Questions That Shouldn't Need Answers

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 4, 2008 3:57 PM EDT

Q: How do you lose a close game?

A: You let Craig Hansen try to protect a one-run lead!

You may have suspected this was true, but John Russell conveniently just verified it for you. Suspicion confirmed!

Russell does get style points for using four consecutive pinch hitters in the ninth, then pinch running the last one after he got on base. Hey, if you've got a 40-man roster, you may as well use it, right?

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I hate Russell

Can anybody tell yet?

I wanted to KILL him for leaving Grablow out there last night instead of bringing Capps in with 2 outs. He got lucky and Grabow got out of it. Now I just want to kill JR all over again.

by matskralc on Sep 4, 2008 4:21 PM EDT reply actions

when he had that guy on a 1-2 count, one out, first and third, i really did think he stood a chance. of course he hit the guy with the very next pitch. then it was over.

by Blyleven Curve Ball on Sep 4, 2008 4:31 PM EDT reply actions

Actually...

…I’m OK with leaving Hansen out there. We are pretty much officially rebuilding at this point, and in order to rebuild we need to let young guys play (and fail) so they can learn how to do it the right way.

by Vlad on Sep 4, 2008 7:02 PM EDT reply actions

I mostly don’t care about leverage at this point, either. The most important thing is sorting through young players, at this point. This particular example, though, seemed particularly egregious—aren’t there plenty of other situations to give innings to a pitcher like that who can’t find the plate?

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 4, 2008 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes and no

I think that maintaining his mental approach in a high-leverage situation might be one of the things that Hansen needs to work on. He seems like the type who tends to try and throw the ball through the catcher, the ump, and the backstop whenever he gets into trouble, and maybe seeing that nobody’s going to get shot at sunrise if he occasionally blows one will help him chill out a bit in the future.

Sure is frustrating to watch, of course, but maybe it’ll help in the long run. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.

by Vlad on Sep 4, 2008 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions