Letters to the Editor
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Hurdle's infield strategy
Interesting that you took the trouble to mention Hurdle's decision to pull the infield in. To me this is one of those calls that a manager makes based on a hunch because it really is a toss-up.
If there is one managerial decision of note, to me it is Hurdle's decision to put in his two rookie relievers to follow Francis when he had plenty of veterans in the wings.
But in any case it is sort of silly to harp on the manager when your team is simply outplayed in every way.
The Rockies will pull it together tonight! Go Rox!
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The 10% factor
Notorious Wes asked
Now THAT is funny......Were all his other post season masterpieces 10 percent too?
More likely 90%
But bear in mind the Rockies owned Beckett's butt the last they met - beat him 7-1. Even assuming Beckett will have somewhat greater refinement-intensity etc. in the post-season, it isn't enough to award him more than a 10% contributory factor for last night's Rockies' debacle.
The cold hard fact is that had the Rocks only had a day's rest or so their timing wouldn't have been off to the extent it was. Correct for the absent timing and Beckett's efficacy automatically goes down. This is not to say Beckett's quality as a pitcher goes down! Read my previous post again, and you see I STILL have him winning the game by 6-2 or so.
Francis, though he denies it, was also "off". His location was abominable. Usually he masters the corners, he didn't last night. Again, that magic intangible was lost after eight days of no real play. Squad games help but they lack the intensity of REAL games. Ask the Indians!
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The Rockies
Lost to the Cubs on Sunday October 1, 2006........After a 129 day layoff they shellacked the White Sox on February 28, 2007, with 10 runs after 4 innings.
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"The epitome of our culture"
I nearly died. Seriously. I was only half paying attention, and only catching snippets of superlative after superlative. I thought God Himself would be on my screen when I finally looked up after hearing "the epitome of our culture." But it was the Star Wars guy.
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Joe Buck
Thanks for linking that youtube clip of Buck on Conan. I'm always amazed when I see him being interviewed, he comes across as a really affable guy. Like a really funny buddy, but not too funny.
Which makes his piss-poor announcing all the more confusing, I just don't get it.
Speaking of announcers, for some reason my Canadian feed was picking up an alternate crew (the "international crew" or something? I think Sutcliffe was on it) while the Buffalo Fox feed was the standard crew. I went with the Int'l crew, I can't remember who it was, but someone commented right away on bringing the infield in for Manny, even before he hit it he said it was a dumb move.
anyways, it was kinda nice.
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One Thing About Excuses
I insist they be made, in their entirety, right up front. If, for the sake of argument, the Red Sox rape the Rockies in 4 straight, is the whole thing attributed to the lay-off?
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small sample?
"I would guess that given the small sample size of world series games, there are a lot of things that happen in the first inning that happen for the "first time." To trump it up into some sort of grand insight is just insulting to the intelligent viewer."
103 World Series seems a good size "sample" to me. Far from "small" for sure.
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But what about the actual game?
The display of hitting by the Sox resembled something close to child abuse.
I read a great post: "Why are they televising the Red Sox batting practice with Buck and McCarver commentating? When does the World Series start anyway?"
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Boston Pops
If I understood correctly, Williams was conducting a high school band, and they did a fine job. This means that (a) these kids are pretty good; (b) the Boston Pops is a glorified high school band. I’m going with both of the above: Good job, kids.
I’ve written the Rockies off more times this year than most people have seen them play. They lost a lot of series to losing teams, and I complained a lot that they couldn’t make the playoffs doing that. They could have folded up shop a number of times and started banking on the promise of next year. But they always battled back.
I too think the layoff really hurt them. Their timing was off, and they were out of sync (teams are now punished for sweeping the LCS and cutting into TV revenue). They need to shake it off, suck it up, get back after it, and other phrases. As they have done many times this season.
Though it could be the end of the road this time, the way the Sox have been scoring. Yep, I’m writing them off again, Rockies fans, so there is still hope!
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Yeppers!
Notorious Wes wrote:
If, for the sake of argument, the Red Sox rape the Rockies in 4 straight, is the whole thing attributed to the lay-off?
Yeppers! It is! You see, given an 8-day layoff it will take at least SIX MORE DAYS for the Rocks' to regain the timing etc. they possessed in the last NLCS game v. Arizona.
SIX MORE DAYS - which is to say the timing is 99%~ regained - by Oct. 30, will not help them in games UP to that date. Thus, they will lose in four games - or at most five games. (By Oct. 29)
The layoff-rust writing is on the wall and I predicted this fate more than a week ago in a letter to the Denver Post.
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By The Way
The Indians just lost two routs in Fenway, both teams with a one day lay-off and Beckett pitching neither one........What was Clevelnad's excuse?
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droogoy
I have to give you credit for that letter to the editor. I said up front. You had your excuses in order 7 days in advance.
Are you even watching the games? And if so why?
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10%? Did you watch the game?
But bear in mind the Rockies owned Beckett's butt the last they met - beat him 7-1. Even assuming Beckett will have somewhat greater refinement-intensity etc. in the post-season, it isn't enough to award him more than a 10% contributory factor for last night's Rockies' debacle.
I believe Beckett was coming off an injury the last time he faced the Rockies. Given the lack of history between these two teams, I wouldn't run around saying the Rockies "own" Beckett. Given Beckett's record and last night's game, I'd say the Rockies win in June was the aberration.