<< <i>After that game I think the problem is not with the players but the management from the hitting coach up to the manager and even the general manager. >>
Swept and sinking like a stone. Geez, I thought Swihart and then Castillo were gonna be the big rah rah guys, the big spark, you know... "here I am to save the day...Mighty Mouse is on his way". NOT.
So glad I have a very full life and don't waste my time watching game after game after game and seeing the same old dismal performance. Two wasted homers by the smallest guy on the team. I expect Texas will take the series as well, if not sweep them again. But Pedroia isn't worried, we're only 4 games out of first place. Ever the optimist.
Read the Boston bloggers, read the box scores and see the reality...da ship is sinking...but, ah the perennial rhetoric from the likes of el capitan, senor Farrell. The canned comments of we gotta do this, that and the other are laughable at this stage. I was in favor of firing all management, but came to my senses and realized all too quickly, that they ain't the guys between the lines. If you could pick any management team in all of MLB, it wouldn't make this team any better.
Ortiz, Ramirez, Sandoval all are not hitting lately. Napoli had three or four good games. Betts goes 1 for 4 regularly. Brock Holt is doing well. Pitching, well, uh, is like a box of chocolates...
"Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart expects rookie pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez to make an immediate impact in his major-league debut Thursday." ESPN source.
Wow, the rookie is big on the rookie. Swihart, with a paltry performance, and a sliver of MLB experience, now has so much knowledge about the game that he can now make such a prediction. Gee, Blake, I thought YOU were the guy...then Rusney...oh yeah, Russy is doing the injured thing already.
They have a saying in Texas..."all hat, no cattle"...welcome Red Sox.
So, you guys keep getting the pretzels and beer, watching the clock tic tic tic till the first pitch comes and continuing to get disappointed...then the lame excuses of "they're not hitting", or "there are problems". Do yourself a HUGE favor...don't watch for a few days and get weened from the ongoing grind of day to day losses.
If the team does not find consistency...quickly...the iceberg cometh.
<< <i>"Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart expects rookie pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez to make an immediate impact in his major-league debut Thursday." ESPN source.
Wow, the rookie is big on the rookie. Swihart, with a paltry performance, and a sliver of MLB experience, now has so much knowledge about the game that he can now make such a prediction. Gee, Blake, I thought YOU were the guy...then Rusney...oh yeah, Russy is doing the injured thing already.
They have a saying in Texas..."all hat, no cattle"...welcome Red Sox.
So, you guys keep getting the pretzels and beer, watching the clock tic tic tic till the first pitch comes and continuing to get disappointed...then the lame excuses of "they're not hitting", or "there are problems". Do yourself a HUGE favor...don't watch for a few days and get weened from the ongoing grind of day to day losses.
If the team does not find consistency...quickly...the iceberg cometh.
I was absolutely dumbfounded when they locked up Porcello for $20+mil/yr. Seeing him every fifth game since 2009, he has grown very little. For every gem he pitches, he is abysmal for at least 4, thus the career 4.50 ERA... For a few more mil, they could have kept Lester. No comprendo!!
I believe in the rookies that are coming up and look forward to more of them arriving before the season is over. I never believed in giving the has beens all that money. Swihart will prove me correct in my assessment of him as well as Rodriques did tonight. Swihart was told to concentrate on his defensive skills when he came up. He is now doing that and now is starting to hit as well. Betts is coming around now as well and Ortiz is on the bench for a couple of days trying to figure out why he got so old all of a sudden. Victorino is riding the pine to rest his body also. The changes that I have been so rediculed for are slowly taking place and the Red Sox will benefit from them. You will not recognize this team by the end of the season is my guess. I still watch every game no matter what and am still awaiting some more help from the minors which will be here before long besides the trades that will be made in the next couple of months. If you have given up on them, that is your choice as it's a free country and you will be back when the rest of so called fans decide maybe the Red Sox are worth watching. Go Red Sox!
<< <i>I believe in the rookies that are coming up and look forward to more of them arriving before the season is over. I never believed in giving the has beens all that money. Swihart will prove me correct in my assessment of him as well as Rodriques did tonight. Swihart was told to concentrate on his defensive skills when he came up. He is now doing that and now is starting to hit as well. Betts is coming around now as well and Ortiz is on the bench for a couple of days trying to figure out why he got so old all of a sudden. Victorino is riding the pine to rest his body also. The changes that I have been so rediculed for are slowly taking place and the Red Sox will benefit from them. You will not recognize this team by the end of the season is my guess. I still watch every game no matter what and am still awaiting some more help from the minors which will be here before long besides the trades that will be made in the next couple of months. If you have given up on them, that is your choice as it's a free country and you will be back when the rest of so called fans decide maybe the Red Sox are worth watching. Go Red Sox! >>
yep, we can trash talk them (deservedly so), but they can be fun to watch. I would prefer that they move sooner rather than later in the trade market.
The trade market is a joke in my opinion. You will most likely be getting some more has beens being made available and having your young talent swooped up for them. i would advise the Red Sox to be very careful about what a rental for the rest of the season will cost them in future years. Not all the prospects can be protected but the best ones had better be or the next few years will be like last on and also so far this year. Young players mixed in with a few talented veterans, that are not over the hill yet, are vital to a teams progress. Victorino, Ortiz and Napoli are examples of great players from the past that are on their way down right now and no matter if they are gamers or not just have to give way to the youngsters.
