Commander Shears

Rookies who win 20 games and lead the league in ERA while pitiching for the best team in baseball tend to get some votes (outside the bubble that is Boston, mind you). That said, let's ignore Verlander & Liriano for a second. ERA is hardly the most important stat for a closer. Just to play devil's advocate, let's not forget that Jenks is still technically a rookie, as well. Papelbon crushes him in ERA, hits, walks, etc, yeah yeah yeah, because he's the better pitcher. But at the end of the day: Jenks; 30 S 2 BS Paps; 30 S 5 BS Papelbon also converted his first 20 save opportunities, which means he has blown five of his last fifteen chances. Awards usually go to guys who turn it on in the stretch, not fade (or come back to reality, as the case may be). Yeah, he's a stud and it's mainly because he seems to only inherit one-run leads, never gets those cushy three-run specials, he's the best pitcher among closers, and he's having an insane year. Agreed, but he is not Rookie of the Year. On the bright side, maybe this will help get him into the rotation next year where we'll get 230 innings out of him.

He goes where he wants. He does as he pleases. http://www.cbsnews.com/images/2006/05/31/imageNYET70105312303.jpg

Was Lou Pinella riding side-saddle with Roethlisberger, or did he suffer massive head trauma somewhere else? This is embaressing.

You do realize that Orsillo actually said that, right?

I made a bet this offseason that Farnsworth would get canned before Tavarez (closing in Atlanta is too much pressure, so he goes to New York?), but neither would last all season. I still like my chances, but Julian is making it closer than I would like.

Don't forget play-by-play man. Don Orsillo, Sean McDonough, Ned Martin, Curt Gowdy. Let's see, who's a distant fourth? Hmm....

1. Our Orsillo is my new hero. 2. Does anybody else remember what he's talking about? I thought I was the only one. Gowdy was telling a story about someone - sorry, I don't remember whom - and the inning ended, so Orsillo just interrupted, gave the score, and said 'thanks for coming.' Then Gowdy, since he wasn't done, but he was in fact, the man, said something like 'I just want to finish up on that story. (pause) He's dead now.' Then the most awkward silence EVER. It was classic. Orsillo looked not only like the ass that he is but he could not have possibly been ruder to a broadcasting legend. He isn't fit to plug in Gowdy's mike.

Let's just focus on the bright side. Now we get to watch Johnny be slowly crushed by the mercenary reputation and Yankee business style. This will only end in misery for the Boss's new trophy.

I know we're all a little thrown by Johnny Judas, but let's not lose our heads here. Reed will NEVER be a lead-off hitter for the Sox.

He seriously needs to platoon with Brian Daubach somewhere. They can compete to see who's the more random dude that somehow ended up on big league roster, and have a BadFacialHair-Off.

Nice to see that cordial atmosphere didn't take.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. He says he wants to retire, but if someone begs him, he'll come back. Everybody has known that kind of person who says he doesn't want to go to the party, just so everyone else will tell him that he has to go, that it won't be the same without him, yada yada. Then, lo and behold, you convinced him. It's dramatic, manipulative, passive aggressive, whatever you want. If he wanted to retire, he would have retired. He wanted to play, as long as he was treated a certain way.

I would advise you to stay away from much baseball coverage and analysis then, as I'm hardly the first person to express this opinion. For those of us who are counting, this is the fourth team he's quit on when he wasn't showered enough praise. His last four years with Boston, he was clearly out of shape and underperforming. He then gets motivated, kicks ass for a crap team about which he cares not a bit, so he leaves. He rides the Yankees' coattails to a Series, again has his performance slide with each year on the team, and leaves when they don't treat him like an ace. Houston bends over backwards for him, shells out enormous cash, but he doesn't feel loved enough so he goes on sabbatical. He wants to be begged, missed, coddled and various other forms of ass-kissing, and you're saying he isn't a drama queen? He only cares about one guy, and it's been readily apparent every time he's joined/deserted a team. To me, this past season was his absolute ideal. He put up crazy stats (other than wins and in particular, playoff wins), while everybody played the violin for him and his lack of run-support. How does the best pitcher of all time take himself out of playoff games? (Or get himself thrown out, for that matter) He reminds me of Terry Glenn in a way. I always felt that Terry would rather get open and have the pass be overthrown, then have to go fight for the ball. Rocket would rather lose 2-1 and have everyone talk about how it wasn't his fault. He gets praise and pity, what a two-fer. In every sport, in order to be considered the best, you should have to perform well in the clutch / under pressure. (To be fair, some are excused due to lack of opportunity.) To me, he is on the wrong end of that spectrum, no matter how talented he is. In every conceivable way, he's the anti-Derek Jeter. Oh, and Enrique owned Pedro. That's undeniable, but it's also an entirely different phenomenon. Heck Trot Nixon owns Clemens, what does that prove?

I didn't say worst, I said most overrated. He's considered by many to be the best of all time, yet he quits in the playoffs and wets himself when he faces Dave Stewart. With that ratio of rating to reality, who could possibly be more overrated?

Just what we need. A self-absorbed excuse-making drama queen. Only this one chokes in EVERY big game of his career. Winning a playoff game for the Yanks when you're up 3 games hardly outweighs getting blown out vs. Pedro, outduelled by a more-injured Smoltz, and losing to Dave Stewart about twelve times a year. Most overrated pitcher in history.

