PRESSWIRE
…and the agony of defeat.
PRESSWIRE
Both photos are from the end of today’s Red Sox / Tigers game.
The thrill of victory…
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I think that the worst part of it for me as a Red Sox fan is that it gives Dan Shaughnessy (The Boston Globe sports columnist) the excuse to write crap like:
“Bring back Terry Francona? Why not bring back Joe Kerrigan, Butch Hobson, Dave Lewis, and Pete Carroll while we’re at it?”
or
“The Sox Monday night become the first team in baseball history confronted with a must-win game on April 9.”
Well, Lawrence, I’m kind of glad I’m on-location here in Toronto to see and hear first-hand the media sound bites from Bobby Valentine over the course of this series.
I don’t think your boys can survive another 2-10 start this year what with the fragile state of their starting pitching and the bullpen.
From a distance, and taking off my rooting hat, something doesn’t quite seem right about the Sox this season.
Lawrence, do think the large, racous crowd at the Rogers Centre (50,000+) tonight will work more against the Jays’ rookie starter or the Red Sox?
It may help the Jays marginally, but it’s a minimal factor. The Red Sox play before plenty of big crowds on the road.
The RS pitching’s been _so_ awful, that it almost has to improve somewhat. If they can’t find a reliable closer, Bard will go from starter to closer, no matter what they’re saying now.
Editor
Voomo, I’m with you on this. Painful start, but with the staggered start and the games in Japan, it’s like someone played a week of exhibition games and then Bud declared that all the results counted. Red Sox and Yankees haven’t started this poorly together since the frightening 1966 season. A searing time from my childhood.
In 1973, the Yanks (0-3 start) finished the regular seasons with 80 wins and the Mets (3-0 start) with 82 wins. The Yanks’ 80 wins got them fourth place in the AL East, 17 games out of the post-season. The Mets’ 82 wins got them to the seventh game of the World Series.
In 1985, the Mets (3-0 start) won 98 and the Yanks (0-3 start) won 97, but both teams fell just short of qualifying for the post-season.
That’s a good question. And I gave that one a lot of thought at the time. I would have been utterly conflicted, but, ultimately, I think I would have gone for the Giants. I was born in The Bronx, so Yankees fan has been a lifelong thing. Moved to the northwoods of california in 2004, and started listening to Giants games on the radio while driving. They were mid-market, and absolutely mediocre. But I got to know the young players through the voices of the really good announcers, particularly Jon Miller (who is fantastic on the radio – it was… Read more »
Understandable. I was happy when the Giants won the World Series since it had been so long, just as I was when the White Sox did in 2005, although as I recounted the other day, there was a bit of a personal connection to Chicago for me. After the Yankees lost the World Series in 2001, a friend called me and vocalized a fear I had: Here come the 1980s again. Steinbrenner would overreact to the loss, gut the farm system, banish good players for slow starts, make bad free agent signings, etc. And to some degree that’s what happened,… Read more »
Ozzie Guillen is not smart. I don’t understand how you can say you love Castro, and then say he’s a brutal dictator and blah blah blah. Leave politics out of it for a second, it’s like saying you love vanilla ice cream on Friday, and hate it on Monday. It makes no sense. This guy has parlayed a good 2005 Sox team that got hot in the playoffs into managerial jobs he does not deserve.
Timmy, he was probably forced to do a 180 by management. Ozzie is a bit of a loose cannon… well probably more than a bit. Look at the offical statement about Castro issued by the Marlins’ front office distancing themselves from Ozzie’s remarks. The root issue, in my opinion, is Ozzie’s mouth is not connected to his brain or at least they work in the reverse order to what they should. That being said, you make an interesting point about his suitability as a ML manager in this day and age of political correctness and delicate egos of young players.… Read more »
All good points. I was surprised and encouraged by the Marlins front office’s statement. It is very rare in this day and age for any big company to make a statement that political. I’m sure they would rather not have had to get into it, but they did the right thing and in my opinion Ozzie is hurt by this and may go soon if he doesn’t win.
Regarding your last sentence, I’ll simplify it – as long as the team that Ozzie Guillen is managing keeps winning, they’ll put up with his outrageous statements; when they keep losing, they _won’t_ put up with that.
If he’s winning, Ozzie’s “colorful”. If he loses, he’s a “distraction”.
It’s no different than for anyone else that regularly deals with the public.
Hey, you’re sounding like a Red Sox fan, ha ha! – “it’s never too early to panic”!
I don’t think the Marlins management is going to go all George Steinbrenner and get rid of Ozzie soon; they’ve got too much invested in him, both contract-wise and image-wise (with a new stadium to fill…).
I just read where Ozzie personally apologized to the Cuban-American, Spanish language broadcasters for the Marlins. He certainly sounds contrite, but it shows what a big deal this has turned into. It’s weird the political fallout that can happen when some buffoon like Ozzie shoots his mouth off. Maybe some good will come of it.
Timmy, and please don’t take this the wrong way, (remember I was the first one, ever, to respond to you back in the B-Ref world) but your comments in High Heat Stats make a lot of sense.
So, with your White Sox roots, are you a Ozzie Guillen detractor or an Ozzie Guillen promoter as he currently exists with the Marlins?
I know you called him a buffoon but have Chicago-area fans soured on him that quickly?
