Reply #21: It's a rule with us not to second-guess Dusty.

[Plaid Adder]

Because really, WTF do we know?

I guess the art of changing pitchers is identifying that moment at which it will cost more to leave him in than take him out. The problem is that a lot of the time it's going to be too late, because why would you replace a guy who's still doing a great job?

The other way to look at it is, well, putting Borowski in might have slowed down the hemmhoraging, but if it wasn't going to be enough to actually win the game (since Ugueth the Unhittable was going in for the Marlins, and as it turned out we couldn't score diddly off him) it would be more prudent to give this one up for lost and save him for tonight. I dunno.

I do agree that scapegoating The Fan is unproductive and also unfair. There were a lot of people reaching for that ball. The nightmare that was that inning was created by all kinds of forces working in concert.

If I might analogize wildly for a moment, the whole Fan thing is another example of how Americans love to personalize everything. Instead of seeing this as a systemic failure (or, as I said above, 'clusterfuck') they go after the one guy who is most vulnerable (since he is not protected by the magic of Cubs-love) and try to hang it all on him.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder