Reds (Singer) vs Red Sox (Fitts): 7/1/25, 7:10pm

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed, and the one-two punch with "Volunteers" was formidable.

Yup.

[Maxbialystock]

Six straight sinkers/4 seamers all high in the zone or above.  For a K.  

[vegasbob]

38 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Toro's on 1st and I hope the Sox extend his contract.

The correct answer to "Who's on first ?" is "Not Devers"

[vegasbob]

28 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I know there is still much to prove, but I'm sold on Anthony.

Mayer is close behind.

Certainly looks like Roman has adjusted and is now for real.    Nice to see him batting right behind Duran.  If Jarren survives the trade deadline still in Boston  , these 2 could be a dynamic duo. 

With a couple weeks more time in MLB than Anthony , Mayer also looks like the real deal .    With these guys  getting better weekly and Bregman coming back , the lineups could be much improved.     And not to discount Narvaez who continues to hit and catch well.     Rafaela is hitting well enough  such that you don not have to make the defensive skills his only ability.

It could be the core of a young , talented lineup for several years.   And, most importantly, cost effective ( sarcasm)

[Jasonbay44]

Any update on the rain delay?

[vegasbob]

The rain delay defers Fitts attempt to get a win and puts the game into the BP  which should be interesting.

Hope it doesn't rain out and lead to a DH tomorrow. Have not seen a forecast update

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Any update on the rain delay?

Game suspended.  2-1 Sox, top of the 4th.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

,,,

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

What future retired Sox player will have his number displayed on the RF facade?

"Not Devers" is the correct answer.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

55 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Game suspended.  2-1 Sox, top of the 4th.  

I wonder what bad thing the game did to get suspended?

[notin]

12 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

We Built This City On Rock 'n' Roll is one of the worst rock/pop songs ever. The Starship, IMHO, was terrible.

Agreed.

[notin]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I keep waiting for the "journeyman" and "AAAA" guy to come back down to earth.

He hasn't.

The Sox have done pretty well with guys like Toro, Romy & Refsnyder. Of course, there is a longer list of failures, but we have 3 that have stuck.

 

Wellllll…

 

Toro has a .514 OPS over the past 15 games.  It was much lower, but a couple recent hits catapulted it back up.

Toro is a bench player.  The Sox would probably do better if they pushed him back there…

[Bellhorn04]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

Agreed.

That song probably wouldn't be hated so much if it wasn't by the former members of a legendary psychedelic band.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

That song probably wouldn't be hated so much if it wasn't by the former members of a legendary psychedelic band.

I just mentioned it because it was always on the radio during the '75 Series when Boston came close to pulling off a major upset. Losing in the last inning of the last game on a bloop single to probably the greatest group of eight position players ever wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Early Airplane was classic. I'm still haunted by "Today" as if it were yesterday. Grace Slick even tried to help cure a nation with a plan to slip some acid into Nixon's drink. As a young fan I appreciated her efforts to enlighten an ex-catcher for the Red Sox.

[notin]

50 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

That song probably wouldn't be hated so much if it wasn't by the former members of a legendary psychedelic band.

While a valid point, on its own, it’s still a terrible song.  Easily separated from the brilliance of Surrealistic Pillow…

[Bellhorn04]

31 minutes ago, notin said:

While a valid point, on its own, it’s still a terrible song.  Easily separated from the brilliance of Surrealistic Pillow…

I honestly don't get why it's such a terrible song.  The words are icky but it's a catchy tune.

[Brandon Glick]

Hey all, we're going to leave this game thread open for when play resumes, and will make a separate one for tonight's clash.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Wellllll…

 

Toro has a .514 OPS over the past 15 games.  It was much lower, but a couple recent hits catapulted it back up.

Toro is a bench player.  The Sox would probably do better if they pushed him back there…

.723 last 8 games

.514 last 15 games

.610 last 16 games

.783 last 22 games

I'm not sure why 15 games means more than 8 or 22.

I'm not counting on Romy & Toro to be our 1B solution for 2026, but these guys have done well for us, in their targeted and limited roles, as has Refsnyder for an even longer period of time.

When you look at our June numbers, the leaders are shocking names.

.917 Romy, .870 Rafaela, .827 Story, .788 Mayer, .780 Narvaez, ,775 Abrey, .761 Toro.

0.00 Chapman, 1.80 Alcala, 2.45 Wilson, 2.53 Kelly

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

That song probably wouldn't be hated so much if it wasn't by the former members of a legendary psychedelic band.

When I heard it for the first time, I didn't know it was by the Starship, so my hatred was not related. I shoulda known Slick's voice and made the connection.

Another band that made a similar turn, most notably after the deaths of some key members was Chicago. After Terry Kath's death and then others, the band really put out some sappy stuff out there- more bearable that most icky pop songs, but still...

[Bellhorn04]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

When I heard it for the first time, I didn't know it was by the Starship, so my hatred was not related. I shoulda known Slick's voice and made the connection.

Another band that made a similar turn, most notably after the deaths of some key members was Chicago. After Terry Kath's death and then others, the band really put out some sappy stuff out there- more bearable that most icky pop songs, but still...

Yes, my experience with Chicago was the same.

I can't really fault these artists for going commercial.  When it comes down to do it they have to make a living.

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yes, my experience with Chicago was the same.

I can't really fault these artists for going commercial.  When it comes down to do it they have to make a living.

My wife and I went to see Chicago a couple years ago. It was funny, how she barely knew the songs I loved and I had forgotten some of the more commercial songs were done by Chicago, and those were the ones she knew and loved.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Start up time for suspended game is 2:30.