<< <i>Eduardo Rodriguez, one start, new staff ace >>
Flashes of Bill Rohr from 1967, a 22 year old who made his Red Sox debut tossing a 1 hit shutout at Yankee Stadium. I seem to recall he was only one out away from a no-hitter.
After that he fizzled and only won like 3 games in his major league career.
Will Eduardo be the next Bill Rohr, or perhaps the next Roger Clemens?
Rodriguez looked brilliant in his first start. Fastball and slider looked spot on...this guy can pitch! Opportunity here to spark the team into playing like champions...HOWEVER...3 for 10 in the RISP department continues to hamstring the team. They must get some key hits to drive in runs...no runs, no wins...pretty simple. Swihart gets a nice double to seal the game. The box score tells the story of each game and gives an indication of strengths and weaknesses...the clear weakness is hitting in the clutch
BTW, Pit...you are the one that did all the big rah rah with the newcomers...I call 'em like I see 'em. You all but annointed this guy as Mr. Savior as well as Castillo. Both have a long way to go, and had it not been for an injury, Swihart would still be in the minor leagues. I think Swihart wouldh've been better off with more time in the minors...he got thrown into the mix quickly, but perhaps he can handle the pressure...time will tell. One or two guys can't do it all. I don't sugar coat performance, it is what it is. Like you, I've been to Fenway a zillion times, mostly in the little triangle at the 420' sign in the early 50s...I don't live in the past, those are just nice memories, but when the team is stinkin' up the place I give them NO pass.
Play like professionals, play like champions, play like you know the game and are hungry for excellence (like Betts getting picked)...I haven't seen much of that so far. When you pay youngsters a bazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzillion dollars for 6 months of "playing" a game, and they play as poorly as they have, that allows me to hammer them...I will continue to do so from time to time. I've only seen maybe 3 games this season, I do see some replays, but do read the box score and Boston bloggers...I am not alone in my assessment of the team. Go to ESPN, click blogs, then click Boston. Read what they have to say, they appear to be very fair to me.
I thought it pretty bush league of Hamilton to not acknowledge the crowd...given his antics (I'm being kind), a tip of the cap would have been in order IMO.
Do I detect a little bit of hope from you for our team.
Swihart did need more experience in the minor leagues for sure but he did not get it, through no fault of his own, and is doing very well in my opinion.
Castillo has his head on straight and it is not fair to rip him just because the Sox management decided to give him mega millions before he even has proved what he can do.
He has all the tools to be a great player but also need to be give a little slack while he learns on the fly.
Neither one is a savior all by themself's but will continue to improve and will be their catcher and outfield for years to come.
Rodriquez is just another piece of the puzzle that has been dropped into a tough situation as he also was not quite ready for the majors.
We shall see if he can handle the pressure but I do not think he should be compared to Rohr at this stage of the game.
Lets get behind these guys and support them instead of being negative because of past failures.
Bad press has been the downfall of too many players.
Lets get behind these guys and support them instead of being negative because of past failures.
Bad press has been the downfall of too many players.
Totally disagree!!! And then some...Do you not understand they are being paid to play like professionals, they are NOT performing like professionals. Their salaries are light-years beyond obscene for what they do. Do the math...162 games, 6 months out of the year, roughly 3 hours a day, and many get over $100k per game. And you want me to support their current performance? Please don't tell me how they are away from home and all the times they're out on the field well before game time...I'd bet a high percentage of guys would do just about anything to have what these bozos have...YES, bozos!! They're not reading what I write...and I challenge you or anyone to prove anything I've written as not to be valid. They don't need my support, this is cyberspace, what I write means nada to them.
This isn't the local High School team, these guys are being paid to play, paid for performance. They are NOT performing.
Just because I'm the only critic on the board, it doesn't mean I should just turn a blind eye to lackluster performance. The stats are there for all to see, I look at them every morning...why don't you? Read the blogs, get the behind the scenes scoop on what's going on, management strategies from those on the inside, etc, etc. You just can't do the rah rah thing because they're the Boston Red Sox. Others here have written that the team sucks...why not comment on that? I don't think they suck, I think they are in disarray and not playing near their potential.
a big TS on the bad press. If they can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Because they've had a boat load of $$$ thrown at them, got women galore, and all the other nonsense, doesn't mean I'm gonna support poor performance. And, I might add, you'd do well to take a more critical viewpoint of the team instead of this ongoing mantra of "make room for the rookies". Bringing up rookies is not the answer. How many damn rookies can they bring up, and where is the guaranteed performance? The team has to be cohesive...I suggest they take a long look at the 2004 season when they were down 0-3 to the Yankees and then the miracle of 8 in a row.
No support here till they play like professionals...and NO, I won't be watching tonight's game or the next however many games.
On a personal note...I am sitting in my library...in front of me and just above is a beautiful 19x16 aerial view of Boston with Fenway park in the middle. I can see the entire city, all the way to Logan, Citgo sign and all. To my left is a picture of Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. Next to that is a puzzle I put together of Mickey McDermott walking into the Fenway dugout for the first time. I also have several Boston newspapers, the Globe and Herald of 1987 and the 2004 and 2007 world series DVD sets. I have numerous books written about the Red Sox, including Francona's. I have a serious Luit Tiant collection, autobiography book DVD, and signed baseball and have 105 different Luis Tiant PSA graded cards of his (some 1of1s) and hold the number one spot in the PSA Registry...look it up, I'm MCMLVTOPPS. I also have 5 thick binders of raw Red Sox cards from 1952 on...Additionally, I have all 21 Red Sox players from the 1955 Topps, all graded PSA 7. I clearly remember they day Harry Agganis died, the unending memories of Curt Gowdy on my transistor radio while at Hampton and Salisbury beach. I could go on, but the message is this...I'm a Red Sox fan through and through, but I can't gloss over poor performance.
