boston red sox

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Originally Posted by gales0678

scuds how are the red sox going to make it when they have no one in the bullpen (besides the guy in the 9th), when their starters can't go more than 5-6 innings

if dice k were good he wouldn't have to labor through over 100 pitches for 5 innings, he s/b going 7/8 innings

let's face it they would have had a better chance with GPK last night than DelCarmen or Hansen , neither one could get an out in the 7th

Watch the games closley - the stike zone gets expanded at Fenway for their pitchers , doesn't happen on the road

Red Sox will make the post. That's all I am saying. Dice has some mechanical problem, right? As long as he isn't hurt, then he will come back around. Teams can look pretty sorry on road trips. Lets see how they look in a couple weeks.

[gales0678]

not this year scuds

beckett isn't lights out this year and the rest of the rotation is avg at best

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by gales0678

not this year scuds

beckett isn't lights out this year and the rest of the rotation is avg at best

Jon Lester is 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA. His VORP is 20.5
Dice K is 9-1 with a 3.12 ERA. His VORP is 16.1
Wakefield is 5-6 with an ERA of 3.72. His VORP is 15.6
Beckett is 7-5 with an ERA of 3.65. His VORP is 18.9
Masterson is 4-2 with an ERA of 3.75. His VORP is 9.2

Explain how this is average?

[gales0678]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Jon Lester is 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA. His VORP is 20.5
Dice K is 9-1 with a 3.12 ERA. His VORP is 16.1
Wakefield is 5-6 with an ERA of 3.72. His VORP is 15.6
Beckett is 7-5 with an ERA of 3.65. His VORP is 18.9
Masterson is 4-2 with an ERA of 3.75. His VORP is 9.2

Explain how this is average?

Dice K has not gone more than 7 innings since May 10, maybe he is still hurt , maybe not - but if he can't start going 7 innings or more per start how effective can he be when he goes 5 innings and then you need 3 innings or 9 outs from some people before you get to the closer

Look at his ko/bb ratio and tell me they are happy about that, he won games early when the red sox were scoring in bunches

LEster - not avg at all i'll give u that

Wakefield - i guess the best thing you can say about him is he gets you innings

Matterson - too early too tell , but hasn
t gone more than 6


if you have no middle relief you're starters need to be going 7-8 innings

[dalakhani]

Gales-

As Yankee fans, we should be above all of this. Come on. This is pure rubbish. Has it really come down to conspiracy theories and umps conspiring to make Boston a winner? Has it gotten that bad?

Its obvious you know a little something about baseball. Claiming Boston can't pitch is absurd...but claiming that they arent a very good team is just a bad opinion. They pitch and they pitch well. No one claims that they are the '71 orioles or the '88 mets but by today's standards they are pretty darn good. lester, their number 3 pitcher, came into the stadium and shut us down last night to drop his ERA to 3.21. When your twenty something year oldn umber 3 has an ERA of 3.21 and is 7-3 you are in pretty good shape. Middle relief is easy to pick up after the all star break and they have a top notch closer.

They get Papi back eventually and with the emergence of Drew and ellsbury, their order looks pretty menacing.

In comparison to the Yanks, they are the better team right now. This is a transition year for the stripes. New stadium next year and lots of money coming off the books. Minor league depth in the best shape since the early nineties and veterans around that can still deliver. In my opinion, if the yanks make the postseason its gravy but if you seriously thought going into the season that this team was Championship caliber, then you are highly optimistic.

Boston, through their inuries, is still right there in the hunt and i would be willing to make a wager that they make the postseason.

[gales0678]

middle relief is easy to pick up you say??

well let's see how easy it is, it ain't going to get better unless there is a significant advantage

Dice K still hasn't gone more than 5 innings in 2 months , if he is your #2 starter how is he going to get any wins when the bullpen with the exception of the closer can't get anyone out

Last night was disappointing not being able to get to Lester, if they could have gotten him out, who knows what would have happened

yanks are ony 4 games back in the loss column, but , if you watch the games closley and objectivly , there is nw way to tell me that the red sox are really that good , they are bad on the road , losing to good teams and bad teams, but ,at Fenway where Beckett and the others get a bigger stike zone they are 31-10

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by gales0678

middle relief is easy to pick up you say??

well let's see how easy it is, it ain't going to get better unless there is a significant advantage

Dice K still hasn't gone more than 5 innings in 2 months , if he is your #2 starter how is he going to get any wins when the bullpen with the exception of the closer can't get anyone out

Last night was disappointing not being able to get to Lester, if they could have gotten him out, who knows what would have happened

yanks are ony 4 games back in the loss column, but , if you watch the games closley and objectivly , there is nw way to tell me that the red sox are really that good , they are bad on the road , losing to good teams and bad teams, but ,at Fenway where Beckett and the others get a bigger stike zone they are 31-10

Middle relievers are always available after the all star break. You dont remember 1996 when the yankees added like four before the postseason including David Weathers and Graeme Lloyd? Most any pitcher can do middle relief and if you cant find a veteran you can always find kids in your own farm system that can fill the role (say isnt there a guy named jobba that did that?).



