October 9th, 2013 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka For the first two seasons of Juan Uribe’s insane 3-year/$21 million contract with the Dodgers, he was… well… awful. In fact, rarely did a day go by where someone didn’t ask Dodger manager Don Mattingly when Uribe was going to be designated for assignment and cut from the team during Mattingly’s daily media conference in the Dodger dugout. As if reading from a script, Mattingly repeatedly told the gathered media that Juan Uribe was a great teammate and great veteran presence in the clubhouse. Needless to say, there was a lot of eye rolling and head shaking to Mattingly’s cookie-cutter answer. In essence, Mattingly (and perhaps even more so Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti) saved Juan Uribe’s job.
And then came 2013.
Uribe showed up for spring training in the proverbial “best shape of his life” and began working long and hard with Dodgers assistant hitting coach John Valintin. And though nobody knows exactly what Valintin did to finally make things click for the struggling third baseman, whatever it was it worked. Uribe had a very good spring and it carried over into the regular season.
Who knew that it would eventually be fan favorite Luis Cruz and his dismal pop-up laden .127 batting average that would get the ax before Uribe, which gave Uribe his first chance in two and a half years to finally become the Dodgers everyday third baseman – and oh what a third baseman he was. Not only did Uribe soar offensively, he had a season that is worthy of a Gold Glove defensively, having made only 5 errors in 297 chances for an excellent .983 fielding percentage.
When the Dodgers took the field on Monday evening for Game-4 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, Don Mattingly was still without a contract extension with only three weeks remaining in the season… and his contract. Realistically, there isn’t anybody who honestly believes that Mattingly will not be brought back next season (and beyond), but that possibility does exist – at least it did exist until Juan Uribe’s dramatic two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead over the Braves, a lead that would ultimately be the final score to clinch the 2013 NLDS.
Some are comparing Uribe’s game and NLDS-winning home run on Monday night to Steve Finley’s walk-off grand slam in 2004, Rick Monday’s pennant winner in 1981 and Mike Scioscia’s pennant winner in 1988, but Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series Game-1 winner is still safe. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
But through all of the excitement of Uribe’s now historic home run, it was his inability to get a sacrifice bunt down (twice) that led to the Dodgers victory. And when you look closely at this, you have to ask yourself ‘Why on earth would Mattingly even consider having Uribe bunt in that situation with the speedy Yasiel Puig on second base after a leadoff double with no outs?’
Let’s look at this a bit closer.
If Uribe successfully got the sac bunt down, you would have Puig at third with one out and the 7, 8 and 9 hitters coming up in the form of Skip Schumaker, A.J. Ellis and undoubtedly Andre Ethier to pinch hit for Brian Wilson. There is zero… absolutely zero doubt that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez would have intentionally walked Schumaker to set up a double play with A.J. Ellis coming to the plate. There is even less doubt that Gonzalez would have then brought in his superstar closer Craig Kimbrel for a five-out save. Granted, Ellis has been swinging a hot bat of late (at least in the first two games of the short series), but he was 0 for 4 on the night with two strikeouts. He is also a very slow runner and an ideal double play candidate. And even if Ellis struck out for a third time instead of hitting into a double play, Ethier would have came to the plate to face the hard-throwing Kimbrel who, during the regular season, Ethier was 0 for 7 with five strike outs against. (Ethier did draw a two-out walk off of Kimbrel in Game-2 of the NLDS).
The point here is that, there by the grace of God (and Juan Uribe’s inability to get the bunt down twice), Fredi Gonzalez came within one (full) swing of seriously out-managing Don Mattingly – and Mattingly never even realized it.
And while there was a lot of joking around during the champagne-filled celebration about Uribe’s failed bunt attempts followed by his epic home run (which was the second time in three weeks that Uribe has done this), the truth of the matter is that Juan Uribe very well may have saved Don Mattingly’s job.
Funny how that works, isn’t it?
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RT @Think_BlueLA: New post: Mattingly saved Uribe’s job… and vice versa – http://t.co/uqf9jqfxSy #Dodgers #Dodgerfam
The game is full of irony.
Fredi Gonzalez in fact made what seem to be mistakes in that game in the eighth inning. The commentators mentioned Freeman was not guarding the first base line with Yasiel up. Everyone knows Yasiel can go to right field and is definitely getting more selective at the plate. Freeman guarding the line may well have snared the ball that Yasiel hit. Mattinly went for broke and started Clayton on three days rest. Gonzalez left Kimbrel standing in the pen instead of going for broke with a six out save.
In the meantime – I love Vin’s call – Uribe hit a two run homer after failing to get a bunt down. With one swing he again silenced the talk about Mattingly losing his job. I suspect you are right that his job is not in jeopardy regardless of what happens from here to the end. If winning the WS is part of his job description then he will need Juan or someone else to again do the improbable. I think his job is safe now and an extension will follow. Juan’s shot definitely helped his cause.
Hopefully Mattingly will not be so bunt-happy going forward. It shouldn’t be an automatic move that an opposing manager can always predict and manage around. It is a foregone conclusion that Kimbrel would have entered in that inning. Ironically I think Mattingly’s predictability staved off perhaps an earlier exit for Carpenter. Gonzalez I am sure was predicting the bunt and would have made a move after that at bat. So Mattingly’s unsurprising move to bunt probably preserved the opportunity for that incredible hanger that Uribe pounced on.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Mattingly will still have plenty of chances to prove his playoff inexperience, and with it, plenty of speculation about his job security.
Here’s to hoping Don Mattingly can learn from his mistakes and wisely chooses his decisions from here on out. Bunting in the eighth inning, with Yasiel Puig on second base, down by a run and nobody out? Really?
As you know I am a bunt proponent. There are 25 or so ways to score from third. Hitting to the right side to advance a runner to third is called a productive out. Bunting the runner to third is called a wasted out.
Walter Alston had Duke bunt in the final game of the 1955 WS with none out and Pee Wee on first. The Yankees botched the play. Then he had Campy bunt the runners to second and third. Gil Hodges brought in a run with a SF. They were ahead at the time 1-0 so the circumstance was different. However Duke and Campy bunting and they got them down successfully. Maybe that’s the difference.
I absolutely agree that Puig would have been LOB, if bunted to third. Lately the Dodgers have been better with the long balls, than getting base hits with RISP or with sacrifice flies, is why I say this.
I don’t know if it saved Mattingly’s job but it certainly helped him keep it. After two unsuccessful bunt attempts by Uribe, it looks like devine intervention took place as it saved the Dodgers from the tomahawks.
There was some other news that may have added to Mattingly’s job security. Joe Girardi agreed to a 4 year contract to continue with the Yankees.
The be quite honest, Robb, Mattingly isn’t going anywhere, but the Girardi thing does indeed improve the overall picture for Donnie B.
During last month’s Blogger’s Night, Colletti was asked if Mattingly’s job was at risk and even before the question was finished, Colletti said a very convincing “No.”
As you noted in your first comment, we can only hope that Mattingly realizes that he dodged a bullet with the Uribe bunting thing and that he uses a little more common sense and foresight in the future.
“Mattingly will still have plenty of chances to prove his playoff inexperience, and with it, plenty of speculation about his job security.”
I hate it when I’m right. Last night was awful… and a wasted gem by Greinke.