Dodgers suffering from hero complex in extra innings

The Dodgers fell to 1-5 in extra-inning games with Friday’s 5-4, 11-inning loss to Colorado. Manager Don Mattingly said part of the problem is players trying to end the game with one swing of the bat instead of stringing hits together.
“In my mind, and this may not be true, but in my mind I think we have enough guys that all want to win,” he said, “but they’re not willing to take a pitch, move the runner, you know.
“They all want to (win the game),” he continued, “and that’s not a bad thing, it’s just the (kind) of guys we have. Everybody thinks they’re gonna win (the game), you know. ‘I wanna win this thing,’ instead of putting three singles together, moving the runner over, something like that.”
Mattingly feels the problem may lie in a lineup that features several players who have been “the guy” on other teams and are used to coming through in clutch situations.
“You still have to do the small things,” Mattingly said. “I want them all coming to the park thinking ‘I’m gonna get that big hit.’ I think that speaks to the quality of our guys, and they’ve been the guy that’s carried their club. We have a lot of guys who have been that guy on their club in the past. There’s really no one ‘the guy’ here. We’ve got a lot of good players.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.