Sox-Yanks Game 7

metro, i knew of his local roots. that still doesn't make him a great manager. last night was horrible.

 

OK, in all seriousness metro, I just don't think you understand why the vitrol towards Grady. I don't think that you know what it is like to be a Red Sox fan - knowing that EVERY time you've brought yourself to believe in them, SOMETHING happens to rip your heart out.

Normally, it's a freak play - a ball between the legs or a singles hitter knowcking one over the monster - but in this case it slowly unfolded in front of your eyes, and everyone - except apparently you, Grady, and maybe his family - knew what the right decision was. And he didn't make it. We had a chance - no, more than that, a perfect situation to exorcise some MAJOR demons on Thursday night - and his decision took that chance away.

Pedro was obviously tired and at 115 or so pitches (and yes Posada did break his bat, but in the 10th somebody broke their bat on a Wakefield knuckler - in this era of paper thin handles, breaking a bat is no great accomplishment). I am going from memory here - so I mihgt miss a detail or 2. Jeter starts the whole thing off with a double. The Yankee line up from there is S, L, S, L, S, L. Embree and Timlin are both warmed up and ready.

Now, Grady's argument - and yours - is that he has to ride the horse that got him here. Now 4-5 years ago with THAT Pedro I would back him 100% - but this ain't that Pedro. But even assuming that WAS a good argument, if that was his plan, why have his guys - especially Embree - ready for the lefties if he had no plan to use them. If it's possible, go back and look at the shot of Embree and Timlin in the bullpen - they both had a look on their face like "if you aren't using us now then why the fuck are we even on this team?"

Finally, I would like to address all of this crap about baseball knowledge you are spewing. Do I know as much about baseball as Grady Little? Nope. Do I know as much about it as you do? Proably not. But let me ask you this - do you know as much about basketball as Matt Doherty? No, yet you criticize the hell out of him - and I do too. So be consistent as to how you apply that little rule of yours.

 

Wow. I just read this thread.

Clearly, it was a sin to leave Pedro in there that long.

 

definately not.

I have never questioned the Doherty's coaching tactics. Link it. I criticize the program I hate, but I could care less what Doherty did in games. Fans have every right to question all coaches, or they wouldn't be fans.
I have admitted about 30 times in this thread that Pedro should of got the hook, you fail to see that. What I am arguing, and you can't comprehend, is that Grady is has a stellar record both in the minors and majors. When is the last time your Sox won 90 games back to back? Your a fool if you think canning Grady is the solution. Did he shank one? Yes, but he is playing better than par for you so far. If John Fox takes us to the NFC championship and makes a dumb call to lose it, I won't call for his head. Grady should of just lost the A's series, and you would still be happy to have him. I can't wait for him to get out of Boston and manage a real organization, one that isn't filled with such historic pressure of being a loser.

 

I don't think that you have been on this board during a basketball season, so I will have to take your word for it.

Here was your last post about teh situation

You could forgive me for thinking that you had changed tacks again and were saying that Little did not make a mistake. You started out by supporting his decision, then did not, and I thought you had gone back to supporting it again.

The Red Sox last won 90 games back to back in 98-99 - under Jimy Williams - hardly a lifetime ago.

And if you would go back and read all of my posts you will see that I was rooting for Little to succeed, beacause he had an awful lot to do with changing the attitude of the Red Sox players - which was not an easy thing to do with that whacked out press corps that (I think) actually wants the Sox to fail so that they can continue to be the stars of the situation.

But some of his management decisions are - at teh very least - a little strange (my personal favorite was teh hit and run with a guy on first who could barely run because he had just gotten back from a calf pull - result strike em out throw em out DP - Nixon was out by at least 15 feet).

My only point, which again I think that you fail to realize, has been taht there is no way back for him. This mistake was that big.

 

why is that strange? You hit and run with anyone on first. In fact, hit and run is best with a slow runner on first because it is his only chance to get to 3rd with one out (which is huge in baseball). When you have a fast runner on first, you never hit and run because he can either steal the base without the contact or he can reach third on his own with a single. Hit and runs are designed to aid slow runners getting to third with one out. Now he can score with a fly ball or grounder if the infield is gonna play back.

You should be happy with him in with those type decisions, not mad. It just goes to show you have no idea what is happening on the field.

 

I know all of that, but if that was teh only factor in the decision then the Red Sox would hit and run every time David Ortiz was on first. There are a lot of the factors that go into putting it on. Is the guy on the mound a strike out pitcher, the count (I personally have never liked the hit and run with 2 strikes because I think it takes some of the batter's concentration away - and yes I know that he already has to protect the plate anyway so contact is more likely), the park (even with a hit and run single to left in Fenway will not always allow a slow runner to go to 3rd because left field is so shallow), etc. In this case, Mussina was pitching, so Mueller was hitting lefty and more likely to try to take the ball the other way, meaning that Nixon really did not have a great chance of getting to 3rd even if he gets a hit, and while Mussina is hardly on par with Nolan Ryan, he does get a prett fair number of strikeouts and Mueller strikes out a decent amount. So no, I do not think that was a particularly good spot to call a hit and run.

 

well in grady's defense, mueller won the batting title this year and you don't do that striking out alot. but, in your defense, mueller sucked major ass this post-season for someone who won the batting title.

still doesn't change the fact that you bring embree in the fuckin game.

 

I know that he won the title, and before I poseted that I actually looked it up - he struck out 77 times in 540 something ABs - hardly Rob Deer like, but also hardly Tony Gwynn either.

 

those are some crazy arguments you gave. first- you don't hit and run with Ortiz every time because you can't. You cannot become that predictable, it depends on how many outs, the pitcher, the hitter, the game situation and score, etc. Your two strike theory is also stupid because that is the best time to steal a base because you are likely to get a breaking ball, the hardest pitch for a catcher to throw a runner out. I did not see this hit and run you are talking about, but based on your arguments, that should not be a play that sticks out in anyone's mind as a major screw up for the season that you originally referred to.

btw, do you need a tampon with all this Red Sox bitching?

I think you should apply for the Red Sox mangerial position asap, you obviously have better baseball decision making ability than Grady Little.