9/28 The End

[gojohn99]

Well it's finally over..or just about. They beat out the Bobby Valentine team with 71 wins, and this is with one game to go. Edited September 28, 2014 by gojohn99

[seabeachfred]

I wonder how long it will be before Cherington gets off his collective ass and starts retooling the team, only this time making some right decisions and keeping the right players.

[a700hitter]

The owners need to take a good hard look at the FO. This was the worst fall off by a World Championship team except for the 1998 Marlins who systematically sold off all the players from the 1997 championship team. What the marlins management did was universally thought to have been a travesty. Our FO fielded pretty much the same team as the 2013 team, but without Ellsbury. They can't blame injuries. Other than Victorino, they didn't have a tough time with injuries. They rolled the dice with too many rookies and young players and they stuck it out too long with them as they were crashing and burning. The result was that they blew up the 2014 team. The did a terrible job with the roster this year. Edited September 28, 2014 by a700hitter

[Spudboy]

Well injuries to Pedroia in the first game of the season and to Napoli in May certainly did not help.

 

But even if those two had been healthy the entire season the results would not have been significantly better.

 

The FO flubbed this one big time.

 

If they don't go out and buy #1 and #2 starters and find a good 3rd baseman they will be guilty of the same malfeasance again.

 

Boston fans will be livid.

[a700hitter]

Well injuries to Pedroia in the first game of the season and to Napoli in May certainly did not help.

 

But even if those two had been healthy the entire season the results would not have been significantly better.

 

The FO flubbed this one big time.

 

If they don't go out and buy #1 and #2 starters and find a good 3rd baseman they will be guilty of the same malfeasance again.

 

Boston fans will be livid.

The 2013 team was without Ortiz for the month of April and Pedroia played that whole season with an injured thumb. They also lost Buchholz for half of the season after starting out 11-0. Injuries were not really a factor in 2014.

[gojohn99]

They never did an adequate job of replacing Ellsbury, Drew and Salty. They stuck with Bradley, Sizemore and Bogaerts too long. Starting pitching and 3b must be addressed. Will Cecchini get a shot at third?

 

Nice send off for Jeter today.

[jad]

They never did an adequate job of replacing Ellsbury, Drew and Salty. They stuck with Bradley, Sizemore and Bogaerts too long. Starting pitching and 3b must be addressed. Will Cecchini get a shot at third?

 

Nice send off for Jeter today.

 

But they did replace Drew, with Drew, who was unable to fill the big shoes he left behind.

[a700hitter]

But they did replace Drew, with Drew, who was unable to fill the big shoes he left behind.

lol!

[seabeachfred]

I just wonder if the FO has gotten gun shy about our young prospects because of the disaster we got from those three we relied on this season. Bradley was a total disaster at the plate and should be jettisoned forthwith. He has no future with the team---and despite what the front office is saying I am at that point where I have lost a lot of confidence in Middlebrooks as well. He wasn't in shape when the season began and got hurt in our second game and it was downhill from that point on. Bogaerts was treated as the Second Coming by the front office before the season. Sure, the second coming of a virus that ate away at the team. Face it, he stunk too. I mention these three because many of us were more than willing to see them in the lineup before ST started. Who knew how bad these guys would be. Now we have Betts, Cecchini, and Swihart and a few other highly rated prospects almost ready for their chance. I would hope we get from them what we didn't get from the other three lunkheads this season. I also don't want to pay big bucks for some FA third baseman or outfielder or first baseman that would take away from what we really need......TWO TOP QUALITY STARTING PITCHERS. That is a necessity if we are to climb out of the outhouse next season. Cherington has to play this off season very smartly. The question is, can he?

[iortiz]

We better sign at least 2 solid arms like Lester and Shields.

 

Pitching is the name of our offseason.

[a700hitter]

We better sign at least 2 solid arms like Lester and Shields.

 

Pitching is the name of our offseason.

