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The Official 2009 Boston Red Sox Thread

Discussion in 'Other Sports Forum' started by Ray Finkle, Feb 11, 2009.

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  1. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    Woooo J Bay going deep!
     
  2. bbqpitlover

    bbqpitlover Well-Known Member

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    Sorry should have guessed Francona
     
  3. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    I am actually that glad Youk got tossed. Lowell is on fire!!!!!
     
  4. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    Well this has been an interesting game to say the least. After seeing a few replays I really don't think Porcello meant to hit Youk, but after he threw at Martinez and his first pitch drilled Youk, I can see why Youk flipped out. Plus I think the Sox were looking for an excuse to have a little bench clearing incident, even though nothing happened and none of the players besides Youk, Porcello or Edwin Jackson did anything.

    On that note I'm off to Chicago for a few days to see a Cub/Phillies games, hopefully it will be good one. And yes I'll be rocking my Cub Nomar Garciaparra J-shirt haha.
     
  5. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    Have fun! Lets go Cubs! I need them to win so my other favorite team the Marlins can gain some ground
     
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  6. BigDogsHunt

    BigDogsHunt Enough talk...prove it!

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    Well there sure is something that is attracting Pitchers, throughout the league, to throw inside (at) and hitting Red Sox batters....you all are magnets for this kind of stuff. Can anyone put their finger on why? :shifty:
     
  7. HardKoreXXX

    HardKoreXXX Insensitive to the Touch

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    Euclis; The Greek God of getting slammed like a little ***** :shifty:
     
  8. FaninPatsyLand

    FaninPatsyLand The Truth

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    I can't wait to see how long of a suspension Yankee Bob is going to hand down.

    Considering what Sexson got last year (he even threw his helmet at Gabbard), anything more than 5 games will be excessive... but you just know that Yankee Bob will attempt to justify it.

    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-05-10-sexson-suspension-reduction_N.htm
     
  9. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    I will be shocked if its more than 3 games. Which will give him some nice rest.
     
  10. FaninPatsyLand

    FaninPatsyLand The Truth

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    Well its official. 5 games for Youkilis, which I hate to say was entirely reasonable coming from Yankee Bob.

    He's out of the lineup and will begin serving the suspension tonight. Its certainly a blow to not have him for the upcoming trip to Texas, but he'll be in the lineup when the friggen Yankees come to town next weekend.

    http://www.weei.com/this-just-in

    Also, a really ****ing ugly looking lineup tonight. Ortiz is hitting cleanup and no V-Mart, what the ****. I guess they're confident with Beckett on the mound and all, but this seems like over-confidence bordering on cockiness. I hope the lineup, or lackthereof, doesn't come back to bite them tonight.
     
  11. BigDogsHunt

    BigDogsHunt Enough talk...prove it!

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  12. GreenMonster

    GreenMonster New Member

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    Great at-bat by V-Mart after a brutal Woodward AB and Buchholz misplaying a deep double by Pedoria with a sick bounce of the wall. Wow this just got away from Francisco quick, JD Drew HR..
     
  13. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    Great comeback for the Sox! Hopefully this wakes the team up and makes them believe
     
  14. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    8 steals already in the game. This is pathetic. If Cecil Fielder was in the MLB even he'd have a few steals tonight. I don't know if it was all on the pitchers tonight or a mixture of them or Varitek but it was embarassing.

    Also I'm hoping the Brian Anderson Era ends quickly. I already dislike him more than another on the 2009 Red Sox which I thought would be hard to do with Javier Lopez getting a lot of innings earlier this year. Not only does he look totally overmatched at the plate but him not running for that fly ball in the 3rd or 4th inning.

    And if I were a Texas Ranger fan I'd be beyond pissed if Feliz isn't my closer for the rest of the season with the stuff that kid has.
     
  15. Brown42000

    Brown42000 Chillin

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    I can't see this team making the playoffs with the way they are playing right now.
     
  16. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    Me neither. The pitching was terrible last night and I'm starting to think Daniel Bard might not be able to handle the pressure of being a closer.
     
  17. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    Calm down guys. We are going to make the playoffs. Beckett always struggles with the Jays and he was due a bad game. At least we are starting to hit.
     
  18. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    I'm not worried about Beckett as much as I'm worried about everyone on the pitching staff not named Beckett or Lester. Bard has become a mixture of Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Mesa since he gave up the game tying HR to Longoria 2 weeks ago and has struggled since in almost every outing. Papelbon was shakey as hell again last night and has been the whole season yet no one talks about it like its taboo. And does anyone really trust Delcarmen or Saito in a big spot? Okajima and Ramirez have pitched pretty well but I admit when they come into a game in a tight spot I still get nervous.

    When you're up by 4 or 5 runs like the Sox were last night there's no way they should let a 4th place team like the Jays get back into the game like they did. It just seems like since the game the Sox blew against Baltimore a few months ago they have become a different team.

