The 2009 Boston Red Sox Thread

Roughly 10 days have passed since Red Sox pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, and there are continuing signs that interest in the team is waning. Just last week, Sox administrators John Henry, Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner acknowledged that nine home games in April and May have yet to be sold out, a once unimaginable occurrence during the franchise's golden age under the reign of King Henry I.

Could it be that the Red Sox are getting -- dare we say it -- relatively boring?

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2009/02/some_things_are_hard_to_talk_a.html

I will cop to not being too excited about my favorite baseball team. They will finish 1, 2, or 3 in the AL East depending on luck and injuries. If they finish 1 or 2 they will have a 1 in 8 chance of winning the world series.

What's to be exicted about? Well, some micro-level things. A bullpen that could be fantastic. Continued dominance by Lester? Hope that the offense won't be as soft as it has the potential to be? Buccholz figuring things out?

My baseball existential crisis begins now.

Twice in your lifetime. You must chill.

BOSTON SUX

JtM, i'm not even concerned about championships. this team just isn't particularly compelling. above and beyond the comeback, what really spoiled us in 2004 was the incredible assemblage of personalities on that team.

kinda lost it for this team after they ditched manny, was even voting for the UPTON during the alcs last year

the ony legit breakout candidates are ellsbury and buchholz and i don't have particularly high hopes for either.

agree j0rdan, the manny trade was really where my crisis began.

"this team just isn't particularly compelling"

Fuck you Red Sox nation. Seriously most fans would give their left eye teeth to have the assemblage of talent you do w/ the organization and moolah behind it. Become a fucking Pirates and you have a right to bitch, otherwise shut the fuck up.

^^^this

Fuck you, outsiders looking in. I've been following this team for my entire life, I'm expressing some honest thoughts about being a Sox fan in 2009, I would certainly never go to the threads of your shitty teams and mock them for being shitty and lame. I'm even gonna not be a dick on the Yanks thread tho I could spend all day doing so.

i will always not hate the sox because of the manny/ortiz era, but i was very close to hating them around the time when it got leaked that they were trying to trade ellsbury and bucholz for hanley. besides this trade being personally insulting and physically revolting on a baseball level, it also proved once and for all that the sox are really the yanks and not like THEO IS EXTRA CREATIVE AND ALSO MONEYBALL TACTICS like the media likes to paint it. i remember it was after the struck out on texiera and the storyline was like "the sox are getting creative after the yankees stole texiera! they are trying to trade for hanley ramirez!", because yes, trading for one of the best players in baseball who you already traded away is so creative. you know what i hate them

^^^^ haha

sorry im protective of hanley, i don't really hate them because of big papi

tbf that report was pretty quickly outed as the standard "hey we want to trade for awesome player X" phone call that every team makes in the offseason. it was only a story because it was the sox, and something about the sox makes media people act as if they've just injected lsd directly into their skulls.

it was a sucka move trading manny to l.a. imo

alex in sf otm

not that i don't understand cad's point - the 04 team was way more niggerish and thus more entertaining, but good beisbol is good beisbol u fucken shitbags. they'll probably be the best team in the bigs this year, quit moping lest u sound like a shitty pats fan

"I'm expressing some honest thoughts about being a Sox fan in 2009"

And I'm expressing my honest thoughts that I think you and all people like you are worthless pieces of shit. Why is that so hard to understand?!?

lol Honestly though I never understood that level of fandom. Like, it's fine to be disappointed and wary of a team's future success, but to call a team boring is kind of like shitting on the game as a whole. There are 29 other teams out there that would love your time and attention.

i think that's a littler harsh alex!

B-b-but I was just being honest!

HAY GUYS Anyway J.D. Drew's back hurts from a long offseason resting lets get ready for BASEBALL.

anyway i get alex's point but when rich ppl get rich they don't go "well i've got 25 million dollars this is fun" they go "i want 50 million dollars by this time next year" so it should be no surprised that sawx fans are a little down on their team even if they are gonna win 95 games

welcome to yankeeville, motherfuckers, population

a) Yankees
b) Red Sox

btw the inability of Red Sox fans to see the similarities between the Sox and the Yankees is v v funny and one of the only reasons I harbor any type of positive emotion towards the Red Sox

"when rich ppl get rich they don't go "well i've got 25 million dollars this is fun" they go "i want 50 million dollars by this time next year" so it should be no surprised that sawx fans are a little down on their team even if they are gonna win 95 games"

Oh you're right. I should start pitying rich motherfuckers next! So sad. Fuck Jordan I think you may be even more contemptible than cad.

the yankees are that charming team from ny that's always in the tabloids, the red sox are that charming team from boston that has a butthurt blogger as one of their starting pitchers

hahahahaha perfect

uh alex im just saying that i agree with you in principle but i think it's dumb for ppl to expect fans of successful teams to be okay with less than what they used to be

like, i'd agree with you if the sox missed the playoffs and ppl started a firefrancona.com site or something but if you've ever been a diehard fan of a very successful team you'd understand when destroyer is coming from

"but i think it's dumb for ppl to expect fans of successful teams to be okay with less than what they used to be"

I think it's dumb to expect everyone else not to hate your guts.

fair enough

I thought Sox fans were supposed to be able to die in peace now.

No no you don't understand, polyphonic, the team just isn't as dynamic anymore. In the old days, Manny used to smear his dick on Trot Nixon's french toast when Trot wasn't looking. Now it's like they are just playing baseball or something. Just not the same.

"good beisbol is good beisbol u fucken shitbags"

^^new ilbb tag

yeah true

It must suck to root for a team with so many boring players like David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, etc.

this is very reminiscent of NYY fans who think that Yanks "just don't have that Series-winning character" since 2000.

yeah i think we are all in agreement that if sox fans don't realize that they are the same as the yanks theyre tripping

Send yr entire bullpen and 3/5ths of yr starting rotation to Detroit, plz.

Your second baseman, too.

You can definitely keep your impactful "Throw the stats away!" (-- H. Reynolds, 2009) captain.

JtM, i'm not even concerned about championships. this team just isn't particularly compelling. above and beyond the comeback, what really spoiled us in 2004 was the incredible assemblage of personalities on that team.

― devin harris with an appletini (call all destroyer), Monday, February 23, 2009 4:05 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the way u can tell this is completely otm this is by how intensely alex is disagreeing w/it - rooting for a team full of interchangeable expressionless guys w/goatees just isnt as fun as rooting for a bunch of lunatics who also sometimes have goatees - tho i hav a feeling that those remaining spring training ticket have more to do w/our current economic realities than flagging passions

So do you like baseball or do you just follow whatever team's been in your market?

yeah i think we are all in agreement that if sox fans don't realize that they are the same as the yanks theyre tripping

― suggban stevens (J0rdan S.), Monday, February 23, 2009 5:12 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

eh it depends on what u mean my the same - obv they both throw around tons of money and hav 0 player loyalty - but the sox dont quite hav the yankee touch for signing guys on the downside of their careers to 8 year deals - by which i mean the sox organization is less comedy - which depending on yr pov is either a good or bad thing - id say the sox organization is more "corporate" while the yankees is more "personality driven" - for comparison the mets hav a "o rly" style culture

basically i mean the soulless tons of money w/ zero loyalty part, altho if the smoltz signing is any indication yall on your way to singing guys on the downside of their careers

i used to be pretty into baseball - id watch games that didnt even have my team playing in them and id read stats on the internet - then like 2 years ago i pretty much suddenly lost like 70% of my enthusiasm for baseball - not sure why

"the way u can tell this is completely otm this is by how intensely alex is disagreeing w/it"

See if cad and ice cr?m were in their secret treehouse together and whispering these sweet nothings to one another it might be completely otm (probably not, but I wouldn't care either way) but unfortunately in the real world where they have to meet other human beings who don't root for the same laundry they do it is most def. not otm and instead it makes them look like total whiny fuckwits which given that they are fans of Boston teams is totally unsurprising.

my call for a pti-style show featuring alex in sf and joshea still stands

Sox fans: if you could convince Epstein to re-acquire one guy from the 2004 Sox team (not including Manny) to play for the current team, which guy would it be?

I look at that roster and see a lot of dudes who are washed up, overpaid, etc. Would you trade Jon Lester for Derek Lowe? Clay Buccholz for Bronson Arroyo? Julio Lugo for Mark Bellhorn or Pokey Reese? Lowell for Bill Mueller?

U want damon back?

alex r u telling me the giants were just as compelling w/o bonds - when teams have players w/identities it makes them more fun is all - its a completely relative statement yr taking as absolute

I really can't hate the Sox as much as the Stanks as long as Epstein and Bill James are involved (and I even kinda like Francona), but tis pity either BOS or NYY is nearly guaranteed to make October.

obv it was smart letting most of those guys go - i even agreed w/the move when they let my fav player ever walk - but it doesnt mean they hav to be replaced w/baseball robots

theres still some cool guys on the sox i dont hate them all btw

u mad

tis pity either BOS or NYY is nearly guaranteed to make October.

^its cause no salary cap

I hear Oil Can Boyd wants back in the game

tis pity either BOS or NYY is nearly guaranteed to make October.

^its cause no salary cap

― ice cr?m, Monday, February 23, 2009 5:36 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Basically disproved last year.

alex r u telling me the giants were just as compelling w/o bonds - when teams have players w/identities it makes them more fun is all - its a completely relative statement yr taking as absolute

I think the Giants are much more compelling without Bonds, mostly because so much of the conversation about the Giants was about this one guy, and was always about stuff other than his actual performance despite the fact that his performance was excellent. The Giants fans now have the rare pleasure of actually seeing some rookies play instead of the inevitable Baker/Alou cavalcade of established vets who "know how to play the right way". F that, I would much rather watch Eugenio Velez or John Bowker or Brian Wilson than see the Giants trot out Armando Benitez, Deivi Cruz, Marquis Grissom, etc.

one year cant disprove shit - paying a lot cant guarantee anything but it sure helps yr chances - that much is clear xp

agreed that the way the giants assembled teams around bonds was particularly tedious - but in a vacuum bonds is always more fun than jd drew or whoever the fuck

Salary caps suck. I'm all for better profit sharing though.

