lexrageorge said:Hmmmm, this thread is pretty quiet tonight....
http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=bostonred-sox&id=33256&city=boston&src=desktop"Tito's got a part in this one tonight. There's no doubt about it," Farrell said. "He reached out, said he was pulling for me, pulling for us, and we know that he was with us in some small way. He shares in this one as well."
JimD said:I don’t see how any Red Sox fan can complain about the job that John Farrell did in 2013 and not feel really good about this team’s future.
Rovin Romine said:
Kudos to Farrell, and to the team. You don't have to be perfect. You only have to be better.
That said, SOSH has always been about looking at what's there, not blindly praising mystique, aura, and the other intangible beings. As you noted, there are some flaws in Farrell's approach - and, as you noted, he seems to be adaptable (thankfully.) I didn't want to do a Farrell discussion until the afterglow wore off (still don't.) A couple of weeks from now we should all revisit this though. The short series told us a lot about how Farrell thinks, and may have hinted at how he and the team processes information.
However, I pretty much expect that Speire, et. al., will reveal some stuff re: injuries and readiness that will change our thoughts on particular Farrell decisions. There's always stuff that's played close to the chest at the end of the season.
I do feel good about the future though.
Hell, I feel good about everything today.
JimD said:I don’t see how any Red Sox fan can complain about the job that John Farrell did in 2013 and not feel really good about this team’s future. It is absolutely clear that he commands that clubhouse and the respect he gets from a guy like David Ortiz speaks volumes. His intelligence and the level of preparedness from him and his coaching staff is remarkable and it was easy to see how it grew as these players soaked it up and constantly worked at perfecting the craft of playing baseball. Equally important was the singular focus he instilled into his players to concentrate on each pitch, at-bat, inning and game – it is no surprise that this team excelled at coming back to win and was able to bounce back from October setbacks so quickly.
Farrell still has to improve as an in-game tactician, but as I noted earlier in the thread he came into the job with far less managerial experience than Francona did. Yes, there were occasional blunders and tendencies throughout the season and a few whoppers this month, but he has also exhibited a refreshing ability to admit when he was wrong and to adjust accordingly. Playoff Farrell came into his own these past three games – the move to Ross, the pitching moves in game 4, the wiliness to use Doubront if needed last night, and the way he had every man of this team ready to contribute when called on. Mike Matheny’s moves by comparison seemed much more tentative and scattershot – at times he seems like he gets paid by the pitching move, but then he leaves Wainwright in too long in game 5. I had confidence as the series went along that Farrell would make most of the right moves – I don’t know if Cards fans could say the same about their manager.
MakeMineMoxie said:
JimD nails it. I admit to a Grady flashback when he let Lackey talk him into facing Holliday. I think a manager should never go to the mound and let a pitcher change his mind and while I love that Lackey wanted to stay in, doesn't every guy say that? Make the change or stay in the dugout.
Needless to say, if this is all I can criticize, I'd say he and the coaching staff did a hell of a job.
Jnai said:
John Farrell knew Lackey was struggling a bit, and knows him just as well if not better than anyone, and so he went out to the mound as if he was going to lift him - with no intention of lifting him and provoking the kind of FUCK YOU THIS IS MY GAME ASSHOLE reaction that he got, and getting the huge ovation from the crowd when he stuck with Lackey - just to fire him up.
Andrew said:
I don't know if you were joking with this, but that's exactly what I thought when it happened.
Jnai said:
Nope, 100% serious. I think it's not a bad idea as to Farrell's rationale there.
Harry Hooper said:
At the very least, he was giving Lackey a breather before taking on his last batter.
Instead of bumping a thread from last year, please start a new one. Also, could you be a little more specific about too much bunting. Thanks.adam42381 said:Bump after too much bunting...
My apologies.absintheofmalaise said:Instead of bumping a thread from last year, please start a new one. Also, could you be a little more specific about too much bunting. Thanks.
If you had a question about strategies during Sunday's game it should logically go in the Second guess thread. Am I wrong in my thinking? Why would you revive an almost 6 month old thread? Plus as abs stated, you did not provide any context behind your objections other than "too much bunting"! One sentence objections should probably stay in the game threads where they are more apropriate.adam42381 said:My apologies.
This is what the SGC threads are for. We will break threads out of there as warranted.richgedman'sghost said:If you had a question about strategies during Sunday's game it should logically go in the Second guess thread. Am I wrong in my thinking? Why would you revive an almost 6 month old thread? Plus as abs stated, you did not provide any context behind your objections other than "too much bunting"! One sentence objections should probably stay in the game threads where they are more apropriate.
I was agreeing with you and seconding your statement. Hopefully you did not misunderstand me.absintheofmalaise said:This is what the SGC threads are for. We will break threads out of there as warranted.
The main thing we want here are new threads.
Not at all. I was just confirming what you said.richgedman'sghost said:I was agreeing with you and seconding your statement. Hopefully you did not misunderstand me.