The 2010 Boston Red Sox Call All Destroyer Tells Us What He Thinks Thread

symmetry, etc.

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

― big hoos state of mind (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, February 2, 2010 4:29 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

and adrian beltre hitting 275 ft homers

― big hoos state of mind (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, February 2, 2010 4:30 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

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

― ice cr?m, Monday, February 23, 2009 5:28 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark

yeah i'm pretty pumped too

:)

the globe has been going all sabermetric lately, there's a front-of-sports-page story today on why J.D. Drew is good and doesnt deserve the criticism he gets (complete with fangraphs WAR/salary value chart etc)

can't complain about that

yeah that was a good article. big fan of amalie's stuff.

Bill James quoyed by BP about a month ago:

"What I’m most curious about in 2010 is how much better we’re going to be defensively," James told the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham. "I don’t think anyone questions that we’re going to have a better defensive team. But are we going to be as much better defensively as we want to believe we are, and is that going to have as much impact on (the pitching staff) as we hope it does?"

Those inside have often argued that statistics cannot accurately gauge a player’s defensive worth, and that it is best evaluated by watching someone play over a period of time. However, James vehemently disagrees with that premise, particularly in light of the various fielding metrics that have been developed in recent seasons.

"The only difference between our ability to evaluate defense and offense at this point is confidence," James said. "Defense, at this point, can be evaluated with the same degree of precision and the same degree of agreement among different methods as offense. We haven’t been doing it all our lives. We’ve had pretty good methods now for five or six years. I’ve been doing the (offensive) stuff all my life. I know what’s a normal gap between two seasons (offensively) and what isn’t. I don’t know the same (defensively)."

Ortiz, commenting on what kind of shape he's in, after being admonished this winter that offseason conditioning was expected: "You've got to see me naked. I feel good. Everything is good. ... I feel good. Do I look good?"

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/house/gallery/homeshow10?pg=2

is jimmy's link related to tracer's quote?
i'm not clicking that.

unrelated; funny

That game turned out kinda weird...

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10164

good interview w/ the official scorer @ fenway

Really interesting interview, thanks for the link!

nomar garciaparra will retire today as a red sox:

The Red Sox will be holding a press conference at 10:30 here in Fort Myers for Nomar Garciaparra to announce his retirement from baseball.

Garciaparra is expected to sign a one-day minor-league contract with the team then also announce that he has taken a job with ESPN.

i hope he opens then re-velcroes his batting gloves eight times before taking the mic

oh btw a look into the disgusting savagery that is commonly known as red sox nation:

How much would you pay to cut the line?

The RemDawg is betting at least $500.

The broadcasting legend is trying to persuade baseball fans to fork over big money for “season passes" to the Red Sox TV color commentator’s new restaurant, Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill, which is opening next week.

Patrons who shell out $500 will get to skip the line that forms before Red Sox games (packages are for either home or away games), have a guaranteed table (once the game starts), and receive a $25 food credit plus one free beer, along with invites to exclusive events (up to a $3,000 value).

good luck ryan westmoreland - http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/news/story?id=4992990

god damn

not sure there's a scarier term than "cavernous malformation of the brain"

jesus :C

yikes. hoping for a full recovery for him, whether it includes a baseball career or not.

what are boston's chances to win world series in 2010? i haven't really followed the team in a few years, tho i imagine they're still v. good.

as good a chance as any to come out on top of the ALE NYY/BOS/TB triptych; PS is crapshoot after that.

surprised TB is in yr mix. figured they were a one-year wonder.

i say this as a marlins fan, jealous of preserving our top-o-the-heap status among expansion teams.

yeah, yeah, i know the diamondbacks won a WS, too.

if yanquis fall off a cliff (and, as stated before, I have thought the yanquis were due to die for the last 5-7 seasons) and the rays maintain then there's very little way they CAN'T compete for WC or ALE title.

of course, if BOS gives another 900 AB to a .220 hitting ortiz and a .160 hitting catcher then who knows

if ortiz can lay off when it's down and away I foresee great things

"What about Mike Lowell"? Beltre said. "I aint any better player than Mike Lowell, I'll tell you that."

if Papelbon gets shook again then LOL angels

TB had a lot of things go their way in 08 but they're still probably the 3rd best team in the AL and they still have a bunch of good prospects in the high minors to bring up. they'd be tearing up any other division in baseball long-term. xxxp

agreed on TB

the east will even get uglier if baltimore pops in two years and toronto close behind

ya... not sure abt toronto just yet.
and i say this as someone who has forgiven that team for, literally, everything over the years (since '77 tbp).

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/04/01/cleaned_up_hitter/

"'I probably smoked two joints, drank about three or four beers, got to the ballpark, took some (amphetamines), took a pain pill, drank a cup of coffee, chewed some tobacco, had a cigarette, and got up to the plate and hit,' Carbo said."

http://mlb.mlb.com/bos/images/email/y2010/jordans_650x400.jpg

i wonder where exactly the sign is

ok, it's the small blue sign w/white lettering in the top middle of this pic:

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/03/31/fenway539.jpg

extremely unlikely imo

See, they WILL score runs, at least off mediocre staffs like the Yankees'.

Between Pedro, Tyler, and Neil, I'm surprised they didn't roll Ted's frozen head out there.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/everyone-in-red-sox-locker-room-just-assumed-jason,17195/

BOSTON—Catcher Jason Varitek's entrance into the Boston clubhouse Tuesday was punctuated by startled shouts and the clatter of dropped objects, as his Red Sox teammates explained that they had all just assumed the veteran player had died. "I could have sworn he died after the All-Star break," second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who sent flowers and a card to Varitek's family, told reporters. "I don't remember seeing him on base at all last season, much less in the lineup or catching. I thought that's why we got Victor [Martinez], because Jason was dead. Right?" Though Pedroia insisted that it was good to see his teammate again, he was still not entirely convinced that Varitek was not dead after watching him take a round of batting practice.

funny part is the first pedroia quote is totally plausible

victor martinez beastin tonight

when's papi's contract up? dude is a wreck.

"Shit happens. Then you guys talk shit. Two fucking games already. Motherfuckers are going crazy. What's up with that, man? Shit. There's fucking 160 games left. Y'all fuckers go ahead and hit for me."

this is it, since there's no way the 2011 club option is getting picked up.

did you fill in the cusses yourself or did you find this uncensored somewhere

i filled in the blanks then googled

tbh i'm not that worried about him yet. if it werent opening day he wouldnt be starting vs sabathia, and he hasnt been hitting the ball well but he's only struck out once. and its only two games into the season.

