ORS

He caught it.

Now you are being glib. Many managers behaved as Martin did in the 70's, as using the closer for three out saves was the common tactic. LaRussa created contemporary closer usage rules with Eck. And, wonder who that manager was that used an AS reliever 20 times in the 7th?

Mystique and Aura..... appearing tonight at Scores.

Wow, never seen that before.

This, of course, presupposes that most MLB managers will supplant "their guy" for a couple of guys that have both failed miserably in the past, and failed for the most part in limited chances during the current season. I agree, Lopez and Aardsma are the hot hands to ride right now. This has only been apparent for about the last month. How often are fans railing for the guy with the hot hand in favor of the guy with the manager's favor? In my viewing experience, it's quite often. Again, this is not a defense of Francona relative to "what should happen", but I can't reasonably think any of his peers would have made a switch yet. Look at the AL guys doing well in D3. Gardenhire: Despite the loss of Neshek, Crain came back this year and is kicking tail. And it doesn't hurt when burrito hound Dennys Reyes is having a career year. Sciosscia: Shields sucked early this year, and the Angels suffered for it, but he was patient to "his guy". Shields has rebounded and all is well. I find it totally unsurprising that the guys who look good via D3, are the same guys who have bullpens that don't have a proclivity to take large steaming turds on the mound when it matters most. This coversation isn't happening if MDC pitches even league average when his team needed him most.

Unfathomable. Hahah! I watched this at a bar with 3 Yankee fans. I laughed all night as Lester packed their s*** in.

I realize has been used in non-save situations. These are generally when "he needs some work" coming on the heels of 1-run loss on the road where the other team scored late off a less talented reliever. I don't like it, either. Find a qualified replacement who would do it different. There are none. Those that would do it, lack the qualification. Those that are qualified, ie current or former MLB managers, play by the same book. Judged against his peers, I see little room for improvement. This does not say that I disagree with the notion that he lacks imagination. I do, but that isn't what I'm talking about. Those stats are damning, but who has he been using? Here's the breakdown of the team's 83.2 IP that were a save situation... [table]Player|IP|%|SV ERA|NonSV ERA|Synopsis Papelbon|28|33.5|1.93|2.25|not the problem Okajima|21.2|25.9|4.15|1.32|meh, but hordes of inherited runners too MDC|12|14.3|9.00|2.42|teh suck Hansen|8.2|10.4|7.27|5.06|s***** Lopez|5.1|6.4|6.75|1.32|bad[/table] That's 75.3 of the IP. He's giving the ball to the right people, but they are folding under the pressure. The only legit case to see more opportunity there is Aardsma, but his walks have to be concerning. Everyone else, ie Timlin, sucks regardless of situation.

While I agree that using Papelbon earlier in the game is something that needs to be addressed, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to fault Francona there relative to the rest of the managers in baseball. None of them would have done that, as all of them have adopted the LaRussian bullpen management strategy to some degree. In other words, a qualified replacement does the same thing in that situation on the road 100 times out of 100. There's nothing to gain by firing and hiring a contemporary replacement. That change in philosophy needs to come from the front office. If they have communicated to Francona that they wish for him to use Papelbon as a true "relief ace", and he has subsequently ignored their directive, then he needs to be canned and a replacement found. Short of that happening, I fault the FO (and the sackless wonder twins for not performing). I'm 100% in agreement on the PH'ing for Tek front. He's a liability at the plate. Captain or not, you PH for weak hitters when you have a chance to either break the game open or tie it up late.

Why do you want to wait until 2009? That is the next time the 4th falls on a Saturday.

I didn't finish the game, so I'm curious what moves Francona made that cost them this game. Going to MDC in the 7th with a 3 run lead seems like the right move. When he can get an out after 3 batters, going to Hansen is what I would have done. When he too puts his suck on display, well then you go down the pecking order, and Aardsma's as good a choice as any. This is on our gutless bullpen duo. They dissappoint more than they impress, at least to me.

