taking out johan in the ninth

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When the guy you're bringing in is Joe Nathan it can never be that bad a move to take a guy out.

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It's not like Nathan is a K-Rod or a Rivera. He almost blew the All-Star game this year.

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True. He's better than "K-Rod".

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Ok, well you know who the best closer in baseball is.

[MrFeelNothin]

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Santana is pitching better against R (.212) than L (.272) this year.

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Where is Sample-Size Man?

Over his career lefties bat .222 off him and righties bat .226. but righties hit far more HRs proportionally- 14 this year to only 3 by lefties.

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Also, Iguchi and Konerko are hitting better against R this year.


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Iguchi's OPS splits are nearly identical, but that is irrelevant because Gardy knew he would be pinch-hit for.

As for Konerko, well.....he has 1 HR every 11 AB vs lefties and 1 HR every 14.2 AB vs righties. Over his career every meaningful statistic is significantly better against lefties. Can I mention again that he went yard off Santana just last week?

Against Nathan these guys were helpless. This was really a no-brainer. 1-run game against the division leader, onr of the biggest games of the year, we live or die with our closer.

[MrFeelNothin]

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When the guy you're bringing in is Joe Nathan it can never be that bad a move to take a guy out.

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It's not like Nathan is a K-Rod or a Rivera. He almost blew the All-Star game this year.

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[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Good point Scoot, I will have to reconsider.

[JayLear]

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When the guy you're bringing in is Joe Nathan it can never be that bad a move to take a guy out.

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It's not like Nathan is a K-Rod or a Rivera. He almost blew the All-Star game this year.

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True. He's better than "K-Rod".

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Ok, well you know who the best closer in baseball is.

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Yeah. He's currently on the DL.

[MrFeelNothin]

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OK you might be right. I wasn't at the game so I can't comment too strongly but initially when I saw they were pulling him I was thinking wtf is Gardenhire doing?


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My initial reaction exactly.

[Edge34]

Very good move IMO.

95 pitches, even though this is Johan, is getting up there, and the Sox were hitting the ball hard.

If it was any team BUT the Sox tonight, I think Gardy leaves him in. But in a 1-0 game against the division leader, where you absolutely must win basically every game you play against them the rest of the year...bring in the closer, and save Johan for his next start.

BTW, I also think Freddy Garcia did a fantastic job tonight, with the glaring exception being Jacque's bomb.

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When the guy you're bringing in is Joe Nathan it can never be that bad a move to take a guy out.

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It's not like Nathan is a K-Rod or a Rivera. He almost blew the All-Star game this year.

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True. He's better than "K-Rod".

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Ok, well you know who the best closer in baseball is.

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Yeah. He's currently on the DL.

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Ok, Joe Buck. I slamma lama ding dong on your bandwagon.

[SL__72]

1-0, bring in Nathan. 2-0 let Santana pitch.

Actually I'm sure it was more of a judgement call by Gardenhiere based on how Santana looked in the 8th and how well Nathan has been pitching lately.

[andyfox]

My son was at the Dodgers/Mets game where Pedro almost pitched a no-hitter. And lost the game too. He too said it was the most exciting games he's been to.

In that one, Tracy let Penny pitch the 9th inning, despite the fact he had given up 10 hits. Then again, with Gagne on the DL, he had nobody close to Joe Nathan available.

[ThaSaltCracka]

he should have let him finish because him getting a CG would have helped me emmensely in my fantasy baseball league.