He's DEFINITELY from Texas.

I had the sound off during the post-game interview with GL, but, um, he looked like a serial killer.

It's going to be a long winter for Mr. Little.

Chicken Little: The sky is falling!

Grady Little: No, it's not. *KLUNK*


That "long winter" may be a lifetime. Jim Caple is not the only guy I've read this morning who calls him the "soon-to-be ex-manager of the Red Sox."

[ October 17, 2003, 08:39 AM: Message edited by: Bill W ]

Forrest Gump lets Bosox off the hook

I don't understand why all the Boston fans have decided to scapegoat Grady Little. He's a good -- not great -- manager, who did a very solid job with the Red Sox this season.

He out-managed Ken Macha of the Oakland A's in the divisional series -- and Macha is supposed to be this brilliant, do-no-wrong Billy Beane disciple. Yet no one's calling for Macha's head on a platter.

And the whole attack that "he left Pedro in too long." Puh. Leeze. His best pitcher was pitching well. His bullpen sucked -- despite the fact that the brilliant Theo Epstein traded for the pennant when he got Scotts Sauerbeck and Williamson. So, game on the line, do you trust your best (but tiring) pitcher, or some hack from the bullpen who's sucked all season? Little's decision was defensible - and it didn't cost them the game. Sox still could've won in extra innings.

On top of that, like I said before, remember 1986? Roger Clemens is still thought of as gutless, and John McNamara is still excoriated, for taking Clemens out of Game Six against the Mets after seven innings (the precise point Sox fans now say everyone knows that Little should've lifted Pedro. And -- again Sox fans have no credibilty on this point -- they always called Pedro gutless for not pitching the distance in big games, up to his stellar relief appearance in the 1999 divisional series against Cleveland. So which is it, Sox fans?

This reminds me of the campaign to get rid of Jimy Williams a few year ago. Sox fans got their wish. The stupid man was fired and a "genius" was hired to replace him. How many pennants was it that were won by Joe Kerrigan?

There's an assumption here that a new manager will keep eveything Little did right (structuring the high-powered offense) and correct all that went wrong (bullpen). Bad assumption. There's no guarantee that Little's replacement would be able to fix the woeful bullpen and still structure the most powerful offense in baseball by properly utilizing David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller (who'll be lucky to hit within 100 points of 2003 average ever again) and Todd Walker. But go ahead, Boston, go ahead and fire Grady Little and replace him with the newest edition of genius Joe Kerrigan.

You were watching the *2003* ALCS Game 7, correct?

Pedro was gassed. Everyone saw it in the seventh who has the baseball acumen of Jeanne Zelasko or better. (That usually includes you, CITT, but maybe you've been listening to a promo copy of "The Best of John Sterling" this morning.)

Mike Timlin sucked? His 2003 postseason: 9.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 SO. The very numerical picture of suckdom.

"So which is it, Sox fans?" It's whichever is the right decision according to the players and situation involved, not "always take him out / leave him in."

(BTW, Ken Macha is not a "disciple" of Billy Beane, but an automaton carrying out the club philosophy. A club without their two Cy Young candidates in the deciding games.)

Charlie, Jim Allen and I, and others, were complaining about Pedro being left in before the first run scored in the 8th inning. Pedro's a great pitcher, but he's not especially durable, and I think he'd thrown something like 114 pitches by the time he faced Matsui. He'd given up 3 hits to his last four at batters in the 7th inning, including a home run. By the time he faced Matsui (with another lefty behind him), he was a pitcher who'd given up 6 hits in 8 at bats, 3 of them for extra bases. That's pitching great? And while the Boston bullpen had been a horror much of the season, it had been great in the playoffs. The totals for the whole bullpen in the post season (mostly Timlin, Williamson, and Embree):
IP: 30 H: 13 ER:3 HR:2 BB: 11 KO: 34

No one knows what would have happened if Pedro was pulled, but I'm not sure I would have brought him out in the 8th and I certainly wouldn't have had him in there to face Matsui. It might not have worked out...pulling Pavano didn't work out for Florida last night, but it was the obvious decision.

I wouldn't fire Little on the basis of one bad decision, but I haven't followed the Sox closely enough to know if he really was a good manager. They won their division, but I knew they had plenty of talent at the beginning of the season, so that doesn't prove to me that he manages well.

Take it from a purely PR standpoint: I don't think the Red Sox fandom, who watched a season go down the drain because one guy lost his mind, will *allow* G**** L***** to continue.

They didn't.