"Shit happens. Then you guys talk shit. Two fucking games already. Motherfuckers are going crazy. What's up with that, man? Shit. There's fucking 160 games left. Y'all fuckers go ahead and hit for me."

― ✌.✰|ʘ‿ʘ|✰.✌ (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, April 7, 2010 1:29 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

roid rage

nice..i dont get YES despite living like 40 blocks from yankee stadium and espn is blacking out the game since im in market

ayyy papi

Papi's getting boo'd, huh?

i hope the bullpen can hold this first inning 4-0 lead we've worked up on KC...

who the fuck is bill hall

more jeremy hermida i think?

what the fuck is bill hall doing at ss

bill hall? ex-brewer who raked for a couple years and then died?

bill hall hasn't played ss since 06

A Callaspo safe at second on error by shortstop B Hall, S Podsednik scored.

he dropped a fly ball!

omg really

it's funny cause that basically makes him a bad outfielder, not a bad shortstop (though i'm sure he is that too)

haha, Bill Hall is from near here (Nettleton, MS) and the local paper was all Hall-this and Hall-that until the last couple of years when he turned EEEEVILLLL

when i finally actually saw that play it wasn't really hall's fault, ellsbury should have made it - it was a communication thing more than anything

hall played SS, LF and RF yesterday, fact fans

papi!

CAUGHT STEALING Ortiz (1)

waht

yeah he just went. announcers had no idea either.

it was respectably close fwiw

oh i was surprised he got on base tbh

it was a walk i think

hermida btw!

ain't no love

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-people-jay-z-ortizlawsuit

i love how in the ny tabloids, they point out that ortiz only has 10 steals in his career.

and that's probably too many considering several times per season he goes for no reason and gets caught easily

red sox nation in crisis

playin like ass

they've had a tough schedule to start, so far they've played the 3 best offensive teams in the league (plus kc) so its too early to freak out about the pitching etc

just kinda have to sadly lol @ two of the dudes acquired for defense makin some horrible plays so early in the season

may be time for a new poll: will the 2010 boston red sox win more or less than 50 games?

yeah there's been a few wtf costly errors and it doesnt help that they've been playing hermida in the field and hall out of position but i think in the long run its not as much of a worry

their catcher defense on the other hand is still a big problem

why the fuck is there a game going on already?! i'm not even done my morning coffee yet!

happy patriots day, thermo

a football team has it's own holiday?!

oops here we go again

not sure what criteria the ump is using but it doesnt appear 2 be the "strike zone" as we know it

i was there last year for p-day. good times.

lackey gettin lit up

they better try and flip bucholz for prince pretty soon here!!

playin like succcchhhhh assssssss

Mind-boggling: Red Sox go 0 for 30 with RISP in their series against the Rays.

guys, i'm thinking that the Rays are *that* good and don't worry, y'alls will be playing the AL Central soon enough.

various stats on red sox through yesterday's game since b-r won't have today's included yet

offense: .255/.318/.435 for a 99 OPS+
not great, and will be worse when today's game is factored in, but not terrible either, and all the slumping players except ortiz have BABIPs way below the average .300. drew's is .190

defensive efficiency: .708
so they're actually turning balls in play into outs at a slightly above average rate despite all the goofy errors!

pitching:
1.2 HR/9, 4.0 BB/9, 5.8 K/9
all below average, whoops

Looks like Boston's 'get old' strategy isnt working out as planned

Mike Cameron might require surgery on his strained abdomen that would sideline the 37-year-old outfielder for at least a month.

You guys in full panic mode! Will be tough to get past either TB or the Original EE, tho.

cameron and ellsbury both to the DL

hopefully reddick is a good CF or our outfield defense is looking pretty bad suddenly. hermida is terrible even in left

rangers stole five bases in the 3rd, including one by andrus one they had pitched out and one where vladi guerrero was the man getting third on a double steal. rangers have now stolen 7 bases in 3+ innings

this is a complete fucking joke

well it is on wakefield

Red Sox yielded a record 9 SBs tonight (we're only in the 5th inning), tying record set Oct. 3, 1913 at Washington.

xp i don't believe wake allows an appalling amount of stolen bases on his own tho?

the sox should run a promotion at fenway where after sunday afternoon games, any child under 10 can try his hand at stealing off of v-mart or varitek

how does texas only have 6 runs? 9 sb & 8 walks so far lol

well that was unexpected

this year's nick green discovered

now just please don't give him 300 PAs to regress to replacement level

varitek, speaking about the entire team mobbing darnell mcdonald at second base when he won the game in the ninth:

“I couldn’t ever catch up to it. I was too slow to catch up to the pile.’’

^^^remarkable self-awareness

i thought he was dead.

team uzr is positive so far...

are there any catcher defense metrics yet?

hermida leads the team in uzr so far despite having half the playing time, was he robbing doubles out there that i missed or is it just some weird small samplesize result of their new fenway adjustment?

uzr is pointless so early in the season.

hermida is the best player on the team

yeah my fav one so far was when he ran down a flyball with plenty of time, settled under it, and then it dropped in 5-10 feet to his left

apparently ellsbury's ribs are fractured not just bruised, so that's both CFs out long-term possibly

folk hero darnell mcdonald to the rescue

journeyman outfielder who once lost a 50-yard dash against a horse in a minor league promotion in 2001 in Rochester, N.Y.

the chronicles of reddick

bucholz is dealing huh

only really saw the first but he looked awesome

FEAT OF CLAY

CLAY BALL

CLAYMAKER

CLAY SLAYS JAYS

HOLZ IT RIGHT THERE

CLAY IT AGAIN

HOLZ ONTO YOUR LAPTOPS

i heard some dudes outside last night singing sweet caroline D:

this is in or around baltimore city :/

THROW THE BUCH AT EM

CLAYING POWER

CLAY NATION

not sure why they make the sox play the phillies every year regardless of the interleague division vs division thingy

this year is NL west year and yet they're playing TWO series against the phils

natural rivals!

(most unbearable non-Yankee fanbases)

:(

dr morbius,

it seems as if you've attempted to make a judgement on the two most unbearable non-yankee fanbases in sports, but failed to mention the fanbases of both the new york mets and the chicago cubs.

this must be some sort of clerical error.

