by PSF
At the break…
The Sox manage to squeak by the upstart Devil Rays (they are still the Devil Rays to me) to regain 1st place.
No; I didn’t forget about you all…I’ve just been busy at work and then I was on vacation the past couple of weeks.
I like the Sox position right now. Starting pitching has been decent, hitting has been pretty good despite the loss of Ortiz, and the biggest glaring hole is middle relief. Yet they sit in 1st place right now, with Ortiz coming back at the end of the month. Will they make a trade? One would think that they would for middle relief; but what exactly is out there?
I love their chances – let’s survive the West Coast trip and then kill everybody.
Off topic! While I agree the sox fans would have given a less then warm welcome to the yaks all stars if in Fenway, no way would they have shown the level of total ignorance shown by the classless Yankee fans. Appalling, You cheer for no one other then the yankees?? . Christ.. for one day you are on the same side. sickening…. Enjoy your seat in 3rd place .
and Wade Boggs is the biggest coward piece of trash of the bunch. Self serving Puss
Yeah….what Bo said.
I suggest they blow up yak stadium WITH those classless a-hole in it.
‘s
The second half results will be in direct proportion to the strength of the pitching no doubt. Usually is. I say they do not make a trade….and I really doubt the Sox would trade Youks and whoever else for Tex….makes little sense from a production point of view…or certainly from a financial point of view. Theo has built this team to fill the holes from within, and my guess is that is exactly what they will do.
Nice to hear from Waldo, thought that he had died, I also say that no trades are needed at this moment. If Ortiz returns and reinjures himself or can’t hit , then we still have Sean Casey. Take a good look at Lowrie to relace Lugo. Zink is doing great at Pawt in case a starter is needed. Bailey and Van Every are available for HRs. Looks like Drew is a 4 tool player despite the spoon-fed HS fed into the room last yr. by Cater. I have a problem with Timlin and Oki – but have my fingers crossed, not my middle finger up.
Hey guys…it has been a long while. They are in a great position to start the 2nd half, and getting Ortiz back will be like making a trade. Middle relief is a concern, but overall, I like where we sit.
On an unrelated note, I am making my maiden voyage to Fenway/Boston area in a couple of weeks. Would love to get Yankees tix (doubt it) but would love to go period…..Oak,LAA……everywhere I see online they are sold out. Any suggestions to get 4 tix?
Clearly the Sox have no problems (no shortstop even in Pokey Reese form, crappy setup guys, no production offensively from the catchers, mindless managing by a guy who has been calling it in this season, mindless gm-ing from another guy who continues to get free passes, continued full frontal assault on Manny to again drive him out of town despite his obvious need to the team’s offense). Right, so stand pat. Sounds good.
signed,
Sox Fans With Heads In Sand
It is true that GM (Theo) is not perfect but only Jesus Christ was. Despite that, he has engineered a farm system that is loaded with talent and kept the Sox in this race. Many others ( scouts, managers, front office) deserve a lot of credit also. Let’s not crucify Theo for not trading Lester, Masterson, Ellsbury, and Lowrie for Santana during the winter. Thank him that we do not have Pedro on the payroll earning $20 mil. per yr. and sitting under the mango tree and counting his money. Why didn’t Cater talk about Varitek morphing into a worthless Possada. The frontal attack on Manny is by columnists – not by management. Ryan and Shaunessy have a right to speak their minds on a player who Fisk and Burleson would despise and hate to have as a teammate. The “free pass” reference relates to Manny, after he is gone from Boston, no other future player will NEVER get away with that shit of “Manny being Manny” – give me a break , who is shitting who here.
Don’t look now, but here comes the Yankees, with a line-up of DH’s and a smoke-and-mirrors back of the rotation. And yet they keep on winning. Looking forward to the weekend series – should be a great one.
I was referring more to the media on Manny, however, I can plainly see you want him out of town too. People who want a tidy neat Stepford LF-DH to replace Manny will find that he is virtually irreplacable. For all the mini drama, the comical plays, the guy simply is a machine at the plate who causes opposing managers headaches and forces alterations in pitching to him. The guy is a GAME-CHANGER….and that’s something that is worth 20 million a year and 2 WS titles. I’m not going to kiss Theo’s ass for not making moves on the youngsters. His job is also to improve the team during the season…that part he has failed at thus far.
