Rivalry renewed
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Apr 08, 2011 
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Here we go again. The Yankees first road trip of the season begins this afternoon in Boston with the first game of a three-game set against the Red Sox. The Yankees just won two out of three in back-to-back series at home. The Red Sox were just swept in back-to-back series on the road.
Boston is 0-6 for the first time since 1945.
“We’re frustrated, because we never thought we’d be here, but we are here,” Kevin Youkilis told MLB.com.
I doubt even the most hardened Yankees fan would have predicted this sort of start for the Red Sox. Of course, I’m not sure records mean a whole lot at this point, and they certainly don’t mean much when these two teams play one another.
One small bit of pregame news: The Red Sox will call-up former Yankees long reliever Alfredo Aceves before today’s game. He’s taking the place of Matt Albers, who’s heading to the disabled list.
Also, don’t forget Sam is hosting a chat this afternoon at 12:30. I’ll try to jump in if and when I can.
Associated Press photo of Derek Jeter
Man, I really hate the Red Sox and the entire Red Sox Nation.
Here is hoping my MLB.TV will work on my slow office computer.
I got Buster all ticked off on Twitter this AM.
Oh well, what can you do?
Buster Brown compared the Sox’ situation to the 1998 Yankees? LOL The Sox are a very good team, but there are very few 1998 Yankees. Either Buster is off is rocker OR he’s bereft of good analogies. I’m sure there were other good teams not one of the greatest ever who got off to bad starts……….
Either way, this will be a tough series – I’d love to take 2 out of 3 – Yankees/Sox series always are.
SJ,
Calling him out for his Jeter BS?
For those who may have “misremembered”, the ’98 Yankees started out 1-5 and then went 16-1 the rest of the month of April.
That’s the bar set for this current Red Sox team if one is to compare them to the ’98 Yankees.
Unlike the ’98 Yankees, the Red Sox have major question marks at catcher, closer, and with 60% of their starting rotation.
Go 16-1 the rest of the month, then invoke comparisons to the ’98 Yankees.
If they don’t, ESPN folks need to just shut up and let the season play out.
@SportsJC16? If so, I can see your argument. I guess it’s the new thing to compare teams on paper to one of the greatest teams ever.
Yeah, they’re premature with their comparisons.
JoeyA,
No. Calling him out for his habit of comparing too many teams, especially this Red Sox team, to the ’98 Yankees.
Until a team runs through the season and the post-season like the 1998 Yankees, it’s all premature. Even the 116 win Mariners weren’t the 1998 Yankees since they didn’t get through the playoffs, obviously, lol
since the sox have to play the Yankees and the Jays, I don’t see them going 16-1!
Hi Betsy
good luck w/ your car search
SJ,
Gotcha.
By my counts, a couple of things to look for in today’s game:
1. Hughes velocity. This is probably the most important thing today. Stop worrying about a 4th or 5th breaking pitch and stick to fastballs, curves, and occassional CU’s. He should live 91-93 with occasional 94.
2. Jeter’s stride and overall swing. Will he fully revert back to old habits?
3. Lefty relievers. They are going to play a major role
in games against the Sux.
4. Controlling the run game. Keep Ellsbury & Crawford off the basepaths and do everything possible to keep them @ bay.
SJ44 April 8th, 2011 at 8:11 am
I got Buster all ticked off on Twitter this AM.
Oh well, what can you do?
**************************
Troublemaker.
Hi Kate!
Thanks! How are you?
Let’s remember that the 1998 Yankees opened on the west coast and played three different teams. They started off 0-3, but started to turn it around by going 3-1 before returning home.
Joey, Phil has not been fiddling around with a 4th or 5th pitch. He DOES need to throw his curve and change – and he has to mean it. I don’t think the change is going to work wonders for him, but he has to throw it more than 3 times a game. His curve is much more important, IMO, than the change – he needs to seriously commit to improving that. His velocity will come back eventually, if he’s not hurt, but even with his regular velocity, he needs those pitches.
We have one lefty reliever……………and that guy, Boone Logan, can be up and down. Our other relievers, including a guy that maybe Joe doesn’t trust, Robertson, will have to get the job done.
Exposing someone as ignorant is generally gonna tick them off….
can you take on Jon Heyman next SJ, or is that too far beneath you?
