Mike Scioscia is an utter moron
 

The Angels had every ounce of momentum, needed only a ball in play to pretty much clinch a trip to Game 5, and that's when you try a suicide squeeze?! After that play failed, it was a mortal lock that the Sawx would win it in the bottom of the ninth.

I understand the call if you're losing and you need a spark of momentum, but with 100% of the momentum in your favor, it doesn't get any dumber than that. Talk about being too cute.

Not the smartest of calls by anymeans.

Thanks coach:D

In certain spots, it's a great call. In that spot? About the dumbest call you can make aside from pinch hitting yourself.

Don't care for the call with that batter. He is kind of a woman(to be honest.) With Rafael Furcal, I might do it.

With any batter, it's moronic. If it works, you get in the run that you were probably going to get in anyway. If it doesn't work, you kill your chances to score, and completely reverse all of the momentum that you garnered with the two-out rally in the top of the 8th, the 1-2-3 inning by Shields in the bottom, and the leadoff double by a .213 hitter in the ninth.

It's unfathomable.

Yea, I wouldn't try it against Manny Del Carmen. A flyball can be had against him. Even if you can't get the flyball, you still got one more chance to get a single with 2 outs. To be honest, I thought all they had to do was bring in Popabun in the 8th, and it would of been over. Hell, he didn't ever bring him in. As a manager, if you call that suicide squeeze, you better damn sure be confident the particular pitcher is gunna throw the batter something he can get the bat on. Scioscia did his part in that regard. So, I put most of the blame on Aybar for being a woman. He has to foul it off( in the least.) I would of brought in KROD to face Kotsay n' Bay.

Yeah, I thought Francona was being a little too cautious with the Pap Smear. Back to Scioscia, not only could the fly ball or hit be had, damn near anything but a rocket ground ball would've scored Willits. A high chopper, a slow roller, anything. The risk vs. reward situation was vastly tilted towards risk.

Thing is, Delcarmen was way off on his first two pitches, and he can be wild (69 walks in 180 2/3 career). Now you're sure this guy's gonna throw something down the middle?

He must know Manny's patterns or something, because he did throw one that he should of done something with. Scioscia did his part(pitch was manageable..he should of executed.) The woman didn't execute. Mike says he's a good bunter. So, he is a woman(choked.) If it was a pitch he couldn't handle, then I would be more critical of the decision. I know what you're saying, but Boston is a very lucky team. I guess he didn't think he was gunna get the flyball.

It's an indefensible call. Maybe Aybar should've gotten contact (it was inside), but regardless, the call was indefensible.

I love the call myself and want to thank Soscia for taking the goat around Masterson's neck and securing it around his own........The bubbly celebration was a bit much but we'll see what happens with Tampa.

They made a ton of execution failures in this series(Aybar failing to atleast foul that pitch off was just one of many.) Even if they get the run, then they probably lose the series (somehow.) They've turned into chokes. I mean look at it, dude. FKN how much they paying Guerrero to get extra-base hits in the playoffs? Are any of them hitting for power in the playoffs? Guerrero, MARK Tawhatever, and Hunter are suppose to hit home runs in the post. Didn't do it. So, go home. You gunna rely on fkn Aybar to win a series? LOL..Come on. There's much more wrong than that one play. They're choking in the post. That guy following Lester threw s-h-i-t tonite, and they had chances to hit some fat pitches. They missed them. Catcher missed a fat pitch with Hunter on 1st. That would of made it 4-2. He missed it. I know he hit well last night, but he happens to be the one that got the fattest pitch all night n' he missed it. They didn't execute. Deserve to go home. They are fkn boring, anyways. They are on my cable for free, but I fall asleep trying to watch them.

Why was it a bad call by Scioscia, especially with Aybar at the play. Because it didn't work? It was a disgraceful lack of execution by Aybar on a great pitch to bunt. Blaming the manager for a guy not making contact on a bunt in that situation is silly. It was obvious from the first 2 pitches and even the pitch he "attemped" to bunt that they werent giving him much to hit and would have walked him to set up the double play with the painfully slow Anderson coming up. Of course the fact that the Angels had no lefthander in the bullpen to face a lefthanded batter in the 9th was something that the "blame the manager" crowd always overlooks.

Your not saying that you disagree with Shields being on the mound in that situation I hope, the guy was money all season for them and against the SOx as well. The ball down the right field line was misplayed horribly and certainly wasn't tatooed. Seeing eye single for a run is hardly the guys fault. Soscia is an excellent manager who tends to press a bit much at times but certainly is smart and creative. The squeeze was actually a great call and typical of how the Angels have run all season. If you watch the replay the execution of the bunt was atrocious. The teaching is to get your bat parallel to the ground and actually "catch" the ball with it. The motion he used trying to execute that play was a "jab" and the bat was properly positioned. The Sox might have beaten the best team in the American League this year.

with 2 outs in the 9th, you bring in your left hand specialist. Except they dont have one. The guy simply waited on the curve and slapped it. Agreed on the bunt. How can you not make contact... The Angels are good but realistically simply didnt score enough. Kendrick was terrible, they didnt get much out of RF, Anderson wasnt great. Tex and Vlad never got a whole lot to hit. Though Tex will certainly get his $$ after this series. if you ahdn't watched him much before, he was awesome in the field and at bat.

I would agree that he is an excellent fielder which for Sox fans puts him with first baseman George the Boomer Scott and Doug Menkevitch for the Red Sox but I would be remiss if Youk wasn't mentioned here. Tex has unbelieveable range and hands for a guy that size. He will get big big money come December. Your boy Garvey was fairly decent with a glove as well.

Garvey is Scuds boy, not mine. Youk is a really overloked great player.