Neil, Ozzie was in Chicago for 8 years, and it was an 8 year drama. He’s a South American soap opera. Ozzie lead baseball in dumb outs when he was a player and as a manager. He did win the WS in 2005, but there were some good teams in those other 7 years that under performed. Anyway Miami is my second home after Nebraska and I’m following them close. The new ball park and all is great and let’s hope the Marlins do good this year.
Editor
Here’s my uninformed 2 cents’ worth (I haven’t read Ozzie’s full remarks yet) —
I’m no fan of Castro and I would hate living in a communist society. But I still think the average Cuban is better off today than they were under Batista.
The problem for Ozzie is that Miami is home to the most rabid anti-Castro, anti-communist group in the world, i.e., Cuban expatriates and their descendants.
No matter how he explains himself, he may have permanently alienated that sizable community.
John A- I love nuanced political debate but this is not the place for it so I’ll keep my mouth shut about the politics of this beyond saying I think your assessment is pretty accurate.
I was not a fan of Ozzie for many years but I”m actually starting to warm to the guy. I kind of like the idea that he says whatever is on his mind and every statement isn’t filtered thru some sort of “comment without actually saying anything” sieve first. He’s kind of a modern day Casey Stengel.
In a lot of ways, guys, this is the biggest gaffe Ozzie has made in his career. His never-ending stream of F-bombs and tirades pale in comparison to this: he has possibly alienated a portion of the Marlins’ fan base, which wasn’t that big to start with. That affects Miami’s bottom line….and that’s not good. FWIW, I love Ozzie.
John A @53, from what I have read, the Miami Cuban expat community is no longer monolithic, with the breakdown largely on generational grounds and date of emigration. Older Cubans, who fled after Castro or in subsequent waves prior to 1980 are far more conservative and hostile to Castro. Those who came in later waves become increasingly more tolerant, and the American-born children of Cuban decent are more open to trade, tourism, and a more nuanced approach in general. Perhaps we can be kind and say Ozzie was unintentionally ahead of his time? When you talk as much as he… Read more »
Mike L. is right that the Cubans in America are not monolithic, that is why I was surprised at the reaction of the Marlins organization. There is nothing in their statements that is fuzzy or straddling the fence, (like JA). JA, Cuba needed a revolution, Cuba did not need communism and Fidel.
I just saw a clip from Dan Le Batard on ESPN. I think some of the posters here are terribly uninformed as to what’s is going on here and I would encourage them to watch the clip and learn. I don’t think anybody can put it better than Mr. Le Batard. He talks about his own parents being chased in the streets by policemen with chains. Nobody likes a know-it-all, but this is subject matter I know well and is close to my heart.
I just watched a rerun on the computer of Ozzie’s press conference. He looked like someone relieved he was not going to be fired. At least not today anyway. Pedro Gomez was talking about Ozzie and used the word “gasbag”. Exactly. He mentioned that Ozzie was talking world politics in his second language and that Ozzie is not exactly highly educated. I imagine baseball has been Ozzie’s life since he was 8 years old. I’m going to assume Ozzie wasn’t enrolled at Stanford when he was hitting .259 as a member of the Padres rookie league team at age 17.
FWIW, this is the best take on the Guillen/Castro flap that I’ve seen:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7800493/the-idiocy-ozzie-guillen-cuba-mess
Timmy, I just watched Juan Pierre line out to the shortstop on an 0-2 pitch with two runners on base.
It was a good at bat as he attempted to go to the opposite field and he hit the ball sharply. He showed good count and game-situatuon awareness. I was impressed.
I think I understand loyalty to a player, but with all due respect, we musn’t make him into something he is not.
Timmy, will you comment more regularly in HHS?
Editor
Speaking of that Phils-Marlins game, I think Doug would appreciate the unusual pitching line of Cole Hamels: 9 Ks, no walks, in 5.1 IP — but 8 hits and 4 runs. Hamels faced just 22 batters. I find just 2 prior starts that saw 9+ Ks and 8+ hits in 22 batters or less: – David Cone, April 25, 1990; and – Lowell Palmer, June 25, 1969. I’m not really familiar with Lowell Palmer. That game was the 2nd of his career; his next outing was a 3-hit shutout, but he got beat up pretty much the rest of his… Read more »
Mr. Autin, get back to work!!
Or do you have a boss key on your computer? 🙂
With the Phillies losing today, of the 8 post-season teams from 2011, only 3 are under 0.500 at this point, I think. New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers.
It’s way too early, I know, but which team, the Yankees or the Phils is more likely to miss the playoffs this year, even with the new wild-card format?
I think the Phillies have issues on at least one side of the equation …. offense.
Editor
Editor
Hypothetically, Mike, but not in this instance.
Six runs on six HRs has happened twice — I’m sure Neil remembers the recent one:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI201005210.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK199108030.shtml
Oddly, both were losses by 8-6. (Still can’t match my beloved Tigers, who own the only two 7-HR losses.)
Bad attempt at mathematical humor, John A. After failing to join in the Fibbotaco-fest earlier, I was trying to show how limited my knowledge of second base (or is that “Base Two’) was. I guess I was just doubling up on a bad joke, and using Boolean logic to do it I do realize that HHS is a place for prime analysis, but I’m a lawyer, so we are always seeking siners and cosiners. And I write a political blog, and often write about right angles and 180 degree turns.