Reader Response

From Cranky Curtis:

I will try to keep this as concise as possible without rambling too much. But it will take a bit of explaining, so here goes...

Pitching Concept 1 (which I spoke to Mrs Casual Observer about):

I will use some ex-Twins as examples, since I would rather not speak about any current Twins.

The Minnesota Twins are about to face the Chicago White Sox in a critical series for the division lead. Brad Radke is scheduled to start. The White Sox have used a platoon at DH and 3B all season. Since Radke is pitching, Chicago uses their left-handed platoon players. Combined, they now have 6 lefties, 2 righties and a switch hitter. Radke takes the mound in the first inning. He throws 1 pitch. A harmless, soft-toss intentional ball. Skipper Curtis Dorschner walks to the mound and takes the ball from Radke and makes a call to the bullpen. Johan Santana gets the call against the heavily stacked left handed lineup. Since the Twins had an off day this week, Johan Santana has his usual 5 days rest and lefties have been hitting .095 against Santana this season. Yum! Ozzie Guillen must then choose to empty his bench in the first inning or suffer through a 17 strikeout performance. Now, this strategy could not be employed every day. But, if every manager in the league knew that Coach Dorschner was this crazy...they might think twice before stacking their lineup with lefties or righties. This would give my team a better chance to win every game.

I will send my second pitching concept another time. It will be about the closer role.

In addition to my pitching concepts, I also believe in your ace pitcher philosophy. I hate wasting a good pitcher against a Cy Young-type pitcher. Hughes vs. Price in the season opener was a perfect example. Hughes is a very good pitcher. Price is better. Save Hughes for a game that we could win. Sadly, we scored zero in games 1 and 2, so it wouldn't have much mattered this time around. None the less, I completely agree. Especially for playoff series!

And yes...bunting can be an equalizer for soft hitting teams (if you time them properly and/or have any kind of speed).

Bahhh! I'm finished.

Baseball is too sad to talk about it.