Opening Day lineup for series opener
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Apr 08, 2011 
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This is pretty much the “A” Team and it should do well vs. Lackey. I have great confidence in Phil over the long term but Boston is due to break out so this may be a high scoring game.
for Betsy RE: used car. Unless you have extra $ lying around or enjoy throwing it away buying a new car is very poor investment. My last 2 cars I bought with 25k and 13k and have had a total of 14 years with only typical maintenance required. I had 3 years of bumper/bumper on the Infinity I have now so I got all the work done for free. It’s now been paid off for over a year and only has 80k on it. I should be getting another 100k easily.
Buying a used quality car is a no-brainer IMO. The idea is you let the person before break it in. You also want to have a trusted mechanic check it out before buying.
that was some piece by shaughnessy. He doesn’t mince words. I’m not sure it’s the best analysis of what their real, core problems are, but it is a piece of red meat for readership to howl over.
re: sox’ lineup changes. There’s a difference between different lineups where you play different guys, and different lineups where you just “re-arrange the furniture”. Francona’s re-arranging the furninture, trying to find something that works.
I wonder how many GTLU winners they’ll be in Boston this year?
This is pretty much the “A” Team and it should do well vs. Lackey. I have great confidence in Phil over the long term but Boston is due to break out so this may be a high scoring game.
__
Pretty much? That IS the ‘A’ Team.
Mike_Boston – absolutely. The best way to buy a car, financially speaking, is to get a lightly used, recent model car, maintain it well, and drive it forever.
Mike_Boston,
But you miss out on that new car smell!
The lineup today for the Sox is the best one….it puts their best 5 hitters at the top in a left/right arrangement and gives them something at the black hole bottom of their lineup in Ellsbury.
MikeSilvermanBB Two #RedSox transactions in bullpen: LHP Felix Doubront up, LHP Dennys Reyes not here. And RHP Alfredo Aceves for RHP Matt Albers (DL).
Joe-
Let’s hope it’s the Titanic whose chairs he is
rearranging.
Patrick-
They sell new car smell in bottles.
Patrick, mine actually still had that smell for about 3 more years, seriously. The guy I bought it from only put 13k on it over 2 years, it was/still is immaculate.
They sell a deodorizer that has that smell, no joke…obviously you don’t want to buy from a smoker or a very smelly person
re-post
Crawford must be mystified. If the Socks keep screwing with his head, he’ll soon wonder why he didn’t sign with the Angels for less money.
He loved it in Tampa Bay and knew the $$$ wasn’t there but he’s still close with his former teammates and probably texts his displeasure. He doesn’t seem like a fit in the Socks lineup and Francona is at a loss how to use him. This should have been worked out at his signing. The Angels style of play would have been a better fit for him. When he starts to lose his foot speed at the back end of his contract, the sillies of Boston will be all over him.
MTU
Will you throw a wreath on the water?
So dartboard worthy…..
Ledger_Yankees That just happened: Wally hanging with Wally http://twitpic.com/4ibh6d
This is a lot change in boston given that it’s only 6 games into the season.
Albers has poor arm action and isn’t very good. But that was obvious from spring training and before. They also has all spring to evaluate Reyes vs. Dubront.
Just doesn’t make much sense only 6 games in.
Either their roster evaluations were very off the mark to begin with or they are grossly over reacting to a bad start.
Same thing with moving Crawford out of the middle of the line up against RH pitching. Expectations were already sky high given his contract and moving to much bigger market. Then they talked him up all winter and spring as being a legitimate middle of the order force which really did him no favors as it continued to raise expectations and pressure.
Now it’s just abandoned? Very odd.
Nice bravado here, but I fully expect the Sox to come out like a team possessed — especially after they raise the Third Place banner.
damn, boston designated reyes. couldnt wait for the weekend? at least wakefield is still there.
MY-
Nah. They make good “chum” for the sharks.
Why waste good flowers.
Sorry, my newly-fixed computer decided to power down without any help from me!
Fran, did Cashman definitely have dinner with Crawford? All I remember is hearing him interviewed by WEEI (Crawford that is) and when they asked him if he knew all long that he would pick the Sux over the Yanks, he said that the Yankees hadn’t even approached him so he didn’t have to make that decision. In fact, if I remember right he said the Sux were the only team that made him an offer! I felt kind of bad for him.
“Yes there would be.
