August 5, 2009

Francona On Not Walking Longoria

Tito explains his decision:
We're getting into a situation where, at least with the open bases, we can maybe, we have some room to make some pitches. We back him into a bind, you've got Zobrist next. If you want to go all the way to the bases loaded, you're looking at a guy who's thrown 40 pitches. That's putting (Saito) in an unfair position. I wish the ball wouldn't have gone out. I don't think (walking him) would have been the right thing to do.
I don't agree with the move -- I'd much rather have put the pressure on Zobrist. (Though I will say I fucking hated it when Francona's predecessor walked the bases loaded in similar situations. It almost never turned out well.) And Francona was sticking with Saito regardless; Buchholz would have come in to start the 14th.

A victory would have placed this game among the season's best. The way it turned out left one thinking there's only so many times you can walk the tightrope before you fall off. That the Red Sox were even playing baseball in the 13th was itself a minor miracle.

22 comments:

allan said...

And now to sort through dry and soaky papers/boxes. Sigh. ... I'll put G106 up around 5.

Rob said...

That was a crazy ass game.

I don't understand why Francona counts intentional balls as pitches. You can throw them up there at 40 MPH just as long as the catcher catches them and the hitter does not hit them. No stress on the arm. Just a few tosses. Then go after the next guy.

How hard can it be?

Unknown said...

Hell, he could just have Jed Lowrie throw the intentional balls and bring Saito right back, if he was that worried.

Bosox Fan in Wichita said...

Exactly, Ish and James. Loading up the bases to get to a weaker hitter was the smart thing to do. Those runners on 2nd and 1st don't matter and you give your team a better opportunity to get that last out. I guess we don't need to go all out until playoff time. And the minor miracle was that the Rays won after Lester shut them down completely.

Rob said...

That was one of those games you'd really want have had Masterson on your team.

Straddling the Border said...

I'm less dissatisfied with Tito's defensive managing in the bottom of 13 than with his offensive managing in the top of 10. I know it's not the 60's and it's not the National League, but Pedroia should squeeze Reddick in with one out and the bases loaded. Of course I didn't know Dustin would GIDP, but it was foreseeable and I did note that to my son in advocating a bunt when Dustin stepped in. Get the run, bring Papelbon in to close.

tim said...

I was thinking, boy Masterson would be great right about now.

But when your team has left their bats in Baltimore and score only 2 runs on solo dongs, there's where I'm directing the majority of my frustration. In addition to the two other pitching decisions I thought were subpar, as listed in the game thread.

Oh well, L is an L. Get em today.

It's a nice day out at least, Allan. Maybe you could dry the stuff out in the backyard...

laura k said...

Maybe you could dry the stuff out in the backyard...

that's exactly where a lot of stuff is. we'd better not have a sudden thundershower! ;)

Rob said...

Tim's right, though. You can second guess all you want about walking Longoria. The fact is, let's just say they squeak out of that inning, too. There's not going to be any offense walking through that door in the 14th. Last night it was just a matter of time before the Rays scored.

tim said...

lol, don't jinx it. you never know with the type of summer we've had!

Unknown said...

Bunt Pedroia with the bases loaded? The infield's already in, and Petey mashes whenever the bases are loaded. A sac fly wins the game. I can't condone taking the bat out of last year's MVP's hands.

laura k said...

lol, don't jinx it. you never know with the type of summer we've had!

I know! I'm sitting on the patio w/ my laptop, so at the first sign of darkening skies, we can get everything inside!

9casey said...

If you walk Longoria there , you might as well have walked him everytime he came up to win the game....which I believe they did once,and that was after Bartlett stole... another time they stuck him out...and there were 2 outs

I can say unless it is Pujols or Bonds , there are not to many players who get wlked in that situation..

If you take away the result ,I think you will see it was the right move, the guy did strike out 4 times.

Iridescence said...

I still have to disagree with the move but give credit to Tito for trying to explain it (not that I really understand the explanation but anyway...)

I don't think they should have walked the bases loaded. I just think you'd be better off facing Zobrist than Longoria in that situation. It boils down to the fact that Longoria is just better than Zobrist.

So you're talking about 4 extra intentional balls from Saito. How much difference is that really going to make to him?


"If you walk Longoria there , you might as well have walked him everytime he came up to win the game."

If first base is open and the best hitter on the other team is up and the winning run is on base you should walk him every time. You don't let their best hitter beat you when you have the alternative of walking him with no penalty. That's my opinion anyway.

Like L-girl said in the other thread everybody's got an opinion after a game like that and while I may disagree with Tito sometimes I have faith in him to usually make the best decisions available to him. That one still puzzles me though.

tim said...

Hells yeah, patio laptoppin' is great.

9casey said...

What would you rather face
.294 19 56 or
.274 23 81

allan said...

1. that is very little information

2. i'd face mr. 274

Iridescence said...

Career: Eva: 947 PA .273 .351 .883
Zobrist: 906 PA .250 .333 .780

Zobrist has actually been slightly the better of the two probably if you just look at THIS year (Zobrist has been hitting out of his mind this year). But I still will go by the larger sample size to judge them.

But actually those stats do sort of say something in Tito's defense. I didn't realize just how good the numbers Zobrist has been putting up this year are...wow.

Hope he's been tested for you know what.

9casey said...

redsock said...
1. that is very little information

2. i'd face mr. 274



even with such little info you answered the question....

9casey said...

Iridescence said...

But actually those stats do sort of say something in Tito's defense. I didn't realize just how good the numbers Zobrist has been putting up this year are...wow.




That's the point, don't let the perception of Longoria fool ya ....you only see him play in so many games.Tito has printouts coming out of his ass, and I'm sure Bill James wouldn't walk him...

Iridescence said...

"That's the point, don't let the perception of Longoria fool ya ."

Good point, next time I will actually look up the stats before commenting on Tito's moves :)

I still think Longoria is probably a better player than Zobrist and Z's performance this year might be a bit of a fluke but the difference between them isn't as much as I'd thought.

andy said...

I picked up Z on my fantasy team right when he started his tear.