Red Sox Decline (Sweet Caroline)

[Ace]

This song pretty some sums up this season, even though it ended s*****, all I can do at this point is look back and have a laugh.

 

 

[youtube=Red Sox Decline]dq3Yg_l3UyQ

[DwightFright]

How about the half assed effort by Crawford on the winning single? The season was on the line, and he makes a nancy-slide instead of diving for the ball. Crapford will go down as the worst FA bust ever.

[Ace]

Yeah its hard to fathom how poorly he's played both offensively and defensively, I only see it getting worse down the road as he progresses through his 30's and he losses his speed.

[Emmz]

LOL.

 

Speed is one of the things that doesn't deteriorate as quickly. Power is what deteriorates rapidly in your 30s.

 

How do you see this as just the start of him getting worse? The dude has been a stud for the last 5 years pretty much. He doesn't have any loss in speed. I'm pretty sure he'll be back to form next year, and you two will be eating humble pie. Crawford has had one f***ing godawful year, I'll give you that, but this is not the sign of things to come, he will be back next year.

[Ace]

I'm not worried about his power, he has never been known to hit a lot of Home Runs, Speed is the biggest asset for him. Obviously you haven't seen any decrease in speed yet because he just turned 30.

Its going to hurt when it starts to though.

 

Carl hits a lot of triples. One-hundred five triples before the age of 30 is a lot of triples. When his speed goes, those triples turn into doubles. That’s not so bad, but Carl loses some value. He’s a great base stealer with an 82% success rate. When he loses a step, that might drop to 70%, which is near the break even point in terms of runs, so again he loses value. He receives a nice chunk of value from his defense. Again, a lost step makes that less valuable. I also suspect he beats out a lot of infield grounders for hits. Again, with a loss of a step, his batting average suffers. Since his BA is large percent of his OBP, that will suffer with it.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Sweet Caroline sucks.

[Emmz]

I'm not worried about his power, he has never been known to hit a lot of Home Runs, Speed is the biggest asset for him. Obviously you haven't seen any decrease in speed yet because he just turned 30.

Its going to hurt when it starts to though.

 

Carl hits a lot of triples. One-hundred five triples before the age of 30 is a lot of triples. When his speed goes, those triples turn into doubles. That’s not so bad, but Carl loses some value. He’s a great base stealer with an 82% success rate. When he loses a step, that might drop to 70%, which is near the break even point in terms of runs, so again he loses value. He receives a nice chunk of value from his defense. Again, a lost step makes that less valuable. I also suspect he beats out a lot of infield grounders for hits. Again, with a loss of a step, his batting average suffers. Since his BA is large percent of his OBP, that will suffer with it.

 

Lulz, what part of "speed doesn't deteriorate like other skills" did you not get?

 

Speed is actually a skill healthy players can maintain into their late 30s and even into their 40s.

[Jwmann2]

No way Crawford is a free agent bust, however, no way he deserved the money he got. Give him a little more time to mesh with this team. What sucks for him is that Tampa snagged the Wildcard.

[TheMeanWalrus]

How about the half assed effort by Crawford on the winning single? The season was on the line' date=' and he makes a nancy-slide instead of diving for the ball. Crapford will go down as the worst FA bust ever.[/quote']

 

 

One year into his tenure with the Red Sox might be a little early to hand him that crown but I had a similar thought about his effort on the final hit if the season. He was about as graceful as yours truly tearing through the all-you-can-eat Prime Rib buffet at Caesars Palace after 18 Long Island Iced Tea's and a afternoon beat down at the dice table.

[redsoxrules]

LOL.

 

Speed is one of the things that doesn't deteriorate as quickly. Power is what deteriorates rapidly in your 30s.

 

How do you see this as just the start of him getting worse? The dude has been a stud for the last 5 years pretty much. He doesn't have any loss in speed. I'm pretty sure he'll be back to form next year, and you two will be eating humble pie. Crawford has had one f***ing godawful year, I'll give you that, but this is not the sign of things to come, he will be back next year.

 

I disagree .

 

Look at all the base stealers in the history of the game . they all decline once they hit their 30's with maybe the exception of a few

[Palodios]

I disagree .

 

Look at all the base stealers in the history of the game . they all decline once they hit their 30's with maybe the exception of a few

 

Can you give some examples? The two aging high speed-average guys that come to my mind are Ichiro and Damon, and they still have respectable speed numbers.

[jung]

We keep Crawford. I just hope management is smart enough to work with the guy.