"but in a vacuum bonds is always more fun than jd drew or whoever the fuck"

I think in a vacuum they would be equally fun, but that's cuz they'd both be dead.

agreed that the way the giants assembled teams around bonds was particularly tedious - but in a vacuum bonds is always more fun than jd drew or whoever the fuck

JD Drew and Jason Bay are boring dudes, I'll give you that much.

REQUEST NEW THREAD

seconded

Salary caps suck. I'm all for better profit sharing though.

― Alex in SF, Monday, February 23, 2009 5:41 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yah i dont necessarily mean a hard cap - it could be something like the basketball soft cap or whatever - basically something that allows teams to more easily retain their players and discourages big markets spending 5x more than the little ones - im aware that baseball already has some measures in place but theyre obv not enough

Can't understand why anyone would wish basketball's awful system on any other sport.

Being a Giants fan would probably be better if their rookies werent a bunch of garbage. Pablo Sandoval is cool and all but having to endure the last couple years of your best position player prospect being Kyle Frandsen (who was always hurt) must fucking suck.

i think the birds rights aspect of the basketball scheme is good - star players tend to stay in and be associated w/cities - obv all the valuing of expiring contracts is pretty fucked - nothing is worse than what baseball has tho

Okay the Giants have the single most exciting pitcher in the league. Getting to watch and root for Lincecum every fifth day would make me put up with a whole lot of nonsense. So basically Giants fans please STFU too.

whats yr team alex

no, I think Giants fans have a right to their wtf expression

xp A's

u should switch to the giants

the way u can tell this is completely otm this is by how intensely alex is disagreeing w/it

i so badly want 2 agree w/this cuz 99% of the time it is true, but tbh u r wrong and deserve to be shot in the face on the white house lawn

yr telling me u enjoy the current red sox as much as the 04 version full of lovable weirdos

How hard is it for you to believe that we don't enjoy your team, period? Do you have brain damage or something?

cankels likes boston sports tho

Only moronic Red Sox fans sit around stressing whether or not their team was more fun four years ago.

dude are you on fucking crack

"Back in the day they were lovable weirdos. . . now they just win. But not lovably. Or weirdly. I don't know, something is missing, man."

i mean, im pretty sure all fans stress over whether or not they liked their team more in previous years

Yeah BECAUSE their teams aren't winning any more. Not cuz they miss the fuckin' zaniness. That's unique to you dumbasses.

f all the sports teams in both of these towns imo

just pokin my head in here 2 let you all know that the boston red sox are a bunch of shit ass retards and their fans are all fools and/or rednecks, also they all have sars

thanks

np i also have opinions about the ne patriots if youd like to hear them

yankees fans all have jeter herpes

not true

also fwiw manny ramirez was wasted on that played out irish ghetto

ur from nj tho - u should root for just poop maybe

btw alexs sport franchise likability index is way too stringent 4 me - he maybe came up w/it tho so he could feel good rooting for a basketball tam led by a rapist

lmao

ur from nj tho - u should root for just poop maybe

― ice cr?m, Monday, February 23, 2009 6:22 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol this is killin me for some reason

maybe because you're the kind of guy who's chosen 'temple of butts' for a display name?

excellent work btw ade

Honest response to Call All Destroyer up top? Your 'existential crisis' has nothing to do with the Sox.

This: They will finish 1, 2, or 3 in the AL East depending on luck and injuries. If they finish 1 or 2 they will have a 1 in 8 chance of winning the world series.

What's to be exicted about?

means you're not excited about the baseball season, full stop. "Luck" and "injuries" have always been crucial factors. If you're the kind of guy who sees the playoffs as a 1 in 8 crapshoot, then it's always been like that. Don't blame a perfectly normal ebbing of interest in a completely frivolous game on the Sox's lack of dudes doing kegstands in the clubhouse after doubleheaders.

"he maybe came up w/it tho so he could feel good rooting for a basketball tam led by a rapist"

If you had even basic reading comprehension skills you'd know the fact that I am a Lakers fan was deeply shameful long before Kobe's rap career.

lol

Kobe's rape career

Same difference.

Anyway how are we are talking about Kobe or the Lakers on a thread which was started to discuss what pathetic losers Sox fans (and by extension Boston fans of all sports) are? Things have gotten seriously derailed here.

pretty crap thread, you bunch of grumps.

this might be the best pitching staff ever assembled (ever? in the modern era?). morbs?

ice craem says upthread that this team is more "corporate" which i lol'd at... if anything, this team (and perhaps the rays, brewcrew, a's and lol padres) are perhaps the most anti-corporate teams in the game. the rsox just have lots of $$$. while other teams are run by either howard hughes or kenneth lay types, the red sox (and the a's) really changed the way talent is evaluated in the game.

DISCLOSURE: i will say that i was not a fan of the 04 sox, i rooted for the D-Rays and the Phillies last year, i love barry bonds, i hate brian sabean and his protege ned coletti, and hope that the yankees battle the o's for the basement of the AL east for the next 39 years.

Hooray!

not sure how this pitching staff is superlative compared even to last year's best (the jays with 610 ra) but WE SHALL SEE

shasta : asian pitchers :: momus : asian bitches

same thing imo

damn, certainly did not need the image of steve shasta coming on dice-k's face

not that i don't understand cad's point - the 04 team was way more niggerish and thus more entertaining, but good beisbol is good beisbol u fucken shitbags. they'll probably be the best team in the bigs this year, quit moping lest u sound like a shitty pats fan

― temple of butts (cankles), Monday, February 23, 2009 4:44 PM

http://i17.tinypic.com/6ptj2ua.gif

shasta in what bizarro world noted eccentric howard hughes more corporate than quant fund guy john henry - the fact that the red sox broke w/the antitrust free land of weirdo steinbrenners tradition argues for their corporateness not against

oh this thread

Shasta, what the hell best staff ever?

wow, i'm pretty much at a loss you guys.

i understand completely why fans of any other mlb team wouldn't be sympathetic to what i'm sayin, and why the yankees and sox are treated as one by fans of every other team (we can still hate each other though, and that's perfectly fine). but for fuck's sake, this is a sox thread, and i'm going to say how i feel about the sox for the duration of the season. i will be thrilled when they win and pissed when they lose. i will celebrate good starts and home runs and all that good stuff. and if they make the playoffs i will go nuts and get nothing done for as long as they're in it.

but are we really so above fandom that i get jumped for asking for a cooler funner group of guys to route for? it's a minor request, it really won't impact my enjoyment of the season THAT much, but i'm gonna stick by it. baseball and basketball really thrive on dynamic personalities, and i miss the hell out of manny, pedro, cabrera (even though he's a scumbag), schilling (even though he's an annoying asshole), foulke (even though he's an ornery texan) and others. sorry. not gonna apologize for it.

i can see why a's fan alex in sf hates this because he's been rooting for generic interchangeable white dudes for years now. btw alex, you're a mediocre contrarian and an asshole troll half the time.

i'll say it again: i'm not gonna be neg this year, i'm not gonna go on the threads for your shitty teams and mock their untalented players, hayseed managers, and retard GMs. in fact i hope you all have a fucking blast enjoying the 2009 baseball season. 'cause once the games start that's what i'll be doing. cool?

g00blar, yours is an interesting point but i enjoy micro-level baseball as much as ever--probably more because there's always stuff to learn by watching.

um, not to make a weird sex/racial thing over this (zomg, isn't there an asian "bitch" who posts here on ILB?):

#1. Beckett
#2. Lester
#3. Matsuzaka
#4. Smoltz

and then these guys competing for #5?
Penny
Bucholz
Bowden
Masterson
Wakefield

So then you take the 4 of those guys who didn't make it into the rotation and then the youngsters go to AAA but that still leaves two well above average relievers to go to a bullpen that already includes Papelbon, DelCarmen and Okajima, then add Ramon Ramirez (quietly one of the best relievers in mlb) AND Saito (who has career 1.95 ERA, 0.91 WHIP in mlb)...

I'm just curious if there's ever been a better pitching staff assembled. Yes, there are a few injury risks here but most teams' options for a #6-7 guy out of the pen are completely desperate. I could see them trading some pitching for a catcher by trade deadline.

Ramon Ramirez (quietly one of the best relievers in mlb)

(*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･)　　　°~ヾ(･ε･ *) OTM

Seriously... give that guy some adequate defense behind him and I'd love to see what happens.

the bullpen is better this year, that's for sure

it may be the deepest pitching staff of recent years but calling it the best this early on is still a stretch since there's big question marks over whether beckett will return to form, whether dice-k can maintain form with such a high bb rate, how long into the season before smoltz can start, etc etc

"btw alex, you're a mediocre contrarian and an asshole troll half the time."

Hah that means I'm totally awesome the rest of the time! Woo hoo for me.

"i can see why a's fan alex in sf hates this because he's been rooting for generic interchangeable white dudes for years now."

Kevin Millar is sooooo fucking special. He's got heart!

"I'm just curious if there's ever been a better pitching staff assembled."

There have certainly been healthier staffs (which is of course why they need all those dudes.)

"i'm not gonna go on the threads for your shitty teams and mock their untalented players, hayseed managers, and retard GMs"

This is really big of you btw. You Red Sox fans are class acts.

oh shit i forgot that smoltz was out for the first half... does his pecota account for this?

