Coco Crisp for Ellsberry; the Cereal Switch
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by JaredSox
First off, I know its Ellsbury. But that doesn't lend to the humor as well as my spelling. And now on to the post.
Tito Francona distinguished himself from Red Sox managers past by making the appropriate switch. (Think back to Mr. Little) This move transcends game 6 and it's implications. Whether this move works out or not, it's effects will reach on as long as Tito is in Boston. Here is what this move means to a life long Red Sox fan, both in the short and long term.
Short term
What else could I ask for in this series, post game 2? Beckett pitched lights out in the elimination game. And as good as Josh Becket is, you can never guarantee someone pitching half as well as he did in that game, against a team like Cleveland, on the road, in the ALCS.
My main concern after this game was the lack of productivity at the bottom of the line-up. I can understand and admire Tito's loyalty to a player. But this change reshapes the entire prospect of the Red Sox offense. Think of how a productive bottom of the line-up would have changed this series. Those back-to-back-to-back homeruns would have been so much bigger had Crisp and Lugo gotten on. And even Pedroia. Assume one got on, that puts it at 7-4. Once again a huge psychological difference. What if two? 7-5? That is enormous. Getting production out of the bottom of the line-up also turns it over more, giving Youk, Ortiz, Manny, and Lowell more at-bats. This gives consistency to the offense, which is enormous. Runs felt like they were a craps shoot for a while there. And with a shaky Schilling and a significantly less confident Dice-K, runs will be huge.
- NOTE: I stand by my prediction that Schilling will come up clutch in game 6. He's made for this. But it helps his mental state if he's getting runs.
Long term
And it was positively painful to think that Francona's loyalty to a player would keep Ellsbury out of the line-up. It was like knowing the end to a movie, then watching other people watch it, wanting to scream out why things in the movie are important. It was like holding some truth in my brain that could never be told to the right people, and it killed me. This changes the entire perception of how the Red Sox are being run.
Forgive the slight emotional parody that follows.
This decision by Tito Francona has built a trust between the fans and the team. This is that moment when you feel safe to let your guard down and believe that the person making the calls is wiling to put their pride aside and make the right call for the team. Maybe that's a bit prideful on my part (prideful in that me thinking that the manager making the call I would have made makes me trust him). But this just made so much sense! For the rest of his tenure I would have worried that loyalty to players and avoiding variance would always rule over winning ball games. Of course you are probably reading this thinking, why would some 23 year old kid in the Midwest think he knows more about baseball than a manager with a World Series ring? It's not about me thinking that. It's about the calls that even people like me can see, and knowing that Tito will make the right call. Because yesterday I would have never imagined this happening.
I don't want to get ahead of myself. There is still lots of work to be done, but I'm so glad that there is. And I feel confident that we have the best chance possible at this point. That's all I can ask for as a fan.
