noonanberg

manny is about as clutch as a doormat

BIG PAPI

da da da da da da da daaaaaaaa

can someone explain tito's logic right there?

damn it polanco

while the sox bats could be better, bonderman has been pitching well too. thatta boy willy mo

a lil help from Millar. millar's solo shot gets the Os rollin a lil. leadin the yanks in the 6th.

ouch, let's hope he gets better

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! sucks

phuey

lets go youk

i mean no way he was safe

no way

all i'm saying ORS is that you're making verlander sound so much better than beckett when in reality he's not. look at papelbon as an example. he has been shaky the last few outings, and now a lot of fans aren't as deadset that he's lights out. for the most part we still have faith in him, but we don't feel 100% confident the game is over anymore. that's because he's young and still hasn't completely defined himself yet. the same theory works the other way, if an aging veteran has a rough strecth it's 'hes getting old, doesnt have it anymore.' people still fear mariano rivera because he's been one of the best for years. that's the same reason people fear pedro, curt, maddux, halladay, santana, etc. etc. even when those guys have bad stretches or a down year, fans still believe in them because they have such a good track record and have been amongst the best for years. when verlander (or papelbon or liriano, etc. etc.) has two or three years like this one, yes, i will give them their due respect, and fear them as they should be. until then i'm not going to bet on any of them over any top three starter who has been around and been through the trials and tribulations. as much as i love paps i would still bet on rivera over him. paps may one day be better than rivera, but until he proves he can be consistent over a couple of years, i'm weary.

that's one, 14 more to go

okay, while Robertson's ERA is good, his record shows he can be hit. Verland COULD be a dominant pitcher in a few years or two, but i would never give a rookie that title. Papelbon PROBABLY will be a dominant pitcher. Liriano PROBABLY will be a dominant pitcher. Weaver PROBABLY will be a dominant pitcher. but i'm not giving that title to a rookie. who's to say any of them aren't one hit wonders? verlander has been riding a nice wave, but could hit a wall. maybe it will start tonight. and bonderman is very good too, but i also remember when he was kind of bad. yes, Bonderman CAN be dominant. Verlander CAN be dominant. hell, Beckett CAN be dominant. but of them all, only schilling has maintained a high level over a long career. and yes, i know he's a lot older. verlander has not had a good game against a really good opponent. he is 0-3 against the white sox with a 9.88 ERA. he is 0-1 against Anaheim. 1-1 against Oakland. he didnt get the loss against the yanks, but his ERA is over 10. given that track record, you would think the sox will crush him tonight. bonderman hasn't had the same results, but has got shelled once or twice, most notably by Cincy. and i dont buy the 'different red sox' malarchy. if the red sox could do it in june, they can do it in august. it is pretty much the same lineup. just because they aren't doing well, doesnt mean they wont, and we've seen what they can do when they're on their game. it's the beauty of sports, you just never know. like who would have said we would get swept by KC? but we went out, barely showed up, and they beat us. we could sweep we could get swept. all i'm saying is i think we're putting detroit on a higher pedestal than they are worth right now. this is a team that hasnt really struggled this year, and almost every team does at some point. maybe this is detroit's time. it's a long season, and while detroit has been really good for the first 2/3, doesnt mean they'll stay that way for the last 1/3.

While the WC is again a chase of Devil Ray clones that are lucky to be in such a awful league, the NL is still an exciting league right now. The Wild Card race is eight teams deep. The NL West is a half decent race although L.A. is slowly pulling away. Cincy is making a run at St. Louis. And the Mets are still cruising. While the A.L. looks upon the NL as a joke, I think L.A. and N.Y. are legitimate threats. The Dodgers had their struggles, but now they are finding their groove. They have a good lineup, they have a pretty good rotation especially with the new addition of Maddux who threw a gem last night. They have pretty good depth with their deadline additions. They're not too overpowering, but can win. The Mets are obviously a good team as well, although we made them look otherwise. They have a few good sluggers, good speed, a solid rotation (a little weak in the back end, but most teams' rotations are) and while not lights out like the old days, Wagner is still a good closer. Obviously October is a while away and who only knows who actually will be in the World Series, but I think that the AL (and its fans) is foolish if they think the NL would just be a walkover.

well in the case of clement, he was doing fine until a baseball crashed into his head at 85 MPH, he hasnt been the same since.

i still am not 100% sold on Detroit. yes their pitching staff is good and will give us problems. but at the same time, none of their pitchers (yet) is what i'd call a dominant pitcher. curt schilling is. let's also not forget this is a team that hasnt exactly thrived against better opponents. a good chunk of their wins have come at the hands of minnesota (and most of those wins were earlier in the year before the twins found their groove) and KC. they have been mortal against the white sox. mortal against the yankees. .500 against oakland. and let's not forget they've already dropped two of three to us. so giving them to much credit is foolish. i also dont think they're hitting is any better than ours. casey is a good new addition, but he's not unbeatable. shelton is back in the minors. guillen and ordonez are a threat, but not as deadly as ortiz manny (obviously). the tigers are a pretty good defensive team, and do have some speed. yes, they are a good team, but they've been built up a lot better than they really are. let's also not forget the sox are a better home team than road team. i think we can take 2 of 3.

Crisp is fine. I think it took longer to regain form after the injury than maybe it should have, but it happens. he has been swinging a better bat lately, and his glove can't really be questioned. i may be wrong, but i think i heard 15 steals already? not bad on a team that doesnt really steal. i think crisp is fine, so far no he hasnt outperformed Damon, but he still might. he's not a bad guy at all to have in CF. if a prospect comes along who proves to be better, great, play him. until then, i'm fine with crisp in center. it's certainly not the biggest of our problems.

i say paps becomes our Mariano. i know he'd be a valuable arm in the rotation, too, but truly great closers are hard to come by, and i think papelbon could be one. hansen, even when he gets his act together, wont be a lights out closer IMO. you can get starters easily enough via free agency, closers are harder to come by. i say make paps the closer.

i think we should add 15 pitchers. doesn't matter if they're good or bad, just pitchers.

hopefully it's just a funk for our pitching. every staff goes through it at some point, hopefully that's the case here. schilling has been good. beckett has been dominant at times, ok at others, and bad on occasion as well, but he still is up there in wins, so he's doing something right. lester will find his groove again, he's a rookie, can't expect him to be strong the whole year. papelbon had a rough going today, but again he got put in a 'please pap save us' situation. it would probably be good if he could come in when he had three runs to work with and no one on. wells has shown signs of finding his form. wake will be back soon. and if the number five is a constant toss up between johnson, snyder and _________, oh well. if we're lucky enough to make the playoffs we'll probably be using a four man rotation anyway.

nixon will be a good guy to have. who knows where he'll fit right now. i'm sure he'll DH now and then. he'll probly give pena and crisp, most likely crisp more than pena right now, the occasional day off. we'll see. i'm sure he'll fill in for manny once or twice too. i hate to say it because i love trot, but it looks like he's slowly fading from the sox.

manny isn't really that clutch (minus bases loaded situations).