50/50

To start this double post I want to tell you my idea of a good baseball coach. Having played and coached, I can see the game from both sides so I have a pretty good idea of how to, AND how NOT to coach. It would take too long to say exactly what makes a good coach but I'll give you just a couple of points and you will see why when you read about the Tigers' games of the past two weeks.

A coach should never think, "What can I do to win this game?" A coach should try to get his team into a position to win the game and then have the humility to let the players win it. He should NOT be jumping in at crucial points trying to make pitching changes or sending in pinch hitters to make it look like it was coaching that won the game. Not just because that usually doesn't work but because it makes the coach look like an asshole in the eyes of his players and it kills team morale. He should depend on his best players and let them do what they do best.

Which leads us to the second point: the coach should trust his best players. For hitters, he should tell them to be selective but he shouldn't be calling the "take" sign too often because that forces good hitters to watch juicy pitches go into the catcher's mit without even taking a hack at them. This is the hardest thing for a hitter to do. Well, let me amend that: A good coach shouldn't call too many sacrifice bunts because THIS is the hardest thing for a hitter to do. All hitters sac bunt reluctantly thinking, no KNOWING that they could have easily connected for a base hit up the middle instead of wasting an out on that perfectly good pitch.

For runners a coach needs to run the bases according to the players. If you have speed on the basepaths and a good contact hitter at the plate, call the hit and run. Stealing second is a MUCH higher percentage way of avoiding a double play than the sac bunt. Also a good way to fill the bases. And for the love of BUDDHA if you have a speedster rounding third and the fielder still doesn't have the ball, wave him home! There's nothing a runner hates worse than dying on third especially after having a chance to run home squandered by the third base coach's stop sign. Hell, I say wave guys home even if the fielder HAS the ball because it'll force him to make a good throw to home and the catcher to make a good tag. If both can do so, they've earned the out. If not we get another run. I'd rather see an out at the plate because of aggressive base running than watch a guy stranded on third because of careful base running. And so would every single player on the bench.

And for pitchers, (and I'm talking about starters here, the most valuable guys on your team), DON'T worry about rest! It wasn't long ago that pitchers pitched consecutive games! When did they start becoming so fragile that they need a week's rest between starts? 6-man rotations NEVER work. Mostly because it's very hard to find 6 great pitchers. If you have 5, use 5. If you have 4, use 4. Don't throw mediocre pitchers into the rotation to give the good starters time to rest. That's ludicrous. Most starters get better as the game goes along. So if they struggle a bit in the early innings don't resort to the bullpen or you'll tire THEM out. And if you have a bad bullpen, as the Tigers most certainly do, you really don't want them working tired. Also, it rots my socks off when I see a starter give up a hit or walk in the 8th or 9th inning and get instantly pulled for it. Or if they're breezing along and for no other reason but pitch count they're yanked in the late innings. Be patient with them! They're human beings, not computers. Some dayst hey can throw 200 pitches, some days they cool off after 90. However, a warm starter is almost always gonna be better than a cold reliever. ALWAYS when you are the coach of the Kia Tigers.

These are all ways to get your players playing for you. If players want to win for you, they play better and they make you look good. You don't need to look good by acting like a great tactician. Chest bump a player. Get a fist bump or a high five. THAT makes you look like a good coach. Best coach in the KBO is coaching the Lotte Giants. Watch them to see what a difference it makes.

Anyway, you didn't have to watch the Tigers to know what happened in the past two weeks. More of the same with only a few new things.

