9/24/04 vs. Yankees L 6-4

What do you think the most important question for Grady Little's replacement would have been during his interview? Perhaps something like: "The Sox are up by 1 run against the Yankees in a very important game. Pedro is pitching pretty well, but his pitch count is just over 100 after completing the 7th inning. What would you do in the 8th inning? And just as a side, keep in mind the guy we just fired left him in."

At what point does the manager decide that he has his bullpen rotation set? If you cannot trust your setup man to start the 8th inning in an important 1 run game, then he probably shouldn't be your setup man. Now I'm not saying the Timlin/Embree combination is unhittable, but someone from the bullpen is going to have to step up in an important game, and Terry Francona is going to have to put some trust in them.

Next point, remember the name Tim Mcclelland. Or forget it. It doesn't matter you won't see him on an umpiring crew come October. You don't get to blow two calls right in front of your face in a game like this and get to ump a playoff game (or God forbid - a World Series game). I'm not sure what his problem was tonight, he was in position for both plays. In particular, he was looking directly at Ruben Sierra's back, there is just no way he did not see the tag applied. The A-Rod call on the other hand could be forgiven if it didn't turn out to be a run. When the tag is applied inside one of the arms, it's hard to spot.

I'm not saying this loss was due to poor officiating. I thought the work behind the plate was exceptional. Tony Randazzo did an excellent job of keeping the strike zone consistent, got into position to help out with the long foul ball that A-Rod hit... Of course, the one bad call ended up costing the Sox a run, but this pitching staff has got to get it together. They are not going to get out of a five game series with anyone giving up 6 runs every night.

The good news tonight is that both the Angels and Rangers lost, so the Sox stay up 6 games in the Wild Card race.

Manny is looking more and more like the AL MVP. What a fantastic season. I was not surprised at all that he didn't take it personnaly when they put him on waivers or when they tried to trade him. He has had more clutch hits this season than I can remember one guy having. He seems to be constantly coming up with the tying run in scoring position. And then coming through. A professional hitter if there ever was one.

What was the point of pinch running Kapler instead of Dave Roberts? There is no way - NO WAY - Posada could throw this guy out. I understand that you could want to put him in as the tying run, but wouldn't you rather have a runner at 2nd with no outs? Let's just say that Tek gets a hit, is it really going to make that much of a difference who is on first? The ball would have to be in a gap to score from first anyway. In my mind, I had Roberts run for Nixon, steal 2nd and advance to 3rd on Tek's ground out.

How about Trot Nixon? This guy has an unbelievable heart. I think most guys in his position woul dhave given up the season. We thought he was coming back just to be a pinch hitter, he looks like he hasn't missed a day in right field. What a great sliding catch!

I nice light breeze blowing in from right would be just perfect tomorrow. Wake needs every little piece of help he can get at this point. It seems pretty apparent that Lowe is not going to be able to start a game in October. He had a great August, but whatever his problem was in June-July has obviously returned. A solid outing for Wake would go a long way to boosting his confidence.

Reduced to MLB Audio tomorrow, but back on ESPN on Sunday. I have had the opportunity to see more Sox games this season than any other since we moved to Vegas. Love it!