How many starts does PECOTA peg him for? 3?

alex you misunderstood--the rest of the time was when you are the mediocre contrarian ;)

all i'm saying is you're one of the most neg dudes on the sports threads and i have no idea why.

oh and BPro has smoltz for 17 starts (25 games).

"all i'm saying is you're one of the most neg dudes on the sports threads and i have no idea why."

lol give me a break. Seriously other than this thread which is 50% joke (not the part about thinking Sox fans are douchebags, just the vehemence part) I can't recall the last time I got into it with anyone other than ice cr?p and frankly if he is your idea of a pos well I take the neg as a compliment.

"oh and BPro has smoltz for 17 starts (25 games)."

That seems very high. Don't think that is incorporating the missed half year.

Penny is going to get shelled in the AL East. He only has 1 1/2 pitches.

I'll miss Saito tho. Love that lil' dude.

"i'm not gonna go on the threads for your shitty teams and mock their untalented players, hayseed managers, and retard GMs"

That's the whole point of ILB, tbh. I mean, if we were really interested in being exclusively positive fans on our own teams' threds then we'd be more balkanized than ILE.

i mean yeah sure i guess if it is light and in good fun but i'm not interested if it's alex in sf's "jokey" vehemence which normal people would call "sounding like a dick."

Like anyone on ILX is normal. It's a goddamn messageboard.

Dude have you ever been to Boston?!?!? Jesus it's full of guys that "normal people" would call dicks. Stop being such a fucking pussy and just accept the hate we have for you.

to be fair boston is full of normal people

and people normal people would call dicks

alex i've lived in boston for my entire life; pls post to an A's thread and i will go over there and tell you what i think.

"and people normal people would call dicks"

True.

"alex i've lived in boston for my entire life; pls post to an A's thread and i will go over there and tell you what i think."

I don't think there is a 2009 A's thread, but rest assured when there is one you can feel free to post on it and mock my teams' mediocrity.

theyre the same people tbh

lol the same people plus liquor basically.

its just people in boston are v normal and dickish - im cool w/the dickish aspect its the normality i couldnt abide by

btw destroyer whered u grow up live now or whatever

yo challops for everyone, comments about the tenor of an entire city and/or an entire team's fanbase are kind of played out.

He grew in Pussyville. Population: him.

yo dude i grew up in a boston suburb (wakefield) and have lived in boston, brookline, or allston (currently) since '02.

in other words i am a BU grad who never got bored of the area.

i grew up in newton and lived in jp - moved away 98 tho

oh nice where are you at now?

new york

eman u cannot deny that the papi-manny-pedro team was one of the most niggardly teams ever assembled

this might be the best pitching staff ever assembled (ever? in the modern era?). morbs?

lollllllllllllllllllllllllllll this is the most retarded shit you've ever said shasta - they're deep, i guess, but in terms of top-end talent they can't touch the 90s braves

cad, i was born in brookline btw~

the most you can say is that for a couple years now the sox have been assembling staffs that have the potential to be historically good. but it's based on risk and upside and it's v. unlikely that everyone will pan out.

brookline is great unless you have a car and no driveway.

hell they cant touch the 05 stros imo

#2 in the NL that year (non-adjusted)

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggregate?statType=pitching&seasonType=2&group=9&typereg&split=0&season=2005

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggregate?statType=pitching&seasonType=2&group=9&typereg&split=0&season=1993

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATL/1993.shtml

lol "niggardly"? Really?

doesnt niggardly mean stingy

manny has a reputation for generosity

meant in a positive way tho~

no ice cr?m OTM, you just called them all cheap bastards

This thread is completely ridiculous.

1. People root for winning teams. Period. If the Red Sox had scored one or two more runs in an anything-goes Game 7 last year against the Rays, then nobody would be bitching about the team being more fun when Trot Nixon was around.

2. BOS or NYY is guaranteed to make the playoffs because there's no salary cap? Wait, did the Marlins and Rays and Twins and A's go to the playoffs a bunch of times during the last five years, or did I imagine it?

3. Shasta is not completely crazy in that Boston's pitching staff has scary potential if everyone performs up to their maximum expectations. Of course the chances of that happening are maybe 1% considering the injury risks and the likelihood that everybody has a great year all at once. But Boston knows this and whole point of signing those guys was to hedge their bets on at least some of them.

I mean, I'd put money on a BOLD CLAM that the Red Sox's staff ERA will be lower than the Yankees' this year.

1. i still would

2. no one said that

3. whatever

another thing that would have me excited about this team is any sort of impact acquisition. penny, baldelli, smoltz, and saito are all smart, low-risk signings but their health outlook is like o_O

but that's ok, brad penny feels 100%!!!!

..Brad Penny threw live batting practice for the first time this morning, and the big righthander emerged with positive news about the shoulder that plagued him during the 2008 season.

"I felt great," said Penny. "Today, for me, answered a lot of questions, mentally and physically. I didn't know what to expect the first time going out there to face hitters, but everything felt great.

"It's been awhile since I've been out there to pitch, my command wasn't where it normally is, but it wasn't bad. I had life on my fastball, felt a good rotation on my breaking ball. The splitter was a little erratic, but that will come later in spring."

"I feel 100 percent, but the schedule I'm on now, it's smart," said Penny. "If you listen to me, I'd want to go out every other day, but this is smarter. It gives me a chance to strengthen my shoulder."

he forgot "im in the best shape of my career"

lol that's cause he's still fat

i wouldve still thrown that out there regardless - wtf right

"another thing that would have me excited about this team is any sort of impact acquisition."

Yeah they really should have overspent on a free agent they didn't need. That would have gotten me excited about my team. WOO HOO!

yah teams never need good players right?

The Red Sox didn't need to make an "impact acquisition" this offseason. PECOTA is slating them to win what 98 games? They're set.

Plus the best available players out there didn't fill a need for the Sox and/or were ridiculously expensive. A catcher would have been nice, but good catchers (like good shortstops) don't grow on trees and the Rangers weren't dealing.

Yah, teams that already have a championship roster full of players should pay $120M on big name free agents like Raul Ibanez and AJ Burnett because otherwise their fans will think that the team isn't really trying to win.

if you're convinced that a team is ever "set" i don't know what to tell you. the AL east is going to be a dogfight and one or two wins is going to be HUGE. the sox had enough money to steal teixeira and a clear need for him.

ntbt wtf are you talking about w/ibanez and burnett?

btw alex my favorite part of this display name is how you forgot the "up" after grew.

Hah it's a good un.

"the sox had enough money to steal teixeira and a clear need for him."

Uh no they didn't/don't. They have a first baseman now (Kevin Youkilis) and a first baseman tomorrow (Lars Anderson). Spending $20MM a year on an aging dude was not a clear need for them.

ntbt wtf are you talking about w/ibanez and burnett?

Apparently you believe that the need to sign a bunch of dudes and make an impact is more important that filling the needs the team actually has. Alex is right that the Red Sox didn't need Tex, not because his bat wouldn't be useful, but because he doesn't fill their positional needs and the money could be better spent somewhere else. The Yankees didn't need Burnett either, they had enough pitching as it was. They signed him because Little Stein wanted to give an f-you to the rest of the league and make the kind of impact that you seem to think is important for winning, but of course it's the rest of the league that will be laughing when Burnett spends 2.5 of the next 5 years on the DL.

This thread is awesome.

The only thing I'm worried about is our goddamn catcher. I've said for the past 4+ years that the Sox have needed to find a promising young dude for Varitek to mentor the way the Yanks did with Girardi and Posada but they just keep stringing it out.

"Spending $20MM a year on an aging dude was not a clear need for them."

Everyone is aging and Tex is 29; the argument is against paying 20m-per for a guy who "only" has .290/330/400 slash stats...

i.e why pay market value if you don't REALLY have to...

Exactly. It is weird though how it seems like Teixera has been playing for like 15 years.

right now I feel like that alien in an OG Star Trek episode that thrived and grew on warfare between the Federation and the Klingons.

I'veEveryone with half a brain said for the past 4+ years that the SoxYanks have needed to find a promising young dude for VaritekPosada to mentor the way the Yanks did with Girardi and Posada but they just keep stringing it out.

Just for fun; no judgement

"Everyone is aging and Tex is 29; the argument is against paying 20m-per for a guy who "only" has .290/330/400 slash stats..."

He's on wrong side of the aging curve. He's going to be 37? 38? at the end of this contract. $180MM is a stupid amount of money for a 1B.

isn't peak years between 27-32? 180M is a stupid contract for anyone not named Jesus Christ.

but you're right, 20M for a 37 or 38 y/o 1B is gay

Yeah Jimmy that's true too! God I'm old. It's been a long time since I sat in my little apartment on 46th Street and 5th Ave, watching WPIX Channel 11 with the sound turned down.

lol

both these teams are annoying

"isn't peak years between 27-32?"

It depends. 1B/DH tend to age quicker than most players, but that's generally because they tend to be less athletic (which is not really true in Tex's case) with dreaded "old player" skills. Either way it's not hard believe that this contract won't be just as big an albatross as oh let's say Giambi's was in a couple of years.

actually what the sox "have" is a 1b/3b, a 3b who is a severe health/decline risk, and a 1b who has had like 150 at bats in AA. letting lars fucking anderson dictate whether or not you sign a 28 year old gold glove 1b who has performed and been healthy everywhere he's been is foolishness.

I think the fact that they were going to have to pay out the nose to sign him was the real factor here, not Lars. Having a passable 1b/3b combo with 1b of the the future just makes it easy not to make the stupid decision to overspend.

True. Although it's difficult to say they 'made' that decision.

