seabeachfred

He has had two stints with the Red Sox Ted and each has gotten off to a good start only to poop out within a month. After two shots maybe the pitchers won't need time to figure him out. It would be swell if he had some speed to go with OBP against righties but he has none of that. He has very little power and is only an average outfielder. But I would take him over Gomez in a heartbeat. Mauro showed this ST just how crappy he is, both at bat and in the field and am surprised some of the Gomez supporters who violently disagreed with me on him haven't said boo about the guy since. Those two know who I mean.

Bell, you know what it was in 2009? It wasn't much better, was it? I mean, look how we ended it up the past three years. Whatever the reason, slow starts have crippled us badly, so badly that even hot streaks as we enjoyed later in those seasons were not nearly enough to pull us through. Other teams do the same work we do and yet some of them get off to much better starts than we do. Well, I will be watching us the first three of four series this time out. We'll see if we can finally start playing good baseball from the get-go. We sure haven't the past four seasons.

And you are total proof positive of that!!!!!! I don't think you've shown an original idea of your own in months. If the front office says it's so, it's so. If they it is not so, it is not. What the hell user, how about once in awhile try giving a critical judgment on something without running around robin hood's barn and giving the front office a parachute. Here's a question for you mastermind......What do you think accounts for the four miserable starts we've had the past four seasons if you insist that it had nothing to do with four miserable finishes in ST? You know what? You can't......can't unless you check what the front office thinks before you fall in line like the front office lackey you are. I should just put you on ignore like 700 has. Maybe you should be a lawyer because you have become pretty much of mouth piece, or better yet, get a job with the Red Sox as a front office gofer.

Well Palodios, we will see what transpires the first dozen games when the regular season gets underway. If it falls in as it has previous four seasons you might get it under your hat that these miserable ST finishes is more than just a trend. We've had four slow starts in a row the past four seasons and to me that tells me something. It matters not when Fieri, Duarte and Celestino have to do with it because we already know they are losers. It is how it impacts the players who have to go out and play the games with a wad of losses already up their noses. It can have a cumulative effect and personally I think it has had a lot to do with our previously four miserable starts. If it turns out differently this season that idea will go by the boards. If not, I think everyone should take stock of it. It is not helpful to end ST games the way we have and anyone who says that the last week or so of these games are meaningless need a helluva lot more bran in their diets.........present company excepted.

Sorry Pal but this time I can't buy what you're saying. You only have to look at the past four seasons to see how our miserable conclusions in our ST games carried over into the regular season. Yes, some of the starting pitchers have done well but the hitters haven't and losing begets losing. It is one thing to lose games at the beginning of ST or during the middle part but the last ten games must see a sense of urgency. I will simply say I hope this time you are more on the mark than I am. I will send you kuddos if you are. Just beware though that we haven't had a good and fast start to a season since 2007.

Sox Sport, you don't have to tell me how inept our organization is. The last four seasons has proven that ten times over, but it still looks like they haven't learned a thing. There is once again a lack of urgency or emphasis on winning but instead on TV ratings and filling up the park. Of course, another lousy start and they will have to bribe people to come. As for Iglesias, he is a great fielder. No one can dispute that, but not you or anyone is going to convince me he can hit ML pitching, not with his total lack of discipline at the plate. I do hope some of that hacking does result in some hits because he may be in there longer than most people suspect. Drew has that concussion, very said and painful for him, but he is also a Drew and while other would recover faster the Drews seem to be slow in the recovery department even though in Steven's case he needs to be totally clear to play for us. A concussion is nothing to take lightly.

