Last night, I posted on the obvious over-managing of the pitchers in game three - and I didn't even mention how the Yankees got to the point where Gaudin was the only reliever left in the pen. That happened because of Girardi's insistence on using pitchers for a single batter earlier in the game.

That brings me to perhaps the best example of over-managing that the Yankees have done over the last 2 years: Joba Chamberlain. This is best explained by George Vecsey of the Times:

Chamberlain used to be a feared relief pitcher before the Yankees started messing with him as a starting pitcher. All their rules for him - low pitch counts, abbreviated starts, occasional layoffs - have left him ineffective, not fit to be among the team's top three starters and not fit for relief, either.

While I never got beyond pre-little league in the realm of organized baseball, I did run track and cross country for years, and I can tell you this much: athletes are creatures of habit. What the Yankees brain trust has done with Chamberlain has to have messed with his head, because it's disrupted any ability on his part to get into a routine.

I'm sure there's something to pitch counts, and individual matchups probably matter - but I bet they matter a whole lot less than a simple "does he seem to have his stuff today?" check. Pitchers used to go nine innings all the time, and I don't recall seeing piles of amputated arms anywhere. Relievers used to stay in if they were "on fire". It's tme for Girardi to put his copy of "Moneyball" down, and just apply some common sense.

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