I'm sure that Boras offered them the opportunity to top the Yankees offer.

xpost yeah, and if they can keep surviving and thriving sans long-term contracts good for them. i just think if you look at free agents c. 2006-2010, teixeira might be the surest bet in that group and someone who will come real close to maintaining their market value over the lifetime of a contract.

the later years are obv a loss leader (trailer?) for how Tex will play the next 4 years. We all know the Steinbushes use greenbacks for t.p.

(and if Geithner & Summers keep calling the shots, so will we, ba dum bum)

i'm not entirely sure tex is really THAT good

I'm not sure Tex is a $20M player in his best year (MORP seems to agree with me) so I don't see how he could possibly come close to maintaining that value over the course that contract. This isn't Albert Pujols here, he's not historic good.

he's a little closer to a derrek lee-level guy than a pujols-level guy

most sim batters thru age 28:

1. Carlos Delgado (935)
2. Kent Hrbek (925)
3. Fred McGriff (913)
4. Jim Thome (911)
5. Will Clark (910)

the interesting thing about teixeira is that yeah he is not historic good at all. but in five years since his rookie year his lowest ops+ is 126 and his lowest games played is 132. he's hit regardless of park, league, etc. i think what you're paying for is that he's probably the surest bet in the majors to hit free agency in a long time.

delgado and thome have both been pretty valuable well into their 30s.

oh how i long for a number of .220/20 hr/72 rbi seasons from him

'historic good' is a pretty redic strawman, really. I mean come on.

it is in that ppl who are like "i'd pay $20 for pujols but not teix" are missing the point.

All those guys are good, Morbs, but none of them was deserving of one of the five richest contracts ever (admittedly I think Teixeira is probably the best of the bunch.) Also Delgado maybe excepted (and he's been up and down) all of them were basically finished as All Star position players by their early-30s.

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/02/22/7__1235332379_8248.jpg

"i think what you're paying for is that he's probably the surest bet in the majors to hit free agency in a long time."

He also plays in the most easily replaceable position on the diamond and he doesn't play that position remotely well enough to justify the money nor is he likely to over the course of the contract.

^^^picture of papi is irrelevant on this thred k thx

"'historic good' is a pretty redic strawman, really. I mean come on."

It's not that redic when you are talking about spending $180M on a guy.

what is poo hole's contract btw? real question

gonna say we've reached the agree to disagree point on teix.

anyway, challops alert, the guy i REALLY wanted was sabathia.

pujols: 7 years 100 mil expires after 2010.

oh and 2011 club option $16 mil

"anyway, challops alert, the guy i REALLY wanted was sabathia."

You are crazy.

yes, Teixeira is obv overpaid, and that's all tits to the Yanks

xpost hahah i know.

also challops: when all top-tier talent that makes it to the open market will be "overpaid," what is the meaning of that term?

Avoid the open market.

"also challops: when all top-tier talent that makes it to the open market will be "overpaid," what is the meaning of that term?"

Exactly what it says.

lol what

He also plays in the most easily replaceable position on the diamond and he doesn't play that position remotely well enough to justify the money nor is he likely to over the course of the contract.

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, February 24, 2009 1:35 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is asinine and you sound like some dipshit calling into sports talk radio - money is one of the most fungible resources in baseball esp for teams like boston and nyy, $20 mil a year isn't even close to an insane or unprecedented number, fangraphs has his 08 season as being worth $30 mil

is that in 08$ or 09$ ?

big diff afaiac

this is what's really interesting to me--people being hung up on a figure like $20 million for a guy who is pretty clearly one of the best and most consistent baseball players. also when people bitch about the sox and yanks having more resources than other teams and then turn around and bitch about how dumb they would be to, y'know, use those resources to acquire good baseball players.

Fangraphs is stupid then.

lol

Fangraphs is stupid then.

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:10 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yet you're stanning for obsolete bullshit like MORP??? when was the last time BP represented the forefront/cutting edge of sabermetrics??

I'm reading Fangraphs now and I do not understand for the life of me how his 2008 is worth $15M more than his 2007 despite putting up relatively similar numbers (albeit playing 20 or so more games.)

"also when people bitch about the sox and yanks having more resources than other teams and then turn around and bitch about how dumb they would be to, y'know, use those resources to acquire good baseball players."

It's fun.

"yet you're stanning for obsolete bullshit like MORP??? when was the last time BP represented the forefront/cutting edge of sabermetrics??"

No idea. Should I give a shit?

According to Fangraphs Alber Pujols was worth $40M last year. Fascinating. I have no idea what that means since of course no one is making close to that.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/

HELP 4 U

Yeah I am reading that right now. So according to this guy, most good free agents are actually underpaid because the real value of a win is actually higher because you just ignore all the factors that depress that real value. That's an impressive amount of ignoring.

I'm reading Fangraphs now and I do not understand for the life of me how his 2008 is worth $15M more than his 2007 despite putting up relatively similar numbers (albeit playing 20 or so more games.)

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:16 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's clearly the gigantic leap in the quality of his fielding, one which is inconsistent w/the rest of his career - which means he was probably overpaid, but again, overpaying doesn't really matter when money is an unlimited resource (ie. you are the yankees)

No idea. Should I give a shit?

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:19 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

depends on whether or not you are interested in accurate information, i guess ¯\(°_o)/¯

man if Brad Penny wasn't still fat he would be going for a sweep of spring training cliches. just read an item about how Smoltz is helping him with his splitter.

Yeah for the record I think the Yankees signing Teixeira is less dumb than the Red Sox doing so. I get the impression that Red Sox don't feel like they can just print their own money the way the Yanks do which is why staying away from these money pit deals is a better idea for them.

"depends on whether or not you are interested in accurate information, i guess ¯\(°_o)/¯"

I'm intrested in stuff that's fairly easy to understand which is why I like the BP stuff. I'm not a stat geek by any stretch of the imagination. Reading this guys Salary explanation is making my eyes bleed.

hey cankles when/where was morp criticized/debunked/whatever?

well really it just sucks because warp sucks

http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/supervorp/#9

I'm sure it's all part and parcel of the weakness of the fielding calculations in WARP which all these stat nerds bitch about.

Although I guess that stat nerd is bitching about the replacement level value. Whatever.

stat nerd bitching is roughly equivalent to replacement level bitching iirc

SNB=RLB

BORN (Bitching Over Replacement Nerd)

This could almost be mistaken for a film or politics thread.

icey you got a lotta opinions for guy who don't like the baseball.

Except that you aren't on it Morbs ;)

o i got lots opinions

I don't even think I know what MORP is.

dr MORPius

Dodgers trying to poach all the lovable 2004 sox clowns by getting closer to Manny, signing Doug Mientidkievicz to a minor league deal and 'expressing interest' in Pedro.

Yay now cad and ice cr?m will have a team to root for!

Hilarious ominous injured-guy news coming out of sox camp....

Penny, who missed most of the second half of last season with shoulder tendinitis, was scheduled to make his spring debut against Team Puerto. But after experiencing some difficulty getting loose in a bullpen session Sunday, the Sox have scrapped Penny’s start and will instead have him concentrate on strengthening the shoulder for the forseeable future.

As for Drew, he flew back to Boston Sunday night to get a shot in his lower back. When Drew reported to camp last month, he mentioned to reporters that he was still experiencing some stiffness in his lower back, the same condition which forced him to miss the final five weeks of last season.

fingers in ears

Jason (Boston): Penny was scratched from his start and JD had a shot in his back, time to worry already in the Nation?

Rob Neyer: Nah ... the Red Sox have built plenty of duplication into the system.

lol what, rocco baldelli in RF full-time?

Tacoby can play CF and RF hes that fucking good.

BP depth charts have Drew w/ 60% of RF time (410 PA), followed by Kotsay and Baldelli with 15% each and Wilkerson 10%. They'll muddle through.

Kotsay as your RF is kind of scary.

ya. wilkerson is the key here :|

xpost yeah morbs that PT breaks down right in my mind; kotsay and wilkerson will absolutely cost them some runs tho

rip trot ;_;

Julio Lugo has an MRI due to "sharp pain" in his knee when running, potentially ending the only positional battle of spring (i guess a couple of pitching slots are still undecided):

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2009/03/lugo_im_worried.html

Didn't think the Lugo contract could get even shittier, but there you go.

It was a sunk cost. It wasn't like they were going to play him much anyway and no one else was going to take that albatross off their hands.

tha sawx and jason bay have stopped talking about a contract extension because there is currently no way to value corner outfielders:

"The market has changed so much from two years ago to this winter, from a year ago to now," Epstein said. "Who knows where it's going to be a year from now? So that unpredictability, I think, has created a landscape that's been difficult for us to navigate in terms of getting an extension done a year early. Both sides wanted it, so we tried. But both sides recognized that it's just too difficult to get done right now.

"We had some talks [earlier in the offseason], but they weren't really substantive. Recently, we've had more substantive talks. It's become clear that because of the unusual marketplace, we're not going to get anything done during spring training. We're going to sort of halt talks for now, just table them. But both sides have committed to maintaining good dialouge throughout the course of the season."

it was much-speculated during the last two years of the manny era that he might have been giving back as much in defense as he was producing in offense:

bay's 2008 UZR (split between pirates and sawx, obv): -19.7
manny's 2008 UZR (split between sawx and LAD): -2.3
manny's 2007 UZR: -20.0

editorial comment: i support not extending jason bay

uzr.

Julio Lugo has an MRI due to "sharp pain" in his knee when running

tears of joy

oh yeah, the obligatory lugo update:

Julio Lugo will return to Boston and have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday. There is no timetable for his return, though such surgeries usually require multiple weeks of rehabilitation.

