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Yes, and not by much, which is why the Celtics team WITH KG is such an impressive force. Exactly. The Bruins--to me--are much more disappointing. Unfortuantely, I didn't get to follow them as much this year as I did when I was younger because a) I'm on the West Coast and Hockey is about as popular as water polo these days, unfortunately. I played from the time I was 5 until I graduated from high school, but it just isn't on the tube as much as it used to be.

They didn't 'decide' to bank on this game, the Magic won games to force the 7th game. Blind interpretation Jacoby. The Magic led the majority of games 4 and 5 and ended up losing those games. When the Celtics come back and win it is 'heart' and 'talent', but when the Magic come back and win it is 'failure'. Face it, given the way they played, this team could have been out EASILY in the Chicago series, and could have been done early in this series too. They fought hard but it wasn't their year.

iTunes has the "MLBs Best" series of classic games. Their selection is pretty limited and it costs a few bucks, but I've downloaded a few Sox games in the past... Pedro vs. the Yankees 17k performance was pretty good to watch again.

Although I disagree about Davis being more valuable than a Buchholz (who would have been starting in TEX for the past 2 years), I think the more important point is that the Red Sox have a 1b/3B power hitting player who has proven he can hit big league pitching. Not that they won't want another one, but a front of the rotation starter with electric stuff is more valuable to a team like Boston.

Really? Really? Is Davis that good? I don't want to gush all about Buchholz here, but he's still a potential #1 starter and he's pitching great at AAA right now. He's proven everything he needs to in the minors. I don't think Buchholz + anyone is done for any player, except maybe Hanley Ramirez.

There are lots of people who think Wang and Hughes are good pitchers at their core. Just because Wang is injury prone and sucks this season for whatever reason doesn't mean he won't be sticking it up the Sox collective asses in the next few months or years. Same goes for Hughes.

Kalish has been one of the players I've been most hopeful about since he was drafted. I'm glad he's getting a chance to put it together at higher levels now.

I'll be Jacko's ally. The thing that Jacko does that you don't is that he states his opinions as opinions. You state things and then talk about how you are able to see above the clouds of partisanship. You, above all others, can see above any bias that people may have and have some sort of metaphysical knowledge of how things actually work. Jacko is wrong, a lot, but at least he acknowledges he's subjective just like the rest of us. Your god-like perspective, coupled with constantly reminding everyone that you believe you have a god-like perspective, is what makes so many people want to prove you wrong. I agree with you here. Agreed Here's where you and I (and ORS) disagree. You seem to be of the opinion that the ONLY reason Ortiz was ever successful was because of steroids. Those of us who have watched him enough realize that not only did he have tremendous power and physical tools (with or without any PED usage, he was gifted physically), but he also developed a really, really good eye. This may have been something he had when he was with the Twins, but like so many other players who have come to the Sox recently, he really, really showed his superior plate control as a Sox player. ORS argues that this may be because he thrived with their coaching style. Hell, the Twins sat Ortiz regularly because they prefered Meinkewitz (sp?) and his glove to Ortiz's patience. They encouraged him to be a singles hitter and likely prefered that he not strike out looking. The Red Sox, in contrast, seem to make their players comfortable with the idea of striking out if their approach at the plate is appropriate. Thus players take more pitches and have a lot more patience at the plate, and ultimately see more pitches. Whether he bounces back and whether he cheated are two different things. I'm willing to bet that at some point Ortiz used PEDs. What you don't like is when players stop using and they fall off a cliff. I can understand that, I don't like it either. I tend to think that Ortiz is in a horrible slump that may or may not be associated with PED usage. I think he will hit HRs again and will get it figured out to some degree... but that's just me. Perhaps he has hit his last HR ever. :dunno: Of course, somehow he managed to hit 3 HRs in spring training and reports say that he's still hitting them out in BP, so it's not like between last year and now he simply cannot do it anymore. Meanwhile, A-Rod returns and looks bigger than ever and is smashing HRs again. I could see A-Rod just saying "f*** it, I've already been caught, what more could go wrong if I use (and pay someone lots of money to help me avoid getting caught)?"

But you avoided the main question ORS is asking, namely, if Ortiz was using throughout the first few years of the heightened testing era and was able to get away with it, why would he suddenly stop now?

I was curious about how this is true. I think I heard it on YES or someplace earlier, and I was surprised. Here's the teams the Sox have played series against this year: Rays (10) Angels (6) Yankees (5) Guardians (5) Orioles (4) Athletics (3) Twins (2) Mariners (1) Quickly, how is this a weak schedule? From what I see, they've played 21 of their first 36 games against either the Rays (08 AL champion), the Yankees or the Angels (best record in 2008). They're 11-10 in those games, against what I would consider the cream of the AL crop. Meanwhile the Yankees have played the Rays, Angels and Red Sox for a total of 13 games out of 35. They're 4-9 in those games, against what I would consider the cream of the AL crop. I'm pretty sure the stat that I heard was "strength of schedule based on opponents record", which is just stupid. Is that what you're referring to? I would say that the Rays, Angels and Yankees are a tough schedule, even if they got off to slow starts. The Yankees shouldn't get extra credit (no team should, for that matter) for playing teams like the Royals off to a good start. That's just me though. Profound.

**this game was lost because Lester, Lugo and Pedroia did not do the 'I got it on a groundball' check-in before a weak gb back to Lester. He was cruising to that point and didn't get out of the inning because of it. It's as simple as that.** Remember that if you're ever coaching kids about how to play the game and remind them why it is important.

That's a HR at Fenway... argh.

Swung right through it. Damn!

Would love to see Bay with a shot here, but with 3 balls that bat aint moving. It's like a strategy pitchers can take. EDIT: Eating words now. Nice rip JD.

What do you say Kilo, bat on shoulder K?

Two down. Good shot by Pedroia, another out.

hard shot by Ellsbury, but no dice.

Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ort... I mean Drew.

Intentionally walked. You sure make a lot of rock solid predictions in gamethreads Kilo.

Aardsma is either going to blow it or he's going to be exhibit A for why the "Closer" role is overrated in many games. He throws hard. He puts the ball near the plate. Often that's all it takes to get out of an inning without giving up a run. ORS, I agree completely about Lester. He hasn't been pitching too poorly and should turn it around. Guiteriez steals 2nd base while Varitek counts the seams on the ball after catching it...

I bet that, despite his injuries, the Twins make him a franchise guy and he stays there to help open the new park and beyond. He is from St. Paul and is a local sports legend who was the #1 overall pick in baseball and the Gatorade HS Player of the Year in football in 2001. It seems like just the kind of signing that the Twins will want to make happen, even if they are concerned about his injuries. That said, the Twins are a smart organization and would probably think long and hard about giving him up for good prospects. I just think the home town thing and their lack of many other contracts will lead to a decent contract as a Twin.