Boston Red Sox-- 1st Half of the Season

[Sureal]

I just thought I would create this thread so that there can be an ongoing discussion on the Sox for the first half of the season as opposed to using a thread for a particular player and then going on a tangent about something else. Besides recruiting sports dies around this time of the year so...

23-10

Sox swept the Jays behind masterful pitching and clutch hitting , Manny is waking up...
Should we stay level headed? I mean Aug-Sept '06 still stings...

 

[Sureal]

I wish our pitchers would shut up. Papelbon is calling Schilling comments unprofessional. They are going to ruin our season with this crap if it keeps up.

 

[notredomer23]

yeah i used to respect shilling....now hes just a dickweed

 

[ACamp1900]

Leave it to a sox fan to consider the the one month point the midpoint of the season...

 

[Newc]

I love how much unsolicited hate the Sox get from other fans...must mean we are doing something right, dominating the AL may just be that.

 

[Sureal]

Leave it to a sox fan to consider the the one month point the midpoint of the season...

Actually this is an ongoing conversation about the first half of the season until it is completed. Sorry for the confusion...

 

[Sureal]

Anyway back to baseball. 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth yesterday!!! We got a big series starting today with Dice-K pitching. He better show up today...

 

[Newc]

Anymore word on Becketts finger? I heard it was a developing blister like the ones he used to get that would really mess up his delivery. I really hope they get this under control, Beckett may be our most reliable ticket to the Series this year.

As far as Daisuke goes, he better show up today and show up strong. You would think he has had enough innings to get used to the play over here, he needs to show us that he was worth the contract.

 

[Sureal]

No news as of yet in regards to the blisters. Just got done reading the Globe and they are just calling it ripped skin due to dry skin. We definately don't need him getting those and having his grips getting all jacked up.
Manny is also having issues with his hammy that is why he got pulled yesterday during the game. On my fantasy team they got him Day to Day so he may just need some time.

In the meantime I would think that Pena would replace him. Good grief...

 

[Newc]

Yea, Pena's display of ineptness in right field the other day makes me worry a ton. He's got a ton of potential at the plate, though he does strike out way too much. I wonder if maybe 6 months or a year in AAA would help him out any since he would be playing everyday.

 

[Sureal]

Dice-K complete game!!! BIG TIME WIN!!!

I'm thinking I need to put him back on my fantasy baseball team...

 

[Newc]

Complete game with no walks...that is huge, especially against a very good Tiger team. It also appeared, with only 5 strikeouts, that Daisuke may not be trying to strike everyone out like he has in his past apperances which seems to be greatly increasing his accuracy. Supposedly, as Valentine has said, Japanese pitchers try to strike out batters rather than throw to contact like many effective pitchers do here in the states (Greg Maddux, one of the greatest pitchers of all time comes to mind), lets hope Daisuke continues to stride towards throwing to contact and we get many more games like this out of him. With the amount of different pitches he throws, he doesn't need to worry about trying to get it by the hitters and rather let the complexity of his arsenal do the work for him.

 

[Sureal]

Good insight newc122. I do know that over there in the Japanese league their strike zone is rather liberal. So he may have just needed some time to adjust.
I say Beckett needs to sit his next start out and fully heal. I would want a healthy Beckett rather than one we have to be cautious about. Manny played last night so it is obvious that the hammy is not bothering him that much. Any word on Lester? I know he had a set back but is he still going to throw a simulated game on Friday?

 

[Newc]

Yea, with the Sox having an 8.5 game lead in the East I think it would be best to sit Beckett and allow his finger to properly heal, we aren't in the position where we need wins badly, so there is really no need to push Josh back into the rotation. I haven't heard anymore about Lester either, what was the set back that you are talking about, never heard of that. I was hoping that Lester could spot start for Beckett, but I guess with a set back he isn't ready to go. I really don't know who we would throw in there to start for Josh, maybe Donnelly??

 

[Sureal]

Lester got a cramp in his forearm. Something minor but they were taking precaution and bringing him on slowly. Good question about who to throw in there.
Crap I just looked at the roster and we don't have a real tweener (Scott Shields-type) except for Tavarez. We need Lester back. Or call back Hansack

 

[Newc]

Yea, Hansack would be a nice call up to spot start, he did a pretty impressive job last year for us.

 

[Sureal]

Well that about stunk last night... I don't know Wake you think you can not give up hits like that? Chooch...
Anyway, Tavarez better act like he can pitch for a change. Youkilis stepped up for us last night.

Wake stinks on MLB 07 The Show, I mean he is terrible...

 

[Sureal]

AAAAAARRRRGH!!!

Becket is on the 15 and we called up Hansack.

 

[Newc]

Well that about stunk last night... I don't know Wake you think you can not give up hits like that? Chooch...
Anyway, Tavarez better act like he can pitch for a change. Youkilis stepped up for us last night.

Wake stinks on MLB 07 The Show, I mean he is terrible...

I know alot of people aren't real high on Tavarez, but I really like him. The guy has pitched much better than his record indicates this season and I think he is probably one of the best # 5 starters out there. Yea, we all understand that he is no Beckett, nor should we really expect him to be. He is a true team player who has really helped out Daisuke this year, as well as trying to keep Manny in line and has told Tito that he will pitch whenever he is needed wherever he is needed, as a starter or in the pen. I this day of sports its hard to find alot of guys who are willing to fill in wherever they are needed since they have such egos. I like Tavarez and hope he stays around for many more years.

