elrockinMT Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 I watched the game on WGN today. Absolutely loved everything up till the bottom of the 9th. What a disaster. Watched BBTN where Kruk, Reynolds and Gammons all thought that Ozzie panicked and was too quick to pull Koch in the 9th just because a left handed batter (Stairs) was coming in the PH for the Royals. Score was 7-4 at that time and Koch had just struck out a LH hitter with a nasty inside breaking ball. The analysts think that Ozzie should have left Koch in to establish or reestablish himself as the closer and because he didn't, Koch and the others will be wondering what their role is coming out of the pen. They even went so far as to say that Koch may struggle for a long time because of what appears to be Ozzie's lack of confidence in his ability to close. The rub on Ozzie is the fact he is the new Sox manager with no prior managing experience and that he made a bad decision because he panicked. I was a bit surprised that Ozzie took Koch out so quickly, but the move made some sense at the time. Ozzie got Stairs out, and Matt the Professional Hitter averaged over 20 homers a year, but why stay with Marte against Beltran? Anyway it's only the first game of 162 and fire away please with your comments and twist on what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 YES, he paniced. If you wouldn't want your closer facing MATT STAIRS, then you need a different closer. If Koch is our guy, like Ozzie SAID he was, he should have left him in there. Rookie mistake from a rookie manager. WHere was the pitching coach? The bench coach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocking Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 prolly should have added this to one of the twenty other posts on the subject matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted April 6, 2004 Author Share Posted April 6, 2004 prolly should have added this to one of the twenty other posts on the subject matter. Maybe but did they quote ESPN? That's the Bible of Baseball isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocking Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 YES, he paniced. If you wouldn't want your closer facing MATT STAIRS, then you need a different closer. Already made into April Quotes! That is a perfect, quick, easy way of explaining everything i have been trying to say about Ozzie's decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Already made into April Quotes! That is a perfect, quick, easy way of explaining everything i have been trying to say about Ozzie's decision. Woo hoo! Wish it would have been a quote about a happier outcome, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KipWellsFan Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 YES, he paniced. If you wouldn't want your closer facing MATT STAIRS, then you need a different closer. If Koch is our guy, like Ozzie SAID he was, he should have left him in there. Rookie mistake from a rookie manager. WHere was the pitching coach? The bench coach? To be honest I'm starting to lean towards the idea of taking out Koch as being a bad idea. But tommorow is a new day and frankly I won't care by then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted April 6, 2004 Author Share Posted April 6, 2004 To be honest I'm starting to lean towards the idea of taking out Koch as being a bad idea. But tommorow is a new day and frankly I won't care by then. All we need is a win on Wed. Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 YES, he paniced. If you wouldn't want your closer facing MATT STAIRS, then you need a different closer. If Koch is our guy, like Ozzie SAID he was, he should have left him in there. Rookie mistake from a rookie manager. WHere was the pitching coach? The bench coach? You say that like Matt Stairs is a scrub or somethin. Stairs has averaged 24 hr's a year for the last 3 or 4 years. He's got good power...I don't think Ozzie panicked. Wouldn't he have got rid of Koch right after the double if that was the case? I think it was a simple case of a manager playing the lefty against lefty percentages. Nobody would've have predicted Marte to get lit up like he did. If Marte does what we all expect nobody questions Ozzie's decision. SO GET OFF HIS BACK!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Hey, I LIKE OZZIE> But you don't pull your CLOSER for Matt Stairs. MAYBE Bonds, but your closer is supposed to be your closer. ANd he just got a lefty out, so why not Stairs too? And playing 'by the book' is what got Manual canned. As for NOT predicting the MArte thing, yes, you could have. He stinks when he comes in with runners on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Hey, I LIKE OZZIE> But you don't pull your CLOSER for Matt Stairs. MAYBE Bonds, but your closer is supposed to be your closer. ANd he just got a lefty out, so why not Stairs too? And playing 'by the book' is what got Manual canned. As for NOT predicting the MArte thing, yes, you could have. He stinks when he comes in with runners on. Well will agree to disagree. Bottmline is though, no matter what u think about Ozzie's decision you have to realize this guy is a ROOKIE manager. He's gonna make some mistakes. If u guys r lookin for the perfect manager that never makes mistakes then keep looking. I don't wanna hear about how horrible a manager Ozzie is everytime he makes a mistake. Or in this case a move of his backfires... