One of the knocks against small ball is that it doesn't appreciate the value of an out; sac bunts are frowned upon not because they advance a runner, of course, but because that out is more valuable than that base. Mike Scioscia is pretty liberal with his outs, generously sharing and throwing them around, not realizing their value. Maybe he needs a summer job, or more appropriately, a winter one, to learn the value of the out.Sure, a 2-0 count isn't likely to see a pitchout, and plenty of suicide squeezes have their desired kamikaze effect, but the suicide is aptly named nonetheless. Not that the warning signs weren't there; not only did the angels make that second out at third base in the 9th inning, but they gave up the first out on the bunt moving Willits from second to third. That's 2 outs in that 9th inning not due to the pitcher's or defense's proficiency (Tek's mad dash not withstanding,) but to negligence and profligacy, and with the runner already in scoring position, of all things. Instead of 3 whacks at a go-ahead rbi hit, Scioscia frittered away 2 outs with his out guzzling offense, squandering what few remaining natural resources he had left.
Bunt, baby, bunt!On Bay's blooper to right in the bottom of the 9th, Willits, in a desperate but futile ploy to get one of those precious outs back, dove and came up empty, transforming a bloop single into a ground-rule double. In not realizing the value of the base, in this case, he put the series winning run in scoring position. Lowrie then ellsburied one into the shallow right field grass, sending the Sox to Tampa.
Scioscia now has no outs left. You just don't miss them till they're gone.
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I think perhaps the bunting the man over to third worked for the angels in game 3, but i'm not sure. I was out of town for my mom's birthday this weekend and missed both games 2 and 3.
Actually, her birthday is at the end of october, but i figured better to miss the ALDS than the world series. So we celebrated this weekend.
Priorities...
I missed game 2 also - up in the woods of Maine. But, while I agree with your post completely, I love that they tried for the squeeze - makes for incredibly exciting viewing. And, being from the LA area, I think the Halos are in tune with making entertaining shows!
Wow, what a game! Thanks for being reckless Scioscia!
i was at the game. it was 2004-esque just in terms of the emotion/drama.
dont forget about hot dogs. have a hot dog during the next game, seriously.
i have my package of hebrew national all ready to go.
The dive was so risky--I mean, you're already risking that it's at least a double if you miss it. Okay, maybe he knew it was gonna bounce into the crowd. I've stood in the crowd at enough batting practices to know that any ball hitting that hard warning track has to bounce into the crowd. I've even see a ball bounce on the track in center and bounce OVER the 18-foot wall into the stands, something which could never happen in a game, since a fielder would easily be able to get to a ball hit so high. But even if he did know this, and thought, Okay, if I miss, it'll only be a double, well, still, if his glove tips it, if it hits grass instead of track, if it skims wall on the upward bounce...any of those things could lead to three or even four bases. Terrible job by that guy.
And don't even get me started on giving the other team a free out and taking away your chance at a lazy fly ball scoring the go-ahead run on a sac fly....
But whatever you wanna do, Scoscia. That's why you're the greatest manager of all time, and Tito is just some guy who beats your team every single time and then wins the World Series.
prognosis on the dodgers/phils series? you can do it in a "how does this relate to me" sort of way. that means go the analytical route or the personal drama route (could certain individuals really be coming back to town for certain big events, how do i feel about that, etc).
jere- good call.
daniella- i think i prefer the dramalytical approach which synthesizes the two. that being said, i haven't followed them particularly closely, and i've opted to shut down the old noggin until i get over this religious holiday and head cold.
but with the benefit of game 1 lying safely behind us, philly looks like the stronger team. but get back to me for a more definitive prediction after the series...
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