Would be the same if they were 3-3 and 2-4 and there is even a little bit at 4-2.
What’s your point?”
My favorite moments here are when I don’t have to actually spell out my point.
The point is that there is great inconsistency amongst some Yankee fans when they are still willing to call the Sux all that and more at 0-6 but were the same thing happening to the Yankees they would be throwing in the season.
“trisha,
Didn’t you claim that the leash wasn’t short for Ellsbury remaining in the leadoff role”
No, actually what I claimed was that Ellsbury made the most sense at leadoff and would remain there. I don’t call a one-day potential experiment significant of anything beyond a manager trying to shake up an 0-6 team. Check me out if and only if Ellsbury permanently loses the leadoff role.
Hard to figure what exactly Tito and the Red Sox braintrust were doing in ST.
If the Red Sox thought that Crawford really was a middle of the order hitter in their lineup then they just didn’t do their homework.
I think and thought all along that Boston signed Crawford to keep him away from the Yankees….Werth would have been a much better sign for their needs. He’s a good player but he’s not the differene maker that he was portrayed to be and Fenway really doesn’t fit his game at all.
MTU April 8th, 2011 at 10:57 am
Patrick-
They sell new car smell in bottles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beware of the dealers that use thick honey, sawdust, overripe bananas, or cooked oatmeal to quiet down engine, transmission, or rear end noises.
I’ve never had it happen but it does happen.
CB-
That’s easy.
It’s springtime in Boston and instead of the scent of cherry blossoms it’s panic blowin’ in the wind.
This series is going to be decided by the bullpens, and come Sunday night that should play into the Bombers favor with CC vs. Beckett
108-
That actually happened to me once.
This is a game and series where I’d like to see the yankees be aggressive on the base paths.
Salty and that staff still have to demonstrate they can prevent runners from stealing.
And the Yankees LH hitters can do a lot of damage today against Lackey if the life on his fastball is limited while the bite on his power breaking stuff continues to remain mediocre. He’s going to find it difficult to get LH hitters out and with their switch hitters the Yanks have a lot of LH hitters to face today.
Sux just DFA’d Reyes. Too bad. : )
stuckey – at odds? no… much too mature for that. :p
i just know not to get into 3 page long debates with you anymore
It’s a long season, but I think today’s game is big. A sound thrashing of the Sux would not only add insult to injury after a 0-6 start (because it’s the Yankees) but serve to further exacerbate doubts in the Sux player’s minds as to how good their team really is.
A 10-2 Sux win on the other hand would send the message, rough road trip that’s all, we’re back on track and do lots for their confidence.
And lets not kid ourselves about Hughes either. He needs to pitch well.
MTU-
I suppose that’s it! I just really don’t get it. It’s 6 games. They’ve been developing this strategy for months and have committed huge resources to it. And they just chuck it overboard like that?
I like Carl Crawford as a player. But so much of his value is tied to his glove. That’s what you are buying when you get him.
Just talking him up as a middle of the line up guy isn’t reality based. It’s as if they set their line up based on marketing needs. And now that they are facing reality they’ve just undone their plans.
Confusing.
And replaced him with DubeRunt.
Too funny.
Pedroia is the best leadoff hitter on the redsox, francona swings… AND MISSES!
Yankees have to be patient. Get to the pen early and wear them down….
“Nice bravado here, but I fully expect the Sox to come out like a team possessed — especially after they raise the Third Place banner.”
Nick, I’ll be surprised if they don’t attempt to come out that way. It’s their home opener, they are 0-6, and they are playing the vaunted Yankees. And I wouldn’t be surprised if right now in their clubhouse a reporter from one of the beantown papers is putting an article on every locker claiming that a Yankee player claimed the Sux didn’t have the heart of champions, and if they’re all cowboying up with a bottle of Jack Daniels!
While it would be sweet to sweep “just because” and nice to take 2 out of 3, mainly because the Yankees ARE the better team, I will be surprised by nothing. And I will be disheartened by nothing.
My surmise is that the Yankees will sweep or at worse take 2 of 3. But again, the games are played on the field and worst case scenario has the Yanks at 5-5 and the Sux at 3-6. I’d still take those working stats any day of the week.
I never understood why Boston didn’t convince Crawford to play CF. He’d be worth a lot more to them if he was playing there.
CB-
“Confusing”.
They did look good on PAPER.
Panic will cause humans to do all sorts of funny things.
