yagmaster

Tough inning so far, 3 - 1 Yankees, and they have first and second with 2 outs.

Welcome to Boston, Jay. 1 - 0 Sox.

Jesus I hate Matsui. Great play, but damnit, we should be up 2 - 0!

Nice, impressive first inning for Boomer. Randy looking good too

I didn't really like the hand Jeter stuck up trying to break up the double play. I didn't really take him for a dirty player before...

Just over an hour to go! I'm so freaking excited for this game. I predict a little bit of a high scorer, even with the two quality starters. Something like 6 - 4 Red Sox. Oh yeah, did I say I was excited?

Thank you kindly, Tex.

Here is an article I wrote for my School Newspaper. Let me know what you guys think: In 2004, the Boson Red Sox accomplished what had eluded them since 1918; they won the World Series. Having beaten the St. Louis Cardinals in a four game sweep after completing the greatest comeback in sports history against the New York Yankees, the Sox left most of their fans ecstatic, and dare I say it, satisfied. Behind Wonder boy General Manager Theo Epstein, however, we should expect more of the same from the Sox, and not resign ourselves to one time shot. This off-season has proved to be the most difficult in recent memory for the Sox. Several key pieces of the Red Sox of the last few years, including the legendary Pedro Martinez, will play for different teams in 2005. There are also, however, a handle of great additions to the Boston roster that I predict will more than make up for our losses. The area where the Sox took the biggest hit is, as we’re all well aware of, starting pitching. Righties Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, who have combined for 102 wins in the last three years, have both departed, Pedro to the Mets and Lowe to the Dodgers. At first glance, this seems to be a huge loss to the team, as, before Curt Schilling came to town, Martinez and Lowe were our two best pitchers. The two are not, however, the same pitchers that led us to the playoffs in 2003; they both suffered substandard seasons in 2004. Pedro posted a 3.90 ERA last year, by far the highest of his career and over a point higher than his career ERA. And even in the playoffs, his usual dominance was replaced by a few struggling outings, including his disastrous relief appearance in Game 7 against the Yankees. Even though even a 3.90 ERA is nothing to scoff at, Pedro is not the Petey of old, and therefore, not worth the monster of a contract he signed with the Mets. Lowe, unlike Pedro, had a terrible season last year, posting a 5.42 ERA. This is unacceptable for any starter, let alone one that was considered for the Cy Young award in 2002. While he was, perhaps, our best pitcher in the playoffs, Lowe’s time in Boston was guaranteed a close by his 2004 performance. To replace Pedro and Lowe, the Red Sox acquired several quality starters. David Wells, even though he is in his low 40’s already, is a gamer and fits in perfectly with the “Idiot” atmosphere the Sox present. I look for him to have a solid 12-15 win season. Wade Miller, a hard throwing young starter from Houston, has been one of the National League’s top pitchers in the last few years…when he’s healthy. His talent is undeniable, and, with a little luck, he can quickly come off the disabled list and help make up for void created by Pedro and Lowe’s departures. Matt Clement, formerly of the Chicago Cubs, I believe, is the biggest addition to the starting rotation. Inconsistency has been his only flaw in his career. Last year, in a rotation with great young pitchers Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano, many, including Peter Gammons, considered Clement’s stuff to be the team’s best. If Clement can harness this talent, look for him to vie for this years Cy Young award. The other losses to the Sox have been more than made up for by big time additions. One major addition to the Red Sox roster is Shortstop Edgar Renteria, formally of the Cardinals. Ironically, the Cardinals, Red Sox, and Angels swapped shortstops, landing Orlando Cabrera with the Angels, David Eckstein in St. Louis, and Renteria with the good guys. Renteria plays equal if not better defense than Cabrera, and is a much more talented hitter. In 2004, he had a slightly sub par year, by his standard, but if he can return to his 100 RBI 2003 performance, he will be a huge addition to the leagues most potent lineup. The other losses are either minor or have been made up for. Scott Williamson has been replaced by Matt Mantei, and the two are very similar in that they are both injury prone yet dominant. The losses of Doug Mientkiewicz and Gabe Kapler should not hurt the team that much, as neither was used very much last year. In all, the 2005 Red Sox, although they might have several new faces, will continue the winning ways of 2004, and perhaps finally surpass the Yankees as AL East Champions. With a reloaded pitching staff, and the key addition of Edgar Renteria, the Sox are looking very strong. While asking for back to back World Series may seem unrealistic at first, the Red Sox just might follow the guideline set by our own Patriots.

