seabeachfred

Well our bullpen seems to be in crisis mode at this point Ted. We have two "closers" on the shelf, one who can't stay out of the infirmary, the other out of the kitchen. My take is to roll the dice and bring up Alan Webster for the rotation and and make Doubrant the long man in the bullpen who can eat up innings so as to save our decent bullpenners from wearing out. We could also bring Aceves back up for similar duty but it is becoming clear the Red Sox want him gone if they haven't decided to bring him up after those two injuries.

Last night was very scary and thank goodness we got a win out of it. The usual suspects who we have been panning all this young season came through for us and it couldn't have come at a better time. Let's face it, though, the bullpen has been weakened by those two injuries and we may need a couple of arms lickity split. I hate it to be Aceves but Farrell may not have a choice in the matter. We simply need help and I would much rather have Alfredo up than Bard. I wonder if Ace's attitude would be better this time around. Or am I kidding myself?

Whatever it takes RSFOL305. The board has been pretty good lately and no one has personally attacked any posters. We need to keep it that way. One thing is very noticeable and that's there are some to are critical when the Sox aren't firing on most cylinders and say so and others who are leery of doing that but seem to get upset at those that do. Look, we are all in the same boat here and I don't think anyone of us was happy at what happened this past weekend. For that reason I look forward to the Red Sox righting the ship the next week or two, and, yes, I'll put in a good word with Jacko for you. :D:D:D:D

By now you should be well aware Ted that there are some here who simply want to bury their faces in the sand and pretend the sun is out when there a monsoon falling on them. Not that we got monsooned this past weekend but I can't force myself to believe that we played very good baseball either. We didn't--that is a fact. Our pitching was poor--that is a fact. Our bullpen crapped out----that is a fact. We didn't hit worth a damn---that is a fact. We struck out 14 damn times Sunday---that is a fact. Salty behind the plate and at bat in the clutch is a losing proposition----that is either a difference of opinion or a fact. We will very soon see if this was nothing more than a hiccup or the beginning of a slide for the team. One thing is clear to me. We need to upgrade the team in the coming weeks (or is it months?) and we need to get better pitching from the backend of our rotation. I would imagine if we have a solid homestand, say win five or six of the seven games, then we will all relax a little bit better, but if our pratfall in Texas continues I think there will be a lot of us on this board who will make their feelings known in no uncertain terms---as they damn well have a right to.

SFF, that's what I think should be done. Lavarnway is ready and if they give him a full chance, and I don't mean a dozen or so games, just put him in there and keep him in there, he will be more than adequate in my opinion. For some reason the Red Sox brass just don't seem to want to give him the job any more than they want to admit that Saltalamacchia is a penquin in the garden. The guy can't hit except an occasional homer, can catch, can't throw, and is pretty much a washout, but there he still is. Again, it is only my opinion but we are winning nothing until we get another catcher not initialed JS.

SoxSport, I guarantee you there are some people who will be very angry as what you just wrote, but you are right. Though the front office has been running better this year, they still have a tendency to do some things with their heads up their collective asses. This option crap is one of them. Of course we couldn't DFA guys with no options left because the Yankees might sign them on us and then they will come back to haunt us. We've heard this song before.:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D Alright already Jung---do you want to make feel crappier than I already am? I'm convinced........Bailey is a physical wreck!!!!!!! What I need to know is what do we do now? I'm not convinced that Hanrahan is the answer either, and you already know what I think of Miller, Wilson and Mortensen.....s***, sounds like a shyster law firm, doesn't it?

Well you guys said it all----a real s***** weekend for our team.....Ellsbury is getting no big contract except from a gullible team, Salty isn't worth s***, and Mortensen and Wilson may not even be worth that. Punch our ticket out of Texas and hope we don't wind up cratering after this miserable display of baseball. We better wake the hell up now.

Bailey just might be a candy-ass tin man who just can't stay in one piece.

Bailey has to be one of the biggest tin men in the game. Whatever rhyme or reason the guy just can't stay in one piece. It is always something or something else. Now we have to endure garbage like Mortensen and Wilson when we could have used Bailey---like maybe today. Then again, we hit crappy, pitched crappy and played crappy so maybe Bales wouldn't have been much help at that.

Well iortiz, it is starting to look like Bailey is made of crape paper. The guy seems to have one ailment after another and in the meantime we have to endure watching trash like Mortsensen, Wilson and Miller f*** things up for us just about every time they enter a game. I'm wondering if this series we just endured was a blip on our season or whether we were really exposed as a medicore bunch against a good team. We looked like crap warmed over to be blunt about it. The Red Sox need to brace themselves and come back swinging the next two or three series. This past one was a real downer.:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown

I missed it too JB. The wife and I spend the day at Disneyland. So glad we won another one, but from reading what you guys have written the game was boring and nervous time the whole way through. Still when a team plays below their best and still wins it is a good sign. We sure as hell didn't do anything like this last season. Just the opposite most of the time.

Why all the damn secrets anyway? I see Lucchino's palsied hand in this? Why not simply tell the fans what the hell is up with Bailey. If the opposition doesn't see him for days they know something is up and no harm is done. At least the Red Sox fans would know what's up. Whoever is sitting on this stop trying to be the CIA. Is Bailey or hurt or isn't he?

I have a DVD of the highlights of that 2007 season and that four homer burst is the highlight of that reel. Jon Miller was going ape s*** over that barrage, so much so that poor Joe Morgan could hardly get a word in edgewise. "AND LOWELL BELTS ONE---THAT ONE'S HEADING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE, THREE BOOMING HOME RUNS AND THEY'RE PLAYING HOME RUN DERBY EARLY THIS YEAR AT FENWAY PARK. Priceless!!!!!!!