    Really I wouldn't be shocked if the Sox made the playoffs nor would I be shocked if they missed the playoffs with the way they have played since the All Star break. The pitching has been bad outside of Beckett and Lester and all of the hitters just look cooked and can't seem to get any hits against pitchers that throw hard.
     
  19. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    3 good starts in a row vs. good pitchers and good teams, is Clay Buchholz starting to show his potential finally?
     
  20. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    Lester has another great start as well.
     
  21. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    The Sox put in a waiver claim for Billy Wagner, and hopefully they get him (of course I was a big Gagne fan too back in 2007 and look what happened).

    They can either get him straight up from the Mets and pay him 2.5 million for the rest of the year, make a trade for him or the Mets could keep him. Knowing Omar Minaya he's probably asking for Jon Lester and Kevin Youkilis for Wagner. I wouldn't be shocked if the Sox got Wagner for nothing or they didn't get him at all since they're dealing with a GM that doesn't know what a 3 team deal is. But the money thing works in the Sox favor however Wagner may be a Type A FA so the Mets might want too much for him.
     
  22. Skeet84

    Skeet84 New Member

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    Would be nice to have him in the 8th. He looked pretty good the other night
     
  23. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    I'm just wondering if Boston PD are going to arrest Michael Bowden tonight for the murder of his trade value.

    What a crappy game. Hey still in 1st place for that Wild Card!
     
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  24. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    What anymore proof the NL is weaker than the AL? John Smoltz has 0 earned runs and 8 Ks through 4 innings so far.
     
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  25. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    Also it looks like Papelbon and Delcarmen aren't really happy that the Sox put a claim on Wagner. I love Papelbon but he needs to pipe down a bit and why is Delcarmen opening up his mouth? Maybe if he got a meaningful out for the team every once and awhile he can talk (and if he did maybe the Sox wouldn't need to put a claim in for Wagner) until then just shut up.
     
  26. muscle979

    muscle979 Season Ticket Holder

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    Yet the NL wins the World Series on a pretty regular basis. If they're really so great why don't they win the World Series almost every season? Why aren't you seeing a run like the NFC had in the NFL? Outside of 04-05 the AL hasn't even won consecutive titles in the past decade. You think you'd see a streak longer than two from such a dominant league. When it comes down to what matters the NL consistently holds its own. I also wouldn't use Smoltz's performance against the crappiest batting order in baseball as a measure of anything.
     
  27. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    You're right about Smoltz's its 1 game, shouldn't really judge anyone on 1 game but I'm pretty confident that Smoltz will do better in the NL Central than the AL East.

    As for the other arguement, anything can happen in a 7 game series and the best team doesn't always win. It's a pure crap shoot in the playoffs, you want to tell me that the 2006 Cardinals were a better team than the Tigers or the 2003 Marlins were better than the Yankees? No those teams just got hot at the right time, it doesn't take anything away from those WS titles by any means though but just goes to show its unpredictable.

    If you want a better sample size take a look at the interleague results from the past 10 years or so. The AL just beats up the NL, I'm not sure how anyone can argue that the NL isn't a weaker league on the whole. Just look at pitchers who jump from the NL to the AL and almost all the time see their numbers go up and when pitchers jump from the AL to the NL see their numbers go down. The teams just aren't as good, especially the lineups due to the pitcher having to bat.
     
  28. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    why is the interleague play more valid then the world series play? how do you not know maybe the nl teams are just better built to win the whole thing? Really by saying its just because they get hot at the same time, you are basically making the championship meaningless in terms of what it is supposed to represent. I think the fair thing to do would be to take both into account equally and not try to trivialize the world series wins.
     
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  29. muscle979

    muscle979 Season Ticket Holder

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    I agree with you on Smoltz 100 percent but I don't think you can blow off a seven game series as 'anything can happen'. You have to beat another team four times. Nine times out of ten the superior team should prevail. When it comes down to the championship you're matching up the best team from each league, it doesn't matter how many times the Angels beat the Padres in interleague play or whatever. Yes the AL boasts better hitting, but there's much more to baseball than that. When the NFC was the dominant league in the NFL they were winning the Super Bowl every single season and that was only one game. And we all know on any given Sunday any team can come in and beat just about any other team, unless you're the 08 Lions I guess. That was an example of true dominance. Were the Rays better than the Phillies? It's a seven game series, there's plenty of opportunity to overcome an 'anything can happen' game. Teams don't generally just coast into the World Series anyway, they had to have been playing pretty good ball. Especially if they made the World Series in what's supposed to be such a superior league. So it shouldn't matter that the Cardinals, Marlins, Phillies, and Diamondbacks were playing well. It's obvious the AL will always score more because their pitchers don't have to come to the plate. But I'm just biased because I hate designated hitters.
     
  30. muscle979

    muscle979 Season Ticket Holder

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    Plus you're saying that the AL team somehow just coasted into the World Series and is not playing their best ball, how would that be possible in such a superior league?
     
