Orioles....part 2?

[K8teebug]

I think they should alternate.  Closer by committee.  Be unconventional!

[atomic]

I think they should alternate.  Closer by committee.  Be unconventional!

O'Day and Britton can alternate.  Hunter should not.  He isn't very good.  He gives up way too many home runs. 

[James Ford]

Why do you need to alternate closers? Britton has been lights out this year. Give him the job until he proves he can't do it. Leave O'Day as your eighth inning man since he's so good there.

I think they should alternate.  Closer by committee.  Be unconventional!

O'Day and Britton can alternate.  Hunter should not.  He isn't very good.  He gives up way too many home runs. 

[shemptiness]

Buck, non-committal as usual....

"We?re going to use whatever gives us the best chance to win, the best chance to put guys in the best spot to be successful and to be healthy,? Showalter said. ?That?s the way we are looking at it.?

And when Showalter was asked, point-blank, whether his decision in the ninth provided some clarity regarding the closer situation, the manager said: ?No.?

[atomic]

Why do you need to alternate closers? Britton has been lights out this year. Give him the job until he proves he can't do it. Leave O'Day as your eighth inning man since he's so good there.

I think they should alternate.  Closer by committee.  Be unconventional!

O'Day and Britton can alternate.  Hunter should not.  He isn't very good.  He gives up way too many home runs. 

Being a closer is highly stressful.  You can alleviate the stress by not letting the guy know that he is going into the 9th until the inning starts.  Why do you need a specific closer?  All it does it make players contract go up.  Save money just put a different guy in every game.

[vansmack]

Too much emphasis is put on the save statistic and not the role.

Joe Smith is the "official" closer in Anaheim now, and Frieri is the setup guy.  Two days after making the announcement, Smith pitched a 1-2-3 8th and Frieri pitched a 1-2-3 9th.  Scioscia was immediately asked if Frieri was the closer again and he said no.  In the 8th it was the 3-4-5 hitters and the 9th was the 6-7-8, so I had my best guy pitch to their best hitters.

That's how it should be done.   

[K8teebug]

I think they should alternate.  Closer by committee.  Be unconventional!

O'Day and Britton can alternate.  Hunter should not.  He isn't very good.  He gives up way too many home runs. 

the giving up too many home runs is exactly why I didn't think he should be the closer in the first place!

[vansmack]

@keithlaw Buck put the winning run on base, bottom 10th, with no one on. Someone has to ask him to explain that one in the postgame presser

[shemptiness]

@keithlaw Buck put the winning run on base, bottom 10th, with no one on. Someone has to ask him to explain that one in the postgame presser

He walked a home run hitter to pitch to a pitcher.  I'd say that usually works.

[vansmack]

He walked a home run hitter to pitch to a pitcher.  I'd say that usually works.

Actually, I read where Buck was hoping that Gallardo had already gone home because he was pitching today.  I don't like the idea of putting the winning run on with nobody out - even if Gallardo doesn't double, most starting pitchers in the NL can bunt a guy over to second, and with Herrera and Segura following, the chances of getting him home that way are much higher than Reynolds hitting a home run.

Sure, this is hindsight for me, but Law was all over it yesterday in real time:

[shemptiness]

 - even if Gallardo doesn't double, most starting pitchers in the NL can bunt a guy over to second, and with Herrera and Segura following, the chances of getting him home that way are much higher than Reynolds hitting a home run.

Yes, but....  Gallardo probably wouldn't be sacrificing with two outs.

[vansmack]

Yes, but....  Gallardo probably wouldn't be sacrificing with two outs.

You are absolutely right.  I misread that part and went back and looked at the box score...

[vansmack]

The Oakland A's are shopping Jim Johnson and are "willing" to eat most of his remaining salary in case you're interested.

They nearly traded him for a draft pick.

[K8teebug]

woah.

[atomic]

@keithlaw Buck put the winning run on base, bottom 10th, with no one on. Someone has to ask him to explain that one in the postgame presser

He walked a home run hitter to pitch to a pitcher.  I'd say that usually works.

But the home run hitter was Reynolds.  You just throw three pitches in the dirt and he is walking back to the dug-out.