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Sheff, You just made a pretty bold statement yourself. Why don't you PROVE that Buckner SHOULDN'T have been taken out with FACTS...instead of just calling whoever said that "stupid?" Also, I don't believe you've posted any facts on this board yourself.

Sheff, I know a TON of Red Sox fans with a lot of baseball knowledge just on this site. I include myself of course, but Zenny, Yeszir, Yankshater are all knowledgable.... What have you posted with any substance on this site?

Thanks. (now I'll include my biased Red Sox fan pregame analysis) Go Red Sox! Let's hope Pedro avenges the beating he took against Texas last time and the offense tees off on "Way back" Wasdin!

hey guys, I did make another pregame writeup for today. Seems like today's game got a lot more attention early than yesterday. Anyway, http://www.18eaststreet.com/articles/pregame20040903.html Thanks!

Lowe was key, but I have to point out a pleasant surprise over this Angels series: Jason Varitek. He threw out 3 runners (that I can remember), including Troy Glaus last night. Yes, Glaus is slow, but Tek's not known for his ability to throw out runners...and last night that out was HUGE. 1 out, runner on second is COMPLETELY different than 2 outs, nobody on. Tek, my hat goes off to you for your arm this series. Keep it up! Like I said, Lowe controlled damage, and we won. Bartolo got lit up when he fell behind. This team is definately on a roll! Bring on Texas!

Hi, Made a writeup about today's game too. http://www.18eaststreet.com/articles/pregame20040902.html Also, what's the general opinion on these writups? Do people like them? Hate them? Do people READ them? Let me know, as I'm curious. I enjoy writing them but if people don't care to read them I can stop posting. If you don't want to clutter up this thread (yeszir would probably appreciate that) you could always PM or e-mail me letting me know what you think about my writeups. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the above preview of today's game. Go Sox!

I think the Boston Media was looking for a REASON to jump all over Nomar. Everyone loves Nixon.

Thanks Yankshater. Anyway, it thrills me that I was wrong in my prediction of the outcome... BUT Anaheim didn't use their best relievers (Percival, Rodriguez) yet. Let's hope to keep it that way! Neither starter had it last night. Sele gave up 7, Bronson 5. Ugly game if you ask me, BUT chances are Bronson wouldn't be starting for Boston in the playoffs (assuming we get there, which I believe we WILL). It just seems like the Red Sox offense hits EVERYONE right now. Sele had a 1.80 ERA in his last 3 starts, we hit him for 7 runs. Scott Shields 7-2 with a 3.52 ERA on the season...we score 5 runs on him, too. Kevin Gregg did pretty well against us, but by then it was too late!

Peter Gammons said he thought Ramirez would be the Sox starting shortstop in 2006. That would mean we'd see him at least a little next year. Ramirez seems to get BETTER as he goes up in levels. His defense is much more solid at Portland (2 errors in 29 games), and he's shown a lot more power. He's been striking out more, but that's really the only negative thing. He's even stealing bases at a higher percentage in AA.

Hey guys! So, it brings me GREAT pleasure to admit I was wrong. The Red Sox won the first battle of the bullpens with Anaheim, and that's AWESOME!! 8 in a row, we've tied the season series with Anaheim. We need a win tonight to take it! 3.5 up on Anahiem, 5 up on Texas in the WC. Things are looking good right now! Hey crespo: Please don't hate me for picking Anaheim. I was trying to be as objective as possible, trying to separate myself from my team (Red Sox) when predicting the game...but of course in no way was I ever hoping Anaheim would win! As a Red Sox fan I think and hope they can win EVERY game just like you...but when I did my analysis I tried to do it from a nuetral perspective!

I'm not sure I'd be too excited about Karsay if I were a Yankee fan (which of course I'm not) He has an ERA over 5 in the MINORS this season! He's given up 18 hits in 20 innings, walked 10 and K'd 17. Not exactly overwhelming numbers... I'm glad he's healthy....but I'm not convinced he'll be all that helpful down the stretch for NY. To be honest, getting excited about Karsay would be like Sox fans getting excited about BK Kim.

me too, Yeszir, me too. I'm trying with these writups to be as objective as possible....and honestly...the Angels bullpen scares me. If Arroyo can outpitch Sele...we should be golden. At least you get to GO TO the games...I listen to every game on the radio!

I agree with Zenny. Nomar's attitude was much different in 2004, and I don't think he hurt any chemistry at all in 2003. He did kill us in the playoffs with his bat though....

Hey guys, I wrote up another preview for this game. Please follow the link. http://www.18eaststreet.com/articles/pregame20040901.html Thanks

I always thought it was crazy how the Yankees got people to cut their hair and shave their faces, etc. No other organization commands that kind of respect. You've got to admire that one thing about them. On one hand, it makes sense. The Yankees are all business, on the field for one reason and one reason only: to win. The atmosphere has worked of late, and they've been successful. On the other, it's a disaster waiting to happen. Like Theo said in the article, Baseball's a game, a kid's game, and you've got to be able to have fun out there. Yankee players barely ever look like they're having fun. Both methods seem to work for their respective clubs, so who's to say which one is better? That's probably why quite a few players don't make it in New York. The list of failures grows by the month: Loaiza, Contreras, Weaver, Rogers, Mondesi, etc. Maybe they lost touch of what got them to the bigs in the first place, having fun playing a game. Right now it's working for the Sox, so it doesn't bother me. When they were joking and messing around before, and playing .500 baseball, it really pissed me off (check historical posts).