 

His problems at the plate are solvable problems. It is not like he chases rising fastballs or can't hit the curve. He chases pitches at his ankles going away from him and that is actually an easier problem to deal with. Some confidence at the plate might solve his impatience problem as well. In fact, there is no way he can bat from the 2 hole if he continues to be as impatient as he has been so far. More appearances on the base paths (more hits and walks) will finally make his speed more of the asset Sox Management thought it would be.

 

As for his fielding, again I hope management is smart enough to work with him. That said, I am more worried about that as he simply has not shown any ability to come in on the ball. Since he plays now in Fenway's left field, there is little opportunity for him to go back on the ball and maybe going back is where he has earned his fielding reputation. Coming in is usually a matter of how you see the ball coming off the bat, your perspective on the ball, the kind of jump you get and then it is agility. I refuse to believe he is as stone handed as he has looked at times. I would get his eyes checked and I really mean that.

 

But Crawford must stay at this point and he can only get better from this terrible start. Sure 6 years from now if he is still here we might be jawing about what we are getting from a speed guy but at this point 6 years from now is 6 years from now. I do think the term of some of these contracts is worse than the per annum. Stone cold lock superstars should be getting 7 years at huge money and Crawford has not been that.

 

Most disconcerting of all he has looked very very unsure of himself. Giving a guy that much money for that much time that has been that unsure of himself, that lacking in confidence that frankly immature is tough to fathom. He has looked isolated and left to his own devices as well and leaving an asset like that in such a state really bothers me. A mentor coming in as a consultant may be something worth considering. Sox are giving the guy $20m per year. What, that investment is not worth trying to protect?

 

Hey they brought him here and bringing him here has been a problem and is not yet an asset. So now it is their responsibility to resolve it.

[Dojji]

LOL.

 

Speed is one of the things that doesn't deteriorate as quickly. Power is what deteriorates rapidly in your 30s.

 

You couldn't possibly be more wrong. In fact you have it exactly backwards.

[Dojji]

Can you give some examples?

 

Torii Hunter, Alfonso Soriano, Ken Griffy -- heck, even your counterexample of Damon isn't burning the basepaths like he used to. Hasn't swiped 20 in 3 years, that's certainly not the old Damon.

 

Either because they're savvy about timing pitchers, or because they were that danged fast to begin with, there are a number of older players who can still play the speed game. No that does not mean speed outlasts power, as these players represent exceptions.

 

For every Kenny Lofton there's 2-3 Frank Thomases.

[jopete19]

I'm not worried about his power, he has never been known to hit a lot of Home Runs, Speed is the biggest asset for him. Obviously you haven't seen any decrease in speed yet because he just turned 30.

Its going to hurt when it starts to though.

 

Carl hits a lot of triples. One-hundred five triples before the age of 30 is a lot of triples. When his speed goes, those triples turn into doubles. That’s not so bad, but Carl loses some value. He’s a great base stealer with an 82% success rate. When he loses a step, that might drop to 70%, which is near the break even point in terms of runs, so again he loses value. He receives a nice chunk of value from his defense. Again, a lost step makes that less valuable. I also suspect he beats out a lot of infield grounders for hits. Again, with a loss of a step, his batting average suffers. Since his BA is large percent of his OBP, that will suffer with it.

 

 

 

I just wanna throw this out there...

 

2010 Stolen bases- 47

2011 Stolen bases- 18

[TedWilliams101]

I think people are forgetting this: A lot of your power comes from your legs. Your legs are the first thing to go and once they do, both your power and speed will suffer. Now, a power hitter who also hits for average might be more valuable as they will still be able to hit. A player who relies on his speed is at a much bigger disadvantage.

[SoxSport]

Crawford is a complex issue. He looks like he isn't playing with a great deal of confidence.

Confidence is about 50% of performance in sports. So, what's the problem?

I don't think any of us know. That will be an issue for the next manager.

[redsoxrules]

Can you give some examples? The two aging high speed-average guys that come to my mind are Ichiro and Damon' date=' and they still have respectable speed numbers.[/quote']

 

Damon has only average 20 SB a year since he turned 30 .

 

Ichiro is one of the exception I was referring too .

 

Rickey Henderson SB dropped quite a lot when he hit his 30's .

 

Tim Rains was the same way

 

Kenny Lofton

 

Roberto Alomar

 

Barry Bonds

 

I could go on and on

[Emmz]

You couldn't possibly be more wrong. In fact you have it exactly backwards.

 

Your argument here is quite convincing indeed.

[Emmz]

Torii Hunter, Alfonso Soriano, Ken Griffy -- heck, even your counterexample of Damon isn't burning the basepaths like he used to. Hasn't swiped 20 in 3 years, that's certainly not the old Damon.

