Ted Green: Why did Joe Torre use James McDonald?

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So let me see if I have this right.

The Dodgers are desperately holding on to what precious little is left of their once-healthy nine-game lead. It’s Aug. 25, the biggest game of the year to date. The Rockies are white-hot, closing to within three games the night before against the Giants on a dramatic walk-off grand slam in the 14th inning. The Rockies have so much ‘Moe,’ as in momentum, the Three Stooges are jealous.

Once 15 games behind the Dodgers and dead last in the NL West, here they were, L.A. and Colorado, tied 4-4 in the 10th inning in a big potential momentum-turning type of game.

And Joe Torre brings in ... James McDonald?

Old McDonald, as in Ee i ee i ... NO?

McDonald isn’t old, he’s just 24, but he does need to go back to the farm.

He was no more ready for that kind of high-wire moment than Ronald McDonald.

When he came in to start the 10th, I promise this is true, I immediately turned to a colleague here in the sports department and said:

To borrow from Eric Gagne, only in reverse, Game Over.

Base hit to right. Botched fielding play by McDonald on a routine sac bunt. Punchout of a weak hitter. An intentional walk to load the bases. Then first pitch to Troy Tulowitzki ...a pearod to left center, walk-off base hit, thanks for coming.

Fifteen pitches and like McDonald’s, it was bad food, served quickly as you drive through.

Game Over, alright.

A real Rocky horror show from the Dodger brain trust.

Did Torre really believe this kid, who’s had already two or three shots at winning a job in the starting rotation and froze each time, was up to the challenge of a tie game on the road in the 10th inning of a suddenly tight pennant race?

C’mon Joe, say it ain’t so.

I would leave McDonald back at the hotel before I’d bring him in a game with a division title at stake.

In fairness, McDonald may one day be a big-time major league pitcher. Or he could turn out to be Edwin Jackson, whom the Dodgers gave up on and now he’s finally having a bit of success in Detroit in what has been, to this point, a very ordinary career.

Either Joe has seen the weak schedule ahead, loaded with patsies and he knows the Dodgers are going to win this thing, or he’s still resting on his laurels from Yankee days gone by in the ‘90’s, but I’m sorry:

The McDonald move was at least as dumb as his counterpart in the other dugout, Jim Tracy, actually pitching to Manny Ramirez in the ninth inning with the Rockies ahead 4-3 and the tying run on third, just because the so-called ‘book’ of baseball says you never put the potential winning run on base with an intentional walk.

Nice ‘book’ if you’re still playing in the Gay ‘90’s or 1950s. But unless you’re a baseball dinosaur playing in Jurassic Park, you don’t pitch to one of the two preeminent right-handed hitters in the last 50 years when he can hurt you and hurt you badly in the ninth inning.

Manny singled hard to right to tie the game and send it to OT.

No wonder we exiled Tracy to Pittsburgh.

Now he’s 55-26 in Colorado, the de facto Manager of the Year and obviously the next John McGraw. But enough about him.

All things considered, I’m so frustrated from watching that managing fiasco I’m thinking of stopping at McDonald’s on the way home. Think I’ll ask for the Manager’s Special. But don’t worry about my health. A Big Mac can’t hurt me. I’m sick to my stomach already.

-- Ted Green

Green formerly covered sports for the L.A. Times. He is currently Senior Sports Producer for KTLA Prime News.