Terry Francona

[TakePedroOutGrady]

Does anyone hate Terry Francona? What is this gauy doing taking out Pokey in place of Bellhorn? This guy is an idiot, play millar at first not right/left field, and please dont put Domonic at first ever again, the line up hasnt been this messed up since a guy named Jimy...

[yagmaster]

I agree about Andy Domanique and Millar, but I think Pokey is best used as a super utility player because he is so fast and plays great defense. Bellhorn's offensive numbers are very impressive, and he is one of our most disciplined hitters. I say, until he hurts us in the field or slumps badly, let him start.

[Old Hoss]

Supposedly, the Nomar/Pokey combo was going to be the great double-play team. Finally when that combo became available to him, Francona didn't even use it. His excuse was "Pokey needs to get acclimated to 2B"..............what, BY NOT PLAYING? And McCarty should have been at 1B.

[sarasoxfan]

I am trying to be patient with terry. He seems to have a lot of wonderful and admirable traits, but he never seems to get a pitcher out of there before it's too late. How on God's green earth could he let bronson swing away during that first at bat?? His platooning is all over the place...I'm not quite sure what he is thinking with his use of the bullpen, he seems to have an almost obsessive need to bring in whomever they just have called up from the minors and sit back watch them self-destruct. He doesnt seems to really know what to do with the middle relief.

 

Speaking of relief, I would be relieved if embree wqould be released.

 

The old 95 mph fastball down the middle is getting might old.

 

I am turning on tony. Help, i dont want to.

[yeszir]

Tito has made some questionable calls regarding the bullpen, and I'm not a huge fan of his usage of Foulke in so many non-save situations. However, he has done a decent job, and I cant really think of too many games that we've really lost because of a decision of his. (one or two come to mind, but thats it).

 

As for Embree, for some reason he is struggling at home with a 5.56 ERA, but he is fine on the road with a 3.29 ERA. This is a little bit strange, but it shows that something isn't horribly wrong with his delivery at least. He should snap back into it, and if he doesnt, no worries. Williamson is back with a vengeance.

[JMDurron]

Originally posted by yeszir@Jun 16 2004, 10:26 AM

Tito has made some questionable calls regarding the bullpen, and I'm not a huge fan of his usage of Foulke in so many non-save situations. However, he has done a decent job, and I cant really think of too many games that we've really lost because of a decision of his. (one or two come to mind, but thats it).

 

As for Embree, for some reason he is struggling at home with a 5.56 ERA, but he is fine on the road with a 3.29 ERA. This is a little bit strange, but it shows that something isn't horribly wrong with his delivery at least. He should snap back into it, and if he doesnt, no worries. Williamson is back with a vengeance.

Foulke has made statements to the effect that he likes to get some semi-regular pitching appearances in. I have no problem with that, and I thought bringing him in against the MFY with a 4-run lead was a good way to get him into a groove against them, and avoid any BK-esque pressure meltdowns.

 

As for Embree, I don't see how you can blame Francona for going to him. He's holding opposing hitters to an average of about .210. I really think he's just having bad luck with those few hitters who DO make contact hitting the ball a really, really long way.

[roary]

Tito > Gradly Little. Enough said. You're always going to find something to complain about with a manager, and I think Terry has not had that many problems. Sure he has occasionally misused the bullpen, and sure he has left some pitchers in too long (schilling), and sure he's pitching Schilling tonight EVEN THOUGH HE CAN GET INJURED.

 

Actually, i may change my mind on Tito depending on what happens tonight. If schilling misses the rest of the season, there'll be hell to pay.

[YanksHater213]

how many people would have though we would only be 3.5 back of the MFY with out nomar and trot, and willy, and mueller

[yeszir]

Originally posted by YanksHater213@Jun 16 2004, 05:20 PM

how many people would have though we would only be 3.5 back of the MFY with out nomar and trot, and willy, and mueller

Maybe only a few, but those people would be wrong, since we're 4.5 back.

[elsrbueno]

I think the Red Sox don't have the team atmosphere they had last year. I think this has GOT to be partly Francona's leadership.

 

Make it 5.5 games back before long.

[JMDurron]

Originally posted by elsrbueno@Jun 16 2004, 10:53 PM

I think the Red Sox don't have the team atmosphere they had last year. I think this has GOT to be partly Francona's leadership.

 

Make it 5.5 games back before long.

Or you can chalk that up to having several key players in the clubhouse (Nixon, for example) out for most of the year. Francona seems to be just as popular with most of the players as Little was, with the added benefit of not being stupid.

[elsrbueno]

I hope you're right....I hope they snap out of this and get hot. They'll need to get hot SOON before the Yankees become uncatchable

[roary]

In general nice guys are going to be liked to the players, and you can actually understand what Tito is saying, so I can't see why players would not like him. He definitely isnt detracting from the atmoshpere in the clubhouse.