I am happy to be off today Betsy so I can watch the game in real time
Friday morning Gossip Break:
http://tiny.cc/yokxa
Betsy,
Doesn’t he have some slider-change or some hybrid pitch he claims to be using. It’s the pitch he hung in his start and it got crushed.
Kate, lucky you! By the time I get out from work at 5, the game will probably only be in the 5th inning, knowing how Sox/Yankee games work. I hope Joe West isn’t in the crew
eboland11 Caller to WEEI just now pondering the possibility of Red Sox losing 100 games. Yep, they’re handling things well here
“Caller to WEEI just now pondering the possibility of Red Sox losing 100 games. Yep, they’re handling things well here”
So now they’re the 1990 Yankees?
Joey, but that’s like his cutter – I don’t consider that a new pitch. Whether it’s his cutter of the cutter/slider, he’ needs that pitch – but certainly he doesn’t need to throw it as many time as he has – he’s overreliant on that pitch (I think his cutter, in whatever form, is somewhat overrated given how many HRs he gives up with it)
Sox fans have more in common with Yankee fans than they’d like to admit, lol
I feel bad for Buster. He sees 1998 Yankees everywhere. M. Night Shyamalan needs to make a film based on Olney’s plight.
Maybe Buster misses covering the Yankees and subconsciously wants to return to the NY Times…
Sox haven need to worry.
They have bunch of high-level pitching prospects they can call up later this year to help out the rotation. Plus they have a deep farm system to make trade deadline deals.
They’ll be fine.
Oh wait…. that’s the Yankees.
Tough break Sawx.
Kate,
He’s too easy to take on. Wouldn’t be a fair fight. lol
I just don’t accept foolish positions very well.
Buster all too often compares teams to the ’98 Yankees. That’s pretty tough to do since that team set the bar ridiculously high.
I think the Red Sox have a good team. An all-time great team? Unlike
Y.
Why?
They have huge question marks that all have to be answered in the affirmative, AND everything else has to break right, for them to approach ’98 Yankee status.
The likelihood of it happening is slim.
If it happens, I’ll be happy to admit I’m wrong.
However, the team I saw in ST, and through the first week of the regular season, does not scream, “all-time great team” to me.
That should say “Sox have no need to worry”
Just see the Yankees score early and often off the servings of John “Gomer Pyle” Lackey and Boston Field will be in an uproar.
Buster Brown compared the Sox’ situation to the 1998 Yankees? LOL The Sox are a very good team, but there are very few 1998 Yankees. Either Buster is off is rocker OR he’s bereft of good analogies. I’m sure there were other good teams not one of the greatest ever who got off to bad starts……….
___
Didnt he try that with last years Rays too? How’d that work out?
I hope that the Sox frustrations don’t cause them to revert to the scum sucking head hunters they are or have them looking for a fight for the sake of it of hurting someone.
I’d rather they just accept the weekend losses gracefully.
ac1 April 8th, 2011 at 8:44 am
Didnt he try that with last years Rays too? How?d that work out?
***********************
Just watch-next year he’ll say the Orioles or Blue Jays will be the ’98 Yankees.
Why isn’t Buster making any 2008 Tiger comparisons?
That team was praised in the offseason for the moves they made-Miggy, Shefield, Willis, et al. They had a guaranteed 1000 run offense and were on their way to WS glory.
If Lackey gets bombed tonight and the Sox fall to 0-7 there will be hysteria in Beatown…..its still early but spotting the Yanks 6 games when they might already be better than you is a big hole to climb out of.
Please keep in mind that when you stretch a rubber band as far as it will go in one direction only one of 2 things can happen :
1 It breaks
2 It snaps back- hard
Which is it ?
Also. If scoring runs was like obtaining food the Sux would be starving right now.
today is a much bigger game for the Red Sox than it is for the Yanks….but it is an opportunity for the Yankees and one I’m hoping they take advantage of. If Hughes has a good outing and Lackey gets lit up again then where does that leave Boston’s mindset? Not in a good place I would imagine.
I’m not buying this from Buster: “when I covered the ’98 NYY and in July started comparing them to all-time greats, got hammered for that.”
By July of ’98, I think everyone under the sun realized we were watching an historic team.
