sully777

I was actually at that game and he looked awesome. Two of the five hits were squib jobs off the end of the bat, and he was ahead on just about every hitter he faced. His fastball was around 89 the whole game, and he was able to juice it up to 91 at various moments. He was in control the whole game, and after watching that performance I am very excited about his chances when he comes up.

I agree that the Yankee's offense isnt in trouble with Womack or Tino. I am merely saying they are weaknesses in the sense that those will be two spots pitchers will hope to use as outs. Tino isn't a bad player, and neither is Womack, but in terms of value as offseason acquisitions, there are a bunch of free agents out there who could have the same kind of production value. Maybe not in Homers, I'll give Tino that, but most definitely in average and OBP. All I'm saying, is that offseason vs. offseason, the Red Sox in my mind, have a slight advantage, based on the quantity and quality of players, where the Yankees have a higher quality pickup (Johnson) but in terms of the greater pitcure, i believe the Red Sox have the better mean average.

The Yankee's offseason depends on acquiring Beltran. If they get him, then I shall concede that the Yankee's had a better offseason. Other than that this is how I look at it. The Johnson trade tops any of our individual acquisitions. However I think signing Renteria and re-signing Varitek puts us close to that degree of off season success. Pavano-Wright vs. Clement-Wells-Miller is in our favor. Clement is not a huge downgrade from Pavano, and Miller healthy is the best pitcher out of them all. Also Jaret Wright is not a great pitcher in my mind, so by adding Wells to our staff with the afore mentioned, 2-5 we had the better offseason. In terms of offense, we had a much better off season by far, since the Yankees one big pickup was Tino, and this was just a ridiculous attempt at bringing back the old Yankee dynasty. Honestly, he isn't that good a first baseman. So there we have it, as of now, I think the Red Sox addressed more concerns and also increased talent, while the Yankees increased talent but did not necissarily address all of their concerns. They still have holes at second, center, bullpen, and in my opinion, first. The sox right now have a pretty solid infield, pen, and starting rotation.

I completely agree with that last comment. However I do think the bullpen could use a little work. I mean there is talk that the long reliever will be BK, if that is our strongest option than an upgrade couldn't hurt. Mantei is a nice addition, but Embree and Timlin aren't getting any younger, and I think another good arm would be real nice. Other than that I really like the team we have on the field.

How is a 41 year old pitcher with back problems the savior. Johnson is good, don't get me wrong, but lets stop all this talk about being as good as the 1998 Yankees, arguably the best team in Yankees history. This team would not have won it before Johnson, and adding another 41 question mark won't strike fear into my heart. Does anyone remember this talk about Kevin Brown? That worked out real well.

I like Miller more than Wells, because it gives a good barometer to see not only how Millers shoulder looks after the off season, but also how he handles himself in the big games. Plus a 93 Miller fastball is much more enjoyable than watching Wells pitch through his hang over.

Why is everyone on the Yankees so intent on getting RJ. You lose Vazquez, and get a 41 year old pitcher, who the year before last was dealing with some serious health issues. You talk of it as if you are getting Johan or RJ 5 years ago. Plus there are teams out there with much better offers, and what makes you think that RJ won't start liking them when it seems Arizona won't budge. The Yankees need to make some smart pitching move instead of grabbing the hottest thing. Keeping Vazquez is the smarter move, since he proved he can compete the first half of the season and if much much younger than the old man. But hey if the Yankees want him then more power to them, just don't feel bad if he winds up in St.Louis and the Yankees passed over the other talent out there. RJ is not George Steinbrenner and in the end he will do what Arizona wants, or he will grow a year older on a s***** team.

I don't understand why this 40million dollar deal is such a big deal. Sure to some degree it is overpaying, but in the same regard, we are signing probably the best FA shortstop on the market. Also since we lost Pedro, that free's up a ton of money, that really isn't going to get spent. The two top prospects on the Pitcher FA market are Clement and Perez, and they are lucky to go for over 8mil, Pavano made 8.5mil in his contract. So Varitek will cost us alot, but not as much as he is asking, because once Dec. gets late and nobody wants that kind of pricey catcher, his price will come down to earth. Plus nobody is talking about Lowe, who Wells takes over for, and while their contracts are similar, Wells needs to pitch damn well to get all that money. So the Sox have tons of money(World Series shares plus increased ticket prices) and went out and purchased a premiere shortstop, a position we needed to fill badly. Its no Nomar, but we lost Nomar so its a moot point, we got the best on the market. Renteria will be better at Fenway, a hitters park, and when he isn't facing ridiculous pitching staffs in his division (Prior, Zambrano, Wells, Clemens, Oswalt) he should average better numbers since the division is at least half the season. Plus does anyone remember the world series, Renteria by game 3 was the guy i was most scared of at the plate in that offense. The man was by far their best hitter, 5-15, against our staff, supposedly the best in the AL. So even though he had an off year, if that is the Renteria we are signing, I am pretty happy with it.

