Game 7 After Thoughts........

[Franky Wright]

First thing I was wondering, does Grady Little have a backbone or does he just do what his players ask(tell him to do). Sorry guys but I was baffled that he did not pull Pedro after the great job he did thru 7 full innings. My guess it was around 100+ pitches, and if I were the manager(ya, Im so smart, hahaha) I would have gone to the pen at the start of the eight inning. Course he is thinking why screw with something that is working! But, is it not the managers job to see and watch and know his players moods, reactions, small tell-tale nuances that trigger their certain weaknesses?
I for one could see this on the tube, with the sound muffled, at my favorite tavern! LOL! (Maybe that was to my advantage )
Long and short of it is, I feel sorry for the Red Sox, congrats to the Yankees, as they always find a way to win.
And I hate to say this............
But the Curses are REAL :moon:
LMAO!
Looking forward to this WS

Marlins in SIX

 

[mjalam]

marlins...but i think it goes seven...too much of back and forth type games for it to be less than seven

 

[Franky Wright]

MJ,
I think we are close but the Fish it is
GL
Franky

 

[british bulldog]

As I have said in previous postings, I don't care much for either Boston or Yankees, I am just pleased that this was one of the best 7 game series I have watched.

There was very little between either team, shame there has to be a loser, but that is sport.

Boston had the more solid bullpen, probably the better offense and the Yankees the better starters.

If at the start of the series you had spoke to either teams fans, no one would have believed you if you said Yankees would win in 7 with Bostons number one and two guy not winning a game.

The biggest difference in this series and the reason Boston lost was GRADY I know nothing about baseball LITTLE

Now I am not just talking about his failure to pull Pedro fron last nights game. The first tell tell signs that he was approaching empty was in the seventh. He visits the mound with the intention to pull him yet appears to be talked out of it. WTF, who is manager of this club. It started right at the start of the season when they had a bullpen by committee. His lack of leadership and managerial skills were found wanting throughout the season. But the biggest killer to Boston was when this jackass kept sending runners and having them picked off for easy outs and letting the Yankees off the hook. It never worked for Boston during the season so unless you have found extra speed from a line up of plodders over night this was a big no no, especially in playoff baseball. I lost count the amount of times there was one out, runner at first and he would send him.

First move Boston should make this off season is call this so called manager into the front office and send him right back through the door with his pay cheque and cards. I would like to know what the general consensious is with the way Little has managered and will their be calls for his head to roll?

 

[skulldog]

BB, I can't beleive I'm agreeing w/you. That hick should be fired today : Do ya think torre would have let anybody talk him into staying in:thinking::banghead:

I'm still too pissed off to write anymore.

Congrats to the yanks

 

[gman2]

skulldog:

i know as a bostonian and red sox fan you are probably still in shock from everything that went down but it still amazes me to read posts and sentiments saying little should be blamed and fired.

as a manager, he cant win.

hindsight is 20/20.

how ironic is it that people are complaining about keeping pedro in and how that bullpen should have been called.

you kidding me?

you want your bullpen to decide the game?

how about for once, pedro sacks up and takes the blame?

you really want alan embree to determine the outcome of your season instead of pedro martinez?

for all the money youre paying pedro, the guy has to be able to hold a 4-0 lead in the biggest game in recent sox history.

and sox should have busted it open long before that in the 5th inning when they had 1st/3rd and 0 outs leading 4-0. they could have driven the stake through the yanks heart but couldnt do it

you really think firing the manager is going to make any difference with that team? you guys would have been bitching up a storm if embree would have given up those runs.

sorry but thats the way i see it.
i know the manager will always take blame in almost every spot, but to be calling for embree over pedro? sorry, but pedro has gotta deliver, and he didnt do it

 

[british bulldog]

What I was saying and skulldog agreed is it is not just egth innings of last nights games. It is how he has managed all season. I am sre Boston fans will say that he has lost more games this season through his decision making than he has won.

However, taking last nights games, Pedro has thrown 120+ innings prior to last night, but not in 4 consecutive games that are high pressured. His last but one start he never threw above 90 mph but was gone after 100 pitches. This time around he was pitching in every innings recording pitches at speeds around 94mph. He generates his speed with his arm speed, not like most do in a coil spring using their hips and legs. The fatigue factor on his arm must be enormous.

Little's bullpen had not let him down all playoffs, yet what message did he send to them. "Hold on lads let's see if Pedro can get out of this hole" Great confidence in your players !!!!

The only player with any real pace in the regular Boston line up is Damon. So why does he send the second slowest guy Ramirez to steal base ? Christ you can only make one worse decision than that and thats send Ortiz.

All I know is if Little was with the Yankees and he had made these decisions and Boston had won, he would have been fired before he got back to the dressing room.

 

[skulldog]

G-man- Pedro did say "Don't blame grady for the loss, if you want to blame someone, blame me". Pedro did sack up, he pitched 7 strong innings and should have been lifted, his pitch count was over 105 and when he reaches that level, opponets bat 350.

