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Game 1 reinforced all the concerns La Russa had about Freese's defense. He failed to make two plays that, while not routine, should be made by a major league third baseman. Does that mean Descalso should be playing? No. I don't think the difference in offense is worth it. But I also don't think Freese is a good defensive third baseman.

NSFW for some brief language

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skmsw wrote:

A [expletive] Texas Leaguer and a couple fly balls. Whatever. Great game.

Oh, I agree. The loss did not bother me. The slavish obsession to match-ups felt a little forced.

I wonder if Tony didn't see something with Motte that I couldn't that made him overreact after Andrus singled. With Zep burned already, I probably would have stuck with Motte since you really needed a strikeout not just an out. But, the way you say it is perfect -- it felt a little forced, but it wasn't necessarily an awful decision. There are really good odds that Hamilton gets a run in regardless of who is on the mound. There are just so many ways to score in that situation.

Fat Strat wrote:

skmsw wrote:

A [expletive] Texas Leaguer and a couple fly balls. Whatever. Great game.

Oh, I agree. The loss did not bother me. The slavish obsession to match-ups felt a little forced.

I wonder if Tony didn't see something with Motte that I couldn't that made him overreact after Andrus singled. With Zep burned already, I probably would have stuck with Motte since you really needed a strikeout not just an out. But, the way you say it is perfect -- it felt a little forced, but it wasn't necessarily an awful decision. There are really good odds that Hamilton gets a run in regardless of who is on the mound. There are just so many ways to score in that situation.

He said he removed Motte because Hamilton is a good fastball hitter. But then (IIRC) Rhodes' first pitch was a fastball up. I think he should have either stuck with Motte and made Hamilton have to try to catch up with a better fastball, or keep breaking stuff down and away with Rhodes and make Hamilton have to go down and get it. Wonder if the latter was the plan, but they wanted to try to sneak a get-ahead fastball in first, because Hamilton would likely be expecting the down-and-away plan.

Bernie chimed in on this in his column, noting that Motte's swing-and-miss rate has been dropping since the NLDS (to the point where he hasn't coaxed a swing-and-miss yet in two WS games) and speculating that perhaps he's getting tired. This was, FWIW, the first time he'd pitched on back-to-back days in a while; while he made 4 appearances in the NLCS, he always had an off-day between appearances.

07come11 wrote:NSFW for some brief language

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GzYofZQ ... re=related][/youtube]

sorry to bump myself, just seems fitting tonight

Dear God.

I don't even know where to begin.

I generally avoid this place after a loss... but the stupid mother [expletive] backwards stupid [expletive] that Tony pulled in this game has enraged me to the point that I had to come here and vent. What a [expletive] stupid mother [expletive]. I hope he gets lost at the airport tonight.

Mods, can we get a thread merge with today's GDT just to save us all the trouble?