The Hamilton Walk

Maddon is taking a lot of heat for the bases loaded intentional walk to Josh Hamilton, and to be honest, it is statistically difficult to support the move, as pointed out by several on this forum.  Chances are you’re better off pitching to Hamilton.  Maddon no doubt knew that too.  That’s why it hasn’t been done in the AL since 1901, and it took Barry Bonds to inspire the move in the NL in 1998.

Yet I support the thinking behind the decision.  It was a gamble, but a logical one—and I would have supported it even if it didn’t work.  The key here is to think like a manager of people, not numbers.  Let’s say that Balfour pitches to Hamilton, and he hits a grand slam (an admittedly unlikely outcome).  Obviously demoralizing, and even though the game is only tied, the momentum would have shifted—maybe for good.   Similarly, if Hamilton doubles or some other negative outcome, Balfour is pulled, and the momentum has still shifted.  Balfour is demoralized for blowing it in his role.  And if the Rays lose, everybody blames the pitching staff for failing—and right at the end of an otherwise very successful road trip. A lot of hard work down the drain.

What Maddon actually did was to take the responsibility for winning or losing the game on his own shoulders.  If the move works (which it did), then no harm no foul.  Maddon looks goofy, but the Rays win.  And if it doesn’t work?  Maddon is vilified in the press, and becomes the lighting rod for criticism.  Not his players.  He knows he can handle the media storm better than his players and feels comfortable with that.  But in the pennant drive, he needs to keep his untested players from folding.

And that, I suspect, figured greatly into what he was doing.

It’s the kind of move you’d only expect from someone with a career background in player development, who’s thinking a few steps ahead to get the most from his players in the long run.