On July 4th, the Yanks were 60-20. Who would have “hammered” on Buster for comparing a team 40 games over .500 in July to any of the all-time greats?
Let’s say the Yankees can can be like medicine for the Sux.
Question is will they be good medicine, or bad medicine ?
Helpful or like poison.
Gonna find out soon.
I know what I’m hopin’ for.
i believe the sox will hit better today, and they are home. The pitching however, lets say it can be a high scoring affair.
Good morning all.
So, what’s happening today?
It’s much warmer today than Hughe’s last start. I expect better things from him, including velocity
MTU,
that’s a good analogy….the Yanks could give the Sox a confidence boost in this series or they could tighten the noose just a little tighter and leave them questioning themselves.
It’s April, so no series is really that important…….but as April series go, this is about as meaningful as they come I would imagine.
The guy Hughes has to be careful with is Gonzalez…..I don’t think you can let him beat you right now.
Blake-
Old saying. When one of your enemies is digging a hole for themselves just stand back and get out of the way, or throw them a bigger shovel.
Blake-
And if the hole is big enough maybe, just maybe it becomes a grave.
MTU
I’d rather throw dirt on them and put them out of their misery.
MY-
Marked, or unmarked grave ?
guess hughes probably wont be blowing mid-90s fastballs by ortiz. stay away from gonzales, and outside to everyone else (even with the 200 ft tee ball wall in left).
Nothing like a little Dan Shaughnessy to brighten our day
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....r_another/
MY-
Let’s just hope that the Yankees are like one of your John Deere
tractors and the Sux are the field to be plowed under.
I think this first game is the most important, and sets the tone for the other two. Sox fans want Hughes to be the slump-buster, but really the pressure is all on Lackey. Despite how these first six games have gone, both teams have mash potential – I think we can all agree on that. But if they get on Lackey and to Bostons pen quickly, it could get late early. If Boston gets up on Hughes early, is Colon ready? When was the last time he was on a stage like this?
With that, and all the velocity talk, Hughzeez biggest regular season start so far, in this his young career?
Or to take a line from a song.
That they we are the windshield and they are the bug.
MTU April 8th, 2011 at 9:10 am
MY-
Marked, or unmarked grave ?
——————————————————————
Marked.
I’m sure someone here could come up with an approiate message to put on the stone.
MY-
So generous, and gracious.
I see you are respectful to the dead.
You’re a nice Man. I don’t care what GB says about you.
Haven’t heard an “expert” call todays game a “must win ” for the Sox yet.
Go 16-1 the rest of the month, then invoke comparisons to the ’98 Yankees.
—
They’d have to go 17-0 the rest of the month to match the ’98 Yankees
How about:
“Here lies the proud remains of the Red Sox nation our dearly departed.
Though they fought hard and long, and kept their heads up high.
They never truly emerged from the the shadow cast by their sworn
enemy to the South- Th mighty Yankee Universe.
May they RIP and the good Lord have mercy on their souls.”
Would that work ?
MTU
I didn’t say put something nice on the stone.
I don’t pay attention to what grumpy old men say.
pat April 8th, 2011 at 9:23 am
Haven’t heard an “expert” call todays game a “must win ” for the Sox yet.
——————————————————————————
That’s because they are saying the RS will be ok.
If it was the Yankees we know they would be all done.
MaineYankee April 8th, 2011 at 9:19 am
MTU April 8th, 2011 at 9:10 am
MY-
Marked, or unmarked grave ?
——————————————————————
Marked.
I’m sure someone here could come up with an approiate message to put on the stone.
———————————————
I say unmarked, the stench is quite obvious!!!
OK Maine.
Excuse me then for thinking the best of you.
I take it back. I should know better.
Here lies the detritus of RSN
Whose seeds never sprung
Who died while the season was so young
Whose fans then relegated them to the dung
JCPD-
Kind like dead Skunk ?
Hello – a question for those more techinal than me…I just got an IPhone and wondering the best way to follow this blog. I have “apps” set up for facebook and twitter etc… just wondering if it is best to have a bookmark in safari or something like that? Thanks!
Life’s idle business at one gasp be o’er,
The Muse forgot, and thou beloved no more!
