Tigran Petrosian became a world chess champion in the 1960s by playing such a deeply defensive style that he flummoxed opponents into draws or, worse, decisive mistakes. He was the Greg Maddux of grandmasters.
“Chess,” he said, “is a game by its form, an art by its content and a science by the difficulty of gaining mastery in it.”
Petrosian had no idea with that observation he also nailed the maddening appeal of postseason baseball from the perspective of the dugout, or at least from the rest of us who follow along with them. A manager can dismiss the art of the game by relying only on its science, the way Toronto’s John Schneider carved a corner of postseason infamy for himself in the wild card round. Or he can strike the right balance and make the right moves, at least under the conventional rules of engagement, and still lose, the way Twins manager Rocco Baldelli did Saturday in ALDS Game 1 against the Astros.
