Jayhawk Bill

Line out to Jeter to end the inning. Rasner was very, very lucky to escape without a run: three-fourths of the time, a line drive falls for a hit.

Called strike three to JD Drew was marginal--let's see if Boston pitchers get that call. Called strike two to Manny was obviously a ball.

Leadoff single by Ellsbury...Rasner hits Pedroia.

Are you familiar with Goleman's Six Managerial Styles? About twenty years ago I was responsible for teaching leadership to young Navy officers, as well as maintaining the curriculum. The research for Goleman's work was done back in the 1980's, except for the aspect of tying it to "Emotional Intelligence." I had to review all of that research, as well as the studies applying it to the Navy, as an aspect of my job. Joe Girardi is using what we called "coercive leadership," or what Goleman calls "commanding leadership." In the professional workplace, of which I understand that you're an effective current member, coercive leadership is absolutely destructive. Workers take other jobs rather than endure such treatment. In the military, officers have significant authority under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to destroy the lives of those who fail to follow direction. One cannot quit until one's enlistment contract lapses, and occasionally not even then. Coercive leadership was the traditionally favored style in the military well into the Twentieth Century, and it still has its place in military situations. As Goleman admits, coercive leadership decreases fear in emergencies by diminishing uncertainty. It is even appropriate in the private sector in a great crisis, or with problem employees, or to start organizational turnaround. Let's look at Girardi's situation with the Yankees. The Yankees are in third place, eight games behind the Rays and five games behind the Red Sox. Despite using accomplished veteran starter Andy Pettitte last night, the Yankees were humiliated. The players have no place else to go. They are under contract to an element of a legally-sanctioned monopoly: they cannot work in their profession elsewhere in North America. If they fail to perform, it destroys their career earning potential. These employees with no options are working for a firm whose metrics are in catastrophic decline. Joe Girardi was brought in to turn around the Yankees after a disappointing 2007. His workers aren't supporting him. Given the situation, I emphatically support--in fact, applaud--Girardi's decision to kick ass in private. Look at the situation: no Yankees player was humiliated in public, singled out by name; Girardi has used commanding leadership to force turnaround, but he correctly selected the place and time. If Girardi fails to turn around the Yankees, he's fired--he's got nothing to lose if this doesn't work. If he succeeds and doesn't switch to a more sustainable leadership style, then I'll fault him--but right now, he's doing his job right. *** Billy Martin was an outstanding commanding leader. George Steinbrenner brought Martin in when he was needed and ditched him when he wasn't needed. Martin didn't fail--he was used to great success when his skills were required. And I strongly disagree that he would've been much more successful had he not been such a dick--his personality was perfect for the times that he had a job.

The Major League Equivalent of a minor league pure knuckleball pitcher's ERA is his minor league ERA. MLB hitters at better at hitting fastballs, in particular, but also curves, sinkers and sliders. MLB hitters are no better at hitting knuckleballs than MiLB hitters. Zink hasn't been good enough in previous years to consider bringing him up as anything other than a KOOGY*, but if his improvement in 2008 is real he'd be an extraordinary asset. * KOOGY: Knuckleball Only One GuY, similar to a LOOGY. There are splits to see which MLB hitters can't hit Tim Wakefield, and bringing up Zink in September expressly to face those batters might be viable with an expanded roster.

Perhaps, but an objective measure of game management, D3, has Tito's team at -5.6 again this morning, second-worst in MLB to the Blue Jays, who have already fired their manager. I did check those teams. Certainly Mike Scioscia has enjoyed good relief pitching when he's needed it. Surprisingly, though, Gardenhire has the same problem as Terry Francona: his relief pitchers have posted a 4.34 ERA in save situations and a 3.31 in non-save situations. What Gardenhire has done, though, is use his best pitchers in the highest-leverage situations: the OPS allowed by his pitchers goes from .715 to .729 to .815 as one goes from high to medium to low-leverage situations. Furthermore, Gardenhire has used his bench players at the moments best-suited to their skills and talents: his substitutes have posted an OPS of .820, contrasted to his starters' OPS of .732. Boston subs have hit a miserable .203/.289/.297, a .586 OPS, despite the team's having had four starting-quality outfielders most of 2008, Sean Casey (.358/.409/.453) available all season to pinch-hit, and cups of coffee from Jed Lowrie, Jonathan Van Every, and Chris Carter, the three of whom combined to hit .333 in roughly a month-and-a-half of combined availability. Terry Francona has only pinch-hit 29 times in 88 games despite having had Cash, Varitek, and Lugo on his team, all of whom have struggled in certain times and situations. Actually, I started the thread a month ago when I saw that injuries would force Terry Francona to have to make managerial decisions. MDC's weird recent appearances may have contributed to the current discussion, but Terry Francona has a history of bad game management that's been concealed by the excellence of the talent made available by the FO and by memories of winning seasons. I pointed out the metric D3 while Tito was still near the MLB mean. Things could've gone either way--but as it worked out, Boston struggled more than it should have and D3 captures that struggle. Edit: You know, MDC came into yesterday's game to get A-Rod to ground out to Lowell with the bases loaded in the seventh. Kudos to Tito--his trusting MDC worked yesterday evening. After two wins, though, the D3 is still -5.6. Tito's decisions aren't generating wins--the Red Sox are outplaying the Yankees in the first two games. Edited again: OK, after Saturday's loss to the Yankees, Tito is at -6.0.

a700hitter, I have never challenged you on your contention that Girardi is a dick. I merely contend that he is not an idiot.

:thumbsup:

Check the D3 thread for my comments on this issue.

Geise is now in. In one pitch, he appears not to suck. The lead is only six runs. We must pray for the mercy of the gods.

Drew scores. 6-0.

Myself, also. :thumbsup:

Perhaps the wisdom and sagacity of age surpasses the swiftness of youth upon occasion. Great play by Youk and Lester.

Infield in...Lugo drives Crisp home. 5-0.

Jason Varitek at least moves Crisp to third with one out.

Nice play by Ellsbury holding Melky Cabrera to a single.

Funny...we had Yankees fans in the game thread last night...now we're playing the Yankees, and the Yankees fans have vanished. Hmm. Four run lead for Boston after two. Coincidence?

Pretty nice basket catch for Coco.

4-0 Boston. This game might not be another night of agony, but we shall see.

OK...looking at the actual numbers and considering the crouches, two of the eight pitches were clearly strikes--but more to the point, every marginal call went against Lester.

Five of Lester's eight "balls" show as strikes on MLB Pitch f/x.