They are far from it but at least management is now trying to correct the problems.
They know Victorino is done as he can not stay on the field for more than a couple of games and Ortiz has not been able to hit this year and probably wont.
Napoli now is trying to kill the ball every time he comes up and needs to shorten his swing and just keep the line moving with base hits.
Kelly and Masterson need to go to the bullpen or in Masterson's case another team.
Sandoval needs to stop switch hitting as batting right handed is just another out.
Most of these things are being worked on but they still need time to make the corrections.
They have committed a lot of money in places they should not have but that is water already over the dam.
I would not commit another $100 million dollars and trade away the future at this point to sign a one year rental.
They have 2 months to get it together and until then they need to just stay close in the AL east.
remember how awful Pedroia was when he first came up? remember how Ortiz busted out of every slump he ever experienced?
The potential is there. Truly, Farrell can make the difference if he grows a pair and doesn't coddle. Coddling is what got Francoma axed.
The manager needs to make the tough calls and direct his players: Vic: ride the pine Panda: Bat lefty or be platooned Masterson and Kelly: DL and Bullpen at best Ortiz: Keep trying, it will come together
Stuff like that. He has most of the pieces he needs to win the AL East. Just needs to employ them properly
Hello Paul. Doing very well thank you !! Life is good, no complaints...retirement has a way of mellowing things.
Fishing, shooting pool at the clubhouse with my buds, playing poker twice a month, just pretty much kicked back. Trying to plan a vacation, but have so many options I'm on overload. Was seriously considering New Zealand, but that 15 hours from LA just put a big zonk on that thought, although I'm told it's a very cool place to visit. So, I'm kinda lookin' at Alaska and Nova Scotia...the Greek Islands, Ireland, blah, blah, I'm all over the map. I do a lot of surfing to check out itineraries, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. Definitely have a trip to Portland, Maine on the horizon and then drive over to my brother's in Loudon. There's only one flight directly to Manchester and it gets in like 11:30 at night, why, I have no clue...then the departure is 6:30 in the morning, Portland is easier.
Other than the mind-numbing disappointment of the Red Sox, all is well. Hope things on your side are good also. Ahhhhhh, Hampton and Salisbury in the 60s...what a time it was !!!!
RISP 3 for FOURTEEN !!!!! 10 LOBs. Up 3-2 in the 9th and Koji decides today ain't his day. I have not a remote clue, but the box score gets more painful by the day. The team has become an embarrassment.
<< <i>Hello Paul. Doing very well thank you !! Life is good, no complaints...retirement has a way of mellowing things.
Fishing, shooting pool at the clubhouse with my buds, playing poker twice a month, just pretty much kicked back. Trying to plan a vacation, but have so many options I'm on overload. Was seriously considering New Zealand, but that 15 hours from LA just put a big zonk on that thought, although I'm told it's a very cool place to visit. So, I'm kinda lookin' at Alaska and Nova Scotia...the Greek Islands, Ireland, blah, blah, I'm all over the map. I do a lot of surfing to check out itineraries, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. Definitely have a trip to Portland, Maine on the horizon and then drive over to my brother's in Loudon. There's only one flight directly to Manchester and it gets in like 11:30 at night, why, I have no clue...then the departure is 6:30 in the morning, Portland is easier.
Other than the mind-numbing disappointment of the Red Sox, all is well. Hope things on your side are good also. Ahhhhhh, Hampton and Salisbury in the 60s...what a time it was !!!!
Take care my friend, thanks for the shout out.
Al >>
Good stuff my friend, hopefully you figure out where you want to travel to and have fun
<< <i>RISP 3 for FOURTEEN !!!!! 10 LOBs. Up 3-2 in the 9th and Koji decides today ain't his day. I have not a remote clue, but the box score gets more painful by the day. The team has become an embarrassment.
Cue it up Dandy Don. turn out the lights... >>
so few save opportunities, he likely forgot what it felt like!
ARLINGTON, Texas -- For a team already in a tailspin, the final moments of the Boston Red Sox's 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers were particularly cruel.
A pitch away from victory, the Red Sox instead trudged off Globe Life Park with their sixth loss on a disastrous seven-game road trip. I should have got that ball", Sandoval said. "I tried getting up on that hop. Both of the Rangers' runs in the ninth, courtesy of a two-run pinch-hit double by Josh Hamilton, were unearned because of an error by Pablo Sandoval on Hanser Alberto's ground ball to start the inning.
The Boston Red Sox are the joke of the AL East, if not all of baseball...the team let a KNOWN druggie get off the bench to become the local hero...because the obese one at 3rd base can't play the position. I won't bother with the RISP or LOB thing...the team is pathetic...ever the optimist Farrell rah, rahs the team...he needs to go like all the losers before him, and Cherrington as well. Farrell isn't providing the leadership needed to right the ship, which is now stuck on a sandbar in the middle of nowhere. I would fine Sandoval, aka Fat Boy $100k for blowing the catch...get in front of the ball doofus. Maybe Ortiz needs to whack another phone...I guess they'll have more "team meetings".
