It's On.

[TheKilo]

Those who have read my posts in the year plus I have been here know that I can be abrasive and negative at times. There's no room for that anymore. Today's loss pissed me off but face facts, the Sox are still a damned good team. 70-47 with 45 games to go and 4 in hand make me feel really good about this team. This team still has plenty of good ball left in it and I'm tired of being dragged down in negativity.

 

This team starts making its playoff push NOW. And I'm on board. Anyone else?

[aoxfan51]

Nothing good ever comes easy .... let's hope they beat the teams they should beat the rest of the way

[See Red]

I'm on board... unfortunately that only goes so far... and it's not far at all. It's up to the guys on the field to adopt this mindset.

[Cocos Disciples]

I'm in.

[soxfan51]

Me too .... can we get the 25 guys in uniform and their brain trust (?) to buy in ?

[Rdsxmbnt]

the puck drops here, lets right this ship!

[KeepTheFaith1229]

I'd love to get on board, but it really doesn't look like they give a s***.

[riverside sluggers]

All aboard

 

Some upcoming moves should be good for the Sox. Kielty is starting to hit well in Pawtucket, maybe this week he'll be called up and say bye to Wily Mo in the process. Right there the Sox upgrade the bench on defense and solid bat against lefties

 

Rumors are starting to swirl that Bucholz will start one of the games in the DH vs Anaheim. I would hope that if he does very well, it would make the Sox ponder him staying as the 5th starter

[MANNYHOF24]

It's freaking on, this team is to good to blow the lead they have held all season long. We just need Gange to stop sucking, if we hadn't made that trade we probably would have swept the O's this weekend.

[castigs850]

pretty sure all the sox fans on this board want the sox to stop playing like s*** and actually win.... that being said, lets go get 30+ runs in this series against the d-rays. we need to blow there asses out of the water before things start looking up.

[Soxfan1]

I know people always say "Red Sox fans are never happy" and I didn't get that before. We're panicking about a 4 game lead when we got the best record in baseball and the best division lead in baseball. It's gonna be down to the wire, but its time to pull the rake out of the ass and start thinking positive.

[yeszir]

So this is the official Red Sox should start actually winning bandwagon? I'm in!

[BoSox21]

I'm on board. we're much better than this and no team is as good as the Yankees are appearing to be right now.

[ImissPedro]

Word to that

[ORS]

I'm onboard. Have been every year, and I'll go down with the ship.

 

That said, no matter how we approach it, they don't get the big prize unless they start hitting for more power and the manager realizes the setup man is Jima. Sure, they'll make the post season, but they don't go deep without those things.

[Gom]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but if you guys lose two of three to the D-Rays, you should start worrying about Seattle for the wild card. The thing is, we get the same O's you just had. If we lose two of three, then maybe we're not that much better than you are at this point. If we sweep them, different story altogether.

[riverside sluggers]

I'm on board. we're much better than this and no team is as good as the Yankees are appearing to be right now.

 

Very true

 

Take Gagne out of the equation and its a 3 game sweep with the Sox still up by 6 games

[Soxfan1]

So I suppose when you got swept by KC (twice) last year and when we swept KC later, we owned you guys right?

[yankees228]

So I suppose when you got swept by KC (twice) last year and when we swept KC later' date=' we owned you guys right?[/quote']

 

The Yankees went 4-2 against KC last year...

 

And the year before that, they got swept, but only once.

[TheKilo]

Very true

 

Take Gagne out of the equation and its a 3 game sweep with the Sox still up by 6 games

 

Possibly. Hindsight is 20/20.

[yankees228]

Possibly. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

Yeah, but these are the situations that you got him for (although some would say that Okajima should be pitching in the set-up role).

 

Gagne is struggling right now, but when healthy he's got a darn good track record, and I'm sure that before the season is over you guys are going to see why you got him.

 

EDIT: But whether Okajima is the eighth inning guy or not, Gagne is still going to be called upon to get important outs.

[MANNYHOF24]

Sorry to rain on your parade' date=' but if you guys lose two of three to the D-Rays, you should start worrying about Seattle for the wild card. The thing is, we get the same O's you just had. If we lose two of three, then maybe we're not that much better than you are at this point. If we sweep them, different story altogether.[/quote']

 

I am will never worry about the wildcard with a 4 game lead in the divison ever. We should have won all three games this weekend. BTW, you shouldn't be allowed to even be a fan, you gave up on your team in June.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Well, yeah, I'm on board, but it doesn't really matter if we are because they need to be.

 

I'll be watching until we're mathematically eliminated though.

[BoSox21]

Well, yeah, I'm on board, but it doesn't really matter if we are because they need to be.

 

I'll be watching until we're mathematically eliminated though.

 

I don't see what the Sox can do other than start catching breaks though. Lowell, Tek, Youk and Pedroia have been good all year. Coco, Lugo and Manny have come around. Drew isn't trying to suck, he's just having a hard time. Ortiz is a WebMD wet dream right now. Beckett has been great all year. Dice-K has given probably better than expected. Schilling is still 40. Wakefield is Wakefield. the 5th starters have been what 5th starters are supposed to be and the bullpen has probably overachieved to this point.