Very creative Mikey.
jessiedog – I have the Lohud app and it works fine
Usually I’d be satisfied winning 1 out of 3 on a road trip to Fenway, but this weekend? At least 2 out of 3. Kick em while their down I say
Tom-
I knew you would jump in.
JCPD
If it was marked then the uninformed would be able to know what caused that stench.
If Boston gets up on Hughes early, is Colon ready? When was the last time he was on a stage like this?
——-
If Hughes is not long for the game I hope Freddy is first up out of the pen.
Also I hope Girardi is proactive if Hughes doesn’t have it again. They have both Freddy and Colon out there. No reason to stick with a starter too ling this weekend with a long pen.
Maybe we should just win a few in the sardine can before we right anyone’s epitaph, eh ?
Kinda play it safe ?
Even the quintessitial homer Gammons must be tweeting his successor at NESPN (Buston Only) and advising him to tone down his homerism.
It’s the Sox home opener and we owe it to them to talk some smack
I think people are getting a little carried away with the 1998 thing.
The 1998 Yankees are forever going to live in history as something of a baseball parable, because not only did they start 1-4 (not 1-5 SJ, they were 9-4 after a win against the Tigers on 4/13), but also because the media actually began buzzing about Joe Torre being on the hotseat and one of the 1st managers fired if things didn’t turn around quickly, which of laughable in retrospect, but DID happen..
They’re forever a lesson in patience and not letting the first week fool you
They’re also somewhat contemporary so they’re often going to be cited.
I haven’t read anything to suggest that Only thinks they’re going to win 114 regular season games or that they’ll be as “good” as that team.
The point of the comparison is to simply point out a team can still have a very successful season despite a slow start, ala the ’98 Yanks.
Thanks mikey487 – I could not find one – guess I am more clueless than I thought…will search again.
edit: “write” not “right”. duh. sorry.
Hopefully Hughes’s cutter will be working today and his velocity will be back a little bit…enough to get in Gonzalez’s kichen. You can’t just fastball away him especially at Fenway or he’ll pepper that monster all day long…..that’s his stroke really. Have to make quality pitches on the inner half to him and keep him off balance.
jessiedog
Search yankees.lhblogs.com/
YankeesWFAN Want free Yankees tix for next week vs. O’s? MLB Fan Cave’s @mikeyoh21 & @rwags614 giving some away tomorrow in NYC: http://bit.ly/gJB8ur
Blake-
We’re not the one’s who should be worried.
Funny, even though I really hate that Aceves is now playing for the Red Sox, I do hope that the Yankees get to face him. The reason being that if he is in the game the starter stunk.
jessiedog
after you find it, make it a favorite on your I Phone. It is the same as an App
Maybe Aceves will turn out to be an “embedded Yankee” like Ramiro Mendoza was
In baseball you’re never as good as you think you are, but you’re never as bad either. As the saying goes. The Red Sox will turn it around at some point, but the Yankees have to keep the pressure on and put them in the hole 0-9. Gotta aim for the sweep at all costs, I would say. Pull out all the stops.
MTU,
oh I know…I was just saying. I could also break down what Lackey has to do to get Teixera, Arod, and Cano out
hint: fire up the time machine
No stuckey, the only reason they bring up 98 is to compare the redsox to one of the greatest teams of all time.
A sane person would have the arguements and reasons you just did, but that’s not what we’re dealing with here.
Good news for my car! $380 gets me my car back in perfect condition.
Note to myself: watch out for lurkingt curbs!
********************
If anyone has the AUDACITY to compare the 1998 Yankees and this rag-tag Sux team, I need you to start off with the following:
1. name the starting rotation for the 1998 Yankees and then the Yankee bullpen
2. compare and contrast same with this sinking ship of fools in beantown.
Thank you.
I had the pure joy of listening to Larry Lucchino this morning on EEI. He actually did have some pearls of wisdom.
For those of you who blithely threw out the party line that “ST results don’t count”, I have a baseball guy that says otherwise. Actually this is pretty practical thinking, something sometimes totally absent when fan emotion comes into the picture.
Here’s the bouncing ball. At the beginning of ST, you’re not paying huge atttention to results because everyone is getting into working shape. By the end of ST, your regulars are in the lineup and pretty well stretched out. You damned well better pay attention to what you’re seeing!
