Can They Turn It On In October?

[Banned in Boston]

The '05 White Sox' date=' '06 Tigers and '06 Cardinals all almost blew their chances at the post-season in their respective years. Well, we know how that turned out...[/quote']

 

The 05 W. Sox wound up winning their division by 9 games, no? I know they had a huge lead and stumbled a bit, but they kinda won going away I thought.

[Banned in Boston]

At this point' date=' I'm just happy Cano actually knows where first base is. $100 million dollar talent, 10 cent brain.[/quote']

 

Yeah, and Curt Schilling's least favorite batter these days. But don't let me interfere with a Yankee fan plunging the knife into one of his own guys. Too much fun to watch.

 

As for this whole being indifferent towards the division thing, the division is definitely more important to the fans and the overall lore than the organization I think. But unless the strategy paid off in the end, i'd have to go into media boycott in this town for the next year if NYY wound up winning this thing.

 

Waht i think is stupid is that the Red Sox have given the Yankees at least the Wild Card by their play against them. There are a lot of reasons they went 5-1 in those games, but they could've really put a damper on the Yankee's wild card hopes and made THEM work a lot harder if they'd won more of those games. Instead they've put that team right in their path.

[redsoxrules]

The 05 W. Sox wound up winning their division by 9 games' date=' no? I know they had a huge lead and stumbled a bit, but they kinda won going away I thought.[/quote']

 

actually the sox went in the post season with a 5 game winning streak and 8-2 in their last 10

[Gom]

Yeah' date=' and Curt Schilling's least favorite batter these days. But don't let me interfere with a Yankee fan plunging the knife into one of his own guys. Too much fun to watch.[/quote']

 

Outside of Arod and maybe Papi, he may just be the most talented hitter on either team. He has the skills to be a perennial all-star, but he has the most inexplicable mental blunders sometimes. If you put Pedroia's head with Cano's skill, you might have one of the top 10 secondbasemen of all time when all is said and done.

[schillingouttheks]

actually the sox went in the post season with a 5 game winning streak and 8-2 in their last 10

 

I could have sworn they had a late-season swoon and almost blew their division lead. Maybe they got their heads out of their asses during the last week or two.

[example1]

Yeah, and Curt Schilling's least favorite batter these days. But don't let me interfere with a Yankee fan plunging the knife into one of his own guys. Too much fun to watch.

 

As for this whole being indifferent towards the division thing, the division is definitely more important to the fans and the overall lore than the organization I think. But unless the strategy paid off in the end, i'd have to go into media boycott in this town for the next year if NYY wound up winning this thing.

 

Waht i think is stupid is that the Red Sox have given the Yankees at least the Wild Card by their play against them. There are a lot of reasons they went 5-1 in those games, but they could've really put a damper on the Yankee's wild card hopes and made THEM work a lot harder if they'd won more of those games. Instead they've put that team right in their path.

 

I'm pretty sure the Sox were trying to win those games against the Yankees. They weren't going to treat them like playoff games because they weren't playoff games, but they definitely tried to win. The Yankees have come back and TAKEN their deserved spot in the playoffs; nobody has given it to them. It's not like they've had a lot of close, nail biting games. They are rolling over people and, in case you haven't noticed, are probably the best team in baseball right now in terms of the unity of the rotation and lineup and the way they are playing at this particular point. The Sox had a similar streak early in the year.

 

What I'm optimistic about is that this team is only going to get better. Not this year, necessarily, but in future years. If this team had had Buchholz pitching every 5th day, and Ellsbury leading off in 150 games, their production would pick up and their lineup would finally, FINALLY be cemented into place. Lugo, Crisp (if he's playing), down at the bottom of the order, OR make Coco one of the most useful 4th OFs in baseball. THAT is a dangerous lineup. Give a guy like Carter the reserve 1B role and let Hinske move along. As it should be:

 

L-Ellsbury

R-Pedroia

L-Ortiz

R-Manny

R-Lowell

L-Drew

R-Youkilis

S-Varitek

R-Lugo

 

That, to me, is a dominant, run-scoring lineup. Ellsbury is a Pedroia with superb speed, as he makes good contact and has a good eye. This season Tito has been forced to juggle the lineup on a near-nightly basis and it messes with guys like Youkilis and Lugo to be moved around like that. Youkilis is a dangerous 7 hitter. He's a mediocre 2 or leadoff hitter.

