Dusty - Huh?

[Ltlabner]

Willy Taveras made a long run, but got too close to the wall when the ball skipped off the padding and got past him. Right fielder Chris Dickerson wasn't near the play, and that allowed the ball to roll along the warning track to right field. Utley rounded the bases and came home standing up for an easy inside-the-park home run.

"Somebody was spectating and not backing up," Baker said. "When that ball is hit out there, everybody has got to move. You could see when it caromed, it would be an inside-the-parker. No, you can't make mistakes like that."

From here

I only got to hear the game last night and didn't see any of it. So maybe CDick was completely asleep at the switch. For those who saw the game, was Dickerson just out there picking daisys as Dusty asserts?

But here's the part I don't get. Dusty, known for protecting his players, blatantly throws Dickerson under the bus here. Yet there's not a peep from The Dusty about Willy misplaying the ball in the first place

Maybe Dickerson responds well to public chastisement so Dusty is using it as a motivating tool, but it strikes me as very odd that he would dis Dickerson but make no mention of Wee-Willy whatsoever.

Dickerson had a responsibility to know the weird wall layout, but Willy didn't?

Here's video of the play:

[fearofpopvol1]

gotta gree with you on this one. from the angle they showed the play...it was hard to tell where dickerson was exactly.

could he have maybe positioned himself better? pretty good chance of that. but willy's route to the ball was horrible. but as bad as his route was...i don't know that it was really anyone's fault. it just took a really funny hop and bounce. it happens. gravity gets in the way sometimes.

[traderumor]

Maybe Dusty figured RZ could handle any flogging of WT that needed to be done, but that Dickerson would be given a free pass, so he would have to handle that one.

[OnBaseMachine]

The blame should go on Taveras. Did he really think he could jump 20 feet in the air and catch that ball? He did the same thing on Tuesday night on a ball hit by Ruiz. It's amazing that a major league centerfielder can take such horrible routes as Taveras does. Dickerson may not have backed him up (I don't know), but they wouldn't have been in that situation if Taveras had played the ball off the wall correctly.

[Homer Bailey]

Thats what we called Dustification.

[TheNext44]

Originally Posted by Ltlabner

From here

I only got to hear the game last night and didn't see any of it. So maybe CDick was completely asleep at the switch. For those who saw the game, was Dickerson just out there picking daisys as Dusty asserts?

But here's the part I don't get. Dusty, known for protecting his players blatantly throws Dickerson under the bus here. Yet there's not a peep from The Dusty about Willy misplaying the ball in the first place

Maybe Dickerson responds well to public chastisement so Dusty is using it as a tool, but it strikes me as very odd that he would dis Dickerson but make no mention of Wee-Willy whatsoever.

Dickerson had a responsibility to know the weird wall layout, but Willy didn't?

Here's video of the play:

My take is that Taveras did something stupid, took a bad route to the ball, again, and should have laid back and played it off the wall.

Dickerson, on the other hand, didn't do his job. Outfielders always back each other up, are always in motion. Dickerson didn't need to know anything about the where the ball would land up, he just needed to be in position in case it got past Taveras, that's his job and he needs to do it on every play. No skill is required, just hustle.

Dickerson was caught sleeping, which I guess Dusty considers something to call a player out on, while Taveras just made a bad play.

[Homer Bailey]

Dickerson should have been running towards centerfield, as there is no way he could predict that ball would kick dead right like it did (from his angle). Even if he was where he was supposed to be, he would have been in no position to make that play. 100% of the blame goes on Willy for standing 2 feet from the wall waiting for it to bounce off the wall. He is completely clueless out there in center field. At least Patterson could play centerfield.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by TheNext44

My take is that Taveras did something stupid, took a bad route to the ball, again, and should have laid back and played it off the wall.

Dickerson, on the other hand, didn't do his job. Outfielders always back each other up, are always in motion. Dickerson didn't need to know anything about the where the ball would land up, he just needed to be in position in case it got past Taveras, that's his job and he needs to do it on every play. No skill is required, just hustle.

Dickerson was caught sleeping, which I guess Dusty considers something to call a player out on, while Taveras just made a bad play.

That's my guess as well. Kind of like where you don't call out a guy for popping up but you would say something if he popped up and didn't run it out.

[IslandRed]

Nothing really unusual there. Managers have always been tougher on errors of omission, as opposed to errors of commission. Notice that he also called out Roenicke for being late breaking to the bag on the would-be double-play ball that would have gotten us out of the fifth still ahead 6-5.

[dougdirt]

Dusty being Dusty. Young player bad. Older player not. (I know Dickerson and Taveras are close in age, but I mean more in MLB experience)

[flyer85]

Buck Showalter (on BBTN on Tuesday IIRC) used Willy T as an example of what not to do when chasing a flyball that you know you can't catch. Willy T on that play did the exact same thing, he got to close to the wall and thus was not able top play the carom. Showalter pointed out as OF has to be able to recognize he can't catch it and then position properly to play the carom ... not just run blindly and end up in a position where the carom cannot be played (that does seem to be something Willy T does excel at)

[Nasty_Boy]

Willy played some terrible defense in the Philly series... It's amazing to me that Dusty can continually handicap this team with Taveras defense and utter suckitude at the top of the lineup.

I remember being ticked off when Taveras misplayed Ruiz triple. I thought that maybe I was just being too harsh and he really just got a bad break... I then see Showalter's piece of BBTN and his play last night and I just shake my head that Dusty can rationalize playing this guy on a nightly basis.

[TheNext44]

Originally Posted by Homer Bailey

Dickerson should have been running towards centerfield, as there is no way he could predict that ball would kick dead right like it did (from his angle). Even if he was where he was supposed to be, he would have been in no position to make that play. 100% of the blame goes on Willy for standing 2 feet from the wall waiting for it to bounce off the wall. He is completely clueless out there in center field. At least Patterson could play centerfield.

I don't think anyone, including Dusty thinks Taveras did anything less than butcher that play.

But Dickerson was no where near the play. He did not run towards centerfield to back it up, he stayed in right and watched it until it was too late.

That his what Dusty was calling him out on. He wasn't saying that he should have or could have made the play, just that he "was spectating and not backing up." Even if Taveras made the play, Dickerson was wrong for not backing it up.

[Scrap Irony]

My old baseball coach would have gotten seriously hostile at Dickerson for that bonehead. Taveras tried (if horribly). Dickerson didn't. You get after the guy that didn't try.

Dickerson didn't.

Shrug.

It does seem as if many Reds lately have had trouble with a lack of hustle. Just from the Philadelphia series, Phillips, Nix, Dickerson-- there may be more, but that's just in the three games in the City of Brotherly Love.

[traderumor]

See, Dusty knew he could count on RZ