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Yeah, I'd be fine if the Yankees got swept; and if we have to play the Yankees, I'd prefer it not go to 7 games. This pennant race has already taken its stressful toll on me. I don't need that stuff.

Although I've been saying that Buchholz should be pitching in the playoffs due to his recent success and the fact that the Guardians and Yanks haven't seen him before (and the Angels have seen him only once), I actually appreciate this move and most people here will come next year when we essentially replace Schilling with Buchholz. The Yankees would LOVE to be in the position to be able to sit some of their younger guys like Hughes or Chamberlain. The Sox have that ability because it was their veteran guys who got them to this point and that's who they will ride throughout, win or lose. Overall, I completely understand and approve of the move, even if my instant gratification doesn't get met fully.

"Why am I so surprised by this? Namely because I’m always a little bit skeptical of rookies coming up, and that month of April did not help out very much." There was no reason to be skeptical of Pedroia, or Ellsbury, or Buchholz, or anyone else who comes up with a great track record of MiLB success. I'm glad everyone is jumping back on the rookie bandwagon, but this is a TREMENDOUS group of prospects that the Sox have. Ellsbury and Pedroia may look back on their first seasons as the beginning of a Sox dynasty, rather than the end of a good Sox run. These kids are unbelievable.

Or how about Pedroia? Not for MVP, but in the "interesting to see so high up there" category. Offensively he's obviously been better than Crisp, but he's a full 2 Win Shares above him and is a rookie. My vote goes to Ortiz. Lowell had a huge season; without him the Sox are not where they are today. However, Ortiz has come through--especially during the past few weeks--when it mattered most. He went from being part of a two-headed monster with Manny into basically holding down the center of the lineup by himself, still managed to carry the team. After the All-Star Break: .331/.440/.653/1.093, 19HR, 62 RBI Even better, August and September (my own math): .322/.462/.667/1.129 When the s*** hit the fan Papi continued producing. In a "down" year he's looking at 30+ HR and almost 120 RBI. He's my MVP.

Can someone tell me what is up with Manny batting 2nd recently? Is it just so that his spot in the lineup is a more flexible one when he is inevitably substituted-for early in the game this week? Or, is it something more than that? If the Sox were thinking about protecting Manny even in the playoffs (and going with the "plus defense" lineup) then it might make sense to continue with this type of lineup. It will get Manny his 4th AB as early as possible so Ellsbury could play in LF for defensive purposes (assuming that 4 Manny ABs is enough to get a lead), setting up Pedroia, Ellsbury, Ortiz, etc., and also keeping the speedy Crisp and Lugo at the bottom where they can run more. It is probably just for this week anyway.

Here's the list of likely SPs in the AL: CC Sabathia Fausto Carmona Jake Westbrook Josh Beckett Curt Schilling Daisuke Matsuzaka Chen-Ming Wang Andy Pettitte Roger Clemens John Lackey Kelvim Escobar Jared Weaver It's a great mix: There are the proven veterans: Clemens, Schilling, Pettitte The current generation of dominant starters: Wang, Beckett, Sabathia, Lackey Potential big-time stars, eager to prove it: Matsuzaka, Weaver, Carmona And the solid but unspectacular starters of the group: Escobar, Westbrook Every team that is in the playoffs has a starting 3 that is quite solid. There isn't a team whose 1 and 2 I would want to see repeatedly. Beckett and Schilling or Dice-K twice in a week? Wang and Clemens/Pettitte? Lackey/Weaver? CC and Fausto? Despite their pitching recently CC and Carmona are still going to have to shut down a Yankees team that just doesn't get shut down. They will both be out of the game by the 7th (on a good night) and the rest of the team is going to have to play a huge role in any win against the Yanks. They are a scary duo, but the more I look at it I really don't think any team has a marked advantage in terms of matchups. It's all very hard.

Lackey, Escobar and Weaver don't have a ton of success against the Sox. The Red Sox tend to play well against the Angels, I think they are similar teams but the Sox have more weapons. That's not to say I think the series is a lock... it isn't. The Angels are a very good team and could win a WS this year. I just like the Sox chances against them as much as most other teams. The Sox are well rested and have come to life offensively with the re-addition of Manny and Youkilis to the lineup. I think the Sox need to find a way to keep Ellsbury in the lineup and they will have a great lineup with Tek and Lugo at the bottom. Crisp is mysteriously 'ill' right now, which sucks, but hopefully he'll be feeling better in a few days.

Yep, I actually saw a lot of relief on the faces of the Yankees when they clinched it. The past decade + I haven't and feel like Yankee fans just take it for granted. This season I don't believe that is the case and I appreciate watching it.