[SoxFan25]

the team is fine, no problem, go sox.

[example1]

Sometimes it's a thread like this that makes my day bright. I'm at home in VT visiting family, and I missed the game today to spend time with family friends. I was going to watch the midnight re-run, but my dad came and told me not to waste my time, that Gagne blows another one, the Yankees won, and the lead is down to that number I have always told myself it is time to get nervous around: 4 games.

 

Then I come on here and one of the most pessimistic (realistic?) guys around makes a post like TheKilo did to start this thread.

 

f*** yeah I'm on board. Let's get this show on the road. I think what we're realizing right now is that the Yankees and the Red Sox are--shockingly--the two best teams in baseball. Hands down. Just like the last few years. The playoffs are always different than the regular season, but you can't look at these lineups and rotations and think otherwise.

 

Two of the last three games have been crushing, no doubt. However, we see a resurgent JD Drew, a continuing-to-surge Manny, a solid Schilling, an excellent Dice-K, etc., I like what I see, except from Gagne. I'm still confident that he'll turn it around.

 

f*** yeah, I'm on board. If someone told me "Example1, you could start the season over or you could have the Sox with a 4 game lead in August" and I'd take the lead in August every single time.

 

The Yankees look unbeatable, which is why it's great that we don't play them for a bit.

 

My only piece of advice: bring up Clay Buchholz and either put him in the pen or the rotation. Bring Wake or Lester into the 'pen if necessary.

 

Thanks for brightening my evening folks. That's the first that that has happened in a long, long time on this board. Usually it's ORS and I (and a few others, RS included) who try to stay positive and go with the percentages. Well, going with the percentages, it was bound to happen for the Sox to blow a few leads this year, just like it was bound that the Yankees were going to finish with a solid record. You can go back and look: I haven't counted them out a single time this year, and for good reason. There was always time for them to ascend to their mean, and they have. Now, if Drew ascends to his mean, and Lugo to his then this team is still in good shape against everyone else.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

I don't see what the Sox can do other than start catching breaks though. Lowell' date=' Tek, Youk and Pedroia have been good all year. Coco, Lugo and Manny have come around. Drew isn't trying to suck, he's just having a hard time. Ortiz is a WebMD wet dream right now. Beckett has been great all year. Dice-K has given probably better than expected. Schilling is still 40. Wakefield is Wakefield. the 5th starters have been what 5th starters are supposed to be and the bullpen has probably overachieved to this point.[/quote']

 

They could start running out ground balls for starters.

 

Not that it would make them safe. They just don't seem to have much energy. I'm on board though.

[Thumper]

I'm on board. 70-47, first place since April, 45 more games to go, TheKilo is right. This team is doing good.

 

I don't think it's the team it was hyped up to be in the preseason, but they're still doing exceptionally well despite the few blunders that have taken place.

 

As far as Gange is concerned, I think he's just getting use to the new club. He'll catch on quick, I hope, and will help us dominate all the way up and through the postseason.

 

And it was good to see Schilling faired well today, he didn't do so bad.

 

I think we just need to get the wood cracking again. I don't know if it's just me, but it seems half the time they swing too anxiously and miss, flyout, or groundout, or don't swing to take a suspected ball and end up striking out. And you'd think having Ortiz and Ramirez would help, but surprisingly the Sox have been able to hold up top without the full strength of the Ortiz/Manny combo. Hopefully they'll get better and can carry us to a pennant.

 

All in all, I like the team this year, I really do. I'm in with them all the way, win or lose, it's been a great season and I think they have the potential to go all the way.

[Gom]

I am will never worry about the wildcard with a 4 game lead in the divison ever. We should have won all three games this weekend. BTW' date=' you shouldn't be allowed to even be a fan, you gave up on your team in June.[/quote']

I'll be the first one to admit, I gave up on their chances this season. I still follow the team, love the team, and go to as many games as I can [i've been to about 25 games this year so far]. I just didn't think they would do it, but I was hoping they would. So if I think my team can't win, that makes me less of a fan? There is a difference between rooting for your team and believing in them. I will never stop rooting for them, but I admit, with Torre the manager, the injuries, etc., I stopped believing in them going anywhere. I admit, they have surprised me, considering how they opened the season. They were playing God-awful baseball, and you guys couldn't lose. If someone would have told you guys in mid-May that you would play .500 ball the rest of the way [till this point], and that the Yankees would catch absolute fire and run down the lead to 4 in the second week in August, most of you would have laughed at the possibility.

 

By the way, I gave up in mid-May, I didn't wait until June. I seriously thought you guys couldn't be beat.

[Thumper]

I'll be the first one to admit' date=' I gave up on their chances this season. They were playing God-awful baseball, and you guys couldn't lose. If someone would have told you guys in mid-May that you would play .500 ball the rest of the way [till this point'], and that the Yankees would catch absolute fire and run down the lead to 4 in the second week in August, most of you would have laughed at the possibility.

 

By the way, I gave up in mid-May, I didn't wait until June. I seriously thought you guys couldn't be beat.

 

I would have laughed at that. But even since it happened, I'm not worried about it. Still some good games left and we still meet your Bronx Bombers a few more times for some pure baseball.