September 18th @Toronto

[Gom]

I can't believe there is a worse manager when it comes to the bullpen than Torre, but it just may be Tito. Is Steinbrenner paying him under the table?

[fenwayfrank]

I blame pretty-boy Epstein for that Gag-ME frigging acquisition. What a f***ING OVERPAID FAT-ASS PIECE OF s*** he is.

 

But, is that really how I feel.

[Mr Crunchy]

BRUTAL JUST FUKIN BRUTAL

growing up with auerbach and his proteges we always had that edge as celts fans

its been passed on to belichek who is the best 1 game coach i have ever witnessed and across town we go to the fens where terry francona just f***ed the pooch bareback

ya 2004 ya ya i know

 

i also remember curtis leskanic with the ball in game 4 down 0-3 to ny

if his legacy is the world series win just remember the season and his defining moment was in the hands of curtis leskanic when the chips were down and we were all in with a 5.00 chip left to play

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Kanye?

 

yesh

 

it really seems like weve had more of these games in september than we have all year. unbelievable

[riverside sluggers]

Eric Gagne was allowed to blow Boston's one-run lead and give up three runs in the eighth Tuesday to take a loss to the Blue Jays.

 

Terry Francona: good manager of people, lousy manager of baseball games. It's simply ridiculous to bring Gagne into a one-run game in the eighth and not have anyone up behind him. With two outs, Gagne walked Frank Thomas and then gave up a hard grounder for a single. Two more walks followed, the second pushing in the tying run. Even then, Gagne was allowed to stay in, and he allowed a two-run double to Russ Adams. He only got out of the inning because the third runner was thrown out at the plate. Gagne threw just 13 of his 32 pitches for strikes. Meanwhile, Manny Delcarmen, he of the 2.37 ERA, has been asked to get two outs in six days. Jonathan Papelbon has pitched once in six days. Hideki Okajima hasn't pitched in four days. Francona has played a large role in blowing two of the last four games, and his bullpen management has gone from good to abysmal since the day Gagne was acquired.

[fenwayfrank]

Apparently Tito didn't strap his set on tonight when he made the AWFUL decision to bring in that panty-waste of a man, GAG-FRIGGING-ME!!!

 

f***IN-A!!!!

 

I'm going to tip a few more back. . .I've had it!!!

[Mr Crunchy]

i dont understand the mindset here unless he played toronto

is pete rose in the area??

unreal

we get a cancer survivor to spin his best career effort when needed the most and this cockmuch f***s him in the face like a blind uncle

i will be puking in my sleep,that hot bile puke,not a lot of volume but a lot of fire that a clip of rolaids and a gallon of maalox wont be able to handle

pitiful effort by tito and gagne and 1 i wont forget soon

lets hope our guys have a shorter memory than i do

[riverside sluggers]

Facing Jesse Leech tomorrow with the kid Bucholz taking the ball, positive about tomorrow. Ok now Theo we all know you want to make a case that the move for Gagne was a good one. Cut the s***, he cant get any more chances when the Sox have a slim lead. The setup men should be Delcarmen/Timlin/Okajima

[a700hitter]

Facing Jesse Leech tomorrow with the kid Bucholz taking the ball' date=' positive about tomorrow. Ok now Theo we all know you want to make a case that the move for Gagne was a good one. Cut the s***, he cant get any more chances when the Sox have a slim lead. The setup men should be Delcarmen/Timlin/Okajima[/quote']I'd only be confident going to Timlin right now.

[a700hitter]

Why is a Rookie like Moss getting PT? Is kielty still hurt?

[a700hitter]

Once the bases were loaded, Papelbon should have been in the game for a 4 out save. WTF was Francona thinking?

[riverside sluggers]

Once the bases were loaded' date=' Papelbon should have been in the game for a 4 out save. WTF was Francona thinking?[/quote']

 

I was thinking yank him when there were 2 runners on. Its weird it showed papelbon lightly tossing when the bases were loaded. Once he walked in the tying run, Bryan Corey started warming up.

 

Tito's comments-- The strike zone was hard on him. I stayed with him because we need him for the rest of the season and playoffs. We wont quit on him.