Where is the Great Savior, the Great Spark Swihart?? Oh, I forgot, it's Castillo?? Nope, not them, it was the fat guy at 3rd base who gets paid a BOATLOAD of money to blow the game.
Six losses in seven games. They are not only toast, they are burnt toast. P A T H E T I C.
I always thought picking up Sandoval was a mistake right from the start. He should have had 2 errors Saturday also. Pedroia made another error yesterday as well giving him 5 for the year. Cherington and Farrell need to go for sure. Ramirez in left is a joke also. Something has to be done by ownership quickly to save the season.
I've decided to take a break from this thread...it is counter-productive to continue to hammer the Red Sox team for all their shortcomings and dismal performance. Only they can right the ship, which is now very near the iceberg.
So, enjoy the highs whenever they come...sadly, too much dysfunction on this team. Would not be surprised to see major changes before the trade deadline and that includes Ortiz.
BOSTON -- "Given John Farrell’s message to his veterans Sunday morning failed to produce the desired results, with the Boston Red Sox falling in galling fashion yet again, it might be useful to issue a new a reminder of how ill-tempered the citizenry here can become.
Folks around here, having endured the harshest of winters, are in no mood to have their summer spoiled, too, by a baseball team currently dedicated to the proposition that there are no limits to how badly it can underperform.
The Red Sox enter June only four games out of first place in the American League East, a standing that says nothing of how poorly they’ve played (a majors-worst run differential of minus-48) but speaks volumes about the company they’re keeping.
The New York Yankees, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the division lead at just a game over .500, just got through losing three of four to Oakland, the only team in the league with a worse record than the Red Sox. The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, like the Red Sox, have lost more games than they have won. No team in the division has a winning record over the past 10 games.
The math majors would tell you that all it takes is one hot streak for the Sox to tilt the numbers in the division to their favor. But those bearing witness to what has taken place on the field in the season’s first two months -- including a 10-19 May that matched the Miami Marlins for worst in the majors -- are disinclined to believe the Sox have such a streak in them.
With fans soured by two last-place finishes in the past three years, which can take the shine off any World Series trophy, no straw poll is required to gauge the level of disenchantment among those as horrified as Farrell was by Saturday night’s "unacceptable" 8-0 loss, only to be truly mortified by the details of Sunday’s 4-3 defeat to the Texas Rangers.
Ahead by a run entering the ninth inning -- a circumstance in which they had not lost all season (17-0) -- the Sox conjured a scenario of self-inflicted pain that trumped anything that has preceded it in this misbegotten season. The normally sure-handed Pablo Sandoval had a routine ground ball clank off his glove for a leadoff error. Two outs later, the tying run was on third base, but Koji Uehara was on the mound, and the Sox closer had converted all six of his save opportunities this month.
Until this one. Farrell, in part because Uehara has been so dependable, flouted convention and had him intentionally walk Prince Fielder, even if it meant putting the winning run on base. Rather than dealing with the .359-hitting Fielder -- who in his brief exposure to Uehara was hitless in four trips, striking out twice -- Farrell preferred to take his chances against the newly resuscitated Josh Hamilton, who entered the game as a pinch hitter.
Uehara had not given up a double all season and only three extra-base hits altogether. The slow-footed Fielder had not scored from first on a double all season.
So, of course, Hamilton times a diving Uehara splitter and shoots it into the gap in left-center for a game-winning two-run double. NESN analysts Steve Lyons complained after the game that the Sox outfielders should have been better deployed in a "no doubles" alignment, but Hamilton’s placement was impeccable, and Fielder rumbled home with the winning run.
The fall guys? There were plenty. Uehara, of course. Farrell, burned by a decision certainly more defensible than the one he took the rap for in Seattle a couple of weeks earlier, pitching to Nelson Cruz with first base open. Sandoval, with his second error of the game.
But as has been the case all season, there was plenty of blame to go around on an afternoon in which the Sox had back-to-back three-error games and failed too many times with men on base, going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10.
The pitching remains suspect, of course, even though Joe Kelly allowed just one earned run in five innings, and the visit to Texas began with the electrifying debut of 22-year-old lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.
But it is the team’s offense that remains confounding. The Sox scored 82 runs in May, the fewest of any team for the month. The Rangers, by contrast, scored 158, almost double the Sox's output.
Hanley Ramirez went the first 24 days of the month without an RBI and finished with five, just two fewer than David Ortiz, who has just two home runs in his past 111 at-bats. Ramirez also has made Manny look like Yaz in left field, as more than one of his critics on social media have observed. Sandoval had just four extra-base hits in May. Mike Napoli is just emerging from a horrific six-week slump. Dustin Pedroia, who had a two-homer game Friday as part of a 10-game hitting streak, went 0-for-5 Sunday for the third time this season.
Thirty at-bats into his season, Rusney Castillo has yet to make an impact, all seven of his hits singles, with an RBI and a run scored. Xander Bogaerts had an 0-fer trip going until he had three hits Sunday. Mookie Betts had nine hits on the trip, hitting safely in all but one game, but despite the frequency with which he and Pedroia reached base, it didn’t translate into enough runs.
