Ben Franklin once said, “It’s not solo home runs that kill you, but late inning lead-off walks.” And last night showed the truth of that statement.
As an aside, before getting to the gory details, I was wondering who each of the Founding Fathers would be if they had a modern baseball equivalent. Franklin, to me, ahead of his time and scientifically inclined would be Earl Weaver, who’s ‘pitching, defense, and three run homers’ philosophy was sabremetric’s intellectual predecessor by two decades. George Washington, a general who’s strength lay in the ability to hold his clubhouse army together despite an occasional questionable battlefield decision has to be Bobby Cox.