Tim McCarver

[nolanfan34]

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I also think there is merit to small ball and that the Sabermetricians discount it too much. Do you think the Red Sox kind of regret not being able to play small last night? I sure hope so.

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Can you give an example? Damon made a bad bunt attempt, but I can't think of a lot of other instances where they could have played things differently.

I don't think Sabermetrics is the end-all/be-all solution to baseball analysis, but you can't ignore some of the amazing statistical analysis of plays like the stolen base, and myth of the "productive out", and how teams can incorrectly use them.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Boston has become essentially a stations baseball team while on offense. How can they possibly have runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, and not score? They run the bases poorely and can't bunt for [censored]. I would say, that Boston is a team that relies TOO MUCH on OPS.

[sublime]

Anyone agree that he is far too analytical for the average fan?

Your joking, right?

[Boris]

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Can you give an example? Damon made a bad bunt attempt...

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Oh you mean besides that crucial, monumental, Boston career defining screw-up if the Red Sox lose game 5? You mean that missed bunt?

Ok seriously, I was listening to the game on the radio while helping a friend move. It just seemed like Boston had men on base in every inning after the ninth and couldn't score. I interpreted that as meaning Boston couldn't play small ball to score one measly little run. I could be talking out of my ass.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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I could be talking out of my ass.

[/ QUOTE ] you are not, they couldn't.

[andyfox]

"Do you think the Red Sox kind of regret not being able to play small last night?"

Small ball is a good weapon to have when you only need one run. So it's ideal for extra innings, especially when you're the home team. Neither the Red Sox nor Yankees have a team designed to play small ball. Yet they finished one-two in runs scored this year. The Sox have Damon and Roberts on the bench. The Yankees have A-Rod and Jeter, and Lofton on the bench. Not exactly two teams loaded with rabbits. Damon, one would think, is normally a good bunter. Only Jeter and Cairo sacrifice for the Yankees. And Jeter had a high number of sacrifices this year because he was hitting .169 for about a month and a half at the start of the year so Torre had him sacrifice quite a bit when he wasn't hitting.

[J.R.]

"Small ball is a good weapon to have when you only need one run"...or when your batters don't mash.

To be fair, doesn't small ball also encompass more than bunting, things like hitting the ball to the right side (which damon didn't do after the bellhorn leadoff double), running bases well (cairo's slide on the jeter double- although this is fundamental skill that should be the same in either approach it is probably stressed more by small ball teams), stealing bases (and not just stealing but getting into the pitchers head as Roberts did to Gordon, thus given the batter an advantage in addition to earning the hitter more fastballs).

And isn't a corollary to small ball that you play fundamentally sound defense (something that should be the same regardless of approach but is stressed by small ball teams), so you can protect the precious extra runs, hence cabrerra, minkeivitz(sp), and kapler. Kapler made a nice running catch last night on Jeter's liner with Cairo on second in the 12th that doesn't get made if kapler isn't pinch run for trot nixon in the 8th.

Small ball gets knocked, and much of it is desevedly so, but small ball presents a lot of intabgibles that get overlooked (such as this one ).

Anti-small ball arguably kept varitek in the game (Francona presumably wanted his bat in there, in addition to the pokey reese is the 3rd stringer reason) and his inability to handle Wakefield almost cost them (although mirabeli had better power stats/AB than varitek)

[andyfox]

They led the league in runs scored.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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They led the league in runs scored.

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I realize this. But their ineffeciency to manufacture runs(in a tight game) could(or will) come back to haunt them.

[andyfox]

Yeah, every team has weaknesses. But the best way to win games is to either score a lot of runs or give up few. I think the Sox had the greatest runs scored/runs allowed differential in the league, so for whatever they're doing wrong, they're doing a lot of things right.