Nothing to Believe In

Game 12 - Mets

Brewers 4, Mets 2
Record: 6-6

According to wire reports, his Facebook page, Dear Diary, clubhouse interviews, Bill James, and my own personal opinion, here are

20 Things Jerry Manuel Doesn't Believe In:

1. Sasquatch
2. The Loch Ness Monster
3. Tipping more than 15%
4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away
5. Voodoo economics (the "trickle-down effect")
6. The Tooth Fairy
7. Scientology
8. "Beer before liquor, never sicker"
9. The death penalty
10. Coincidences
11. You have to wait 30 mins after eating before you can swim
12. Vampires
13. Ghost . . . as a Best Picture nomination-worthy film
14. That you should never split an infinitive
15. "that whole Punxsutawney Phil bullshit"
16. The Dark Side of the Moon matches up to The Wizard of Oz
17. If you shave it, it comes back thicker
18. Mallory Keaton never wore underpants on "Family Ties"
19. It's the distance between the tip of your thumb and the tip of your index finger
20. Seersucker after Labor Day
21. Reincarnation
22. Long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days
23. The Godfather Part II as a better movie than The Godfather
24. The G-spot
25. The platoon advantage!

#25 became apparent before and during yesterday's game. I know Suppan has a slider that can -- when executed perfectly -- jam lefties a bit. I know you had to get Tatis some AB's so you "know" and don't just "think" he's got zippo in the tank. I know Sheff also needs his time. I get these things. And I get that some managers don't put an intensely high amount of stock in the whole "lefty hitters do better against righties and vice versa" phenomenon. (Also, some guys also think dinosaurs never existed because they're not in the Bible.)

But to bench the very hot (in the baseball way, TJ, you lout) Ryan Church, only to PH him against a long-arm lefty who K-ed him with little effort? To sit the startlingly decent switch-hitting Luis Castillo and give Tatis his first-ever action at 2B against a RHP? To ignore platoon advantage entirely -- to almost go intentionally against the grain, in fact -- and wonder why this lineup of sluggers could muster but a pair of runs against the reeling Brewers . . . well, that's something I am having a hard time believing.