The decision came after the team sent Lugo's MRI to a specialist, who determined that there is what appears to be a meniscus tear in his right knee. The Red Sox remain unsure, however, of the injury's severity, and won't know until team medical director Dr. Thomas Gill performs the procedure. Only then will they have a proper timetable for Lugo's return.

link here.

this leaves a roster spot open for a utility infielder, probably either:

nick green, 12/31 this spring, late of the yankees org
angel chavez, 5/14 this spring, late of the dodgers org

editorial comment: i support not extending jason bay

Especially when you could maybe give that money to Matt Holliday instead.

josh bard was cut today. this means that the sox would currently enter the season with capt. varitek and george kottaras as their catchers.

pretty confused by this. bard did not compliment varitek offensively (they're both much better against LHP) but he was also probably the least-risky guy. he was probably going to hit for a non-atrocious average and take a few walks, and he's played in mlb for the last several years.

kottaras has never played in mlb, may not hit for average, has shown patience in the minors but who knows if it will translate. reports on his defense range from "pretty bad" to "has improved from pretty bad."

Isn't Bard's defense pretty bad also?

bard is lousy at throwing our runners; my understanding is that kottaras may have that issue plus behind-the-plate fundamentals issues (footwork, blocking balls, etc. etc.)

from late '06:

The Padres didn't envision Kottaras as a candidate for their starting job in 2007. Scouts from two American League clubs who saw him last month rated him a backup catcher. Critics within the San Diego franchise and outside of it had concerns about Kottaras' durability, defensive makeup and ability to work with pitchers, plus his throwing mechanics. The Padres had challenged Kottaras to become more assertive as a field general.

my understanding is that he's gotten a good bit better since then.

he also managed to post a .567/.900 home/road OPS split in AAA in 2007. weird. can't find his '08 split but i think the disparity was still there, though maybe not as big.

in '08 he threw out 15/80 runners trying to steal. ugh.

Bard is pretty bad at throwing out runners, but he wasn't helped by the fact that Peavy, Young, and Maddux all paid little to no attention to baserunners as a rule, and sometimes didn't even bother to pitch out of the stretch.

Might want to think about making an offer to the Padres for Henry Blanco, who threw out 10 of 22 runners last year, and had a relatively decent .325 OBP. The Padres are interested in maybe giving Lobaton the backup catcher job, so there might be some mutual interest.

that's really interesting about the padres pitchers, thanks for the info.

blanco seems good defensively but is a RHH (ideally the backup to varitek would be a lefty) and the highest OBP he posts out of five projection systems is .303.

with varitek highly likely to be terrible offensively i hate to see the team give away any more offense with the backup. i realize this is a lot to ask, and actually kottaras, if he actually shows patience and a little power, may be the best man for the job after all.

Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to give Kottaras a shot, and if it doesn't work out, there's bound to be a team willing to deal a good player by June or July (if not earlier), given the state of the economy.

I think sometimes it's easy to forget that most catchers are horrible, horrible offensive players, especially if you're used to watching Jason Varitek in his prime.

but not if you saw him last year.

maybe Sox will be beneficiaries of Mets' determination to dump Ramon Castro.

Critics within the San Diego franchise and outside of it had concerns about Kottaras' durability, defensive makeup and ability to work with pitchers, plus his throwing mechanics.

On the upside, he does make a mean chocolate chip cookie!

And he was great in Cronenberg's Crash.

sox catcher fallout update:

apparently, bard's defense in camp was notably worse than kottaras's which is why bard was let go. so the front office confirmed that as of now kottaras would break with the major league team.

however, miguel montero trade rumors continue to fly. montero is a lefty bat who is second on arizona's depth chart, and project to have some decent patience and a little power. the asking price is currently michael bowden who is a solid, low-ceiling pitching prospect. frankly, bowden is probably more useful to the sox in trade than on the team, and if montero was a guy they liked i don't think bowden should hold them back.

Moving Montero would bump James Skelton up in the D'backs depth chart -- totally in favor of that.

(Skelton = 23-year-old small frame catcher w/ .416 OBP [but almost zero power] through AA; threw out 40%+ runners in '07.)

i haven't been keeping up with injuries that closely but the two best sox position players are now out of the WBC with injuries. pedroia strained an abdominal muscle a while ago and is just starting to play part-time in spring training again. of more concern, youkilis has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle and ankle tendonitis. that can be a real annoying nagging injury and he will certainly be shutting it down for a bit.

Yeah I'm not exactly thrilled that Pedroia and Youk are banged up, but the club is obviously gonna pull them from the WBC at the slightest hint of an injury, so they're not necessarily signs of bad things to come.

Right Fielder J.D. Drew was hit in the right hand by a pitch from Panama Pittsburgh hurler Donnie Veal, and he was removed from the game and sent to have X-Rays, according to team staff.

arrrrrrrghhh

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/65/20/22132065.jpg

VEEEEEEEALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

what did you gis to find that picture?

shakes fist

and you DIDN'T go with the Ayatollah?

haha somehow that woman seemed to fit better but on second thought

abdominal muscles and obliques get strained all the time, especially in spring training when d00dz aren't warmed up

youk's tendonitis thing sounds like it was a timebomb waiting to go off :/

Tony Mazz sez start Buchholz in AAA and I'm maybe convinced.

yeah, as mazz points out the sox don't need a 5th starter until mid-april and if penny is still on track i think he would get first crack at it over buchholz.

Penny, Saito make beautiful music together

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/42082

Aww.

so will Varitek be retired by June 15? or just rah-rah backup .125-hittin' catcher?

C Kahrl opined on BP how stupid it seems to release yr best-hitting option, Bard.

I really don't know why the yanquis have not claimed bard.

he's on the nats now. nevermind. duh

so opening day has been postponed. the sox had not opened at home since 2002, and with the weather being what it is in early april in new england, there is a perfectly good reason why. best part is they're playing the rays and then swinging out to the west coast, so why not just start in TB?

selfishly it's good though--i'll have a lot easier time catching part of a 4:00 start than a 2:00 one.

No sound on my mlb.tv feed but the picture's fine, so I'm not complaining. Classic Pedey swing!

argghhh must go home and watch

apparently if I hadn't ditched singing with the Boston Pops, I would have had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the Sox opener today

this team looking good

oh shit sorry

oki oki OKI OKI

dan you would have gotten to do god bless america AND take me out to the ballgame too! sick gig imo.

beckett was throwing darts today. and i love oki as much as the next guy but seniority aside ram-ram and saito are gonna be the best (and least walk-prone) setup guys this year.

ok guys - the red sox road uniforms have become/returned to being AWESOME. i always loved the big unadorned block capitals on the old road uniforms, just "BOSTON", no frills - it implied that the red sox couldn't care less about what the fans of other teams thought of them, but saved their finery for the home games. now the new road uniforms don't go QUITE as far down this route - there are still some old-timey serifs on the word "boston" - but the general gestalt is there. no outlining, no red letters or numbers, just plain old black. FABULOSO

i like the gray/dark blue a LOT, but the giant red "hanging sox" badge on the sleeve really sucks.

also the "hanging sox" friday alternate cap is a fucking war crime.

i think the road uni needs some red, personally

the sock logo should be reserved for BP only

I'm w/ cad.

are the letters and numbers actually dark blue? they look black on my TV.

yeah the hanging sox sux in general

Jordan the road uni has red! the ACTUAL SOX!

so sss and statistical knowing-better aside, this team is currently taking "flat" to unforeseen new levels. 24 runs in seven games, and daisuke needs a good start today to avoid 5 bad ones in six appearances by the top three pitchers. lester's bad inning last night was aided by a popup which neither drew or pedroia ran hard for, and drew ended sunday's game with his bat on his shoulder for a four-pitch K w/men on base. liners are not falling in, hits are not stringing together, but bad fundamental baseball doesn't help the cause. only youkilis has come to play thus far.

in injury news, jed lowrie is on the DL with a sore left wrist. he fractured this wrist last year and was rehabbing through ST. apparently he's been in pain for two weeks but didn't say anything, presumably trying to keep his job from one j. lugo who's maybe two weeks away from returning from a knee injury. so for the time being nick green and gil velasquez are holding down the SS/utility spots.

in other fucked up sox news, dustin pedroia's family has been the subject of death threats which may/may not be related to an interview in which he talked shit about his hometown, which may/may not have been related to his brother's arrest for child molestation (widely publicized back home apparently). this is a weird situation, and whether he really meant it or not dustin is a guy who needs to be real careful because his particular brand of blackened sarcasm does not quote very well. given his newfound financial security, he should throw some cash his parent's way--it may be time to sell the tire shop and get the f out of woodland.

The problem with the pop up wasn't that they didn't run for it, it was that they couldn't decide what to do once they got there.

yeah that's what i meant--both pulled up when one running hard could have gotten there. i thought drew def. had a play.

that shit happens to every team, especially the first couple of weeks. miscommunication.

also don't forget that pitchers are ahead of hitters at this point in the season. averaging three runs a game isn't great but it's not bizarre. i'm more concerned about lester and dice-k settling down, they should be blowing guys away, basically

beckett just got suspended 6 games.

pro tip to mlb--it looks dumb to upstage your own umpires who didn't think the throw was intentional

Um you do realize that through the advent of video replay technology that MLB has more info than the umpire does? Not saying that 6 games is the right call, but this "the perspective from the field level is the only thing that matters" seems a bit misguided.

all replay lets you do is see the pitch again. the pitch is inconclusive--i think it's more likely that beckett intended to throw near abreu, but it's not impossible that the ball just slipped and sailed on him.

there is no evidence in the replay that trumps the call on the field--that's all i'm saying. if there were i would feel differently.

