Notebook : Cubs’ Zimmer Leaves Himself Wide Open for Second-Guessing

On the day before his Chicago Cubs met the San Francisco Giants in the National League championship series, Mark Grace was asked about the unorthodox managing style of his boss, Don Zimmer.

“There are times he even surprises me--like every time,” Grace said. “But then I look up and what he’s done has worked.”

Until now. It will be a while before Grace or his teammates can lift their heads and look at what happened to their beloved manager in this best-of-seven series that ended in five games Monday at Candlestick Park.

In a series highlighted by the hitting of Grace and Giant first baseman Will Clark, Zimmer still managed to steal some of the show. And for reasons he wouldn’t appreciate.

The most common preface to a Giants’ postgame comment was “I’m not going to second-guess their manager, but . . . “

But Zimmer played a part in each of the Cubs’ four losses, the most involvement by a manager in recent postseason memory.

In Game 1, Zimmer walked Brett Butler intentionally with one out in the fourth inning to load the bases, even though only a double-play grounder by Robby Thompson would keep Will Clark from coming to bat. This season Thompson grounded into a double play once every 91 at-bats.

Thompson popped out and Clark followed with a grand slam in an eventual 11-3 victory.

Zimmer’s strategy also looked curious when he let right-hander Greg Maddux face Clark before the grand slam even though the left-handed hitting Clark had already homered and doubled off Maddux. And even though left-hander Paul Assenmacher was ready in the bullpen.

* In Game 3, Zimmer replaced Assenmacher with Les Lancaster after one pitch of a seventh-inning plate appearance by Thompson.

The count was 1-and-0 when Lancaster began, but he was confused, and after throwing one more ball, he thought it was 3-and-0. Then he grooved one and Thompson hit a two-run, game-winning homer in a 5-4 victory.

Zimmer’s strategy also seemed curious when he intentionally walked two batters in the first inning, each of which resulted in runs.

* In Game 4, with the score tied, 4-4, and a runner on second in the fifth inning, he allowed left-hander Steve Wilson to pitch to right-handed hitting Matt Williams. This was even though first base was open and two weaker left-handers followed Williams in the order.

Williams hit a two-run, game-winning homer in a 6-4 victory.

* In Game 5, he allowed starter Mike Bielecki to remain in the game through three two-out walks in the eighth. With the bases loaded, he finally brought in Mitch Williams, who allowed Will Clark’s two-run, game-winning single.

“I couldn’t be more proud of a ballclub in the 41 years I’ve been in the game,” Zimmer said Monday about his team. “I guess you can say in a seven-game series that the best team won.”

But about that managing . . .

“I have to make decisions every day, and I make the best ones I can, and then I forget about them,” Zimmer said last weekend. “I don’t second-guess anything. I’m not going to change anything that’s gotten me here.”

Other than Mark Grace’s .647 batting average in a losing effort, the most amazing statistic of the series was that Giant reliever Steve Bedrosian was credited with three saves in four victories.

In Bedrosian’s first save, in Game 3, he walked the potential tying run in the ninth inning before escaping. In Game 4, he allowed a bloop single and a walk to load the bases while trying to protect a two-run lead in the ninth, before escaping.

Then there was Monday, with his teammates crowding the dugout in preparation for their postgame celebration. With two out in the ninth and the Giants leading, 3-1, he allowed a single to pinch-hitter Curtis Wilkerson, another single to Mitch Webster, and then he allowed a run-scoring single to Jerome Walton, bringing up Ryne Sandberg with runners on first and second.

Out ran Giant Manager Roger Craig. Bedrosian thought he was gone.

“I thought he was going to yank me and I was going to do my best to try and talk him out of it,” Bedrosian said. “Then he asked me how I felt, and I said, ‘I feel good.’ ”

It was enough for Craig, who left. Bedrosian then retired Sandberg on a grounder to second baseman Thompson to end the game.

“That’s a moment right there I’ve been dreaming about for a long time,” Bedrosian said. “A lot of those pitches came from the heart, not the arm.”

In a week in which teams set 11 different NL playoff batting records, the Cubs’ Andre Dawson stood out like a sore thumb. Or maybe, a sore knee.

Playing with a cyst on his right knee that will be removed this winter, Dawson struggled his way into the role as series goat, managing only two hits in 19 at-bats (.105), with one double and three RBIs.

“Yeah, the knee was bothering me, but you have to go out and play,” Dawson said. “This is what you work for, this is your goal. You hate to let anybody down.

“I feel like I did let people down, though. A lot of people were very disappointed in me. And I was disappointed in myself.”

San Francisco pitcher Rick Reuschel said it was old-fashioned scouting reports that stopped him.

“It was no secret what happened--we knew exactly how to pitch him,” said Reuschel, who won three duels with Dawson Monday that left a total of six runners stranded. “We knew that you could get him by not giving him a ball he could handle. We knew he would go for things outside the strike zone.

“So that’s all he got. And they turned into perfect pitches.”

At least one Cub said there should be no criticism of Dawson without perspective.

“This year we would have been in fourth or fifth place without him,” Grace said. “We’d be watching this thing without him.”

However, Dawson hit only .252 this year with 77 RBIs despite 22 home runs, and Zimmer said the postseason was just an extension of the season.

“Dawson had a tough year, and it continued right through the playoffs,” Zimmer said. “He’s one of those guys who every time he comes up to the plate you think something good is going to happen. I’m sure he did, too, but it didn’t happen.”

One of the questions surrounding the upcoming Bay Area World Series is who will be cheering for whom?

There will be more Giant fans, according to a recent poll conducted by ADF Research in San Rafael for the Marin Independent Journal.

In answer to the question: “Who is your favorite major league baseball team,” 47.2% of the polled local residents answered Giants, while 38.3% answered A’s.

Of course, there are a few who won’t be cheering at all. The poll found that 4.1% of the populous were Dodger fans.

The numbers: Ryne Sandberg, who quietly hit .400 for the Cubs in the series, extended his postseason hitting streak to 10 games with a third-inning double Monday.

. . .

The Candlestick Park crowd of 62,084 Monday was a stadium record, topping Sunday’s previous record by six. Sunday’s figure had topped Saturday’s record-setting crowd by 13.

Columnist Mike Downey contributed to this story.