I think people thinking he might be done are overracting a bit but I don't think it's out of question thinking he's not going to be the Youkilis of old. He's missed a lot of time the past 2 years and the injuries to his thumb and back could have taken their toll. On a scale of 1 to 10 on how worried I am, I'm probably about a 3 just about of those reasons listed above even though the season is only 2 weeks old. If it was Pedroia or Adrian Gonzalez struggling like that I probably would just laugh it off.
I didn't buy the MLB TV package this year, just the radio because I end up listening to the game more than watching it. Watched the end of the game last night, I came to the conclusion, the SOX bullpen is f-effing brutal. I think Bard as a starter is great, but with 0 bullpen help, unless he starts pitching complete game shutouts this move may hurt the Sox more than the realize now. Did anyone here what Simmons said about Melancon during his podcast about him be a closer, those guys couldn't be more right. Does anyone still have any of the longest game in baseball history PawSox cups? This guy does.
Outside of Aceves and Morales and a few outings by Padilla and Achitson the pen has been awful. A lot of it has to do with Melcancon being historically awful, the starters not getting to the 5th inning, having a roster spot for Justin Thomas and Bobby Valentine being terrible at the pen management so far. The good news is fixing the bullpen is probably the easiest thing for the Sox or any team to do. Again last year the Cardinals started the year with Ryan Franklin as their closer and Miguel Batista as their set up man and by May one was retired and the other was in Triple A in another organization, Motte wasn't even their closer until September. Help is on the way though. Rich Hill should be back in a few weeks and was pretty good last year before getting hurt and has been pitching well in the minors. The Sox just called up Tazawa who's been pitching well in the minors. They also have Alex Wilson who many scouts feel will be in the pen by June or July and could be a quality set up man. Of course there is always the random guy that comes out of nowhere to have a great year out of the pen factor too. And I didn't hear what Simmons said but I could guess it had something to do with him never doing it before, never pitched in a big market, not having fun hand shakes or just not striking fear into batters or the opposing fanbase. Simmons points and views on baseball have been nonsense since he stopped watching and/or caring about the sport, and I actually used to be a huge Simmons fan. But his views about baseball are brutual to listen to, he's just out of touch with the sport.
yes it is at my old mans house in his basement when I had to pack everything before I went to Iraq (my parents were getting divorced and sell the house at the time) It is so faded you cant even tell what it is anymore...
Word is they are trying to beat the record in the Guinness Book for biggest toast tomorrow.... With grape juice.....
You sound like me hahahahahah.... I will say I like this good to see history like this at Fenway, especially that the Yanks get to partake in it as well....this is going to be fun today... Fink what do you think about Tito reception today, good/bad? I think they are going to give him the biggest ovation, and as well I also think the players well embrace him on the field as a "eff you" to Valentine... Also does Pedro show?
I'm just tired of the circus that's been going on since September. Just play some baseball and cut out the extra crap, which is mostly coming out of the mouths of the owners and manager now. Yeah I wish I was going to the game today, it should be a fun time (at least until the 1st pitch is thrown). The Sox invited every living player, manager, coach and GM (except Theo) to the celebration. Francona will get the huge ovation, maybe the biggest one of all the ex-players. And he should. The way his Sox career ended and that Boston Globe story that came out about him was just awful. The guy gave the franchise 2 WS titles and numerous playoff appearances and someone leaks all of that to the press on the way out? Like it was really Francona's fault that he was forced to start Wakefield, Miller, Weiland and Lackey in September. Yes Pedro will be there today. I know Nomar will be too. As will Millar, Merloni, Jim Rice, Yaz, Jerry Remy, Pesky and Jose Canseco (!!!!). I'm sure they will have at least 100 ex players there. Schilling won't be there unfortunately but he's another guy that should be honored at Fenway soon.
One of the perils of being the Red Sox or the Yankees, unfortunately controversy always follows them...
It's unnecessary controversy though and its all stuff they brought on themselves. All they had to do was shut up or just give the plain vanilla responses.
The day would be even better if you know, the Red Sox, ummm actually won. (Wow I've really turned into a bitter Sox fan. I just really haven't enjoyed my team since August of last year. I feel almost embarrassed based on all their success since 2003. It most really suck to be a Pirate or Royals fan.) And just as I type this Pedroia drops a pop up.
Anyone have any pics of the game today? I didn't get to see the game and im interested to see the unis..
