Comments on: ALDS Coverage: Papelbon Blows Save

By: Shant

Shant — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:13:15 +0000

ALDS Coverage: Papelbon Blows

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:50:49 +0000

WTF?

By: Rob in CT

Rob in CT — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:13:29 +0000

Yeah, I don’t know what Gardenhire was thinking there. Nathan should have started the inning. That said, he had a very bad series.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:22:30 +0000

I don’t know, I think it’s a defensible move. Vlad has been awful against anybody with a decent fastball. His bat has slowed perceptibly. And in this situation, Hunter’s run is almost meaningless. You have a choice – face Hunter or Vlad. Facing Vlad was the better bet, and not because of their past against Papelbon. Hunter is a better hitter against good fastballs.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:20:44 +0000

That’s completely on Gardenhire. You’ve got one of the best two or three relievers in baseball sitting out there in the bullpen, you desperately need to keep the deficit at one to have any chance of prolonging your season, you’re facing the heart of a juggernaut batting order… and you start off with two LOOGYs sandwiching Jon Rauch?! Like, fuck the heck?* By the time Nathan came in, with bases loaded and one out, his manager had already set him up to fail. Yeah, he gave up the hit to Posada, but Kubel then demonstrated beyond all question of a doubt why he doesn’t belong near leather. Pinning things on Nathan is incredibly unfair to him.

*Copyright FJM, 2005

By: joser

joser — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:55:28 +0000

At least Papelbon only blew one save. Nathan (effectively) blew two in a row. (Yeah, it wasn’t technically a blown save in game three but it was a “blow the game out of reach.”)

By: joser

joser — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:52:09 +0000

Everybody’s entitled to a second chance. As long as they learned something from the first one. Welcome back.

This dssd character, on the other hand….

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:12:15 +0000

“Honestly, weren’t you a little surprised when he continued pumping fastballs”

You wouldn’t be if you’d watched him all year. Papelbon’s human performance all year was apparently some bad foreshadowing.

By: ineedanap

ineedanap — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:47:08 +0000

Actually, it wasn’t that bad of a move.

As an Angel fan I thought they had a shot with Hunter, but when he got the IBB I thought, “Damn, thats smart”. Vlad has dropped off considerably, especially when it comes to catching up to fastballs.

The IBB was a good idea. The execution, by letting Vlad get extended, was the problem.

By: killa3312

killa3312 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:36:25 +0000

I have to admit, I was quite gleeful when I saw that collapse. Papelbon is incredibly annoying.