Chronicles of the Lads

BEST SHOW ON TV
Hey, Richard, ElimiDate is maybe the best show on TV.

Okay, not really, but it's lots of fun. I was taping the game while at work, but only watched the first couple of innings last night (after the game ended), so I didn't know I had such a great show on the tape, and now I'm taping over it today. Oh, well.

Also, I notice that the other Blogspotters are able to have each entry linked as a separate HTML. I have no idea how to do this. I have never once been able to successfully link to an individual post I have made.

Well, with that silliness out of the way, let us speak now of Francisco Rodriguez. I've been loathe to write about him and curse his streak, but let me just say that the first 17 innings he threw this year are probably the most dominating innings I have seen by a pitcher. He's had total control of his pitches, he's mixing a curve with his decadent slider (I'm working hard to get "decadent" into the lexicon), and makes major league hitters look like, well, me.

It was inevitable, of course, that he was going to give up a run. Makes you wonder if, at some point, you just start putting him in blowouts, hoping he gives up a run when it doesn't matter so that he'll be sharp when it does ... a completely impractical strategy, of course, suited to APBA and not real life.

Of course, giving up one earned run to the Yankees is no shame, and the second run was completely and totally the fault of Shane Halter.

Much more disturbing are the performances of Troy Percival and Ben Weber. Weber has struggled all season, and struggled with his control, walking seven men in fifteen-and-a-third innings. But Percival now has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7:7 in his 11 2/3 innings, which is less than good.

The temptation is to say that Percy should be removed from the closer spot in lieu of Frankie. I disagree. I think Frankie is more valuable coming into closer games earlier, and coming in with men on base. Percy can usually get through one inning. But having Frankie in the set-up position means he can be used with much greater flexibility, maximizing his innings. In fact, though he is clearly being bred for the closer job, I'd like to see Rodriguez handled in such a fashion for his entire career. Not many wins, not many saves for him if that happens ... but more wins for the ballclub, and the thanks of grateful and understanding fans.