 

Yay more chances to justify Theo's trade :thumbsup:

[Mr Crunchy]

bunny kim and jeff suppan were left off the 03 playoff roster if i recall

this is where the bond of gm and manager is an anchor

jimy williams gave steve avery the ball at the end of the year when that start ignited an automatic year extension after avery sucked all year

it was against duquette and the owners wishes but jimy did what he thought was proper

 

i cant believe tito watched that meltdown and was thinking about gagne in october

no

he is marching to the beat of the front office and that isnt good baseball

or is he doing this on his own??

 

in any case it was horrible to watch

[TheKilo]

First off, Gagne was horrible.

 

Francona and Tek's pitch selections were worse.

 

Yeah he gets squeezed on the Thomas AB, and I do think Gagne had a legit beef there. The basehit to Hill should have been the end of his night, because Papelbon should have been up if needed. Of course, he wasn't.

 

The AB to Stairs might have been the worst pitch calling sequence I've seen all year. Gagne has had recent success changing speeds and relying on his off speed stuff and spotting his fastball. When he struggled, it was the opposite. So what does he throw to Stairs?

 

Fastball - foul

Fastball - foul

Fastball - ball

Fastball - ball

Fastball - ball

Changeup - ball

 

Why wait til 3-2 to throw the f***ing changeup? He fooled Rios badly earlier in the inning on a change then curve, but Gagne and Tek continued to pump fastballs in there. For all the praise Tek gets for calling a game its like he's never seen Gagne pitch before.

 

Francona takes Delcarmen out after three pitches. Awesome pen management.

 

I'm trying really hard to stay positive. It's getting increasingly difficult. I haven't read the gamethread but undoubtedly there will be some bashing of JD Drew for not catching that ball, but at least he's playing with a shredded shoulder unlike our favorite slugger, Manny Ramirez.

 

I'll be glad when we ship Manny out this offseason for $.50 on the dollar. I'll take Ellsbury in left over Manny right now anyways.

[ANiMAL]

I was thinking yank him when there were 2 runners on. Its weird it showed papelbon lightly tossing when the bases were loaded. Once he walked in the tying run, Bryan Corey started warming up.

 

Tito's comments-- The strike zone was hard on him. I stayed with him because we need him for the rest of the season and playoffs. We wont quit on him.

 

Yay more chances to justify Theo's trade :thumbsup:

 

We're going to lose our first division title chance in 12 years because ignorance and Eric Gagne. We won without him, we dont need him. DFA Gagne!

[a700hitter]

First off, Gagne was horrible.

 

Francona and Tek's pitch selections were worse.

 

Yeah he gets squeezed on the Thomas AB, and I do think Gagne had a legit beef there. The basehit to Hill should have been the end of his night, because Papelbon should have been up if needed. Of course, he wasn't.

 

The AB to Stairs might have been the worst pitch calling sequence I've seen all year. Gagne has had recent success changing speeds and relying on his off speed stuff and spotting his fastball. When he struggled, it was the opposite. So what does he throw to Stairs?

 

Fastball - foul

Fastball - foul

Fastball - ball

Fastball - ball

Fastball - ball

Changeup - ball

 

Why wait til 3-2 to throw the f***ing changeup? He fooled Rios badly earlier in the inning on a change then curve, but Gagne and Tek continued to pump fastballs in there. For all the praise Tek gets for calling a game its like he's never seen Gagne pitch before.

 

Francona takes Delcarmen out after three pitches. Awesome pen management.

 

I'm trying really hard to stay positive. It's getting increasingly difficult. I haven't read the gamethread but undoubtedly there will be some bashing of JD Drew for not catching that ball, but at least he's playing with a shredded shoulder unlike our favorite slugger, Manny Ramirez.

 

I'll be glad when we ship Manny out this offseason for $.50 on the dollar. I'll take Ellsbury in left over Manny right now anyways.

When a guy loses his release point so drastically on the fastball, isn't a good idea to call for a breaking pitch?

[Mr Crunchy]

we wont lose the division despite this s***

that isnt my worry

its the overall effort from guys that should be delivering that pisses me off

the homefield advantage we're gagging up pisses me off too

[riverside sluggers]

Ship Manny out or just planly buy out his contract for the 2008 season. Last year i let it slide that he ditched on the Sox for the last 6 weeks, because that team was going nowhere even with him in the lineup. Now to not step in with your team in a tightening pennant race is just wrong. Thats when the true gamers come out. "Yea Im hurt but Im in it to help my team win games down the strech." Free agent left fielders to be will be Adam Dunn (if Reds dont activate 08 option) and Kosuke Fukodome

[a700hitter]

we wont lose the division despite this s***

that isnt my worry

its the overall effort from guys that should be delivering that pisses me off

the homefield advantage we're gagging up pisses me off too

It's better to find out now that we can't rely on Gagne in the playoffs. This could be a blessing in disguise. Maybe th FO and Francoma will open their eyes and realize that Bucholz could be a reliable late inning option for the playoffs-- similar to K-Rod in 2002.