I can barley live w/bringing him out for the 8th, when he had trouble in the 7th,but as soon as they got a runner on, he should have been gone, he did have 2 strikes on jeter, matsui and posda, but he location was off.
Don't give me 'The players are the ones who play", the players did play, but the MANAGER didn't put the players in a position to win. The bullpen has been lights out in the payoffs and combine that w/pedro's pitch count, it SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIFTED and nobody's going to change my mind.:banghead::soapbox::chairshot

 

[Hoops]

Yep, Pedro accepted the blame so not sure what that is all about.

I doubt he would have gotten second-guessed by any objective person. It wasn't a lose-lose situation...he HAD to pull Pedro. Pedro gave them 7 very good innings....he didn't have much left in the tank. The bullpen had been what kept the Red Sox alive in the postseason. It's been the best bullpen of any playoff team. Yes, (as a fan or an observer) I wanted Embree and Timlin to pitch that 8th inning. Save for Embree allowing that hit to tie the game in Game 1 of the Oakland series, him and Timlin had not allowed anything.

When you are the manager of a professional team it is on YOU to make decisions..that is your job and that is what you get paid for. Any athlete with the least bit of confidence or competetive spirit is not going to tell you to pull them. And if I had a player who told me to pull them, I probably wouldn't want that type of player on my team. Little didn't need Pedro to tell him anything...it was evident by what was happening that inning that he was finished.

 

[Franky Wright]

B Bulldog, Skull, Hoops...........DITTO Exactly my point!

Gman,
Not trying to get in an argument or anything, but isnt that the managers job?
Anyway, I was rooting for the Red Sox and Cubbies, but to no avail

Should be a good series:

Fish in SIX!!

 

[maverick2112]

What I find so ironic for Boston is that after struggling with the bullpen all season they finally have a guy that is as hot as anyone in the postseason in Timlin who retired like 25 of 26 pitchers he faced and with a 3 run lead he may have been hard to get to.
I blame Little the most but I will say this if I am going to lose I would rather lose with Pedro than anyone else. I pretty much thought the game was history with Pedro doing fine and having a 3 run lead.........Who really knew what was to come..........

 

[SimonSezs]

Tough game to stomach as a Red Sox fan.

There was no clear reason why Grady did what he did, you can look back at the Red Sox wins in this series and TIMLIN and WILLIAMSON finished the games for the RED SOX. In Game 5 Wakefield walked one batter and bam he was yanked late in the game. For Pedro personally I would have thrown TIMLIN in the 8th, but even if you have Pedro starting the 8th after Jeter scores and makes it 5-3 he should have been gone.

Your playing the Yankees for god sakes. This team wrote the book on these type of come backs. Grady did nothing to stop the flood gates from opening. With all the opps he had he pulled Pedro when it was 5-5. Hell by that point keep Pedro in so we don't have to sit through another 3 innings of misery. In the end if you keep playing with fire your going to get burnt. Thanks for nothing Grady.

 

[shamrock]

you don't rather lose with Pedro! Embree should have been brought in to face matsui. Pedro had already given up 3 hits in inning 7 including a homer to giambi.

Grady gave Wakefield 1 batter in the 8th in game 6, Wakefield walked him and Grady came out and got him even though Wakefield was pissed and wanted to stay in the game, what competitor wouldn't. Sox bullpen closed game easy, Yankees weren't even close to hitting Embree Timlin or Williamson. Here are the numbers post season

Embree 6.1 innings 2 strikeouts 0 era
Timlin 8.2 innings 10 strikeouts 0 era
Williamson 8 innings 14 strikeouts 1.13 era


Grady just doesn't have the balls to treat the star like everyone else. He should have been yanked. It should cost him his job.

 

[british bulldog]

All you Boston fans, I can understand your heartache. I know we haven't seen eye to eye on my post's, some of what I said was constructive, the rest in anger.

Atleast we are all in agreement, Little cut cut it. Take Torre, pulls Mussina, Pettitte and Clemens before it was to late, or before it got out of hand. When a player is out on that field it doesn't matter if he's on $100K or $10K, they are all trying their hardest for their club and however prestige you are, you should all be treated as one. Bloody hell they live together as a family for 6 months of the year.

Shamrock, thanks for answering about family in the emerald isle. I have family in Posscommon and friends and associates in Cork. I have two greyhound brood bitches that are well regarded over there and I have no trouble selling the pups as their is usually a waiting list for two matings in advance.

 

[CaPPiNg TiGeRz]

Agree 100% could not believe Pedro wasn't pull earlier in this game. Didn't think he would come out at all for the 8th after he looked tired ending the 7th inning. Bad call by a less than average manager , maybe next year for the Sox ! ! !

 

[Franky Wright]

I hate to say this...........

I hate to say this...........

But there will be no next year

Marlins in SIX....













again