- j0rdan s., HR

in *sports*? Fuck sports.

ok i will. i will fuck sports

i thought the braves were supposed to be the natural rivals though because of HISTORY and all that

they had the double series against them last year

CLAY MORE

CLAY IT ON THE LINE

CLAYNIAC

UP UP AND A CLAY

CLAY'S THE THING

JAYS GOT CLAYED

CLAY IT LOUD

LESTER BESTS BIRDS

LESTER IS MORE

papelbon's already walked as many guys this year as he did in all of 2008

glad jon lester has decided to join us for the season

yeah for real

Josh Beckett pitching for Boston
A Rodriguez doubled to left center. 3 1
R Cano hit by pitch. 3 1
R Pena ran for R Cano. 3 1
A Rodriguez to third, R Pena to second on passed ball by J Varitek. 3 1
N Swisher struck out swinging. 3 1
B Gardner intentionally walked. 3 1
F Cervelli walked, A Rodriguez scored, R Pena to third, B Gardner to second. 4 1
R Winn singled to left, R Pena scored, B Gardner to third, F Cervelli to second. 5 1
D Jeter hit by pitch, B Gardner scored, F Cervelli to third, R Winn to second. 6 1
M Thames reached on infield single to shortstop, F Cervelli scored, R Winn to third, D Jeter to second. 7 1
M Teixeira singled to right, R Winn scored, D Jeter to third, M Thames to second. 8 1
H Okajima relieved J Beckett.

in the cervelli at-bat beckett threw a fastball straight down the middle that was called a ball, then after that he completely lost all semblance of control

lol boston sports 2nite

:(

let's talk about jeremy hermida

strike zone was a joek from the first pitch tonite

wtf daisuke

dale scott strikezone = wider than big papi's waistline

aand francona tossed

i was listening on radio. how bad was it?

i only saw the last 2 innings but balls that were borderline unreachable outside to right-handers were getting called Ks...it was really bad

Lackey reacts Lackey-like to Bill Hall screwing the timing on a jump for a flair, then gives up a home run to Ramon Santiago.

really good story http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=5194839

yeah, that was good

want a smooth, listenable, professional broadcast for tonight's sox/yanks game? then do not listen to dan schulman, aaron boone, and nomar garciaparra on espn!

man that is a murderer's row

i think i hate this team

sox should've javy'd dice k

#1 best defense

tbh i don't think theo had a hermida-mcdonald outfield in mind when he talked about 'pitching and defense'

http://waxturds.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/michael_jackson_thriller_2.jpg

L-R: victor martinez, kevin youkilis, j.d. drew, david ortiz, tim wakefield

oops

CAD (*respect*) = nervous.gif 4alltime!!!!111

why dawg. yanqs pitching is worse than sox's. patience dawgglez

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1596/seppww1.jpg

L-R: jonathan papelbon

lol @ me

oops x 2

http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/uploaded_images/carroll_funeral_03_502706a-754943.jpg

more like CRAPelbon am i right?

javy vazquez gets the win haha

fuck this team 4 lyfe

papelbon blown saves are so deliciously briney on the tongue, like a gently shucked wellfleet oyster.

he tends to go big wrt bs, dunnhe?

dudes, you guys have some short term memory loss...

http://www.mocksession.com/30fps/%20/2010%20May%2017%2023%200%2030.jpg

THAMES

Papelbon: "I'll get me coat."

That was beautiful.

here we go again!

Guys I detect a pulse.

I also just want to register my enormous man-crush on Jon Lester.

Guys I detect a pulse.

thank goodness because if the celtics lose another game to orlando i'll jump off that bandwagon and need another boston franchise to root for and it can't be the patriots.

ummm... Bill Hall just pitched the 9th and looked better than any of the other 5 pitchers who took the mound before him.

Dice-BB took notes

hey we're not gonna get swept by the royals!

i am here to say that i was wrong about the beltre signing

i don't think anyone expected him to hit over .280 tbh

DICE OK

buchholz and lester, and pray for a twister

DICE ROLLS

NICE-K

EIGHT IS ENOUGH

Jesus that was ugly

BARD DAZE NIGHT

daniel nava hits grand slam in his first mlb at-bat

yeah, and did you hear the story about his parents?? crazy

Nava admitted to using HGH in the past

Homer-Givin' Help

i know theo/james loves them some midget ass scrapper pedroias but under five foot and 70 pounds as a high school freshman? CMON SON.

I know I'm not the first to say it, but whatever happened to pitching and defense? Our starters suck, our bullpens blow the lead, and we lead the league in runs scored.

starters have been v. good lately haven't they?

buchholz and lester, and pray for a twister

BUCH NO ARGUMENT

CLAY FIRED UP

I know I'm not the first to say it, but whatever happened to pitching and defense? Our starters suck, our bullpens blow the lead, and we lead the league in runs scored.

i think that was mainly an explanation to appease the people who thought that the offense would somehow crater without the TRUE POWER THREAT of jason bay (who currently has 4HR on the season)

also the defense has been quite good according to every defensive metric i can find

mets player in losing power shocka.

but yeah, the offense being good was predicated on ortiz and beltre bouncebacks and everyone else holding steady. luckily, that's exactly what's happened, plus varitek randomly chipping in 7 as a very part-time player.

my doyers got steamrolled so hard against the sox. dodgers are 10-31 or something in interleague games at al parks

Long game in Denver highlighted by Dustin Pedroia..

5-5
3 homers
1 double
1 single
1 walk

DUDE

They seem to be converting injuries into wins.

so, Varitek broke his foot! and no one seems to know how.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/post/_/id/4031/varitek-to-dl-with-fractured-foot

lucky for them

who catch now, Fisk?

they called the molina hotline it seems

david ortiz intentionally walked to get to "niuman romero" ;_;

don't know if yall have heard, but red sox tv ratings are down 36% this year. it's a shocking number even to someone who thinks "tv ratings of sports stories" are dumb.

simmons has at it today: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100729

for counterpoint, "true fan" hardmanning is here: http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/58817-red-sox-games-no-longer-must-see-tv/

i assume this revive will just result in typical ilbb snark but what the hell right?

i haven't been watching the games as much lately but it's more me being busier than lack of interest

Well the A-team was out for awhile right? I haven't been watching much this year because A) I live on a different continent and B) well, see A.

