What was the dumbest head coach/manager decision in a game?

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

This thread is for what you think was the dumbest decision a manager/head coach made during a game. More points for playoff games/championship games.

 

Grady Little. Left Pedro in too long during game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Yankees made a come back to tie the game and win in extra innings. Grady is ran out of town after the fact.

 

A recent one that I can think of is Eric Mangini going for 4th down against the Seahawks in the 4th quarter of week 16. The Jets were down one possession and turning the ball over on downs would result in the Seahawks being within fg territory. The Jets end up turning the ball over and the Seahawks score and made the game a two possession game. It helped keep the Jets out of the playoffs and was one of the reasons why Mangini was fired.

 

Pat Riley in the 1994 NBA Finals. He left John Starks in all of game 7 when Starks clearly didn't have it. Starks is allowed to go 2-18 in the biggest game of his life. Rolando Blackman rides the pine as the Knicks end up losing by 6 points.

[Just John 0]

Marty Morninwheg "taking the wind" in that OT game against the Bears where Chicago promptly marched downfield and scored on the first possession jumps out, although that might be in the "so bad it's funny" category.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

2008's award would go to Ned Yost for using his situational lefty to intentionally walk Ryan Howard, and then leaving him in to pitch to Pat Burrell, a righty.

[CanadianChris 0]

After Grady Little (always the first thing that comes to mind for this topic), John McNamara not taking Buckner out of Game 6 for Dave Stapleton has to rank right up there.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

The first thing I thought of when I read the topic was Little also.

 

But days after that, was more boneheaded managing. The Yankees and Marlins are tied in game 4 of the 2003 World Series which goes to extra innings. Rather than use Mariano Rivera late in the game, like any sensible human being would, Joe Torre summons the immortal Jeff Weaver who hadn't pitched since the regular season. He promptly gave up a game winning home run to Alex Gonzalez, to tie the series at 2-2. The Marlins never looked back and won in 6 games.

[Nightwing 0]

Viktor Tikhonov pulling Vladislav Tretiak.

[CanadianChris 0]

Viktor Tikhonov pulling Vladislav Tretiak.

YES.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

The first thing I thought of when I read the topic was Little also.

 

But days after that, was more boneheaded managing. The Yankees and Marlins are tied in game 4 of the 2003 World Series which goes to extra innings. Rather than use Mariano Rivera late in the game, like any sensible human being would, Joe Torre summons the immortal Jeff Weaver who hadn't pitched since the regular season. He promptly gave up a game winning home run to Alex Gonzalez, to tie the series at 2-2. The Marlins never looked back and won in 6 games.

 

 

Jeff Weaver pitched a 1-2-3 inning before giving up the homerun.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

He put in Jeff F'n Weaver over the all-time career leader in ERA+

[naiwf 0]

Pat Riley in the 1994 NBA Finals. He left John Starks in all of game 7 when Starks clearly didn't have it. Starks is allowed to go 2-18 in the biggest game of his life. Rolando Blackman rides the pine as the Knicks end up losing by 6 points.

 

It's been almost 15 years and that game still haunts me. The Knicks losing that series is my worst moment as a sports fan. If nothing else, Blackman couldn't have done any worse and if he'd been allowed to play at all the Knicks could have won the game/series/title. Also, Ewing wouldn't be in the discussion for "best player to never win one" and I would have seen all of my favorite teams win a championship in my lifetime. Instead, that was as close as the Knicks got and then the last decade has just made that loss even more irritating. It just seemed like it was destined that the Knicks & Rangers would have parades that summer, and it still sucks that they didn't.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

He put in Jeff F'n Weaver over the all-time career leader in ERA+

 

 

I am more pissed about Clemens giving up 5 straight hits to score 3 runs in the top of the first. Those 5 hits all came with 2 outs and nobody on base. I am more pissed about Aaron Boone striking out with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 11th in the game.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Dusty Baker watching Mark Prior and his Cubs team completely melt down before his eyes in the infamous "Bartman" game and not coming out until AFTER the Marlins scored on a double to tie the game at 3-3. Even more maddening is that Dusty sent out his pitching coach before he himself came out to yank a clearly rattled Prior.

 

Come in and calm Prior after a bad wild pitch walk? Silly...

Come in and calm Prior after a misplayed what should've been inning ending double play? Why do that...

 

And then he called for an IBB to load the bases, next guy hit a sac fly, and called for a 2nd IBB to AGAIN load the bases after yanking Prior with a 3-3 score.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Don Zimmer 1978 deserves his own wing. Probably his worst move was leaving Dwight Evans to play in September after he'd been knocked out of a late August game by a Mike Parrott fastball. Evans hit .161 with three extra base hits in September into October.

 

For Yankee fans, how can you forget Buck Showalter leaving David Cone to throw 147 pitches in game five of the ALCS?

[Bigelow34 0]

I love St. Joe, but he had a bunch of big ones in the final few years. I still don't get why he didn't pull the Yankees off the field or at least take Joba out during the mite game in Cleveland. It was clearly bothering him to be out there and Joe just sat stone faced on the bench.

 

Bumping ARod to 7th in the 06 Detroit series made no sense either, but they were already dead in the water at that point anyway. That rain out totally turned the series around.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

Don Zimmer 1978 deserves his own wing. Probably his worst move was leaving Dwight Evans to play in September after he'd been knocked out of a late August game by a Mike Parrott fastball. Evans hit .161 with three extra base hits in September into October.

