http://0rz.net/181rw

 Jim Bowden, The Examiner
 Apr 12, 2006 7:00 AM


 WASHINGTON - Two of the most overlooked parts of a baseball team are the
bench and bullpen. But in the past two decades, I’ve never seen a team win a
World Series without them.


Since you win with pitching, we’ll start with the Nationals’ bullpen. Even
though every manager, pitching coach and general manager would prefer 12-man
pitching staffs, the National League reality is 11 is normally the right
number because you need position players to pinch hit and double switch.

In building a bullpen you start with the most important part — the closer.
We have one of the best in Chad Cordero, who led the National League in saves
last year. He may not be as dominating as a healthy Mariano Rivera or Billy
Wagner, but he’s aggressive, throws strikes and is fearless.

The set-up men are expected to hold the lead in the seventh and eighth
innings. Set-up men are where middle- and small-market teams must be strong
to contend. Most high payroll teams have solid starting pitchers and
successful closers. A lot of times the bigger market clubs can just outspend
the other teams in these two areas.

However, with set-up relievers, history shows that except for the Yankees and
Cubs, most teams in big and small markets spend about the same for these
pitchers. Therefore, this is the area small- and middle-market teams must
succeed to stay competitive. The best chance you have to beat a higher
payroll team are innings six through eight where more than likely you are
competing on an even financial playing field. Last year, set-up men Luis
Ayala and Gary Majewski were two of the main reasons we stayed in the pennant
race the entire year.

Then there are the southpaws. I have never met a manager that didn’t want
two or three left-handed relievers. They want a situational lefty to get
lefties out, preferably with a good breaking ball, and one who can pitch at
least two innings. We have Joey Eischen and Mike Stanton, both effective
relievers last year.

Next is the long reliever — former manager Davey Johnson called him the “
sixth starter” and former manager Jack McKeon called him the “bullpen saver.
” This pitcher is supposed to eat up innings when a starter gets knocked out
early or the club either has a lead or trails by five runs or more. Jon Rauch
is our long reliever. However, he has been pitching so much better his role
is evolving into a more important position. If a starter gets scratched, he’
ll take his place.

Every manager from Sparky Anderson to Jim Leyland has told me that
experience, versatility and accepting the role are three of the most
important ingredients in a good bench player. Here are two more: the ability
to have quality at-bats without much playing time and make-up.

We have really improved our bench. Marlon Anderson (the National League’s
best pinch-hitter the last three years combined) and Damian Jackson add
versatility with the ability to play most infield and outfield positions.
Daryle Ward and Matthew LeCroy give us a left-right combination,
respectively, capable of quality at-bats with power. Marlon Byrd adds speed,
power and defense. Wiki Gonzalez is a solid back-up catcher.

As told to The Examiner’s John Keim.