Did anyone catch what was said?

Is there any way we can make a permanent thread where we keep track of the weird moves and managerial errors that Coop makes on a game-by-game basis?

Things like ill-conceived sac bunts and letting the pitcher bat with a man on third and Miguel Tejada on the bench.

and just realizing that our team was about to end a 4-2 homestand with a win and some momentum going into next week, and suddenly Inge silenced the park and simultaneously brought everyone back down to earth. This team appears to be picking it up lately, but losing these close games like the one today can bring a man to an early grave…and it’s not even July. As for Cooper, it is easy to criticize the moves he makes because he has made so many questionable ones (How many times has Lee been taken out with a 1 run lead? WHY BAT PENCE 6th?) But he is still learning how to manage a ballclub, and we will just have to live with that until he finds what works or until the front office loses their patience.

but Brandon Inge hit a huge clutch HR against the Brewers and Cubs in their series as well.

had just gotten through ripping Cooper to my buddy at the game for several of his ill-advised moves of late, including batting Pence 6th behind Blum, with Keppinger in the 2-hole. Batting Ortiz though, was a move I actually decided I could stand by. First off, I’m assuming that Tejada was given the kind of off day, where Cooper didn’t want him to even pinch-hit and wanted him to just sit at the end of the bench and take both a mental and physical day off. I’m fine with this, if that’s the case. We’ve got 14 games (15 if you count the postponed game against Washington) over the next 14 days, so guys will need breaks, and if Cooper wants to tell me that he likes giving guys the day off even from pinch-hitting, I won’t begrudge him that. So I’m assuming Tejada was not available. That leaves Kata, Michaels, Erstad, and Quintero. Ortiz isn’t really THAT much of a step down at the plate from any of those guys. If there were less than two outs, I might have put up more of a protest. And allowing Ortiz to pitch to Everett in the top of the next inning meant Cooper could force Leyland’s hand with his pinch-hitter before having to go to his pen. Leyland went with his lefty, so Coop was able to come back with Byrdak and allow him to face the only two left-handed hitters in the lineup. It worked beautifully and Coop got an easy inning in the 8th. Given the odds of getting that run on 3rd base with two outs and our bench-hitters (sans Tejada), I’m fine with the way Cooper managed that inning.

Now, continuing to replace Lee with Erstad in close games, WHERE LEE WOULD BE THE FIRST HITTER TO BAT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE INNING, is much less defensible in my mind.