Faith in his Own Judgment

Cardinals' 5-man infield (apologies for lame snapshot of screen)

Turning on the tube (flicking on the flat-panel?) at the end of the Giants-Cardinals game on Friday I saw something I had not seen since T-Ball---a five-man infield. Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 11th, the Giants had a runner on third with nobody out. Desperate to prevent a ball from leaving the infield, Cards manager Tony La Russa moved left fielder Allen Craig to the infield.

The strategy worked. A sharply hit ground ball down the third-base line not only was fielded cleanly by Craig but resulted in the runner being tagged out.

Risky moves often turn out disastrously, and sometimes they make no difference to the outcome. It's rare that they turn out to be exactly what was needed to save the day. Kudos to Tony La Russa for having faith in his own judgment.

(P.S. the Giants won 5-4 in the 12th on a bases-loaded single, which no managerial heroics could have prevented.)