The Breaking Point: Calm Skipper gets tossed

Today's edition of Fieldview takes a look at Doug Davis getting ejected, breaks down John-Ford Griffin and spotlights the return of Adam Lind

For the last couple of months I’ve been sporting a shaved head. That’s because watching a bad team night in and night out would have me pulling my hair out anyway. So that’s why I’m surprised Chiefs manager Doug Davis still has a head of hair, although after his team dropped its third straight Sunday 6-3 to Pawtucket, he might want to consider a call to the good people at Rogaine.

The last three nights I’ve had to bring my laptop with me to the game. I’ll be honest, I’ve done a lot of email checking and score tracking to keep my eyes off the action on the field. Davis must have had similar ideas when he got himself tossed out of Friday night’s and Sunday’s contests.

And Doug Davis will never be confused with Lou Pinella. For every bad guy in sports, I hope there’s at least one Doug Davis out there. He has no ego. He’s just as willing to talk after 12-4 losses then 5-4 wins, and lately there’s been a lot more of the former. With Davis, the cliché that nice guys finish last has never been truer.

“We just haven’t played well,” said the manager. “Everything that’s happening right now is being created by us. We have got to find a way to change this.”

My advice to Doug, it’s too late to change things. How about you take a vacation after the season, I’ve heard the Caribbean is nice this time of year, and just wait for Toronto to come a calling next year. This is a hopeless job. I would advise taking a job as a roving instructor or any coaching job with the Jays. Syracuse might as well be purgatory…

And on that note, here are some of the things I took away from this 6-3 defeat.

Adam Lind returns

“The good news is that he’s 100%.”

Those are the words of Doug Davis and if you read into them, you can tell that Adam Lind isn’t back to hitting like Adam Lind.

Lind’s timing is off right now, and that’s going to take time. What didn’t help was facing a pitcher like Clay Buchholz. I feel like Alex Rios would have trouble with his timing against this kid. Best changeup I’ve seen all year. Doug Davis raved about his curveball. Basically if you get a first pitch strike, you better hit it because if you get behind good night. Buchholz went just five innings and fanned nine batters.

Griffin doesn’t need to clean-up after himself

John-Ford Griffin really isn’t a cleanup man. For one, he strikes out over 100 times a year, and not putting the ball in play with runners on will kill a big inning. Secondly, Doug Davis just doesn’t feel that Griffin is best-suited for the key run producing spot in the lineup.

“I don’t think clean-up is right for him. After evaluating him all season long he seems like more of a fifth or sixth hitter.”

Plus, with all the lefties in the lineup you have to break them up some how.

I don’t know what it is about Griffin, but it seems like every one of his homeruns is insignificant. I know in large part this whole season down here has been an insignificant one, but at least here at home, I don’t remember Griffin getting many big hits. It’s been all or nothing for the big guy that’s for sure. Either homerun or whiff, and on the surface by just looking at the numbers, most people will tell you that he’s had a pretty good season.