 

For Yankee fans, how can you forget Buck Showalter leaving David Cone to throw 147 pitches in game five of the ALCS?

 

 

The whole entire pen except for Rivera sucked that series against the Mariners. Nobody knew how that Rivera was on the verge of being very good let alone great. Yankees still had a chance to win that series and had a lead in extra innings. People are more pissed about Black Jack being left in too long than about Cone. I still believe that Cone had Doug Strange struck out in that at bat where he walked to tie the game.

 

 

 

[Guest Smues]

How about Dusty Baker giving Russ Ortiz the game ball when he pulled him in Game 6 of the 2002 world series? Yeah there's no way to know if it had any real effect, but it was still a really stupid thing to do. You don't do something that's going to piss off the other team like that when the game isn't over yet.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Bumping ARod to 7th in the 06 Detroit series made no sense either, but they were already dead in the water at that point anyway. That rain out totally turned the series around.

 

I think he actually hit 8th in that final game.

[Broward83 0]

Letting the Bills come back from 30+ with a back up QB to beat you in a game that you clearly had won.

 

*sighs*

[snuffbox 0]

Holmgren's "let them score so we can hurry up and score" didn't pan out too well.

[Red Baron 0]

Mario Trembley leaving Patrick Roy in for nine goals.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

 

Baron beat me to it.

 

After that, Grady Little was my first thought.

[Darthtiki 0]

Belichick not going for the 40 yarder during SB XLII which would have made it a tie ballgame even after the Plaxico TD.

[TMC1982 0]

John McNamara of the Boston Red Sox in Games 6 and 7 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets:

*Taking Roger Clemens out, when Clemens was still pitching effectively (although McNamara claimed that Clemens wanted out because of a blister).

 

*Using Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens in Game 6 instead of Don Baylor.

 

*Leaving Bill Buckner at first base in the bottom of the tenth of Game 6 instead of pulling him for Dave Stapleton.

 

*Putting Calvin Schiraldi back out in Game 7 (where he got shelled to the point in which the Mets managed to come back from a 5-3 deficit) after struggling in Game 6. McNamara could've used Oil Can Boyd, who was initially scheduled to start Game 7 instead of Bruce Hurst.

[Fartsauce 0]

98 Olympics. Marc Crawford doesn't choose Gretzky as one of his 5 skaters in the shootout. Canada goes on to lose to the Czech's and then lose the bronze medal game to the Fins.

[2GOLD 0]

The Eagles deciding to stop blitzing the Cardinals when it clearly was working to perfection in this years NFC title game, electing to fall back into the "try and cover them" defense that had no chance of stopping the Cardinals.

 

All the others have really been mentioned.

Well other than the obvious...Dick Jauron. That guy is the master of bad decisions in a game.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

Marty Morninwheg "taking the wind" in that OT game against the Bears where Chicago promptly marched downfield and scored on the first possession jumps out, although that might be in the "so bad it's funny" category.

 

That was one of the first things I thought of when I read this.

 

I still want to know what was going through his mind when he made that call.

[cabbageboy 0]

Here's one that frustrated me even though I'm not a fan of Xavier. 2nd round in the 2007 NCAA tournament vs. Ohio State. Xavier had led most of the game and was up 3 with 10 seconds or so left. I was practically yelling at the TV "Just foul them!" But Sean Miller elected to play it straight up, OSU buries a 3 to tie it, then rolls in OT. Of course John Calipari made a similar mistake in the title game vs. Kansas last year, but Memphis put on a choker's clinic in that last 3 minutes so it's harder to narrow down to one thing.

 

As far as the 1994 Knicks go, eh, Riley was just going with the guy that helped get him there. The Knicks really had no business being in the Finals anyway, getting a screwy Hue Hollins call to beat the Bulls (minus Jordan), not to mention the Pacers outplaying them but somehow losing in 7. The Knicks' luck just ran out.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

As far as the 1994 Knicks go, eh, Riley was just going with the guy that helped get him there. The Knicks really had no business being in the Finals anyway, getting a screwy Hue Hollins call to beat the Bulls (minus Jordan), not to mention the Pacers outplaying them but somehow losing in 7. The Knicks' luck just ran out.

 

 

I do not feel sorry for the Bulls because Phil Jackson sent in the 12th man on the roser (JoJo English) to start a fight with the Knicks playoff MVP that year in Derek Harper. Harper missed 2 and a half games due to that fight which English instigated. The Knicks lost 2 of those games. Riley stated in 2006 during the finals that his biggest regret in coaching was leaving Starks in game 7. As far as the Pacers, they blew game 6 at home that would have won them the Eastern Conference.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Viktor Tikhonov pulling Vladislav Tretiak.

 

What's this?

 

I also have to pick Riley in 1994. I'm not a fan of the Knicks or anything, but I do like the Knicks because of their tradition and the history behind MSG, etc. It sucks to have such a storied franchise go down the shitter like they have.

[Guest Czech please!]

Well other than the obvious...Dick Jauron. That guy is the master of bad decisions in a game.

Well, yes, but Uncle Dick is just consistently oblivious to his surroundings. I can't think of an instance to which I'd apply any superlatives, something on par with Belichick at the half or anything like that. Jauron's memorable stupidity is in his speaking, not his coaching. "Get him in the building and get his football information" still gives me the giggle fits.