]

11. You can cherry pick decision points for any manager or coach to make a critique.

At the end of the day, you judge them on their overall performance, and both Maddon and Francona had great seasons.