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TheGenius · 08-21-2006, 04:08 PM

During the 2004 Playoffs I was amazed at Terry Francona's managing. It was perfect, he pulled all the right strings and played every game to win. I haven't seen him do this as Red Sox manager before, or since. It seems like he just coasts along and then once the playoffs start he puts on his "manage for real" hat. He still gets a free pass because he brought a World Series title back to Boston but good lord he's made some horrendous decisions this season.

Hitting Coco leadoff, even though he has struggled in the spot and Youk has excelled (and yes I know Youk was out today, but Coco also had one hit in this entire 5-game series)

Moving Youk into the 5 spot to "protect" Manny. Yeah, he can hit for average but he's not gonna slug (or frieghten) opposing managers. Torre exploited this by the numerous intententional walks to Manny and they all paid off. Wily Mo needs to be in the 5 spot so Manny at least has to be pitched to. You need to protect him just like Ortiz, as he is the best pure hitter on the team.

Bullpen management. Ugh, not even gonna go into this one now, but this one has a lot to do with the front office's management of the pen and call-ups/send downs.

What an utterly frustrating weekend of games. A single series just destroys the entire season basically. Wow.

08-21-2006, 04:08 PM	#2468
TheGenius The World's Smartest Man OVR: 10 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Parts Unknown Posts: 1,590	Re: Boston Red Sox - 2006 During the 2004 Playoffs I was amazed at Terry Francona's managing. It was perfect, he pulled all the right strings and played every game to win. I haven't seen him do this as Red Sox manager before, or since. It seems like he just coasts along and then once the playoffs start he puts on his "manage for real" hat. He still gets a free pass because he brought a World Series title back to Boston but good lord he's made some horrendous decisions this season. Hitting Coco leadoff, even though he has struggled in the spot and Youk has excelled (and yes I know Youk was out today, but Coco also had one hit in this entire 5-game series) Moving Youk into the 5 spot to "protect" Manny. Yeah, he can hit for average but he's not gonna slug (or frieghten) opposing managers. Torre exploited this by the numerous intententional walks to Manny and they all paid off. Wily Mo needs to be in the 5 spot so Manny at least has to be pitched to. You need to protect him just like Ortiz, as he is the best pure hitter on the team. Bullpen management. Ugh, not even gonna go into this one now, but this one has a lot to do with the front office's management of the pen and call-ups/send downs. What an utterly frustrating weekend of games. A single series just destroys the entire season basically. Wow.