Ted, let me first say that my initial semi-optimism of a week or so ago has given way to some very unhappy beliefs about the coming season. For the fifth year in a row, the Red Sox are going to enter the regular season with a rotten losing streak of games-----just what a good team cannot afford , or a bad team for that matter. All this talk about pre-season games meaning nothing is a pile of ********. The last ten games or so of the exhibition season you have to play to win or you enter the season flat. Can't the people here or the luunkheads running the team remember what happened last season, in 2011, in 2010 and even in 2009? We're going to enter the regular season stumbling and bumbling about and that is a recipe for a disaster once again unfolding. Doesn't the Red Sox organizztion evere learn? We really haven't had a good start since 2007. As for Iglesias, he will get his chance and I hope he will do well. To me, though, Boegarts is our future shortstop, a player who can field his position well enough but has solid hitting ability and power. Iggy needs to get some plate discipline because you don 't even need to throw him a strike because he seems to hack at everything----and we need all the hitting we can get this early going with Papi out for God knows how long. That first series with the Yankees will tell us a lot. If we drop that series or get swept the season will descend into another catastrophe----and then maybe the organization will wake up and understand that when the tag end of ST comes YOU HAVE TO WIN MOST OF THOSE f***ING GAMES!!!!!!!!!!

So many people on this board are getting so gung ho about Iglesias that they should take a moment or two to pause and consider what we have here. This is ST!!!!!!! Do you think Iggy is going to fare well when he starts facing top notch pitching with his penchant for hacking away and showing no plate discipline whatsoever??? He has no power, is not a good base stealer, no plate discipline, and in a lineup that needs all the hitting it can get, we may have (most likely will) a big black hole. If that happens, as if happens often to young players, it could result in his taking his hitting woes out to the field with him. Personally, as much as I dislike the fragility of the Drews, I think we need to get Steven back in the lineup as soon as possible. If Lester and Buchholz are for real this season it would be a crime to see good pitched games go by the boards because of a weak lineup. There is too much pressure on Pedroia, Middlebrooks, Napoli and Bradley (if he stays) to hit for us. Salty is a strikeout machine if he doesnt hit one out, we don't know how long it will be before Ellbreaky goes back on the shelf with one of his hangnail injuries, and Victorino and Gomes are only semi-sure things against lefthanded pitchers. Against starboard hurlers they are less than useless. I just thought a little realism here might be a good thing. Now if Ells, Salty, Gomes and Vic play to their best we might be able to get by with Jose at short. I just don't think he is a Major League hitter.

I said last fall that this guy was through. Some accused me of being a bit pre-mature. No more. The guy stinks; he hasn't corrected anything and he had better not be put on the Red Sox this week. He needs to go to Pawtucket and if he fails there again, t hen he goes to Portland and if he fails there he goes to "A" Ball. If he fails there he goes home. This is another Craig Hansen f***-up. Cherington has made some pretty piss poor mistakes but making Bard a starter was the worst of the bunch. He needs to be send down NOW and not appear in any of the few ST games we have left. We also don't need any trash like Godfrey or the guy with two last names who stunk it up in the ninth inning today. We go with our best and try not to finish up with another rotten ST finish that I think has done much to derail our starts the past four years. The last week of ST you have to win those games.

Excellent post Sox Sport and totally on the mark. I said it repeatedly elsewhere that the team started to stagnate under FrancoMa by 2009. He should have been cashiered right after that season when we pissed away a three game lead at the ASB and fell into a deep hole with miserable mistakes being made in the pitching rotation and the lassitude on the part of the players. As for the rest of your missive, it is hard not to remember those other things without wanting to retch. We have to believe that things will start to get better this year and I think they will. There is no way we can be any worse on the field than we were in Sept of '11 and all of last season.

We have to take that first series with the Yankees if for no other reason than they came into our house last season and ruined our start of the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park. Of course we did most of the damage to ourselves with inept leadership in the front office, an absentee owner, a CEO who doesn't know s*** from shinola where baseball operations are concerned, and a team that quite on the manager from almost game 1. If we have another miserable start, our fifth one in a row, there will be no place to hide for those in charge and little room for pollyannaism. We simply need to play better this time around, no excuses. Most pundits are already picking us for fourth or fifth in the division and if pride is anywhere in this organization they should be more than willing to make those pundits look stupid---just like our front office has looked the past four seasons.

Rorsch----Try this number----617-929-7949 or 617-929-8617. Someone will take your call and get you straightened out. I sometimes post there and once that was my favorite board until they radically changed things in 2008.

