October 24, 2003

Will He Post In The Game Threads? Maalox started a SoSH thread discussing "buying a newspaper ad thanking the Red Sox for giving us a Hell of a run this year." The idea took off, evolved a bit and actually got Red Sox owner John Henry to post several times! Do you think Steinbrenner would ever post to a Yankees Message Board?

Michael Holley is impressed with Grady Little's gumpton (pun intended?), but he loses a lot of credibility when he writes: "He [Little] was delivered Ramiro Mendoza, Byung Hyun Kim, Scott Sauerbeck, Jeff Suppan, and Scott Williamson as pitching reinforcements; they and everyone else saw only one of them -- Williamson -- be effective in the postseason." Using Mendoza as an example shows Holley is not talking about mid-season pickups only, so why did he leave out Mike "Lights Out" Timlin?

Michael Silverman in the Herald: "A club official said yesterday he would be 'real surprised' if Little survived the incendiary response [after Game 7] ... 'There is no obvious, imminent replacement' for Little, said the team source, but the 'ideal person' would be a hybrid, someone who not only has Little's unquestioned deft touch with handling players' egos and temperaments, but also someone more inclined than Little is in relying on statistical data to make game-related decisions." Silverman tosses out Bobby Valentine, Bud Black, Bruce Bochy, Frank Robinson, Willie Randolph and Glenn Hoffman as possibilities. But longtime Grady booster Sean McAdam writes that Valentine will not be interviewed, adding: "It's the position of many in the Red Sox organization that Little's decision to stay with Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 was symptomatic of a larger problem -- namely, his habit of ignoring statistical data in favor of 'hunch' moves."

WTF? "In the days since the game, an anecdote has been revealed to at least two sources that illustrates the lack of faith Little had in turning the game over to his bullpen. A canker sore on the lip of reliever Scott Williamson demonstrated to Little the degree to which the stress of the playoff game had affected the mindset and confidence of his relievers."

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