That was one of those horseshoes and hand grenades games.
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Cup of Coffee: August 13, 2008 This entry was posted by SBG
on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 7:16 am and is filed under Cup of Coffee. It is one of 3094 entries by the author.
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Cup of Coffee Wolves give up 79 points in the first half on Tuesday night (a club record), but they tightened the screws in the second half and only gave up 73. I expect another Korean recipe over at Canis Hoopus. Citizens Online22 Users Online WGOM Sign InLog InRetired WGOM Jokes
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Race to the Bottom: Highest Loss Totals in T-Wolves History67: 1991-92 Recent Letters to the EditorIn Response to Cup of Coffee: March 17, 2010, FirstTimeLongTime wrote: Rock and Roll lost another legend. Rhubarb_Runner wrote: … all rhyme with "cheater" Jeff A wrote: In my previous life, I was a deputy state's attorney. Every once in a while, someone would get into trouble whom we felt had simply "made a mistake", and either we or the judge… frightwig wrote: Well, the possession of steroids is also a felony, but a lot of sports fans are willing to excuse steroid use as an understandable mistake or minor sin, merely a common practice of the era,… CarterHayes wrote: Danica McKellar is 35 years old?! Jeez, I guess that explains those grey hairs in my beard. sean wrote: she was in the middle of "a really intense deadline" for her new book, Hot X: Algebra Exposed, which hits shelves in August. That would have made math class a whole lot better. cheaptoy wrote: We haven't gotten to the full state smoking ban yet, so for now its just in Madison. But there does seem to still be a rather large number of bars in the area that… cheaptoy wrote: You're far more generous with the term you use for the commenters on an SBNation site that I would have been. bjhess wrote: "I like the authors on Twinke Town, but find many of the commenters inane" Might be perfect, then. :) Thanks again, all! brianS wrote: Winnie is preggers. Reportedly, Kevin had nothing to do with it. In Response to Brought Along, Kicking and Screaming, Into the 21st Century, Rhubarb_Runner wrote: Did you see Pocohantas? Then you HAVE seen it. E-6 wrote: Absolutely gorgeous films--nearly every frame could be a print hung in a gallery. You really should check out The Double Life of Veronique, next. It was the movie he made just prior to the trilogy.… E-6 wrote: That was me. Totally dug that book, though the ending seemed rather abrupt. (Might have been because I was so engrossed with the characters that I didn't want it to end.) You'll note that the… frightwig wrote: I haven't seen Avatar, and don't plan to see it. frightwig wrote: Not a bad movie, but I don't get why the Academy loved it so much. Didn't think it was anything … war has to have its own … war movie(s). Iraq was just due! DK wrote: It's been that way from the start. These characters have always been connected to each other; that's part of the basis of the show. You either buy into that or not. Honestly… sean wrote: I really liked Ender's Shadow. It does get progressively crazier, but not nearly as much as the Ender storyline. meat wrote: Synedoche, New York. I loved that movie. I haven't seen it in quite some time but as I recall phil Hoffman was excellent, as was his female co-star(I can't look it up from my phone). The… Rhubarb_Runner wrote: probably, but no plans to for the time being In Response to Jackie Wilson - Danny Boy, Klawitter wrote: Glad you posted it - definitely worth watching. And I will check out the Orbison version -- he's got the voice that makes dramatic authentic. E-6 wrote: I played this one as much for the WTF factor as anything. (I love Jackie, too, but this number ain't exactly in his wheelhouse, so to speak.) Roy Orbison does a pretty reading that you… Klawitter wrote: I love soul music and Jackie Wilson is great. That said, Danny Boy is one of those songs that benefits from understated, simple arrangements to undercut the sentimentality (and I think it's a great… E-6 wrote: Erin Go Braugh? More like Error Go Wow! CarterHayes wrote: I'm also a fan of crockpotting the beef, though I have been known to use beer instead of apple juice. I might have to switch things up next year. In Response to Happy Birthday--March 17, CarterHayes wrote: A little late (TwinsCards was down for maintenance most of the day today), but better than never: Popular Recent Posts
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Once we got into extra innings I knew the Yankees had the advantage. At that point, even though we were the home team, it became a battle of attrition, and that Yankee lineup is better suited to wearing down our bullpen than vice versa.