I have a DVD of the highlights of that 2007 season and that four homer burst is the highlight of that reel. Jon Miller was going ape s*** over that barrage, so much so that poor Joe Morgan could hardly get a word in edgewise. "AND LOWELL BELTS ONE---THAT ONE'S HEADING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE, THREE BOOMING HOME RUNS AND THEY'RE PLAYING HOME RUN DERBY EARLY THIS YEAR AT FENWAY PARI. Priceless!!!!!!!

Piasan, I don't know what the hell you had to be worrying about when your team played mine this first round of playoff basketball. You could have mailed it in, or, better yet, we should have mailed it in ourselves and chalk it up to experience. I don't ever remember the LA Lakers looking so pathetic as they did against the Spurs. We never had a ghost of a chance.

It is kind of freaky Jason and I don't have a valid reason for the plethora of injuries. I can take a couple of wild guesses though. These players are all more muscular than those of yesteryear and carry more muscle weight on their bodies. They are also very tightly muscled from all the weight lifting. Their bodies are not supple and when he run into another player it is like hitting a ton of steel. Not to mention when they fall the thuds are harder on their bodies because there is more of it to fall. Look at all the hamstring injuries in baseball. I am still very suspicious about the over emphasis on weight training. I think many players and team overdo it, and it MIGHT be a reason for all the mishaps hitting the players in both baseball and basketball. Football, however, is another kettle of fish. I can well understand what happens in that sport. It seems more and more the players are playing demolition derby with their bodies.

Tough times down here in LA Jason. Fortunately, though, I don't give a s*** about the Dodgers or Angels, or Kings or Clippers, but seeing the Lakers get humiliated all season is a bummer. Just three short years ago they beat the Celtics in perhaps the most exciting NBA Finals I had ever seen and now they are in the gutter with a miserable year and a less than impressive future. Then there are my Ducks. I want one winner this year though if I had a choice it would be the Red Sox hands down.

And don't forget the beginning of the 2011 season MJ. We were supposed to play the Phillies in the World Series and we all know painfully how that one turned out. Talent is important to any team, let's not kid ourselves, but it takes more than just that to make a group of players into a real team.

You know Ted, the guy may actually have a point. Marriage is hard work. The lady you walked down the aisle with 20, 30, 40 years ago is not the same person she was then, and neither are we. We change, they change and we have to grow with them and them with us. I once was laughed at by a friend when I told him the secret of a happy marriage was LUCK. I still believe a lot of that to be true. In my familes, both my dad and mom had siblings that argued like holy hell as is the case us Dagos. Hell, my brother and I should have both been in divorce court years back, and here we are. My brother and his wife just celebrated their 43rd anniversary while Linda and I will reach that on August 1. Go figure. As for Papi and his wife we don't really know when their marriage started to unravel. Did he cheat? Did she? Did they simply draw apart? All I can say is that the press and fans should butt out and let Papi and his wife worked out their problems without anyone butting in.

rortiz, I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole; my heart is in one place and my head is somewhere else on that matter. Suffice to say, I do think this AL East race is wide open. The Blue Jays were the pre-season favorites and might finally get their acts together soon---though not too soon, at least until we leave town Thursday night. The O's look like a good team, the Rays have become over-achievers the past five seasons, and the Yankees are the Yankees. I have to laugh when I think back to the pre-season when the pundits said the power was moving to the West. Hell, look at those divisions out there. Most of the teams in those two divisions are running in place, and the bad teams are really bad. There is not a patsy in our division though.

Well Stallion, I got called out by Youk last night and will be on my best behavior from here on in if I know what's good for me. I was suspended once if I rememberback in '07 or'08. I still think you would be a good enforcer, though. Wondering if that more violent and petty forum you're talking about is BDC. I post there once in awhile, and, in fact, that was once my main board. I have a few friends over there but there is a lot of real animus on that board.

rortiz, rarely have I disagreed with your or 700hitter on this board, but this time I have to take a different take on things. Right both of you are on Cherington making this decision, but we have to keep in mind that Bard wanted this. But put all this aside, the blame game, how the hell could a pitcher so completely go to hell the way Bard did. Rarely have I ever heard of a conversion of a player or pitcher into a different position or role that resulted in such a total disintegration of that individual. You think Bard may just have been short in the courage or guts department to allow himself to completely rot. I think a pitcher of sterner stuff would have eventually braced himself and come back out swinging. Bard has done nothing of the sort. He is still a total mess.

Doj, we are in total harmony on this point. I mentioned a few days ago that Bard's problems began in September of 2011 when he went totally South and became little more than a human pinata on the mound. Yes, Ben takes some of the brunt for making Bard a starting pitcher but Bard was lobbying like hell for it from what I've learned. Besides, even such a conversion shouldn't have resulted in the pitcher's total collapse on the mound---and that is exactly what happened. Bard failed as a starter, then failed as a reliever, then when sent down to the minors failed again. And he is still a basket case. Isn't it possible when weighing all these things that maybe Daniel didn't have the guts, toughness or staying power to get his s*** back together?

You know SFF, the more I think about it the less than the full brunt of this failure I place on Cherington. Yes, the Bard fiasco may be on Cherington and the FO , the latter for not anteing up the money for pitching the 2011 off-season, and for Ben's decision to make Bard a starter as a result of the FO's intranigence on the matter of pitching help. However, Bard's collapse was so complete and so devistating that you have to wonder if Daniel had the guts and toughness to see that through and when put back in the pen at least resume a semblance of effectiveness. That he just completely bombed out tells me he should shoulder some of the blame for the ineptness that seems to have possibly destroyed his career. There now seems enough blame to go around.