Francona And The Playoffs

[schillingouttheks]

lately i have been watching francona make decisions, and in the postseason, it seems like he has gotten smarter, or maybe he is just a postseason manager? any thoughts? i havent seen too many stupid moves so far....i think his pitching choices have been favorable so far, and moving around the lineup tonight was good too. what does everyone tihnk?

[yagmaster]

I think he has improved over the course of the season.

[ahhchon]

i've been saying it. it takes a good manager to take a team to the lcs. not just any chump can do it, believe it or not.

 

john

[yeszir]

I think he's playing more for the present, and not so much for the future, which is certainly good when your team is down 3-0 in a best of 7 series. THroughout the season he's made some pretty stupid changes with an eye towards future games, and he's seemed to stop that now.

[element1151]

To put Arroyo in turned out to be a great decision. Hope he can keep it up.

[sarasoxfan]

wow, I dont believe what I am reading.

 

But what the hell I am in such a trance right now, and so friggin excited, I would say and agree to anything....this is hard to stomach, but with game 7 looming I'll say Francona's a genius if it helps us win.

[elsrbueno]

I've been really hard on Terry Francona throughout the season, but I have to admit I don't really disagree with his moves so far.

 

Schilling said he was ready in game 1. He got Shelled.... the Sox outscored the Yankees 7-4 after Schilling left.

 

Pedro simply got outpitched in game 2 by Lieber. One COULD argue that he shouldn't have been out there for Olerud...

 

Game 3 was one of those games where NOTHING worked out. Can hardly be blamed on Francona.

 

Game 4... It's tough to give D-Lowe the start in an elimination game, but what other options did they have? Taking him out was controversial.... but Timlin made the pitches and the fielders didn't make the plays.

 

Game 5...Pedro got lit up in his final inning, and he'd been struggling all night... so again, he MIGHT have been left in just a little to long... but Jeter hit a good pitch, is very good in the clutch... and we'd have been in trouble regardless of who pitched.

 

It was a little weird to have Varitek catching Wakefield...and it made Tek look bad... This is not the decision I'd have made, but I can see why Francona didn't make the move.

 

Game 6: How can you complain when the Sox WIN? Schilling pitched the perfect amount of innings. Just enough to give the 'pen a good chance to close it out, but not too long. Arroyo dominates righties, and with Cairo,Jeter,Arod,Sheffield up... who'd you rather have in there? Foulke for the 9th was a no-brainer... although if it were me I'd have thrown Myers against Matsui to start it.

 

Overall, I think it's been a well managed series. You can't really blame any of these games on the managers (IMHO).

[mosox]

I just thinking about this very same subject. I don't know if Francona has matured, gained enlightenment or is getting lucky but his moves in the playoffs seem to be the right ones. The way he juggled the bullpen over the last three games has been amazing and reshuffling the lineup has been a great move. I'm much more confident about him managing tonight than I was a month ago.