7/2 Grace under pressure

[BigPapi]

This is really unchartered waters for me. Before this, the worst Red Sox season that I have seen in 46 years was 2012. When they made the huge trade with LA and followed that up with the magical 2013 season, I thought that the horror of 2012 was behind us. This year is spiraling out of control worse than 2012. I really can't fathom this on the heels of last years magic. What was 2013 - an aberration, a perfect dream season? Were all the stars just perfectly aligned. It' s hard to bask in last years glory when the team is embarrassing itself. Only the 1997 Marlins sandwiched a championship between sub .500 seasons and there FO made a mockery of the 1998 team. The Sox are very depressing to watch right now. I think that I will need to pursue a hobby rather than subject myself to this garbage for my mental state. The only summer that I didn't watch the Sox religiously was the 1994 strike season. This is brutal.

 

I agree. This season is worse than 2012. Many people forget that the offense in 2012 was second in runs scored before the all star break. The pitching was just god awful. And you can't even count how the sox performed after the agon, beckett, punto, crawford trade because they were minus their best hitters do to injury in david ortiz and adrian gonzalez due to trade. If this team can only muster 70 wins while keeping its current composition, this year will be a colossal failure .

[Navafan29]

Good thing Fenway sold out like every game for the whole year basically before the season started!

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

The only problem I see is that you and a couple of other people simply cannot stand an uncomfortable truth.

You sure that's not your cataracts?

[jad]

Why the f*** is Nava pinch hitting now instead when Ortiz and Napoli were on 3B and 2B?

 

I gave up long before this. Anyone know why Nava was pinch-hitting? Did it have to do with the way Ortiz walked off the plate after his inglorious sac fly?

[Bellhorn04]

Why the f*** is Nava pinch hitting now instead when Ortiz and Napoli were on 3B and 2B?

 

Yeah, that pissed me off too. Farrell let Gomes stay in against the righty because he had done OK against the lefty. Gomes wasted no time confirming the idiocy of the idea.

[Station 13]

how about Mookie? He has display an amazing approach, and contact on his swing. This guy can hit.

[a700hitter]

Lately some posters have commented how in their opinion a franchise like the Red Sox can't lose 90 games in 2 out of 3 seasons. Some have retorted that they are "entitled" fans with short memories. I agree that a franchise like the Red Sox cannot have these kinds of horrendous seasons this frequently. It has nothing to do with a feeling of entitlement. It's a conclusion based in economic and business reality. The Sox hold themselves out as a premier franchise and they charge premium prices. In 2012, when the team was struggling to get to .500 long before they did their precipitous descent into total suck, the secondary market for Sox tickets evaporated. You could pick up a ticket on Stub Hub for 1/3 of face value. The fans were not interested in paying premium prices for a team full of under performing stars that didn't seem to care.

 

The 2013 advanced sales were not great as a result. A lot of people got burned losing money on 2012 tickets. Last year was magical and throughout the season fan interest returned. Despite the championship, the fan interest didn't get back to pre-2012 levels. For the first time in around a decade, the Red Sox accepted applications for season tickets. That showed me something. If they had put out a competitive exciting team that played good baseball, the franchise would have continue to rebuild fan interest, but instead they followed up 2013 with this atrocity. This team plays poorly. It is completely uninteresting, and the players seem not to care. Have the players had a team meeting yet? Isn't it about time that they did? Fans don't want to watch this caliber of baseball. It doesn't matter what they did last year. They are not going to plunk down hundreds of dollars to be bored and aggravated in an uncomfortable seat. This kind of baseball loses the interest of the casual fan and it angers the die-hard fan. The franchise needs both groups of fans to make the profit it expects. Die-hard fans are there year in and year out. The casual fan will spend his or her money on something else, and it is very difficult to win them back. It has nothing to do with "entitlement". Another season like 2012 will damage the franchise from a business perspective. The FO will be forced to take some immediate measures to turn the tide. Too much money is at stake.

