Contrary to the spirit of my last Brewer-related post, I\’ve never been a \”Fire Ned Yost\” kind of guy. Recently, he\’s made some terrible decisions that defy reason. But it\’s not his fault his bullpen is so atrocious – although continuing to use Derrick Turnbow is his fault.

That being said, Yost\’s decision to intentionally hit Albert Pujols with one out in the 8th inning of a game where you\’re losing 3-2 might be the dumbest thing I have ever seen a manager do. After the Cubs had lost, you know your team can pull to within one game with a win. But you intentionally put a runner on and bring in Turnbow, who isn\’t exactly known for getting through innings without allowing baserunners. All so you can get back at Tony La Russa, who is obviously (Barry Bonds excepted) the biggest a-hole in baseball. So congratulations – you got back at the Cardinals, and you can bask in the glory while sitting at home during the playoffs.

Naturally, as I typed this paragraph, Turnbow went hit-walk-walk to give up a run. Then Shouse gave up three more. Boy, I must be a genius. Nobody could have guessed that it might be a bad idea to give up free outs in a crucial game just to prove your manhood.

So congratulations to Ned Yost on losing this crucial game, getting thrown out, and embarrassing himself in the process. I guess you can do that when you get a vote of confidence from your owner. If only someone could have predicted Yost would do something royally stupid to cost themselves a chance at the playoffs.

Oh wait… I did.

And as long as I\’m still venting…

Tony La Russa now officially owns Ned Yost. He got in his head by creating an imaginary beanball war, knowing Yost would lose his cool at some point. If this were prison, Yost would be applying La Russa with daily sponge baths. Yost should just give La Russa his wife and the keys to his car while he\’s at it.

I picked up my computer and started typing this post the second they hit Pujols, knowing full well what was about to happen. I can\’t even explain how painful it is to me that I was absolutely right. Hey, it\’s only been 25 years since the last playoff appearance – what\’s one more, right? It was more important that we get even with the Cardinals.

I was going to complain about the stupidity in the way the Brewers gave up Cardinal runs 2 and 3 (serving up a 3-1 fastball to a power hitter with a light-hitter behind him and 2 outs), but Yost actually managed to eclipse that stupidity with the granddaddy of all managerial abominations. So it\’s not even worth mentioning.

I apologize for the semi-lucidity of this post, but it was written in a blind rage between periods of heavy swearing and almost blacking out.

UPDATE: Thanks to Wrigleyville23 for the link. Feel free to have a good laugh at our expense.