There will be a lot of competition for the premium arms and the prices will be very high. After the record breaking debacle of 2014, there is no appetite for whining excuses about cost. Cherrington needs to re-establish the team's competitiveness and he needs to maintain consistent competitiveness. Cherrington's extreme inconsistency from year to year calls into question his ability to do the job. Like major leaguers have to be consistent performers to stick in the majors, the same goes for GMs. Another last place finish by Cherries and he will be the GM in the Independent League. 2014 was embarrassing and shameful, especially in light of their bloated payroll.

[Spudboy]

There will be a lot of competition for the premium arms and the prices will be very high. After the record breaking debacle of 2014, there is no appetite for whining excuses about cost. Cherrington needs to re-establish the team's competitiveness and he needs to maintain consistent competitiveness. Cherrington's extreme inconsistency from year to year calls into question his ability to do the job. Like major leaguers have to be consistent performers to stick in the majors, the same goes for GMs. Another last place finish by Cherries and he will be the GM in the Independent League. 2014 was embarrassing and shameful, especially in light of their bloated payroll.

 

Well said Ted. This season was a disgrace and was unacceptable to die hard Sox fans.

 

I have no feelings of entitlement. I'm just accustomed to seeing competitive baseball performed by my team, the Sox.

 

2013 does not justify letting this ownership and baseball opps guys off the hook.

[jacksonianmarch]

I told you guys at the beginning of the season, but nobody wanted to listen. Now everyone is saying it loud and clear. 2013 was a total aberration. You had guys who were over the hill returning to elite status, guys having career seasons, injuries turning questionable positions into strengths, etc. Then you had quite possibly the best post season performance offensively of all time in the WS by a 38 yr old overweight DH. It's like the guy at the craps table who rolls a 7 ten times in a row. You appreciate the cash he won you, but you cannot expect it again. You definitely got worse when Ells left. You also replaced your catcher with a known cancer in AJ Pierzynski. The big thing the sox had in 2013 that a lot of others didn't have was depth. Well, losing Ells and replacing him with Sizemore didn't help. The kids were relied upon out of the get go without a viable veteran alternative. You then f***ed up the one rookie who was producing by signing Drew, even though the guy hadn't played for 4 months. A blind man saw this coming. That being said, winning the WS allowed the sox to feel this season out. Imagine if you had won 75 games last yr, there'd be a fire in the streets and Cherington's head on a pole.

[Spudboy]

Whatever.

[a700hitter]

I told you guys at the beginning of the season, but nobody wanted to listen. Now everyone is saying it loud and clear. 2013 was a total aberration. You had guys who were over the hill returning to elite status, guys having career seasons, injuries turning questionable positions into strengths, etc. Then you had quite possibly the best post season performance offensively of all time in the WS by a 38 yr old overweight DH. It's like the guy at the craps table who rolls a 7 ten times in a row. You appreciate the cash he won you, but you cannot expect it again. You definitely got worse when Ells left. You also replaced your catcher with a known cancer in AJ Pierzynski. The big thing the sox had in 2013 that a lot of others didn't have was depth. Well, losing Ells and replacing him with Sizemore didn't help. The kids were relied upon out of the get go without a viable veteran alternative. You then f***ed up the one rookie who was producing by signing Drew, even though the guy hadn't played for 4 months. A blind man saw this coming. That being said, winning the WS allowed the sox to feel this season out. Imagine if you had won 75 games last yr, there'd be a fire in the streets and Cherington's head on a pole.