If NESN launched a game show called "Guess What J.D. Just Did?" in which contestants guessed based off his expressions -- did Drew just hit a game-saving double, take a called third strike, hit into a double play, win the lottery or find out he was going to jail? -- nobody would ever win.

loool

JD is my fav red sox player

hey at least he's been around long enough to have some kind of relationship to him--i'm lollin at these guys who are affronted that i might not give a fuck about adrian beltre's lucky season.

yeah i think a lot of the disinterest is from all the roster turnover from the past couple years due to injuries and aging

also people tend to unfairly compare every red sox season to the 2004 season which was just about the flukiest hollywood-plot-esque baseball team ever and is never gonna happen again. of course every year is gonna seem 'boring' if that's your benchmark

on one hand, i'm not gonna try and pretend like i can understand what it would be like to follow a team giving so much time to bill hall, daniel nava, darnell mcdonald, kevin cash etc

on the other hand, there is some really dumb... and frankly spoiled opinions expressed in this column

WE DON'T HAVE A PITCHER THAT I WANT TO WATCH EVERY FIVE DAYS. YEAH, JON LESTER MIGHT WIN THE AL CY YOUNG WITH ONE OF THE BIGGEST K/9 RATIOS IN BASEBALL, BUT HE'S NO PEDRO!!!!

yeah that part was pretty wtf to me...lester is awesome to watch

the problem here is that there's tooooons of conflation in the column between "what's good for the fan" and "what's good for the team" -- entertainment value vs baseball value etc

like, when he's talking about the red sox not having a ryan howard type player whose at bats you look forward to... it's like simmons is advocating having a home run derby team or something. that's not to pick on ryan howard specifically, who obv has baseball value, but it just seems like he was vacillating a ton between "this is no fun wha!" and "we're not winning wah!" without acknowledging how those things are so interconnected?

can't verbalize exactly what i'm trying to say, but it just struck me as a really naive column (at least parts of it -- there are some things he said about literally attending games vs watching on tv & stuff like that that he was absolutely otm about)

yeah my basic position on the ratings drop is this--the front office, via the media, did an awful job of selling this year's model to average fans, who can still faithfully repeat the phrases "pitching and defense" and "bridge year." so once the bad start confirmed everyone's fears, and the injuries exacerbated them, ppl had questions (some legit, some not) about why exactly they should care about this year.

i do watch less baseball myself these days, in part because i share a tv with my gf, but also because this year's sox have been about as interesting as last year.

lester is indeed really great to watch, don't understand that criticism at all.

i don't think there's anything inherently wrong about being like "this team is boring, and they make me want to watch less" -- i think the same thing about the padres but they're actually winning so it's a bit different

i guess i'm struggling to come up with a team that's particularly interesting?

well i think there's something inherent about baseball teams that's sort of... uninteresting? like, even the yankees are getting contributions from marcus thames as they steamroll everyone in their path

even the rays -- great young staff to watch, longo, crawford etc -- started matt joyce and willie aybar last night

but that's baseball! idk. the game itself it what sells and is what's fun, which is probably why the mlb has the problem that simmons outlines wrt recognizable stars and what not

imagine being Andy K! you get miggy's potentially historic season, but last night you also had to watch ryan rayburn, gerald laird, "w. rhymes" and "d. worth"

so idk. that's how shit goes.

tru

i think having exciting young players to watch really helps tho, which is part of the problem with the red sox in particular

even tho he's hitting like .225, i def feel that "can't go get food" (lol not really because i have tivo) when a mike stanton AB is approaching

yeah young talented position players enhance night-to-night watchability and we have oh let me check--zero of those right now

yeah, identity-wise the red sox' future is kind of cloudy right now, their old franchise players are on the way out and their farm system's taken a step back this year. we've only got pedroia and lester to fill that role right now, maybe buchholz if he's actually figured stuff out.

i guess i'm struggling to come up with a team that's particularly interesting?

The Giants imo

The Sox had a really nice run with their minor leaguers, but after Ellsbury and Pedroia they've struggled to produce a hitting prospect of note. Suddenly they have an offense filled with the sort of old journeymen that are patently boring to root for. Cameron, Beltre, Hall, Martinez, Scutaro ... not like these are bad dudes, but you're really rooting for laundry when you assemble a bunch of dudes like that, or when you bring up a lot of AAAA guys as injury replacements.

I just read that the Sox inquired about Jim Edmonds, on that note.

What does the future hold for Mike LOL?

they'll probably keep trying to flip him for cheap and get anything back

Keeping barking, Youk.

I basically never watch baseball on TV except for highlights or an inning here and there. I only watch 3-4 hours of TV a week - which is barely one average game!

In person I don't mind the length (given good weather - when it's still 105 at the Ballpark at dusk, time matters), but on TV it's a killer.

^ agreed, especially when the games start at 7:35 - it's like goodbye dinner, goodbye sex, goodbye 8 hours sleep

but i guess that's how you tell the men from the boys

they actually played a fast game last night! i watched most of it.

A game tends to be on whenever games are on -- ideal when the kids are either too loud and/or in need of attention and or napping/sleeping.

If I think I hear Rich Waltz yelling or getting belligerent, I run it back and crank the volume to ear-splitting level, no matter what.

dinner & sex while game is on TV = classic

lol

I really hope Delgado's got a couple of years left. I was looking at his career stats today, particularly at his last year with Toronto. I remember how absolutely convinced everyone here had become--management and fans--that it was time for him to move on. He had 32 homers, 99 RBI, and a .535 slugging average that year. Must...go...NOW. We had to clear the way for that special day when we could get our hands on Lyle Overbay.

he was playing really well with NYM in '09 while he was able to play, so i don't see why he might not be able to play well for another year or two.

