This is sort of an adjunct to that bullpen management thread about Trey Hillman; I'm starting a new thread because I'm changing the subject slightly. Point is, I'm not sure it's just a bullpen situation. Granted, I'm comparing it to the teams of my youth, but there do seem to be less options with teams now than I remember.
The way of roster management now seems to be as follows: you have a 5-man rotation that goes off like Old Faithful, with a 7-man bullpen consisting of one 8th inning guy, one 9th inning guy, a LOOGY, a failed starter, and some detritus who should still be in AAA learning how to pitch. Practically no one pitches consecutive games because it's supposed to be radioactive or something, and the bullpen coach is usually screaming for an 8th guy. Meanwhile, your bench consists of a catcher, an infielder, and an outfielder, plus a gadget guy if you're lucky. And that's it. No one subs out except in the ninth, 'cause you can't really afford to, and platoons are avoided like the plague. Situational hitting is what you plan for in the pre-game; you cross your fingers that the right guy is up at the right time.
Now, back in my day, things were different. (Cue the harmonica and lazy guitar.) The Orioles, for example, had five starters, but the bulk of the work went to the top three - Palmer was getting a bit long in the tooth and needed more time; Stone wasn't developed yet. Either, usually Stone, was available to the bullpen provided he'd had enough rest. The bullpen was one long-relief guy who could also spot-start if needed, a lefty and a righty, and the closer - who came in when the game was on the line, even if it wasn't in the ninth. Relievers could and did go two innings when needed, starters could and did finish games, and no one's arm fell off. (I remember Tippy Martinez saying in an interview that he would just walk into Earl Weaver's office before the game and tell him how he felt - like, "I think I can get you a couple of guys tonight, but no more" - and Earl would nod and make a note of it and that was that.)
This gave the O's options with the bench. The team played great defense, in part because you could afford to play guys who fielded better than they hit (Rich Dauer, Mark Belanger, Rick Dempsey), knowing that they had at least two guys off the bench - again, a lefty and a righty - and sometimes three who were just hitters (some combo of Lee May, Terry Crowley, Pat Kelly, Benny Ayala...) There was a long-running platoon in left field with John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke. There was a backup center fielder who could pinch-run. Plus, you also, most of the time, had the backup catcher, the backup infielder, and so forth.
It wasn't just the O's. The Dodgers had Manny Mota, then Vic Davalillo, and sometimes both. The Tigers had Gates Brown. The Phillies gave Greg Gross a job. Heck, the A's often had just a pinch-runner (Herb Washington is the canonical example, but there was Matty Alexander and Don Hopkins and Larry Lintz...) The Pirates had three guys and sometimes four in their bullpen that they wouldn't hestitate to throw night after night after night, and did so frequently. The Cards juggled their rotation constantly, making sure that those who pitched better on short rest got it, and those who needed the long rest got that; no one knew who was starting more than two days in advance at most.
The White Sox, for a long while (well before the period I'm speaking of), had Ted Lyons, "the Sunday Pitcher". They just reserved Sunday for him. Heck, why not?
Much later you had the super-gadget guys, like Chone Figgins...who, predictably, is forced into a steady starting role now.
Not all teams did it, but the point was you could. Now when did that change? Why are these things no longer viable?
