Former manager Leo Durocher, he of the short temper and long success, is credited with this saying. As the Braves-Astros, and Cardinals-Padres square off today, Durocher's line is in full focus--because the Yankees and Angels were given an unexpected day off today due to rain.
Both the Angels and the Yankees enter any game with the same goal: to a lead over to their set-up man/closer tandem. Yesterday, Scioscia spent his bullpen big time, asking Shields and Escobar to go 2-innings a piece and asking K-Rod to pitch the final inning. It got the Angels a win at the expense of their best relievers possibly having more restricted availability today. Scioscia is smelling like a rose right now. Torre could have gone to Tom Gordon to start the 6th, and asked Gordon and Rivera each to protect a one-run lead for 2-innings. Torre didn't, and by the time Gordon entered in the 7th, there was no lead. On the plus side, Gordon and Rivera are fresh today. On the minus side, there is no game today. Thanks to the weather, Torre suddenly has some more difficult questions to answer.
Should Torre have played his best cards earlier and asked Gordon to start the 6th? Or did Scioscia get lucky? These are among the many things you are welcome to discuss on this episode of..."Today's Playoffs Thread!"
