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No question that high OBP and less speed should outweigh low OBP with speed at the top of the order. Getting a man on base creates so many more problems for the defense and the pitcher and getting a man on with no outs creates even more problems. I would rather a guy with speed but poor OBP be able to leg out a hit from the bottom of the batting order if trying to value his speed somehow and using it to help determine where he should be in the lineup. There is nothing to value in an out at the top of the batting order.

The longer this has gone and the more it becomes an issue for the Commis the more likely it does end up cash or prospects so meaningless that the cash actually becomes preferred. I guess you can't fault the Sox for trying.

I don't think the player evaluation stuff is critical to JH and LL in the Manager role either but I do think they like to have somebody there that understands enough so that they are all on the same page. I don't think they would care that somebody knew more about Sabermetrics and Tito did...but I do think they would want somebody that understood it at about the same level that Tito did. I always thought that Tito's in game moves were not his strong suit. to be honest I always thought he was not very good there. I would like to see somebody better in that regard...not sure what JH and LL think. Apologize if you have a favorite that you might have posted somewhere Soxsport. Does somebody come to mind that you think would work?

I am not sure Madden would be right for the mix of players that the Sox have either. Frankly the Sox are in a tough spot as far as this manager gig goes and there really isn't a magic bullet. Somehow the Sox have to get hold of a manager that can instill a better work ethic with this group of players while making it look like it is their idea. They need something of a hypnotist, salesman that can play enough with a computer keyboard to keep JH happy. He needs to get what he wants out of this bunch of players without being a drill sergeant. I know we think we want a drill sergeant but there is no real reason to think that will work with this bunch. Of course, we could try to turn over a bunch of these players and get enough of like minded guys on the team to make the job of manager more....well....manageable but you really can't flip a team that fast without getting hurt in the process. I see some sort of caretaker coming in until the FO figures out how to extricate itself from the current financial corner they have boxed themselves into. Here again, we could as fans want JH to loosen the purse strings but that's not going to happen either. The more I think about it the more Valentine might appeal to JH and LL but not because he would be holding anybody's feet to any fire. Whoever comes in next I don't see another eight year run in the works, not yet anyway. I really don't know all or even half the options out there but I guess I still would like Martinez. He's been my favorite option from the start. I think Martinez would represent an effort to truly bring in a manager that would have a shot at staying awhile.

I can't tell you why but I just have a bad feeling about this whole manager thing. Everything this year is going to be about what makes JH and LL happy and I am not sure that will translate into something we all think makes much sense.

Geez can't wait for the day when they no longer have to cart Selig out there to do anything.

Not sure. Cards have planned for this for a long time. I have a strong feeling that Albert will stay with the Cards as long as Carp and Yadi are there with Larussa. I sorta' think he is something like the Tom Brady of baseball. As long as this group stays together and has an opportunity to win WS rings I think Albert will decide that what the Cards can pay will be good enough.

In fact they beat the Philllies AND the Rangers...who'd have thunk it? Amazing what you can do rotating guys in around a core of three truly special players. Congratulations to the Cards and thanks really to both teams for a really special treat.

As much as I admire what Cards have done...Rangers sure seem to have been snake bit. That darned rainout really has hurt them. First thing I posted after the rainout was announced was a hope that it would not create some pitching changes that would really have an impact on the series. Still and all Carp had to go out and do the job. He certainly did. Feliz actually did throw the 3rd out that should have ended the game last night. Cruz neither positioned himself were he should have been (was playing way too shallow for that situation in the game) and still should have gotten to it in any event. If the series does end like this Cruz dues in fact become Buckner.

Exactly....Cards getting 1 or 2 runs an inning out the gate is gonna' make tonight somewhat anti-climatic. Would rather see Rangers mount a charge. Would have liked to have seen Holland in this game much like RedSoxRules suggests. Great job by Carpenter on short rest....really pitched instead of just throwing. Best short rest performance I have seen in a long time.

Hoping Tex can mount a come back. Would rather see a close fight down to the end since I have no home team to root for between the two and I think Tex kinda' deserves one final shot to win the thing. If they keep leaking oil like this they are just going to run out of outs.

Wow, using Holland the way he did last night is coming back to haunt Wash big time. CJ hits Furcal who for the most part has not been able to buy a hit. Hope Tex comes back. Hate to see it end like this.

Well that sucked. Made a good pitch to Yadi and did not get the call.