Whoops...I spaced out for a moment, but they did make the playoffs.

I applaud Grady Little for speaking out honestly after the vicious assault he has received from the Boston media and "knowledgeable" fans since game 7 ended last Thursday night....now, I'm not saying Grady's decision to leave Pedro in the game in the 8th was the right one (but it is certainly a hell of a lot easier to heap criticism on him AFTER the fact) but to lambast a manager who turned a clubhouse full of irritable malcontents (see 2001 and 2002 Red Sox) into a cohesive offensive juggernaut and led the BoSox to a spectacular season on the basis of ONE pitching change (or lack thereof) is absolutely ludicrous!....based upon the reaction of the Boston media (who have long proven themselves to be the most astute "monday morning quarterbacks" in the game ), you would think that Grady had been managing the team since 1919 and was personally responsible for their 85 year run of futility (if you consider anything short of winning a World Championship futility, that is).

Had Urbina given up another run in the 9th inning last night and cost the Marlins the game (and any chance of winning the Series, in all probability) would Jack McKeon have gotten roasted by the South Florida media and fans for PULLING Carl Pavano after eight stellar innings, when Pavano had retired the last 11 Yankees he had faced and was clearly not "gassed"?....of course not!....at a press conference earlier this week, McKeon defended Grady and properly admonished the member of the media who asked the question by pointing out how easy it must be for him to make instantaneous game decisions from his living room chair (let alone, AFTER the results of that decision have already been determined).

I am glad to see Grady speak out so honestly and passionately once and for all....it's not as if he would have ANY difficulty finding another major league managerial job (in fact, the Orioles can use him right now -- he's a thousand times more qualified than the "leading candidates" they have interviewed thus far consisting of Eddie Murray, Rich Dauer, Rick Dempsey and Sam Perlozzo, none of whom even come CLOSE to Grady's managerial experience, including his 16 years of managing at the minor league level)....if young Theo Epstein and the BoSox brass (who have been eerily silent since last Thursday night's outcome) think they can simply appoint ANYONE to be Red Sox manager and equal the success that Grady Little's squad realized in 2003, they and the team's loyal fans may be in for a rude awakening in 2004.

[ October 23, 2003, 02:34 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

It'll be good if he's not fired based on one decision, if the team feels he's played that large a role in their getting as close as they did. However...it was still a MONUMENTALLY BAD DECISION. It became clear even to the casual observers as the Yankees started getting on base that Pedro was faltering, and knowing that he is not as young and physically sound as he once was, Little left him in there too long. His continuing defense of his decision, while it shows great loyalty, also shows a lot of stubbornness.

Here's a column I found interesting -- comparing Grady Little's decision to the recent coaching stubbornness of Andy Reid of the Eagles.

We may not have Grady Little to kick around much longer:

Not \"all\" Boston fans have accused him of being the anti-Christ. Grady Little has a fair number of supporters around here -- few in the media, but that's their job. And the job of the die-hard Red Sox fan is to scapegoat -- Grady Little's role in the final act of this year's drama made him the perfect victim.

Williams was fired in mid-August '01, during the final gasp of the Harrington/Duquette reign. Kerrigan was thrust into the manager's role as a stopgap, and everyone knew it, including himself. It was clear at that point that the franchise would be changing hands by the following season -- everyone, from players to fans, were basically trying to keep their heads above water. In February '02, among the first actions taken by the new ownership were the firings of Duquette and Kerrigan.

Joe Kerrigan was, and I presume still is, a great pitching coach. If that's all he does for the rest of his career, he can be very, very proud of himself.

The criticism mainly has been that he's too laid back, a nice guy, but not passionate or confrontational enough and slow to make tactical decisions. Unfortunately, the Martinez incident played right into that perception, so it immediately became "See? Didn't I tell you?!"

On the other hand, he and Theo are widely credited with setting the tone and contributing to the harmonious, close-knit functioning of this year's Red Sox. It's no exaggeration to say that Boston has LOVED this team. It has given us the best, most exciting season in recent memory -- and now the most heartbreaking.

Will Grady Little be replaced? From what I've seen of the way these guys work, we can expect a surprise.

The Phillies are pretty happy with him.

But what of the team itself? Who's in, who's out? What holes do they....jaysus, how did that get so sexual?

Um, what changes do they need to make? I'm assuming that they'll need a--back away from the keyboard slooooowwwwwlllllyyyyyy Bill W.--closer. A third baseman?

And the final joke is on Grady:

Pedro admitting fatigue: I said \"get the guys ready\" (AP)