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  31. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    Because you're basing the WS on 7 games, while interleague is based on around 270 total games played (my math may be wrong on the # of interleague games but its close). A lot can happen in a short series and the best team doesn't always win the series. Do you really think an 83 win Cardinals team is better built to win a WS against a 95 win Tigers? How about the Cubs that have been the best team in the NL the past 2 years and couldn't even get past the first round, let alone win a single game?

    You can't take into account both equally because they the sample size between the two is too big. Plus in the WS you're comparing 2 teams, while interleague you're comparing every team in both leagues.
     
  32. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    right. but the point is you are basically saying best case scenario, 4 game sweep, the best of the al, is getting beat out of luck, etc for 4 games. You know damn well even you don't find that plausible.
     
  33. muscle979

    muscle979 Season Ticket Holder

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    I guess the NL is the luckiest league that has ever existed then. I know what the interleague results indicate and that's fine and should be taken into account but you can't discount the most important series of the year. It's hard to get lucky four times against a team that's better than you. Really hard.
     
  34. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    You can't compare football to baseball, they're entirely different (obviously). That's not a good example. And yes in a 7 game series the best team does not always win. But if they played 162 games, the better team would absolutely win that series.

    You can't tell me that the two teams in the World Series each year are without a doubt always the two best teams in each league.

    Sorry I don't understand what you're trying to say. Maybe it's just me being an airhead but if you can try to dumb it down/be a little more clear for me I'd be happy to respond. :knucks:
     
  35. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    Really? The Yankees are 1-2 against the Washington Nationals this year and the Red Sox are 4-6 against Oakland this year. Would you say that the Nationals or A's are better than the Yanks/Sox?

    Can you explain how the 2003 Marlins or the 2006 Cardinals won the WS against better teams then?

    You're making it out like I'm saying the NL teams that win the WS had no business winning it, I'm saying that in a 7 game series anything can happen and the best team does not always win. It happens. Teams have to be lucky to win in the playoffs, whether that luck is their players are all healthy, they have better pitching match ups, a ball bounces an inch to the left or right.
     
  36. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    What I'm saying is this, in football you can say any given sunday. Why? because they don't play series, they play one game. In baseball they play the best of seven series. So what you are saying is a team can go into a series, be on a roll, and just play better then they are. Fine. But, lets compile that with how many times it has happened. Now you are asking me to believe a team can have the momentum, roll over another team, X amount of times, and its not because they are better its just momentum, luck, etc. Thats just not likely. I know the AL is a good league. I'm not even saying the NL is better. All I am saying is you can not discount the NL winning the series like it has the past couple of years as just momentum. Its not honest.
    Not to mention if you drop 4 games to another team, if you have 4 times that you can not beat a team, then you don't deserve to win IMO.
     
  37. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    You just described the 2007 Rockies who were a .500 team up until the last 3 weeks or the season, then got hot and went on a roll right to the WS. It does happen. Again the Cubs were the best team in the NL the past 2 years but didn't win a single playoff game.

    I'm not saying that when a NL team wins a WS that it's just luck and they had no business winning (well except for the 2006 Cardinals). I'm just saying that in a 7 game series the best team doesn't always win.
     
  38. muscle979

    muscle979 Season Ticket Holder

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    What is your definition of the best team? Do you mean on paper? ERA or runs scored? Regular season record? I don't have a problem saying the best team is the one that fought hard all season to snag one of only four playoff spots, battled through a five game series and two seven game series and came out on top against other teams that were also good. Baseball has a longer season than about any other sport and playing well at the right time is just a part of the way the game is. It's a marathon not a sprint. Some teams may sprint all season long but then they can't finish off the race. So for whatever reason they slumped at the wrong time and didn't get it done. God knows I watched the Braves do it plenty of times in the 90s. I don't think slumps or spells of mediocrity during the regular season take away from the accomplishments of a team like the 06 Cardinals or the 03 Marlins. They still had to win a lot of games against good teams to become the champions. When you are a team like the Cardinals and you have the best player in baseball in your lineup you always have a chance to come out on top. Baseball is streaky, that's just the way the sport is.
     
  39. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    Exactly, that's why the best team doesn't always win in the end and why basing how good/bad a league is based on WS titles in a 7 game series isn't the best way to judge. That's why I'm not throwing the All Star Games in as an example of why the AL is better than the NL. You just proved my whole point with that statement. Just because the NL has won 4 WS titles since 2000 doesn't mean that the two leagues are comparable. You need to look at the larger sample size and the interleague stats give you the biggest sample and also take in account all 30 teams, not just 2. It will give you the best measurement of how to compare the two leagues head to head.
     
  40. Ray Finkle

    Ray Finkle Member

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    It's looking like Wagner is going to stay in NY. That's too bad. Although he did give us the quote of the year when he said he's staying with the Mets because he feels he could stay healthier there. Apparently Billy Wagner hasn't followed the team all year and still isn't eventhough he's on the active roster.
     

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