 

Should Ellsbury stay in CF for the playoffs? Just give him the leadoff spot and tell Coco to take a seat, thanks for your sparkling defense but Jacoby almost gives us that plus the ability to get on base at a .380 clip? I think he should. Coco can play all 3 OF positions and has late inning replacement speed.

 

Somehow I get the feeling that the Sox will start Crisp as soon as he and Manny are both eligable.

 

EDIT: In an optimistic side note: the Sox have a better record on Sept 20 of 2007 than they did on this date in 2004 and 2005, and have as many wins as they did in 2003. Yes, every season is different and records reflect different things, but this is a team that has won its fair share of games this season and they will win again soon.

[riverside sluggers]

Good article by Ken Rosenthal

 

Postseason is what matters to Red Sox

 

Repeat after me, Red Sox Nation:

 

It's not 1978.

In 1978 — hello — there was no wild card.

 

After the Red Sox blew their 14-game lead to Bucky Bleepin' Dent and Co., they had no chance to win the World Series.

 

Now, the Sox are taking steps to enhance their chances of winning the Series, even if it costs them the American League East title.

 

To succeed in the postseason, the Sox need to rest their pitchers and mend their position players. Finishing ahead of the Yankees is — and should be — a lower priority.

 

Yes, it was amusing when the Boston Herald put a panic button on its front page to bait the team's fans.

 

 

Amusing, and entirely misleading.

 

Like it or not, times have changed. The Sox might blow their 14½-game division lead, but they're not going to blow a playoff berth. Their worst-case scenario is the wild card.

 

Anyone in Red Sox Nation who would be dissatisfied with such an outcome should try rooting for the Devil Rays, Orioles or some other sad-sack team.

 

If anything, the Sox's approach to the final days reflects what they already have accomplished in building the American League's best record.

 

To the victors belong the spoils.

 

Seriously, does anyone think it would be wise for the Sox to refrain from resting pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling and Hideki Okajima in an effort to hold off the Yankees?

 

 

Resting Curt Schilling for the postseason is far more important for the Red Sox than holding off the Yankees. (Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

 

Does anyone think it would be wise for them to rush back their three injured regulars — left fielder Manny Ramirez, center fielder Coco Crisp and first baseman Kevin Youkilis?

 

In case anyone has forgotten, the wild card was the launching point for the Sox's run to the 2004 World Series title. The '02 Angels and '03 Marlins also won the Series as wild-card teams.

 

The postseason, to use Billy Beane's famous phrase, is a crapshoot. What's more, the way a team finishes September is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in October.

 

Just go back to last year.

 

The Tigers went 12-16 in September and lost their final five games, including three straight to the last-place Royals. They then upset the Yankees and beat the A's to reach the World Series.

 

The '06 Cardinals are an even better example for the '07 Sox. They, too, stumbled into the postseason, but won the Series after getting their injured players back in October.

 

The bottom line is that the Sox are taking the sensible approach by resting certain players and testing others. Any other analysis is sheer Yankee-phobia, nothing more.

 

No question, the Sox would rather win their first division title since 1995, hold down the Yankees and enter the postseason on a roll.

 

But consider the alternative.

 

If the Sox had kept Matsuzaka and Schilling on their normal schedules and then faltered in the Division Series, they would have been rightly accused of losing sight of the forest for the trees.

 

In their position, even losses can be instructive.

 

On Tuesday night, manager Terry Francona all but conceded a game by allowing struggling reliever Eric Gagne to blow a 2-1 lead to the Blue Jays in the eighth inning.

 

If the game had true significance, Francona would have summoned closer Jonathan Papelbon to help Gagne escape the jam. But the manager needed to find about Gagne — and, unfortunately, got his answer.

 

In any case, the Nation needs to relax.

 

The Sox aren't collapsing. They're exploiting the advantage they gained in the first five months of the season.

 

It's not 1978.

 

Not even close.

 

EDIT: Au update in his daily dish on Fox is that if the Sox need a 4th starter during the playoffs, it will be Buchholz not Wakefield

[YAZMAN]

And look at the Cards regular season record in '04 as well. 105 wins and swept in the WS.

[.406]

Division - Yay or Nay?