June 8 - The Doosan Bears came to town and of course I went to see our ace, Yang Hyun Jong face down the second place team. He usually pitches a boring game and this one was no exception. He went 7 innings allowing 6 hits and 7 walks and only striking out 4. Not one of his best performances statistically. But he only allowed one run. When he left it was tied at 1. The relievers did well. This game was a tactical battle between the coaches and absolutely fugly to watch! WAY too much bunting and messing around! In the end it was a tactical mistake by Doosan's coach that lost the game for them. After Kim Sun Bin was bunted to second the coach of the Bears pulled the outfield in expecting Kim to score on a base hit. If he'd been watching the Tigers this season he'd know it would have taken TWO base hits to score Kim because he would have been held up at third. At any rate the EXTREME move of drawing in the outfield allowed Lee Yong Gyu to just swing hard and that's what he did hitting a lazy fly ball over the head of the fielder who would have caught it if the coaches had let the payers play. Unfortunately for Yang he didn't get the win. Virtual unknown An Yung Myung, (whose name sounds like chewing gum), threw 3 pitches and got the win. If you are a good coach you remember this game and how pulling the outfield in cost the opponent. Final Kia 2 Doosan 1

June 9 - I went to THIS one too. Colon looked good going 6 allowing only 3 hits and a walk and fanning 3. The relievers also pitched well. This was a great game to watch. Especially Kim Sun Bin who is Mr. Excitement right now for the Tigers! Hitting and running and stealing and sliding. The players played and the coach allowed them to. Nice to watch. And Colon is now 3-0 and starting to make his undefeated record look legitimate. Final Tigers 7 Bears 0

June 10 - Could we sweep the second place Bears? Extra starter Jeon Tae Hyun got the start on this day. He did well. Not a lot happened in this one. Gwag, who has been awful this year, let in the two extra runs that lost it for the Tigers but Jeon took the hit because they were let on base by him. I'd prefer to see the starter try to work his way out of trouble rather than letting the bullpen blow the game. Anyway, he's now 2-4. The Tigers outhit the Bears but couldn't get the win. Final Doosan 3 Kia 1

June 11 - LG came to town and with my favourite pitcher on the mound I was in the stands. I got wet for my trouble but it was also good to see Kim Sang Hyun, last year's league MVP, back in uniform for the Tigers. The game was what I've come to expect from a Yoon Suk Min outing. First run was unearned. Scored without the aid of a hit. Fourth run was scored by a guy reached base on a defensive error. And the relief pitching allowed a 2-run homer. Without that, Yoon would have won 3-2. But he's cursed. I'm sure of it! He went 7 2/3 giving up 5 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 5. How does that translate into 4 runs for any OTHER pitcher? Again the Tigers outhit the opposition with Kim Sun Bin remaining hot but they let this one get away. Final LG 6 Kia 3

June 12 - Lopez didn't pitch TERRIBLE in this one but he gave up a 2-run homer and a 3-run homer. It's hard to win like that. And after Kim Sun Bin was told to bunt a guy to second and heroically bunted aggressively sliding into first for a base hit, Lee Jong Beom was told to bunt the runners from 1st and 2nd to 2nd and 3rd and while attempting the bunt he got hit directly in the head by a pitch. As if there weren't enough reasons for coach Jo to stop the sac bunting! Anyway, I won't talk too much about this other than Lopez is now 1-4 and the final was LG 11 Kia 0

June 13 - Maybe Seo Jae Eung could get us a win at home against the lowly Twins who were feeding the Tigers their arses for the past two games. He gave up 5 hits and 2 runs over 5 2/3 innings. Not bad. Gwag Jung Cheol gave up 3 runs in his 1 inning stinking Moodeung Stadium up again but the Tigers bats were alive on the evening. Kim Sang Hyun got his first homer since returning, Kim Sun Bin continued to tear it up and An Chi Hong went 2/4 with a 3-run home run and 4 RBI's. The final was Kia 9 LG 5

What do you know? Another 3-3 week!

