Runner Fell Down? Or Tweak Needed?

[motnahp]

Oakland led Minnesota 2-0 in the top of the 9th, when Ken Landreaux hit a grand slam to give the Twins a 4-2 lead.[:(] I felt "less than adequate" as a manager, knowing my starting pitcher (Rick Langford) was out of gas. I was burned for trying to get him the shutout. As it turned out, he should've gotten at least a win out of the deal.

The A's scored twice in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 4-4. The bases were loaded with one out. The winning run (Mike Davis SP=48) was 90 feet away. Mitchell Page came up to bat. Things were looking good for the home team! [:)] The infield came in....the outfield came in.....the pitch.....Page sends a long fly ball to deep center field......well over center fielder Landreaux's head.....or is it? [&:] I'm given the option to tag up at 3rd base. I chose "YES" only because there was no box marked "HELL YES".

Davis is OUT at the plate[:@] and we go into extra innings. Naturally, the Twins score one in the top of the 10th and end up winning 5-4. I did get a little tease by getting runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out in the bottom of the 10th, but nothing doing.





Hats off to Landreaux, I guess. He had one heck of an inning!!!

[KG Erwin]

Look, motnahp, stupid stuff like this happens to me all the time, but I don't write about it in my locker reports. My latest g*ddammit moment was my starter walking five batters in a row, allowing two runs to walk in standing. As a partisan writer, I simply try to put the best spin on it that I can, i.e., my team's pitcher was having control problems.

[motnahp]

Footnote: Mitchell Page was fined an undisclosed amount for hitting the ball too high, giving Landreaux the chance to race back and grab it.

Page was on the bench the following game against a tough lefty. With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the 9th, Page was called upon to pinch hit. No happy ending, as he struck out.

I'll continue to praise the game, when appropriate, but will also continue to point out little problems that may need some attention. I'm all for making a great game even greater.

Sorry if I hit some sort of nerve. The last thing I need right now is a P.O.'d Marine coming after me.[;)]