This is a sad day. “Smoke em inside” was a code response my group of friends used whenever somebody provided useless advice. (My high school baseball coach was very fond of “throw strikes they can’t hit”.) I also remember Bouton’s sequel - “I coached good, but boy did they play lousy”.
A variation on "...blaming his boots for the faults of his feet."?
I read the sequel first, getting it from a classmate in HS.
Had to go and get "Ball Four" after that.