While some of those scenarios were floating around the ballpark last night, there was no confirmation that it was anything but a decision to go with the status quo. Do what got you there.
Francona will take the hit on this one if the Sox fail to overtake the Indians in the American League Championship Series. Whether it was completely Francona's decision is unknown as well. In this day and age of micromanaging, the decision is often made by "the organization." It used to be the manager made the final decision on such matters, but for the most part - with the exceptions being Tony La Russa and in most cases Joe Torre and Bobby Cox - it is a consensus.
If you believe teams shouldn't deviate from what they do in the regular season, then you're OK with the decision to go with Wakefield, who lost, 7-3. Certainly there was little questioning of the decision within the team.
Mike Timlin endorsed it completely the night before. Jason Varitek, Doug Mirabelli, everyone was thumbs-up on going with Wakefield. Why? Because he deserved it. He won 17 games and had missed the Division Series with his back/shoulder ailment.
The Red Sox were very careful about when and if they were going to bring him back. Wakefield passed a very tough litmus test all Sox players must pass to get back on the field. The Sox might be the most cautious team in baseball when it comes to making sure a player is 100 percent before he returns from injury, especially a pitcher. A perfect example is the pre-playoff decision to shut down Clay Buchholz because of a fatigued arm. On many other teams, Buchholz would have been on the roster.
Anyway, there was nothing wrong with Wakefield's performance for four innings; the Indians couldn't have hit him with 50 bats. Ask Travis Hafner, who struck out four times on the night and three times against Wakefield. But it was that screwy fifth inning, coupled with the Red Sox offense's inability to get on track against Paul Byrd, that did them in.
