Mike Scioscia Drops from Manager of the Year Candidate to Fool

Facing elimination in Game Four of the American League Division Series, the Angels had an opportunity to take the lead in the ninth inning. 

The score was knotted up at two when pinch-hitter Kendry Morales doubled off of the Green Monster to start the ninth inning. After Reggie Willits, Morales' pinch-runner, advanced to third base on Howie Kendrick's sacrifice bunt, the Angels had the go-ahead run only 90 feet from home plate. 

Erick Aybar was the batter with one out and the top of the order waiting on deck.

Normally verbose and bothersome announcers, Buck Martinez and Chip Caray made a good point. With a switch-hitting Aybar batting lefty, the right-handed batter's box was vacant.

If Boston's battery of Manny Delcarmen and Jason Varitek picked up a sign that Willits was breaking for home on a squeeze play, Delcarmen could throw the ball into the vacant batter's box. Varitek would be able to have a clean shot at catching the ball, and Willits would be dead in his tracks. 

There was no tip-off of the squeeze, but with a 2-0 count, Aybar jabbed at the incoming fastball instead of letting the bat kiss the ball. Willits was already halfway home, and Varitek tagged him out just before he was able to retreat to third base. 

Los Angeles went from having the go-ahead run on third base with one out to having the go-ahead run at the plate with two outs. Aybar grounded out, leaving the top of the order the now-desired 10th inning. 

Of course, the Red Sox were able to take advantage of Jason Bay's one-out double, as Jed Lowrie singled him in to win the series with one out.

I see the way the game ended, and I see the god of baseball spiting Mike Scioscia for his awful managerial decision. 

With one out and the go-ahead run standing on third base, Boston's infield was pulled in. Sure, Aybar had not been hitting well in the series, but he did get the game-winning hit the night before and a single earlier in Game Four.

Whether or not you want to say that Aybar was hot at the time of his ninth inning at bat, one thing is clear: putting on the suicide squeeze has a higher chance of failing than letting your batter swing.

With Willits' speed, a fly ball to the middle of the outfield would have scored the run. 

With the infield in, a hard ground-ball would have a better chance of finding a hole than it normally would and a soft blooper would probably fall to the outfield grass before the infielder would be able to get to it. 

Also, with one out and a 2-0 count, there was the possibility that Aybar could have worked a walk. The pitch that he jabbed at and missed may have been ball three. 

Whether or not Aybar succeeded by swinging the bat, the Angels would still have another chance with a hot-swinging Chone Figgins. Of course, there wouldn't be as many ways for the run to score as there would be in Aybar's situation, but Scioscia could have relied on Figgins to serve a two-out pitch into the outfield.

If the Angels failed to score this way, the god of baseball would praise Scioscia for his correct managerial decision. However, he would not be happy that the Angels couldn't score after having a runner on second with no outs.

The run and then three defensive outs would have sent the series back to Anaheim for a fifth game.

In an elimination game, the manager has the responsibility to call the smartest plays for his team to execute. It is germane to address the fact that if the squeeze play was successful, Scioscia would have been credited as a genius. The fact of the matter is that the decision was too risky and the Angels would have been better off letting their players swing their bats.