Biggest Manager Screw-Ups in Baseball History

Baseball managers make subtle decisions not easily seen by the naked eye. They lack the obvious impact, but are always playing a game of chess.

Just like any other sport, there are great baseball managers and not-so-great baseball managers.

Some managers understand every nuance of the game and always seem to give their teams the right dose of whatever they need at the time. Others lack that certain quality.

In some cases, even those great managers commit errors.

Managers have screwed up countless times over the course of baseball history, but here are the 10 biggest screw-ups ever.

Buck Showalter

Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS marred Buck Showalter's legacy.

Showalter mishandled his bullpen, and eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs.

David Cone threw a respectablegame in Game 5 and Mariano Rivera did his job out of the bullpen. Instead of sticking with Rivera, Showalter decided to put Jack McDowell into the game in the eleventh inning.

McDowell was a solid starter for the Yankees that season but he was not ready to come out of the bullpen. He gave up two runs and the Yankees fell.

Showalter could have kept Rivera in the game or used his closer John Wetteland, both relievers by trade.

Terry Bevington

Terry Bevington was not the Chicago White Sox manager for long, but he did make his impact.

Bevington's legacy is obscure, but his bizarre bullpen choices against the Indians in 1997 will be remembered.

Jaime Navarro threw six great innings for the White Sox before Bevington made the call to the bullpen for the first but certainly not the last time.

Seven relievers would eventually be used, and none of them were loose entering the game.

Relievers can be specialized but using multiple relievers to face one batter is insanity. Bevington's blunder occurred in a regular season contest so it is not a huge deal.

Either way, it was definitely odd.

Mike Hargrove

The Cleveland Indians were three outs away from capturing the 1997 World Series title.

If Mike Hargrove had let Brian Anderson finish the job in Game 7 the Indians probably would have done just that.

Anderson had been extremely efficient throughout the postseason. Jose Mesa had not, and that is putting it nicely.

Mesa blew two saves earlier in the postseason and was probably sweating bullets when he got the call in Game 7.

Mesa wound up blowing the Indians' one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and the Marlins completed their incredible World Series run.

Joe Torre

Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer in baseball history. Jeff Weaver was a marginal pitcher throughout his career. Why would Joe Torre overlook Rivera in favor of Weaver in Game 4 of the 2003 World Series?

Torre got ten fantastic innings from a collection of Yankee pitchers. Instead of turning the ball over to Rivera in the eleventh inning, Torre went with Weaver.

Weaver had not thrown in the entire postseason, and had an ERA of nearly 6.00 in the regular season.

Weaver almost justified the move. He threw a fine eleventh inning, but gave up a home run in the twelfth inning to give the Marlins the victory.

Bobby Valentine

Bobby Valentine's disparaging remarks on Sunday caused an uproar in Beantown.

Valentine decided to call out Kevin Youkilis' emotional investment in the 2012 season. He questioned Youkilis' mindset so far this season.

If Valentine had been the Red Sox manager for years now this would be different. But, this is not something I would advise when you are just starting out with a new club.

The Red Sox have a specific way they like to do things, and the core players expect things to be handled that way.

Valentine's remarks stray far from ex-manager Terry Francona's extremely hands-off approach. This does not make Valentine's approach wrong, but he needs to be smarter before he attacks the Red Sox institution.

Bob Brenly

Bob Brenly's risky bullpen decisions nearly cost the D'Backs their first shot at a World Series ring.

Miguel Bautista and Greg Swindell had been lights out for eight innings in Game 5 of the 2001 World Series. Instead of sticking with what was working, Brenly turned to Byung-Hyun Kim in the ninth.

Kim was one of the Arizona's best relievers. He dazzled opponents with his unique style and overpowering stuff. But, Kim was rocked in Game 4 and the Yankees did not seem to be fazed by his unorthodox delivery.

Brenly decided to use Kim nonetheless. Kim would get knocked around, and the Yankees would win the game.

Tony LaRussa

The 2011 World Series held some bizarre moments. None were more bizarre than the Cardinals' bullpen fiasco in Game 5.

Tony LaRussa is known for his hyper-specialized bullpen. He has always made a ton of changes and loves to play the matchups.

LaRussa made two pitching changes over a short period of time. He went from Octavio Dotel to Mark Rzepczysnki to Lance Lynn. That seems normal enough, right?

Well, normally it would be. But in this case, LaRussa never meant to bring Lynn to the mound. In fact, Lynn was not even supposed to pitch at all that day.

LaRussa meant to call Jason Motte into the game. LaRussa's bullpen coach thought he said Lynn on the phone and loosened Lynn up instead.

This was truly bizarre. If the phone malfunctioned that is one thing but it is LaRussa's job to know exactly what is going on. Not to be surprised when the wrong pitcher trots out of the bullpen.

John McNamara

Bill Buckner played the 1986 World Series on two bad legs. John McNamara had been platooning Buckner with Dave Stapleton for that very reason.

In Game 6, McNamara decided to leave Buckner on the field in the ninth inning. This blunder led to the most famous error in baseball history.

Yes, Buckner should have fielded the routine groundball regardless. But McNamara should have made the sensible move and put his healthier player on the diamond.

This mistake cost the Red Sox a championship and allowed the 'curse' to live on.

Grady Little

Pedro Martinez was the Red Sox best pitcher in 2003. Grady Little decided to use his best pitcher to a fault in Game 7 of the ALCS.

Martinez threw an exceptional seven innings. But, Little should have given Martinez the hook given his pitch count.

Instead of pulling Martinez in favor of Alan Embree, Little left Martinez on the mound in the eighth inning. Martinez gave up three runs and the Yankees tied the game at five a piece.

This mistake led to Aaron Boone's famous walk-off. Boone's homer pushes Little's mistake further up the all-time list.

Pete Rose

Pete Rose's decision to bet on baseball is one of the worst decisions in sports history.

Because Rose bet as the manager of the Reds it is an easy choice for the worst manager screw-up of all-time.

Sure, Rose did not make a horrendous in-game managerial error but he committed an unspeakable act. The baseball hierarchy may never forgive him, even if most fans have at this point.

Rose did not bet on games the Reds participated in, but he did bet while holding a position with the team.

No matter how it's cut, this was not a wise choice by Charlie Hustle.