FLOG

I've been watching the World Series. And crying.

Phil Garner is confirming what I've thought all season: when the Astros win, it's in spite of his voodoo management, not because of it. Now that management matters, he's getting his ass kicked by Ozzy "Chicken Bone Magin" Guillen.

I hate Phil Garner. I'm also pissed that Ensberg seems to have morphed into Jeff Kent since the playoffs started, and has been hitting .167 in the post season. He's still in the 4-hole, and he's hitting below the Mendoza line. Personally, I'd have started Bruntlett at SS, because Everett is a terrible batter and Bruntlett plays defense just as well. Keep Everett on the bench, bring him in for defense late, because he hits like a pitcher.

Also, who the hell leaves the starter in, IN THE DAMN WORLD SERIES, when he starts getting lit-up like a Christmas tree in the 5th. After four hits and two runs, maybe it's time to pull Oswalt. But, no, gotta leave him in so he can blow a 4-0 lead. Way to go, Garner, way to fucking go.

You'll notice that in the postgame interview Garner nicely deflects all criticisms toward his players for not getting timely hits. While this is true, why not try suicide squeezing with Craig Biggio up? Why not bunt a runner over with nobody out? Plus, throwing your chair against the wall in the dugout is no way to inspire confidence in your players. Note to Garner: we know you're happy to be out of Detroit but take a line from Lou Pinella and Tony LaRussa ... don't chew out your players during the press conference.

I've watched exactly 10 minutes of the World Series- just enough to see the game-winning home run on Sunday and the game-losing pop fly last night. Fox must be running that Trading Spouses ad at every commercial break. I've somehow seen it twice.

And, yeah, I suspect it's the later but Winona Ryder instead of Helena Bonham Carter.

Good luck with the workload.

That's a pretty long post for making the point that I don't have time to write anything.

Kenny:

I had to go to bed, so I didn't see the press conference or the end of the game, but that's not unsurprising. Garner must be the only guy in history to be sad to be out of Detroit. "Sometimes you don't get the breaks" is WAY better than chewing out players. But I think the people who deserve the most criticism in this whole thing, besides the umpires for being inconsistent as all hell, are the Astros management.

Misread that, please disregard my comment about Garner and Detroit.

Timothy: Yeah -- when you're team hasn't been hitting all season then it shouldn't surprise you that they're wiffing it up against the best pitching staff in the AL. Plus, if you're counting on Brad Ausmus and Chris Burke to save the day then you've got problems. Ensburg is a problem too. The only thing more annoying than his open-closed stance is how much Joe Buck was commenting on it.

Kenny,

I'm not exactly shocked, but they were hitting at least decent before the post season. Hell, they didn't even hit all that badly in the first three games. Lost on a walk-off, lost by 2, lost on another homerun. The ChiSox have great pitching, and are probably a better team, but I think the 'Stros could've done better with better management.

Ensberg's stance has been open all year, but he made some changes to it going into the post-season, and then he stopped hitting the ball. CHANGE IT BACK, MO. Also, hitting like that I'd have switched him and Berkman because Biggio and Taveres were getting on fairly consistently. As Ensberg was mostly flying out, popping up, or whiffing he doesn't present much of a double-play danger so either bunt with him to move the runner, or he gets out and Berkman comes up.

The smart thing to do would've been move Berkman to Left, bring in Lamb to play first, and pull Everett for either Burke or Bruntlett. Adam Everett hit about like you'd expect a short-stop to hit for most of regular season, but since August he's been terrible. He didn't hit anything decent the entire post. Yank him, Burke is likely as good a fielder at Short-Stop, and certainly a better hitter. Same with Bruntlett. Berkman's knees are bad, so left in ChiTown is harder, but you can still put Burke out in left, and have Bruntlett at short instead of Everett.

And don't even get me started on Lidge. I realize that he can't be blamed wholly for those clost-game losses, but giving up two big homers in the post, and then the losing run last night, one has to wonder if he's started to buy his own hype.

Garner needs to get some of the blame for Lidge. He should have pitched in Game 6 against the Cards. After the Podsednik homer in game 2, Garner needed to know this guy's head ain't right, to quote Rickey Henderson. I know he's supposed to be your best pitcher and all but do you trust him with the winning run on second?