One Last (Anti) Rant (at Least Until Next Season)

Several times over this past baseball season, I've ranted about how MLB managers often go to their closers before they need (or even have) to ("Not to Beat a Dead Horse" "The Closer Temptation is Hard to Resist" "MLB's Ridiculous Obsession with Closers" "Not Everyone Can Throw Like Mariano Rivera"). My belief is that if a pitcher's throwing well, there's no reason to take him out. In fact, one of the reasons why the Giants even made it to the World Series this year is because on two occasions (once against the Cardinals and once against the Nationals), the opposing managers (both of whom played for the Giants at one time) pulled a pitcher who was throwing well, and the Giants promptly scored either tying or go-ahead runs.

As a Giants fan, I'm happy to report that this past Sunday San Francisco Giants manager, Bruce Bochy, did not succumb to the "closer temptation" but instead let Giant pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, finish (and win) the game. Perhaps in the future more MLB managers will take notice. Then again, maybe they won't, and the Giants will be able to win a few more World Series.