[vegasbob]

Bello will be starting the day game remnant.  Daytime Bello better be ready to pitch and go the 6 innings remaining.  Why is that a questionable proposition ?   Otherwise it becomes a BP  6 inning game, then the night game .

Brayan could really help his team if he can deliver 5 or 6 strong innings.  No known starter for the night game at this point, since it was supposed to be Bello.

[Maxbialystock]

2 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Bello will be starting the day game remnant.  Daytime Bello better be ready to pitch and go the 6 innings remaining.  Why is that a questionable proposition ?   Otherwise it becomes a BP  6 inning game, then the night game .

Brayan could really help his team if he can deliver 5 or 6 strong innings.  No known starter for the night game at this point, since it was supposed to be Bello.

Interesting.  I was hoping Fitts could come back for 2-3 innings.  

Even if Bello does the whole 6 innings today, that leaves a big gap for tonight.  

Neither team has a game scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

My 10 favorite albums from the 60's in no particular order.

Strange Days ---------Doors

Forever Changes----Love

Odyssey & Oracle ---Zombies

Revolver -----;-------;-Beatles 

Bookends -------------S & G

Surrealistic Pillow ---Airplane 

Arthur ---------------Kinks

Let It Bleed--------Stones 

The first album------Led Zeppelin 

Highway 61 Revisited----Dylan

 

 

 

[Maxbialystock]

15 hours ago, vegasbob said:

Certainly looks like Roman has adjusted and is now for real.    Nice to see him batting right behind Duran.  If Jarren survives the trade deadline still in Boston  , these 2 could be a dynamic duo. 

With a couple weeks more time in MLB than Anthony , Mayer also looks like the real deal .    With these guys  getting better weekly and Bregman coming back , the lineups could be much improved.     And not to discount Narvaez who continues to hit and catch well.     Rafaela is hitting well enough  such that you don not have to make the defensive skills his only ability.

It could be the core of a young , talented lineup for several years.   And, most importantly, cost effective ( sarcasm)

Every MLB team with any sense relies on prospects to keep their payroll reasonable and to balance the huge salaries they might pay to their best players.  

The Sox paid Mookie a total of $33M for 7 seasons and an accumulated WAR of 42.4.  But they have also acquired plenty of players who started with big salaries. 

Thanks to Anthony, Mayer, Narvaez, possibly Campbell, possibly Casas, Rafaela, Abreu, and Bello, the Sox can afford a bunch of higher priced guys.  The trick is to sign the right ones.  

 

[Maxbialystock]

29 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

My 10 favorite albums from the 60's in no particular order.

Strange Days ---------Doors

Forever Changes----Love

Odyssey & Oracle ---Zombies

Revolver -----;-------;-Beatles 

Bookends -------------S & G

Surrealistic Pillow ---Airplane 

Arthur ---------------Kinks

Days of Futures Past----Moody Blues 

The first album------Led Zeppelin 

Highway 61 Revisited----Dylan

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

.723 last 8 games

.514 last 15 games

.610 last 16 games

.783 last 22 games

I'm not sure why 15 games means more than 8 or 22.

I'm not counting on Romy & Toro to be our 1B solution for 2026, but these guys have done well for us, in their targeted and limited roles, as has Refsnyder for an even longer period of time.

When you look at our June numbers, the leaders are shocking names.

.917 Romy, .870 Rafaela, .827 Story, .788 Mayer, .780 Narvaez, ,775 Abrey, .761 Toro.

0.00 Chapman, 1.80 Alcala, 2.45 Wilson, 2.53 Kelly

Toro's OPS vs righties is .837 and Gonzalez's is 1.074 against lefties. 

Assuming that Mayer and Anthony continue to adapt to MLB pitching, Bregman returns and stays healthy, etc, I honestly don't see a compelling need for any position players.  

The pitching, however, could use some help.  

[Maxbialystock]

17 hours ago, vegasbob said:

The correct answer to "Who's on first ?" is "Not Devers"

Same answer to the question, "who's giving the Giants a big boost in 14 games so far?"   

Giants are 4-10 with Raffy and the Sox are 4-10 without Raffy and without Bregman.  

With Abreu back, Anthony's DH'ing more.  His June OPS is .667 with 6 rbi's.    Raffy's OPS with the Giants is .677 with 5 rbi's.

 

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

 

Toro's OPS vs righties is .837 and Gonzalez's is 1.074 against lefties. 

Assuming that Mayer and Anthony continue to adapt to MLB pitching, Bregman returns and stays healthy, etc, I honestly don't see a compelling need for any position players.  

The pitching, however, could use some help.  

The Toro-Romy straight platoon has been awesome. When we no longer need to play Toro vs LHPs, his value increases.

The Abreu-Refsnyder RF platoon looks to be one of the best in recent Sox history.

With openings at DH and 1B for this year and next, the Toro-Romy and Yoshida-Refsnyder platoons might fill those voids, but I think we will look to make a serious addition at 1B, and his name is not Casas.

If we got big by bringing back Bregman and adding a top SP'er, Closer and 2Bman, I'd be okay with leaving 1B and DH open to those I just mentioned, as well as others in the system, already, such as Duran/Anthony/Jh Garcia as DH options and Campbell & Casas as competition for a role at 1B in 2026.

[vegasbob]

Interesting that the Red Sox have not been able to solve the 2B question since Pedey's demise. 

Grissom is a major disappointment with little residual value, and Campbell, short of experience, just isn't ready yet .  He may be next year.

The right answer after all could be Mayer at SS and Story at 2B.   Getting Bregman back opens that door.  If necessary just reverse Marcello and Trevor to avoid hurt feelings.  The problem with that is Story's arm is not great at SS, Mayer would be better there.