Why Do Managers Do This?

I am by no means and expert on all the rules of baseball.  But I do have one question that has been on my mind for awhile.  Maybe someone can clear up my confusion.  My question is this:  When a starting pitcher is doing very well, and winning the game, why does the manager take them out?  I know this doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens often enough.  If a pitcher is “in the zone” why decide to put somebody else in?  I have seen it backfire so many times this season.  I just finished watching the Phillies beat the Giants 7-6 in 11 innings.  I’m very glad they won, but Tim Lincecum had them down 4-1 and then the manager decided to take him out.  If Lincecum would have stayed in, I bet they would have won.  This was a mistake by Bruce Bochy that I’m glad he made and worked in the Phillies favor.  But what is the reasoning of decisions like this?


The Catch and the Card

Willie Mays made one of the best plays ever in baseball, the “Catch”.  Mays caught the ball right over his head which was the best part.  Vic Wertz was the guy who hit the ball and Mays made that great catch.  Topps made a memorabilia card of both players in their Topps Tribute product a few years ago.  There are only 54 copies of this card, which is funny because 1954 was the year the “Catch” took place.  It has to be one of the best dual memorabilia cards produced.  The card features a bat piece from Wertz and a glove piece from Mays.