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Not that it matters, but from day one.....I said VMART needed to be re-signed and that there was no way in hell Salty was a MLB catcher. The Crawford signing essentially negated any chance of him coming back. You might be right about Francona, and that sucks.....his loyalty to his players, which was always his biggest asset could become his biggest flaw with a team that has no identity or leaders.

They most certainly will be looking at him. He essentially had a blank check book to spend almost 50 million dollars.

Yeah, Salty needs to take a seat. He looks like single A pitching would mow his ass down. Scutaro needs to sit as well. Ditto for Crawford, I dont give a s*** how much he makes, I was against him being here anyway. For the money they are paying Crawford.....Vmart would still be here and I wouldnt have to hear a word about Salty. Salty is terrible, what a terrible decision to think he could start. What an even worse decision to sign Crawford at the expense of VMART. Someones ass (looking at you Theo) will be in a sling if they dont turn this around.

Best choice ever..... Let VMART walk, then hand the catching job to Salty and then the signing of Crawford. This team is in some trouble. Right now....they just arent very good. Not at all.

Pedro would simply have to be better than his alternative. Question is......is he better than Lackey or Dice-K at this point? If he is, then why not.

Ok, so I will throw it out there again. JD Drew to leadoff. Ellsbury and Crawford have been terrible. We have not gotten anything out of the spot, time for another change.

Dice-K.......terrible. I said it in the offseason, they needed to sign another SP to give some guys (Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K) a kick in the ass. That, and they needed to either re-sign Vmart or bring in a Catcher other than Salty. Saltalamacchia should not be given another start. He cant hit, he cant throw, he cant catch....christ, he cant even make contact. Who knows how much he is costing our SP's out there. I have no problem with Varitek catching everyday.....even if he hits .170 with zero power all season, its better than the alternative.

twice.

YEAH!!!! Post in the one that I created!!!! Seriously though. 1-7 and the starting pitching has been awful. When do we start to really wonder that this time might actually be flawed? The 100 win season was such a foolish projection. Now, only 8 games into the season and we have almost 1/9th of the losses allowed for a 100 win season. I said it in the offseason that one of my goals would have been to sign a starting pitcher to kick Lackey and Beckett in the ass. Lackey clearly needed it, we will see what Beckett does 2morrow night, but the Yankees tatooed him all season long last year.

John Lackey is concerning. The most concerning pitcher currently on the Redsox, until Beckett pitches on Sunday.

This is not a thread in which I am saying that the sky is falling. This thread is to strictly talk about the issues with this team that is leading to a bad/slow start. Jacoby Ellsbury has been dreadful. He was also pretty bad last year although we can attribute that to injury. He has looked completely lost after looking pretty good in the opener. I think the question truly arises as to whether or not he is a true leadoff hitter. He sure as hell looked like one in 2009 but his last 100+ ab's have not. I think most of the rest of the lineup will eventually hit their stide. Ortiz has looked better to start the season, better than he has in the previous 2 anyway. Crawford will hit his stride. His speed alone allows him to beat out hits. As he gets more comfortable he will produce better. He may not be a fit for this team, or their lineup but hes still a damn good player. Youkilis will also produce and I think he will do that sooner than later. His injury was a significant one and he has too good of an eye and contact skills to allow his slump to linger much longer. Scutaro and Salty have been terrible. Its hard to say that Scutaros slump will continue as well. The guy makes contact too often and doesnt strike out much. Eventually the balls will start to drop for the guy. Salty in my opinion is another issue. I was pissed off when they allowed Vmart to leave. Hes not making contact and has looked lost. Hes been up in some crucial situations and has not come through. The pitching staff has also been rocked during their 5 game losing streak. Now, we cannot blame Salty for all of this since he is not telling Lackey to throw meatballs over the heart of the plate, but he is the one who called for Beckett to throw 20+ changeups the other night. You have to wonder how much of an effect he is having on the staff though since he is the one throwing down the signs. Lester is a slow starter, so we cannot panic with him. He has earned his keep and we all know he starts out a little slow. Lackey was brutal. He has average at best last season and you have to wonder about the success he will have in the AL east, especially since Toronto and Baltimore are pretty strong offensive teams. Buccholz was excellent last year so he at least has a small track record. He looked ok in his debut and pitched well enough to win the game. Beckett, well you all know where I stand with him. He was regularly around 90/91 MPH. That is very concerning especially considering the fact he hasnt has a good curveball in almost 2 years. I have heard people say that he pitched ok the other night. Which game were they watching? After 5 innings he was already at 100 pitches and he had given up 3 ER. Dice-K did pretty much what we expected of him. As the #5 all we can really hope for is that he keeps us in the game. He did that. The bullpen has been just as bad, if not worse than the starting pitching. A major concern is that they are already getting overworked. In 4 of the 5 first games the starting pitcher has failed to make it out of the 5th inning. Reyes and Wheeler have already pitched in 3 games. Reyes has been brutal and I think we are close to seeing the return of Okajima. Reyes was a nice story and earned a roster spot but is pitching his way out of it. A couple more losses and bad performances will ultimately bring Okajima back to the bigs. As a team, they currently have a 8.33 ERA after 5 games and have allowed 67 baserunners through 40 innings. They are only hitting .190 as a team. I think once the offense starts rolling and they take some of the pressure of the starting pitchers. Bottom line, this team was supposed to be an offensive juggernaut. Its time to start hitting. Its time to start putting together long innings. Its time to start playing good baseball. This lineup is too good to start out the season 0-5. I think Lester stops the bleeding and this team scores 5-6 runs today.