I think a case can be made for Pedro, although he wasn't as enduring as Teddy. That being said, I would take Pedro in his prime over anyone ever. I understand that Pedro is a pitcher and it's hard to comapre pitchers to hitters, but Pedro singlehandedly made our team respectable a few years ago.

I think it's funny. It's not that offensive at all, plus it'a very clever.

I really like my team; I thought I had a good draft. Only time will tell...

AL East-Red Sox -> For the first time in a long time, we have the team to win the division AL Central-Twins -> They always find a way (as of recently) AL West- Angels -> Not many changes to last years division champion AL Wild Card- Yankees -> It would be too much to hope that they'll miss the playoffs NL East - Mets -> Can't argue with the offseason success NL Central - Cubs -> Sosa's gone, Clement's gone, but they still have Wood, Prior, Zambrano NL West - Dodgerse -> I think they'll pull it off this year NL Wildcard - Braves -> Much like the Yankees, can't see them missing the playoffs ALDS-Red Sox OVER Repeat -> won't be as easy this time ALDS-Yankees OVER Twins -> Yankees don't lose in the division series ALCS-Sox OVERYanks -> it will be the Yankees who will need the epic comeback. Schilling on the mound, not going to happen. NLDS-Mets OVERDodgers -> Mets just too strong for LA NLDS-Cubs OVER Braves -> Pitching wins and Cubs have pitching NLCS-Mets OVER Cubs -> Tough pick, Pedro give Mets the nod. Beltran is a playoff machine too. Series-Red Sox OVER Mets -> Franc will put in McCartey in at first for defensive replacement to seal the deal

I have a friend who has front row bleacher seats season tickets.

You scored as Theo Epstein. Wait a minute, you're not a Red Sox player... you're Theo Epstein! Extremely smart and successful, you work the magic from behind the scenes. You take a lot of risks, but it always works out. You're not too bad on the eyes either!!

How could this night be better, I won the Talksox pool. Oh yeah, the Pats won too.

fine, I'll play

Santana isn't a Yankees pitcher...he's good and young. I don't think he would be wearing pinstripes until 2015 if at all.

I've heard of all of them, so it can't be that bad. Jeremi Gonzalez and Shawn Wooten are the best of the bunch, they could turn it around and add to our team.

I don't mean to repeat myself, but Santana had an excellent season in 2003, almost as dominant. He was 12 - 3 with a 3.07 ERA and only started for half of the season. I don't know what else you could want.

He had one bat in his possession with cork. I feel strongly that he did not try to cheat, but was, in fact, unlucky. There is no evidence, it is even unlikely, that he used cork during the 1998 season or any other time in his career. Sosa is an honest man and I think your comment was innapropriate.

I don't think he needs to "bounce back." His average season, over the last three years, has been 41 HR 97 RBI .274 AVG and they would be higher if he didn't miss 36 games last year. I see him putting up close to 40, 100, .275 for a few years to come.

I never said that I didn't think Sheets was that good. I think he's one of the best young pitchers in the business. I just think we should not call him the next Schilling or compare him to Santana until he's proven a little more. EDIT: I would not complain if we got him :thumbsup:

I agree with you about Ben Sheets, but I think you are overlooking something about Johan Santana. He has been excellent every year he has been in the Majors. If K/BB is that stat that you go by, here are Santana's numbers: 2000: 1.19 2001: 1.75 2002: 2.80 2003: 3.60 2004: 4.91 I agree that a sudden huge jump is the sign of an unproven pitcher, but look at Santana's numbers. He has shown constant improvement EVERY season. To me, that's a sign of a great young pitcher. I also think that you overlook some things when you judge them based only on K/BB. ERA is a very important stat, and his ERA has always been excellent. To say a pitcher is as good as his K/BB ratio is a little faulty. And I leave you with this. Roger Clemens, the best pitcher of our generation, last year's CY Young Award Winner, and the highest paid pitcher of all time, has a career K/BB ratio of 2.96.

Santana's career ERA: 3.47 Sheets' career ERA: 3.92 Santana's career win percentage: .705 Sheets' career win percentage: .459 Two years ago, Santana was 12 - 3 with a 3.07 ERA, and he only started for half of the season. Sheets was 11 - 13 with a 4.45 ERA and he started the whole season. Please don't tell me that Santana has only had one good season; he has been nasty for his entire career. I understand Sheets' season last year was INCREDIBLE, but let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. And I'll leave you with this, the vastly overrated Carl Pavano's lifetime ERA, at 4.21, isn't much worse than Sheets'.

Remeber how good Sasaki was for a few years? Takatsu almost won rookie of the year honors as a RELIEVER. Please don't tell me foregin pitchers are never good.