Monday, July 18, 2005
The Story Of Alex II and Tito
Tito outmanaged tonight...likely costs Red Sox the game.
"Alex the Great conquers again!"
-John Sterling's call on the A.Rod blast that put this game away by making it 5-1.
(Paraphrased)"Not sure if you caught it...Manny failed to run out a pop up...These incidents are part of the package with Manny." -Don Orsillo to Michael Holley on WEEI
Down 4-1, and with a thin bench due to a bullpen stocked for facing the Yankees, Tito inexplicably pulls Bellhorn for Cora defensively. Until this point, Tito has stuck with Bellhorn in many obvious pinchhitting situations; for some reason, he picks tonight to make a statement about Bellhorn's poor hitting.
Ninth inning:
5-3 Yankees. Cora comes up with no outs and two men on. Tito leaves Olerud on the bench and lets Cora face Fruit Bat Rivera. Result: Cora grounds into a double play, and the Olde Towne Team is finished.
The Cora for Bellhorn swap in and of itself isn't so bad, even with a thin bench, as long as Francona feels confident enough to use Millar at third and Mueller at second if the Sox tied or went ahead in the ninth.
By not showing faith in this move, Tito simply showed that he didn't think far enough ahead in this ballgame. Cora has been in the N.L. for his entire career until this season, so there is no large sample size of statistics that point to Cora over Olerud in this situation. Terry's blunder cost the Red Sox any chance of winning this game.
-Red Sox Hub
Tito outmanaged tonight...likely costs Red Sox the game.
"Alex the Great conquers again!"
-John Sterling's call on the A.Rod blast that put this game away by making it 5-1.
(Paraphrased)"Not sure if you caught it...Manny failed to run out a pop up...These incidents are part of the package with Manny." -Don Orsillo to Michael Holley on WEEI
Down 4-1, and with a thin bench due to a bullpen stocked for facing the Yankees, Tito inexplicably pulls Bellhorn for Cora defensively. Until this point, Tito has stuck with Bellhorn in many obvious pinchhitting situations; for some reason, he picks tonight to make a statement about Bellhorn's poor hitting.
Ninth inning:
5-3 Yankees. Cora comes up with no outs and two men on. Tito leaves Olerud on the bench and lets Cora face Fruit Bat Rivera. Result: Cora grounds into a double play, and the Olde Towne Team is finished.
The Cora for Bellhorn swap in and of itself isn't so bad, even with a thin bench, as long as Francona feels confident enough to use Millar at third and Mueller at second if the Sox tied or went ahead in the ninth.
By not showing faith in this move, Tito simply showed that he didn't think far enough ahead in this ballgame. Cora has been in the N.L. for his entire career until this season, so there is no large sample size of statistics that point to Cora over Olerud in this situation. Terry's blunder cost the Red Sox any chance of winning this game.
-Red Sox Hub
