Red Sox (Bello) vs Rays (Littell): 9/19/24, 6:50pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

[Bellhorn04]

Go Bello.

This season won't be a total loss if we can stay ahead of the damn Rays.

[vegasbob]

Something to consider as the Sox complete their 2024 season final 10 games.      Some of us think the team is "tired" , worm down and  not ready for a  9-1 run.

Consider, Sox will play until about 9:30-10PM EDT, take about an hour to clean up, pack their bags and get on the bus.  Plane back to Boston for the key last shot at Twins will depart about midnight, get to Logan around 3 AM.  Deplane, get cars/taxis and maybe be at their homers 4-5 AM.   Then be back at  Fenway about 3-4PM to play  what should be a meaningful game .     And we think we are tired of watching them amid the recent struggles.   Trust me they are very tired of playing out the string of games for no brass ring at the end.

Worse they will  only get one more paycheck in about 10 days, which money must last until late March 2025.

Except for Devers who can live off his interest in the  less expensive DR.

[vegasbob]

It would be a nice season end if Trevor Story can play out these next 10 on offense as he did last night.  Power, speed, baseball smarts  and  score the run on Duran's sharp single through the right side.   If Trevor can become that player with some consistency, next year will be looking better for sure.

[mvp 78]

30 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

It would be a nice season end if Trevor Story can play out these next 10 on offense as he did last night.  Power, speed, baseball smarts  and  score the run on Duran's sharp single through the right side.   If Trevor can become that player with some consistency, next year will be looking better for sure.

It's just rolling the dice on keeping Story healthy. He would be a great team leader and it could take a lot of the media focus off of Raffy. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I found this interesting. The SOX have won a total of 9 championships.

From 1903 -1918 they've won 5.

From 2004-2018 they've won 4.

Hopefully, this doesn't mean that the next championship won't be until at least 2103.

This pattern is a little worrisome. I seriously doubt I have another 79 years left.

Stay tuned.

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

12 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I found this interesting. The SOX have won a total of 9 championships.

From 1903 -1918 they've won 5.

From 2004-2018 they've won 4.

Hopefully, this doesn't mean that the next championship won't be until at least 2103.

This pattern is a little worrisome. I seriously doubt I have another 79 years left.

Stay tuned.

 

In between 1918 and 2004 the SOX lost 4 World Series. All 4 went 7 games.

[vegasbob]

26 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

In between 1918 and 2004 the SOX lost 4 World Series. All 4 went 7 games.

I bet their record in those 4 losing efforts was 12 and 16 . Had we had Kenley Jansen for all 4, the Red Sox would be bigger winners than they are now.    Ted W. would have had a ring

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

12 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

I bet their record in those 4 losing efforts was 12 and 16 . Had we had Kenley Jansen for all 4, the Red Sox would be bigger winners than they are now.    Ted W. would have had a ring

I think it's safe to say that Teddy Ballgame was the greatest player to never have been on a WS winner.

I think it's also safe to say that Tom Yawkey was the main reason for that.

[illinoisredsox]

2 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I found this interesting. The SOX have won a total of 9 championships.

From 1903 -1918 they've won 5.

From 2004-2018 they've won 4.

Hopefully, this doesn't mean that the next championship won't be until at least 2103.

This pattern is a little worrisome. I seriously doubt I have another 79 years left.

Stay tuned.

 

So put another way, the Red Sox always do well the first 20 years of a century.

[illinoisredsox]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I think it's safe to say that Teddy Ballgame was the greatest player to never have been on a WS winner.

I think it's also safe to say that Tom Yawkey was the main reason for that.

A surprising number of truly great players are on that list.  Ken Griffey, Jr., Tony Gwynn, George Sisler, Ty Cobb, Ichiro and Barry Bonds (I can't stand him, but there is no denying his talent even before the steroids).

