Monday, July 17, 2006

Now Back To Seriousness...

I have a legitimate question:

I'm honestly curious if someone can come up with a list of decisions by Hargrove that:

a) positively affected the outcome of a game;
b) would've been a unique decision that another manager would not have made.

I'm sure I can come up with a list of the converse (decisions by Hargrove that NEGATIVELY affected the outcome of a game, and would've been a decision another manager WOULD NOT HAVE MADE).

I've followed a lot of M's games closely this year, and I'm seriously trying hard to brush away the negatives to see if there are any positives I can focus on with Hargrove. I obviously need some help with that. If anyone can give me a legit list, I'd more than appreciate it!!!

2 Comments:

At 7/17/2006 8:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

He brought in a rookie, Lowe to pitch against Alex with the bases loaded and one out in Yankee Stadium in a 2 run game.

The result was positive. I'm not sure what other manager would have done that. Perhaps if they got to see Lowe's makeup they would have done it but it's likely another manager would have brought in Soriano.

 
At 7/18/2006 12:11 PM, Blogger PositivePaul said...

Well, I'm certain that the other guys in the bullpen were pretty well exhausted -- except Putz and Sherrill, of course. He's ridden Mateo so hard lately that he wasn't about to use him there.

Soriano's had some issues, too, though, that probably prevented Hargrove from using him in that spot. I wouldn't say that Lowe was Hargrove's first choice in that situation, but rather that he used him by default (since all the other pitchers, save Putz, were relatively tired in Hargrove's eyes).

Funny thing is, though -- I was at my son's track practice while this part of the game was on, and I was chatting with elsid (GS52's brother). When he told me Hargrove was bringing Lowe in, I jumped for joy. I really like Lowe, and he definitely was the right pitcher for that situation -- a strikeout pitcher who is somewhat unhittable.

I'll give Hargrove partial credit for that one. Lowe probably wasn't his first choice there. Next time, though, you bet that Hargrove would bring in Lowe. He seems to be earning Hargrove's trust right now.

I won't complain about that.

 

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