Right at this moment, yes, I would take our team by a nose or two, but that could change if we don't make amends during the opening series when we go to Yankee Stadium and play the New Yorkers. Remember, last year they opened at Fenway Park for our home opening series and they took us two for two with one rainout. We need to make amends and return the favor. If we are better as you say we should win that series. I'm still worried about Salty behind the plate. The guy is a defensive liability and the only way he really becomes a plus is if he hits 30 or more homers and drives in about 90 runs. I don't think he is capable of doing it.

As an old native New Yorker who spent the first 14 years of his life in Queens before my family moved to California so long ago, I have a unique take on the so-called "Legend of Jackie". In April a movie will be making the rounds called "42", the story of another Jackie who broke into the Major Leagues. That was Jackie Robinson and I was a big fan of his growing up in Queens as a diehard Brooklyn fan. I kind of like the idea that when this movie comes out we have a Jackie of our own trying to break in. There is an irony here for anyone who wants to take a good look. Jackie Jr. is an African-American, a helluva prospect and a coming star for the Red Sox at a time when it seems most AA athletes are funneling their way into football and basketball. I would love nothing better than to have another African-American named Jackie to root my lungs out for with my new team that I adopted in 2000. So let's give Jackie Bradley the chance and I will bet dollars to donuts to anyone who wants to wager me that this guy is going to be one helluva ballplayer for us for a long time.

Gomes at DH ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!! Did you see try and catch that ball in left f ield this morning. Looked absolutely pathetic out there. Sure the wind was blowing but it is blowing for all the outfielders but they're holding their own. As for this Paul Godfrey on the mound for us, this guy makes s*** look good. Absolutely a rotten pitcher---no speed, short arms the ball, and the ball is as flat as a pancake. Don't tell me he is anything but cannon fodder. If he is a legit pitching prospect we are in dire straits. I repeat, this guy is totally s*****.

That last sentence of yours Big Guy speaks volumes to what many of us here and elsewhere have said. It seems to many that the past few seasons have been mainly about TV ratings, sexy ballplayers, sellout streaks and other propaganda with less emphasis to te nuts and bolts of winning. It is as if, as one poster here put it some time ago, that the front office had told the fans we gave two WS Titles, now let us alone to make money and emphasize promotions. With ticket sales down and some real anger showing amongst the fan base, a think more than a little urgency is needed. It is of paramount importance that whether we make the playoffs or not, that there is a marked improvement of the team's play this season.

You have a point Dojii and I'm not disagreeing with you but there are other things to consider here as well. First of all, the Red Sox are not a down and out team money wise, they are loaded. Secondly, we don't know how long Ellsbury is going to be out of action, and knowing how fragile he is this heel sprain could turn into a long vacation. Thirdly, Bradley can hit and he can field and he can run and we need talent like that. He may be ready or he may not be ready but our team this season is going to have to run more, bunt more, hit and run more and even squeeze a run home once in awhile. The day of the dull Francona station-to-station double play machine is over or should be. OTOH, you say what's 12 games if we can pick up a season for Bradley? On the face of it it sounds good, but I think this year the team can ill afford to get off to another rocky start, its third in four seasons. Your counter argument is that those 12 games may not be that important if our pitching is good, and we'll be facing a lot of lefties out the gate. Surprisingly, I think Cherington is backed into a corner on this and has a very tough decision to make. If Ells isn't made of glass or tin and gets back quickly, you may see Bradley start down at Pawtucket. If not, he may start with the Red Sox. I really think the injury Jacoby suffered to day and its seriouness will determine that for us. Just my opinion.

I'm only dumb when I have to read the gobbledy gook s*** you write. You're never clear about anything but you skirt around the edges to try to leave yourself some wiggle room and that only makes your missives even shittier. If I had students who were so obtuse as you writing an essay on this they would have been lucky to walk out of there with a "C". You ever have trouble getting the meaning of anything I write? You sure as hell don't because I'm a clear as can be-----no gray areas at all and brutally frank. And who the hell said I was specifically thinking of you anyway Brooklyn and California refugee? You're one of a few here who defend the front office most any time out and your occasional criticism of them is so tepid it comes off like so much mush. And I was a teacher for 35 years, and on three of those occasions refugee I was voted "Teacher of the Year", and when the US Army tested me when I was sworn in my IQ was measured at 132. Not exactly stupid.

