Boston Red Sox-- 1st Half of the Season

[Newc]

Yea I have no idea why Schill is pitching the way he is, its really upsetting. He came into this season as our veteran leader pitching in the no. 1 spot all the while complaining about how the Sox weren't going to resign him to another year. To be honest, that is beginning to look like a pretty good move by Theo right now. I understand that Schill is 6-4 so far, which compared to other AL pitchers isn't horrible, but you can't go out there and get shelled like that if you are our no. 1. I'm not sure if its an ego thing with Schill, as it is quite clear that Beckett is now our ace and savior, and Schill has been relegated to a role pitcher who isn't really relied apon anymore to right the ship.

If Beckett can go out tonight and grab a win, which I am very confident that he will do, then it will just solidify the fact that Beckett, not Schilling, is our man on the mound.

Lets just hope Schill settles in and pitches the way we all know that he can, we need his second half to be better than this half is going.

 

[bostonirish1908]

Schillings not a young guy anymore

you cant expect him to pitch great forever, some point he is going to have to pitch not very well and realize his careers over, i just hope its not anytime soon

 

[Newc]

Bostonirish, I completly agree. I guess its just hard for us Sox fans to admitt that our World Series hero is breaking down and on his way out. I have always liked the way Schilling has gone about pitching. Being from Delaware I got to see him quite a bit when he pitched for the Phillies and I guess its just hard to watch someone like him begin the downward slide.

Believe me when I say I am not giving up on Schill, I will continue to expect wins from him every time he touches the rubber, I guess thats why I continue to get frustrated when he pitches like a 40 year old.

 

[Sureal]

Schillings not a young guy anymore

you cant expect him to pitch great forever, some point he is going to have to pitch not very well and realize his careers over, i just hope its not anytime soon

If he can give us 5-6 innings a start and not get stomped I am happy. That is what is irritating me. It is in the beginning of his starts is where he is getting touched too much.
I don't need to see CG's all the time. I say perserve the arm and concentrate on getting 5-6 solid. Let the bullpen put in some work.


J.C Romero got dumped yesterday.
Is Jon Lester on the way? Taverez (doing a great job) relegated to pen-work?

 

[Newc]

Yea I saw that this morning. With Romero gone completely I wonder what the next move for the Sox is. I know Romero was sent down to AAA in order to bring Timlin up, so if Lester were to come back someone would have to be optioned down. I know Lopez still has options left so he could be a canidate, but he has been pitching pretty well lately and it would be nice to have that spot lefty in the pen for a quick out.

Not sure what the Sox have in mind, but I would love to see Lester back in the show.

 

[Sureal]

Beckett mowed 'em down. There is no doubt about it. He is our ace the year and for years to come. Good quip by Remy saying that Crisp is the best defensive CF in the majors right now. I just hope his bat gets consistant. I didn't check to see who has the ball today.

 

[Newc]

Tavarez is going for us tonight...I expect him to win.

Coco is incredible in the field, I really hope his bat come around because Theo is beginning to get the heat turned up on him as the trade deadline is approaching.

Steve Phillips, who I can't stand one little bit, did make a good point the other night saying that the Sox have little to worry about because their biggest offensive weapons have yet to get hot, and the longer they can go winning with mild bats the better off they are, because it is inevitable that they will get hot and when they do look out, this will be the best team in baseball by far.

Lots of guys are saying this is the best Boston team they have seen in a long while....lets just hope that translates into on-field play.

 

[Sureal]

If we can avoid those hideous 4-6 game losing streaks...

 

[bostonirish1908]

Coco Crisp congrats you are over .240 now your hitting better, stealing better, and fielding better

keep it up your really helping us out

 

[Newc]

I really hope he keeps it up. I really like Coco and I think if he can get that BA to around .260-.270 he would be a huge contributor to our success. I don't think there are too many CF that are better defensively.

 

[mlcspinner]

If we win tonight and the yanks lose the lead will be back to 10 games Go Soxs

 

[mlcspinner]

7-0 so far GO SOXS

 

[mlcspinner]

Lead is back to 10 games

 

[Sureal]

Bam!!! Way to go Tavares!!! Tough series coming up against the Fathers.
Crisp is starting to wake up. Manny and Papi goes yard again. Good stuff...

 

[Newc]

How nice was it to see Papi and Manny homer in the same game again? Hopefully this is a sign that they are starting to wake up.

Loved the lead off homer by Drew and I was so happy to see Crisp go deep, I really do think he can become the offensive player he was a few years ago and to be honest, I'd like to hang on to him long term if he continues to show improvement. We could always put Ellsbury in right when he comes up.

 

[mlcspinner]

I hope Drew is OK ? anybody hear why he was taken out?

 

[mlcspinner]

also just to let you know the yanks lost today

 

[Newc]

Wow Yanks got swept by the Rockies...who have been playing well of late, though the Sox took care of businees against them,all behind their savior Clemens. Now back to a 10.5 game lead...maybe all that steem has worn off.