Well apparently they disagree. Again I'm not saying they are right or wrong. I'm just saying that they have access to something that the umps don't and that it isn't an insult to the umps that they are using it.

I always wonder how much is lost in translation between Dice-K and the Sox coaches, trainers, etc.

i'd say a decent amount based on this recent episode. glad they dl'd him as quickly as they did, and hoping vainly that this won't be attributed to his 14 wbc innings.

RIP David Ortiz, this dude is cooked.

Glad I have him on both of my fantasy teams. :D

we should all predict ortiz's avg/obp/slg and home run totals.

260/370/490, 22 HRs

I'll take the under.

tim wakefield is pitching well today

oh my, i went to check the box score to see if it was that kind of pitching well.

wakefield is the one sawk i'd actually be happy 2 see do this

Any time this guy takes the mound, you just know in the back of your mind that he can do it -- he has the stuff and the makeup for it.

aww

i didn't feel too bad for lowell, muffing that grounder. it's a dead cert that wake would walk somebody. too bad about the shutout though, let's uh just hope he can get the cg here

every time i feel a little blah abt wake he does something like this--not even the near no hitter but throwing a cg the day after the bullpen was gutted. guy is a fucking champion.

this team, fwiw, looks terrible

holyyyyy shit, just got worse

why in the world was i excited about relaxing and watching baseball tonite

you guys are out-drama-queening Pancakes Hackman

aw yea jason bay

mike lawl

sorry morbs, i just try to leave bored-sounding, detached baseball posting to the experts

:p

I would be so great if Rays & Jays went to the playoffs...

so that's what it would take!

; )

lol

tied

PENNY DROPS

good win! serious heroics from the bullpen.

ortiz looks pretty dead so far :/

oh yeah, he's fucked. i will be following him closely for signs of life but nothing thus far this season.

could that injury really have thrown him off so much though? he was coming off of a huge 2007 season last year and iirc he had a slow start exactly like this but started to rake just before he got hurt.

ramon ramirez looks like a goddamn star

got my patriot day tix for left field grandstand (thx for the recs, esp tracer), lester vs. uehara. v.v. excited. first time in boston in my long life.

awesome! hopefully the rain holds off. i'll be out drinking and watching the marathon.

sorry dude, it's masterson pitching for the sox

D Ortiz tripled to deep center, J Ellsbury and D Pedroia scored.

Masterson was pretty solid.

even if ortiz stinks it up for a few more months you know he will turn it on in september.
giving up on him already is pretty laughable.

we always knew sox fans were nervous nellies but it's become very unattractive

lol mccarver says: "the one thing lowell has done since coming to the red sox, is hit the ball the other way with two strikes. He has cultivated that skill." In my head, I respond, "you twit, if there's one thing Lowell 'has done', it's sit on fastballs and pull them, using the wall." Next pitch, Lowell yanks a fastball over the monster.

ok pls read this hilariously wtf story in boston magazine about john henry and his new fiancee. as a sample, here is an e-mail he sent her after they hung out twice:

Dear Linda,

A man needs a muse. Well, he doesn't really. He doesn't need nearly as much as he generally thinks he does. A man is greedy. Greedy for what he doesn't think he has and what he thinks he wants.

We probably wouldn't have wandered far beyond the basic necessities without that pushing us. Progress is one of its most important byproducts.

So you will ask, "Why are you writing this?" Because a brief encounter-and-a-half with you gave a cool spin to this little blue planet from my vantage point.

We feted the Celtics tonight and the skies opened. The sun emerged and created a giant rainbow between the city and the park. We were transfixed.
You only saw it if you were in the right place. I was in the right place when I noticed you.

I barely know you. I don't have any illusions about capturing your heart. But the world is brighter, better, lighter and warmer when a man imbues a woman he knows—even tabula rasa—with the attributes I believe reside in you. It's the small things that ultimately matter. The subtle things.

I am honest. I don't play games. And I see no reason not to say that I've been smitten by you and you've done me a great service.

You've very innocently made my world brighter, better, lighter and warmer.

So thanks.

No response is necessary because a man doesn't need nearly as much as he thinks he does.

most of the rest of it is them doing lol rich people stuff and henry and his buddies acting like 20-something dudes.

(PS: I am totally loaded)

God bless the goddamned Onion:

Outfielders Take Knee, Infielders Move Up In New 'Jason Varitek Shift'

BOSTON-As the 2009 baseball season progresses, major-league managers are defending against Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek by employing what they call the "Varitek Shift," a defensive maneuver in which infielders move up past the pitcher's mound and outfielders take a knee and relax. "It's very effective," Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters. "If Jason makes contact with the ball, which is rare in itself, he usually hits slow dribblers that catch infielders by surprise because of how weak they're hit. So, by moving the infielders up, and having the pitcher rush home plate after the pitch has been thrown, Varitek has virtually no chance of reaching base. If runners are on when he comes up, we may have the outfielders cover first, second, and third to ensure a double or triple play." Gardenhire added that it doesn't matter if the switch-hitting Varitek bats right- or left-handed, as the shift is foolproof.

"We want Van Every!"

that guy's lucky the foot traffic stopped for 10 seconds

was that play discussed already? shit was amazing

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great stuff....I love going to fenway but as you see in the video nobody can stay in there seats. Drinking and pissing.

same in Philly. "great fans"

everyone's glued to their seats in nu shea, right morbs?

Tek is a wreck.

well yeah - try throwing out a guy trying to steal third in a one-run game tek. i dunno, just TRY.

of course it was really lugo who directly allowed the two winning runs to cross the plate. fuck that guy. FUCK HIM. why the fuck is this knife-wielding butterfingers on our team??

i take it all back - lugo for DH

what happened to jon lester?

From one of Gammons' many reflections on Manny:

Maybe it was all because he felt claustrophobic in Boston, and he didn't feel like moving four miles to the peace and tranquility of Red Sox owner John Henry's neighborhood in Brookline, Mass. Maybe it was traveling secretary Jack McCormick's fault for not giving him everything he wanted. Maybe he is as innocent as John Boy, as talented as Albert Pujols.

Is this another one of Jason Bay's nicknames? It's better than J-Bay.

What happened to Jon Lester can mostly be summed up by saying that his BABIP is .363 and his % of flyballs (and therefore HRs has spiked) dramatically. The first of those things is probably not going to be sustained for an entire year. The second may be closer to his true talent level, but since he's also striking out dudes at a higher rate it may end up being a wash.

my friend texted me that he caught evan longoria's hr ball 2day

<3 u 4 lyfe paps

http://i39.tinypic.com/ekmcf4.png

never change

paps is one of my five favorite athletes

http://i43.tinypic.com/sl5q8n.gif

XD

lol

papi : (

Ortiz went 0 for 7 and stranded 12 runners—tying Trot Nixon’s team record — as his average plummeted to .208. The five-time All-Star dressed slowly while facing his corner locker, then turned around and saw a swarm of reporters surrounding him before saying: “Sorry, guys. I don’t feel like talking today. Just put down, `Papi stinks.”’

:(

aw i actually came 2 this thread 2 post the same thing

“Sorry, guys. I don’t feel like talking today. Just put down, `Papi stinks.”’

AW

Meanwhile, in Pawtucket:

Michael Bowden: 2-1, 0.86 ERA in 7 starts; 42 IP, 19 hits allowed, 28 Ks, 16 BBs, 0.83 WHIP

Clay Buchholz: 2-0, 1.60 ERA in 7 starts; 39.1 IP, 23 hits allowed, 42 Ks, 12 BBs, 0.89 WHIP

yeah, it is getting pretty ridic down there while the big league starters kinda suck ass most of the time.

PAPI

our long red sox national nightmare is over

Hey Youkilis, SHADDAP AND GO TO FIRST.

http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/img/242zuzd.jpg

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 u paps

truly an off-kilter human being

truly a boring dumbfuck

well you should hear what he's been saying about you, morbs!

i like how the gif is in HD.

papsmearbon.gif

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/manny_ramirez_to_david_ortiz_road

loved that!

Watch this space: in three days the story will be Papi's monster series against the Yanks.

I have a feeling.

Watch this space: in three days the story will be Papi's monster series against the Yanks.

― scott seaward (G00blar), Tuesday, June 9, 2009 1:20 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I have a feeling.

― scott seaward (G00blar), Tuesday, June 9, 2009 1:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://gothamist.com/2009/06/09/phish_fan_plants_yankee_stadium_gra.php

Thanks, Johnny. 1 for 4 ain't great, but I'll take the homer.

It's typical of a Yankee fan to think you can buy a jinx in a bag.

hope this game doesn't rain out now. it's shaping up nicely.

what is paps reacting to in that gif?

John Henry's such a douche.

red sox pitching w/20 k's in 13 innings tonight. this is one of the hardest-throwing staffs i've ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9myhIDq_X0

OK it's pretty old.

matsuzaka to dl like a day after the team swore up and down that he was fine (he's not btw unless losing 4 mph on your fastball is cool). supposedly it will not be just a two-week dl either. makes things easy for smoltz to come pitch w/out roster difficulties.

as far as i can tell only downside here is slogging through posts by the myopic twats on the red sox board i read blaming the wbc for this.

ugh i hate the wbc-hatred.

i went to the game on friday and while it was a bummer that daisuke had such a bad outing, what truly bummed me out was the intense booing he was treated to. maybe there's some aspect of fandom i just don't get, but it's not like he's dogging it, or doing anything reproachable, or anything, the guy is just struggling mightily out there.

jed lowrie played for pawtucket sunday

i forget what thread it was - or even what board - but i think we had an argument about the morality/worthiness of booing - i think alex in sf was prominently involved

he was probably just booing people's posts

smloltz

did he get sonned?

totes

yo is it true smloltz got sonned by a Josh Bard in a mlb game??????

