EVIL~! alkeiper

Agreed. Actually the worst decision might have come two innings earlier. Up 3-2 in the top of the eighth, the Red Sox have the bases loaded with two out. Bill Buckner comes up, and Davey Johnson brings in lefty Jesse Orosco to pinch-hit. With DH Don Baylor sitting on the bench, McNamara sticks with Buckner who flies out. With a lefty-lefty situation, Buckner was helpless at the plate. He should've been out for a defensive shift anyway at that point, why not pull the trigger?

I think the difference between a great first baseman and an average first baseman is negligible. A bad fielder at any fielder is a problem, reason being because he can be exploited by the offense. I think Ortiz can hold down the fort ok in any case.

I gave up when I saw the Buffalo Bisons play.

Personally, I think trying to skate by on defense in Coors Field is pure insanity. What's wrong with just having a heck of a pinch hitter sitting on the bench?

You must be less than this gimpy in order to ride this ride.

This thread is awful. Not in the sense of any latent stupidity. But someone mentions a song. You think to yourself what that song was. You hear it in your head and all the sudden, "gah, make it stop!!!!"

I'm not certain. For one thing a one-year contract is a VERY attractive option for a team searching for pitching. It's not new news though, I've heard these indications previously.

Richie Ashburn shills for Gillette.

1. Start the game promptly at 8:05pm ET. At the very least, you can tune into the beginning of the game on the radio. 2. Start games earlier on weekends. I don't subscribe to the weekday day game theory. That's a pipe dream for sportswriters with a deadline. But why should I wait until 8:37 to watch a game on a Sunday. Do you guys have late church too? 3. Decrease time between innings. I clocked about 2:45 on average between broadcast innings. That's outrageous. Minor league games usually allow 90 seconds. 4. Stop wasting so much time during the game. Put pitchers on a clock. If the catcher has to talk to the pitcher, that's a mound visit. Don't allow batters to step out during an at bat. Last night's game lasted 3 hours and 38 minutes. For a 2-1 game. I've been to separate games that saw 33 and 31 runs scored apiece, and both games did not last that long. A game that wastes that much time can not possibly be exciting to the average viewer. Honestly, would anyone NOT cheering for the Red Sox have been excited by last night's game? Beyond all that Cheech, how late would you stay up for a game if you had to wake up at 3am the next morning?

Yeah. Now I can start bitching about how it possibly takes longer to play a 2-1 game than it did a 30-3 game.

Who scored 8+ runs and lost? Red Sox beating the Cardinals 11-9 in 2004.

Thanks again to the Play Index. 1945: Cubs win game one 9-0, lose series in seven. 1959: White Sox win game one 11-0, lose series in six. 1978: Dodgers win game one 11-5, lose series in six. 1982: Brewers win game one 10-0, lose series in seven. 1987: Twins win game one 10-1, win series in seven. 1996: Atlanta wins game one 12-1, loses series in six. 2001: Diamondbacks win game one 9-0, win series in seven. In fact, 13 times a team scored 8+ runs in game one. Twelve of those were wins. Of those 12, eight saw the series go six or seven games. It certainly seems that a game one blowout is not an indication that the series will be uncompetitive.

Great lineup next month. This month was quite disappointing since I had just watched the Undertaker dvd a few months ago. Two Survivor Series (and maybe a third from the PYBO's), Summerslam 2007, a rare AWA show, and the Families program is very good.

Rick Steamboat selling his throat injury at the hands of Randy Savage.

Never. The Philadelphia Phillies drew three straight bases loaded walks against Burt Hooten in game 3 of the 1977 NLCS. The Philadelphia A's drew three bases loaded walks against the St. Louis Cardinals in game 6 of the 1931 World Series, but not all in the same inning. Thanks to Baseball-Reference

It was actually Game Four of the 1936 World Series.

Here it is Game Four of the 1999 ALDS, Boston 23, Cleveland 7.

Amazing. It only took 22 minutes for this World Series to suck.

Amen. For those of you on the west coast who say "quit yer bitchin", imagine you have to wake up at 3am tomorrow morning.

AIM chat at TSM Baseball. Anyone else find it a little disconcerting that during the anthem, the television station is hard at work getting the right camera angles? Something about it doesn't seem right. Having cameramen on field in general really makes things less genuine.

I dunno, that depends on how Colorado's outfielders are able to handle balls off the Monster and in the alleys with all those weird angles. If a ball gets past Hawpe in right, that's an easy double/triple. You sure? Hawpe has the best throwing arm in baseball. If Beckett wins, where does he rank among all-time postseason pitchers? At this point, I can't place him any lower than sixth.

OPS+ shouldn't be affected by the DH. If anything, it makes the OPS more impressive because it's compared to a higher league average. Offense: Clear advantage for Boston. Starting Pitching: Josh Beckett is the best starter on either side. Colorado has the advantage of depth, with four competent starters ready to go and a fifth sitting in the bullpen. Relief Pitching: Even. Red Sox have Papelbon, Rockies have Manuel Corpas. The Red Sox' lefty reliever is Hideki Okajima, while the Rockies have Brian Fuentes. The X factor is what Franklin Morales does to the Rockies bullpen. He throws mid-90s and was one of the top pitching prospects coming into this season. Defense: I worry about Boston. Manny Ramirez is not the kind of player you want patrolling the Coors outfield. And if they play Ortiz, they'll sacrifice defense there. The Sox have excellent defense at third, shortstop and center field. The Rockies are excellent at short, center, right and first base. I think the Rockies have the edge here. How else did their pitchers perform so well across the board? This factor is even in Fenway Park, advantage Rockies in Coors. Manager: I personally think Clint Hurdle plays too much smallball for Coors Field. Otherwise no opinion. One note on this series, these two teams play in the most extreme parks of their leagues. Home field advantage is very important.

Well yeah, that's kind of how it works. How can you not retire if you don't get an offer? Cliff Floyd had a nice OBP last season but the warning signs of age are there. For $3 million though, I would absolutely consider Floyd as a fourth outfielder.

The problem isn't that most of the voters think Jeter is the best defender. It's that there hasn't been a solid candidate for the anti-Jeter crowd to rally around. John McDonald is clearly better but will voters recognize him? Jeter is almost certainly going to win his fourth gold glove this season. The Yankee fans will respond that you need to see Jeter play every day. The problem is that if you watch Jeter every day, you haven't taken the time to see what a shortstop is supposed to field like.

Well he's writing about a career highlight match. I'm sure he's had times where he walked to the back and Pat Patterson said, "jesus christ kid, what the fuck was that?" But if you're writing an autobiography, are you going to be eager to include those details?