Just look what happens during a stampede.
Kinda similar.
Will Theo’s investigators follow Crawford to the top of the lineup?
I don’t think it’s hard at all to understand what Tito did today. The guy is between a rock and a hard place. His lineup has produced an 0-6 record. He has to show that is he trying to “fix” things by playing with the lineup. No big deal there.
MTU, once again we cut through the same thing.
It will be interesting to see what Tito does on Sunday with CC on the mound.
Leave Craw in the leadoff spot or put him down at 7th again?
In whatever order they bat them, the top of the Red Sox lineup is very good. I love having a 4 game lead over the Rays and them, but it is way too soon to start writing them off.
“And now that they are facing reality they’ve just undone their plans.”
a young mike tyson used to say that everyone had a plan until he hit them for the first time.
the red sox made up a plan that wasn’t tested at all.
actually playing the games was like a mike tyson punch to their collective puffed up head.
Trisha
I’m seeing a lot of excuses coming from your direction.
Show some sportswomanship and accept your defeat
The pressure is on Boston not us.
While it would be nice to pound another nail into their coffin it really isn’t a dire emergency.
If we can so much the better.
Right now they are the ones with their backs to the wall and in desperate need of a win.
It would be nice to prolong their agony.
Carl Crawford is an excellent ballplayer and to suggest he isn’t is not credible. It’s a new environment and a slow start, it happens, it won’t last. Crawford in ten years in the AL East, looking at a 162 game average, hit .296, with 54 steals and 194 hits.
Nick in SF April 8th, 2011 at 11:18 am
Will Theo’s investigators follow Crawford to the top of the lineup
——————————————————————————-
The real question is will they be behind the door in the green monster.
One thing that will be of interest will be how Martin can ( with help of his pitchers ) contain the running game…..When a club is struggling offensively with the sticks, the legs become more into play….Conversely, will Giradi test Salty on the bases as well…….Go Yanks !!!
“In whatever order they bat them, the top of the Red Sox lineup is very good. I love having a 4 game lead over the Rays and them, but it is way too soon to start writing them off”
Wave, I don’t think the lineup is their problem. The rotation and bullpen is their problem. Anyone concentrating on what it takes to fix their offense is playing with fool’s gold and putting their money in the wrong bank.
The nice thing about being here in the US is that we are free to either write them off or not write them off, and the worst repercussion is having to say at some point that we were wrong.
I respect yours and everyone else’s decision not to write them off. While I am not positing that they won’t win games this season and may not have periods where they look pretty good, my position is the same as it’s been from before they even got Crawford and Gonzalez. Too many question marks to be the bomb.
If Boston loses tonite the Police will be working OT, and the emergency rooms will be on full alert.
Liquor stores will be drained dry.
With who is the SP are for today’s tilt, I take it Joe West doesn’t have the dish. hehe
Problem with Crawford is he isn’t a 3 hitter. He should hit one or two. Also he is grossly overpaid if he is going to play LF in Fenway. The man is an excellent LF with tons of range. All that range is being wasted in Fenway, where playing a good LF depends on something so unpredictable as balls bouncing off a extremely high wall.
I heard Schilling is going to cut his leg and limp to the mound to throw out the first pitch dripping blood? Any truth to this?
“The real question is will they be behind the door in the green monster.”
LGY, surely you’re not saying that you meant one day out of the top spot for Ellsbury. That would make you look sillier than you already do! And I know you didn’t mean that since you were pressing me for some kind of under and over on numbers of games.
Now chill like a good little boy and come back and see me if there is reason to, with respect to what you were trying to prove re: Ellsbury.
randy
I’m suprised you didn’t scewer Cashman for Theo getting the best of him by getting Crawford.
Just think how much better the Yankees would be.
That dumb Cashman.
We’re playing with house money tonite.
Let’s enjoy it.
The Red Sox have a very good team. They aren’t the ’98 yankees never mind the ’27 yankees but regardless they are very talented.
The division race will be very difficult and even if they are not the ’27 yanks they are still clearly the favorites.
But that’s all the more reason why all of these changes after 6 short games are so odd.
If they go 3-3 rather than 0-6 I doubt they are moving Crawford out of the middle of the order after talking about how they signed a player on the rise, a legit 3 hole hitter or cutting two pitchers they just spent the whole spring carefully evaluating compared to alternatives.
That’s all. It’s a significant over reaction, IMO.