They did not give in to Berkman there. That was a good effort. Has to get past Yadi and that will likely be a night's work for Feldman. Nowhere to put anybody now though.

Interested to see if Tex can manufacture a run when they have to have one. And the answer is......no

At least Harrison has come inside successfully. Has worked far enough inside to make a difference. More than I can say for most of the guys Tex had out there last night.

I wonder if Rangers will get some guys up in the pen in case they get a base runner on in front of Harrison. Everybody should pitch tonight anyway. Not surprised the Rangers have somebody up this half inning. Harrison is not pitching all that well....not terrible but kinda' scary.

Cruz did not miss that by much. Just a little more meat of the bat on that and it would have been gone.

Cards have most DP's in the NL. They do have some wide bodies in that line up.

Kinsler's awareness on the base paths is lousy. He does not even make himself alert to the places where danger may come from. The ball is in play and he is scratching around in the dirt or doing some damn thing or another...another example of the modern baseball player at his finest. By rights somebody should try the hidden ball trick on him. It would probably work.

Been behind Rangers to get their first. Backed Cards last night cause wanted a game 7. Guess I would like to see Rangers pick themselves up off the canvas and win it. Tough game last night to come back from.

Feliz was all over but rarely in the middle of the plate. It does not matter whether or not you can bring it. As hitters get more and more focused, the less you can get away with pitches in the middle of the plate regardless of how hard you might be throwing. Even the last home run by Freese was middle in right at the belt. Good hitters are not going to miss that pitch under these circumstances. I will bet that looked like a beach ball coming up there to Freese. Felez often pitches like he did last night as he is definitely not Mr. Strike One. But he does not leave the ball in the middle of plate. I had mentioned this coming down the stretch of the season when we were sort of musing over whether the Sox could do anything if they did get to the post season and I commented that the intensity of the playoffs produces really focused hitters and good pitching will still beat them but mistakes (like pitches in the middle of plate) are no longer just singles. Mistakes get crushed. Pujols hit a pretty good pitch. That was probably the best pitch that was hit pretty good during that whole period from innings 7-11. The other hits were balls belt high, many getting far too much of the middle of the plate and some were just belt high. The Freese hit to right was a pitch that was belt high but it was on the outside edge. That was also a pretty good pitch. Freese got as much of that as he could to make it to the wall in right field where it should have been caught. As it got to be late in that game pitchers simply could not seem to get the ball far enough inside and there were way too many pitches like the pitch that Freese homered. Also, since pitchers were not able to get the ball far enough inside, the hitters were really able to get better plate coverage and hitters were able to get more of the meat of the bat to balls on the outer half. I actually can't remember a big game where there were so many belt high pitches served up in a box from a couple inches in from the middle out to the outer edge of the plate. None of the pitchers could get the ball far enough inside to be effective and they did very little to change the hitter's eye level. If tonight's game is close I expect that we will see the hitters settle in more and more as the game progresses and if the pitchers again allow them to focus on a narrow band where they are always going to find the ball, we will see the same kind of late inning hitting that we saw in Game 6. On the other hand this is the WS for crying out loud. Unless my pitcher is in a nice groove, my pitching coach might be out there late in the game visiting him batter by batter trying to get him to stay loose but also reminding him of where he has to go with the ball. Take the pressure of thinking off of him and make it as much as possible a physical exercise to get the batter out. Hit a batter if you have to...anything but do not give up pitching inside the way the pitchers gave up last night. Sure there were a good many 3-2 counts in the game but for the most part batters got to 3-2 because they knew where the pitcher was going with the ball and they fouled off pitches that they did not think they could handle. I am about convinced that Ryan looked as pissed off as he did at the end because he would have seen the general level of pitching as a surrender by the Ranger's pitchers.

Game 6 should have ended in Cruz' glove. The game went just long enough for Wash to make a really big mistake. Oh well....we get a WS Game 7 out of it.

Actually they should start announcing them that way in the line up: Batting 8th, Dead, decomposed pile of horse bones Batting 9th, stone handed, overpaid idiot Pitching today, fat drunken tub of lard

e1, it may sound too simplistic but I really think both Larussa and Wash on separate occasions just outsmarted themselves and over-managed from pressure. I am not sure that one was worse than the other although Wash made what I view as a mistake later in the game with the Feliz move. Larussa made his much earlier in the game. I could not believe my eyes with Wash as that was such a bad move.