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Kissing Cousin

Blame of the Game: Darren Oliver

When your job is to come in and get lefties out and you put two lefties on base and the game goes to extra innings, you still get the blame for your appearance in the regular frames.

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WOW you guys do quick wraps.
damn right it goes to oliver
oliver only gave up one run

bootcheck gave up 4

If Olier does his job

Bootcheck never gives up a grand salami

WRONG

when you give up a grand slam to mark ellis on the first pitch you suck

wholeheartedly agreed!

which pitcher gave up the loss? oh yeah.

Oliver at least got out of the inning

actually he didn't

but he doesn’t suck as bad as chis “i like my era over 10” bootcheck

any game that we don't win

that GA plays in, Garrett gets it. I am counting the days….....

Yeah, his 2-5 really killed the Angels today.
any person who hustles would at least be 4-5
If GA weren't so lazy, he'd have caught that homerun.
I wanna shove the broom (sweep) up Bootcheck's ass

But since I wasn’t here, I’ll accept Oliver for blame

can we blame KCOP?
i think bootcheck's mom pulled the plug on the signal
At least, I hope, the A's fans got blacked out too and missed their big HR.

I blame Bootcheck and weak Angels offense that should have had this game won with a few lousy singles here and there with multiple runners on bases.

agreed......how many chances to win does one need?
Nope.

As feed was fine…

Yes, but immediately praise them again for giving us Lauren Sanchez.
And her spacious cleavage
I'd give it to Kotchman

for our “best” hitter, he sure hasn’t been good

BOTG -

Vlad…....runner on third with less than two outs…....and you pop up to 2nd base??!?

Poo on you for that

lol

GA and GMJ did the same exact thing and they didn’t hit a 2 run homer against a fantastic pitcher

GA and GMJ were not up with a runner on 3rd with less than two out? what inning?
2nd inning for GMJ , 7th inning for GA
well.......fair enough, however i would argue.......the second inning - compared to ninth inning.

big difference

plus as the "cleanup" hitter........thats his NUMBER 1 job.
oh btw........Vlad..........5 LOBs
Bootcheck should get it

Yes Oliver was placed in a situation where his job was to get lefties out but if Soth could look at the splits he would NEVER use him that way. His OPS against lefties is over 1000 now. He totally controls righties, is horrible against lefties.

Bootcheck.

Come on, no brainer.

Bootchek!

Bootchek!
bootchek!

Bootcheck

Agree with Oliver to a point, but Bootsy really shit the bed in this one. And every other appearance he’s made this season. Why is he still around? The”no spring training” bullshit holds no water.

Special thanks to KCOP for keeping a bottle of beer from flying through my shiny new plasma.

yea if Boot wasn't a former 1st rounder does anyone think he'd still be around?

DFA him and bring up Bulger who has over 14 k’s per 9 in AAA. No way Boot does anywhere close to that.

bulger is also pretty bad

id go with oday

Any one of these 3 for BOTG...

1) KCOP 13
2) ChuckBoot
3) Allover

I know it has to go to one player

but I think “situational hitting” should get BOTG.

3 times they had runner on 3rd w/ 1 out. Didn’t get him home once.

true

but a grand slam to mark ellis?

At least Mark Ellis is one of the few Oakland A's

I could actually fathom having on our team and not puking my guts out.

I still really have a hard time dealing with the fact that Scott (DUI-H&R) Speizio and a former Oakland A is the guy who probably got the most important hit in our franchise’s history. But I DEAL WITH IT.

If we could get Mark Ellis, I’d take him. As long as he doesn’t kill anyone driving home drunk on his way to Coto do Caza.

You mean the "situational hitting"

that went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position? The one that left 14 runners on base? That one?

Sounds like a total team killer to me.

We should DFA that guy right away.

Yeah, we could, if he were a player.

Instead he’s a coach.