Crawford hit in the 2 hole in the Cleveland series.
He’s a good player but as a hitter he’s overrated…
I heard an interesting stat yesterday about the Sox. In the first 6 games, they have taken a called third strike 11 times. Without digging too deep into the conspiracy theory, this tells me that the Sox batters have not been getting the calls. It will be very interesting to see how the calls go for Hughes today. If he gets squeezed, you know that the Sox will have a big day offensively, since Hughes does not have the veolocity to blow guys away, at least not right now.
Also, we have to face the fact that the Sox are a much better team at home. Fenway will be jumping today. The Yanks need to get on the board early to make their fans quiet.
being 0-6 doesn’t mean the season is over for anyone, but i’d much rather be 4-2
trisha-
My comment wasn’t directed at you. I was just giving my 2 cents on whether moving Crawford around in the lineup has any importance.
The rs pitching is just not that good right now.
Maybe it changes,maybe not.
I always felt that many people fell in love with the on paper,big names of becket,lackey,etc..
The reality is becket & lackey have not been that good for a long time,dice-k usually is not around long enough to get a decision & buchholz had only 1 good year,his low strikeouts were always a concern.
Lester is a great pitcher but 1 pitcher is not enough.
The pen is another issue.
Combine all of the above with a slow start for their offense & here we are.
Now chill like a good little boy and come back and see me if there is reason to, with respect to what you were trying to prove re: Ellsbury
—-
Awesome. This will allow me to extend my victory gloating beyond today
“I’m suprised you didn’t scewer Cashman for Theo getting the best of him by getting Crawford.”
maine yankee-
i never wanted crawford at the kind of money he got. i’d much rather have 40 gardeners because he gets about1/40 of what crawford gets.
now that cashman is reading me here on lohud , he’s starting to come around
LGY – I will be the first to congratulate on being right if you are. Notice I haven’t bothered keeping score every single day. It was enough for me to see him at the top.
For me, being right is its own reward. The only time my gloating gene kicks in is when I call something right about the Sux v. the Yanks or the Sux v. the universe!
“In whatever order they bat them, the top of the Red Sox lineup is very good. I love having a 4 game lead over the Rays and them, but it is way too soon to start writing them off”
nobody is writing them off…..but when all we’ve heard all winter was how great the Red Sox were and how they were going to run away and hide in the AL east, then it’s a little fun to poke them in the ribs after an 0-6 start.
The reality is that the Yanks have an opportunity to really put some distance between themselves and Boston in the 2nd week of the season….a head start like that would be signficant. Conversely if they play poorly then they give the Sox a fresh start on the season and allow them to get up off the canvass……there are no big series in April but this is as big as an April series gets IMO.
If I was Francona I’d go with the following lineup:
Pedroia 2B
Crawford CF
Gonzalez 1B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Drew RF
Ellsbury LF
Salty C
Scutaro SS
Although I’d consider putting Cameron in LF instead of Ellsbury if only to break up the lefties and get a better fielder in there.
Anyway you choose to look at it, it doesn’t get any better than Yankees-Red Sox. I can’t wait, this is what sports is all about. You can keep all your other faux rivalries, this is the one.
Wave, I always appreciate your two cents.
“Anyway you choose to look at it, it doesn’t get any better than Yankees-Red Sox. I can’t wait, this is what sports is all about. You can keep all your other faux rivalries, this is the one”
With this I totally agree!
Also, we have to face the fact that the Sox are a much better team at home. Fenway will be jumping today. The Yanks need to get on the board early to make their fans quiet.
///
Chris, we hit at Fenway, also. These affairs usually get settled late, and I like our BP better than theirs. Lackey isn’t shutting anyone down,& certainly not the Yanks in FW.
blake – yes to everything you said.
For sure the fans will be behind the Red Sox to start. But if they fall behind the Yankees early, the crowd could get ugly toward the Sox.
randy
I guess he’s kind of slow to get it.
Seems after twenty years it should start sinking in.
I guess you should’ve sat with him at the Cape Cod games and given him some tips.
How did your Dad like the book?
And have you read it or are you to busy trying to figure out how to get that little white ball into that cup out in the field.
Blake-
Forgive me for saying so but I think you’re putting a little too much significance into this series.
While it would be nice to pound the Sux into
submission it really isn’t required at this time.
Remember when they had us down 8 games ?
Didn’t matter much in the end.