 

[Sureal]

I won't count them out their lineup is too tough

 

[Newc]

Oh I agree, you can never take the yanks lightly, however, 10.5 games this far into the season is going to be quite difficult to make up unless our pitchers start hitting the DL. If we stay healthy the Yanks won't catch us, there is no way they can outplay our club.

 

[mlcspinner]

I just read on boston.com that Lester is not coming up Kason Gabbard is. I thought Lester was ready?

 

[NDgettysburg]

Why couldn't they win game 1 in Atlanta? Dammit.....was the last game of my baseball road trip with the fam. Hit PNC in Pittsburgh first (gotta be the nicest stadium in the league), then on to Cincy, then spent all of Father's Day driving to Atlanta to see the Sox get man-handled (Shilling looked like Shitling) on Monday. LOADS of Sox fans in the stadium....we constantly had the place chanting Lets Go Red Sox, even until the end. Worst part was that the wife is a Braves fan so I had to listen to shite.....until the next 2 games were played.

 

[mlcspinner]

yanks lose in the 13th Go Soxs. We need the bats to hit tonight and make the lead 11.5

 

[Newc]

Why couldn't they win game 1 in Atlanta? Dammit.....was the last game of my baseball road trip with the fam. Hit PNC in Pittsburgh first (gotta be the nicest stadium in the league), then on to Cincy, then spent all of Father's Day driving to Atlanta to see the Sox get man-handled (Shilling looked like Shitling) on Monday. LOADS of Sox fans in the stadium....we constantly had the place chanting Lets Go Red Sox, even until the end. Worst part was that the wife is a Braves fan so I had to listen to shite.....until the next 2 games were played.

That is awesome, I have always wanted to take an across the country trip and see a game played in every stadium.

 

[Newc]

Beckett shows Peavy how its done as the Sox look pretty darn good right now. Yanks fall to 11.5 games back and are taken over by the Jays, what a beautiful sight.

 

[Sureal]

I just read on boston.com that Lester is not coming up Kason Gabbard is. I thought Lester was ready?

I don't get that move. Maybe there is something that we don't know about.

Who has the ball tonight?

 

[Newc]

I've heard that Gabbard is being chosen over Lester because they don't want to interupt Lester's progress. I guess they still thinks he has some work to do and would rather him do it in AAA than the Majors, they don't want him coming up and pressing too hard and doing more damage than good.

Gabbard has the ball tonight against Hernandez, who has been struggling since he shut us down earlier in the season, I say we get some revenge tonight and help out our new young starter, though he did get the win against Atlanta when he spot started for Beckett.

 

[mlcspinner]

I think Lester is from Seattle and they might not want to add that extra pressure of having family and friends there

 

[NDgettysburg]

That is awesome, I have always wanted to take an across the country trip and see a game played in every stadium.

I hit alot of stadiums when I work out of town but this was the first time we did a family road trip....was surprised that neither of my sons did any bitching about sitting through 3 games, nearly in a row. One son likes the Braves, the other the Sox, so the first 2 games we didn't see any of our favorite teams. We went more to see the stadiums.

I shoulda had a foul ball in Pittsburgh. We were behind the plate about eye level with the top of the screen, maybe a little lower. Said before the game, there's no way we get a ball back where we were...too far back for one of those up the chimney shots and too low for one that clears the screen (figuring the arc of the ball wouldn't drop enough for us. First inning....my older son had my glove. He's sitting next to me on the left, fiddling with the glove. I'm holding my camera with the big-ass zoom lens on it.

For whatever reason I turn to him and say "lemme see that" as I try to get it on my hand while still holding the camera. Still facing him, I'm telling him I don't remember when I got that glove. I hear the people around us sort of let out a gasp so I look up. Here comes the ball but about 2 seats to my right or so. Next to me is a friggin' Yankees fan with his 2 young sons. The ball is pretty much headed for this kid's face. Neither the Dad or the kids seemed to be paying attention (at least to my recollection). Since I'm left-handed, I flash out the glove at the last second and the ball goes off the top of the webbing. Of course I get the shit booed out of me (hope to God I didn't end up on Fox Pittsburgh)....but I probably saved that kid from a really wicked shiner.

Oh....the ball ended up going down a row or 2 and someone passed it back up to the kid next to me. For the rest of the game he's playing with it despite his father telling him to put it away or he'll lose it. Eight inning comes around and sure enough he drops it....it rolls to the bottom of the section. We see some little girl carrying it out as the game ends.

I'll never hear the end of it....especially because my wife and kids call me Al Bundy for bragging about how I never dropped a fly ball or a pass when I was younger.

 

[Sureal]

we need you tonight dice-k. But on a lighter note:

Must see: Clemens in 2057 - Extra Bases