[illinoisredsox]

1 hour ago, vegasbob said:

I bet their record in those 4 losing efforts was 12 and 16 . Had we had Kenley Jansen for all 4, the Red Sox would be bigger winners than they are now.    Ted W. would have had a ring

Closers didn't really exist in 1946.  Starters didn't come out unless they were totally ineffective or pinch hit for.

Nobody was beating Gibson in 67.  He won 3 times in dominating fashion (3 runs total while pitching 3 complete games).

Having a Kenley in 75 and/or 86 may have made a difference, though I'll say to this day that in 75, McNamara never should have pinch hit for Willoughy in Game 7.  He was excellent in relief that Series

 

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

25 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

A surprising number of truly great players are on that list.  Ken Griffey, Jr., Tony Gwynn, George Sisler, Ty Cobb, Ichiro and Barry Bonds (I can't stand him, but there is no denying his talent even before the steroids).

Ernie 'Let's Play Three' Banks.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I see that the projected value of Tyler 'Hans Solo' O'Neill is listed at 18 mil/yr. I'm pretty sure he's looking for a 90mil/5year deal from somebody. He's 30 years old.

I don't believe the SOX FO is dumb enough to do that.

Do you think the SOX should offer him 52mil/3years?

His defensive stats were among the lowest of all outfielders, but I'm guessing the majority of his time will be as a DH, if the SOX sign him.

My thought is I really don't care if they sign him or not.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

22 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I see that the projected value of Tyler 'Hans Solo' O'Neill is listed at 18 mil/yr. I'm pretty sure he's looking for a 90mil/5year deal from somebody. He's 30 years old.

I don't think the SOX FO is dumb enough to do that.

Do you think the SOX should offer him 52mil/3years?

His defensive stats were among the lowest of all outfielders, but I'm guessing the majority of his time will be as a DH, if the SOX sign him.

My thought is I really don't care if they sign him or not.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

Personally, I like Masa as a hitter, but I feel the SOX will trade him after the season, and will probably have to eat some of his contract.

I feel this will happen whether O'Neill is signed or not.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

54 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

Closers didn't really exist in 1946.  Starters didn't come out unless they were totally ineffective or pinch hit for.

Nobody was beating Gibson in 67.  He won 3 times in dominating fashion (3 runs total while pitching 3 complete games).

Having a Kenley in 75 and/or 86 may have made a difference, though I'll say to this day that in 75, McNamara never should have pinch hit for Willoughy in Game 7.  He was excellent in relief that Series

 

 

Gentlemen Jim Lonborg was no gentle man on the mound. He was almost as nasty as Gibson in '67.

Unfortunately, he damaged his leg while skiing after the season was over and he was never the same as a pitcher. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

26 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Gentlemen Jim Lonborg was no gentle man on the mound. He was almost as nasty as Gibson in '67.

Unfortunately, he damaged his leg while skiing after the season was over and he was never the same as a pitcher. 

Btw, losing the WS in '67 wasn't the worst thing that happened that season. The worst thing was the beaning of Tony Conigliaro by Jack Hamilton in August. It fractured his left cheekbone, dislocated his jaw and did severe damage to his left retina. He was 23 years old. At that point in Tony's career he was the youngest player in AL history  to reach 100 HR's and had the perfect swing for Fenway Park. 

In the 1965 season he became  the youngest player(21) in AL history to lead the AL in HR's(32).

 

That was a real tragedy.

[Bellhorn04]

4 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I found this interesting. The SOX have won a total of 9 championships.

From 1903 -1918 they've won 5.

From 2004-2018 they've won 4.

Hopefully, this doesn't mean that the next championship won't be until at least 2103.

This pattern is a little worrisome. I seriously doubt I have another 79 years left.

Stay tuned.

 

Yeah, it's nothing for us to worry about.  It is eerily similar though.  As is the roughly 100 year span between selling Ruth and trading Betts.

[Bellhorn04]

28 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Gentlemen Jim Lonborg was no gentle man on the mound. He was almost as nasty as Gibson in '67.

Unfortunately, he damaged his leg while skiing after the season was over and he was never the same as a pitcher. 