Just want to see competitive baseball from our side.
Fran, I have a real conundrum. I thought the game was tonight. I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for 2 freakin’ o’clock. I’ve rescheduled this one twice. Every bone in my body is telling me I need to be home to watch the game. But I am going to feel guilty if I call and cancel again. And this is an acupuncture doctor and my first appointment, so she’s scheduled and hour and a half of her time.
What to do.
upstate kate April 8th, 2011 at 10:15 am
latest from Buster- panic meter only at 2 for the sox b/c “they have a lot of grinders on that team”
_______________
They certainly are playing like meatball hoagies.
I still predict the Red Sox to win over 100 games and score over 1000 runs.
It will just take 2 years.
I am sure most Yankee fans are worried about how well Hughes is going to pitch and rightly so IMO based on recent performance. If he is throwing flat 88mph fast balls and rolling breaking balls over the plate, he will get torched by that lineup.
I’m looking at the first inning to be huge for Hughes. He needs to show he has good stuff and can shut them down.
I think my mantra from now on purely has to be “MTU, me too.”
Hmm Trisha tough one. Get stuck by needles or watch the Yankees and Sux.
WC, really it is a tough one. I’m hating having to make this decision. If I hadn’t cancelled twice already I think there’d be no decision at all.
maine yankee-
my father got a big kick out of the book.
thanks again.
it turns out my uncle ken used to have a team that played the coco cola guy( can’t remember his name now) a lot.
it was really amazing that such good semi pro teams existed in that area back then. it makes me understand why my father is so baseball crazy and why he passed it on down to me.
West Coast Yankee Fan April 8th, 2011 at 11:45 am
I am sure most Yankee fans are worried about how well Hughes is going to pitch and rightly so IMO based on recent performance. If he is throwing flat 88mph fast balls and rolling breaking balls over the plate, he will get torched by that lineup.
I’m looking at the first inning to be huge for Hughes. He needs to show he has good stuff and can shut them down.
————————————————————————————
I’ll take the Yankees over the RS in this batting practice match-up.
Trisha-
I would absolutely love to see the Yankees turn the Sux into ground corn but I refuse to set myself up for a potential disappointment should they fall short of expectations.
As long as the Yanks play competitive baseball
and give it their all that is all I would ask.
The rest is up to fate.
Either way I know we are playing with house money right now and the pressure is all on
them since they’re desperate for a win.
I won’t look at a loss as a lost opportunity as long as we give it our best shot.
Most of the time that is superior to our competition.
If we come out on top we’re even more golden.
That’s how I view it.
Hughes needs to shut them down early That’s been his downfall. If his speed isn’t there, he needs to hit the corners. Go yanks.
Another new thread ==>
“And this is an acupuncture doctor and my first appointment, so she’s scheduled and hour and a half of her time.”
trisha-
stay home and watch the game.
i still have a lot of needles i used to stick in the trisha doll .
where does it hurt ? i’ll be sure to insert a needle or two : )
just some advice, if you go, and the acupuncturist is a red sox fan , i wouldn’t advertise the fact you are a yankee fan.
just saying
randy
It has a long history here as well.
I was disappointed they didn’t have much in the book about this area.
There was a guy from my brothers class that was drafted by the Twins.
His problem was he didn’t get called up so he could be sent down.
MTU -
Did I not tell you the other day Reyes would go down, and AA was on his way up?
This is a big game this afternoon to set the tone not only for this series, but perhaps for the RS season.
Can you believe the O’s? Buck has this team not only winning, but believing in themselves that they are for real. Buck reminds me of Billy Martin, a guy that can get the most out of his players, but not one that will last a very long time as the manager.
J. Alfred,
I agree that the outcome of today’s game will probably be decided late; however, there are some special circumstances at work here. The Sox are down and lacking confidence at the moment. If the Yankees get off to a fast start today, the pressure builds.
Hughes pitching well today is more important than winning the game as far as I’m concerned.
There has never been a “BIG” series in April as far as teams are concerned and there never will be.
Trisha —
Take care of your self and see the Dr…. and call the office to make sure the game is on in the waiting room. download MLB on your smart phone and make the best of it
Randy – seriously, good advice. Will not advertise my fandom!
86w183 – thanks for that. I am definitely going to keep my appointment. They did reschedule me ’til 3 (I just called and asked if they could) so at least I get to see the beginning of the game.