What would you do as manager of the Pirates in these situations?

1. Bases are loaded, two outs in the ninth, the Pirates are protecting a two-run lead against the Giants, and Barry Bonds is up. Do you:

A. Have Mike Gonzalez walk him. Let the next guy beat you.

B. Pitch to him, but carefully.

C. Go right at him. Gonzalez is dominant against left-handed hitters.

2. Oliver Perez just escaped a harrowing fifth inning, but his pitch count is at 80. Do you:

A. Take Perez out before the sixth. He cannot be expected to regroup that quickly that deep into the game.

B. Use the pitch count as the barometer, and ignore the stress factor.

C. One jam is fine. Two jams is too many.

3. Chris Duffy and Jack Wilson reach base to open the ninth, with the Pirates down by a run. Should you have Sean Casey:

A. Bunt. Casey grounds into too many double plays.

B. Let your .300 hitter swing the bat.

C. Send in a pinch-hitter to bunt, someone who does it more often.

Jim Tracy's answers

1. A. "Let me answer it this way: I think that the manufacturer of those rubber chickens they hang in San Francisco is very disappointed I'm managing in the Central Division now. A lot of those chickens were my doing when I was with Los Angeles. In 2002, I walked Bonds with runners on first and second and two outs in the ninth. That put the winning run at second. Jeff Kent came up and popped up. ... But he could have hit a grand slam."

2. C. "If that's his first jam, sure, he goes back out. There are circumstances that surround that, of course, but I'm of the mind that, if a guy really gets taxed twice in the course of his outing, he won't make it through the third time more often than not. But can he deal with two? Yeah. It depends on your personnel, too, obviously, and getting to know them."

3. B. but maybe C. "I wouldn't ask Sean Casey to do something that hasn't shown up in his repertoire over eight years. Does it make sense to take the bat out of somebody's hands if he can put three runs up on the board? Now, if I feel that a double play is absolutely something that I don't want to see happen there and I've got somebody left on the bench who can bunt, I'd look at that."