Who cares, the fact of the matter is that we are in the Series, have a 3-0 lead, and everyone here, and in the rest of America, knows that Schilling is a warrior. If they think that calling him a fake is a way to handle their depressing winters, then let them have that luxury. It's about time we embraced what we have as opposed to fight over petty insults and moronic comments. Secondly, and I know I just said we shoudn't do this, remember Game 3. In Game 6 every Yankee's fan was so convinced that Schilling was a goner since he was "injured" in Game 3. I mean Game 3 proves he was hurting and hurting bad, nobody gives up 6 runs in three innings to increase drama for their next start. Its a case of convenient memories in New York, it's too bad they can't block them all out, or the 2004 season wouldn't exist at all.

Curses don't exist. The reason that there even is a curse on the Sox is because of that stupid ******* Shaugnessy and his desire to sell books. The reason that A-Rod teams are better post-Arod is because he is such a huge financial burden, but also because he is absolute s*** in the clubhouse. Every player in Texas said this when he left, even Showalter made it very clear they were happy to see him go. On the Yankees he has shown himself to be a whiny, arrogant, spoiled brat, who slaps at gloves then never admits he was wrong. The past teams that have won the World Series have all had a load of clubhouse chemistry. A-rod obviously detracted from this, and you have to wonder whether this cost them the ability to close the deal with the sox, or to rally back with a win in the most critical games of the year. A-rod is a bum, a great player, but not a great man.

Ortiz represents something that the Sox have never had, a dagger. Someone who night after night, drives his swing deeper into the hearts of Yankee's fans everywhere. Every great playoff team has it, the old Yankee's had Brosius/O'Neill, who just murdered people, the Diamondbacks had killer Curt, hell even the Marlins had Rodriguez. The sox last year didn't have anyone who did that, except maybe Wake, but that dagger was reversed on us. Anyways, the Yankee's don't seem to have that player, Matsui could be it, the only problem is he doesn't speak any English, so nobody can rally around the man if you can't understand a goddamn word out of his mouth. Plus the Yankee's are built as a team of Superstars, nobody carries the load, because when somebody tries too, nobody picks him up. It has happened in Game 4 and Game 5. Sure they scored alot in the first three, but once the Sox pitching gets better, they look like a team that can scratch you, but they cannot apply that painful final blow. Ortiz is our dagger, and hopefully he can shove it into Yankee stadium with the force of his homeruns.

"They are not cursed they just don't come through in the clutch". Hold on a second, isn't winning two nights in a row coming through in the clutch. No you are probably right, I mean I am only a Red Sox fan, and all my thoughts, actions, and opinions are brought about by decades of failure clouding my already fragile psyche. They aren't clutch, the Yankee's will win, and history will never lie. Dammit, I just wish you Yankee's fans weren't so damn superior, having a winning team just makes you better statisticians and better fans. THEY DON'T COME THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT! Also make sure you tell David Ortiz that, I think he forgot that all of the Baseball wisdom lies in NYC. O, also tell Rivera, he seems to think he isn't the worshipped deity anymore. Thank you and go sox!!! It might be 3-2, but in terms of clutch its your MFY that are having problems with the overtime. Also, just out of curiosity, and I don't mean this to actually be an insult. What do you think of the Sheffield comments about the Sox, I mean he is a good player, but that was just a cheap shot that had absolutely no validity, the man emberassed New York with that one, and I am just wondering how the Yank's fans are taking it.

"The sox rallied against the Yankees, against Mariano Rivera, and against 86 years of defeat" There is never a time when defeat looked so certain, when Rivera took the mound in the ninth you could see it all coming to an end. You close your eyes hearing the third strike, the third out, yet nothing happens, and they play on. That is what this team is doing, they are playing on, they quieted every talk show, every sportscast, and most importantly every Yankee's fan. The men who gathered around home plate in the 11th, they weren't ready to give up, they weren't moping around, looking for tomorrow as a certain defeat. I almost gave up as a fan, but after seeing this, after seeing what is left, I can hope, and the Yankee's can still fall. Hope is slim, but when was Boston's hope anything but a moonshot, that's all we need, and as long as there is one out left, they can win this whole goddamn thing.

I agree with all that and I want to add one more thing. The last two nights the Yankees starting pitching has looked scary, I will admit that. However, the Yankees only halfway decent reliever, Gordon, looked like he didn't know what a baseball was. WIthout Rivera they would have lost, and the thing about a closer is that you have to get to him. If their starter doesn't go 7-8 strong, then I think the Yankee's should be scared about the relievers they are tossing. People act like this series is over, that is the beauty of a 7 game series, this could be 2-2, and its the Yankees who are scared come back to New York.

I like the chances with Broken hand Brown and....well I guess we don't know who the game four starter will be. The Bronx and Fenway are two different places, and the way Arroyo has been pitching, combined with the way Wake handles the Yankees. I see a 2-2 tie in the future.Call me crazy, but stranger things have happened(down 0-2, last years ALDS, had to beat Oakland pitching)

Hey I have been a fan since I popped out of the womb. After tonights devastating loss, I feel the need for a little optimism.