Random Thoughts

Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've just been so thoroughlt been enjoying the baseball season this week. Baseball is awesome. Watching the Red Sox-Orioes game this afternoon a couple of different things caught my attention some good some bad. In the top of the sixth inning with only a 2-1 lead Oriole starter Rodrigo Lopez walked the bases loaded. Now granted this was Stern's first at-bat with the bases loaded in the big leagues so I could understand if he was little nervous. But...if the pitcher is walking the park you have to take the first pitch, instead Stern fouled off of the first pitch. Granted he did manage an infield single but that first pitch was the one Theo Epstein was looking out to judge Stern on. Taking that pitch is smart hitting. Also was that a sacrifice bunt I saw? In the fourth inning??
I hope on the plain ride back to Boston Theo sat Francona down and reminded him that that's not the kind of baseball the Red Sox play. There's a book on the shelves now titled Baseball Between the Numbers by the Baseball Prospectus Team of Authors that in a great chapter entitled "When is One Run Worth More then Two" in which it takes on the myths of the sacrifice bunt. The sacrifice it argues is pretty much useless until either the eighth or ninth inning because at that time you may be trying to win a game by scoring just one run. In any other situation be it inning, a pitcher batting or anything voluntarily taking that first out lowers your chances of scoring. What I'm saying is that a team with runners and first second and no outs is going to score more runs than a team with runners of second and third with one out. That is part of the philosophy that the Red Sox have built apon since John Henry and CO. took over. Those numbers that Red Sox and most of SABR community veiw as so important are important. Just tell Terry the Red Sox a manager who ignored the numbers and his name was Grady Little.