Grady Little Fan Club
a few esteemed entries
Peter G. on the car phone was cut off when he
rang our chat show today (must've been a tunnel), but his ESPN column tries to deflate the tires on the
Let's Lynch Little bandwagon.
As does Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, who asks "what if Martinez gets out of the eighth inning still ahead by a couple of runs, gets pulled for Mike Timlin or Scott Williamson in the ninth, and the Sox lose? Does Little get fired then? What if Little had played it by the book in the eighth, and Embree and Timlin and Williamson can't hold the lead? Would the same people who killed Little all season for having a quick hook with Martinez be saying today that Little shouldn't have pulled his ace, that it's push-button managing based on pitch counts? Does Little get fired then?"
Well, not necessarily. It is more likely that had Little pulled Pedro when he should've and then the save been blown by Embree, Timlin or Williamson, one of those 3 gentlemen would be the pariah right now, not the manager. Or perhaps some combination of Epstein, Luccino and Bill James (!) would be pilloried for Boston's failure to bring in an established closer from the start of the season onward.
Managers aren't the only guys to get second-guessed and blamed to death. In lieu of other acceptable scapegoats (did that Bartman dude take the heat off Dusty or what?), this isn't a new phenomena. And some errors are more monumental than others.
As does Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, who asks "what if Martinez gets out of the eighth inning still ahead by a couple of runs, gets pulled for Mike Timlin or Scott Williamson in the ninth, and the Sox lose? Does Little get fired then? What if Little had played it by the book in the eighth, and Embree and Timlin and Williamson can't hold the lead? Would the same people who killed Little all season for having a quick hook with Martinez be saying today that Little shouldn't have pulled his ace, that it's push-button managing based on pitch counts? Does Little get fired then?"
Well, not necessarily. It is more likely that had Little pulled Pedro when he should've and then the save been blown by Embree, Timlin or Williamson, one of those 3 gentlemen would be the pariah right now, not the manager. Or perhaps some combination of Epstein, Luccino and Bill James (!) would be pilloried for Boston's failure to bring in an established closer from the start of the season onward.
Managers aren't the only guys to get second-guessed and blamed to death. In lieu of other acceptable scapegoats (did that Bartman dude take the heat off Dusty or what?), this isn't a new phenomena. And some errors are more monumental than others.
Posted: Mon - October 20, 2003 at 05:26 PM
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Published On: Oct 23, 2004 12:38 AM
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Published On: Oct 23, 2004 12:38 AM