Once again, chalk up one for the team who said 0-10 at the end of ST didn’t bode well for the Sux!!!
Here’s another thing Lucchino pointed out that actually quite a few of us here have said. Living under the expectation of being the “best team ever” is a heavy burden. And this was Lucchino’s quote – “Especially for a team that is used to being seen as the #2 team all the time!”
***********
I am definitely a thinking person’s baseball fan.
If you take everything as a lateral chirpy line, you will never understand what is really happening. Life actually has a subtext. Factor that in when you can and you will probably come closer to reality.
*************
I did not know that the beantown herald called this year’s Sux “THE GREATEST TEAM EVER.”
They apparently don’t think pitching counts for much in baseballl.
Thanks Mikey!
It will be depressing for a Boston Socks fan to enter the Green Sardine Can, take their seat, and see the 6 losses posted on the standings board in LF.
For John Henry it won’t matter. He sees it as more beer consumption to drown their sorrows.
Cha-ching !
MaineYankee April 8th, 2011 at 9:32 am
JCPD
If it was marked then the uninformed would be able to know what caused that stench.
———————————————–
True, I forgot how many uniformed there are up there. You and my brother, notwithstanding.
Hey look, the O’s are 5-1. #betterthan98Yanks
Bobby Valentine on WEEI this morning. He was asked whether he bought into this year’s Sux team being the favorite to win it all and he said he didn’t and told why. The usual suspects – questions in the rotation and bullpen, questions with the catcher’s position.
I swear to God I am still stymied about this. Unless all of the “expert predictors” are Yankee haters and want nothing more than to see the Sux win it all just to rub the Yankees faces in it, how could they predict what they did knowing that the Sux rotation had huge question marks and the bullpen wasn’t exactly predictible either. I’m a basic dummy and even I had that figured out!
And this is a sincere question to anyone who thinks the Sux have a “great” team and will probably take the east. Did you stop to look at that rotation and even question what it would be all about? If so, do you think that needs to be put in the equation?
I still don’t get it, but I don’t need to. Once again I follow my own counsel, think it out, and come up with a pretty logical conclusion. You don’t annoint someone king and ruler unless you know that the army is going to come through. Watching Beckett, Lackey and DiceK last year, it would have been ludicrous to state they’d all be fine. You need them to all be fine, plus you need Lester and the Chucky doll to be on the top of their game – and you need to know you have a reliable bullpen – before you make those kinds of statements.
I’m willing to listen to anyone who can give me a well-thought-out opinion on why the Sux should have been predicted to take the east over the Yanks. (rotations, offense, defense, bullpen.)
Thanks
MikeSilvermanBB big shake-up to #redsox lineup: crawford lf, pedroia 2b, gonzalez 1b, youk 3b, ortiz dh, drew rf, salty c, ellsbury cf, scutaro ss.
“Once again, chalk up one for the team who said 0-10 at the end of ST didn’t bode well for the Sux!!!”
so the red sox have lost 16 games in a row?
that’s kind of funny.
RiverAveBlues Yup. http://some.ly/dXmaU3
i knew there was something i liked about Bobby V.
ID,
Aren’t we supposed to be at odds with one another??
“That’s because they are saying the RS will be ok.
If it was the Yankees we know they would be all done”
If it was the Yankees, and it was this forum talking about it, there would be wailing, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Those willing to concede that the Ys had any kind of chance would be doing it with the “while it’s possible, they’ve dug themselves into a deep hole and it’s going to take a lot for them to dig themselves out. And the Sux have a very good team” added to the end.
With the situation reversed, what we hear here is “the Sux are a good team. You know they’re going to be in the postseason.”
Wow.
I can see where Olney thought there were comparisons to the 98 Yankees!!
Yankees had Hideki Irabu-Red Sox have Matsuzaka
Yankees with Homer Bush-Sox with Pedroia
Yankees with Chad Curtis-Sox with Ellsbury
Yankees with Darren Holmes-Sox with Bard
Yankees with Dale Sveum-Sox with Youkilis
Based on the current ERA’s of the opposing starters today’s game will be a Yankee blowout with Hughes getting the win with relief by Colon; Saturday’s game will be close with another Yankee win with Joba/Soriano/Rivera shutting the door, and Sunday the Yankees will complete the sweep with CC winning.