This is more a show of support from Jacksonianmarch; a "jump for joy" if you will, as he realizes his team gets to play the Guardians, while the two teams most likely to actually take down the yankees will spend their time battling it out. Oh well. One way or another the Sox are going to have to go through Anaheim or NY, so this makes sense. It still seems a little weird that the 1st place team can't choose who they want to play, or have some other system. That said, though, the Yankees could very well get a double dose of Sabathia and Carmona, which isn't a whole lot of fun (though I feel the Guardians will crumble early).

I just don't see Joba NOT being on the MLB roster next year. No way. He's just too good to be wasting away in Trenton (or wherever the Yanks AAA team is nowadays).

Personally, I would start Buchholz before Wakefield 10 times out of 10 in the playoffs this season. Lester, maybe 50/50. In either case, my guess is that he will be on the roster and perhaps get one start if the Sox have a significant series lead or something... I'm all for not letting loyalty cloud vision, but Tito believes in Wake's 'presence' as a leader and role model. Lord knows Wake will mop up bad losses or big wins just as well as Kyle Snyder.

Kilo, you know I'm not Wakefield's biggest fan. I've been talking intermittent amounts of s*** and praise in his direction all season. He's impossible to figure out, when he pitches well he's as good as your average #2 starter is every day and he comes with a weak hitting catcher accessory. That said, there is simply no way that Tito is going to leave Wakefield off the post season roster. He's the longest tenured Sox and is still an active member of the starting 5. Unless there is some injury or something I'm saying Wake is a lock. I don't love it, but it is likely true.

Cora is a lock. Wakefield is a lock. I would rather have Lester in a big game than Wakefield because if he steps up he can be spectacular, he's good at working out of jams, teams have seen him less and you can still have Wake come out of the pen if he gets in trouble early.

Thanks for losing today Yankees. That gets rid of that pesky 'half-game' that was floating around there for awhile.

A-Rod should leave NY. He should say F-You to all the fair-weather Yankee fans who booed him while he was 'only' hitting 30 HR and 100+ RBI. They applaud every time he comes to the plate now. He's easily the best thing that team has going for it and if he had any integrity he would leave and remind NY about what they had with an enormous black-hole in the middle of their vaunted lineup. My money is on him resigning a huge contract with the Yankees and staying there for the foreseeable future.

I agree. It is making the playoffs that ultimately matters more than anything.

Gom will tout the division as something significant because that backs his (and other Yankees fans) grandiosity about having won the AL East for such a long time. It is the fall back argument to not actually having won the WS during that time. Oh well. f*** it. The Red Sox are in the playoffs. Hell yeah. First team to clinch a trip. Good victory to make it happen. Nice stuff. Ellsbury DOES need to start in the playoffs. I am not sure where, but he should definitely be leading off.

Hopefully he doesn't want to come back to the Red Sox.

I'm pretty sure the Sox were trying to win those games against the Yankees. They weren't going to treat them like playoff games because they weren't playoff games, but they definitely tried to win. The Yankees have come back and TAKEN their deserved spot in the playoffs; nobody has given it to them. It's not like they've had a lot of close, nail biting games. They are rolling over people and, in case you haven't noticed, are probably the best team in baseball right now in terms of the unity of the rotation and lineup and the way they are playing at this particular point. The Sox had a similar streak early in the year. What I'm optimistic about is that this team is only going to get better. Not this year, necessarily, but in future years. If this team had had Buchholz pitching every 5th day, and Ellsbury leading off in 150 games, their production would pick up and their lineup would finally, FINALLY be cemented into place. Lugo, Crisp (if he's playing), down at the bottom of the order, OR make Coco one of the most useful 4th OFs in baseball. THAT is a dangerous lineup. Give a guy like Carter the reserve 1B role and let Hinske move along. As it should be: L-Ellsbury R-Pedroia L-Ortiz R-Manny R-Lowell L-Drew R-Youkilis S-Varitek R-Lugo That, to me, is a dominant, run-scoring lineup. Ellsbury is a Pedroia with superb speed, as he makes good contact and has a good eye. This season Tito has been forced to juggle the lineup on a near-nightly basis and it messes with guys like Youkilis and Lugo to be moved around like that. Youkilis is a dangerous 7 hitter. He's a mediocre 2 or leadoff hitter. Should Ellsbury stay in CF for the playoffs? Just give him the leadoff spot and tell Coco to take a seat, thanks for your sparkling defense but Jacoby almost gives us that plus the ability to get on base at a .380 clip? I think he should. Coco can play all 3 OF positions and has late inning replacement speed. Somehow I get the feeling that the Sox will start Crisp as soon as he and Manny are both eligable. EDIT: In an optimistic side note: the Sox have a better record on Sept 20 of 2007 than they did on this date in 2004 and 2005, and have as many wins as they did in 2003. Yes, every season is different and records reflect different things, but this is a team that has won its fair share of games this season and they will win again soon.

