Hurdle likes to play strategic hunches -- which is baseball speak for "He really doesn't know what the optimal strategy is, so he guesses" -- but his pulling the infield in in the first inning with Manny Ramirez at the plate reeked of panic.
Pedroia had hit his home run for the 1-0 lead, and the Sox had Kevin Youkilis at third base with one out when Hurdle had the infield play in for Ramirez. He promptly hit a line drive just over the glove of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who'd have caught it had he been at his normal position, and it was 2-0. Ramirez eventually scored on Drew's -- what else? -- double.
Now, we can't just judge Hurdle's move as a failure because it didn't work out. Had that line drive been a few inches lower, the move would have worked out. Bad moves, like good ones, can go either way.
But I don't think Hurdle was going against "the book" so much as he was grasping at straws. In a game between two of the highest-scoring teams in the majors, with his starting pitcher struggling to get anyone out, Hurdle decided to turn Manny Ramirez from a .300 hitter into something like a .400 hitter, on the off chance that he'd hit a grounder right at a Rockies infielder. Didn't happen.
The episode illustrates how in-game strategy decisions are a much less important part of a manager's job than most fans think. Hurdle guided his team to a magnificent late-season comeback and one of the hottest streaks in baseball history, all of it in huge-consequence games. How is that not a great managing job? Yet he's capable of making strategic decisions that are downright dumb.
But then again, a smart decision in that spot wouldn't have mattered. The Rockies were going to get killed either way.
Hurdle could make nothing but brilliant moves for the rest of the Series, and if the Rockies pitch like they did Wednesday, they'll get swept. Fortunately for them, they won't have to face Beckett again for the next three games, so the pitching needn't be brilliant to win. They'll get Curt Schilling in Game 2, with Ubaldo Jimenez, a 23-year-old rookie with live stuff, going for the Rockies.
The singularity of the two ballparks makes this Series look like it could shape up as one of those where the home team wins every game, but with Beckett scheduled for Game 5 in Denver, it would be incumbent on the Rockies to win Game 2 and give themselves some breathing room.
More good news for Colorado: As of the last out Wednesday, the score went from 13-1 in Game 1 to 0-0 in Game 2.
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Also nice: Freedom of speech [PERMALINK]
I've been wondering all month what the deal is with that schlocky movie music Fox has been using on its postseason broadcasts, though my interest hasn't risen beyond the level of thinking to myself, "What's the deal with all this schlocky movie music Fox has been using on its postseason broadcasts?"
So I was thinking to myself, "What's the deal with all this schlocky movie music Fox has been using on its postseason broadcasts?" Wednesday when the Fenway Park public address announcer introduced John Williams, the guy who writes all that schlocky movie music. He was there to conduct a subset of the Boston Pops for the national anthem.
The announcer called Williams "the epitome of our culture."
And that's when I decided to go live among the howler monkeys.
Previous column: Rockies in 7
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About the writer
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. Visit his column archive. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com or visit his Facebook page.
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