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Frank Robinson once told me he was managing for Triple-A down in Baltimore, before he went over to Montreal to manage, and the GM and the farm director were there scouting the top pitching prospects and he got into his pitch count in the sixth inning, and he was in a jam and they left him in to finish it.
The pitcher got out of it and then Frank caught flack from the GM and the farm director saying he went over his pitch count. Frank said, “How we are going to find out if he’s got any guts. How is he going to feel good about himself, going in for an early Bud while someone else went in to clean up his mess as opposed to him going out there and feeling really good about himself and getting out of that jam.” If he does it, then let him go in and have a Budweiser.
That’s where I think not having baseball people in the game, like they used to, down on that level hurts and a lot of that in fact is because – and I am guilty of this – I’ve made money enough where I don’t have to do be a minor league coach.
