HE COULD BE FIRED BY LUNCHTIME:

Guthrie gem tarnished (Steve Buckley, May 14, 2007, Boston Herald)

When he went out to the mound to pitch the ninth inning late yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park, Baltimore Orioles right-hander Jeremy Guthrie was mindful of a conversation he’d just had with manager Sam Perlozzo.

Guthrie would be coming out of the game if he allowed a baserunner. He knew that. Never mind that he had thrown only 85 pitches in shutting out the Red Sox for eight innings, or that he had a five-run lead. He’d be coming out.

But with one out, the Red Sox’ Coco Crisp [stats] hit a harmless pop fly in front of the plate. Orioles catcher Ramon Hernandez dropped his mask to make the catch. And then he dropped the ball. Guthrie then revised his position: I’m not coming out after that, he thought to himself.

Out he came anyway, as Perlozzo went to the bullpen. And so it was that Guthrie sat in the dugout and watched helplessly as the Red Sox rallied for six runs, emerging with a shocking 6-5 victory.

Let us suppose for a moment that there was a reason to yank young Mr. Guthrie, who'd been unhittable, after he forced a haremless pop-up that his catcher botched. (Of course, that begs the question of why you brought him out for the 9th, but...) If the situation had suddenly become that dire why don't you bring in your closer right then?

MORE:
Mariners Cool Yankee Bats (Associated Press, May 14, 2007)

Horacio Ramirez and Seattle's bullpen put the Yankees right back into their offensive funk.

If Roger really just wanted to help the Yankees win again he'd have signed for the minimum sop they could go get the substantial help they need. You can almost hear his hamstrings tightening at the prospect of meaningless games in August.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 14, 2007 6:45 AM