Bootcheck

He sucks and did not have a decent pitch to compliment his mediocre fastball.

the loss hurts especially since we had a couple of chances to win

but we did go 5 and 1 and the road trip and it took everything oakland had to beat us.

and almost every player
Then tell me please which Angels player killed the most rallies

and I’ll assign my botg vote to him. I missed most of the game whilst on the road. Only got back online in time to see Ellis park it.

Surely this is a game that we should have won before that happened. ...

a) Every game where Figgy does not play his absence is magnified. I can’t help but think that if Figgy had played in this game he would have manufactured the one run needed to win it.
b) Lack of clutch hitting. For all his fine qualities as a manager, Scioscia makes guys’ assholes pucker up tighter than a spider hole because he demands so much efficiency.
c) Botg? I’ll go with the Rev. Ollie’s job is to get the left-handers out, and he didn’t, and that’s ultimately why we went to extras and lost the game.

Bleh.

Take it out on the Bravos.

Oliver didn't end the game, Bootcheck made it end in a blaze of glory for choakland
BOOTCHECK

maybe if this guy gets enough BOTG the angels orginization will finally come to their senses and drop this sorry excuse for a baseball player… I HATE BOOTCHECK

Blame of the Game: Darren Oliver

going to repeat what the Rev wrote…

“When your job is to come in and get lefties out and you put two lefties on base and the game goes to extra innings, you still get the blame for your appearance in the regular frames.”

my close 2nd would be Vlad…this game NEVER should have gotten as far as Boot! All Vlad had to do was hit a fly ball or take the walks they were giving him all day!

you and the rev are wrong

in the end only one run scores. bootcheck gives up four. fangraphs would agree with me

fangraphs is a joke
I vote Fan Graphs for all managerial and general managerial decisions from now on

Or else, screw Fangraphs

Fangraphs helps when you are really not sure

Todaym though i was SURE – no Oliver meltdown = No extra innings = No Bootcheck to otherwise blame.

How can Bootcheck be BOTG?

If you put a guy out there knowing that he hasn’t been pitching well, you can’t exactly blame him for sucking again. It would be like putting Lackey into bat with two outs in the ninth and then giving him BOTG when he doesn’t get a hit.

Oliver couldn’t even get through two batters.

exactly...

so why is bootcheck even on our roster again?

Mop up

nt. He shouldn’t be in with the game on the line.

I heard the only other option left was...

Joe Saunders…PLUS Booty hadn’t pitched in quite a while, so he was due to pitch and he simply made a mistake. Turn the page.

that's Scioscia's fault that he uses him that way....

look at Ollies numbers against lefties. It’s pathetically bad. Shields has on OPS of .586 to lefties before this game and Oliver has one that is now over 1000. Soth brought in Oliver when Shields should have been used and in fact was used later in the game and was outstanding.

Oll'over is paid to get out lefties...

plain and simple…Shields should pitch the 8th, maybe the occasional 2 inning hold…

For the past 3 years

Oliver has done better against righties than lefties. His job should just be setup guy, not situational lefty like he was used today.

And you even admitted in the game thread that Oliver got hosed by the ump. His walk was complete bs as the ump had been calling those pitches strikes the entire game.

“Oll’over got screwed by the ump…that cost Ervin too! BS!”

Bootcheck didn’t get screwed over. He gave up 4 baserunners while getting 2 outs when the relievers before him had gotten like 15 straight guys out.

hmmm.........very nice point.....
and it was BC's job to get out there and avoid runs. He handed over a grand slam
Ladybug has a nice succint, to the point

... and shall I say, ladylike summary to the game.

As opposed to me, who punched out some cunt from Dundee on the street in Inverness because I was pissed offf.

Frankie's contributions don't seem so meaningless now, I would presume.
i wanna give props to Speier.............3 innings.......no hits....... 2ks.......outstanding.
If we'd won the game, Justin would have made a strong play for panther imo.