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Well will agree to disagree. Bottmline is though, no matter what u think about Ozzie's decision you have to realize this guy is a ROOKIE manager. He's gonna make some mistakes. If u guys r lookin for the perfect manager that never makes mistakes then keep looking. I don't wanna hear about how horrible a manager Ozzie is everytime he makes a mistake. Or in this case a move of his backfires... Why does it seem nothing ever works for our club? If its not "can't miss prospects" or trades its rookie managers. Pena was a new manager last year and didn't make his "rookie mistake" on opening day. s***, he probably didn't make a mistake for 2 weeks! Now a loss is a loss but why must the Sox blow a game which brings into question Ozzies managing prowess on HIS FIRST DAY. I swear, today's collapse could only happen to the Sox (and possibly the Cubs). Now every sports columnist out to rip KW will note how Cito Caston would of been a better choice because of his experience in the majors. Its almost as if everything KW does is destined to backfire. Nevertheless, I'm beginning to look forward to Wed. game. This day officially ends in 34 minutes, and that means today's loss will already be one day behind us. KC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyKongerko Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 When Koch gave up the double to Santiago they showed a quick shot of Ozzie shouting "God dammit" under his breath. I just felt for the guy, I mean it's opening day and his boys are up 7-3 with his closer on the hill and the whole thing is about to go to hell. I remember saying "Come on guys, win this one for Ozzie." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 For being a rookie manager, Ozzie is sure as hell acting like he's been managing for 5-10 years. He loses a huge lead on opening day, his first day managing, and he says to forget about it. This team will win this division. At this point, I think we only have to be close to first(and by close I mean 5-8 games or so either in front, which is obvious, or back, and I bet we are still in it), and a starter or a reliever(or both) will be acquired and whatever else we need as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUGGERNAUT Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Playing the %'s: Stairs vs RH : 934 OPS Stairs vs LH : 667 OPS Stairs vs Koch : 1 for 3, 667 OPS Lopez (750 vs RH, 725 vs LH) I still thinking leading the inning off with a Politte was a mistake, but in a 1 out, ron, 1,2 situation Ozzie's decision to go to Marte is not really a poor one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreye Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 You say that like Matt Stairs is a scrub or somethin. Stairs has averaged 24 hr's a year for the last 3 or 4 years. He's got good power... HR AB 2000 21 476 2001 17 340 2002 16 270 2003 20 305 That's one HR every 18.5 ABs over the last 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddy Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 QUOTE YES, he paniced. If you wouldn't want your closer facing MATT STAIRS, then you need a different closer. Already made into April Quotes! That is a perfect, quick, easy way of explaining everything i have been trying to say about Ozzie's decision. he's a good good player. He's got a consistantly high OBP, and his OPS is always around 900 plus the whole home run thing already mentioned... i really like the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobDylan Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 I don't think Guillen treated it as a 'save' situation. He treated it as a 'let's get the hell out of here and win situation'. If he were to go with Koch, he'd have started him in the 9th, whether the score was 7-3 or not. I'm under the belief he should have started Koch in the ninth and went from there...but all this criticism about him pulling Koch is crap. It was obvious what he was trying to do, Marte just didn't get the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac9001 Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 I would have pulled Koch after he gave up a double...when it comes to Koch it's never to early to panic. This time it came back to bite us on the balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 I would have pulled Koch after he gave up a double...when it comes to Koch it's never to early to panic. This time it came back to bite us on the balls. At least Koch got somebody out in the 9th. This was not Billy's fault. The job didn't get done by three relief pitchers not one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac9001 Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 At least Koch got somebody out in the 9th. This was not Billy's fault. The job didn't get done by three relief pitchers not one. Hey, i don't blame Billy, I just lost all my confidence in him last year. Hopefully he makes me look like a little whiny b**** and kicks some ass this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 No, Ozzie didn't panic. He had a choice, Koch vs. Stairs or Marte vs. Stairs or any other matchup the Pena wanted. It makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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