Who do you think handles the bullpen worse, Torre or Francona?

Heh, I was about to ask the same thing. As a Yankees fan, I'm often complaining about Torre, and I've seen Francona do (intelligent) things with his 'pen (for instance, using Papelbon in a tie game on the road, which if I recall correctly he has done this year).

Yet I also watched last night and "Francoma" was on display. He's apparently fallen for the idea that Gagne MUST be an integral part of his bullpen, instead of discarded for... Manny Delcarmen (if you must have a "7th inning guy" or somesuch to set up for Okajima & Papelbon).

i rather have it that way than with my guy ozzie guillen. hes pretty good with the pen(when he has something to work with), lousy with the line-up and pinch hitters.

also-
Moose Skowron was the witness at my wedding.(Ron Kittle was the minister, 5/26/07 @ US Cellular-sox didnt even lose, game rained out)

I don't know if that's a fair rap of Guillen's handling of the line-up... imagine what Torre would do with his lineup if he didn't have the chance to pencil in 8 All Stars every day? (I'll give him credit for realizing he needed a real CF and started sitting Damon.)

In Francona's defense, isn't it worth seeing if Gagne can get the job done now rather than in October?

I honestly believe that the Sawx front office has made it clear that, since the playoffs are a lock, testing players and resting players is more important than competing for the division.

Not a good plan, in my opinion, but I don't think all of this is Francoma.

As all true Larry David-Seinfeld fans know, Joe Pepitone was twice before mentioned on the show. The first was when Kramer was at the fantasy camp, and Kramer threw him a little "chin music." "Wow! Joe Pepitone," said Jerry. "Well Joe Pepitone or not, I own the inside part of that plate." Kramer then started a brawl and punched Mickey Mantle. The second time, in the famous "marble loaf" episode, was when Kramer, in giving a tourist a tour of Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage, stated that it designed in 1850 by Joe Pepitone during the Civil War so the northern armies could practice fighting on grass.

Just because Eric Gagne cost the Sox a game does NOT make Terry Francona "an awful bullpen manager." That comment should be revised, unless you really believe it. About 5 months' worth of the AL's best bullpen work rebutts that statement itself. Third-rate reporting such as this is what will cost the Red Sox the postseason.

I really doubt that non-move before Gagne issued the bases-loaded walk had much to do with Tito at all, unless he had an out-of-body experience that inning.

One more Joe Pepitone reference on Seinfeld: In the episode where George is trying to find out whether or not the car he bought had actually belonged to Jon Voight, he proposes to the Yankees brass that they have more theme days at the ballpark. The first theme day that he proposes is "Joe Pepitone Day", before finally getting around to proposing a "Jon Voight Day", which did not go over very well.

Bryan: Good catch. If we want to expand to Yankee references, my two favorite are (1) George wanting to name a child "Seven" in honor of Mickey Mantle and (2) George's father, after being told by Steinbrenner that George was dead, responding by asking Steinbrenner, "How could you trade Buhner" and Steinbrenner blaming it on his "baseball people." Classic stuff.