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Perry's Perspective--
BOSTON?S BULLPEN BLUES
Somewhere, Grady Little is smiling.
The former Boston Red Sox manager was initially hailed for taking a club that was racked by disorder under Jimy Williams in 2001 and getting them back into the playoffs just two years later. Unfortunately for Little, that?s as long as his tenure in Boston lasted. Leading 5-2 in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the hated New York Yankees, Little made the fateful decision not to pull fatiguing starter Pedro Martinez in the middle of the eighth inning. The Yankees won the game and the series.
The next year, Little?s contract wasn?t renewed and Terry Francona got to manage the soon-to-be World Champions. But the difference between winning and losing wasn?t who was at the helm. It was the upgraded bullpen Francona was able to rely on in the late innings. And if Boston fails to make it back into the postseason this year, you can point the fickle finger of blame once again at the pen. Red Sox relievers have a combined 5.42 ERA thus far (up from 3.92 in 2004), with only the Arizona Diamondbacks faring worse.
Keith Foulke was playing in Oakland in 2003 and leading the AL in saves with 43. If he had been in Boston that year, Little would have pulled Pedro in a heartbeat. Instead, the Red Sox snapped him up as a free agent in 2004. Foulke continued to bring the heat (along with his nasty circle change), posting a 2.17 ERA with 32 saves and pitching the last inning in all four games of Boston?s World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
This year? Bupkis. Foulke had a lousy start to the season, posting a 6.23 ERA before finally having arthroscopic surgery done on his left knee in early July. Then he got hit on the right elbow (his throwing elbow) during a simulated rehab game, delaying his return to the lineup until Sept. 1. He?s still not the Foulke of old. The South Dakota native has a 4.05 ERA in limited action since his return. Meanwhile, Boston?s default firemen are struggling and the Red Sox are in danger of missing the postseason.
Current closer Mike Timlin was one of the pitchers left on the bench during that Game 7 heartbreaker. The veteran seemed to be running out of juice when he joined Boston in 2003, but now he?s enjoying one of the best seasons of his 14-year career, with a sparkling 1.91 ERA heading into Wednesday night?s matchup with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Better make that 2.26. Timlin blew his seventh save of the year as the Rays won 7-4, knocking the Red Sox out of first place in the AL East. It was his second blown save in 10 days.
The Red Sox are now one game behind surging Cleveland for the AL Wild Card berth. Worse for Boston fans, it?s the Yankees who now sit atop the AL East, half a game up on the Sox. New York has no problems in the relief department. Mariano Rivera, as always, is an excellent Cy Young candidate. His 41 saves and 1.32 ERA make him at the very least the best closer in the majors right now. The only pitcher with more saves is Cleveland?s Bob Wickman with 44. Saves can be a deceiving statistic, since they often come with the winning team leading comfortably in the ninth, but one look at Cleveland?s league-leading 2.87 bullpen ERA shows that the Tribe is also loaded for bear when the game is on the line.
The Red Sox are still far from done. They?ll try to ride the big bats of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, and hope that Timlin doesn?t fade down the stretch. At this point, it looks like the battle won?t be over until the final fireman sprints to the mound during a season-ending three-game set at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and Yankees. For now, we have Boston listed at +240 to win the AL pennant and the Yankees at +350. Cleveland is at +500 despite having the best record of all three teams at 89-63.
Perry's Perspective--
BOSTON?S BULLPEN BLUES
Somewhere, Grady Little is smiling.
The former Boston Red Sox manager was initially hailed for taking a club that was racked by disorder under Jimy Williams in 2001 and getting them back into the playoffs just two years later. Unfortunately for Little, that?s as long as his tenure in Boston lasted. Leading 5-2 in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the hated New York Yankees, Little made the fateful decision not to pull fatiguing starter Pedro Martinez in the middle of the eighth inning. The Yankees won the game and the series.
The next year, Little?s contract wasn?t renewed and Terry Francona got to manage the soon-to-be World Champions. But the difference between winning and losing wasn?t who was at the helm. It was the upgraded bullpen Francona was able to rely on in the late innings. And if Boston fails to make it back into the postseason this year, you can point the fickle finger of blame once again at the pen. Red Sox relievers have a combined 5.42 ERA thus far (up from 3.92 in 2004), with only the Arizona Diamondbacks faring worse.
Keith Foulke was playing in Oakland in 2003 and leading the AL in saves with 43. If he had been in Boston that year, Little would have pulled Pedro in a heartbeat. Instead, the Red Sox snapped him up as a free agent in 2004. Foulke continued to bring the heat (along with his nasty circle change), posting a 2.17 ERA with 32 saves and pitching the last inning in all four games of Boston?s World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
This year? Bupkis. Foulke had a lousy start to the season, posting a 6.23 ERA before finally having arthroscopic surgery done on his left knee in early July. Then he got hit on the right elbow (his throwing elbow) during a simulated rehab game, delaying his return to the lineup until Sept. 1. He?s still not the Foulke of old. The South Dakota native has a 4.05 ERA in limited action since his return. Meanwhile, Boston?s default firemen are struggling and the Red Sox are in danger of missing the postseason.
Current closer Mike Timlin was one of the pitchers left on the bench during that Game 7 heartbreaker. The veteran seemed to be running out of juice when he joined Boston in 2003, but now he?s enjoying one of the best seasons of his 14-year career, with a sparkling 1.91 ERA heading into Wednesday night?s matchup with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Better make that 2.26. Timlin blew his seventh save of the year as the Rays won 7-4, knocking the Red Sox out of first place in the AL East. It was his second blown save in 10 days.
The Red Sox are now one game behind surging Cleveland for the AL Wild Card berth. Worse for Boston fans, it?s the Yankees who now sit atop the AL East, half a game up on the Sox. New York has no problems in the relief department. Mariano Rivera, as always, is an excellent Cy Young candidate. His 41 saves and 1.32 ERA make him at the very least the best closer in the majors right now. The only pitcher with more saves is Cleveland?s Bob Wickman with 44. Saves can be a deceiving statistic, since they often come with the winning team leading comfortably in the ninth, but one look at Cleveland?s league-leading 2.87 bullpen ERA shows that the Tribe is also loaded for bear when the game is on the line.
The Red Sox are still far from done. They?ll try to ride the big bats of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, and hope that Timlin doesn?t fade down the stretch. At this point, it looks like the battle won?t be over until the final fireman sprints to the mound during a season-ending three-game set at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and Yankees. For now, we have Boston listed at +240 to win the AL pennant and the Yankees at +350. Cleveland is at +500 despite having the best record of all three teams at 89-63.
