Girardi's Conservative Management

As the espn.com recap read after the Yankees 10-0 dismantling of the Rays this past Saturday, "C.C. Sabathia was going to lose his no-hit bid one way or another."

Yep, he sure was.

That's because even before Sabathia surrendered a sharp single to left to Tampa Bay's Kelly Shoppach with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Yankees manager Joe Girardi had already decided to take C.C. out after facing Shoppach regardless of what happened because of a high pitch count (111).

"Watching that pitch count go up and up and up, that was what was on my mind the most. Shoppach was his last hitter no matter what," Girardi said. "He did not know that going out. I told him when he came out. It's not something you want to do, but you have to think big picture."

"The big picture was the month of October. You have to think ahead. You can't be short- sighted," Girardi continued. "I would have loved to see him walk out with no hits and eight innings. I would have loved to see it, but it didn't happen. It made it real easy to go get him."

I completely disagree, and I believe the large majority of baseball fans do too.

Girardi's been a decent manager since he came to New York before the 2008 season, but sometimes he overmanages and acts too "mechanical." Yes, C.C.'s pitch count was high. Yes, it is about the "big picture." But sometimes you have to step back and really evaluate what you're doing rather than just "going by the book."

We're talking about a no-hitter here. There have been 263 no-hitters thrown in MLB history, 221 in the modern era (since 1900). That's less than one per year -- this ain't the most common occurrence in the world. You have a pitcher in Sabathia who was competing his heart out; do you think he wanted to come out? Of course not.

Sabathia's take on the situation: "It makes it easy now, but there would have been fighting out there on the mound."

He wanted to be given the chance to seal the deal and get the damn no-hitter. Any other pitcher would have felt the exact same way.

It's one game; did Girardi really think one high pitch count was going to render Sabathia useless in October should the Yankees make it back to the playoffs?

Bottom line, Girardi's mentality should've been to keep Sabathia in the game until the no-hitter was broken up. In admitting that he would not have done so, Girardi showed a lack of appreciation for one of the game's most difficult achievements.