That's why I'm hopeful; it's not a case of picking up a guy who's been in steady decline. Health is the only issue. I want him to get to 500; it'll seem like a perfectly legitimate 500, and I'm afraid he'll be bypassed for the HOF without the milestone.

if roster space is tight i'd rather bring in saltalamacchia

he got over the yips?

what was the problem??

he couldn't throw back to the pitcher

supposedly he's figured something out

LESTERIFFIC

BRILL BARD BAFFLES BOMBERS

I will say that when JB came in the game (and lester was on some other-type shit yesterday; dude was awesome) everyone in DNYS was like "the game is over." funeral-level quiet. And dude deals in a way that JP doesn't. when papelbon came in and everyone got excited again.

also, JP is irritating to watch live, whereas JB is clearly interested in going home as soon as possible.

papelbon looked as good as i've seen him in a long time yesterday

when you say JB you mean Daniel Bard right?

his stuff was fuckin SCARY. the YES commentators (ugh) pointed out that at one point he threw what looked for all the world like a 98-mph sinker.

wow i just saw video of the pitch that struck out swisher

yeah that's the pitch

sort of a slide-sinker.. thrown at 98mph

yeah bard. I was thinkiing josh bard lol

accuscore says 14% chance of making playoffs..

but i do think Francona for AL manager of the year would be deserved.

lupica still the best at this kind of thing:

Now Bard, Boston closer of the future, came in to face Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher with the game all around him on the bases. Here is what happens next at the Stadium, like fireworks:

The captain of the Yankees takes a 97 mile per hour fastball for strike one. Fouls a 99 for strike two at the plate. Swings through a 98 he probably heard in Victor Martinez's mitt before he ever saw it. Strike three. No chance. Two outs.

Swisher next. This is how it goes for Swisher against Daniel Bard:

Takes a 98 mph fastball for strike one. Fouls off a 97. Swings underneath a 99 like he's trying to hit the wind. Strike three. Inning over. Maybe there has been another pitching moment like this at Yankee Stadium this season. Name it.

i just watched the vid of that. wow.

bill hall is going in

wow I hate Lupica

why??? dude makes every moment seem amazing

Is Saltys problem of throwing back to the mound a mental or physical thing? Although, i hope he works out well...I think Tek should be a good influence on him.

he's not the first catcher with this problem but in the other cases i've heard of the catcher was working through an injury that caused a mechanical change and then he psyched himself out. there doesn't seem to have been an injury with salty.

he caught the 9th last night and looked fine.

he's starting today i read. of course we all know theo has a habit of coveting these guys and they never work out....Lugo, Drew, renteria....

salty is more like a hermida (buying low on a guy who was well-regarded at one point and now is having issues) though unlike hermida i think salty is at worst a major-league backup at his position.

god hermida was an unbelievably shitty outfielder.

there doesn't seem to have been an injury with salty.

he had shoulder surgery in september.

oh really? my bad

hermida was shit all around. one of those fucking guys that i drafted every damn yr in fantasy baseball only to be disappointed each and every time.

wish everyone would shut up about mike lowell...its almost as if people are happy that our best player got hurt since it gave him a spot to play

lol

PAPELBOMB

he's almost surely getting non-tendered this winter unless he takes a pay cut, redsox are too smart to pay over $10M for a declining reliever, right? right...?

nah he'll be back

smdh btw

fucking lovely.

saw Beckett throwing BP to the Rangers earier

lupica is the best at nothing -- except when he dies, then he will be the best at dying, for that day

the problem with Lupica is that he writes in the voice of Bob Costas.

noooooooo that is heresy. he writes in the voice of damon runyon!!

LESTER BESTS TEXAS

whereas I write in the voice of the Boston dirt dogs - which hasn't been updated in a few days

guys i don't think we're gonna do it

by the way there is at least one silver lining which is that shithead josh beckett is currently pitching like a shithead and heaping hate upon himself

its too late for that, we've already got him for 3 more years

man, remember back in march when the sox had a championship level team and a top 5 farm system? those were the days...

i seriously hate josh beckett even more than i hated curt schilling

1. lester
2. buchholz
3. doubront
4. wakefield
5. louis tiant

wonder when red sox fans will notice that tim wakefield hasn't had a particularly good season since the 90s

the point of tim wakefield was not to have "particularly good seasons" but to have average, innings-filling seasons for cheap

yeah i realize that but people i talk to tend to want him in the rotation over guys like beckett who are way better when healthy

yeah i hear you--it used to be "you know what yr getting" vs beckett's talent but inability to put it together. now you don't even know what you're getting with wakefield because his body is breaking down.

i dunno if beckett's "inability to put it together" has ever been an actual thing beyond health. if people were expecting him to put up the same numbers in Boston as he did in a pitcher's park in the NL then they're just setting themselves up to hate him.

he sets himself up for me to hate him by being an insufferable douchebag

i'd probably hate him even more if he was winning tbh

i agree ciderpress tho i do wonder about his conditioning

yeah when i say 'health' that includes the fact that he's gotten pretty fat since coming here

if beckett can stay healthy he would be a pretty great third starter, problem is that he's never healthy and his contract is inane

yeah the sox are now paying big bucks to two guys who are mid-rotation starters miscast as aces (the other being lackey)

yeah, i never again want to hear the red sox front office cry about being priced out of a major free agent by $10 million dollars after handing out those two contracts

yup

sox will probably be favorites to win the division or WC again going into next year but i do worry about them becoming an old team, between those contracts and the huge step back that their farm system has taken this year

i don't think they'll be favored over the yankees for at least a few years -- we'll see what happens with the rays

sox need 2 sign prince

every time you guys get mad at josh beckett just think of hanley

i think sox are gonna be wary of prince after seeing the tail end of mo vaughn and david ortiz's careers

David Ortiz had some pretty good years for the Sawks.

yeah, i just mean that they've seen firsthand how players with that skillset and body type tend to lose their contact skills quickly in their 30s

idk i think prince would be a great fit for them -- extremely, extremely high obp guy, lefty, not at all a dead pull hitter like ortiz

yeah i definitely like prince to be good for at least another 4 or 5 years but he's gonna be looking for 8

not that i'm worrying about the 2018 red sox team or anything

also there's no guarantee prince will hit the FA market yet, someone could trade for him and extend him. not likely with boras i guess but still possible.

every time you guys get mad at josh beckett just think of hanley

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHH

it's the curse of nomar!

it's telling that The Nation is pinning its hopes on the vaunted return of..... dustin pedroia

that was pretty f'in sweet

if our starters can make it through seven i really like our chances tbh. i mean obviously guys like me who hate beckett anyway will get all backseat driver with the rotation, when it's evident that we've got a couple of the best pitchers in baseball - lester and "buck" - and a couple of theoretically solid 3 and 4 guys. it's the bullpen which is just horrible beyond bard and papelbon (yes i still have faith in paps) and you have to know a lot more about anonymous middle relievers to start suggesting tweaks there - you have to be a real "head" - and i just am not, i guess, to that extent.

how about kalish huh? seems like the real deal. now let's get the salty dog in there and get a head start on 2011.