And there isn't one Kilo. This happens all the time in any group of people who spend an assload of time together and travel extensively. Ask anyone who served in the military. They handle it the same way. "Hug it out, bitch!"

Garcia hopped the fence and jumped in when the guy was on the ground. The article I read has him swinging down on Williams as he was on the ground covering up. Stop trying to sell the, "Just had my boy's back" crap. It's a load of s***. And, yes, you did portray it as holier than thou. You said the Yankees wouldn't put up with this kind of stuff. They put up with it '03, as neither were suspended, something the saintly Yankee had every opportunity to do prior to any legal action. So your own team s*** all over the weak ass point you were trying to make. My guess is the Yankee decision came in the offseason, when neither Nelson or Garcia were brought back for the '04 campaign. I suspect the same thing will happen in Red Sox land.

Either that, or they take the mound in a pressure spot with all the confidence Soxfan#1 has in asserting boundaries in his relationship with that girl. The last 4 losses were by 1, 1, 1, and 2 runs, with the bullpen giving up runs in each game. The pitchers who made appearances were MDC, Hansen, Okajima, Lopez, Aardsma, and Smith. I can't fault the manager there, with the exception of maybe Smith, who had been very effective up until that 3 walk episode. I'm no huge supporter of Francona's in game management. I do feel he does a good job of managing the "marathon" of the regular season, and is quite good at the "sprint" of the postseason. Of course, some occaissional sprinting may be required in the former to reach the latter, and that's where he tends to underperform, IMO. All that said, at some point, our relievers need to stop giving up runs, because right now, it doesn't matter who he puts in, they are all s***ing themselves.

Which one is it? This has got to be the most blatant application of a double standard I've ever seen. EDIT: You know what's sad about this? It's that you are actually serious.

I thought it was pretty clear. Everyone else was active in previous leagues, which is why they got invited. The only person I've never been in a league with before is you, but you aren't one of the people guilty of inactivity.

I agree that paring it down next year seems to be the way to go. I thought the challenge of a 16 team league would increase the level of difficulty, and it has in a way that I like, but it's not worth the no-shows. Everyone, save Gom who I've never been in a league with before (and he isn't one of the problems), has demonstrated good participation in either the baseball league or football leagues we've had, so it's not like this could have been foreseen. That said, I'll happily go back to 12 next year. EDIT: Speaking of which, Yahoo has opened football registration. Who is going to run it this year?

Weebles don't fall down, the Gerbil did. Bad description.

What rules are they breaking by inactivity? I'm not going to freeze them for that. While it is frustrating for those of us that are paying attention, there's nothing malicious about what they've done. I'll admit, I'm a noob as a commissioner. I don't think I should choose the penultimate disciplinary action unless they have done something with malicious intent, like dumping all their good players for a waiver wire scramble. Especially not if it wasn't forewarned in the predraft league discussion. I have no problem doing it if everyone knows it might happen before the league begins. It's another matter entirely if I do it on a whim without warning. What say you, league? I can agree to starting an acitivity watch now, and those with a one month or greater lapse in activity from today's date will be frozen.

Make bologna puke? Isn't bologna just a big hot dog cut into slices? Always tasted that way to me.

Ketchup on a hot dog should be a crime that carries mandatory minimums. Besides, why would you want that sickly sweet tomato based goo in favor of actual tomatos?

Haven't had a dog at either Chicago park, but I do love a Chicago style dog. I make my own version at home. Instead of tomato slices and a wedge of dill pickle, I dice everything and make a relish of tomato, onion, dill pickle, and hot pickled banana peppers (I'm not a fan of sweet relish, so I leave that out). Rather than boiling the dogs, I fry them in a pan with butter and lightly toast the buns. Add deli mustard and a dash of Cholula hot sauce on top. Yum.

I agree, JHB. And, it's really a shame Grove got stuck in Baltimore due to the way the leagues were run at the time. Had he signed with a club with MLB affiliations, he probably gets about 1/2 of the 100+ wins he had in Baltimore added to his career win total.