Yes guys, we have the right to be happy about Tuesday's results. How CAN'T we be. We won, and all 3 teams in contention with us for playoff spots lost. That makes it a good day. However, be careful about the gloating. That's what Yankee fans do, and we're better than that. Keep in mind that ANYthing can happen in a month. (well, I'm pretty sure the Cubs won't win the NL Central). Savor today, because it was sweet. I won't be satisfied until we're 5 games up with 4 games to play. (or any similar situation with different numbers). It would be sweet to win the AL East, but like Theo said....let's focus on the Wild Card and if we get the East, that's a bonus. Joe Torre's the best manager in the game. He has a nack for turning embarrasing moments like this into positives, and turning his teams around. (hey, he's made the playoffs EVERY year as manager of the Yanks, so he knows a little something or two about leading a team to success)

Crespo: Mark Prior, Ichiro Suzuki, Matt Clement, Randy Johnson Eric Gagne, Carl Pavano, Albert Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero Nomar Garciaparra, Carlos Beltran, Mark Mulder, Jason Schmidt That's all of them. Jeez, imagine a rotation of Prior, Johnson, Schmidt, Mulher, Clement... with a spot-starter of Pavano, and Gagne closing out games.... Theo, get on it! (just kidding).

I remember in the mid-90s Sandy was a prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system.... Anyway he certainly isn't a prospect now, and he probably won't play a huge role on this club. Like Yeszir said, probably just a #3 catcher in case we need to pinch-run or make some strategy move late in games. Believe it or not, that helps. Imagine Mirabelli getting on base in a tie game in the 11th, at Fenway park You already ran for V-Tek in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't score. Normally, you have to stay with Belli, but with Martinez on the bench, you've got options. You can put in a faster runner and try to help yourself win the game NOW, but if you don't....you've got a backup plan (Martinez). From what the WEEI announcers were saying last night, it seems Martinez is a decent defensive catcher without much of a bat. Not a major move, but could be meaningful down the stretch.

Yeszir, I think the first game of a series sets the tone quite often, and this series is no different. Both of these teams are RED hot right now, and each team has the chance to cool off their opponent. If we lose tonight, we'll be half a game up on Anaheim after losing with Schilling on the mound, doesn't create a lot of confidence with two pitchers who, while decent starters....aren't Schilling. On the other hand, if we win tonight, we'll be 2.5 up with 2 games left vs Anaheim. That's big because that means Anaheim can't singlehandedly take first from us. Bottom line, this game could be huge. In my mind, with Schilling on the mound vs Lackey, there's no excuse for losing tonight's game. We need to prove ourselves against a real contender after beating up on some pretty lousy teams.

Sara, Remember, when we were still a .500 team, we were still in the upper half of offensive production. I think one thing that HAS changed is that we have finally been getting KEY hits. Hits with 2 outs, runners on base, etc. When we were playing .500 ball, We were a great hitting team when it didn't count, but in the clutch, we just plain sucked. That's making a HUGE difference in the "W" column

Yeszir, you're right. I was actually simply commenting on the newfound TEAM aggressiveness on the basepaths. It's a related subject, so I included it in this post. I don't believe, however, that Svuem makes the decisions on when to steal.

Yeszir, I don't mind posting stuff here, I just put it on my website for two reasons: So I have complete control over what is posted (format and everything), and so I have an archive of all the stuff I write. This stuff really interests me, so I'm going to try to do this whenever I can (on my own website, and post the link). I apologize for not posting my source for the statistics. All stats enclosed are courtesy of ESPN.com. As requested, the text you'll find if you click on the link:

Hey guys! Very excited about today's game. I wrote up another article in preview. http://www.18eaststreet.com/articles/pregame20040831.html Hey, I love stats, love the Red Sox, love baseball.

Any theories as to who? I don't honestly think they NEED to. If Pokey, Nixon, McCarty all come back (as expected) soon (after Sept 1 when the team can carry 40 players), how could they possibly fit a big name into the lineup? I have a lot of confidence in this team as currently constituted. As I stated earlier, the only weakness on this team right now is the bullpen, which might be able to be solved from within. I haven't even heard any names of late. Urbina and Mesa are the biggest names. Mesa's been awesome this year, Urbina's been off and on. Both have good stuff, both have had troubles in the past getting the most out of their stuff. There's no clear cut guy available that makes me think "This guy makes us instantly better." I can see MAYBE a few small transactions...but I don't see anything major happening on any contenders. I've been wrong before though.