stevece80

Yeah, and the corresponding quote in your sig, about his "blessing". You're right, you're not being antagonistic, carry on. Maybe I'm overanalyzing your direct shots at the Red Sox on a Red Sox forum. What exactly is so fascinating to you about posting on a Red Sox forum, by the way? Honest question.

Check out his user name, sig, avatar and so on. Just because you like him doesn't mean he's not trolling. If you went on nyyfans.com with similar pro-Red Sox stuff, you'd get banned before you were even able to post.

I'm guessing it's because you're a troll.

I say give him the 60 million dollars he wanted. He proved he was worth it this season. Any idea who else to sign to play the 120 games he misses?

Well it's not true, so it's all good.

Didn't get a chance to read through this thread, but I picked up on some key points. For whatever it's worth, Dave Wallace the Red Sox pitching coach taught Hansen a changeup the year prior to him being drafted. He was helped along in the system, and at the major league level. He certainly had talent coming out of St. Johns and dominated in college, but so didn't CJ Nitzkowski (however you spell his name). Even the best talents need guidance. I'd say he's technically homegrown, and to say he's a finished product would be incorrect. Papelbon was drafted out of college, I'd say he's definitely homegrown considering the Red Sox taught him his split and change, and they converted him from a relief pitcher to a starter. Just because someone is drafted out of college in no way shape or form means they're polished enough from their training in college to play in the majors. They need to be taught in the minors and through the major league staffs just what it takes to play. It's still very rare that college players jump straight to the majors without a year or two or more of help at the minor league level. For those who say they don't consider college players homegrown, please explain to me why the failure rate of players who dominated college baseball is so high.

Based on what? How much weight are you giving to each stat to come to a conclusion? I'd say look at any of Babe Ruth's seasons. And I don't know what you mean by "combo", are you referring to a tandem of players, or a combination of the two stats? And for what it's worth, it doesn't take much to find out where Alcantara played this year: http://minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Izzy%20Alcantara&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&did=milb&pid=150161 The Veracruz Reds are a Mexican League team. Teammates of his include Pasqual Coco who used to be on the Blue Jays, and no one else besides a Luis Garcia (not the one the Red Sox traded in the Hermanson deal, and then the Cardinals traded for Chuck Finley) who played with the Orioles in 2002.

What the hell did I ever do to you?

Actually I wasn't shocked, nor did I doubt they could repeat. They are just as flawed as every other team, and they just happened to have their opponent play nearly perfect throughout the series, which is all it really takes. I didn't suspect the bullpen to be the problem, which it wasn't. It can be argued that it wasn't the team's flaws that made them lose, just some bad luck, some bad pitches, and a combination of the offense not getting the big hit, and the White Sox just outplaying them. I hope that Graffanino isn't scapegoated for anything, the guy came into a tough situation and played great ball for months, stablizing a position that was a problem for most of the season. It could be argued that the team wouldn't even have been in the playoffs if it weren't for him. It was just an unfortunate play, and not that I blame Wells too much for Iguchi golfing an alright pitch, would have been forgotten if it weren't for the home run. I don't believe any blame should be handed out, s*** happens.

I shrugged, got up and did something else. I really feel bad for anyone who has angst after last year. There's always next year, and an improving farm system to help give hope. A win wouldn't change the fact that we saw part of the future of the Red Sox giving his all in a losing effort. Jonathan Papelbon is going to be a good one, and I have a feeling this won't be his last shot at the playoffs. Congrats to the White Sox, and maybe they'll bring one home after nearly 9 decades of hoping. The silver lining is I'll get some sleep until the hot stove keeps me up.

I've heard "Boston Sucks" chants at Yankee Stadium....when the Yankees were playing the Devil Rays.

Man, it's too bad the Red Sox didn't win the division and get home field....oh. Well, we ended up with the tougher opponent...well, Chicago might be better bunters.... I got nothin'.

Yeah, that's a rational way to run a ballclub. Foulke's unhappy with his season, so let's get two guys who may or may not be able to stand the "pressure" of Boston! Screw you Foulke! I hated the 2004 playoffs anyways!

That's ********. The Red Sox are the 25 players that put on the uniform each day. Some people have an obsessive following of the team, myself included, but some "fans" really need professional help if they can't sit back at the end of the day and realize it's just a game. Here's a God honest truth about the Red Sox, and I'd cover your eyes if you can't handle it. Every single player on that team, Varitek, Manny, Ortiz, Timlin, everyone, cares more about Keith Foulke than any of the fans sitting in the stands. Ted Williams didn't give a flying f*** about the *******s sitting in the stands, and this player bashing has gone on forever. Some people need to get a clue, and stop living vicariously through a team in which they have very little control over what happens.

And put in whom, Hanley, who hit worse than him at AA? Fact, if the Red Sox don't sign Renteria, they don't have the extra draft pick to draft Craig Hansen. Get used to it.

That's pretty lame if the fans need the media to shape how they view a player. A bad performance is a bad performance, saying anything afterwards doesn't change the result. Foulke has relenquished his closer role, is pitching in middle relief, does he need to say he'll start to win points? And to be more accurate, Schilling only said he'll start or close. It would have been nice if he were willing to ease himself in during low leverage situations. Instead we got the shaky performance in the most important role in the bullpen. They've both been bad, people have just put a spin on Schilling's identical situation in which he rushed himself back at the detriment of the team. I'd say the fans need to stop being so petty.

When has Schilling been constantly booed?

I think he's just pissed because of the treatment he's been getting this year. The guy is a postseason hero, and he's hurt. Give him a friggin' break. People who boo are idiots, but those who boo anything outside of percieved lack of effort are complete asshats. Can some of these louts get it through their heads that the players know that they're sucking, and that being a jerk about it isn't going to help? Yes, they're professionals, and yes they get paid well, but they're all human beings at the end of the day. The lady at Burger King forgot my straw the other day. Should I have gone in and booed and hooted and hollered at her?

Where does he say anything bad? He said he was looking forward to seeing his friends on the Red Sox. He also said, "It's unfortunate for me what happened this year in Boston, but there are no hard feelings". I still contend an 8 year old, or a mental retard, wrote that "Bellhorn article" in the first post.

Hey, Irish Jay, stick to sewing. Anyways, this was another big turning point for the Yankees. It's good for them to have games like this to look back on when they miss the playoffs by three games.

That is because until an actual link is given for the "quotes" from Bellhorn, it's obviously a fake until proven otherwise. It was made up for people to continue to pile on Bellhorn for no reason at all. It reads like it was written by an 8 year old, anyways.

Do you have a legitmate link for the Bellhorn "quotes"?

My intuition told me October of 2003: http://forums.netsports.com/showthread.php?postid=367126#post367126 .....that Schilling would be traded for, so I'm confident that Roger Clemens will be with the Red Sox in 2006.

I'll just add that I wouldn't boo Clemens, and I still have a ton of respect for him. Hell, last night in my dream I was out somewhere, and I ran into Clemens and his wife. I was gushing about his career (though I did let it slip that Pedro had a better peak). Clemens said to me, "maybe I'll be back in Boston next year". And might I add, it was my second dream in a few weeks in which I ran into him and his wife, and he hinted that he was going to be a member of the Red Sox in 2006. Weird dreams, I might add. The reason I don't let the things he's done and said get to me is because I know he's an idiot. David Wells is an idiot. To take anything these people do or say to heart is downright silly.

So he didn't rip the fans, when just last year he was saying that he felt bad that the Red Sox won the World Series, because the fans wouldn't have anything to whine about?