Others will argue with you for the sake of arguing or out of sheer stupidity, but you are right. I saw a big downturn coming but not this kind of debacle, simply because I didn't think Cherrie s would let Bradley, XB and Middlebrooks have so much rope. I thought that he would have done something to stop the bleeding early on. In 2013, everything went right. Even that bum Buchholz came out of the box with an 11-0 record. We were in first place with our best hitter on the DL throughout April. It was a storybook season. You leave out the fact that the World Series opposing manager continued to pitch to the insanely hot Ortiz even though no one else in the lineup was producing. He beat them singlehandedly. When Matheny finally stopped pitching to Ortiz, the others started to hit. I guess that Cherries thought he found some sort of secret for success. He did not. Edited September 29, 2014 by a700hitter

[seabeachfred]

Jacko was right on the money but he apparently didn't read as much of the stuff 700 Hitter, SBF, iortiz and a few others kept harping on. We all said that 2013 was a total aberration, a very pleasant one, but an aberration nevertheless. What we all knew what that there would not be a WS for us in 2014. Well this season was also an aberration because no one to my knowledge had any idea we would suck this badly. Cherington had better not expect a free ride again next season and neither should our mentally challenged manager in the dugout. The fans, media, press and RS Nation in general will want their head on a stick if we are subjected to this kind of ineptness again next season, and, for that matter, Prune Face had better not try to cover for those two if they fall on their faces again because the guns will be turned on him and what he hears and reads will be very unpleasant and not to mention plenty of empty seats.

 

We're luckier than most other fans because we have gotten three titles the past 11 seasons but that does not mean that Henry should keep guarding the vault while the GM and manager make one blunder after another. And for the record, I do not think Farrell measures up to Girardi, Maddon or Showalter in the dugout.

[rician blast]

I told you guys at the beginning of the season, but nobody wanted to listen. Now everyone is saying it loud and clear. 2013 was a total aberration. You had guys who were over the hill returning to elite status, guys having career seasons, injuries turning questionable positions into strengths, etc. Then you had quite possibly the best post season performance offensively of all time in the WS by a 38 yr old overweight DH. It's like the guy at the craps table who rolls a 7 ten times in a row. You appreciate the cash he won you, but you cannot expect it again. You definitely got worse when Ells left. You also replaced your catcher with a known cancer in AJ Pierzynski. The big thing the sox had in 2013 that a lot of others didn't have was depth. Well, losing Ells and replacing him with Sizemore didn't help. The kids were relied upon out of the get go without a viable veteran alternative. You then f***ed up the one rookie who was producing by signing Drew, even though the guy hadn't played for 4 months. A blind man saw this coming. That being said, winning the WS allowed the sox to feel this season out. Imagine if you had won 75 games last yr, there'd be a fire in the streets and Cherington's head on a pole.

 

I was up at my buddy's cottage this past weekend with a few friends...all Sox fans...and we laughed about the 2013 WS title because we all viewed it as extremely opportunistic if not lucky. A couple of hot pitchers and Ortiz led a flawed team that somehow got a lot of production out of some marginal talent. I don't think any of us expected this big of a fall off, but 85-77 seemed to be about right given the team they fielded in '14.

 

That said, I am less disappointed in the team's performance than I am in the riculously over-the-top, mismanaged and ill-conceived ball washing that the Sox FO tried to rain down for Jeter. It was a joke. An absolute joke. The scoreboard debacle? Bobby Orr? Paul Pierce???? Rico Petrocelli? Louis Tiant? Some chick singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T? More embarrassing than the Red Sox W-L record!

[seabeachfred]

I was up at my buddy's cottage this past weekend with a few friends...all Sox fans...and we laughed about the 2013 WS title because we all viewed it as extremely opportunistic if not lucky. A couple of hot pitchers and Ortiz led a flawed team that somehow got a lot of production out of some marginal talent. I don't think any of us expected this big of a fall off, but 85-77 seemed to be about right given the team they fielded in '14.

 

That said, I am less disappointed in the team's performance than I am in the riculously over-the-top, mismanaged and ill-conceived ball washing that the Sox FO tried to rain down for Jeter. It was a joke. An absolute joke. The scoreboard debacle? Bobby Orr? Paul Pierce???? Rico Petrocelli? Louis Tiant? Some chick singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T? More embarrassing than the Red Sox W-L record!

 

Well this season was a pile of s*** Rician no matter how you looked at it. Just one more blemish on a season we'll all be happy to forget as the months ebb on by.