The Closer

This blog would have been more appropriate a couple of days ago, but laziness and alcoholism being what they are, today is the day.
The Minnesota Twins lost two games to the Detroit Tigers. Not inherently bad, but the manner in which they lost them is greatly disturbing. The bullpen gave up leads late in the game. Making matters worse, the first game, the blew a five-run lead. The pen was supposed to be the strength of the team, the anchor of the pitching staff, and it failed, miserably, two nights in a row.
That gets me to the crux of the column. In both those games, when the bullpen cost the team the victory, the best pitcher on the staff (reliever or starter) did not play. Our newly signed 12 million dollar a year reliever, Joe Nathan, did not get in the game.
I know he is the closer. He pitches the ninth innings, and occasionally part of the eighth. I get that, but I don’t. I understand what a closer is and what he is supposed to do, but I don’t.
In those two losses, the Twins failed to put their best team out there. They lost without having their number one guy even take the field.
It would be like in basketball, resting Michael Jordan until the final five minutes of a game so he could go out there and ensure the victory. But what if the Bulls are losing by 15 points? Mr. Jordan would have arrived too late. No, you put him in there to begin with. If you are resting him in the fourth quarter when you have a lead and the other team comes back, you put him in there to stop the momentum, stem the tide if you will. You bring your best player in when he is needed, not when it is convenient.
I understand this goes against the recent conventional wisdom of baseball. During the past 30 years or so, the closer is a position that has, not only developed into one of the most prominent positions in baseball, but has just developed as a position in baseball period. Back in the day, closers didn’t exist. The ninth inning was handled the same way the sixth, seventh or eighth were. A designated ninth-inning guy didn’t exist. A reliever was a reliever. You entered the game when your team needed you. Period.
Now, managers are reluctant to bring in their closer anytime before the ninth, with the occasional eight-inning exception. Yet, how many times has a lead been blown in the sixth, seventh or eighth innings, only to have the big-money pitcher sitting on the bench come inning number nine. The closer is usually the best relief pitcher and needs to be brought in when the best reliever is needed, not the best reliever who is not the closer.
The Twins should have brought Joe Nathan into the ballgame in the seventh inning, or the eighth inning, whenever the game was at its most critical. They needed him. Sure, technically speaking the game is not won or lost in the seventh or eighth innings, but it can be. Sure, if you bring Nathan in then you have to have somebody else pitch the ninth, but so what? At least you get to the ninth inning with the lead and a chance to win. Instead, the lesser pitchers decided the game for the Twins while the star pitcher making the most money sat on the bench and was relegated to cheerleader status by the manager.