One interesting note about Gardy's bullpen usage, which has been alluded to by others, is that while he is very careful to not overuse Nathan, often resulting in underusing him, he seems to have no problem using and abusing his eighth inning set-up guys, leading to injury and/or ineffectiveness. Guerrier, Neshek, Rincon, Crain, and Romero are all guys who seem to have suffered from this.
Someone who has more time and/or interest than I can tell me whether this is merely real or anecdotal.
Someone who has more time and/or interest than I can tell me whether this is merely real or anecdotal.
I too would like to see some research on this, because this seems to jive with my impressions as well.
I've made this point to Chris Jaffe who is currently writing his book on evaluating baseball managers (I read Chapter 6 for him - managers from 1950-75, and it was fantastic!). I'm hoping he can find some proof of it for his Gardy section (and Jaffe's metrics LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Gardy).
Don't you think this is sort of an organizational philosophy that sees middle relievers as dime a dozen guys who don't make much money and hence are expendable (when you use Romero up, you just plug in Rincon, when you use Rincon up, you plug in Crain or Neshek, etc). Closers make tons more money and hence have to be protected more. If you have a middle reliever who holds up to the overuse and pitches effectively he becomes valuable and you either let him walk in FA for big money (Latroy) or move him into your protected closer role (Guardado). Obviously this year it seems to be catching up to them a little bit (Neshek was used up earlier than normal, Guerrer's magic is wearing out, etc) but the last 2 12 inning losses I wouldn't blame on the relief corps as much as Gleeman (monday's column) and Reusse (today's column) have
KC game Sunday: 8th inning: infield hit (should have been an error), strikeout, groundball with eyes up the middle, groundout, E6, groundout. That's 5 batters out of 6 that should have been retired (with the only a hit a weak grounder up the middle) and yet 2 runs scored. That's the bullpen's fault? And then 3 scoreless innings while the Twins batters failed to score a run before Breslow finally gave up the winning run in the 12th (helped by Punto dropping a relay throw when they had Teahan dead at 2nd and a bad throw by Gomez when they had a play at Teahan at the plate)
Then last night. Blackburn scuffled through 4 1/3 innings with 4 runs (although again a bad throw by Punto could have had Giambi at the plate). Until the 12th the bullpen had thrown 6 1/3 innings only allowing 2 runs (including Boof bailing Blackburn out of trouble in the 5th). Obviously Guerrer melted down in the 12th, but you can't expect your bullpen to last forever against a powerful lineup. You have to find a way to score 1 more run in the 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th to win it. The bullpen did a good job of keeping the Twins in the game to make Delmon's 3 run bomb meaningful and then followed it up with 3 scoreless innings after the Young homer and the hitters couldn't get that last run across.
You may be right about the organizational philosophy, but then the question becomes whether it's a philosophy that makes sense. Is it really harder to find a closer than a set-up guy? It seems like people come out of nowhere every year and save 25-30 games. Nathan is one of them--hardly anyone knew who he was when he became the closer. Guardado didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but hardly anyone thought of him as closer material--it was only after LaTroy Hawkins was found wanting that Guardado was given the shot. Further, if you're only going to use your closer in the ninth inning when you're ahead by three or fewer runs, it becomes even more important to find set-up guys who, when you have a lead, can preserve it until the ninth.
Again, I recognize that all this is anecdotal. Once I know WWuD, then I'll have the answer. I just think it's an interesting subject for discussion.
The Red Sox beat the Rangers 19-17 last night after blowing 10-0 and 12-2 leads. The Red Sox got 10 in the first (with two 3-run jobs by Big Papi) and the Rangers did not make a pitching change! Their starter gave up 12 runs (six earned) on 10 hits and 3 BB in 2 2/3 innings.
That's the kind of outside-the-box managerial thinking that people are always clamoring for, right?
If only the Rangers would have traded for Livan, they could have gotten 18 runs and 6.2 IP out of their starter.
At least Bill Smith is trying now
Any Jay-Z fans out there? The single off of Blueprint 3 is out - "Jockin' Jay-Z". It reminds me a little of Li'l Wayne's Tha Carter III, which isn't surprising since Jay-Z was on "Mr. Carter" from that album. Best line definitely goes to the Oasis dis (background) - "That bloke from Oasis said I couldn't play guitar. Someone shoulda told him I'm a f**ckin' a rock star. (Gallagher voice) Today is gonna be the day that I'm gonna throw it back to you " Anyway, I'm not sold on it yet, but it has potential.