The reason I wouldn't have gone with the suicide squeeze is because the team hadn't been executing well all series. That's the type of play you want to call when your ballclub is going well. I don't like this player's guts, either. That being said, he could reach it. If you can reach it, then you have to atleast touch the top, bottom, or side of that ball. You have to give the guy at 3rd a chance of scoring, or the opportunity to be on 3rd again. If he hits the top or side of it, then it's a foul ball. If he gets the bottom of it, then it's gunna probably be popped up, and who knows if the guy can get back to 3rd in time? Probably not, but that poor execution, combined with the poor execution by Hunter/ Kendrick in game 3, is enough for me to say they were simply too tight. KROD simply hung a pitch to get beat by Drew in Anaheim. That was a very poor change-up. Those are 3 reasons they don't deserve to get to the 2nd round. Francona gave them an opportunity to win this game(he never brought POPABUN into this game.) They had their chances.

To defend this call is to completely ignore momentum and its effects on this game. All Aybar had to do was hit the ball somewhere and the Angels win. Even if he struck out or popped out, Figgins, who's red hot, is on deck. The risk overwhelmingly outweighed the reward. But you've become the biggest curmudgeon on this board, so I'd expect an argument from you. If I told you the sun rose in the east, you'd tell me it actually came from the north northeast.

Momentum? I have never heard of momentum used as a reason to make a play or not in baseball. I do know that the hitter at bat was far from a cinch to "hit the bal somewhere" as you have put it. The call wasnt the issue, it was the lack of execution. Had the Red Sox been pitching out on that pitch I would have said that it was brilliant on franconas part. But when a major league started cant make contact on a easilly hittable pitch, I find it hard to believe that it is the managers fault. Especially in light of the offensive problems that The Angels have had. You are a typical fan who always blames the manager or coach. They lost because they left a shitload of guy on base during the series, not because a manager called for a squeeze play with a bad hitter. Of course that fact is convientely forgotten. You want to call me a curmudegon yet your point is they had momentum? I thought you would at least told me that someone was in foul trouble or the clock was running out....

It has become a complete waste of time to try to talkabout anything around here because no one seems to want to discuss what happened or why, just call names when they dont agree...

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/b...-scioscia-game

at least one other guy agrees with me, outside of docicu...

Hell...you gave my boy away and I didn't even call you a name. At least not to your face anyways:)

I can get him back and send him to you..

then I can be called an indian giver too..

OK, I'm wrong. Momentum means nothing in sports.

I don't solely blame Scioscia. Yes, they left a ton of runners on base. But they were in position to win that game and probably the series. And he blew it.

I have a feeling that if I started a thread saying it were a great call, you'd tell me how shitty it was, but that's neither here nor there.

It's okay. I know how sensitive you are to being called names...

If it's any consolation, so do I. But being a Brit, what do I know

For a team that recorded 100 wins during the regular season, their run differential (+68) wasn't as high as you would think it would be. Then again, the Cubs (+184) led the league in that category...and they are at Scavs celebrating another first round sweep.

No but I prefer to use facts and logic to back up my points. The democrat in you must abhor the use of facts and logic. If Aybar fouls the pitch off, the whole thing is forgotten. because he faild to execute the play called, they didnt score the run. Of course Momentum would have made shields throw a more biting curve in the bottom of the inning that would have prevented the Angels from losing. The point I brought up about the flaw in the Angels bullpen of having no one to face lefties being just as much to blame seemed to miss also. Of course momentum is more important in baseball than lefthanded pitching.

Momentum...

I dont mind the names when valid points or a good discussion is going on. Hell no one calls me more names than Scuds and he has more inane theories than anyone.

Ever heard of the term "new life"? It's what the Red Sox got. It's intangible, but it helped. If you honestly think the Red Sox suddenly being able to hit Shields in the ninth after being totally inept in the eighth had nothing to do with that horrendous call by Scioscia, I can't even talk to you. Not everything that affects games is tangible.

What color is the sky? I say blue, but I anticipate a fervent debate.

I love scuds despite his sometimes unusual takes but at least I know he watches baseball. You seem to come from the Brent Musberger school of thought where intangibles are everything and coaches are like puppet masters.

You got me, Chuck. I've only been watching and playing the game since I was four years old, so I couldn't possibly know the things you do from yakking on NerdyTrail and playing fantasy baseball all year long.

That's what this is about, isn't it? You're convinced that I don't know anything about baseball, so any point I make, you'll provide the counterpoint.

That's cool, but I still say that if Scioscia doesn't make that call, the Angels would've scored at least one point in that quarter.

:rolleyes:

We might get Kuo back(much needed lefty out of da pen.) Pitched great today, but gotta see if sore in Philly tomorrow morning.

You say things like the reason that the sox got hits against Shields was because the had "new life" and you want baseball cred? Maybe you could have said that they had two lefties against shields that inning, one who would have had the game winning hit if it were not for a great play by Teixiera. You want to be praised for your knowledge and you gave me momemtum and new life. Sounds like a religious experience. You refuse to discuss what happened and why it may have occured other than Mike Scioscia is a moron. You may be correct in that the call was a risky one. But to ignore the other factors makes me believe you dont really get it despite your lengthy experience. You think I simply disagree when I pointed out that the play was only a failure because of failed execution. If Eli Manning fumbles a snap on the 3 yard line is it a bad play coughlin called? Is it the coaches fault? Aybar fumbled. Not Scioscia.

Yeah and he called bad pitches in the bottom of the 9th too.

Was there a game that we all missed today?

He pitched this morning at the stadium(for the coaching staff etc.) Then, they flew to Philly.

LOL, WTF? No I don't. I want you to go back to being the cool guy I knew, rather than the holier than thou cantankerous dick you've become on this board.

LOL...I know one thing. This debate is a lot better than the one they are gunna televise tonite.