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I will ask this again: if A-Rod would be such a better hitter as a DH why WOULDN'T the Yanks play him there? His D is good, but its not noticably better than most other 3rd basemen. It is comparable to Mueller's D. In fact he has blown a few games against the sox with his D. So yeah, he's good, but I don't think it would make him a better hitter to not play the field. That's a lame argument. As for Ortiz, the sox don't play him at 1st because they have better first basemen, period. Olerud is a former gold glover and Millar does a decent (I mean almost-decent) job at first.

I can't BELIEVE the Yanks lost today. Unbelievable.

I think the argument that we should let him sit and wait is just absurd. The guy is older than many players who have helped teams win championships (see Miguel Cabrera, K-Rod) and the assumption behind letting him sit is that he may help the team win a championship in the future. WE ARE IN FIRST PLACE. THERE ARE 15 GAMES TO PLAY. If we assume that we will be in the championship hunt for years to come then we're counting chickens before they've hatched. THIS is when we need a good pitcher. If he's around next year, then great, but we need help this year and our pitching has been AWFUL. What's the worst that could happen? He could go out and throw a 6.7 ERA? Like Foulke and Schilling? If he's so mentally weak that a few bad major league starts are goign to ruin him forever then he's not going to be a great star anyway. You shouldn't need to pamper great players. He should WANT to be up there and we should want him to be up there. If he helps us win a championship this year then that's all I could ask.

If the Yanks lost A-Rod they'd find someone good to replace him. Someone capable of providing the same glove in the field, possibly someone with a similarly high OBP (perhaps .375) and some power. It wouldn't be too hard to find good quality players who could make the team of Jeter, Sheffield, Matsui and Giambi score tons and tons of runs. A-Rod is and was superfluous on this Yankees team... they don't need that power. They have Jeter (Hall of Famer). They have Giambi (MVP a few years ago). They have Sheffield (consistent 100+ RBI man). They have Matsui (Japanese Babe Ruth). What else do you need? Well, sometimes you need someone who can carry a team on his own back and come up with the hits when it matters. I think you're crazy to say that the Sox could replace Ortiz easily... he's not just an average hitter. I don't know if you can quantify it precisely through OPS or HR or RBI but anyone who has watched the sox play much this year knows that he's a HUGE reason for their success. Basically, the argument that a DH shouldn't win it is silly. Sure, A-rod is more valuable in the field. Of course he is, its infinity to zero in that category. However, Bill Mueller is also infinity times better than Ortiz in the field, as is Manny. A-Rod is a good fielder, but he's not an irreplacably good fielder. I would be just as happy with Mueller at 3rd defensively. THe argument progresses though, to say that A-rod has saved a fielding position to have a really good DH in the game. Well, the Yankees haven't used that DH spot to make the position worthwhile. Ruben? Tino? c'mon. Having a good fielder who is also a good hitter does not seem to be more valuable to the Yankees as a team than having a good fielding decent hitter (Mueller) at third and an excellent hitting DH. Sorry, I just don't by it that DH's can't be most valuable players.

So its okay to believe that Sosa used steroids but those who believe that Sheffield used them should leave Sheff alone? Why should we think that Sheffield DID NOT use steroids? He said he used them... so.... hmmm.

I wasn't dishearted by it at all. Wakefield outpitched RJ and we made Mariano Nervous at the end of the game in a game which we played without Ortiz, Varitek or Nixon in the regular lineup. We took one of three IN new york and only gave up one game in the standings. Most Yanks fans were, I'm sure, hoping for a sweep and they didn't get it. I'm not disheartened... of course, I was for a minute after the game, but I'm fine now.

We can buy other people's power, should have Youkilis and Ortiz for an extended period of time and will be a pitching first team for years to come. No problem with that.

Todays game was not a big deal at all. In fact, I'm really impressed with the sox pitching recently, especially the starters. Wells had a typical bad-wells start, which happens sometimes. However, The rest of the starters have pitched very well the last few games. The yanks were lucky to squeek out a win today. Also, has Steinbrenner sold a portion of the Yankees to Wakefield, cause he seems to OWN them.

And any other lineup wouldn't have touched Wake today either. If it comes out that Giambi has gone back to using steroids I'm going to be SO pissed that he won this game on a pop fly to left.

The rivalry is MUCH bigger than any 3 year period too. Even if right now its not as big as it once was, it iwll be big again and has been big in the past. If the rivalry is dead its because Yankee fans have resigned to the fact that the sox are better. The rivalry need not be based on Sox futility.

thanks for the info anibal... good stuff.

And.... a battle of the lazy-assed: Manny vs. Everett... Manny wins. This time.

Seriously lackluster performance by the sox today. It looks like they wanted to take the day off anyway. Really, really lackluster.

no

Great. Thanks for the specs.

That's funny Stevece. last year I definitely had a few "running into Pedro" dreams. In one of them it basically turned into Field of Dreams, when I asked him to 'have a catch' and he said YES!!!! Even after I woke up it was a really cool feeling to have 'experienced' meeting Pedro and speaking with him.

Really? Huh. This whole 40 man roster thing is confusing when you can substitute players for guys on the DL. So, Boras demanded basically the same thing that most sox fans demanded too? That's good. Another question: do 40 men go to the playoffs with the sox or do they again cut down the roster at the end of the season? I don't seem to remember the sox having all of this depth the last few years, but maybe I just didn't consider John Burkett to be depth.

It's squashed John. Can someone clue me in on something? Hansen, is he eligable or ineligable for the playoffs? He's not in the 40 man roster, is he?

I don't. I've liked Renteria from the beginning. His errors are a concern, but his production has been good. He'll be great for the next few years.

I'm worried about running into Cleveland because they are a low-flyer, scrappy baseball team.

Yeah, the saying is "when you assume you make an ass out of you and ME", nice selective memory. I'm pretty sure you WERE indicating that I'm one of the dumbasses, as you quoted my post and then went off on an insane rant about exageration. Sorry if you weren't, but you should definitely clarify about who the 'they' are when you start generalizing about groups of people.

I'm not sure, but I believe you can scratch Mussina off that list, with the tendinitis and all...

Hey, mr I'm-such-a-good-poster-so-only-I-can-critique-other-people's-posts, I don't know who you think you are, but you don't need to insult me for writing one word of exclamation after getting some disappointing news. If you don't like how people are regularly posting here then go and post somewhere else. I believe I said "Arghhhhhhh" which you somehow took to mean "my life is over and I"m going to kill myself now", which clearly it didn't. It was an expression of frustration, nothing more.

I don't think it would hurt to have him pitch in the majors. Rookie or not.

Here is a description of Foulke's inning from tonight, against SINGLE A Vermont: Vermont Top 5th * Pitcher Change: Keith Foulke replaces James Zink. * Jose Contreras singles on a fly ball to right fielder Luis Soto. * Francisco Plasencia doubles (14) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Twomley. Jose Contreras scores. Francisco Plasencia advances to 3rd, on throwing error by second baseman Dominic Ramos. * Leonard Davis strikes out swinging. * Carlos Torres singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jason Twomley. Francisco Plasencia scores. * Rolando Arnedo singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jay Johnson. Carlos Torres to 2nd. * Mike Daniel called out on strikes. * Lorvin Louisa strikes out swinging. Three strikeouts and 2 runs. Hmmmmm