 

Either because they're savvy about timing pitchers, or because they were that danged fast to begin with, there are a number of older players who can still play the speed game. No that does not mean speed outlasts power, as these players represent exceptions.

 

For every Kenny Lofton there's 2-3 Frank Thomases.

 

All of those guys are big muscular types who hit for power.

 

Crawford is a speed player through and through, he's small athletic build, just like Ichiro, Lofton, Damon, Roberts (Remember 2004) Castillo, Pierre, Podsednik, etc.

 

None of these guys were/are slow, and they're all in their 30s, or in the case of Roberts/Lofton, retired as speedsters.

 

His body type supports the theory that he's not going to be slowing down.

[Emmz]

Damon has only average 20 SB a year since he turned 30 .

 

Ichiro is one of the exception I was referring too .

 

Rickey Henderson SB dropped quite a lot when he hit his 30's .

 

Tim Rains was the same way

 

Kenny Lofton

 

Roberto Alomar

 

Barry Bonds

 

I could go on and on

 

Henderson and Lofton were both fast into their 40s, their SB numbers really aren't needed to reflect this. Alomar was pretty fast into his late career as well.

 

Bonds juiced, so that's a bad example IMO.

[jacksonianmarch]

Emmz, speed first players lose it significantly as they age. They are the most volatile commodities in the game. Think about the natural progression of your body. As you cross the 30 threshold, your body holds weight a little more than it used to. So, these guys get a little thicker and actually get stronger, but slower. Power doesnt start to dip until the late 30s, but speed and quickness goes a lot earlier than that

[redsoxrules]

Henderson and Lofton were both fast into their 40s, their SB numbers really aren't needed to reflect this. Alomar was pretty fast into his late career as well.

 

Bonds juiced, so that's a bad example IMO.

 

From age 32 to 40 Kenny lofton reached 30 SB only 3 times and is max was 32

 

from Age 24 to 31 he reached 50+ SB 6 times

 

tell me where he didn't lose a step there.

 

 

From Age 20 to 32 Rickey Henderson Stole 50+ bases 12 times- pretty much every year

 

From age 33 till 40 he stole over 50 just 2 times

 

Henderson did steal a lot from 33 on but he was no where near where he was at the start of his career

[a700hitter]

This is definitely a highlight for the young 2013 season:

 

Sox Finally Sour on 'Sweet Caroline'

 

 

B D D E X C L U S I V E:

 

April 1, 2013: With the start of the Red Sox season just hours away, Boston Dirt Dogs has learned that the Neil Diamond cult hit 'Sweet Caroline' will no longer be the song blaring from the speakers during the eighth inning break at Fenway Park this season.

 

'At Fenway,' a tribute to Fenway Park by Haverhill native Brian Evans, a.k.a. The Crooner, will take the baton at America's Most Beloved Little Bandbox, beginning next Monday during the Red Sox home opener against the Orioles.

 

“At Fenway,” which was coincidentally released last week on video, was recently included in the library at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. And just like the case was with "Sweet Caroline," "At Fenway" will play before the home half of the eighth inning no matter what the score of the game is.

 

The Red Sox brass behind this effort, specifically Tom Werner and Dr. Charles Steinberg, are reportedly hoping fans sing this part of the chorus aloud: "Gonna spend the day, over at Fenway. Gonna see them hit that ball ... a mile high. No matter where you sit. You’re in heaven for a little bit. It’s gonna be a great day, At Fenway."

 

In addition, William Shatner, who stars in the video above, is expected to throw out the first pitch when the Red Sox take on the Orioles in the home opener next Monday at 2 p.m. And while you are digesting this story, don't forget to look back at our Red Sox news on this date in 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004.

[yeszir]

Now why will we go to the games!!?

[yeszir]

In all seriousness though, they should retire it. A700, by virtue of you posting this on April 2nd I take it you didn't see that it was posted on April 1st?

[a700hitter]

In all seriousness though, they should retire it. A700, by virtue of you posting this on April 2nd I take it you didn't see that it was posted on April 1st?

oh, I've been distracted.

[a700hitter]

In all seriousness though, they should retire it. A700, by virtue of you posting this on April 2nd I take it you didn't see that it was posted on April 1st?

I liked last years prank better-- the one about Bobby V's chain of restaurants replacing some other chain of restaurants all over Boston.

 

This one was just cruel. It would be like posting an article that the unemployment rate came down to 4% on April 1st-- just mean.

[NativeBostonian]

This song is so creepy.

[SCM33]

Sweet Caroline needed to go, but this song sucks.

 

 

Id rather "state of Massachusetts" from dropkick.