As I watched the end of the Dodgers-Mets yesterday all I could think was, "Why is Brad Penny in this game?" It's not that I think Penny is a bad pitcher, but he's been injured, battling back problems, and he clearly wasn't comfortable on the mound yesterday. I thought Johnathan Broxton was a pretty good reliever. My knowledge of the Dodgers bullpen is EXREMELY limited, but this choice seemed inexplicable to me. Is the seventh inning of a tight playoff game really a good time to find out whether or not your injured starter would make a good reliever? Are the rest of the Dodgers' relievers really that crappy?

Or is this just of another case of decision-making the Grady Little way?

I still have never seen an inside-the-park home run that should not have been scored an error.

I've seen one. Bill Buckner's last career homer was an inside the park job. The right fielder, attempting to catch the ball, fell over the fence and into the seats!

About a week later, Buckner finished rounding the bases for an inside the park homer.

I will concede, however, that most ITP home runs should be errors.

Charlie

I disagree King. A runner on first in the bigs is not expected to score on a routine double to the outfield, absent a miscue on the relay. Drew has to have better situational awareness expecially with Kent clearly getting a late jump going home.

BTW, Drew being the blunderer does not surprise me at all. I attended a Dodger home game this season during which I got the "pleasure" of witnessing for the first time in my 30+ years of watching baseball a successful execution of a the fake pick-off throw to third and a quick turn around and throw to first. Yes, Drew was the runner on first and out by a mile.

How Drew has ever commanded so much attention for his baseball skills is beyond me.

I agree, King. I have to think that play works 6 out of 10 times.

In this case, I think it was just executed poorly. Kent made no attempt to clear Lo Duca out of the way or dislodge the ball. And Drew probably would have done better by not sliding.

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I at first wanted Donnelly's head on a plate. But after a night away, I now think it was a good decision. If there is anything the Dodgers have been lacking this year (other than consistency), it's that kind of aggressiveness. I hope to see more of it in person in game 3 (and 4!).

Something that nobody seems to have mentioned so far is the A's excellent pitching in the first two games. I completely agree that Tori Hunter's attempted dive was hilariously ill-timed, but the bottom line is that 2 runs won't win ballgames, especially in the postseason. It looks even worse that they both come from solo home runs.

If the Twins are going to have a shot at this (and with the A's 0 for their last 9 elimination playoff games, they definitely still have a shot), they're going to have to get more baserunners, and get more big hits (and not run themselves out of a rally).

So far, though, the A's staff has done a very good job of keeping the Twins offense on ice, and allowing an offense that scores three and a half runs per game to look much better than they are.

First, re Drew, I have to say I always enjoy seeing him screw up. (For those with a memory back to 1998, my user name should suffice to explain why.) Anyway, my TiVo cut off a few innings later, so I didn't see the whole game, but was there any reference by the broadcasters to what the third base coach was signaling there? Did he try to get Drew to stop? Did he try to get Kent to stop first? It seems to me the ciach was getting off scot-free, but if he waved in Drew, well, he is to blame as well. And shouldn't he have been telling Kent that Drew was on his tail? Props to the pitcher for telling LoDuca to turn around to get out number two.

Second, re Hunter, as if we need any more evidence, that play shows the limitations of fielding percentage as a stat. That mental mistake was not counted as an error, but I bet there have been many other plays where Hunter got his glove on a ball, couldn't come up with it, and received an error, where almost no one else would have even gotten leather on it at all (and thus escaped without an E). But I'm probably preaching to the choir here.

Finally, no mention of the Milton Bradley/Esteban Loaiza coffee incident, King? (For those that didn't watch, Bradley tossed a water bottle in the air in the dugout, knocking over a fairly full cup of coffee on Loaiza in between innings. Loaiza barely reacted but apparently just got up and changed his uniform in the locker room. Bradley, meanwhile, got into a shouting match with A's hitting coach Gerald Perry presumably over the incident. Later, the cameras caught Loaiza and Bradley joking around, as if all was forgiven.) After reading your comments on the Fox coverage--and re-reading your older linked piece on Jeanne Zelasko--I was thinking about how we probably would have missed the inside-the-park home run because of how much coverage Fox would have devoted to the incident. ESPN did devote several minutes to it, but Fox would have made it the theme of the night. (Or "of the day"--it just seemed like night since the game was in a dome. Ugghh.)

First of all, the claim that if Drew had scored he would have been praised to the heavens is ridiculous. It was on obvious blunder, and if he had scored everybody would have said "He screwed up, but boy, did he get lucky." Nobody would have called him smart.

Plus, I agree with JStone: even if Drew had done this intentionally, it would have been a terrible decision. You don't give up a man on third with less than two outs for a low percantage gamble like that. If the ball had been knocked loose ... If LoDuca had to lunge to tag Kent ... If the throw had been wide. These are the Mets, not a high school team, and none of those things are more likely to happen than not. The chance of scoring is small now matter how you slice it.

And just because Kent wishes Drew had told him that he was coming behind him doesn't mean that, without the benefit of hindsight, it would have been a smart thing to do. Kent was going full speed toward home on what was sure to be a close play, and if he had heard Drew shouting at him and tried to figure out what the hell was going on, he almost certianly would have looked over his shoulder, slowing himself down and reducing his chances of scoring. Drew would have been nuts to slow down the baserunner in front of him like that.

King, you've got a hell of an imagination.