I thought this was the biggest thing I took from this game…finding Speier makes our BP awesome again!

Bootcheck for sure

no doubt in my mind.

yikes

C Bootcheck (L, 0-1) 0.2 3 4 4 1 1 1 24-13 10.12

has to be bootcheck

you CANNOT suck that bad, and not get BOTG!

DFA bootcheck!! this guy should not be on a major league roster, much less a contending one!

I concur

went to a game sitting right behind the plate in seats better than any scouts, and a friend of mine who is a scout had nothing but unimpressive things to say about Boot.

So What?

We lost today but we are still in first place in the AL West. We want to win every game but we all know that is not going to happen. We won the series against the A’s on the road and swept the Mariners. Life is good!

My13 video went to black and prevented the A’s fans from seeing their team win the game with a grand slam homerun. They are blaming the Angels and their fans for denying them their moment of glory. That is priceless.

well when a team has 179870987908687897907 chances to win the game.......

its frustrating….......a killer instinct would be nice…....and appreciated.

um.

i’m in norcal right now, and i was watching the a’s feed. there were no blackouts on the slam up here.

Over at AN, quite a few people said their TV"s went black.

I guess it depends on where you are viewing from.

You guys should revisit the game where Shields gave up a walk off grand slam
Fail.

Bootcheck. Big time.

KCOP went dead because of his idiocy.

I can throw better than Boot. This guy fucking SUCKS.

Clover ...

YOU cannot throw better than Boot. See above. Grow up. See above again. Grow up. Repeat.

We lost. It’s one game. Get over it.

No.

I can throw better than Boot.

I’m closing in on my 18 pack of Diet Bud and whatever I think, it’s plausible.

thanks Juice........for getting this week started off right for me.
i was 1 k away

from being the only one who won, instead i got last

Scottnak ...

if nobody else is telling you …
and even if no-one else can understand your spreadsheets.

You are God like. Panther.

Why even put Bootcheck in that situation?

I thought this as soon as I saw him on the mound. The guy’s been serving meatballs all season, especially against OAK.

Totals for his last two appearances vs. OAK prior to today: 4 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 8ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 4 K

It goes back to Sosh’s strict adherence to “roles” for his RPs. Dondo could have gone 2 innings today and if we’re still playing in the 14th then you say fuck it and put Bootcheck in. At least by that time you’ve given your offense enough opportunity to get the win, and surely catering has kept the rigatoni warm. But no, Dondo was penciled in well before the first pitch as the Closer today so the only way he makes an appearance is in a Save situation.

Stupid.

problem with this is........there is no way to know how long the game is going to be........

so its quite possible that Boot was gonna have to pitch either way….......however had the offense produced in even 1 of the 3 chances they had with a runner on 3rd with 1 out….........then boot’s apperance would have never happened….....pitching cant hold every single game….......its not possible

Yeah, I know that.

I said exactly what you just said but in different words. Point is, the main responsibility of the manager is to give his team the best chance of winning. In my opinion, you fail if you’re running out a AAA pitcher in the 12th inning to face a team who has lit said pitcher up to the tune of 8 ER in 4 IP when you’ve got a guy available who has given up 1 hit in his last 4 appearances. Sending Bootcheck out there today did not give this team the best chance of winning.

Or perhaps

Scoscia should have pulled him at some point between giving up baserunners 1-3.

This is why I tag the offense with the blame

1) Oliver has had reverse splits against lefties for two years now. Blaming him for that meltdown therefore doesn’t make sense, unless Mike Scioscia was completely ignorant of this fact, which I’m quite certain he isn’t. A manager’s first job is to deploy his players so as to maximize the team’s chances of winning.
2) I see your point about Arredondo, which could conceivably shift the blame to Soth.
3) Expecting 3 runs or less from the pitching every game to get a win is not reasonable.