Pregame stuff: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/2012/fenway_park_100_anniversary_celebration/ During game: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/2012/redsox_yankees_series/
LOL, if one picture summed up the pregame, its clearly #6 in the series....WTF???? Actually, this might be my favorite image to capture the moment....fans from 1912 and fans from 2012....very cool stuff.
Sox are close to trading for Marlon Byrd. My guess is Michael Bowden is involved. Kind of hard to get excited about the move, although he's probably an upgrade over Jason Repko. Still this isn't going to do much either way.
Helps the Cubs if thats the deal, to free up spot for Minor Leaguer to get called up in either First baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Brett Jackson. Depending on what they want to do with LaHair (1B or OF) and which of these two they feel earned the callup.
I don't think you'll see Rizzo and/or Jackson up at this point in the season. Both guys need to work on some stuff in Triple A, the Cubs have no reason to rush either guy.
Just because of this gem: [video=youtube;S2uGROwr-rY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2uGROwr-rY[/video]
Oh, I dont mean immediately, agree about more seasoning, but moving Byrd, will be followed by Soriano (at least Theo hopes someone bits), etc....lots of new blood is needed, and what they dont want is road blocks when the proper time has come....but I think it will be this season for both to get a taste. Right now, both are doing well in minors. P.S. Bowden & PTBNL going to Cubs for Byrd.....overpay dont you think? P.S.S. Yanks trailed 9-0 after 5 innings, but now in 8th its 9-8, and Aceves is already in the game needing 6outs??? I really dont care if Yanks come back all the way (that would be icing for sure) but the Sox bullpen is really shaky - really shaky...and giving Bowden away for weak CF just because of Ellsbury and Crawford......yup, love Bobby V era. P.S.S.S. Ok, so tacking on 6 more to make it 9 to 14 now....yeah, go Yanks....I love the icing!
No, Bowden isn't good and that's suggesting he'd actually help the team, which he hasn't done in his MLB career. At best he's a 12th guy in the pen, he'll most likely also be an up and down guy for his career. One of Theo's biggest non-move mistakes was not trading Bowden for Miguel Montero in Dec of 2008. It would have been interesting to see how different the Sox would have been if Theo made that move. It means Justin Masterson and LHRP Nick Hagadone would have still be in the organization (they were traded for Victor Martinez because Varitek was done as an everyday player in 2009) to be used in other deals or simply kept. Oh well.
Crawford took a MRI today and Booby said the elbow is still a concern, they are gathering more info......stay tuned.... https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/GordonEdes/status/194911228873814016
Makes the Byrd deal make more sense now if the Boston knew Crawford was still hurting or figured he'd be out longer than originally thought. It will be extremely interesting to see what Andrews sees and says about his elbow. On the surface you wouldn't think it was that big of a deal, especially since Crawford has been playing in extended ST games and actually hitting well, but who knows.
Ohh snap.....now we know why Andrews hasnt seen Pineda yet.....this just sucks....I hate when people get injured like this...
UPDATE: Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald was told by a Red Sox source that the team expects Crawford back by the All-Star break. In fact, they believe a return in June isn’t out of the question. Of course, this is assuming his UCL responds to treatment.
Feeling much better about the Sox playing some easier teams for a while. Doubront looks like he will give a solid 6 innings and no more every 5 days.
At least it will give his wrist plenty of time to improve and get stronger. I feel bad for Crawford though, hopefully he comes back and contributes right away. The Sox have to beat up on these bad teams. They have a run of 22 games against bad teams they need to start to fatten their record. It's nice to see Doubront look solid in his 4 starts so far, he throws way too many pitches but I'll sign up for 6 innings of 2 or 3 run ball every 5th day. The Sox bats are starting to heat up, which is a good sign too. They're going to score runs, I don't think anyone doubted that. It's going to come down to the pitching, like always. The Sox, with Crawford, Ellsbury and Bailey out, just need to keep their heads above water and hope all 3 come back strong whenever they return.
Sox are scoring runs in bunches now, I love it. I know Finkle has seen this but Will Middlebrooks is crushing AAA, already has 9 HR's. If it takes 3 months to get Crawford healthy, I won't mind a bit if Ross keeps mashing.
Yeah it's nice to see Middlebrooks dominating Triple A right now. He still has to work on hitting off speed pitches and taking walks but he's the obvious 3rd basemen next year. Now if only Iglesias started to hit a little bit....