August 7th - Well it is shi no rodo

Another awesomely bad result for Tigers. And once again a Wada generated key moment. The situation - top of the fourth and Ishiyama is in a mess. He has just been hit for a double by Murton and dead balled Takahiro Arai first pitch. Tigers have runners on first and second with no outs. Next is Itoh batting seventh and what does Wada have him do with a wobbly pitcher? Bunt. Consider the next two batters, Umeno; an excellent catcher but as a batter still a work in progress with an average of .198 and Saiuchi. The latter he could pinch hit for but Saiuchi is pitching well and he would want to keep him in. Wada's choice to bunt pays no attention to his available resources and the likely result of his decision and lets Swallows off the hook. Suddenly there is an out and Ishiyama can attack Umeno. This is exactly what happens - a get out of jail free card as Wada does keep Saiuchi in. He lines out and Tigers chance to win has gone. Saiuchi folds in the bottom of the fourth and Swallows dominate the game from then on. Final result 13-4 but who is going to haul that idiot Wada over the coals for his bunt decision?

i was at this one and you and i are not the only people angry at the bunt, my whole section was in a uproar

I think it was a week ago, the team is down a run and Umeno is coming up to bat with runners in scoring position, bottom of 8. I'm thinking, pinch hit and hope for a good result, then replace Umeno just for the ninth. What's the harm? But Wada keeps Umeno in. "Oh well," I think to myself, "he must be thinking of his 9th inning pitcher and how he matches well with Umeno or something." Then in the top of 9, he replaces Umeno behind the dish with Tsuruoka. Mind boggling. Umeno is hitting at the same level as pitchers... you gotta bring in a more capable bat in situations like that, especially if you're planning on taking him out after that anyways!

Umeno is better behind the plate than Tsuruoka but not so good with the bat. Figuring out what is going on in Wada's mind is shall we say difficult. It really is someone who doesn't know how to manage at all and in the tradition of Japanese managers has stubbornly refused to learn and move on.

i think some of it is wada trying to revisit past magical events.
remember last month at tokyo dome when sekimoto had the sayonara HR? then weeks later we are in the same situation, and who does wada call -its sekimoto. doesnt work out the second time, unfortunately.

same with fukudome who is occupying a spot starting rotation due to some noticeable (and very important) successes, not his overall production.

Magical events are very nice but they are magical. You cannot plan for them and this is another flaw in Wada's management style. He would rather select on magical events and not actually do the hard work. Choosing players who will deliver regular and reliable scores rather than the magic is the sign of a good manager. Wada fails this test though and seems to think that lightning inevitably strikes more than twice.

And just when we get within half a game of the Giants, Wada decides to give a young pitcher his first career start. This despite the fact that we have several other overlooked young pitchers who could have been called on.