Garret Anderson, for stranding a runner at third with one out in the 7th

with your lazy-assed pop to the infield, and your even lazy-er retreat to the dugout with that friggin’ poker face of yours;

Daren Oliver, for forgetting what keeps you in this league (getting lefties out);

Chris Bootcheck, for reminding all of us that you no longer belong in this league.

The past 3 years Olivers OPS against Lefties is almost

100 points higher than against righties. Just because Soth uses him to get lefties out doesn’t mean that’s his strength.

Well, then, could you try and crawl into Soth's head, John Malkovich-style,

and tell me why Soth put him in there in that situation?

vlad did it in the ninth..........which i think is worse......considering who Vlad is "supposed" to be
Right on! Vlad's there, too.
GA is so lazy

That if it weren’t for the few plays I saw when my laptop was catching wifi … It looked like we hit a hell of a lot of popups.

GA is too lazy, and that is why he is not retired and taking Hatcher’s job of teaching hitters to pop-up instead of hit one-hop gbs to the 2Bman.

I’ve changed my mind already 3 times in this thread, so I’ll change it again:

botg: Figgins for being too lazy to take the laziness tag off GA.

wow it is easily bootcheck
this is a tough one to stomach

and i was sitting just a section over from the left field foul pole, when i heard it go ding and we lost our chance to run away with the division in june. Nonetheless, a great road trip through division enemy territory and we really oughta leave Buttcheek in Oaktown when we fly back down….let’s go Lakers!

yea he's a lot closer to salt lake now

than if he comes back to the Big A, might as well save on gas

Who would carry the pink "snack backback'" for the bullpen?
*backpack

Hello Kitty!

Willits

No wait, Maicer for not leading off with a home run. Who cares? we lost it happens. Why do we need a blame of the game? Seems a bit negative. We played a solid game pitching and defensively. When was the last time Boot saw any action anyway? You can’t blame 1 person for this loss. It was a total team loss as most of their wins are team wins.

Loss is because of

1) Figgy not being around
2) GA being too lazy to stop the rest of the shit from turning into a shitstorm.

Waiting for victory No. 40. I’ve got a Cuban up here in Scotland that I am going to light up in tribute to No. 40, Troy Percival.

maybe the angels should trade for Benjie Molina to be used only as a pinch hitter

man was he ever clutch

"We played a solid game pitching and defensively"

And they have all year long, sans the games Boot has fandangled his way into.

WTF.......I leave with a lead and come back to this. Today SUCKS!!!

I PULLED MY HAMSTRING while going 1st to 3rd as a pinch runner, after starting the game 1-1 with a 3B.

The Chris SUCKCHECK gives up a GRAND SLAM?! that noone sees cuz the cable goes out LOL.

But Oliver should have held them so I guess I agree with the BOTG, I mean noone ever expects Bootcheck to do anything anyways so he does not dissapoint.

i like poocheck better
LOL.....whatever it is it sucks at pitching. We need to get rid of it.
How can Bootcheck not be forever in eternity associated with the "Blackout" TV picture

as he pitched that homerun meatball today?

I have been thinking about Oliver as BOTG

And I find myself asking the important question: why is it that the Angels can’t score four runs in a game? The A’s have good pitching, it’s true, but this gets back, in my mind, to the whole problem of power-impaired, singles-based offenses. BOTG? Mickey Hatcher.

That is like blaming oxygen for pneumonia
Seriously?

Angels have an awful offense. The team will lose if the pitching falters at all. It’s unreasonable to expect them to be this consistently good throughout the season.

We'll be fine...
BOTG, Bootcheck, our offense.

However, I knew the game was over, when Bootcheck came in for relief

(Boot) check, please
Bootcheck

You knew it was his fault from the moment he sauntered up to the mound, before a pitch had been thrown. I went to bed with two on, knowing the inevitable would surely come to pass.

There was never a greater certainty than that he was going to give it up faster than a fat lass from Manchester who’s had one too many Bacardi Breezers.

Check your shorts not your boot.

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