Chicago White Sox: In the old days when starting
rotations weren't as rigid as they are now, it was
common for a manager to gerrymander his pitchers based
on the quality of the opponent. One of the most famous
examples of this is Casey Stengel's use of Whitey
Ford. Casey would often save Ford for the better teams
and let his lesser arms line up against the
second-division clubs. So, is Jerry Manuel the
anti-Casey for starting rookie Neil Cotts against the
mighty Yankees while saving Mark Buehrle for the
hapless Tigers? Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago
Tribune writes that Manuel may have gone a long way to
supply his critics with something to cackle about but
it was, believe it or not, a decision he made based on
what he thought were the best interests of the team.
Buehrle had trouble warming up the last couple of days
so it was thought he could use the extra day's rest.
Manuel also cited the fact that Buehrle does well
against the Tigers while the White Sox as a team have
not this year. (They're 9-7.)
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