Somewhere I saw or read an interview with Yaz in which he talked about Lonborg.  He said Lonborg was a very tough guy and would actually ask Yaz if there was someone he wanted him to hit LOL  And this was when pitchers had to step up to the plate themselves after hitting someone and might get plunked themselves.

[illinoisredsox]

22 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Gentlemen Jim Lonborg was no gentle man on the mound. He was almost as nasty as Gibson in '67.

Unfortunately, he damaged his leg while skiing after the season was over and he was never the same as a pitcher. 

Lonborg was awesome in Games 2 and 5.  I was all of 8, but as I recall, he carried a no-hitter into the 8th in Game 2 (finishing with a 1 hit shutout) and then followed that up in Game 5 with a 2 hitter (Maris hit a homer in the 9th ending his shutout streak).  Game 7 was Lonborg vs. Gibson but Jim was on 2 days rest while Gibson was on his normal 3; the Cards pounded Lonborg and won the series

[illinoisredsox]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Somewhere I saw or read an interview with Yaz in which he talked about Lonborg.  He said Lonborg was a very tough guy and would actually ask Yaz if there was someone he wanted him to hit LOL  And this was when pitchers had to step up to the plate themselves after hitting someone and might get plunked themselves.

Smart guy, too.  After his career ended, he went to dental school and practiced for a quarter century, retiring maybe 7 or 8 years ago.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

27 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yeah, it's nothing for us to worry about.  It is eerily similar though.  As is the roughly 100 year span between selling Ruth and trading Betts.

Speaking of 'spooky,' I remember seeing a photo taken of Kapler and Damon standing next to each other in the OF right after the Cards made the final out of the 2004 WS. The photo was taken from the back and their uniform numbers read 1918.

Btw, Renteria made that final out for the Cards and his uniform number was, of course, 3.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

19 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Speaking of 'spooky,' I remember seeing a photo taken of Kapler and Damon standing next to each other in the OF right after the Cards made the final out of the 2004 WS. The photo was taken from the back and their uniform numbers read 1918.

Btw, Renteria made that final out for the Cards and his uniform number was, of course, 3.

There were other 'spooky' things involved in that 2004 championship. It shoudn't surprise anyone that Stephen King was involved in that 2004 season, but that's a story for a different time.

[jad]

I'm sure this has been taken up at length, but I'm baffled.  What on earth is the point of running Devers out there every night?  He is obviously not right (for whatever reason).   He is being turned into a .250 hitter.

[Oscars]

Devers is completely lost at the plate, shut him down already.

He has struck out 10 times in his last 22 ABs 

[vegasbob]

Does everyone else see the flaw in Abreu's swing that puts him back in the dugout each time?.  These are simple straight FB's , not 98mph benders. 

There is a lot of off season work for the young guys to do.

Even Cora directly said that Rafaela's chasing was something they talk about and Cedanne is aware but just can't stop himself.   These 2 guys ( Abreu/Rafaela) have huge potential but no self control .

[FredLynn]

31 minutes ago, jad said:

I'm sure this has been taken up at length, but I'm baffled.  What on earth is the point of running Devers out there every night?  He is obviously not right (for whatever reason).   He is being turned into a .250 hitter.

It’s really dumb-and it’s been dumb for at least a month. His shoulder is hurting and he’s risking making it worse by playing.

[FredLynn]

9 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Does everyone else see the flaw in Abreu's swing that puts him back in the dugout each time?.  These are simple straight FB's , not 98mph benders. 

There is a lot of off season work for the young guys to do.

Even Cora directly said that Rafaela's chasing was something they talk about and Cedanne is aware but just can't stop himself.   These 2 guys ( Abreu/Rafaela) have huge potential but no self control .

Abreu isn’t as bad and might be salvageable. Rafaela should be dumped like JBJ was.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

It’s really dumb-and it’s been dumb for at least a month. His shoulder is hurting and he’s risking making it worse by playing.

Do you have a license to practice medicine?

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Do you have a license to practice medicine?

Actually I do