If "momentum" is your misspelling of "Manny Ramirez" then I agree. Otherwise, if the Sox can get just ONE extra energized start from Beckett, Schilling and Dice-K (and I think Buchholz) then this little swoon is worth it.

Wouldn't you treat a guy who had been pitching in the minors for 5 years as a rookie? They have pitched at the pro level for 5 years. I don't see your point. I think that's it. I think it's so easy to sometimes forget just how hard pitching is at this level. We're talking about a game of inches/centimeters here. Dice K is not a power pitcher necessarily. He has a good fastball, but his best stuff is precision and movement, a la Greg Maddox (obviously he hasn't had the career, but I won't respond to those who try to critique the comparison... hear me out). Watch an MLB game. They used to give "pretty points" for being able to hit the glove exactly where it was placed. 2 inches outside? It's still a strike because it hit the glove and the batter should have expanded the strike zone. That's just not the case anymore. Watching Dice K's starts in Japan, they seem much more of that aesthetic mindset. If a pitcher throws up and in and brushes the guy off the plate, then makes a nice slider on the outside corner he gets the call. Here, if it's a strike, it's a strike. Very little aesthetic about it. If Greg Maddux had the plate reduced by even an inch on either side he would undoubtedly struggle until he had refined his motion and release point. That's not the kind of work you can do in the middle of the season against the Blue Jays. It is a spring training/off season task. How many at bats can you think of where Dice has made that "pretty pitch" and didn't get the call? I think there has been at least 1 or 2 a game. There was a HUGE one against the Yankees that he didn't get, where Abreu ended up getting on base and scoring in the first inning. He rightly gets dejected about these things, as it is the way he pitches. Give him some time to figure out where that outside corner is, and what pitches he can use in those situations to get the called 3rd strike and I think he'll be fine. I think he's mentally cooked at this point, and I see nothing wrong with it. Talk about a rookie experience and asking about why he's considered a rookie... not only has he had to come into the league for the first time (that makes him a rookie), unlike other rookies who are allowed to lie under the surface and either succeed or fail and have the long-term reassurance from the club, DiceK has had one of--if not THE--most publicized rookie entrance in history (aside, probably, from Jackie Robinson). The media swarm, the expectations, etc., have been overwhelming. All of us have seen those stretches from Dice when he is unhittable. Not unhittable in the "Daniel Cabrera gets on a hot streak" kind of way, but in the "this guy knows what he's doing and he's just making major league hitters look silly" kind of way. The first kind may or may not pan out. The second kind requires a ridiculous amount of skill and foreshadows a really, really positive future. The Sox need Big-Schill to step up and pitch like a solid #2 pitcher so Dice can have some of the stress removed.

His location has definitely been off. His velocity has actually been pretty good, usually sitting around 92 with the ability to hit 94 once or twice a game. He isn't spotting the low-corner fastballs and his changeup has been non-existent. So, to me at least, he appears to be a fastball, curveball, slider pitcher, without enough heat to make the second two pitches unhittable because he can't command it anyway. I think he is comfortably wild in general, and keeps hitters on their toes by occasionally uncorking one. Recently, he's had to use his breaking pitches to throw for "taking strikes" and his fastball as his aggressive pitch. WHen he's on he's using his breaking pitches both for "taking strikes" as well as for "in the dirt swing-and-miss strikes". He has complained about the size of the ball, and I can see that being a problem that he can adjust to. Particularly with his changeup. I think that next year the changeup and fastball will be his bread and butter, with his breaking pitches an array of nasty secondary stuff. NOTHING beats a good changeup and he has had a great one in the past. Overall, I think there are some dominoes that will all fall into place at the same time: By regaining command of his FB he will establish himself as around the plate. This will encourage hitters to swing earlier against him, rather than watching the current slurry of breaking and fast balls for the first 4 pitches of the AB. This will allow him to go later into games with more life on his stuff. I think this is exactly what happened to Beckett this year. Add to this the morale boost you get from starting a season clean, statistically, and some simple changes could go a long way for the guy who is 5th in all of baseball in K/9 (2nd among righties) for pitchers over 160IP. He has thrown nearly 400 more pitches than Josh Beckett in only 3 more innings.