 

[Sureal]

Agreed on Tavarez's clubhouse leadership. What irks me is that he is at times inconsitent but he is a #5 starter as you pointed out. I say better that than a relief pitcher.

 

[Sureal]

We are playing strong excluding the 14-0 pimp smack that was endured Saturday.

Wake vs Wang tonight.

Is Torre out the door if they lose 2 out of 3?

 

[Newc]

I doubt that Torre will be let go at all this season, once it is done though is an entirely different story. This series however is huge in terms of the AL East. It really seems that the Yankees are right there on the edge, tettering, and their season could go either way after this series. Watching them play the Mets this weekend they looked incredibly flat in both losses, almost as if they were expecting to lose. They had their heads down alot in the dugout and there didn't look to be much enthusiasm to try to get a few games back on the Sox. Therefore I honestly believe that this may be the most important series between the Sox and Yanks of the season. If the Sox can grab two of three it would just be another punch in the gut of the Yanks and would probably keep them in their downward spiral that they are on. If the Sox can somehow sweep the Yanks at home, then I really think the Yankees would be done. I know its only May and there is a ton of baseball to be played, but taking three more games from the yankees in NY would really be a dagger in the heart.

Conversely, if the yankees can win two of three then this series could becoming a turning point for the Yanks and could really motivate a talented ballclub. The problem with the yankees isn't their talent this year, but the fact that so much adversity has hit them so hard so soon in the year. They have been fighting an uphill battle all season long and that can becoming incredibly draining on a team when you play 6 nights a week.

Therefore, I really hope the Sox can go into NY and take atleast two games out of this series, it would continue to boost our already charged momentum and keep the yankees in the basement and continue to mess with their psyche.

 

[Sureal]

I absolutely agree with you in regards to the importance of this series. I was looking at the pitching matchups throughout this series and the Yankees do have a chance to at least get 2 out of 3 (Wake game one, Tavarez game two and Schilling for the final game). On the other hand, if we can capitalize on their weak bullpen depth and keep the games in reach we have a chance to even sweep them. Nobody in their lineup is tearing it up except for their third baseman and even he is cooling down. I am excited about this series no matter what the records may say. I expect the Yankees to make a run toward the end of the season so any victories now are more than welcome.

 

[Newc]

Oh definitely, you can never count the Yankees out. I think we all remember the 14 game lead we had on the Yanks, which they made up and took us to that one game playoff at Fenway...damn Bucky Dent!!!

Your point about their pen is very valid, we just need to get to it early and by the looks of it, our offense is heating up so I hope we can knock their starters out before the 6th, if we can do that in all three games I think we take the sweep. Wake has mixed success against the Yanks, he can really dominate them at times and with their bats not working so well I think he has a chance to get into their heads and get a W. Tavarez is a little more risky, however I love his big game attitude and I hope he can turn it on and pitch a gem. As far as Schill goes, I hope he has that game when A-Rod spanked him all over Fenway still in his head and uses that to blow the yankee lineup away. Now ofcourse this is all wishful thinking, but Wang, Moose and Pettite haven't really shown me enough to think that they can dominate our lineup. It should be a great series regardless as both teams really know whats on the line here. I will say though, I wouldn't mind seeing Damon muff another homerun ball, maybe the winning homerun in game three to complete the sweep?? Who knows, it is Boston v. New York, crazy things always seem to happen.

 

[notredomer23]

Yankees are gonna be back once clemens returns because that will boost there moral. Red Sox will win the Penant and make it to the world series, but will lose to the mets. I was very impressed with the mets so far this season

 

[Sureal]

I can't stand Wake and I am a Red Sox fan. He irritates me with those paperballs he throws to the plate...

6-2 Yankees win

 

[Newc]

You can't leave the bases loaded twice and expect to win ball games. Manny watching strike three in the 7th with Papi sitting out on second after one run had scored didn't help either, I think we had a little rally brewing there. As far as Wake goes I understand your frustration. Both me and my dad were watching the game last night and were growing incredibly frustrated with the walks. I loved growing up watching Greg Maddux pitching because he never walked hitters. I would much rather see teams hit my pitcher than for him to walk them, I absolutly hate walks. Wake seems to be either incredibly on or incredibly off and I understand he had no run support at all last night, but he also deserves alot of blame for walking guys for other hitters to knock in.

Also, has Romero always been that inconsistant? I know I've seen him throw some good innings, but I couldn't believe that outing he had, he looked like an A ball pitcher.

The Sox really need to take the next two in this series or I fear the Yanks will get that all too important confidence back. Lets hope Julian and Schill throw some gems.

 

[Sureal]

Romero for a time was a dominant Setup guy out there in LA but last year he had issues. But today is a new day. I don't expect us to be held to two runs throughout this series.

 

[Newc]

I hope you're right.

 

[Sureal]

If you can remember last year we had a terrible time getting people over (small ball). It seems that we rely too much on the big hit or homerun (see 1980's Red Sox). Swinging at bad balls causing us to hit into double plays, getting too anxious at the plate and striking out. We start looking bad when we are indecisive. But I am hoping for a better game today.

Tavarez--Bos
Mussina--NY