Each of the three games set a record for attendance at Nationals Park, with Thursday's crowd of 41,985 again flush with Boston jerseys, hats and chants for the visitors.

got a ticket for tonight

“People always make a big deal about first basemen, but most of ’em stink, anyway,’’ Ortiz mused. “They just hit.’’

yoga flame 4ever papi

nice use of "mused"

sox alllll over rich hill.

o's alllllllllll over sox bpen (blew a 10-1 lollllllllllead)

i guess they were bound to blow a lead eventually but damn

10-11 glad i wasnt watching that lolllllllllll

srsly good thing i left. rain fuckin everything up recently.

you came down for the game?

lol no i was watching on tv but i left to go hang with my gf. did you say you were going to one of the BAL series games?

ah it rained here a little so i figured you were here. i went monday, kind of boring game but the weather was almost perfect

monday was pretty good if you are a sox fan--shutout, lester wreckin dudes, drew almost getting the cycle.

lester was def. on which was good, had no intention of watching smloltz on tuesday. papi's cracked bat was pretty cool too

"Give the other team credit. They put pressure on our bullpen tonight and we pretty much imploded," Papelbon said. "I can't think of any other word that describes it better."

implolllllllllded

this quote brought to u by jonathan "scrabble fanatic" papelbon.

wakefield is about to become the startingest red sox pitcher ever. wau. and if he wins, he could be at least temporarily the winningest pitcher in the majors -- depending on what greinke and slowey do.

he needs an all-star game this year

Wakefield's only argument for Star status is the 10-3 record his run support gots him

well, i guess it was enough. glad he made the cut. but i'd be gladder if they stopped dropping games to the yankees in the standings.

his argument for star status is that he is a unique pitcher in major league baseball and continues to win at an age when most ballplayers are opening their second toyota franchise

saito is a massive farmer of cocks by the way, in case none of you had caught on to that

http://a.espncdn.com/media/apphoto/33315445-4a9a-4b3a-abb7-b7f63cd5014d.jpg

yessssss

soria ab vs. nick green was wicked siiiick brah

HEY SLOW DUDES--STOP RUNNING INTO OUTS

i love you, papi

but do you love mike lowell trying to score from first on a liner double??

i don't care much for the elderly, no

bleeearrrrrgh

adam laroche to sox for a couple dudes. whatever, i guess.

They don't have some dude in the minors who can put up Adam Laroche numbers?

Way to be the new Yankees.

er the Yankees would trade for like, Pujols. this guy is hitting .247.

The Yankees traded for Nick Swisher, who is hitting .233.

but getting on base and hitting for power

"Way to be the new Yankees"

yeah i can't believe that in this year of 2004 the red sox are building a large payroll and making some dumb yankee-type moves. who saw this coming????? despicable

121

201

lugo out

F U SMOLTZ

we dun got smoltzed

laroche has been freakin gangbusters, huh??

i'd never really seen laroche before. if he keeps that inside out swing at fenway going he's ok by me. maybe he can remind donald james drew that that's what he's supposed to be doing.

whoa:

Matsuzaka suggested that his effectiveness and health are being negatively impacted by the training techniques of the team. He blamed his current predicament on an inability by the club to account for the needs of Japanese pitchers, and suggested that he was ready to take a stand in an effort to return to the practices that he followed before coming to Major League Baseball.

QUOTE
“If I’m forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan,” Matsuzaka is quoted as saying in the article, which was written by Taeko Yoshii. “The only reason why I managed to win games during the first and second years (in the U.S.) was because I used the savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan. Since I came to the Major Leagues, I couldn't train in my own way, so now I've lost all those savings.”

QUOTE
“Recently, when he mentioned physical difference between races, team officials were simply baffled,” the article said, in a passage that appears to represent Matsuzaka’s recollection of a conversation. “One of them responded to him in a cracked voice, ‘If I ever recognized such a thing, I would be severely bashed by the media as a racist.’”

QUOTE
"“They come armed with data and logic,” Matsuzaka goes on to say. “To counter that, I have to respond with my own logic and that takes a lot of thinking and energy, but I can’t back down on this one.”

that's matsuzaka in a japanese newspaper interview. at this point imo they should let him throw as much as he wants because it can't get much more disappointing from here.

Would be nice to know whether he thinks he's throwing too much, too little, too often between starts, etc. Does the article get into specifics of his beef?

he wants to throw marathon sessions japanese style and the sox have a v. specific throwing/shoulder health program that they put everyone on. funny cause the other comments about the sox program recently have come from brad penny who has been saying it's the only reason he's been able to pitch this year and that he feels like he's 21 again.

i thought there was a big deal made when he first came over about how they werent gonna mess with his training routines and shit?

the thing that fascinates me and that i want to know more about is the difference in the japanese ball - apparently different clubs all have different balls over there? it sounds slightly apocryphal and i'd like to see some real ass research into that shit imo

i don't recall that myself but it may be. i don't believe he's ever been doing the japanese thing of 100s of reps every offday or whatever.

oh that was an xp.

all i've ever heard re: balls is that the japanese ball is different from the u.s. ball. never heard that japanese balls are different from each other.

heh.

round eye have bigger balls

^hes a medical doctor

apparently the big diff is cowhide vs. horsehide.

The pitching coach said that after Matsuzaka first came to the Sox from Japan, no adjustments to his routine were made until the pitcher encountered challenges (such as fatigue in the second half of the 2007 season) that required changes.

"We acknowledged them at the time of signing Daisuke. When he came over, no changes were recommended. No changes were mandated by any means," said Farrell. "Any adjustments that we've encountered have been in response to how he's adapted here."

That, Farrell suggested, qualifies as prudent business practice for a player in whom the team has a substantial amount of money committed and upon whose talents the club relies.

"We've got a $103 million investment in the guy that we have to, we feel, not only protect but put him in position to have success," said Farrell. " We recognize there are differences...This is a two-way situation. We're not mandating items directly to Daisuke. For (differences of opinion) to come out in the way that it has is, in a word, disappointing."

Math is hard:

@sportsguy33 Weird fact of the day: After the Kotchman trade, the Red Sox have twice as many Jewish players (2) as black players (0).

Man, I looked at Ortiz #s and he really is off the juice. Bet he's wondering what Manny's taking. Ortiz is putting up #s you'd hope to get out of your back up SS/C, not your DH.

He's contracted through next year? There'll def be some awkward moments from now til next year.

He had a 1.062 OPS in June and a .845 OPS in July. I think only Pujols and Mark Reynolds have more home runs over that span, unless I'm missing someone.

Pujols' July was like Ortiz' 2009 btw.

...something like 4 extra base hits?

i didnt even know kotchman was a hebe

I'm loving the revelation that Jerry Remy's kid was fired from his Sawks job for possession of steroids.

...something like 4 extra base hits?

― (*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･)　　　°~ヾ(･ε･ *) (Steve Shasta), Sunday, August 2, 2009 4:36 PM (2 hours ago)

10 XBH, .289/.415/.485

so long, smoltzie

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AjHGU7WVgCRS_JscC0SgmDgRvLYF?slug=ap-redsox-smoltzcut&prov=ap&type=lgns

The door is open, Atlanta.

David Ortiz since being outed as a steroid user:

083/149/125

6 games: single, double, one walk, one RBI

hey, I personally witnessed one of Smoltz's two Red Sox wins.

fuuuck

ESPN needs to lose the mega-closeups on Pedroia, I thought I was watching a Discovery Channel special on woodchucks.

ahhaha lol

david 'big popfly' ortiz singled in a run :/

fuck you nick green you are a joke.

Victor is ready to throw down.

ESPN needs to lose the mega-closeups on Pedroia, I thought I was watching a Discovery Channel special on woodchucks.

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, August 11, 2009 7:34 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark

lmfao

holy fuck youkilis just tried to murder rick porcello

literally?

Porcello tried to evade Youk, and then ended up taking him into the ground.

assault w/batting helmet.

wtf, it was a payback pitch.

that's pretty dope imo

btw this is the sequence:

last night, penny hit cabrera, and then jackson hit youk. both hits were square and looked intentional.
tonite, tazawa (terrified rookie) hit cabrera's hand/bat knob. porcello tried and missed vmart's back, then got youk on the back.

thank you.

Cabrera had continued playing after being hit in the first, but had to leave the game after fouling off a pitch the half-inning prior to Youk getting HIS second HBP.

what's happening rite now btw

I don't know -- it is 8:00 pm on a Tuesday night, which means I just lost the two tuners in this room to the missus. Will be watching remainder later.

porcello and youk ejected; some guy who self-immolated against minn. on saturday in for the tigers.

pretty lame brawl portion tbh after the initial attack. not like the classic coco crisp/"jamie" shields fight of 08.

Well, good -- gotta keep the youngster fresh.

xpost

Oh, terrific -- Chris Lambert? He was possibly going to start tomorrow since my handlesake (scheduled for tomorrow) has the flu.

yes and he just got torched by jason bay :)

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20090811&Category=SPORTS02&ArtNo=90811088&Ref=AR&Profile=1048&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

lol

Greek God of Dirtnaps

"are you as turned on as i am?"

Porcello vs Ming the Merciless

I hope we see just enough suspensions to cost DET & BOS the playoffs.

what is your problem with DET?

what team doesn't morbs have a problem with

morbs was almost killed by an actual tiger once

what team thing doesn't morbs have a problem with

lingering ty cobb beef.

for real no one not named rick or kevin is getting suspended.

tazawa settling in well btw, might just steal a win.

Leyland annoys me a bit. I'd like to see Mauer & Morneau make it.

