Maybe I'm just in a foul mood after this afternoon's game and shouldn't start a thread like this, but today's game got me to thinking about some of the really bad in-game pitching moves made by the Red Sox over the years. Bad pitching decisions certainly aren't unique to the Red Sox, but five came to mind right away for me:
1) Joe McCarthy starting Denny Galehouse (8-8) over Mel Parnell (15-8) in the one game tie breaker for the pennant against the Indians in 1948. Admittedly, I wasn't around for that one and only read about it.
2) Darrel Johnson bringing in rookie Jim Burton to pitch the top of the 9th in a tied Game 7 of the 1975 World Series. Burton had only pitched 1/3 of an inning in the previous month and unfortunately gave up two walks and a hit as the Sox lost the game.
3) Don Zimmer starting rookie Bobby Sprowl in the final game of the 1978 Boston Massacre. It was only Sprowl's second big league start, and in 2/3 of an inning he gave up 3 runs on 4 walks and a hit.
4) John McNamara bringing in Calvin Schiraldi in a tied Game 7 of the 1986 World Series with MVP/Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens watching
5) Grady Little leaving an obviously tiring Pedro Martinez start the 8th inning of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS and leaving him in long enough to lose a 5-2 lead. I remember screaming at the TV for Little to take him out.
Which one do you think was the worst. It's also possible that I forgot about one.
1) Joe McCarthy starting Denny Galehouse (8-8) over Mel Parnell (15-8) in the one game tie breaker for the pennant against the Indians in 1948. Admittedly, I wasn't around for that one and only read about it.
2) Darrel Johnson bringing in rookie Jim Burton to pitch the top of the 9th in a tied Game 7 of the 1975 World Series. Burton had only pitched 1/3 of an inning in the previous month and unfortunately gave up two walks and a hit as the Sox lost the game.
3) Don Zimmer starting rookie Bobby Sprowl in the final game of the 1978 Boston Massacre. It was only Sprowl's second big league start, and in 2/3 of an inning he gave up 3 runs on 4 walks and a hit.
4) John McNamara bringing in Calvin Schiraldi in a tied Game 7 of the 1986 World Series with MVP/Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens watching
5) Grady Little leaving an obviously tiring Pedro Martinez start the 8th inning of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS and leaving him in long enough to lose a 5-2 lead. I remember screaming at the TV for Little to take him out.
Which one do you think was the worst. It's also possible that I forgot about one.