But Girardi had the same situation and when the game ended, he still had two relievers who hadn't pitched. Aceves went three, and Bruney went two before Coke came in to pitch the 15th. You're in extra innings, which means you don't know how long the game is going to go, which means you can't just have guys go one inning and on to the next. You expose yourself to what happened to Francona last night.
--- On Sat, 8/8/09, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: From: Tom Salemi <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Pfeh To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009, 11:52 AM I'll grant you number 2, but I'll disagree with 1. Francona needs to manage to the situation, not in anticipation that the game will go 15 innings, which was an unlikely outcome. On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 11:20 AM, Matt & Olga McSorley <[email protected]> wrote: Speaking of cranky, I have to get this off my chest: Francona usually does a great job, but I can't understand the way he managed that game last night: 1. Bullpen: He took out a lot of guys after one inning when they clearly could have pitched more (Papelbon, Bard, Delcarmen, Saito). By managing it the way he did, he decided to hand the game to a 23-year-old rookie with four months in the minors, who was making his first major-league appearance. In extra innings. In Yankee Stadium. To try to stop a pennant race free-fall. By trying to protect his bullpen, I think he was reckless, not only with last night's game, but with a young pitcher's psyche. Does anyone remember Cla Meredith? Travis Hafner hit a 305-foot grand slam off him in his first appearance and was never effective again with the Red Sox. 2. Hitters: In extra innings (11th? 12th? 13th? 14th? I lost track.) they had two on and two out and Varitek coming to the plate. Of all lead-pipe cinches in the universe, it was a guarantee that he was not coming through with the big hit. Why not hit Mike Lowell in that instance? I know managers don't like hitting for the catcher because of the fear the backup might (MIGHT!) get hurt, but the Sox have THREE catchers on the roster. The easy solution is move Martinez to catcher, Youk to first and put Lowell at third. Then Kottaras is still on the bench. That's a total head-scratcher. I also think he missed an opportunity in the 6th or 7th with two on and no one out. He had Pedroia swing away, and he flied out to left. With Beckett pitching the way he was, one or two runs would have won that game. With the way this lineup is failing to produce, I think he had to have Pedroia bunt the runners along. This season is getting away fast and winning a game last night would have done some good to stop the bleeding. They have no shot today (Buchholz v Sabathia? Painful...) so they're relying on Lester tomorrow night to avoid a complete disaster. I just think Francona had to be more aggressive to try to win last night, and instead he managed the game like it was a Tuesday night in May against Kansas City. -- Matt --- On Sat, 8/8/09, Matt & Olga McSorley <[email protected]> wrote: From: Matt & Olga McSorley <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Pfeh To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009, 10:56 AM You're right. --- On Sat, 8/8/09, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: From: Tom Salemi <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Pfeh To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009, 10:45 AM Whoa, someone's cranky. Maybe you should get to bed earlier. On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 10:29 AM, Matt & Olga McSorley <[email protected]> wrote: Thanks, guys. You've turned my frown upside-down! Oh, brother... --- On Sat, 8/8/09, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: From: Tom Salemi <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Pfeh To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009, 10:24 AM A-Rod is still a puke. On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM, Ray Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: You should feel better knowing that I went to bed in the 10th inning and got a good night's sleep. On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 9:48 AM, Matt & Olga McSorley <[email protected]> wrote: Knowing there was no way the Sox were going to score last night was like watching a bad horror movie. You know the main character is coming to a bad end and there's nothing you can do about it. Somebody make me feel better. Tell me the lineup isn't that impotent, or that the starting pitching will come around. Somebody help me! Lie to me, dammit!! -- Matt -- Author of "Leading After a Layoff: Reignite Your Team's Productivity...Quickly" www.leadingafteralayoff.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
