The temperature is 81 degrees and sunny. You are the manager of the San Francisco Giants, and are playing a National League team that is in last place in their division, and starting Ramon Ortiz, one of the goofs responsible for the Giants losing the 2002 World Series in heartbreaking fashion. As in, he was so bad, he allowed the series to be close, and that broke your heart.
When filling in your lineup card, you want to put your strongest lineup on the field to keep your momentum going, but you also want to protect your older players' health. When you get to the third spot in the lineup, you pause and put the pencil to your lips. Moises Alou is one of your best hitters, but has also had a re-re-re-re-re-re-re-occurrence of some calf problems that have troubled him in the past.
Every game from now until the end of the season is important, so it is important to balance the team's performance with the health of individuals. What do you do?
Start Moises Alou (turn to page 12)
Start Steve Finley in his place (turn to page 14)
Start Todd Linden in his place (turn to page 17)