(btw no disrespect to doubront and bowden who shut em down last night.. but i dunno about those guys in an LDS)

Wow, whiny Red Sox fans really are the worst.

The Lackey signing is symptomatic of nothing -- he's been one of the most consistent pitchers in the league for years, he was the only half decent free agent starter available last year (unless you somehow foresaw Carl Pavano's big comeback) and they smartly passed on the asking price of guys like Jason Bay. Lackey's contract looked like (and still does look like) a safer bet than, say, the contracts of A.J. Burnett or C.C. Sabathia.

Besides, the real bust in their rotation isn't Beckett or Lackey, it's Dice-K. They're paying, what, 5Y/90M (including the transfer fee) for a guy whose injured all the time and is a third starter at best when he's healthy?

whose who's

he's starting today i read. of course we all know theo has a habit of coveting these guys and they never work out....Lugo, Drew, renteria....

JD Drew hasn't worked out? He hit .282/.377/.498 as a Cardinal. On the Red Sox, he has hit .273/.382/.481 and has missed fewer games per season. What was expected of him?

well his numbers are down this year - BA hovering around .260 and an OPS of .820 is not great for his position

lackey's numbers show year-to-year decline and he's an injury risk. also he's rarely better than a second starter when healthy. if i've said it once i've said it a thousand times--sabathia was the guy to get if they were going to pay serious cash for a free agent pitcher.

the drew signing has obviously worked out, but watching him every day it's easy to understand why he frustrates ppl.

i like drew but at times he looks kinda lost at the plate and isn't enjoyable to watch. i don't think he actually ever is lost but that's how it comes across.

yeah he looks so natural when he is hitting that when he goes through a stretch of grounding out to second base for days on end i'm like "why can't you fix this??"

Where's the decline in Lackey's numbers? His ERA has almost always been in the 3.5-3.8 range, WHIP around 1.20 - 1.25. He had some arm trouble in 2008-9 but still threw a lot of innings during the starts he did make (IOW, he wasn't fragile when he came off the DL). And in 2007 he was 2nd in the Cy Young voting. That kind of consistency and peak value might not make you one of the best ten pitchers in baseball, but that's a #1 starter for most teams.

I actually agree that Sabathia was the guy to break the bank for ... but not for eight years.

his k rate has been going down yearly since 2005 and his bb rate has been going up every year since 2007.

his K/9 rate from 2007-2009 went from 7.19 to 7.18 to 7.10 -- yep, obviously he's falling off a cliff there

and this year it's 5.76. his k/bb is fucking 1.68. he's on the wrong side of 30. i think it's reasonable to ask why this was the guy to give a market-value contract to for his age 31-35 seasons.

Obviously he's still hurting and it's not the real him, and since he's been one of the most consistent pitchers in the league then you pretty much know exactly what you're getting when you sign him (as well as it can be known for any pitcher, anyway). There's no way to predict that his K-rate would decline by 1.4 in a year. It's not like they signed him after one fluke-y good season in his free agent year.

He's also a big guy who's had a fairly mild injury history, so he's he's not the type of guy you'd expect to completely fall apart. If you're going to gamble on a pitcher to keep producing in his age 31-35 season, then he's the guy (and a much better gamble than Burnett or Zambrano -- who are making similar money and might already be washouts).

Considering the other options on the market (and you don't get many chances to sign a Sabathia/Santana level guy in his late 20's and at his peak) then it was a good signing. Worth 17 mil a year? Maybe not, but that's market value for that level of pitcher these days (and you can thank guys like Zambrano and Burnett for that).

i don't think i can fault the sox front office for not expecting a guy who put up a ~3 k/bb for 3 years in a row to suddenly drop to 1.68

i didn't like the contract for other reasons, namely that lackey's one of those guys who's perceived as a "#1 starter" but profiles better as a #2 or #3, and those guys are impossible to avoid overpaying for.

Obviously he's still hurting and it's not the real him

still hurting? from what? he's one of two sox pitchers to make all their starts this year.

i mean no shit he's better than burnett or zambrano but it's what ciderpress said--these guys are basically an automatic overpay, and given that the team i root for has the second-highest payroll in the sport i'd prefer that they save their overpays for elite talent.

Sorry, I forgot that he wasn't on the DL this year but the point stands -- unless a pitcher like Sabathia is on the market (which happens maybe once every five years) then the best you can do is sign a #2 guy (hopefully with a #1 ceiling) and Lackey looked like one of the most reliable pitchers of that type that you'll ever see on the free agent market. And I'd assume that he'll bounce back next year, at least somewhat (unless he has some nagging injury, or changed his delivery, or something else we don't know about).

ok--i just would have preferred the team put themselves in a position where they did not have to acquire one of these guys last offseason.

all i can say is, i saw epstein answering questions before last night's game and he looked like he was trying to pass a billiard ball through his colon

i think there's some unwritten rule among sports journalists that you can't publish a photo of epstein unless he's making the :I face

cad is otm about lackey -- it really wasn't a signing that made sense, esp because it seems like they knew what they had in buchholz considering that they refused to trade him multiple times throughout his career -- i think pretty much everyone's reaction to the lackey signing was "yeah, so?" -- it just reminded me of something that the mets would do, spending money on a name because you have the money to spend on a name

they could've got jon garland/joel pinero/brett myers for half the price & gotten relatively the same production

and then had more money for cliff lee

who everyone knows is just gonna go to the highest bidder

I wonder who that will be

exactly

they could've got jon garland/joel pinero/brett myers for half the price & gotten relatively the same production

We don't actually know this, though.

do you think the sox record would be worse if they had garland instead of lackey right now?

yeah ignoring the specific names it does feel like the move was to get a couple of 1-year stopgaps and go hard for lee

do you think the sox record would be worse if they had garland instead of lackey right now?

I don't know. It would be slightly easier to provide an educated guess if Garland happened to be having a good season on another AL East team instead of the Padres.

