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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Sunday, October 22
Question of the game: Game 1
ESPN.com
Question: How much confidence will Bobby Valentine have in Armando Benitez for the rest of the World Series?
Tim Kurkjian
I don't think he has any other choice but to use him as his closer several more times in this Series. Clearly, he has not been a consistent closer in this postseason or any other postseason. To me, that is the difference between the Mets and the Yankees right now. The Yankees have Mariano Rivera, perhaps the greatest closer in the history of postseason, against Benitez, who is fairly unreliable.
And I don't think Valentine will not use him in a situation, but I also don't think he will hesitate to take him out of a situation if things aren't going well. He did that in the Giants' series, and I think he will do it again if Benitez shows any more cracks. Even when he has saved a couple of games in this postseason, he was a bit shaky. And without a quality closer in the postseason, you are in trouble.
Dave Campbell
Valentine doesn't have a choice. Benitez was able to bounce back from the bad outing in San Francisco when he gave up the three-run homer to J.T. Snow. He's going to take a lot of nurturing. He's a very hyper kid who can get down. But it will be up to the veterans like John Franco and Turk Wendell to prop him back up because they will need him. He just needs to start throwing the breaking ball for strikes once in awhile.
Rick Sutcliffe
You are not going to destroy all of that confidence in one night. It's disappointing for the Mets because it's the biggest stage of the year, but that's no reason to give up on Benitez after that one outing. Those things happen. The Mets could have added some insurance off Mariano Rivera in the top of the ninth and weren't able to get it done. A lot of things could have happened differently for the Mets.
ESPN analysts will provide their answers to a key question each day of the series.
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