I will continue to maintain that Dan Warthen deserves much more credit than he's been receiving this year. I'll use two examples to make my point this time around. My first example will be the series finale against the Indians two days ago. Check this out:
He credited the direction of the pitching coach Dan Warthen for guiding him through the game, particularly in the fifth inning, when he had runners at second and third with nobody out.
Warthen strongly suggested Dickey throw his knuckler
hard, and the result was that he induced a groundout by
Travis Hafner, which scored one run. But then Dickey
struck out Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan to end the threat. David Waldstein, NYTimes
One isolated incident, I know, but I'm sure the season has been rife with these sorts of moments.
My second example comes from last night's game, where Takahashi labored a bit in the sixth inning. After giving up a one out single to Swisher and then watching the home plate ump rob him of a very clear strike three to Teixeira (who would later single to put runners on first and second) Warthen came out for a visit. If you notice something about Warthen that's different from Rick Peterson, it's that he doesn't visit the mound 618 times in a game. Instead, he picks and chooses his spots. After his visit in the sixth, Takahashi settled down, getting A-Rod to ground out and then Posada to do the same after pitching carefully to Cano with first base open (he walked). The runners had advanced on A-Rod's grounder, in case you were wondering.
As someone who has been a manager for almost five years now (albeit not in sports), I can appreciate the fact that good coaches know when their advice is needed and when it isn't. They know when to tweak a delivery, when to make a mound visit, and when to leave well enough alone. Coaches/managers are perhaps the most underrated aspect of the game. That's why guys like Joe Torre get so much respect. They know how to read the varying talent levels and personalities on their teams, developing a specific approach for each one. Warthen, to me, appears to be one of those coaches that just knows when is the right time and when it isn't. My hat's off to you, Dan.
