It’s probably best that Mickey Callaway learned in his 15th game as a manager the harshest of all lessons that eventually visit all major league managers, rookie or veteran, lessons that have been handed down since Connie Mack and John McGraw were wide-eyed kids.
It goes something like this:
You can study every number that matters …
… and you can be as prepared as any man alive …
… and you can have every situation accounted for …
… and you can make every move that should be made according to the situation of a game …
… and it still might not matter, if your ballplayers aren’t going to play ball with the effectiveness and the crispness and the sharpness for which they are handsomely paid.