I made a few posts in the past for people with questions who are visiting Fenway for the first time. I hope these help: POST#1 I arrive around 5-530 PM. I usually go to GAME ON, a local bar and grab a pizza and beer. Going to a RedSox game isnt simply a baseball game, its a event. The buzz around the park before games is what gets me most excited to go to Fenway. There is very little room to walk around, its very cramped. If you want to walk around.....do it before the game starts. You can pretty much see any area you want except the Green Monster seating area, and the VIP areas. The best food outside the stadium is the "sausage guy" sausages. And yes, there is a quality difference between the different sausage carts. Sausage guy makes his own sausage, while most others just pick up a pack of sweet italians from their local supermarket. The best food inside the stadium is the Fenway Frank. It is a Kayem hot dog that is steamed/or grilled and has a hint of smoky/spiciness. Get it with spicy mustard only. Do not get them from concession stands (they grill them on rollers), rather....get them from a vendor in the stands (those ones are steamed). Vendor dogs are more authentic. As far as drink, basically anywhere you go......you will get a watered down draft pilsner beer. Make sure you get 2 at a time (dont want to look like a rookie). Dont worry about being polite, people understand that the place is cramped. Most people are more than accommodating to stand up and let you pass to do whatever you have to do (although I try to wait in between innings). Clothing, if its 60 or up, I recommend shorts and a T shirt......and bring a pullover sweatshirt or light jacket. Less than 60, dress to be a little colder. POST#2 A Burtons Grille opened up near the park, and they have a really nice upscale dining type menu. You will spend about 60 bucks per person (drinks, appetizer, tip included in the price).The best way to enjoy the game is a sausage guy sausage before the game. There are numerous other bars/sausage,hotdog stands around the stadium. I would suggest being around the stadium around 5pm. What to do during the game? Drink beer and watch baseball. Also stuff your face with some fenway franks.

July 12th 1992. My first Sox game, a win by Frank Viola. Many already know, my username SweetChinMusic is a combination of Frank Viola's nickname "Sweet Music" and chin music which was Pedro's specialty.

I feel bad for suns. He cheers for the Browns (terrible). He cheers for the Cavs (worst in the NBA). He cheers for the Guardians (will be in the bottom 3 of baseball). Its so boring to cheer for Boston. The Bruins (in the playoffs), Celtics (in the playoffs), Patriots (were in the playoffs) and Redsox (will be in the playoffs) are really boring to root for, you know...with all the winning we do around here.

The Guardians will play their best baseball of the season.....because they will read this forum and see that you are ready for the series.

At the very least, the 0-3 start will shut up all the homers who predicted 100 win seasons and said nothing could go wrong. That s*** is so stupid...who cares?? Just play good baseball, the rest will take care of itself.

Guardians will make Beckett look like a good pitcher and Sox will win in game #4.

I really hope Buchholz turns things around tomorrow....or we could possibly start the season 0-5 if Beckett and Dice-K pitch like they did last year.

.....or next week.

Against RHH I proposed a while back: Drew Crawford Pedroia Gonzalez Youkilis Ortiz Salty Scutaro Ellsbury.....when they bring in a tough lefty, Cameron can hit for Drew or Crawford at the top of the lineup. Drew is their best OB player (hurts me to say it). Get him on in front of the big guys. Ellsbury turns over the lineup with speed at the bottom. When the lineup turns over Drew takes a ton of pitches to allow Ellsbury to take his shot at 2B as well as make pitchers work. Crawford becomes a second nightmare in the lineup....alll setting up Pedroia, Gonzalez and Youk in the middle. Again, a leadoff hitter only leads off once a game. The lineup needs to be organized for overall strength and matchups.

This thread was embarrassing to read. Really? After one game and people are already judging and projecting how the season will turn out? Boy do I miss some of the old timers who were the voice of reason. This new crowd is frustrating at best to interact with.