Gammons: I find it a little different this time around. I don’t sense that this rallying of ‘poor Manny’ [in the clubhouse]. There’s a sense that… they’re trying to fight for their lives, they’ve had a lot of guys hurt, they’re out on the road… ‘let’s see, I’m not going to play the two games this season against [Mariners pitcher Felix] Hernandez. He didn’t play the two games against [Yankees pitcher Joba] Chamberlain. He didn’t play against [Reds pitcher Edinson] Voquez. He didn’t play against [Tigers pitcher Justin] Verlander. I think other teammates look at that and say ‘Oh, he doesn’t want to play against the hard throwers,’ take the day… I think that’s also worn people out. …
You think Manny is the first superstar to avoid certain pitchers. There are many greats that found ways to sit out against fireballers or guys that they felt they were owned by that pitcher. Bottom line, Manny produces amid his own controversy. There’s no need to trade him, it would, as manny said not help the team. In the offseason, they won’t pick up his option and MORONS LIKE CRAB CAN BE HAPPY WHEN THE SOX GO BACK TO THE 1990s 2 guys hitting, 7 guys banjo playing, 5 guys platooning…and missing the playoffs due to a lack of offensive punch.
If we lose the Division by one game however, we will all look back on that 1-0 loss to Joba Chaberlain and the others and blame Manny for ( like you said) avoid being shown up or owned by these overpowering giants. Did the other superstars feign injuries as often as Manny does? Didn’t we win last year by 2 games, thus if Manny had sat out three more games, the season would have been a failure. I myself think we won based on great pitching, better defense, and better offense throughout the lineup.
Mr. Shaughnessy writes. “For the first time. Outraged he would quit on them at the start of the Yankee series, they let him dangle in the breeze for all the world to see. Convinced he was lying about his right knee, they sent him for an MRI on both knees (in case Manny suddenly tried to claim it was the left knee). Then they made sure we all knew the MRIs were clean — getting word out before the end of the game.”
The Hartford Courant’s Jeff Jacobs also sees an imminent breakup: “As late as June 4, I thought the Red Sox would pick up the $20 million option for 2009. Then Manny got into an altercation with Kevin Youkilis in the dugout. He knocked down a 64-year-old traveling secretary over ticket allotment. He essentially called management back-stabbers, prompting owner John Henry — who has done nothing but make excuses for Manny — to lash back. He called Manny’s statements ‘personally offensive.’ A player’s talent can make the manager sing. And it can make the GM dance. But the music stops with the guy who writes the checks.” Like the old room used to say about CIF (Correctional Institute Face); “He is a cancer on the team, he most certainly will mess up the team chemistry”.
To be fair and objective about past chat, Cater often calls other chatters morons when they raise a legitimate point and test his pessimistic rants and vendetta vs the FO and Theo. He has called PSF and many others morons when they disagree with him. For some reason Cater is given a pass or a license to rant and be abusive while others are not treated the same. It is true that Cater and several others are the founding fathers of the forum from the days of the Globe circus in 1999 but that should not excuse them from being tolerant and objective to newcomers or rookies. Many of the regulars have left for valid reasons. To give you an example I offer the following dialogue from last year.
crab Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Gammons: I find it a little different this time around. I don’t sense that this rallying of ‘poor Manny’ [in the clubhouse]. There’s a sense that… they’re trying to fight for their lives, they’ve had a lot of guys hurt, they’re out on the road… ‘let’s see, I’m not going to play the two games this season against [Mariners pitcher Felix] Hernandez. He didn’t play the two games against [Yankees pitcher Joba] Chamberlain. He didn’t play against [Reds pitcher Edinson] Voquez. He didn’t play against [Tigers pitcher Justin] Verlander. I think other teammates look at that and say ‘Oh, he doesn’t want to play against the hard throwers,’ take the day… I think that’s also worn people out. …
dannycater Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
You think Manny is the first superstar to avoid certain pitchers. There are many greats that found ways to sit out against fireballers or guys that they felt they were owned by that pitcher. Bottom line, Manny produces amid his own controversy. There’s no need to trade him, it would, as manny said not help the team. In the offseason, they won’t pick up his option and MORONS LIKE CRAB CAN BE HAPPY WHEN THE SOX GO BACK TO THE 1990s 2 guys hitting, 7 guys banjo playing, 5 guys platooning…and missing the playoffs due to a lack of offensive punch.
Calling Crab a MORON was wrong. Crab was well read and the subsequent events and history and info. from Schilling and Papelbon proved him correct. Such vicious personal attacks and name-calling are out of bounds , even my good friend Spot would agree with that. Morons like Crab were correct, that should have been shown some respect. The only ones left in the room are those who give license to others for anything said and come down heavy on new people with legitimate opinions. Sad.