Thursday, October 02, 2003
Wow.
Great way to start off the A's-Sox series last night. I have a few musings and thoughts:
First, let's talk about Grady Little. Yes, I know that he was worried about Byung-Hyung Kim breaking down. And of course he was playing the percentages by bringing in Alan Embree. I can understand his decision, but part of using a closer is to build his confidence. I think Kim was pitching as well as he could have in that situation and Kim probably would have benefitted from getting the final out. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I think Kim should have gotten a "one strike and you're out" grace period. Of course, Little's lack of trust with the bullpen was evident - Pedro's 130 pitches, plus Derek Lowe coming into the game??? Grady's going to regret bringing in Lowe in game 3.
Of course, the A's stuck to their game plan of playing small ball and getting to Pedro early. Hudson pitched a nice game, and I agree that it was gutsy for him to stay in while he was injured. I wasn't expecting a squeeze play to end the game, but we all know that somewhere around the Coliseum, Billy Beane was beaming.
Here's what has to happen during the rest of the series: Nomar and Manny have to pick up their games. Ramirez had terrible at-bats in clutch two out situations. As for Nomar, his slump continues. I was amazed to see Todd Walker actually hit like a #3 batter, but if this team wants success, their stars have to step up. Grady Little cannot second guess himself, even though their bullpen is a mess. The A's will continue to scrape together hits and depend on their pitching (though their bullpen may be a bit tired after last night's three inning work by Keith Foulke).
And did anyone else think that David Justice and Jeff Brantley were terrible color commentators?
Here's hoping for more excitment from this series...
posted by Charles Curtis 10:01 AM
