Who made the BIGGER Mistake? Bryce Harper or Manager Matt Williams?

[Chip R]

If a manager has a rule in place that everybody runs groundouts out, if a player doesn't do it, the manager has every right to discipline him no matter if he's a superstar or the 25th man. If Harper had jogged down to 1st, I doubt he would have been taken out of the game. I don't think he had to bust his butt, just complete the play. The irony of this is that Harper has been known for playing all out even to the point of overdoing it. I think what Williams did was preferable to the alternative I suggested earlier of yelling at him in front of everyone. That option may satisfy some fans but I think it makes everyone look bad. If there are rules then they should be followed. You can debate on whether it's a dumb rule but it is a rule. If you have guys like Dick Allen on your team you might not want to have those kind of rules. Players like that may function better without rules.

[Roy Tucker]

I was watching the Shanghai Formula 1 race yesterday. Someone had a very good ad about all the little things Formula 1 teams do to increase speed. They went down a litany of little things like polish the car for 3 hours before the race gives you .04 kph speed, lowering the driver down 1 mm reduces the coeffient of drag and you gain .13 kph., using some universal joint jack saves 2 seconds on a pit stoop, etc etc. I wish I could find it.

The point was, all of those little things add up. Taken individually, they may seem insignificant. But if you add them up, they make a difference.

I view running out a ground ball the same way. Do you have to give it a Usain Bolt sprint? No, but give it a good run. Same thing with a fly ball, same thing for a fielder chasing a pop fly, same thing with a lot of things that happen .01% of the time. But there are a lot of those little things that don't take talent but they do take effort. And talent+effort will overcome pure talent (I think that's is someones sig).

(this is dad speech #37 "control all the things you can control because too many things happen out of your control", available upon request)

[Raisor]

Would Sparky have benched Bench or Perez for doing this?

[westofyou]

Would Sparky have benched Bench or Perez for doing this?

Sparky would have probably not benched either, he'd have let the players handle it, and they would have.

But he would have benched anyone who wasn't an AS in about 30 seconds.

[Raisor]

Sparky would have probably not benched either, he'd have let the players handle it, and they would have.

But he would have benched anyone who wasn't an AS in about 30 seconds.

Exactly.

[tomnuetten]

Would Sparky have benched Bench or Perez for doing this?

no, but he wouldn´t made the "rule" in the first place. if you make a rule and don´t react in any form if someone offends it you´ll lose the clubhouse ...

[dougdirt]

I was watching the Shanghai Formula 1 race yesterday. Someone had a very good ad about all the little things Formula 1 teams do to increase speed. They went down a litany of little things like polish the car for 3 hours before the race gives you .04 kph speed, lowering the driver down 1 mm reduces the coeffient of drag and you gain .13 kph., using some universal joint jack saves 2 seconds on a pit stoop, etc etc. I wish I could find it.

The point was, all of those little things add up. Taken individually, they may seem insignificant. But if you add them up, they make a difference.

I view running out a ground ball the same way. Do you have to give it a Usain Bolt sprint? No, but give it a good run. Same thing with a fly ball, same thing for a fielder chasing a pop fly, same thing with a lot of things that happen .01% of the time. But there are a lot of those little things that don't take talent but they do take effort. And talent+effort will overcome pure talent (I think that's is someones sig).

(this is dad speech #37 "control all the things you can control because too many things happen out of your control", available upon request)

Here is the difference.... those things actually matter and make a difference. A weak grounder to the pitcher is a weak grounder to the pitcher. Being Usain Bolt or a turtle isn't changing anything.

[AtomicDumpling]

I think Matt Williams overreacted a bit childishly. He wants everyone to think he is Mr. Tough Guy, I get it. There are smarter ways to handle such a minor issue without taking one of your best hitters out of the game, thereby putting a lesser hitter up to bat with the game on the line in the 9th inning. Stupid decision by a rookie manager.

[Roy Tucker]

Here is the difference.... those things actually matter and make a difference. A weak grounder to the pitcher is a weak grounder to the pitcher. Being Usain Bolt or a turtle isn't changing anything.

We'll just have to disagree. I think they do matter. Little things add up. Run it out. Put pressure on the defense to make a play and be there if they do. 99 times out of 100 it doesn't matter but that one time might be important. It's a small thing but it's also free. Doesn't take talent or skill.

[Tony Cloninger]

Well....I know ONE Red who probably should have been sat down in regards to this....and I am talking about worse than what Harper did.

[dougdirt]

We'll just have to disagree. I think they do matter. Little things add up. Run it out. Put pressure on the defense to make a play and be there if they do. 99 times out of 100 it doesn't matter but that one time might be important. It's a small thing but it's also free. Doesn't take talent or skill.

That's the difference though Roy, they make an actual difference in F1 every time. Not one out of 100.

[GAC]

Sparky would have probably not benched either, he'd have let the players handle it, and they would have.

clubhouse court and a fine.

[dubc47834]

Well....I know ONE Red who probably should have been sat down in regards to this....and I am talking about worse than what Harper did.

Do tell...who????

[Chuckie]

Very enlightening read here. Did Harper beg out of a game against Jose Fernandez to preserve a 9-game hitting streak?

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...itting-streak/

[swaisuc]

Sparky would have probably not benched either, he'd have let the players handle it, and they would have.

But he would have benched anyone who wasn't an AS in about 30 seconds.

Agree, so which is Harper? Just an unproven kid who the rules apply to or a superstar who is above them? I think part of the reason their is disagreement on whether Williams was silly or correct is that people don't agree on what Harper is at this stage.