7/03 SOX @ Marlins 6:40PM ET

[FredLynn]

No, buster. You've been this way. I certainly have not. I watched almost every game in 2018, the best season the Sox have ever had. And I did the same in 2021 when the Sox made it to the postseason, beat Cole and the Yankees in the wild card, beat the 100 win Rays in the ALDS, and finally lost, 4 games to 2, to the Astros in the ALCS. People have forgotten that in his first two seasons as CBO, Dombrowski's teams won the AL East in 2016 and 2017 but were trounced, 3 games to none, both years in the ALDS. To me those were worse seasons than 2021. Such is Cora's genius that the Sox made it to the postseason and the ALCS in 2021 without a freaking closer.

The last two seasons were not good, but they were still watchable. And, to a knowledgeable Sox fan since 1949, the 2024 Sox have been astounding precisely because of all the no-names, including the entire Sox rotation, who are making a difference.

Ok. You got me by a decade-buster. And for as long as I can remember you’ve been a bonnethead, reluctant to say anything negative about the team. You don’t like my “venom”. I don’t care for unrealistically and uniformly blind comments that deny reality.
As for tonight Bello, as I wrote, came around after a poor start against inferior competition. As I wrote he is a promising prospect-one who should be sent down if he can’t get it together consistently soon.
We are playing for next year or the year after. That’s the reality.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

That's how you do it. Rafaela wanting to keep his RBI lead on the SOX.

[vegasbob]

Really need to see what we could get for Rafaela at the deadline. Maybe a backup 1Bman or a Lh reliever with forearm tightness. Nice to get a game buster there, Cedanne

[Old Red]

That's how you do it. Rafaela wanting to keep his RBI lead on the SOX.

If RAF Man keeps it up he may hit 100 RBI from the 9th spot.

[FredLynn]

Really need to see what we could get for Rafaela at the deadline. Maybe a backup 1Bman or a Lh reliever with forearm tightness. Nice to get a game buster there, Cedanne

Wonder what we can get for Don Smith or Dalbec?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

If RAF Man keeps it up he may hit 100 RBI from the 9th spot.

In 1977 Hobson drove in 112 runs batting mainly 9th.

[vegasbob]

Splendid wins the series, despite what Denny G says, and now for the sweep tomorrow early.

Bello does get the win, and the Sox bats come alive late as they usually do.

[Maxbialystock]

I’m here aren’t I? I’ve been here for years even though this team has sucked recently. I’ve likely been a Sox fan long before you started following them.
Yes, Bello got it together against a terrible offense-second worse in the game. Let’s see how he does against some real competition.
And no, I don’t like this year’s team. Or last year’s. Or the year before that. Last place two years running and chasing a third.
I’m not a bonnethead here. If you don’t like that reality don’t read my posts here.

I was overseas, but religiously checked the Sox box scores in 1949 and after, so that's 75 years of fandom even though I couldn't get Sox games on radio or TV for about 50 of those years. DirectTV changed that in 2002, so I've been a real fanatic since then. Lucky timing because JH bought the Sox and brought in a pretty good brain trust to finally end the 86 year drought. His first big move was to fire that idiot manager and bring in Francona.

I've been a Sox fan because I was born outside Boston and both my parents grew up in Massachusetts. Plus Ted Williams, of course.

I had an Uncle Ned who was a real Sox fan, living right there in Boston the whole time, for the entire 86 year drought, but I don't think he made it to October 2004. I remember watching him watch every single Sox game on TV. including some of the bad years. I thought he was nuts, so I must be one too.

Having said that, one fellow nut to another, you are certainly entitled to your point of view. Real fans thrive on disagreeing.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Very good pitching and very good defense and a very good win.

[vegasbob]

Wonder what we can get for Don Smith or Dalbec?

Don't think you could get anything in the way of a player/pitcher. If the Sox could have moved Dalbec over the past couple years, even in a multi-player, I think they would have. Smith would have to wake up to get traded.

[vegasbob]

O'Neill remains a statistical anomaly. Hitting .885 OPS with 16 HR's , but still only 28 rbi's, meaning other than himself, he has only contributed 12 other runs with Duran in front of him most of the season and Devers now regularly behind him.

Not saying he hasn't been helpful, but something doesn't click in terms of causing runs to score.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

O'Neill remains a statistical anomaly. Hitting .885 OPS with 16 HR's , but still only 28 rbi's, meaning other than himself, he has only contributed 12 other runs with Duran in front of him most of the season and Devers now regularly behind him.

Not saying he hasn't been helpful, but something doesn't click in terms of causing runs to score.

16 HR's and 28 RBI are very strange stats. I'm guessing about 11 of those homers were solo shots.

[FredLynn]

I was overseas, but religiously checking the Sox box scores in 1949, so that's 75 years of fandom even though I couldn't get Sox games on radio or TV for about 50 of those years. DirectTV changed that in 2002, so I've been a real fanatic since then. Lucky timing because JH bought the Sox and brought in a pretty good brain trust to finally end the 86 year drought. His first big move was to fire that idiot manager and bring in Francona.

Been religiously following this team since I was 8 in 1959. I remember listening to games on my transistor radio after my parents put me to bed. I think Curt Gowdy was doing the games back then. So saying I’m not a fan is inaccurate. I just prefer to point out both the good and the bad on the team. It’s a balanced approach not appreciated by people who can’t seem to assess teams objectively.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Don't look now, but the SOX are only 5 games behind the Yankems in the loss column.

[Maxbialystock]

Ok. You got me by a decade-buster. And for as long as I can remember you’ve been a bonnethead, reluctant to say anything negative about the team. You don’t like my “venom”. I don’t care for unrealistically and uniformly blind comments that deny reality.
As for tonight Bello, as I wrote, came around after a poor start against inferior competition. As I wrote he is a promising prospect-one who should be sent down if he can’t get it together consistently soon.
We are playing for next year or the year after. That’s the reality.

We disagree, but that's OK--which I apologize for forgetting. I like these 2024 Sox a lot because, with Giolito, Story, Whitlock, Casas, Sale, et al on the IL (or pitching for the Braves while paid by the Sox), they should be floundering at the bottom of the AL, not just the AL East. Instead, the suckers are winning ball games they didn't win last year. The rotation is insanely good for a bunch of no-names. I mean, as recently as last season we were all arguing about whether Houck could face a lineup 3 times.

As for Bello, I'm fine with whatever Cora and Breslow agree on. But to me it makes sense to leave him with the best manager in MLB and possibly the best pitching coach.