If you were to ask me prior to the season which one would have a better 2010 season for the Red Sox, I would have said Lackey. Garland's last season in the AL wasn't good, and he'd be in a considerably tougher division with that lousy K/9 and horrendous K/BB.

i don't think that the three guys i named are actually better pitchers than lackey, but for the price they paid for lackey, and for what those three guys got on the market, and with the teixeira fiasco illustrating that the red sox don't actually have the unlimited pockets of the yankees, i think they would be better off if they had signed one of those dudes instead

vintage lackey last night

I just don't know about this team. I like Kalish a lot.

in 2010 josh beckett has recorded three (3) outs after the seventh inning

i mean, send the guy to the bullpen already

Stopped watching the game just before the sixth. Wow.

beckett's peripherals are fine, he's the victim of a .345 BABIP against right now. pretty standard small sample size struggle that will wash itself out if they stick with him

he seems to be pitching his way into shape imo--he was great last night and then in the 7th it was just totally gone.

dude we have stuck with him all year. guy can't last more than a few innings. there is a time when your team needs you to pitch well and august when you're 6 back is that time. guy has a 10.0 ERA in his last three starts.

i'm pretty confident that he's one of the 5 best pitchers on the staff right at this moment, probably the 3rd best after lester and buccholz. i'm obviously not gonna convince you though since you hate him from the start.

Lester's totally falling apart here.

lester's ERA up to an embarrassing 3.26

awesome night to be home alone with nothin to do but watch baseball

yeah same here

MLB network is showing SFG/STL i think

Do you guys want Johnny Damon, or what?

indifferent

Damon could play left field, especially at Fenway Park, where he’d only have a short throw to the plate.

"To the plate"??? To Scutaro in short left, more like.

I like Johnny despite his inability to throw a baseball. But do I really want him over Kalish? Not really.

he wouldn't play over kalish, he would play over mcdonald/nava

Yeah you're right. In that case why not? He'd make for a nice pinch hitter or DH too.

Damon has been decent this year with no runners on base. Otherwise? Not so much.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=damonjo01&year=2010&t=b#bases

The other night, he threw a ball in the direction of home plate and it looked like he was playing 500 with the infielders.

i can't even imagine how the crowd would/will react to Damon's first home game as a Red Sox this time around.

they'll cheer, duh

ok - it was a good few years ago when i was last in Fenway - but i saw a few of those 'Damon traitor' 'no beard no soul' type shirts (they were playing the Angels). but i guess those wounds have healed then?

yeah i mean can't really be shocked abt all that because he signed with the yanks, but in a season where the casual fan hasn't had much to get excited about i expect he'll be welcomed.

Looks Like Jesus, Acts Like Judas, Throws Like Mary - best t-shirt to come out of Damon leaving

The other night, he threw a ball in the direction of home plate and it looked like he was playing 500 with the infielders.

― Andy K, Tuesday, August 24, 2010 9:42 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

loll

he's not coming btw

time to print some new shirts, Boston.

they'll have to find someone who chose not to board the titanic to compare him to

this appears to have triggered an existential crisis of some sort in my city.

haha really

i haven't noticed anything yet but i'm expecting some entertaining panic when we're still 5 out in september

on 98-5 THE SPORTS HUB they were taking it as a huge screw you to the team/fans/city. on the sox board i read they're fully in defensive "he's a pussy/doesn't want to play for a winner" mode.

it's been great, really.

let's be clear: johnny damon is a complete dumbass, he's actually stupider than the average ballplayer. but he's a harmless dumbass and i take him at face value when he basically says hurt feelings are why he won't play here.

what's kind of strange is that i'm still excited for the playoffs even if the sox aren't in them. it's looking like there may be as many as 5 'small market' teams making it this year which is pretty cool.

though i guess minnesota and texas are more 'mid-market' now but still

yeah just gotta off the yanks

Who else but Shaughnessy:

Think about it: For the next five weeks, you could live in downtown Boston and your wife could shop on Newbury Street. Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets. Is this really a tough call?

Really. Why wouldn’t Damon come back to Boston?

Damon was worth every penny the Yankees paid him from 2006-09. He played hard and he played well for the full four years. In his final year of the contract, he hit .282 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs. Think Boston could have used that? It’s better than the sorry numbers posted by J.D. ($14 million per year) Drew.

Drew's Boston numbers: 498 games, 70 HR, 254 RBI, .273 AVG

Damon's NY numbers: 576 games, 77 HR, 296 RBI, .285 AVG

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/08/25/damon_must_have_his_reasons_but_what_are_they/

...

JD "Sorry Numbers" Drew's OBP and SLG, btw: both higher than Damon's.

JD also can throw a baseball from the outfield to home plate and has more range

no need to ruin this thread by posting/responding to shaughnessey d00ds

i love how shaughnessey is acting like damon chose to live in uganda or something

apparently detroit is currently a post-apocalyptic wasteland

though i guess minnesota and texas are more 'mid-market' now but still

yeah, but their opening day payroll was like 55M so they're doing things the small-market way successfully. doesn't really matter to me what city they're in, just that they're getting results from a business model that would be sustainable by any of the 30 teams.

they'll probably be able to raise it up towards 100M next year though like the twins did this year

i'm amazed that shaughnessy still gets paid to write for a living. he's not just wrong on facts, he's mean-spirited. he stirs the pot, fantasizing about clubhouse rifts that don't exist. fuck dan shaughnessy forever.

what is the DEAL with beckett? it's the same pattern every time. lights out for five or six innings then total implosion.

i'm starting to wonder if his greenies wear off then.

out of shape

pitchers are too stubborn to take themselves out of the game when they're out of gas

beckett's k/bb ratio is still quite good and that's one of the better predictors of pitching success. he's gonna end up with ugly numbers for this year but he should be ok going forward imo.

well it's the manager's call and fancona has pretty obviously been trying to steal innings with the starters because middle relief has sucked so hard.

Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets.

apparently detroit is currently a post-apocalyptic wasteland

― ciderpress, Thursday, August 26, 2010 12:08 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

i love this hack writer intimating that Damon lives in a nice condo amongst razed blocks and packs of wild dogs roaming in the streets. wonder if he believes his own bluster.

I've actually been putting money lately on the 6th being the highest scoring inning, so often do either our or our opponents' pitchers give up a big inning in that frame.

Other than the first inning the sixth inning is the highest scoring inning, I believe.

first inning should be the highest scoring since its guaranteed to have the top of the order come up. unless the teams in question are mismanaged into having shitty-hitting speedsters at the top of the order.

huh. i would think middle innings would be highest scoring. you got either tiring starter they've seen a few times or bad middle reliever.