Too good to be true? From ESPN.com: "I've been with the Orioles for two years and things haven't gone in the direction that we were expecting, so I think the best thing will be a change of scenery," Miguel Tejada Do you think Marte would look good in orange and black? There's your right-handed, Dominican bat behind Ortiz. Oh, and a major defensive upgrade.

I'm just wondering if anybody has noticed how consistent the Orsillo over McDonough decision is with the Theo debacle. As a cheap yes man he is not only easier to handle, but he further cements the NESN / Globe / WEEI propaganda conglomerate. These owners enjoy having employees they can push around almost as much as they like controlling the flow of information.

So I guess it's the 'borderline' you have a problem with? i·ro·ny ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-n, r-) n. pl. i·ro·nies The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit1. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: “Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated” (Richard Kain). An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic. Dramatic irony. Socratic irony.

Personally, I think Buck gets a bad rap (you try calling a game saddled with the submental that is Tim McCarver). Sort of like Miller & Morgan. It can't be easy carrying that kind of dead weight. What I would prefer is someone who knows enough about the game so he doesn't have to rely on three pitch-count updates per inning, recaps of what happened two pitches ago, and endless readings from the Media Guide. Not even his mother cares where Tampa Bay's long relief guy 'originally hails from' or 'currently resides in' when we have two guys on. This guy should host This Is Your Life, he takes us on so many trips down memory lane. At the very least, someone needs to tell Donny that we get the same video feed he does. Watch any other game and see if the announcer narrates every edit the way Don does. Pavlov's dog wasn't this predictable. Every single time they cut to someone on deck, he tells you what's happening: 'Johnny Damon waits on deck' 'Bill Mueller waits on deck.' He does the same thing with bullpens & baserunners. Basically he thinks he's doing radio. Really really boring radio. Maybe he should work for NPR. Have you ever heard him identify a pitch? Or a count to run on? Or question a move (before Remy blazes the trail)? Of course he can't do these things, because he doesn't know anything about baseball. He's the Stone Phillips of local sports. Just an empty talking head doing an impression of professionals. Who would I rather have? Just about anybody. But let us not forget that McDonough was canned for cost-cutting and company interests not because of, but in spite of performance. Don is nothing more than a cheap company man that you can keep in line. I bet even his kids push him around. I'd also like someone with the tact to not wear a World Series ring he did absolutely nothing to deserve. It's embaressing. How many times has Remy worn his on air? You know what sums him up for me? - the way he genuinely looks forward to the Red Sox cruise, which Remy openly ignores. He's like that guy (we all know one) who actually enjoys the company picnic, and looks forward to it. I believe the official term is 'loser'. It's enough to make you pine for the days of Bob Kurtz.

Busted. Oh, and thanks for the welcome.

Curt Gowdy. Ned Martin. Sean McDonough. Don Orsillo? One of these things is not like the others. By that logic, Edgar Renteria is fine because he's better than most shortstops. Not being the worst isn't good enough for the Sox. It is embarrassing that such a flagship franchise would make such a buffoon its public face. It is insulting that they would expect no one to care. The Red Sox deserve better. Red Sox fans deserve better. To think that we don't notice his incompetence insults our intelligence. To think that we won’t care insults our passion. The announcer is our ambassador, our voice, our connection to the game.

Come on guys, they didn't get Rodriguez for his bat. They got him for his popular lockerroom presence. He's sort of like their Millar. He just oozes good vibes, you know? It would be pretty funny if the MVP went to someone who's own teammate acknowledged that he, Sheffield, is the guy other teams fear and not Rodriguez. And he's right (I know who I'd rather have up).

I recently started lurking around this forum and checking out a bunch of threads, including some rather old ones. I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. People are complimenting Don Orsillo. The line was drawn and I felt the need to register & post when I got to this quote, for which I will retain the poster’s anonymity: 'McDonough only did Friday night games. Besides him and Orsillo are pretty much the same. They even SOUND exactly alike.' Either there is some REALLY good crack going around or I’m in the Twilight Zone. Let me tell you the difference between Sean McDonough and The Redundancy King of Redundancy. McDonough is funny and knowledgeable. Orsillo knows nothing about the game and has the personality of a wet blanket. (If you ever want to destroy a comedic riff, just get Don to contribute. He makes Debbie Downer seem like Dane Cook.) Anyone see Channel 7’s Sports Extra a month or so ago when he uttered the immortal phrase ‘the bullpen’s been great’? Or when he said Curt Schilling had settled into his outing – with one out in the SECOND INNING. Oh, and there was a guy on first – who scored. Or when he said ‘Alan Embree picks up his first strikeout and couldn’t have picked a better time to do it!’ It was the second batter he faced. He walked the first. My personal favorite is when he parrots an opinion Jerry Remy gave just a couple innings earlier, and pretends its his own. He used to have the decency to wait a couple of games, but now he’s down to about half an hour. Remy has to notice. He has to. It's like he's doing an impression of an announcer, but isn't one. He's a pod and I cannot be the only one dreading the next forty years of this guy.