Just more grist for the mill.

Funny you should say that: we're grinding him to bits at Fanueil Hall tomorrow.

Aaaaaagh.

just like dusty baker

Tough series boys. Like I said Yanks in seven. The antics at Fenway did not help your cause. Great team you got though.

When you build a bullpen around the Bill James theory that great releivers aren't necessary, you at least need to have faith that your bullpen-by-committee group can get you five outs.

Rivera's three innings of work don't necessarily disprove the "star closers are overrated" theory, but I'm sure other than second guessing Little over the winter, the Sox will be pressed on whether or not they should at least go out and get someone their manager thinks is better than a tired Pedro Martinez.

Rivera is not--and is not used as--a conventional closer (ie, comes in only at beginning of ninth or later, with a lead), especially in postseason. James merely thought that you should use your best reliever in the highest-leverage situation...which is also not only how Torre uses Rivera, but close.

Curses! Foiled again!

I don't suppose this is the right time to remind you all that the hockey season has started.

The hard part of being a Sox fan (besides the losing) is how they lose. If Clemens threw a gem last night and they lose 2-1 that's one thing, to knock Clemens out early and, hold a 3-4 run lead the entire game only to lose in overtime is another. Little should have pulled Pedro earlier - that said if the bullpen came on and blew it Little would have been blamed also.
Final note - perhaps there negative karma - both the "cursed" teams (Cubs and Sox) were up 3 runs with 5 outs to go and couldn't finish it off.

oj -- There are more than a few faiths whose followers have been "given" less evidence of their being "real" than the curse of the Cubs and Sox. What do you think? Is tough to be a rationalist about this...

This post from late August holds up pretty well.

MG:

The Sox are actually a perfect microcosm of Creation--endlessly fascinating, often inspiring, fatally flawed, too too human, we all think we could fix what's wrong if only we had the power...

David:

The amazing thing is, even though everyone in Red Sox Nation knew that Pedro was out of the game after the 7th (he even pointed to Heaven as he does), there's at least some argument Grady can make for sticking with him. And he did get to two strikes on the guys he faced in the 8th (doesn't Varitek share the blame for giving up hits on 0-2 & 1-2 pitches?). But after he finally goes and gets Pedro he has pretty much the best matchup you could askl for against the Yankees, with Enrique Wilson up and batting righty (against Embree). So, what does he do? Goes to a righty, which means the Yankees get to bring in Ruben Sierra to pinch hit and the far superior Aaron Boone to replace Wilson from then on. They then have to walk Sierra to get to Garcia, who'd had a decent series. They got out of it, but didn't deserve to.

Leaving Pedro in was a mistake, but it was a mistake in keeping with Grady's style and character. He'd stuck with Nomar and been handsomely rewarded for it the preceding night, and his obvious faith in his guys was no doubt a source of the resiliance they showed all year.

A better manager might not have made the playoffs at all.

Of course, I would have pulled Pedro for Wakefield in the 7th. But what do I know...

My wife can vouch that I would have pulled Pedro in the 8th and would have used Scott Williamson and Derek Lowe before Wakefield in relief.

Darn Babe Ruth! The Bambino keeps ruining my Octobers.

If Grady is a moron, Torre is just a luckier moron. The way he wasted Wells was incredibly dumb. If that came had continued any longer, the Sox would have had Lowe and Williamson in the tank against Weaver, White, and a tired Contreras.

Grady shouldn't have let Pedro talk him into letting him stay in the game. But so it goes. If Nixon gets a decent jump on Jeter's double, if the Sox score with men on first and third with nobody out against Mussina, it's quite a bit different. Grady made a lot of calls that worked out well, also. He didn't intentionally walk Melhuse in Game 5 against Oakland. He worked the relief pitchers very well the entire postseason, except for this last game. He didn't drop Nomar in the order, and was rewarded in Game 6. He trusted Wakefield in the postseason, when Wakefield hadn't pitched well then since '92. (Torre dropped Giambi down, and if Giambi had batted earlier, those homeruns might well have likely been hit with people on base.)

Who would have thought before this postseason that Red Sox fans would be calling for the manager to take Pedro out and go to the bullpen faster?