Please, god…not Timlin

May 18th, 2007 → 9:55 am @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments

Hideki “Darkman” Okajima continued his otherworldly run yesterday, prompting this valentine from Jackie MacMullan. I agree with pretty much everything in there — how can one not have a man-crush on the biggest HO on the team? — except for this shout out to Mike Timlin: “In other years, a prolonged stint for [Timlin] on the disabled list would have been a daily cause for angst, or at least some serious hand-wringing.” It’s not that I don’t like Timlin (although I don’t, particularly) or appreciate what he’s done for the Sox…it’s just that I’ve always thought re-signing Timlin was a mistake. He’s one of the few heart-attack inducing guys in the pen. If his absolute suckitude during last year’s Boston Massacre didn’t give evidence that there’s precious little gas left in his tank, the sheer idiocy of blaming the team’s offense for the Sox’s ’06 woes demonstrated he’s not, um, the team player he’s always been made out to be.

The only Timlin related cause of angst that I’ll have is when he comes off the disabled list. You know I’m right: if last night in the top of the ninth you heard the shuffling strains of “Black Betty” coming through Fenway’s PA…well, you would have been worried.

Post Categories: Hideki Okajima & Mike Timlin

3 Comments → “Please, god…not Timlin”

johnw

17 years ago

I still think there’s a case to be made for Timlin, assuming he can get healthy again for the first time since 2005. A lot of relievers are proving to be successful at relatively old ages, especially in well-defined roles where they are not overexposed. Exhibit A is Todd Jones, the closer on a championship-quality team. They (well, some of them) are able to counter their declining stuff with superior craft, pitching knowledge, and nervelessness. When healthy, Timlin falls into that category.

That said, the Sox do rely too much on veteran relievers. Every year they bring in a new crop of pitchers with a little gray around the temples, and most of them disappear quickly. Papelbon aside, they’ve had no success at integrating young pitchers into their bullpen, and they need to figure that out.

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amos

17 years ago

Right on Seth. I’ve never understood the papers’ fascination with Timlin. Yeah, he had some pretty good years, but he was never a shut down guy for the Sox. And it seems like they think every new injury is just an isolated incident and not the steady decline of a 41 year-old.

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The Feeding the Monster Blog — In which the author discusses Boston, the Red Sox, the media, and very occasionally popular music. » Darkman and Gagne and Paps, oh my

17 years ago

[…] Despite the blatherings of some folks on sundry Yankee boards, Eric Gagne did not, as the entire world now knows, end up in the Bronx; instead, he now makes up a third of the best back-end bullpen in baseball. Lord knows we all love Papelbon, but there’ll definitely be days when it’ll be better for everyone to have Hideki “Darkman” Okajima or Eric “I can once again break Hefty trash bags with my fastball” Gagne on the mound. (Despite his recent disappearance, even Mike Timlin has been pitching well — much to my surprise.) […]

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Please, god…not Timlin