Yikes...People (ok sports writers and talk show hosts) are all over Francona for his moves last night. AND THEY WON...
Francona wanted to get Manny a game off. I think that's a good idea. Then Damon got hurt and Francona stuck with his choice of resting Manny. He moved Millar to left and put Olerud at first. Payton (starting for Manny) moved to center.
And they won...
Less than two weeks after calling for the head of Renteria (who is now the Sox poster boy to all of them), they are back on the Bash-Millar bandwagon. I, for one, happen to think that Millar (while not playing well right now) having shown public support for Renteria helped to jump start Edgar. Is there empirical proof of that? Not really...But one day after Millar's "Stop Booing" speech Edgar started his tear which, by the way, won him AL Player of the Week.
I think what we're seeing with a lot of the Boston hitters is that other teams have made adjustments. People are throwing nothing but breaking balls to Millar and he and Ron Jackson haven't made the necessary adjustments, yet. Last year Millar struggled until he opened his stance. He then turned like a madman on the inside fastballs that were jamming him. Maybe they'll figure it out, maybe they won't. We'll see. But I am not bashing this guy. No way.
And I understand that Olerud has come in and hit well.
But I think that writers need a story. I think that, to a point, they all said that Boston had improved on its championship team in the off-season and they feel like they are underperforming.
Ok, well how about this...Boston is only 3 games out of first place. They've had their ace on the DL for almost the entire year. Wells missed a few starts from injury, and Arroyo's suspension has thrown him out-of-sync. Manny's is hitting sub-250, and our bullpen has not been lights out. These things will correct themselves. But, we are ahead of the Yankees, and we are well within striking distance of an O's team that has dropped 4 of its last 5 games.
Sit back and enjoy the ride...Get off Millar's back...
Grieve Sucks, you hit the nail on the head, "reporters need a story".
ReplyDeleteThere are many tired storelines that reporters can use and in this case it appears that they are angling for the "bench player" out performing a starter. Even NESN got in the mix last night interviewing Olerud after the game.
Hey, Millar is a competitor. I say keep playing Olerud and Millar as much as possible. It will only serve to light a fire under Millar and then he'll start pounding the ball. (And I am not just saying this because I am dead last in HRs... ok I am).
And it's not only that reporters need a story, it's also that fans (at least the ones who call into WEEI) need something to complain about. Never happy, not even after a win.
ReplyDeleteCan I get a special dispensation to hate Millar, due to the fact that I've consistently hated him since he had his first 'half-season slump' in 2003?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you "hate" Millar?
ReplyDeleteIn 2003, he hit 25 or 26 HRs and drove in almost 100. He had one terrible month and was fairly consistent the rest of the year (except for the June or July slump he had where he was really bad).
Last year, the guy kept an upbeat attitude and turned his season around. One could say he was a HUGE reason the Sox accomplished what they did last year. If Francona goes to Mientadfk;ldf as the starter last season, do we make the playoffs? Doubtful.
Yes, this year he hasn't produced and I can see being frustrated by the fact that he is not hitting. But we are still in great shape as far as winning the division and making the playoffs...And it is only May and we haven't played many games at Fenway.
Overall, Millar's production (RBI)is better than Mueller, Bellhorn and Varitek. He hasn't scored all that much, but the lineup behind him hasn't been doing much to drive him in...
In terms of starting infielders, only Bill Mueller has less errors than him, and Millar has way more "chances". And he has the highest fielding percentage of anyone in the infield.
He'll hit...He has every year during his career.
I hate him precisely because of the streakiness. The stats and I disagree on this, but I just can't believe that a guy who packs all of his offensive production into a couple months of the season can really help a team as much as one who's steady throughout. I get very tired very quick of sitting around waiting for him to heat up, especially in a stretch like this where he just looks completely hopeless.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I'm not 'switching' my critcism to Millar frm Renteria - I've been saying since Edgar's struggles started that he'd break out, but Millar... really from the AS Brak in 03, I have not been able to get excited about the guy.