[TheKilo]

When a guy loses his release point so drastically on the fastball' date=' isn't a good idea to call for a breaking pitch?[/quote']

 

On an 0-2 pitch to Matt Stairs, when he threw two good changeups and a good curve in a row to a better hitter in Rios earlier in the inning?

 

It's a no brainer. You have to at least try it on 0-2 or 1-2.

[TheKilo]

It's better to find out now that we can't rely on Gagne in the playoffs. This could be a blessing in disguise. Maybe th FO and Francoma will open their eyes and realize that Bucholz could be a reliable late inning option for the playoffs-- similar to K-Rod in 2002.

 

With Wake consistently s***ing the bed don't be shocked if Buchholz is the #4 starter.

 

Hell, I'd start him in game 3.

[Mr Crunchy]

the team has been on cruise for a while

they dLd beckett for a blister

they gave schill forever to come back,timlin and lester too

their patience with manny is now shelved IF he can swing the bat

nixon,the tuffest prick this team had for years,missed months with this same injury

 

its not ez defending manny but we arent winning s*** without his bat

[a700hitter]

With Wake consistently s***ing the bed don't be shocked if Buchholz is the #4 starter.

 

Hell, I'd start him in game 3.

That's a possibility. I hope Tito doesn't get a case of MacNamara Veteran-itis. This is coming from a guy who favors experienced players over inexperienced. I hate the inconsistency of the knuckleball. I also hate chokers like Gagne. You would think that getting the first two out would have given him some confidence.

[Mr Crunchy]

wake was on fire till he missed that 1 start

you just dont know what he will bring and he dont either

maalox on my cornflakes isnt cutting thru the fire

 

christ

i hate losing on stupidity

[a700hitter]

We are going to the playoffs one way or another. The extra home game is nice, but right now it is a toss up who we would play in the first round whether or not we win the division. Cleveland has a better a record than LA right now by 1/2 game. If we win the division we would draw LA. I am really on the fence about who I'd rather face. Sabathia is very tough on us as is Carmona. That could really silence our offense in a 5 game series. We do much better against Lackey and the LA starters. The Yankees match up better against Cleveland. What do you think?

[Mr Crunchy]

i think the angels own ny and ny is the team to beat now

[Banned in Boston]

I think if the Sox lose the division because of Gagne and then don't win the pennant THeo should be fired. And with him Francona will probably go.

 

Winning the division has been paramount to me all year because of what it means. Losing the division to them at this point is about as miserable as I can imagine. Maybe it's because I live in NYC and have to listen to them.

 

Losing the division is not only a mental shock but it just seems so wrong. RIght now this is a mini-slump-4 of 5. But the idea that the Sox could play relatively consistently all season long and still lose to them just boggles my mind.

[riverside sluggers]

Quote of the Day: "He had two quick outs," Francona said. "That's his inning to get out of."

[Gom]

i think the angels own ny and ny is the team to beat now

 

You know, I don't buy that stuff as much as I used to. We used to own you guys too. In fact, we have, with the exception of 2004, but that is quite a big exception.

 

We split the season series with Anaheim, and they really don't scare me like they used to. The Angels play in a weaker division, so their record is a little inflated, and the Yankees weakness is lefty pitching, and they don't even have a lefty on their 25 man roster. The Guardians with their deeper pen, and Sabathia and Carmona, scare me a lot more than the Angels do.

 

We did sweep the series from the Guardians, but I don't care for our chances in a five game series with Carmona and Sabathia. Scary. Let you guys handle them. As long as we play Mientkiewicz at first, Molina behind the plate, and Posada as the DH, I think we can crush the Angels.

[yankees228]

Gom, the Yanks were 3-6 against the Angels this year.

 

EDIT: Wait a second. You want Posada to DH? What exactly do you want the lineup to be?