June 15 - Let's start the week off right with Yang Hyun Jong's 10th win shall we? Again he didn't pitch a gem giving up 7 hits and 4 walks in 5 2/3 innings but he only allowed a single run. The heart of the Kia Tiger batting order Choi Hee Seop, Kim Sang Hyun, Kim Sang Hoon and An Chi Hong all went 2/4 on the night. Final score Kia 7 Hanhwa 1

June 16 - Perfect record on the line, Colon pitched well once again. He gave up 4 hits, 2 walks and struck out 4 while only giving up a run before being pulled after his usual 6 innings. I'd like to see coach Jo leave him in longer. But on this night the bullpen didn't blow the lead and with three hit nights by Kim Sun Bin and An Chi Hong and with three guys getting home runs, (An, Big Choi and Na Ji Weon), the one run Colon surrendered didn't cost the team. Final score was Kia 8 Hanhwa 1

June 17 - Jeon Tae Hyun pitched so-so and his relief didn't do much better in this back and forth battle. The lead changed several times but the Tigers ended up on top for the sweep of the Hanhwa Eagles. An Yung Myung, who pitched an ugly inning and 2/3 ended up with the win. He's now got more wins than Lopez! Try to figure the game of baseball! Former Tiger Chang Sung Ho looked good going 2/3 with a walk and scoring twice. Jo doesn't think we can use him any more I guess. Big Choi, Kim Sang Hoon and Na Ji Weon picked up homers and for the second straight day Kia had three in a game! This was a strange one! I even saw Jo Beom Hyeon out of his shadowy corner of the dugout FIST BUMPING players! Maybe this is a good thing. Final Kia 7 Hanhwa 6

June 18 - Two of the best pitchers in the league battling it out in this one. Yoon Suk Min with his silly 4-3 record that should be like 7-1 and Kadokura at 8-4 for the dreaded SK Wyverns. Would the Yoon Suk Min curse continue? In the FIRST INNING Choi Hee Seop committed a throwing error that allowed the first run to score. Here we go again! However, later in the game Yoon obviously balked and it wasn't called. It allowed him to get out of a lot of trouble. A bit of good luck for the hard luck Yoon! I thought things might be changing. He went 8 1/3 giving up 6 hits and 2 walks to the solid SK lineup. He made it the whole game with a 3-1 lead. In the 9th he gave up a leadoff single and after getting an out the guy was singled home. It was 3-2 with a guy at first base. Yoon had been baffling the Wyvern batters all day long striking out 6 of them. Why bring in any member of the worst bullpen in the league at this point? A ground ball could be a game-ending double play! Do you think there's anybody in the bullpen more likely to induce that ground ball than Yoon? Or he could just get the next two guys. His pitch count was 132 but his speed was still up there. But Jo saw the opportunity to win the game by coaching instead of letting the players play. On comes Yoon-killer Son Young Min. How bad is it when your most feared opposing pitcher is a teammate? Son promptly allows a stolen base then walks the next batter. And then in this, his coaching magnum opus, Jo calls Seo Jae Eung out. To ensure it was his masterpiece he also draws in the outfield. With not the winning run two bases away standing on second, the TYING run on second base. You pull the outfield in to guard against a hit. A hit that knocks in the game winning run! In this case the hit MAY have only tied the game. Or it might have just loaded the bases if the runner was held at third. But a fly ball over the drawn-in infield, (which is far easier to get than a hit), wins the game. And that's exactly what happened. Harken back to the earlier game on June 8th. This is just one example of many I've noticed that indicate how Jo Beom Hyun just doesn't learn. This game WAS Jo's masterpiece in my mind. It just goes to show that the Tigers are not just playing against the other team, they're battling bad coaching as well. Final: Wyverns 4 Tigers 3

June 19 and 20. I was too depressed to watch these games. Instead, (OH MY GOD!), opting for soccer! But you know exactly what to expect. Kia lost both making sure to get their 3-3 split for the week. Lopez with yet another ugly loss and a 3-hitter hurled by SK pitcher Kim Gwang Hyun. Seo took the loss and Gwag stunk again. Finals SK 10 Kia 4 and SK 4 Kia 0

I don't think I'll be able to document all the games this year. I'll be on vacation in Canada soon and am not sure if I can watch the games on naver over there. Not sure I will want to. And I'm VERY sure I'll have better things to do. But I'll likely be back at the end of the year if Kia makes the playoff. I sure hope so.