Too Smart by Half

 The Cubs took the Nationals to the woodshed over the weekend, sweeping a four-game series at Wrigley Field.  Along the way, the Nats’ Bryce Harper had 19 at-bats, 13 of which resulted in walks.  In Sunday’s13-inning contest, Harper garnered six walks and a hit-by-pitch.  And nary a game did the Nationals win.

Washington pitcher Tanner Roark dismissed this pitch-around strategy as “scared baseball,” but it’s just Joe Maddon being Joe Maddon.  As a Cub fan (perish the thought), I’d worry, but as a White Sox fan, I’m content to wait.  As I’ve said on occasion, the one thing Maddon wants more than being the smartest guy in the dugout is having you know he’s the smartest guy.  And that could be his undoing.

Last year, it was batting the pitcher eighth, an idea, thankfully, now come and gone.  As for Walk-A-Bryce (Nats’ manager Dusty Baker likened the strategy to basketball’s Hack-A-Shack), it worked, and you can’t argue with success.  But with Maddon, once is never enough.  He’ll be tempted to do it again (against Jose Abreu in the World Series, I hope) or push the envelope even further, like all three outfielders playing ten feet behind the lip of the infield with the bases loaded in extra innings on the road.  He’s Joe Maddon, don’t you know?