You annoy me a lot! Jimmy Leyland is the man. I think you're just butthurt about the 97 wildcard dispute.

off the top of my head -- I don't remember that.

I'm surprised Leyland hasn't coughed up a lung. He did spit re the C word, "Chemistry is a class you take," I liked that.

yooooooouk

http://blog.nj.com/realtimesports_impact/2009/08/large_USA_BASEBALL_MLB.jpeg

**HUGZ**

The Boston Red Sox tried to boost their infield Friday, reacquiring shortstop Alex Gonzalez and cash from the Cincinnati Reds for minor league infielder Kris Negron.

green was murdering them @ ss.

gonzalez' 2009 is actually worse from an O and D standpoint...

eh partial season defensive stats are useless--green is fucking up at the fundamental level of shortstop play.

s'okay, lowrie's coming back right?

O_O

http://www.survivinggrady.com/steinbrenner.jpg

green is fucking up at the fundamental level of shortstop play.

That's a pretty good description of what I've seen from Alex Gonzalez this year.

oshit rangers steal EIGHT bases on vteck!?

:<

borbon 4, andrus 3

20 of 138 runners thrown out by Varitek (14%)/Kattaracts (16%) this year. Probably look better minus Penny.

that yahoo! article states Boston has thrown out 8 out of 111 fwiw.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2009.shtml

i wonder if they're including pickoffs in those CSs.

i had a nightmare last night that dustin pedroia was traded to the orioles

Maybe it's the Rangers-Sox Wild Card race at work or something, but people are taking a special delight in giving me shit over the recent woes. It's almost like being a Yankees fan.

are you surprised?

trailing in the WC!

getting beat 7-2 and then 4-3 is not so great for the whole psyche thing

Sox rumored to claim Wagner off waivers. Sure, what could go wrong with another pricey veteran reclamation project?

i heard he's going to one of the FL teams... hmm

Another transfixing 33-minute first inning in The Great Rivalrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

they should take less pitches huh

k i'm calling it--the brad penny era needs to end.

more like BAD penny amirite

u r right

THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK OUT???

Should I liveblog the game from Fenway? "just downed a Harp. Peed in trough that was installed circa 1924. Yankees up 7-2."

mike LOL

tazawa's looking okay today.

ummm, welcome, i guess, billy wagner?

Seems like a decent risk. esp if Wagner can actually contribute this year. The Sox give up 2 PTBNL's, dont have to pick up Wagner's option but can offer him arbitration. If he accepts, they risk getting stuck with him if he sucks, but he has time to rehab if hes not 100% this season. If he leaves, they'll get some picks but since he missed all this year he might be a type b.

well by all accounts he's not going to accept arb so there isn't much risk from a cost/players perspective. i guess i'm just not sure what they think they're getting--yet another rehabbing guy and nl lifer who doesn't really want to set up. getting another lefty is nice but this is more like a 5 games up in the division move than a barely leading the wildcard move, because tbqh one or two bad innings could really hurt their playoff chances.

oh and apparently he can only pitch once every three days.

they risk getting stuck with him if he sucks

he wants to cloooose in '10.

lol Papelbon "Don't upset our ROLES," shut up and pitch, asshole.

"Don't upset our ROLES (every third day)"

xp wtf do you expect him to say, he's backing up his fellow bullpen dudes. papelbon's an asshole but outside acquisition questions put guys in a difficult situation to say the least.

he is otm in asking if wagner is ready to pitch if the answer is really "every three days."

pap is the man

paps*

pabst

also he is right

still waiting for someone to explain this acquisition to me.

http://davidcrew.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/desperation.jpg

Papi

Hawk and Stone bickering about first Ortiz homer being a fly-out in any other park, then... *silence*... "This game is ovah."

"Victor, man, he just push me, man," Ortiz said. "Every at-bat since he's been here, he just get in my face and start screaming at me and everything. I like it, I really like it. He gets me in the mood."

So is this the Yankees being dicks to both the sox and the mets or what

According to the Boston Globe's Amalie Benjamin, the Yankees have claimed outfielder Chris Carter, who was headed to the Mets on waivers as part of this week's Billy Wagner deal.

It's a bold move by the Yankees, who won't be able to bring Carter on, but simply blocked the Mets from getting a look at the 26-year-old outfielder this season. He'll join the Metropolitans once the '09 season is through and there are no longer waiver restrictions.

No post about Penny being DFA'd yet?

Penny asks for release; is granted release.

he asked to be banned? i sug banned him like, 20 times!

"Victor, man, he just push me, man," Ortiz said. "Every at-bat since he's been here, he just get in my face and start screaming at me and everything. I like it, I really like it. He gets me in the mood."

someone jump on that, it's rare moment when the slash fic just writes itself.

or, they are Albee's George & Martha.

let nate green start!

N Green 2.0 0 0 0 3 0 0

whoops, nick

maybe i was wrong--wagner looks ridiculously good.

baaarf:

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32662610/ns/sports-baseball/

rays are spanking beckett 2nite. i had to turn it off

ugggh fuck this guy

http://nbcsportsmedia.msnbc.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/041101/041101_schilling_hmed_8a.h2.jpg

<3 u victor never change

sort of surprised to see no questions or reporting about dice-k's unique pre-inning warmup these days - standing several feet behind the rubber, doing a little skip and throwing it homeward from there

last night's game was fantastic - taut baseball all the way through

lol i swore up and down not to watch him and he did that, maybe i'll make it a policy.

if it works for tense moment in the bottom of the ninth why not for an entire game?

I was at the June 19 game, when dice-k left after six runs in ignominy and a shower of boos, so I was so happy to watch him work those six shutout innings the other night, and to get that ovation.

lester :(

So these SBs are all Varitek aren't they? I mean Lester is a lefty, his pickoff move can't be that bad, right?

I am going to my first and only game this season next week - excited!

SB - D Jeter 2 (30, 2nd base off J Lester/J Varitek, 2nd base off M Delcarmen/J Varitek), J Damon (11, 2nd base off M Bowden/J Varitek), A Rodriguez 3 (14, 2nd base off J Lester/J Varitek, 3rd base off J Lester/J Varitek, 2nd base off H Jones/J Varitek), R Cano (5, 2nd base off J Lester/J Varitek).

varitek also 0 for 3 so far with 2 k's and a gidp

maybe his worst game ever?

easily--yankees wisely challenged him and he's probably the worst defensive catch in the majors right now.

Bones (Boston):

When Brad Penny went to SF, he said he liked Molina calling more breaking balls early in counts. Obviously, many Boston writers either fainted on the spot and/or were outraged. Is it possible the Captain DOESN'T know everything?

Keith Law:

Varitek is a lousy game-caller and has been for years. I'm pretty sure he lost his thumb, middle, ring, and pinky fingers on his right hand, since he calls for so many fastballs.

lol yeah that was definitely brad penny's problem.

jason varitek is my least favorite athlete on the planet - anyone who i've ever talked shit about on any sports thread on ilx doesn't really compare to how i feel about varitek

lol did he do something to you? not that i'm much of a fan myself.

mostly i hate him for demanding in his contract to be named the captain of the team - basically i find that inexcusable + the sox would've be better if they could just dump his awful ass. & you know he has a huge ego about being like the longest tenured red sox player despite being stooped to demanding some meaningless title

schilling > varitek was basically the worst battery in the history of baseball at least those days are behind us

yeowch

clay :(

So these SBs are all Varitek aren't they?

emphatically.

nice! (Hill)

NEW YORK -- The New York Daily News is reporting that Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams' severed head was mistreated at an Arizona cryonics facility, according to details from a new book.

In "Frozen," Larry Johnson, a former executive at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., writes that Williams' head, which had been severed and frozen for storage, was abused at the facility. Johnson claims a technician took baseball-like swings at Williams' frozen head with a monkey wrench.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=4524957

uhh

lmao

sorry ted williams, not sure science will ever find a cure for getting your head pounded with a wrench

The technician, no .406 hitter like the baseball legend, missed the can with several swings of the wrench and smacked Williams' head directly, spraying 'tiny pieces of frozen head' around the room.

O_____________________________________________________________________O

this is utterly insane

all the forced comparisons 2 a baseball swing are amazing

surprised none say the pieces of head [splendidly] splintered around the room

really just a new chapter in one of the saddest, weirdest stories i know of

lol johnny

I was hoping they tossed it around the parking lot

dude. you need to settle down.

Head Williams

http://deadspin.com/5388660/coming-soon-jonathan-papelbons-dubious-taste-in-cinema

yeah saw that, can't stand papelbon

a lot weirder things than that happen in major league clubhouses

I hope I hope I hope Wake wins 18 more in the next 2 years.

holy shit...

http://nuggetpalooza.weei.com/sports/boston/general/2010/02/02/red-sox-reviews-jason-varitek-c/

yeah he sucks and has for a while tbrr

well i know -- i'm pretty sure i've been outspoken on this matter on the board -- but there are some staggering stats in there

yeah--it's kind of amazing he's been awful for so long

btw i'd just like to point out that i was 100% otm not being excited about the 2009 boston red sox

now you must be excited enough to create a '10 thread

i'll do it during spring training! too soon now imo

I think we should force pitchers and catchers to march into ST complexes 2 minutes after Big Football Game ends.

cad, you aren't just salivating over the idea of a whole summer of PITCHING AND DEFENSE

and adrian beltre hitting 275 ft homers

NO!

lol

at least it will be different? i don't know. 2nd year in a row i'm not planning on attending any games.

i always forget that it costs money to go baseball games cuz marlins games you can get tickets for $12 and then sit 7 rows up from first base dugout

My brother-in-law is a Sox fan and prob hasn't been to Fenway in 10 years (that's Connecticut-level devotion)