DirtDog

Tim Wakefield!

Don't forget Bard may struggle a bit. Not llikely, but possible. Jenks could be the next Gagne. We may need Papelbon. Who knows, stranger things have happened.

Josh Beckett? I'll assume Mike Hampton ain't on the list because he's probably out of the league but he'd be batting 4th. I'll also take Rick Ankiel....

I'm curious to see what kind of year Papelbon has. Last year was substandard, but I think some of you don't really appreciate how historic his run the first few years with the team was. You're not going to go out there and find any old closer who will be much better than that run. I think some of you got spoiled. The amount of saves Paps blew last year really taints his season as poor, even though it was quite respectable hovering around average. Instead of constantly bashing this guy, let's just see what he does this year. I think the decision of what to do will be pretty easy next off-season. I'm not saying we should retain him after this year but I don't think you can go wrong having him on this team (money not an issue). Although the money will be the issue and he will be on the wrong side of 30 and pitchers of his type do tend to break down. It may not be worth it. He a Red Sox this year and I wish nothing but the best for him.

First of all, I was born on the night of October 25, 1986. All of you should know that date as it pertains to this team. My Dad was a Phillies fan but moved here in the 70s. That night I was born was quite delirious for him. He was in the waiting room at the hospital and the TV had the game on. It was also the end of daylight savings and he saw the clock on the wall literally going backwards. Even though the events of that game are to forget, he'll always point to those moments as the time he became a Sox fan himself. We both became Sox fans together. I'm 24 now. I played baseball all throughout my life and consider it my favorite sport. I've followed it as early as was humanly possible. I remember some early 90s teams but really became a huge fan of Garciaparra when he broke in the league in 1996. I also played SS in little league and I always saw a lot of myself in him. Nomar also loved soccer, another sport I played since I was a toddler and still do to this day. I went off to college in the mid-atlantic where everyone is Phillies fans. While I have grown to love them too, our fans are so much better here. During our WS wins it was my freshman year in 2004. Senior year 2007. Phillies fans down there bandwagoned into HUGE Sox fans. A few kids I knew had red sox gear. It was really trendy. Crap like that really bugged me and I still hate fairweather/pink hat/out of town fans post-2004. Since I took a fifth year, I was able to revel in the Phillies win down there in 2008. I wouldn't say I bandwagoned, but it was a fun experience. I do have roots with that city. My whole family is from there. Wasn't in Boston to experience The Sox ones though. I remember I was able to come home and get crapfaced with friends to go see the parades. Then driving back 8 hours the next day hungover as can be just to get to classes on time.

Patriots are the flavor of the week right now, and NFL is the country's most popular league. But Boston will always be first and foremost a baseball town. The true test is this: December and Janary there is always Red Sox news. March through June there is rarely Patriots news.

Lowrie has proven that when healthy he is solid. I would be very interested to see what he could do with 400 ABs, maybe even a full year. The guy has had some tough breaks (mono killed his whole season one year) it would be a nice story if he broke out.

Can't believe some of you want to force his hand into retirement. Let it play out, keep him in the bullpen maybe give him a wink-wink DL spot and see what happens. Sure he's had some injury concerns but time does heal wounds. This isn't a guy who's throwing 100 mph he's throwing silly knuckleballs he could pitch till he's 50. We're already paying him - if we don't like what we see he won't see the light of day and he'll gracefully retire next year.

Pedroia Crawford Youkilis Gonzalez Ortiz Salt Drew Scutaro Ellsbury

Orioles are loooking for a shortstop. Any chance we can pry a bullpen arm from them? Cla Meredith?

i'm lovin' it

Sorry that I have better things to do than make 8000 posts and read 200 page long threads.

lure trot nixon out of retirement and call it an offseason

offseason still won't be a success unless we replace v-mart's bat

Would be nice to have had Murphy in a Sox uni this year:(

Why did Ortiz want that baseball at the end of the inning?

Regardless of his obliviousness to what happened behind him, I will take a David Ortiz infield hit every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

In a perfect world, I'd like 1 insurance run here.

However, that was a pretty awkward dive for a guy nursing rib and oblique injuries.

Yeah. Ellsbury is a terrible fielder alright.

Wendell Kim sucked, but he was entertaining with his wind sprints. I voted for him anyway

Does anyone have that table, which compares Red Sox and Yankees winnign streaks versus slumps? Or possibly link?

Mikey hit 3 HRs for the PawSox tonight and is batting .471 Move over, Beltre! In all seriousness guys, what do we do? leave him on the bench?