 

I think, in part, the problems are due to the lack of Nomar and Trot (both prominent figures on the team, not just on the field). The team should swing things around now that they're back. Just some getting-used to it time that is needed.

[YanksHater213]

tonight was the night we start the winning streak

[SickBoy]

pokey should play second base and millar should play first alomst every day i mean isnt that what they were hired for

[trot4mvp]

Francona blows my mind...everyone who knows anything about baseball knows that the only way players can get into grooves is to play CONSISTENTLY...can anyone remember the last time the Red Sox had the same lineup for more than 5 days in a row? Sure, injuries do occur, but I don't see the MFY shuffling their lineup every day! I have to question what is going through Francona's mind!!!

[JMDurron]

Originally posted by trot4mvp@Jun 21 2004, 07:12 AM

Francona blows my mind...everyone who knows anything about baseball knows that the only way players can get into grooves is to play CONSISTENTLY...can anyone remember the last time the Red Sox had the same lineup for more than 5 days in a row? Sure, injuries do occur, but I don't see the MFY shuffling their lineup every day! I have to question what is going through Francona's mind!!!

I'd imagine it's something along the lines of "I have two guys trying to get back up to regular season speed after being injured, and 4 good infielders for 3 positions." Throw in getting the other players rest on at least a semi-regular basis, and you've got some lineup changing. The MFY haven't had many injuries at positions in the field this year, so you don't see the same amount of juggling.

[elsrbueno]

I think what Terry's trying to do is the same thing Jimy Williams tried to do a couple years ago. He's got a lot too many players who think they should be playing every day, so he juggles them in on a rotational basis. That's pretty much what Jimy got fired for, BUT that was under different management.

[roary]

Originally posted by trot4mvp@Jun 21 2004, 08:12 AM

Francona blows my mind...everyone who knows anything about baseball knows that the only way players can get into grooves is to play CONSISTENTLY...can anyone remember the last time the Red Sox had the same lineup for more than 5 days in a row? Sure, injuries do occur, but I don't see the MFY shuffling their lineup every day! I have to question what is going through Francona's mind!!!

It's been this way forever though. For as long as I can remember it the sox have consistently been changing the lineup around. Last year, or the year before, I'm not sure, I think they changed the lineup more days than they had it the same, or something that was even crazier.

 

It's annoying, sure, but its something that has to be done sometimes.

[trot4mvp]

I agree, and I mentioned in my post that I understand the lineup juggling because of injuries. However, this inconsistent lineup isn't a new thing...it started at the beginning of the season with no NEW injuries and the constant shuffling of guys like kapler, millar, mccarty, etc. The only consistent changes the Francona should be making is Mirabelli in for Tek on Wakefield's starts.

 

Its his job as a coach to put the best team possible on the field, with breaks in between for guys like Manny, Mueller, Damon, etc. If that means leaving a player who "should" be playing on the bench, so be it, thats baseball. A perfect example is Youkilis...he doesn't NEED to be playing (unless he's being showcased for a trade...) yet he still finds his way into the lineup with an inconsistent glove at third. Granted, he did get the only Red Sox hit yesterday. I just don't think all these changes are necessary. elsrbueno is right...francona is starting to look more and more like jimy williams...

[sarasoxfan]

I vowed not to get pissed off this and just enjoy myself. We got rid of that dunce grady and so on. I know it's easy to second guess the manager, but how could you rest manny yesterday?? And no matter what stats anyone throws at me I think alan embree is awful. 2 runs an outing...He lets runners score he inherited and thta never appears on his ERA. He almost lost the game after a big comeback friday and he did lose the game after a comeback on saturday.

[trot4mvp]

sarasox, i totally agree except for one caveat...Embree is a decent lefty-specialist. with timlin and williamson, there is no need for embree to fulfill any other roles...PERIOD

[trot4mvp]

From Kevin Millar's online journal on redsox.com:

 

I think the consistency of a lineup every day, when you know who's hitting in front of you and you know who's hitting behind you, that's what makes this lineup click.

[roary]

Francona>Williams>Little

 

I'll take the least bad. It's hard to be happy with a manager, kind of like its hard to be happy with an umpire.

[Zenny]

Tito should've left Williamson in for the ninth today. He only threw four pitches to Hunter and he has been fantastic this season.

[elsrbueno]

This loss was not Francona's fault. It wasn't even Foulke's fault.

[Zenny]

Originally posted by elsrbueno@Jun 24 2004, 06:16 PM

This loss was not Francona's fault. It wasn't even Foulke's fault.

True, I was just nit-picking. It might not have been his fault this time, but why not take advantage of Williamson after only throwing 4 pitches?

[roary]

Originally posted by Zenny+Jun 24 2004, 06:43 PM-->

QUOTE (Zenny @ Jun 24 2004, 06:43 PM)