This magical strike zone is hysterical. Last year (when they win the series!) they had an era of 4.13 at fenway and 3.59 on the road. Did the conspiracy apply on the road last year? Did the powers that be decide to switch the favorable strike zone to fenway this year?

How about the yankees? Do we somehow get a better strike zone on the road? Maybe that makes sense. Maybe they got messed up last night and gave petitte the bad strike zone and gave Lester the good strike zone. I dont know im sure the league can keep track of it.

By the way Beckett has an ERA of 4.32 at home but 3.19 away. Matsuzaka has an ERA of 4.10 at home and 2.15 away. Maybe the umpires dont give those guys the magical strike zone at fenway but give it to them on the road so that we dont catch on.

Come on man. You are making me defend the Sox and it is something i am truly loathe to do. If you want to trash the sox by all means have at it but come out with something better than magical strike zones and shady umps.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

Gales-

As Yankee fans, we should be above all of this. Come on. This is pure rubbish. Has it really come down to conspiracy theories and umps conspiring to make Boston a winner? Has it gotten that bad?

Its obvious you know a little something about baseball. Claiming Boston can't pitch is absurd...but claiming that they arent a very good team is just a bad opinion. They pitch and they pitch well. No one claims that they are the '71 orioles or the '88 mets but by today's standards they are pretty darn good. lester, their number 3 pitcher, came into the stadium and shut us down last night to drop his ERA to 3.21. When your twenty something year oldn umber 3 has an ERA of 3.21 and is 7-3 you are in pretty good shape. Middle relief is easy to pick up after the all star break and they have a top notch closer.

They get Papi back eventually and with the emergence of Drew and ellsbury, their order looks pretty menacing.

In comparison to the Yanks, they are the better team right now. This is a transition year for the stripes. New stadium next year and lots of money coming off the books. Minor league depth in the best shape since the early nineties and veterans around that can still deliver. In my opinion, if the yanks make the postseason its gravy but if you seriously thought going into the season that this team was Championship caliber, then you are highly optimistic.

Boston, through their inuries, is still right there in the hunt and i would be willing to make a wager that they make the postseason.

A reasonable Yankee fan? You get a

[Storm Cadet]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

A reasonable Yankee fan? You get a

Easy big guy!

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

Red Sox will make the post. That's all I am saying. Dice has some mechanical problem, right? As long as he isn't hurt, then he will come back around. Teams can look pretty sorry on road trips. Lets see how they look in a couple weeks.

See, Gales, they are in 1st going into the break.

[gales0678]

maybe so scuds , but , let's see how they fair on the upcoming road trip after the break

i guess if they win 70 home games and win 25 on the road they will get in

[2 Dollar Bill]

Another reason is the Visiting Parks... Dont play.... ""Dirty Water"" after a win.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by gales0678

maybe so scuds , but , let's see how they fair on the upcoming road trip after the break

i guess if they win 70 home games and win 25 on the road they will get in

Just an update for you Marty

Sox have won 34 on the road thus far. 27 games remaining, including today, and 18 of those are at home and 9 on the road

Rays have 28 games remaining with 11 at home and 17 on the road. Not convinced we can't catch them, but the Rays have to have a slide eventually, right?

Yankees....well, I will let you come to your own conclusion

[Bigsmc]

If the Rays go 14-14 down the stretch, the Sox will have to go 19-8 to win the Division....

[GPK]

Originally Posted by Bigsmc

If the Rays go 14-14 down the stretch, the Sox will have to go 19-8 to win the Division....

[Bigsmc]

Problem for the Sox is, the Rays won't go 14-14 down the stretch.

They have 6 games against each other, which should be fun, but....

The Rays' last 8 games are against the Tigers and Orioles

[GPK]

Originally Posted by Bigsmc

If the Rays go 14-14 down the stretch, the Sox will have to go 19-8 to win the Division....

Look out Mike...only gonna be 2.5 back after tonight

and this

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3570957

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by GPK

Look out Mike...only gonna be 2.5 back after tonight

and this

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3570957

And they may actually finish with a winning record on the road if this keeps up. I wouldn't be popping the champagne for Division Champs quite yet in Tampa. 8-0 now, Lowell and Beckett back tonight....they may do okay the rest of the way!!

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by GPK

Look out Mike...only gonna be 2.5 back after tonight

and this

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3570957

Bah. I had a response going (with research stats), but my browser closed and it is gone.....

While the Division Championship would be awesome, nobody here is thinking they can really hold off the Sox. Good news? Rays have an 8 game lead on Minnesota for the Wild Card slot.

Suffice it to say, Halladay vs. Sonnanstine (last night's matchup) is a Jays win 9 out of 10 times.

Rays should win the next two with Shields and Garza going.

Sox series on Monday will be a L, W, L.

Rays leading by 1.5 or more after Wednesday night.....

It is thoroughly enjoyable whatching the Yankee fans around here crawl under their rocks. I noticed my neighbor, who sports a Yankee tag on the front of his truck, last weekend changed it to Buccaneers tag. I asked him if being 12.5 back of the Rays was too much for him to handle and he mumbled something about it being football season and went into his house.