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13 June 2008 tagged red sox, terry francona with Comments Off
For whatever reason it’s now clear Terry Francona’s brain locks up when Okajima is on the mound. For the second time in a little over a week Francona left an obviously ineffective Okajima in until a lead was obliterated.
Francona:
He was up with a lot of pitches and behind in the count…
No kidding. That’s why you make a change before the game slips away. Here’s hoping Francona’s irrational confidence in Okajima is a thing of the past.
I’m not the only one frustrated with Francona’s use of Okajima. This post by yfsf (almost strangely) mirrors my first post.
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11 June 2008 tagged johnny damon, yankees with Comments Off
It’s been two and a half years since the Yankees signed Johnny Damon to fill their hole in center field (a signing, remember, that Damon never gave the Red Sox a chance to match). Damon became a short term solution as he was switched to left just a year and a half later.
Damon’s been on fire lately and I’ll be the first to admit I thought he was through (though I have little doubt his numbers will cool off soon), but watching his defensive play over the first half of the season confirmed what I’ve thought for a while now. Damon is incapable of playing center field at any respectable level. His arm, always bad, has regressed further. As a kid playing catch we’d often get bored and start throwing to each other with our catching arm and catching with our throwing arm. That’s Johnny Damon’s arm today.
Joe Posnanski:
it’s ASTONISHING how weak his arm is
And if Damon can’t play center, he’d have no place in Boston even if he’d stayed. He’s not a good enough player at this point in his career to put Manny or Drew on the bench. It’s clear now that not signing Johnny Damon (and Pedro Martinez) was the correct move.
Yankees Pitchers Go Head Hunting
It’s becoming apparent that Yankee pitchers are incapable of retaliating without throwing at a hitters head. Chamberlain? Check. Farnsworth? Check. Hawkins? Check. And all three lacked the guts to admit their intentions.
Joe Girardi Does His Best Earl Weaver Imitation
Watching Joe Girardi kick dirt and throw a tantrum was great entertainment. Acting out like a child only goes over well if you’re old enough that people just think you’re senile, or Earl Weaver. Girardi hadn’t yet shown the fiery change from Joe Torre Yankee fans had expected.
You could almost see Girardi’s mind spinning. “Here’s my chance to get the fans on my side”. It was very similar to the Lou Pinella commercial.
Other Yankee Observations
- Turning Joba into a starter is the right move. Still, it’s going to be nice to face 7th and 8th innings without him around.
- Mussina’s success has surprised me. I have no idea how he’s getting away with the stuff he’s got left, but give him credit. Still, I’ll be shocked if he can continue at this level as the season progresses, and I’m confident a healthy Red Sox lineup eats him up.
- Giambi’s Mustache does the impossible; making him look even sleazier than his normal greasy, swollen, sweating self. Who told him this is a good look?
So why are my thoughts all on New York? Because Boston was playing Tampa recently, and even though I subscribe to MLB’s cable package, two of the three games were unavailable to me. Why? Because I live in Florida, so I should use the local broadcast. Except that Florida is a big state. Tampa is 7 hours away, and I don’t get the majority of the Rays’ games.
Even the middle game, shown on ESPN, was blacked out. To put that into perspective we were unable to watch a game shown to the whole country, taking place a thousand miles from us, even when we paid an extra 200 bucks to see every game. So I’m stuck watching Giambi scare small children.
Great job MLB.
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4 June 2008 tagged abraham, yankees with Comments Off
After Mike Mussina allowed only one run in six innings tonight Peter Abraham asked:
So, does Moose follow Cliff Lee in the All-Star Game?
Well, considering Mussina ranks somewhere around 25th in the league in ERA, 20th in WHIP, and coming into tonights game opposing batters were hitting .286 (286!) against him, I’ll go out on a limb and say no.
Of course, Mussina will probably be there. The brain-dead notion that wins is a good measure of a pitchers effectiveness still, unfortunately, lives on.