The "off with their heads" crowd is growing increasingly restless. Any grace period Farrell earned with a World Series title in 2013 has long since dissipated. General manager Ben Cherington, whose résumé bears both last-place finishes, is looking at a train wreck of an offseason, one designed to restore the Sox to contention that has fallen far short.
Both Farrell and Cherington were given extensions last year and to date have enjoyed the full support of ownership, which is not likely to abate any time soon. But even if two-thirds of the season remain, there can be no mistaking the urgency that awaits the Red Sox upon their return home.
This cannot stand."
There is absolutely nothing I could add to this spot on analysis...heads will roll if they don't get their act together.
Clay was okay . It seems like if the pitching is there the hitting is not or vice versa . Clay has had a goodish May but its June now isn't it time for him to go on the IR ?
Comments
<< <i>After that game I think the problem is not with the players but the management from the hitting coach up to the manager and even the general manager. >>
replace them all and see if things improve?
There is something wrong somewhere for sure.
<< <i>I hope they can keep it going. >>
<< <i>
<< <i>I hope they can keep it going. >>
So glad I have a very full life and don't waste my time watching game after game after game and seeing the same old dismal performance. Two wasted homers by the smallest guy on the team. I expect Texas will take the series as well, if not sweep them again. But Pedroia isn't worried, we're only 4 games out of first place. Ever the optimist.
Read the Boston bloggers, read the box scores and see the reality...da ship is sinking...but, ah the perennial rhetoric from the likes of el capitan, senor Farrell. The canned comments of we gotta do this, that and the other are laughable at this stage. I was in favor of firing all management, but came to my senses and realized all too quickly, that they ain't the guys between the lines. If you could pick any management team in all of MLB, it wouldn't make this team any better.
YESTERDAY the Beatles
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Wow, the rookie is big on the rookie. Swihart, with a paltry performance, and a sliver of MLB experience, now has so much knowledge about the game that he can now make such a prediction. Gee, Blake, I thought YOU were the guy...then Rusney...oh yeah, Russy is doing the injured thing already.
They have a saying in Texas..."all hat, no cattle"...welcome Red Sox.
So, you guys keep getting the pretzels and beer, watching the clock tic tic tic till the first pitch comes and continuing to get disappointed...then the lame excuses of "they're not hitting", or "there are problems". Do yourself a HUGE favor...don't watch for a few days and get weened from the ongoing grind of day to day losses.
If the team does not find consistency...quickly...the iceberg cometh.
Slip Sliddin' Away" Simon and Garfunkel
<< <i>"Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart expects rookie pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez to make an immediate impact in his major-league debut Thursday." ESPN source.
Wow, the rookie is big on the rookie. Swihart, with a paltry performance, and a sliver of MLB experience, now has so much knowledge about the game that he can now make such a prediction. Gee, Blake, I thought YOU were the guy...then Rusney...oh yeah, Russy is doing the injured thing already.
They have a saying in Texas..."all hat, no cattle"...welcome Red Sox.
So, you guys keep getting the pretzels and beer, watching the clock tic tic tic till the first pitch comes and continuing to get disappointed...then the lame excuses of "they're not hitting", or "there are problems". Do yourself a HUGE favor...don't watch for a few days and get weened from the ongoing grind of day to day losses.
If the team does not find consistency...quickly...the iceberg cometh.
Slip Sliddin' Away" Simon and Garfunkel >>
Chicken and beer, it's the Sox
good thing they extended Farrell
I think they took contract writing lessons from the Bruins.
Step 1 overpay scrubs , extend players pointlessly so they get lazy
step 2 lock down dismal coach so no one steals him away
step 3 multi year miserable decline
<< <i>I believe in the rookies that are coming up and look forward to more of them arriving before the season is over. I never believed in giving the has beens all that money. Swihart will prove me correct in my assessment of him as well as Rodriques did tonight. Swihart was told to concentrate on his defensive skills when he came up. He is now doing that and now is starting to hit as well. Betts is coming around now as well and Ortiz is on the bench for a couple of days trying to figure out why he got so old all of a sudden. Victorino is riding the pine to rest his body also. The changes that I have been so rediculed for are slowly taking place and the Red Sox will benefit from them. You will not recognize this team by the end of the season is my guess. I still watch every game no matter what and am still awaiting some more help from the minors which will be here before long besides the trades that will be made in the next couple of months. If you have given up on them, that is your choice as it's a free country and you will be back when the rest of so called fans decide maybe the Red Sox are worth watching. Go Red Sox! >>
yep, we can trash talk them (deservedly so), but they can be fun to watch. I would prefer that they move sooner rather than later in the trade market.
<< <i>Eduardo Rodriguez, one start, new staff ace
Flashes of Bill Rohr from 1967, a 22 year old who made his Red Sox debut tossing a 1 hit shutout at Yankee Stadium. I seem to recall he was only one out away from a no-hitter.
After that he fizzled and only won like 3 games in his major league career.
Will Eduardo be the next Bill Rohr, or perhaps the next Roger Clemens?
Rodriguez looked brilliant in his first start. Fastball and slider looked spot on...this guy can pitch! Opportunity here to spark the team into playing like champions...HOWEVER...3 for 10 in the RISP department continues to hamstring the team. They must get some key hits to drive in runs...no runs, no wins...pretty simple.
