hopbitters: I agree. Also the lineup doesn’t get any easier walking Ortiz, as you now have Manny to deal with.

The highest batting average in mlb history was .440. The highest HR% was 15.34%. If those were the same person (they weren’t – they were a century+ removed), and you IBB’d them because you couldn’t figure out how to get him out 44% of the time, you would give away 56 outs out of 100 AB to avoid 15 HR. If that’s discretion, then I’m Hugh Duffy. Now if you’ve got a runner on second, one out, a one-run lead, Ortiz up, and Buddy Groom on the mound, I wouldn’t argue the decision to give him a pass, but I’d be a lot happier if they just tried to get him out.

Burnt out from usage, I suppose.

Mussina will never be the guy that backs people off the plate. So you were hoping in vain.

And where was this MO in the 2004 ALCS?

Man, did I get screwed tonight. Freaking power went out right after Sheff’s homer and was off until just after the end of the game.
What a piece of crap Schilling is. Him winking at Rivera makes me sick. Watching that highlight gives me flashbacks to him running out to the bullpen during last year’s ALCS when there was no way he was going in the game, but he couldn’t resist milking the moment.

Tell me again why we considered trading Sheffield? This guy is really helping us develop an attitude that we sorely need. And Giambi seemed to have a new determined focus about him since the last time I saw him (I live in Omaha and don’t get many games). If we only had some pitching….

Can we just walk this guy a la Barry Bonds? After all, in the absence of a better alternative, discretion is the better part of valor. Can’t understand why the “braintrust” won’t just put him on whenever he’s got a chance to hurt us.