Edit: It appears I misconstrued Peter Abraham’s comment. I don’t believe Mussina belongs at the All-Star game, and wins is certainly an overused stat, but I mistakenly took his question on face value. My mistake.
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4 June 2008 tagged francona, red sox with Comments Off
I’m a fan of Terry Francona and have little doubt he’s the best manager in Red Sox history (or at least in my life time). For that reason I often cringe when Boston fans refer to him as Francoma. He’s brought two championships in four years to a town that had been the failure poster boy for 86 years. He’s not perfect, but he’s damn good, and the job he’s done should afford him some respect.
But recently, well, I can certainly see times the name fits. I first started having a change of heart when Francona recently allowed Timlin to pitch the 12th inning of a tie game with Papelbon rested and ready. Luckily, Timlin managed to get out of the inning. After the Sox scored three in the top of the 13th Francona finally brought in Papelbon. To recap, in a tie game where one run means an immediate loss Francona relied on Timlin. With a 3 run lead, Francona went with his best pitcher, Papelbon. It defies logic.
But hey, it worked. It’s hard to argue with scoreboard.
Then came a 6-3 loss to the Orioles in the last game of what could have easily been a four game sweep. Two non-moves by Francona made sure that didn’t happen.
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In the top of the 8th with the bases loaded, one out, and Alex Cora at bat Francona could have pinch hit with Dustin Pedroia. It didn’t happen; Cora swung at ball four grounding into an inning ending double play leaving Boston with a slim one run lead.
Yes, Pedroia had been struggling, but there are reasons Pedroia starts at second instead of Cora; the main one being Cora is a bad major league hitter. Maybe Pedroia strikes out, maybe he also grounds into a double play. We’ll never know because he didn’t get a chance. A better hitter sat in the dugout while a .245 hitter did what .245 hitters do; kill a rally.
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In the bottom of the 8th, clinging to a slim one run lead thanks to Cora’s timely hitting, Francona brought in Okajima. I have confidence in Okajima, but he’s not an overpowering pitcher. If he’s off, he’s toast. He’s not Josh Beckett. He can’t give up four home runs and still strike out ten.
After the first three hitters singled off Okajima it was clear to anyone paying attention it wasn’t his night. Yet Francona left him on the field until the Orioles had scored four to take a 6-3 lead. And that was the ballgame.
One of Francona’s strengths is his steadiness. He doesn’t panic, he has a plan, he looks at the big picture. But sometimes, when a victory is there for the taking with just a little deviation from the original blueprint (Pedroia getting the day off, Okajima pitching the 8th), it would be nice if he’d step up and pull the trigger.
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29 May 2008 tagged red sox with Comments Off
How much confidence do Red Sox fans have in Mike Timlin? Look no further than to the reaction at Sons of Sam Horn when Timlin was brought into a tie game in the ninth inning Tuesday.
Ugh Timlin + Safeco = disaster
Everyone can go to bed now. Losing Pitcher: M. Timlin (2-3)
Timlin Time. Please keep all barf bags nearby.
Hmm, Timlin. I’m terrified.
In a recurring theme Timlin later stated that he made good pitches but simply didn’t get good results. How a 1 ball, 2 strike pitch down the middle of the plate is good pitching defies logic, but so does Mike Timlin much of the time.
Meanwhile, Papelbon, who was brought into the previous night’s game with a 5-1 lead, was left on the bench. I’m guessing he was being saved for Wednesday’s game, perhaps when the Sox had the lead; a lead that never happened.
Of course, it’s the Red Sox offense, or lack of offense that is a growing concern. Check out these dismal stats from Boston’s first 6 games of their current road trip.
- They’ve failed to score in 45 of the 54 innings.
- A whopping 14 runs have crossed the plate.
- The bats are 32 for 189 — a robust .169 average.
- With 21 walks, their team OBP in this stretch is .252.
- The team has more whiffs at the plate (45) than hits & walks combined (43).
- The best of the lot: Casey (4/11, .364), Manny (6/17, .353), and Ortiz (5/19, .263).