Swihart gets a nice double to seal the game. The box score tells the story of each game and gives an indication of strengths and weaknesses...the clear weakness is hitting in the clutch
BTW, Pit...you are the one that did all the big rah rah with the newcomers...I call 'em like I see 'em. You all but annointed this guy as Mr. Savior as well as Castillo. Both have a long way to go, and had it not been for an injury, Swihart would still be in the minor leagues. I think Swihart wouldh've been better off with more time in the minors...he got thrown into the mix quickly, but perhaps he can handle the pressure...time will tell. One or two guys can't do it all. I don't sugar coat performance, it is what it is. Like you, I've been to Fenway a zillion times, mostly in the little triangle at the 420' sign in the early 50s...I don't live in the past, those are just nice memories, but when the team is stinkin' up the place I give them NO pass.
Play like professionals, play like champions, play like you know the game and are hungry for excellence (like Betts getting picked)...I haven't seen much of that so far. When you pay youngsters a bazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzillion dollars for 6 months of "playing" a game, and they play as poorly as they have, that allows me to hammer them...I will continue to do so from time to time. I've only seen maybe 3 games this season, I do see some replays, but do read the box score and Boston bloggers...I am not alone in my assessment of the team. Go to ESPN, click blogs, then click Boston. Read what they have to say, they appear to be very fair to me.
I thought it pretty bush league of Hamilton to not acknowledge the crowd...given his antics (I'm being kind), a tip of the cap would have been in order IMO.
Swihart did need more experience in the minor leagues for sure but he did not get it, through no fault of his own, and is doing very well in my opinion.
Castillo has his head on straight and it is not fair to rip him just because the Sox management decided to give him mega millions before he even has proved what he can do.
He has all the tools to be a great player but also need to be give a little slack while he learns on the fly.
Neither one is a savior all by themself's but will continue to improve and will be their catcher and outfield for years to come.
Rodriquez is just another piece of the puzzle that has been dropped into a tough situation as he also was not quite ready for the majors.
We shall see if he can handle the pressure but I do not think he should be compared to Rohr at this stage of the game.
Lets get behind these guys and support them instead of being negative because of past failures.
Bad press has been the downfall of too many players.
Lets get behind these guys and support them instead of being negative because of past failures.
Bad press has been the downfall of too many players.
Totally disagree!!! And then some...Do you not understand they are being paid to play like professionals, they are NOT performing like professionals. Their salaries are light-years beyond obscene for what they do. Do the math...162 games, 6 months out of the year, roughly 3 hours a day, and many get over $100k per game. And you want me to support their current performance? Please don't tell me how they are away from home and all the times they're out on the field well before game time...I'd bet a high percentage of guys would do just about anything to have what these bozos have...YES, bozos!! They're not reading what I write...and I challenge you or anyone to prove anything I've written as not to be valid. They don't need my support, this is cyberspace, what I write means nada to them.
This isn't the local High School team, these guys are being paid to play, paid for performance. They are NOT performing.
Just because I'm the only critic on the board, it doesn't mean I should just turn a blind eye to lackluster performance. The stats are there for all to see, I look at them every morning...why don't you? Read the blogs, get the behind the scenes scoop on what's going on, management strategies from those on the inside, etc, etc. You just can't do the rah rah thing because they're the Boston Red Sox. Others here have written that the team sucks...why not comment on that? I don't think they suck, I think they are in disarray and not playing near their potential.
a big TS on the bad press. If they can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Because they've had a boat load of $$$ thrown at them, got women galore, and all the other nonsense, doesn't mean I'm gonna support poor performance. And, I might add, you'd do well to take a more critical viewpoint of the team instead of this ongoing mantra of "make room for the rookies". Bringing up rookies is not the answer. How many damn rookies can they bring up, and where is the guaranteed performance? The team has to be cohesive...I suggest they take a long look at the 2004 season when they were down 0-3 to the Yankees and then the miracle of 8 in a row.
No support here till they play like professionals...and NO, I won't be watching tonight's game or the next however many games.
On a personal note...I am sitting in my library...in front of me and just above is a beautiful 19x16 aerial view of Boston with Fenway park in the middle. I can see the entire city, all the way to Logan, Citgo sign and all. To my left is a picture of Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. Next to that is a puzzle I put together of Mickey McDermott walking into the Fenway dugout for the first time. I also have several Boston newspapers, the Globe and Herald of 1987 and the 2004 and 2007 world series DVD sets. I have numerous books written about the Red Sox, including Francona's. I have a serious Luit Tiant collection, autobiography book DVD, and signed baseball and have 105 different Luis Tiant PSA graded cards of his (some 1of1s) and hold the number one spot in the PSA Registry...look it up, I'm MCMLVTOPPS. I also have 5 thick binders of raw Red Sox cards from 1952 on...Additionally, I have all 21 Red Sox players from the 1955 Topps, all graded PSA 7. I clearly remember they day Harry Agganis died, the unending memories of Curt Gowdy on my transistor radio while at Hampton and Salisbury beach. I could go on, but the message is this...I'm a Red Sox fan through and through, but I can't gloss over poor performance.
The bass await me.
I am not saying they are perfect by any means.
They are far from it but at least management is now trying to correct the problems.
They know Victorino is done as he can not stay on the field for more than a couple of games and Ortiz has not been able to hit this year and probably wont.
Napoli now is trying to kill the ball every time he comes up and needs to shorten his swing and just keep the line moving with base hits.