No its first inning by far.

Has anyone ever done a breakdown of runs-per-inning by each spot in the order as the leadoff hitter?

Hard to phrase that.

Runs per inning in which the number-one hitter leads off:
Runs per inning in which the number-two hitter leads off:

etc...

not sure how to do that, but the way lineups are generally constructed i'd expect the highest to be either 1 or 2, since most teams have their best hitters in 3 and 4

sportsguy33 I'm going to be 45 years old by the time Jon Lackey's contract ends. Just shoot me in the forehead.
24 minutes ago via UberTwitter

lackey almost stepped up today, but then he didn't

gross

hot stove begins now

tbh could probably send the exact same team out next year and win 95, this was just a down year, not a badly constructed team

Has anyone ever done a breakdown of runs-per-inning by each spot in the order as the leadoff hitter?

Hard to phrase that.

― Andy K, Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:14 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark

There's a section in Thorn and Palmer's "The Hidden Game of Baseball" where they simulated a team's runs scored for various permutations of the batting order. IIRC, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 wasn't much better than 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, and the optimal order was some strange random thing. Anyway, that book is 25 years old, I'm sure others have studied this since then.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 wasn't much better than 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Maybe this wasn't clear ... they took a team's everyday players and instead of batting them 1-through-9, they batted 9-through-1, and they simulated the # of RS when they batted in that order for the entire season.

i think if you do all the math & simulations out the optimal order isn't much different than the traditional batting order. the only weird thing i remember reading about it is that it's slightly more optimal to have your best two hitters at 2 and 4 instead of 3 and 4

Yeah, obv this depends on what type of hitters you have and how balanced the lineup is and all that. The case study in their book was probably really simplistic.

i just noticed beltre is the only decent 3B free agent this offseason...not a fan of the idea of paying for 3-4 more years of him when he's not likely to hit this well ever again, but i dunno who else they're gonna find to play there

in fact, this year's free agent class is pretty weak overall. the only guys who are worth multi-year deals are crawford, lee, beltre, werth. almost everyone else is either bad, well into their 30s, an injury risk, or a relief pitcher

There's a site that will run the order calculations for you by inputting OBP and SLG (obv imperfect)

IIRC, it usually comes down to:
best leadoff man 1st
best overall hitter second
another high OBP/low GIDP guy 3rd
best overall slugger 4th

worst hitter bats eighth

Manny Delcarmen traded to the Rockies for some dude

this dude

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Chris-Balcom-Miller.shtml

Balcom-Miller, 21, has a 3.31 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and 1.6 BB/9 with three home runs allowed in 108.6 innings for the Rockies' Low A affiliate. Heading into the season Baseball America ranked him 16th among Rockies prospects, saying he "has the ceiling of a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter."

fine pickup for a reliever imo

The Rockies are really going for it now.

A lot more Rockies fans are distraught at this deal than pleased. Manny could be a decent reclamation project for the pitching staff which has repeatedly proved itself with players like Jorge De La Rosa, Jason Hammel, Matt Belisle among others. However, CB-M was playing well and projected solidly, and only the relative depth of pitching prospects on our affiliates softens the blow. Personally, from what little I know, I think it's a shrewd pick-up by Boston and a good reading of the Rockies farm.

I read that he only throws in the upper 80s/mid 90s. Hes also a little bit old for A-ball. If I were a Rockies fan I wouldnt get bent out of shape. Still feel like the WC is going to be either Phillies or SF.

by mid 90s I mean low 90s.

yay manny d. is off our hands!

MDC occasionally looked really dominant with that changeup, if someone can fix him to be like that all the time then you've probably got a good closer

Yeah he certainly wasn't the worst of the bullpen by a long shot.

no, but he's been getting worse for two years now. maybe he's a change of scenery guy but i don't think he was going to find himself in boston.

is it patriots or bruins time yet?

maybe we'll finally get to see lars anderson now that he's a bust and they don't need to preserve his service time

IIRC, it usually comes down to:
best leadoff man 1st
best overall hitter second
another high OBP/low GIDP guy 3rd
best overall slugger 4th

worst hitter bats eighth

― a cross between lily allen and fetal alcohol syndrome (milo z), Monday, August 30, 2010 6:46 PM (2 days ago)

there's a thread on this!

1st: speed (lefty or switch), high obp
2nd: lefty, high obp
3rd: best hitter (OPS/VORP) on team
4th: best slugger on team

That's why Francoeur hit 4th for the Mets last night.

actually the weirdest thing that comes out of the lineup analysis stuff is that the #3 spot in the lineup is actually the 5th most important spot after 2,4,1,5, and is best suited for low average sluggers e.g. david ortiz, jim thome, etc. the reason is that they come up with 2 outs and no men on base a bit more often than the other slots, so a home run slightly increases in value from that slot while a non-HR hit slightly decreases in value.

it's extremely marginal though and if you have your best hitter in the 3-hole you're probably losing no more than a run or 2 per season

a lot of teams still get the all-important 1&2 hitters all wrong which is a much bigger inefficiency than anything you'll get out of more detailed lineup optimization

LOL at Papelbon opening the floodgates by watching Quentin take (an uncovered) second base on a bloop to shallow center.

Then the bottom fell out. Carlos Quentin doubled to no-man’s land in shallow center, where the infielders and rookie outfielder Ryan Kalish converged but nobody could get to the ball. Quentin raced into second where nobody was covering — and Rios scored. Papelbon should have been at second.

“Yeah, I think he would have been safe regardless,’’ Papelbon said.

Quentin took second because nobody was there, dipshit.

lester killin it

The door is open, Sox, the Stanks are swoonin'.

6 games left vs the bombers o_O

Sox' raw playoff odds at 0.25%. I wonder what sweeping the Stanks wd raise it to?

they'd have to take 5 or 6 of the 6 remaining

i think the A's are more likely to make the playoffs than the red sox right now

i just had that open and through you were right -- you're not, it's 0.26% chance Sox and 0.15% chance Rangers. still.

0.15% A's, you get the idea. i'd love to see that surprise upset.. OR WOULD I.

Sox odds up to 1.13%!

well its almost bruins time.

thank god its over.

dont really mind, lots of fun teams to bandwagon for the postseason this year