ThirdGen

I may be wrong, but it seems like in the old days we only saw position players pitch when games went extremely long in extras and every bullpen pitcher was used. I don't understand why baseball continues to allow managers to use position players as pitchers during the first nine innings simply to save a bullpen for the next game. There should be a rule against it, an actual written rule. That nonsense is what is disrespecting the game.

Renteria didn't get fired because of how he managed the first 2/3 of the season. He got fired because of how he managed the last two weeks. That will be the test for TLR as well. This team seems destined for the postseason. How TLR manages that will be his legacy, not how he managed the regular season.

Renteria didn't get fired because of how he managed the first 2/3 of the season. He got fired because of how he managed the last two weeks. That will be the test for TLR as well. This team seems destined for the postseason. How TLR manages that will be his legacy, not how he managed the regular season.

A long time ago Al Cowens did something crazier after getting hit by Ed Farmer. He waited about a year, hit a ground ball to SS, ran straight to the mound and attacked Farmer from behind while he was watching the play.

Would only be 3,950,000 if the Sox hadn't hired LaRussa.

That is the thing that scares me about Eloy. He seems to have a ridiculous energy level. Making him DH and sit on the bench 99% of the game almost seems destined to have a negative affect on his hitting. But playing him in the outfield seems destined to take 5 or more seasons away from his career as well. No good answer for Eloy.

My point is simple. The TLR haters were TLR haters before the Sox hired him. And they are now using routine managerial decisions, ones that all managers get wrong sometimes, to crucify him. The main criticisms of TLR can be easily made of any manager in baseball as they make hundreds of decisions a week and a few will be questionable. Not knowing the extra inning rule was inexcusable and embarassing but had no effect on the game. I would be curious to know how many AL managers knew that rule before this (maybe all, but I doubt it). I look at his lineups occasionally and think "WTF", but do that with other teams as well. This isn't the NFL where you play your best lineup every game because you only have 17 games. If TLR sucks for the reasons I hear stated most often, all 30 managers suck, because they all do the same stuff. I'd even be willing to bet a few have some legal matters behind them that Passan never bothered to dig up as well. And no, TLR wouldn't be the Sox manager if JR wasn't the owner. He wouldn't have any reason to want the job, and I doubt anyone would have even thought to ask. I was shocked when his name popped up.

April 29. Sox vs Tigers 7 inning game Rodon looks borderline unhittable, but Tigers take a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth. Mize gives up a single to Jake Lamb (who, by the way, sucks at hitting) Mize then walks two consecutive hitters on only nine pitches to load the bases with no one out. Everyone in the park can see Mize has lost it. And with Rodon on fire, you have to stop this rally now. The manager, one A.J. Hinch (patron saint of all that is good in managing) chooses to leave Mize in. Billy Hamilton and Leury Garcia follow up by driving in three runs, effectively ending the game based on how Rodon is pitching. What a moron that A.J. Hinch must be, not recognizing that Mize had lost it so bad that the Tigers got beat by Lamb, Hamilton and Garcia. See how easy that is?

What's maddening is when people talk about the games LaRussa supposedly lost for the Sox and they include the Giolito and Foster pitching decisions. Every freaking manager in the game will make the wrong decision on how long to leave in a starter, either pulling him too soon or not soon enough, and trusting the wrong reliever in certain situations multiple times in a season. Look at the criticism of Kevin Cash in the last World Series, or Joe Maddon in the Cubs/Indians World Series. Both probably made mistakes, just like LaRussa did, but nobody is calling them senile, too old to manage, drunk, out of touch with the game, sleeping on the bench, or whatever. I have come to the conclusion that there is a subset of Sox fandom that never watches anything other than Sox games, completely ignores even the opposing manager's decisions, and comes to conclusions in a complete vacuum of information related to the other 29 teams and the issues they sometimes face.

Really enjoyed my visit there a few years ago. I assume Covid and the current unrest there could make a visit less enjoyable at the moment, but have no idea.

They are not near each other, but there is a light rail line that runs from one to the other, easy trip.

So if we are in another NL game, and Keuchel reaches base in the third inning, do we need to pull him for a pinch runner due to his inability to run the bases. I bet Hendrik would smoke Keuchel in a foot race.

In theory yes. Could also apply to Ohtani. But highly unlikely scenario.

What I don't understand is this- if the NL is so worried about pitchers running the bases why don't they have the DH? Or allow a courtesy runner Little League style? Cease was on base three times the game before, and he had never been on the bases before at any pro level before. Why didn't that terrify us? TLR and the staff should have known the rule, but the rule is stupid. A pitcher running in the 10th inning is no more likely to get injured than one in the fourth. And once you are into your bullpen, swapping out that pitcher is easier. During TLR's first stint he sometimes used starting pitchers as pinch runners on their off days so he didn't burn his bench. Not a good idea in my mind, and IIRC he stopped doing so. Probably under front office pressure. But bottom line is he isn't afraid of pitchers running the bases. I wonder if he would have flipped to Abreu even if he knew the rule. If I had to lose one player in that inning to injury, I'd probably prefer Hendrik to tell the truth. Sometime I would like to see a list of pitchers who have been injured running the bases over the last 10 years or so. I know they aren't on base often, but I can't recall a case of a pitcher ending up on the IL from baserunning. But I don't pay that much attention to the NL, so it probably has happened. I do know we have lost two players to the IL related to baserunning injuries in six weeks, so it isn't just a pitcher problem. Finally, he rarely throws players under the bus. We will never know if TLR called the steal or not. Its just the way he is.

Not even remotely true. 15 teams lower this century.

Spain, Cuba, whatever...all the same!

Rosenthal has a more balanced and reasoned story on this in The Athletic for those who have subscriptions. Still critical of TLR for the obvious stuff, and discusses player dissension, but includes information obtained from coaches and more players than Passan's unsourced and unverified crap. Rosenthal: Tony La Russa, under scrutiny, justified some of his critics' skepticism in April – The Athletic

Possibly because those awful lineups have produced at a rate near the top of the league, despite injuries and lots of individual underperformance and slumps. The Sox are currently 1.5 games behind the best record in baseball. If LaRussa sucks, every other manager must also.

The Sox have played to date at a pace of 92 or 93 wins over a 162 season probably enough to win the division. Considering everything that went wrong and all the underachieving things are looking good.

It was closed the last game I went to (Tues Cleveland).

Back home they need to do stuff like that to scare the dingoes away from the field.

Did both of you buy the ticket directly from the Sox/TM? If so, something is totally wrong with this. If you bought through a third party I could see how this could happen. But whoever sold to the third party or the third party itself is completely ignoring the Sox rules on ticket transfers.

I think the real question is when we will be comfortable eliminating the 6 foot distancing. I doubt you could go above 10,000 without seating some people closer than that.

With everything that has gone wrong so far this year the Sox still have the second highest run differential and runs scored in the AL. Their numbers are virtually the same as SD in the NL. Their pyth W-L is 8-5. Lots of teams playing far worse so far, only LAD and BOS are faring significantly better at this point.

I was joking, I don't really see a need to apologize myself, even though I was fine with him being gone when he was let go last fall. Just pointing out how a thread titled "Carlos Rodon Apology Thread" went completely off the rails into negativity.