Kelly and Masterson need to go to the bullpen or in Masterson's case another team.
Sandoval needs to stop switch hitting as batting right handed is just another out.
Most of these things are being worked on but they still need time to make the corrections.
They have committed a lot of money in places they should not have but that is water already over the dam.
I would not commit another $100 million dollars and trade away the future at this point to sign a one year rental.
They have 2 months to get it together and until then they need to just stay close in the AL east.
remember how Ortiz busted out of every slump he ever experienced?
The potential is there. Truly, Farrell can make the difference if he grows a pair and doesn't coddle. Coddling is what got Francoma axed.
The manager needs to make the tough calls and direct his players:
Vic: ride the pine
Panda: Bat lefty or be platooned
Masterson and Kelly: DL and Bullpen at best
Ortiz: Keep trying, it will come together
Stuff like that. He has most of the pieces he needs to win the AL East. Just needs to employ them properly
Fishing, shooting pool at the clubhouse with my buds, playing poker twice a month, just pretty much kicked back. Trying to plan a vacation, but have so many options I'm on overload. Was seriously considering New Zealand, but that 15 hours from LA just put a big zonk on that thought, although I'm told it's a very cool place to visit. So, I'm kinda lookin' at Alaska and Nova Scotia...the Greek Islands, Ireland, blah, blah, I'm all over the map. I do a lot of surfing to check out itineraries, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. Definitely have a trip to Portland, Maine on the horizon and then drive over to my brother's in Loudon. There's only one flight directly to Manchester and it gets in like 11:30 at night, why, I have no clue...then the departure is 6:30 in the morning, Portland is easier.
Other than the mind-numbing disappointment of the Red Sox, all is well. Hope things on your side are good also. Ahhhhhh, Hampton and Salisbury in the 60s...what a time it was !!!!
Take care my friend, thanks for the shout out.
Al
Cue it up Dandy Don. turn out the lights...
Don't look too good to me...check the Twinkies record vs Red Sox...OUCH !!!
<< <i>Hello Paul. Doing very well thank you !! Life is good, no complaints...retirement has a way of mellowing things.
Fishing, shooting pool at the clubhouse with my buds, playing poker twice a month, just pretty much kicked back. Trying to plan a vacation, but have so many options I'm on overload. Was seriously considering New Zealand, but that 15 hours from LA just put a big zonk on that thought, although I'm told it's a very cool place to visit. So, I'm kinda lookin' at Alaska and Nova Scotia...the Greek Islands, Ireland, blah, blah, I'm all over the map. I do a lot of surfing to check out itineraries, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. Definitely have a trip to Portland, Maine on the horizon and then drive over to my brother's in Loudon. There's only one flight directly to Manchester and it gets in like 11:30 at night, why, I have no clue...then the departure is 6:30 in the morning, Portland is easier.
Other than the mind-numbing disappointment of the Red Sox, all is well. Hope things on your side are good also. Ahhhhhh, Hampton and Salisbury in the 60s...what a time it was !!!!
Take care my friend, thanks for the shout out.
Al >>
Good stuff my friend, hopefully you figure out where you want to travel to and have fun
<< <i>RISP 3 for FOURTEEN !!!!! 10 LOBs. Up 3-2 in the 9th and Koji decides today ain't his day. I have not a remote clue, but the box score gets more painful by the day. The team has become an embarrassment.
Cue it up Dandy Don. turn out the lights... >>
so few save opportunities, he likely forgot what it felt like!
Boston blogger........
"Red Sox end brutal road trip on a cruel twist
Randy Jennings"
ARLINGTON, Texas -- For a team already in a tailspin, the final moments of the Boston Red Sox's 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers were particularly cruel.
A pitch away from victory, the Red Sox instead trudged off Globe Life Park with their sixth loss on a disastrous seven-game road trip. I should have got that ball", Sandoval said. "I tried getting up on that hop. Both of the Rangers' runs in the ninth, courtesy of a two-run pinch-hit double by Josh Hamilton, were unearned because of an error by Pablo Sandoval on Hanser Alberto's ground ball to start the inning.
The Boston Red Sox are the joke of the AL East, if not all of baseball...the team let a KNOWN druggie get off the bench to become the local hero...because the obese one at 3rd base can't play the position. I won't bother with the RISP or LOB thing...the team is pathetic...ever the optimist Farrell rah, rahs the team...he needs to go like all the losers before him, and Cherrington as well. Farrell isn't providing the leadership needed to right the ship, which is now stuck on a sandbar in the middle of nowhere. I would fine Sandoval, aka Fat Boy $100k for blowing the catch...get in front of the ball doofus. Maybe Ortiz needs to whack another phone...I guess they'll have more "team meetings".
Where is the Great Savior, the Great Spark Swihart?? Oh, I forgot, it's Castillo?? Nope, not them, it was the fat guy at 3rd base who gets paid a BOATLOAD of money to blow the game.
Six losses in seven games. They are not only toast, they are burnt toast. P A T H E T I C.
So, enjoy the highs whenever they come...sadly, too much dysfunction on this team. Would not be surprised to see major changes before the trade deadline and that includes Ortiz.
They are STUCK with Ramirez and Sandoval so they need to figure out how to make a team from there.
Good luck, I'm glad it's not my money Cherington is blowing.