“so the red sox have lost 16 games in a row?
that’s kind of funny”
Well, truth be told Randy, they did win one after that. I was chirping when it was 0 and 10. I believe they won the 11th and then lost the 12th. Something that like that. So I’m pretty sure they are 1-17 for their last 18 games. I’ll check to be sure!
ac1 – BV was really very interesting to listen to. And I actually enjoyed listening to Lucchino also because he talked about the burden of the expectation and how that plays out on that kind of a team, and I think that’s very real.
Yankee Trader at 10:11
Pure brilliance.
MikeSilvermanBB big shake-up to #redsox lineup: crawford lf, pedroia 2b, gonzalez 1b, youk 3b, ortiz dh, drew rf, salty c, ellsbury cf, scutaro ss.
—–
LMAO.
Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot?
I would say 6 games is pretty short lived.
That’s the way the Sox order should be stacked….thought Crawford didn’t like leading off?
latest from Buster- panic meter only at 2 for the sox b/c “they have a lot of grinders on that team”
more concerned about Hughes than Lackey this afternoon b/c of the lack of velocity…yeah OK Buster, whatever!
This is a bittersweet victory over Trisha.
As a Yankee fan I love Ells in the leadoff spot. Much smarter lineup from Tito unfortunately.
“Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot?”
well that should take the pressure off crawford.
i still wondering how he’ll react if he gets off to a really bad start and red sox nation turns on him.
“latest from Buster- panic meter only at 2 for the sox b/c “they have a lot of grinders on that team”
they’ll be grinding their bats into sawdust if they don’t win today.
Did Buster not see the 89 MPH meatballs Lackey was serving up in Texas last week….that was when he could get the ball over the plate?
JCPD
Is the snow pack finally leaving you.
I forgot where you said you lived here.
IMO when the Yankees lost out on Lee, the “experts” panned the Yanks starters. Then the Sox “got their guys” in Crawford and Gonzales so that automatically made them the favorites.
Maybe on paper, but they certainly haven’t shown it on the field.
*************************
Trisha, Good news about the car.
Everyone’s favorite team, in their last 18 games, had this for a record:
1-16-1.
Crawford hasn’t lead off since 07 in regular season so sox decide to try him there after game 6, even though not once did they even do it in ST, wow!!
Gotta love this Dan Shaughnessy line:
“And now we turn our eyes to John “Let ’em in’’ Lackey”
OUCH!!!
Fran I was really psyched. Since I was told there was a possibility that it could end up as scrap metal, I was super relieved. And $380 should keep me going for a while since I had the other repairs done.
I really do love my little car!
“And now we turn our eyes to John “Let ’em in’’ Lackey”
All winter and spring training long the Sox talked at length about how Crawford was more than a speed guy.
In the Sox talent evaluation they saw a player coming into his own who was a middle of the order bat.
In other words, they were trying to justify their expenditure on Crawford.
Crawford was never a middle of the order bat. And they could keep saying it. But that doesn’t make it true.
6 games. The experiment is over. Very interesting. With Hughes still regaining his velocity he’s vulnerable to LH hitting. If there was ever a key game to have your new free agent signing show he’s a middle of the order bat this one is it.
At the same time Crawford hasn’t much hit lead off. He simply hasn’t liked to hit there over his career.
Not a good sign from Tito. If you have a plan, and you are the model “rational organization” and you’ve talked about it all winter and spring you really should stick with it for more than 6 games.
They are clearly worried. How irrational.
Buster Olney needs to write a book….’The End of the Red Sox Dynasty’.
CB,
Good points. I think the only reason the Sox rushed to sign Crawford was that they thought the Yanks were interested when Cashman went to dinner with Crawford. IMO it was more of a reactionary signing to keep him from the Yankees.
Francona has changed the lineup several times since opening day….the pieces clearly don’t fit together in an obvious way. Gonzalez and Youk should hit 3/4 but other than that it’s a little difficult to stack. Crawford isn’t a 3 hitter, you can’t have a lefty/rigthy split like he does and hit in one of the most important RBI spots…..
“IMO when the Yankees lost out on Lee, the ‘experts’ panned the Yanks starters. Then the Sox ‘got their guys’ in Crawford and Gonzales so that automatically made them the favorites. ”
Of course you got that right. That’s exactly how it happened. The Yankees missing out on Lee made them a wide-open target for criticism, and then the acquisitions in beantown just caused that train to run without brakes.
