Author Topic: Question about Game 3 9th inning (Read 3524 times)

austro · « **on:** October 28, 2005, 05:32:05 pm »

Sorry if this has already been discussed; I was out of town on Wednesday and several million posts went by without my notice.

In the bottom of the 9th, Burke made his way to third and Biggio was walked, bringing Willy T's spot to the plate. I thought at that point that Garner would hit for Willy, probably with Palmeiro: that would bring a veteran with more plate discipline, plus the righty-lefty matchup would be in his favor. Either he would get to face Hernandez (El Duque was still pitching at the time, right?), or Guillen would have to make a change. It was apparent that if the #2 spot didn't get on base, Berkman would almost certainly be walked in order to get to MoBerg and the potential double play. And Willy seemed like a pretty likely strikeout against the Hernandez sliders.

But Garner obviously went with Willy, so I've been trying to figure out why. If he hit Palmeiro for Willy but they still didn't get the run in, he'd be forced to use somebody else in CF. Presumably that would be Burke, with Palmeiro going to LF, which doesn't seem that awful. But I guess that's more of a defensive risk than Garner wanted to assume if the game went into extra innings. Is there something else I'm overlooking?

And I sure hope Willy spends the winter working with somebody on bunting to the 1B side. If he could ever learn to bunt hard between P and 1B, I don't think they'd ever get him out.

NeilT · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:34:50 pm »

As I recall, there were no outs and Willy had hit better than anyone but Berkman in the series. Anything put into play, even a double play ball, was likely to get Burke home.

Savage · « **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:39:31 pm »

Quote:

As I recall, there were no outs and Willy had hit better than anyone but Berkman in the series. Anything put into play, even a double play ball, was likely to get Burke home.

There was 1 out already. My father and I had the same thought. Willy had been having a TERRIBLE day and all we needed was a fly ball. OP seemed a better candidate for that situation. I actually felt after Willy's K that we would eventually lose the game - you can't let opportunities like that go by against such a quality opponent and expect to win.

JimR · « **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:47:13 pm »

in the 9th:

one out
Burke walked
Burke went to second on an errant pickoff
Burke stole third
Biggio walked
Taveras Ked swinging at everything, including bad pitches
Berkman walked
Ensberg left 'em stranded by striking out.

El Duque was very wild, and that wound up hurting us. he tried to pitch to Biggio, which i thought would win the game for us. then Willy had no discipline whatsoever. Hernandez was all over the place.

JimR · « **Reply #7 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:48:42 pm »

a double play ball ends the inning, Neil. there was one out. i thought you were keeping score.

NeilT · « **Reply #8 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:51:12 pm »

Yeah, but I threw away my scorecard. That's why I need to keep score.

NeilT · « **Reply #12 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:57:02 pm »

Was that the inning when Ashby was apparently complaining about Biggio not going after a couple of pitches?

WulawHorn · « **Reply #17 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:37:06 pm »

Moberg fouled back two hanging sliders, and swung at two pitches well outside the zone. Had he let El Duque implode by not swinging the bat he probably walks.

Matt · « **Reply #18 on:** October 29, 2005, 02:12:18 pm »

I'm pretty sure the pitches Ensberg swung and missed on were fat sliders right in the middle of the plate.

At Ease · « **Reply #19 on:** October 29, 2005, 03:59:48 pm »

I'm glad others had the same thought I had during the game, about PH'ing for WT. I think Garner did a great job all year, but I think he made a mistake there.

I can empathize with not wanting to take out a hitter who's running hot at the plate and who you'd like to keep in CF, but an inexperienced slap-hitter with poor plate discipline is the last thing you want in the box to face a wild (but veteran) pitcher with a runner on 3rd and one out. Palmeiro, particularly with his .500 lifetime BA against El Duque, would have been a great choice.

cc · « **Reply #20 on:** October 29, 2005, 06:13:29 pm »

I actually thought, during the 18-inning game with ATL, we would lose the game after failing in the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th. They kept failing to do anything with opportunities.

The White Sox failed repeatedly as well to put the Astros away. In fact, they probably had as many failures as the Astros. They just happened to have 4 more successes.

Garner had pinch hit for Willy repeatedly over the past few months. He has never hesitated to do so when he felt the situation warranted.

ASTROCREEP · « **Reply #22 on:** October 30, 2005, 07:13:15 pm »

I thought this was the ONLY questionable call Garner made all through the playoffs.

Then again if Wily can atleast manage to hit a chopper somewhere and he beats out the double play by a step, then Garner is a genious.

JimR · « **Reply #23 on:** October 31, 2005, 10:45:16 am »

they would not even try for a DP. the infield was in.

Author Topic: Question about Game 3 9th inning (Read 3524 times)

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