Red Sox Reporter
ESPNBoston.com
BOSTON -- "Given John Farrell’s message to his veterans Sunday morning failed to produce the desired results, with the Boston Red Sox falling in galling fashion yet again, it might be useful to issue a new a reminder of how ill-tempered the citizenry here can become.
Folks around here, having endured the harshest of winters, are in no mood to have their summer spoiled, too, by a baseball team currently dedicated to the proposition that there are no limits to how badly it can underperform.
The Red Sox enter June only four games out of first place in the American League East, a standing that says nothing of how poorly they’ve played (a majors-worst run differential of minus-48) but speaks volumes about the company they’re keeping.
The New York Yankees, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the division lead at just a game over .500, just got through losing three of four to Oakland, the only team in the league with a worse record than the Red Sox. The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, like the Red Sox, have lost more games than they have won. No team in the division has a winning record over the past 10 games.
The math majors would tell you that all it takes is one hot streak for the Sox to tilt the numbers in the division to their favor. But those bearing witness to what has taken place on the field in the season’s first two months -- including a 10-19 May that matched the Miami Marlins for worst in the majors -- are disinclined to believe the Sox have such a streak in them.
With fans soured by two last-place finishes in the past three years, which can take the shine off any World Series trophy, no straw poll is required to gauge the level of disenchantment among those as horrified as Farrell was by Saturday night’s "unacceptable" 8-0 loss, only to be truly mortified by the details of Sunday’s 4-3 defeat to the Texas Rangers.
Ahead by a run entering the ninth inning -- a circumstance in which they had not lost all season (17-0) -- the Sox conjured a scenario of self-inflicted pain that trumped anything that has preceded it in this misbegotten season. The normally sure-handed Pablo Sandoval had a routine ground ball clank off his glove for a leadoff error. Two outs later, the tying run was on third base, but Koji Uehara was on the mound, and the Sox closer had converted all six of his save opportunities this month.
Until this one. Farrell, in part because Uehara has been so dependable, flouted convention and had him intentionally walk Prince Fielder, even if it meant putting the winning run on base. Rather than dealing with the .359-hitting Fielder -- who in his brief exposure to Uehara was hitless in four trips, striking out twice -- Farrell preferred to take his chances against the newly resuscitated Josh Hamilton, who entered the game as a pinch hitter.
Uehara had not given up a double all season and only three extra-base hits altogether. The slow-footed Fielder had not scored from first on a double all season.
So, of course, Hamilton times a diving Uehara splitter and shoots it into the gap in left-center for a game-winning two-run double. NESN analysts Steve Lyons complained after the game that the Sox outfielders should have been better deployed in a "no doubles" alignment, but Hamilton’s placement was impeccable, and Fielder rumbled home with the winning run.
The fall guys? There were plenty. Uehara, of course. Farrell, burned by a decision certainly more defensible than the one he took the rap for in Seattle a couple of weeks earlier, pitching to Nelson Cruz with first base open. Sandoval, with his second error of the game.
But as has been the case all season, there was plenty of blame to go around on an afternoon in which the Sox had back-to-back three-error games and failed too many times with men on base, going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10.
The pitching remains suspect, of course, even though Joe Kelly allowed just one earned run in five innings, and the visit to Texas began with the electrifying debut of 22-year-old lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.
But it is the team’s offense that remains confounding. The Sox scored 82 runs in May, the fewest of any team for the month. The Rangers, by contrast, scored 158, almost double the Sox's output.
Hanley Ramirez went the first 24 days of the month without an RBI and finished with five, just two fewer than David Ortiz, who has just two home runs in his past 111 at-bats. Ramirez also has made Manny look like Yaz in left field, as more than one of his critics on social media have observed. Sandoval had just four extra-base hits in May. Mike Napoli is just emerging from a horrific six-week slump. Dustin Pedroia, who had a two-homer game Friday as part of a 10-game hitting streak, went 0-for-5 Sunday for the third time this season.
Thirty at-bats into his season, Rusney Castillo has yet to make an impact, all seven of his hits singles, with an RBI and a run scored. Xander Bogaerts had an 0-fer trip going until he had three hits Sunday. Mookie Betts had nine hits on the trip, hitting safely in all but one game, but despite the frequency with which he and Pedroia reached base, it didn’t translate into enough runs.
The "off with their heads" crowd is growing increasingly restless. Any grace period Farrell earned with a World Series title in 2013 has long since dissipated. General manager Ben Cherington, whose résumé bears both last-place finishes, is looking at a train wreck of an offseason, one designed to restore the Sox to contention that has fallen far short.
Both Farrell and Cherington were given extensions last year and to date have enjoyed the full support of ownership, which is not likely to abate any time soon. But even if two-thirds of the season remain, there can be no mistaking the urgency that awaits the Red Sox upon their return home.
This cannot stand."
There is absolutely nothing I could add to this spot on analysis...heads will roll if they don't get their act together.
Rained out, mercifully.
<< <i>one for seven with RISP, just one run scored, but a WIN! And look whose ERA is below 4.00 now! >>
Let's hope Buchholz prevails and Suchholz stays away for the rest of the season.
Clay was okay . It seems like if the pitching is there the hitting is not or vice versa . Clay has had a goodish May but its June now isn't it time for him to go on the IR ?
Two good games in a row for him.
Now we need to bring up Johnson and get rid of some of the deadwood.