Hanging Chad

For all the chatter about Joe Girardi's "mistake" in sending out AJ Burnett on three days' rest, let me say this: unless you were decrying the "mistake" before the game, shut up.

I'd love to hear the case for pitching Chad Gaudin instead of Burnett before Game Five. Before knowing how the game turned out. But just after you found out what exactly a Chad Gaudin is. Should a guy with 75 career starts, a lifetime 4.50 ERA (5.50 in the NL) and a 1.6 K/BB ratio start ahead of a guy with 244 career starts, a 3.84 ERA (3.64 in the NL) and a 2.2 K/BB ratio who had already slammed the door once on the opponent?

Joe Girardi had to weigh the potential effectiveness of the former on two weeks' rest against the latter on three days rest. He lives and works with these guys, and knows their physical and emotional makeup. It's a manager's job to make exactly these kinds of judgments, and Girardi has shown a facility for considering the right information before casting his votes.

You don't know Gaudin and Burnett, don't work with them and aren't paid to make such judgments. So unless you argued prospectively that Gaudin was the man, you haven't earned the right to criticize what didn't work.
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