BrandoFan Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Don't look know, but that weak pitcher's numbers are better than Buehrle's. After being asked to bunt and getting down 0-2 in the count.... That pitcher has career ERA of a gazzillion, has no stuff, a mediocre control and is a LHP - Sox are one of the best if not the best LHP-killing teams in the majors. The problem? Whoever said "Sox tried to play HR Derby in front of the national audience again" is absolutely right - same thing happened on Saturday against Maddux, who himself admitted that he made a ton of mistakes - more than he did in his shelling against the Sox last week, but for some reason he got away with almost all of them this time. Glendon Rusch is the kind of a pitcher who will be crushed if your hitters are smart and unselfish. Teams that are in trouble against him are teams that look at his career ERA and think "batting practice time". That happened to the Cardinals (Matt Morris start, no less) with Pujols and Co getting 2-0 fastballs chest high and, much like Joe Crede, harmlessly popping them up. Same thing happened to the Astros (Oswalt), with Bagwell and Co trying to pull a pitch 3 inches outside and meekly grounding out to 1B/2B. And Rowand? So he bunted for a strike. Ooh, it's 0-1 - must be the end of the world. If you're hitting 350 against LHP, you should be able to handle a crappy southpaw like Rusch down a strike. Instead, he struck out on a mediocre curve IN the strize-zone because he so badly wanted to kill the fastball and ended up literally falling out of his shoes as he K'd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandoFan Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 I'm sure Ozzie had a reason for every decision he made last night. But when he brought in Shingo in the 8th, I knew the game was over even if the Sox managed to come back. Which they did. This was a critisicm I had of Manuel as well - NEVER BRING YOUR CLOSER INTO A NON-CLOSING SITUATION, UNLESS HE IS THE LAST PITCHER YOU HAVE AVAILABLE. Ah another one..... Shingo has pitched in a tied ballgame quite a few times as his 4-0 record in less than 30 innings as a set-up man would attest. He did a spectacular job, too - often retiring batters when the other team had GW run on base or even in scoring position. He also made Cubs look quite foolish a week ago. Ozzie liked his chances against RH like Alou, Lee, Barret, Martinez and Ordonez - Shingo handled Patterson and Sosa with ease the inning before, afterall. He also had 2 and a half days of REST prior to entering in the 8th. Stamina wasn't an issue. What did you want Marte to pitch 2 innings again, especially in the inning loaded with RH? Or maybe you're a Politte fan - nothing says "I want to win a very important game" like sending your 4th best option out of the pen. Screw all that....... Sox lost because: 1. Hitters choked on national TV for the N-th time. Their greed caught up with them. 2. Crede. 3. Shingo picked the wrong time to lose his control in the 2nd inning of work. 4. Marte had LH Walker at 0-2 and for some reason his release point went to hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbaho-WG Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Now why is Willie getting off the hook here? Everyone else is getting slammed, and deservedly so, but Harris was atrocious last night. I've never seen so many offspeed pitches end up right down the f***ing middle begging to be nailed be taken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 Excuse me, but how is a 2-0 count where Crede pops a slow fastball, chest high, up on the infield 'setting his players up to fail'? If Rowand grounds out, we're all complaining about him not bunting. Guillen made the right move, Crede didn't execute. Ill admit Ozzie has made his fair share of dumb decisions, but last night was not one of them. i didnt say that was a bad move...i thought having rowand bunt was the right move....one thing crede has been pretty good at is getting runners home from 3rd with less than two outs...what im talking about having harris and uribe batting 1-2..where they are about 10 for their last 110 combined while playing in a national league park where buehrle bats 9th....i think in the 6th we had buehrle leading off and i was thinking there is no chance of anything but a 1-2-3 inning here...it was a bad time to get harris bats against a lefty pitcher...a real bad time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 That is brilliant. Off to the quotes of the month thread with that one... thanks jim..if you post 100 millions times ones bound to be funny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkdog Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Sox lost because: 1. Hitters choked on national TV for the N-th time. Their greed caught up with them. 2. Crede. 3. Shingo picked the wrong time to lose his control in the 2nd inning of work. 4. Marte had LH Walker at 0-2 and for some reason his release point went to hell. 1. Yes. They were swinging from their heels last night. But Rusch also had a very generous strike zone. Did you see how far outside the pitch that K'ed Perez was? That wasn't the only wide strike he got. Rusch's plate was 25 inches wide last night. When your trying to slug against that - you're not going to succeed very often. 2. Agreed. Terrible situational hitting. 3. To my point, Shingo should not be called on to do a second inning of work. Only the inning to close the game. He cannot be the only option when the game is close. Are you listening Kenny? 4. Release point - bah. He choked. Pure and simple. You have to have brass balls to come into a situation like that and come through on top. He had to strike out Walker. Sure a ground ball could have started a DP, but the infield was playing middle in, it would have had to have been hit right at someone. If it is hit sharply more than one step to the left or right of any infielder - game over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Brando said: "Glendon Rusch is the kind of a pitcher who will be crushed if your hitters are smart and unselfish. Teams that are in trouble against him are teams that look at his career ERA and think "batting practice time". Glendon Rusch pitched a good game and is having a good year, Brando, whether you believe it or not. Nobody was gonna hit him in that 8th inning. I don't care if they were greedy or whatever the f*** you are calling it, there was no hope in that 8th inn. You think C. Lee was trying to homer every time up? I say not. Was Paulie trying to homer when he lined that single up the middle? SOrry Brando,but I call a lot of your analysis bulls***. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JimH Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Brando said: "Glendon Rusch is the kind of a pitcher who will be crushed if your hitters are smart and unselfish. Teams that are in trouble against him are teams that look at his career ERA and think "batting practice time". Glendon Rusch pitched a good game and is having a good year, Brando, whether you believe it or not. Nobody was gonna hit him in that 8th inning. I don't care if they were greedy or whatever the f*** you are calling it, there was no hope in that 8th inn. You think C. Lee was trying to homer every time up? I say not. Was Paulie trying to homer when he lined that single up the middle? SOrry Brando,but I call a lot of your analysis bulls***. Agree. But if you sit around and type enough, somebody is bound to think you're a baseball analytical genius. Not me, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelasDaddy0427 Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 I just think it's all nuts. Ozzie made a mistake, he will learn his lesson... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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