- The essence of bad: Drew (4/18, .222), Lowell (4/22, .190), Cora (1/6, .167), Ellsbury (3/20, .150), Lugo (2/14, .143), Pedroia (3/23, .130).
- Zip, Zero, Nada: Youk, Tek, Coco & Cash are a combined 0-for-40.
Francona will give the usual spiel about facing good pitching, and it’s true; the sox have. But that doesn’t explain the complete collapse of the offense; not if the Sox have post season hopes. No matter how it’s spun, losing 2 of 3 to the lowly Mariners is troubling.
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21 May 2008 tagged rick sutcliffe with Comments Off
Rick Sutcliffe:
Chipper Jones is the National League’s version of Derek Jeter, and it’s about so much more than having spent an entire career with the same organization.
More? That would be nice.
Jones has always put the team’s interests ahead of his own personal stats — whether it’s moving to the outfield for two seasons or giving himself up to score a runner from third.
When A-Rod, clearly a better fielder at the time, was traded to the Yankees Jeter stayed at shortstop, forcing A-Rod to play 3rd. Sutcliffe comically uses an example that not only doesn’t prove his claim but buries it.
The one statistic that jumps out to me is his game-winning RBIs. Since 1995, Jones has 183 game-winning RBIs — that’s more than Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield.
Sutcliffe uses a statistic that was shown useless and dropped by MLB and statisticians years ago.
Rick Sutcliffe: Still clueless.
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14 May 2008 tagged red sox with Comments Off
There are good losses (coming back from 7-1 on the road against one of the best closers in the game) and there are bad losses; losses that go beyond the final score.
Two players forced to leave the game (Coco - stomach / Drew - wrist), unable to score with the bases loaded and no outs, your ace (unlike previously) unable to stop the bleeding, and a general lack of energy and urgency.
I also don’t think I’ve ever seen Mike Lowell look as awful as he did striking out to end the game to finish a painful 0 or 5 night.
The Red Sox couldn’t be headed back to Fenway at a better time.
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8 May 2008 tagged delicious irony, josh beckett, justin verlander, red sox with Comments Off
Now that’s an ace.
After the worst loss of the season Josh Beckett quickly got the Red Sox back to their winning ways with 7 innings of 1 run ball. Impressive pitching against a very good lineup. Even more encouraging was the work of Hansen and Delcarmen in the 8th and 9th. If they get rolling the bullpen could quickly turn from a weakness to a strength.
While discussing Youkilis’ home run Detroit’s Justin Verlander comically said:
Obviously the big hit was Youkilis hitting the home run. Looking back, it was because I was flying off a little bit, I was trying to go down and away, and it runs back in the middle of the plate. He didn’t hit it great but he got decent enough wood on it to get it elevated and get it over the fence.
This comment after a night the Tigers won on a check swing dribbler, two weak grounders, and a shattered bat bloop that barely made it to the outfield?
Oh sweet irony, cry me a freakin’ river.
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8 May 2008 tagged chien ming-wang, cliff lee, hideki okajima, joba chamberlain with Comments Off
From commenter Felix Heredia on Bronx Banter regarding Cliff Lee:
This guy is gonna come crashing back to earth. 91 mph fastballs don’t “explode” through the zone. His pace and delivery is flummoxing batters, not unlike okajima’s briefly did. But it’s style - albeit subtle - over substance.
Hideki Okajima so far in 2008: ERA 0.60 / WHIP 1.07
Joba Chamberlain: ERA 3.38 / WHIP 1.13
Okajima’s style is kicking Chamberlain’s substance in the ass.
Bonus round of ignorance:
From Yankees Etc:
Chien Ming-Wang produced another gem, stopping the Yanks three-game skid. It’s kind of sad that he’s the only reliable starter right now. He might be the frontrunner for the Cy Young.
Wang so far in 2008: ERA 3.12 / WHIP 1.13 (hmm, same WHIP as Okajima)
Cliff Lee: ERA 0.81 WHIP 0.60
Perhaps by saying “maybe” the writer meant “not even close”.
Pesky statistics.
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