 

As for the notion of fan "entitlement", I guess that I suffer from some of that, but it has nothing to do with post-2003 success. Since 1967 when I started watching the Sox they had never had a 90 loss season until 2012. In fact, they very rarely finished below .500. I have come to expect a team that plays over .500 ball year in and year out that plays some meaningful games at least until September. That is what I have become conditioned to expect over 6 decades, and every ownership group (including some real cheapskates) have been able to meet that expectation. So yes, I don't expect my baseball season to be over by July 1st, and if it is over, the FO is guilty of putting together a really s***** team.

Edited July 3, 2014 by a700hitter

[Spudboy]

I fully agree Ted. Like yourself, I have been following the Sox since 1966 / 1967. I do not see myself as entitled. I see myself as a fan that has come to expect that the Sox front office will field a competitive team every year because with few exceptions this is what I have witnessed.

 

I have said this before on this board. This market will not tolerate a losing team for long. Because the Sox are one of the "haves" in MLB fans should and do expect a winning product every year. The Sox don't have to win the division, the Pennant, or the World Series every year. They have to appear as though they are trying to do so.

 

This year this team has not done this.

[a700hitter]

I fully agree Ted. Like yourself, I have been following the Sox since 1966 / 1967. I do not see myself as entitled. I see myself as a fan that has come to expect that the Sox front office will field a competitive team every year because with few exceptions this is what I have witnessed.

 

I have said this before on this board. This market will not tolerate a losing team for long. Because the Sox are one of the "haves" in MLB fans should and do expect a winning product every year. The Sox don't have to win the division, the Pennant, or the World Series every year. They have to appear as though they are trying to do so.

 

This year this team has not done this.

There are a lot of things to do and fun places to spen ones money in and around the Boston area. People will not pay premium prices for garbage. You can get away with that if like some of the small market teams if you want charge $40 for 4 tickets, 4 soft dirinks, 4 hot dog and parking for a Sunday game. Some teams run those promotions. Those prices would not fit the lifestyle of the "entitled" Red Sox FO and ownership. LOL!!

[Spudboy]

There are a lot of things to do and fun places to spen ones money in and around the Boston area. People will not pay premium prices for garbage. You can get away with that if like some of the small market teams if you want charge $40 for 4 tickets, 4 soft dirinks, 4 hot dog and parking for a Sunday game. Some teams run those promotions. Those prices would not fit the lifestyle of the "entitled" Red Sox FO and ownership. LOL!!

 

Again, you are absolutely right.

 

I agree.

[seabeachfred]

You sure that's not your cataracts?

 

Keep waiving the Drew pom poms Jaco and don't forget to check with the front office before you post again. I want to keep up with the party line just for laughs.

[seabeachfred]

There are a lot of things to do and fun places to spen ones money in and around the Boston area. People will not pay premium prices for garbage. You can get away with that if like some of the small market teams if you want charge $40 for 4 tickets, 4 soft dirinks, 4 hot dog and parking for a Sunday game. Some teams run those promotions. Those prices would not fit the lifestyle of the "entitled" Red Sox FO and ownership. LOL!!

 

Look my friend, I can only speak for myself, but yes, I am spoiled. I expect our team to compete every year and this and 2012 are very hard to take. I would imagine after watching the Sox get creamed three time straight in the Opening Home Series in April, fans who attended those games this past series would feel like they were being cheated. This is really a head scratcher. I thought Ben was inept in 2012 with some of the things he did and didn't do, but who could do anything but praise him to the heights for what he accomplished last season. Every signing, maybe save on, was on the mark and Farrell got the team playing hard and managed smartly and effectively. This year? Oh, I can guess and give my opinion but there are so many possibilities of what has gone South that you could stay up all night trying to figure out all the reasons for our disappointing season so far.

[Station 13]

Looks like no baseball today in the east coast.

[seabeachfred]

Looks like no baseball today in the east coast.

 

Well a happy 4th of July to all of you out there. This is a perfect day to say to hell with the diet and calories. Stuff yourself with good food and enjoy the day

[a700hitter]

Well a happy 4th of July to all of you out there. This is a perfect day to say to hell with the diet and calories. Stuff yourself with good food and enjoy the day

Happy 4th! At least the Red Sox can't ruin the day on us.

[a700hitter]

Ortiz will be sitting the first game of the Saturday doubleheader. That should help supercharge the offense.

[Spudboy]

Lol.