I need to give credit to posters here because immediately there were posters who pointed out that Crawford and Gonzalez turned into nothing more than replacements for Beltre and Martinez, and that Martinez’s departure left a big ? at the catcher’s position. I can also tell you that when Martinez was not re-signed there was a lot of consternation in RSN about it. And it remained.
“Maybe on paper, but they certainly haven’t shown it on the field”
Fran, here’s is where I will depart. I sincerely don’t believe that it’s on paper either. Too many question marks in key places to annoint them anything.
sox changed their lineup again…. wow.
“This is a bittersweet victory over Trisha.
As a Yankee fan I love Ells in the leadoff spot. Much smarter lineup from Tito unfortunately”
You are pretty desperate if you call victory after one game! But feel free to go for it prematurely. It will make it all the sweeter when I swat you like a fly!!!
Here you have Crawford leading off, when he has stated that he does not want to lead off. No idea what Tito is doing but I don’t think shaking up a lineup is a bad thing. What it potentially does, though, is makes Crawford the fan’s whipping boy, and I don’t think that’s very cool. But I don’t think Tito thinks in those terms, so he has to do what he thinks is right.
“I’m willing to listen to anyone who can give me a well-thought-out opinion on why the Sux should have been predicted to take the east over the Yanks. (rotations, offense, defense, bullpen.)”
I did not predict the Red Sox to take the East (any impression otherwise is fully manufactured product of your imagination), nor did I predict their record.
But I find it hard to believe even if you don’t to agree with the rationale, that anyone is professing ignorance to what the reasonings are for people who like them.
Recognizing and understand another viewpoint you don’t happen to share is not the advanced skill it often appears to be with some of you.
Red Sox won 89 games last year and were 2nd in ML baseball in runs scored despite Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury and Martinez (not to mention Cameron) all losing significant time to injury.
The idea the Red Sox would possibly score MORE run this year with relative health from their stars and some additional production from the Beltre-Martinez/Gonzalez-Crawford witch) is a fairly pedestrian assumption.
As to the starting rotation, I think it is also safe to assume people were counting on solid years from Lester and Buccholz, and bounce back years from Lackey (who did lead his team to an ALCS appearance the season before) and Beckett, who has been a big postgame pitcher in the past.
Those predictions might well be generous. Perhaps Lackey and Beckett have lost something they aren’t getting back, but again, the logic is apparent, even if you don’t agree.
I think most bullish predictors were expecting moderate to even static improvement from the pitching but a big boost in runs scored.
Add that to the baseline of 89 wins and the formula is pretty clear.
Why is this such a mystery?
It’s odd, nothing bores me more than predictions about the future performance of teams I don’t root for. If somebody writes about what the future holds for the Yanks, or predicts the order of finish in the AL East, I’m interested.
But I could care less if some writer thinks the Sox will be the 1998 Yanks, or the 1975 Reds or something. I will say that starting out 0-6 does not prove a team will finish strong.
LGY – you know you haven’t won anything don’t you?
The score is 6-1. Usually the team with the higher points is the winner?
Trisha,
The Sox do have major questions in the bullpen and at catcher.
And maybe the Yanks missed out on Lee, but one of the less flashy signings, Martin, may turn out to be the best.
If the Yankees can hit like they did at start of the season the first few games they are going to be more than fine for today’s games. Loved it how Alex and Tex looked so locked in.
Seems the last few games a lot of innings where they didn’t score.
Also NY has to add tack on runs this weekend to any lead as no lead is safe in that Cracker Jack Box.
“If it was the Yankees, and it was this forum talking about it, there would be wailing, weeping, and gnashing of teeth.”
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?
Jessidog,
Go to the icon on bottom of screen with arrow to send mail options. Choose ” save to home screen”
It will make an app icon u can use to get to an updated lohud page..
trisha,
Didn’t you claim that the leash wasn’t short for Ellsbury remaining in the leadoff role?
Also overlooked is the sox lost a good 3rd baseman in Beltre. Youk is better at 1st than 3rd, so there is a downgrade.
New 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.
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.
Red Sox just DFA’d Reyes.