BoSox21

to me, I think this is as good of a #2 pitcher as we could have hoped to acquire this off-season. I'm sad that this is probably the end of Billy Mueller in Boston but Lowell is a gold glove player and a very good hitter when you don't take into account last season After thinking about it for awhile, it's kinda amazing that we didn't have to give up any guys that have ever been productive for the big club to get 2 pretty damn good players but I am sorry to see Hanley go

a little bit of a black eye for the organization, I would say

While there are no doubt enough baseball fans to support a second team in Boston, there's no way fans would accept a second team. The Red Sox are far too firmly entrenched in the fibre of that city. It's Red Sox territory and it always will be. It works in Chicago because for as long as anyone in that town has been alive, the Cubs have been the north side's team and the White Sox have been the south side's team. Both teams have the history

any city that truly cares about their team will criticize when they feel the need to. I live in Montreal and the Canadiens get a shitload of criticism but you know what, the Bell Centre is full every game and there's always a playoff atmosphere. Fenway is the same thing. Some athletes can come to these cities and handle the big time, and some can't go they hide away in a west coast city where no one gives a damn about the team so they can collect their paycheck and go back to obscurity

my god that breaking ball was FILTHY

ill just say it feels great pulling for an O-Cab at bat in October once again

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/images/10/10/tx_yankees.jpg just felt like this thread could use that pic

best of luck, man. We're pulling for you

Rotation: Schilling Burnett Papelbon Wakefield Clement Bullpen: Myers Bradford Mantei Hansen Delcarmen Foulke Ryan/Wagner DiNardo on paper, doesn't look too shabby at all.

there's no reason this needs to be a long, drawn out affair. I don't think I'm the only one who wants the Red Sox GM to focus solely on making this team better instead of negotiating a contract for himself so if this isn't done by the end of the World Series, I'll be very upset

Graff did far more good for the Sox than he did bad, there's no reason for RSN to hold a grudge against him. He solidified a spot on the field and in the batting order that was sorely needed since Bellhorn really had to business being an everyday player in the majors for any team

they showed the clip of that on ESPN and it was just the batboy going nuts and clapping. the rest showed little to no emotion

typed up my 2005 year in review then watched Mueller's walkoff homerun against the Yankees from '04 about 15 times

Don't complain about that s***. Boston had a SHITLOAD of powerplays before that and Fitzgerald deserved that penalty. At least for once the refs didn't take into account the time on the clock when deciding what's a penalty and what isn't. Yea it cost you guys the game but tough s***

he'd be great if he returns to form. the guy throws gas

just didn't seem as hungry this year, that's all Damon's comments are true but as stated above, very ill-timed and he could've waited a little longer after his check-swing strikeout to blow his own horn

Improve pitching, that's it. Can't say the top offense in the big leagues needs improving

congratulations to the White Sox fans. No doubt you guys deserved the sweep. You guys play baseball the way it's supposed to be played and there's nothing to dislike about you. The better team won and I'll be rooting for you guys for the rest of the playoffs.

I absolutely love his bat but what can you really say about a guy who doesn't want to be here?

why make Ortiz leave? He's happy here. And I'm guessing all those who think we'd sink without Manny thought the same thing when Nomar left. Look, we'll miss his bat no doubt but f*** man, the guy clearly doesn't want to be here

we lost to the better team and I have no problem rooting for the White Sox. Great pitching, production from everyone, tremendous managing. They're easy to like

Now that the 2005 Red Sox have been eliminated, let's take a moment to reflect on what was a heck of an entertaining ride The Good: - The emergence of Jonathan Papelbon. He's gonna be a hell of a special pitcher and hopefully we can hang onto him for a long time. - Matt Clement's first half. He pretty nuch carried the rotation through the first half and who knows where we would've been without him by the all-star break. - Tim Wakefield's second half. Did the same for the rotation in the second half that Clement did in the first although the rotation with a bit better in the second half with Wells pitching well, Schilling giving us a few good starts and Arroyo being alright. - Career year by David Ortiz. Everyone knows what he did and what he meant to us throughout the year. - Johnny Damon. Showed a lot of heart playing through his injuries this year and was a hell of a hitter despite dropping off a bit at the end. - Edgar Renteria coming around. Say what you want and overall, his first year with the Sox was a bit of a dissapointment but he ended up coming around and I think he'll have a terrific 2006. - Tony Graffanino really filled a hole in the batting order while playing solid defense at second. - Mike Timlin. The only shining light in a bullpen of darkness. - John Olerud. Played the great defense he was known for and lit a bit of a fire under Millar for the second half while providing solid hitting. - It might be only me but I loved the defense Trot played this year. He was fantastic. The Bad: - Curt Schilling. I'm praying he'll be back to form in 2006 cause 2005 was a god awful year for him. - The bullpen. What a horrible year for the bullpen. Bradford and Myers were alright and I mentioned Timlin and Papelbon above but the rest of them were absolutely terrible. - Manny Ramirez's distractions. We could've done without the trade demands, the trips inside the green monster, not running out ground balls, his mp3 Oakley's and the rest of them. - Keith Foulke. I believe it was more than just his knees, probably his divorce but he was a guy we needed even more this year than we did last with the rotation not being nearly as good as last year and we couldn't get him. The Ugly: - The liner off of Matt Clement's head. - A-Rod's homerun during Schilling's return to the Sox in a relief appearance. So all that being said, 2006 becomes a huge off-season. Priority number one becomes resigning Theo Epstein, that goes without saying. After that, we need to resign Damon, there's no better leadoff man in baseball and he's as big of a part of the batting order as anyone. I think it's time to trade Manny. We've got good young talent on the brink of being ready for the big leagues so I think it's time to change the face of the organization a little bit and part of that is getting rid of Manny who has worn out his welcome. Same goes with Millar. We need a bigger bat at first base and maybe second. The pitching staff has GOT to improve. A vintage Schilling would be great, Wells could be a solid #3, maybe Clement can be consistent for an entire year for a change. Papelbon is ready. I just don't like Arroyo all that much. Bring in A.J. Burnett. So all in all, good year but a lot of changes need to be made because I don't think these guys deserved to be in the second round of the playoffs and quite frankly, first round isn't good enough for Red Sox Nation.

they werent a pathetic team. ask yourself if you saw this team winning 95 games without Pedro, a good Foulke and a good Schilling this year

you know what, it was a great season anyway. it was our World Series victory lap and at least a sweep makes that much harder of a slap in the face to Theo to fix this team

more famous image of this series: Graffanino's error or Johnny's check swing?