Yes, we heard and it might be the same old sad and pathetic story with the Tin Man, but for the time being whatcha say we just wait until we hear just how serious the prognosis is. The team took him out of the game as a precaution and hinted that it didn't seem serious. However, it's Ellsbury we're talking about, injury prone and the slowest healer on the planet. He had better understand this: If he makes this out to be more than it is or should be iujury wise and takes his damn sweet time getting his ass back in the lineup he can kiss off any chance of getting that big payday he wants. What he will get instead is a parachute one year job by some team dumb enough to sign this glass specimen. OTOH, if he gets back fast and can show he can stay in one piece he can not only get that big contract he desires but help the Red Sox to a better season than the one we had in 2012 Which one is it going to be Jacoby?:dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno:

Once again we see a complete reluctance to place any blame on the those running the team for the disaster that has engulfed our team the past four seasons. Certainly you can't blame them for some of the injuries we've sustained, though you could hang the medical staff with it, but some decisions boggle the mind. We all knew that Papelbon was gone when the 2011 season was over because the front office was not going to hand him such a contract as the Phillies did. The guy who might have moved into the closer's role was Bard. We will never know how he would have done but it is too much to expect that he was the heir apparent? Instead Cherington and Bard himself decide to turn the guy into a starting pitcher. He's been sucking wind since. Well that's piss down the porcelan and we have to hope these kind of haired brain decisions are a thing of the past. For the good of all our sanity Ted we have to just put the past behind us and look ahead to what we hope will be better days.

And the odds are strong that it may take a lot of time before Bard gets his s*** together. Since baseball is also a mental game whatever Daniel's ability does for him is cancelled out by his head being up his ass and I think it would be idiotic for anyone to still insist that his and Cherington's decision to make him a starting pitcher last season was a good idea. It was a disastrous decision and we may have another Craig Hansen on our hands. You can't always blame the front office for everything that goes wrong but the Bard thing you can certainly lay on them.

The starting pitching has been surprisingly very good and we should all keep our fingers tightly crossed that this isn't just a tease or a mirage. You win titles with starting pitching; it's the key to any team. Here, however, is where I open a Pandora's Box because of a very strong theory or belief, take your choice, that most disagree with even on the other board I post on. That is, we must stop losing these ST games in bunches as we've been doing lately, what, six of the last seven? This happened in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and we got off to rotten starts in all those seasons. A team has to have some real momentum heading into the season and you don't g et that from losing games one after another. This is a fairly new team we're putting out there this season and they have to believe they have the confidence to win and you can't get that by losing one game after another. Dropping Grapefruit League games earlier in March is no big thing. I think losing them late in ST is a very big thing and it can hurt us as it has in the past and has hurt other teams. Before the Pro-basketball season began, the LA Lakers were figured on being in the Western Conference Finals and maybe making it to the grand show. They lost all eight of their pre-season games, got off to a miserable start and have played like s*** all season, including a class 18 point blow job last night to the lowly Washington Wizards. I really believe we had better start winning most of the games from here on in until the regular season begins because I do not think this team can survive with another miserable start. That is just my opinion but I feel very strongly about it.

If the Red Sox are determined to put this guy on the Major League 25 man roster and damn the critics, my take would be punch his ticket out of town. If, however, they start him out at Pawtucket where he most certainly belongs right now, I see no reason not to give him every chance to make it back to the show even though I still feel he is pretty much beyond hope. He could fool those of us who think this way, or he can prove us painfulluy right. Either way it doesn't hurt if he is in the minors either succeeding or failing. If he is failing with the Red Sox, it might be another case of the front office botching another thing up.

Just before Opening Day I'm going to weigh in with a prediction of my own, but truth be told I still can't quite figure out our team. Their starting pitching was supposed to be their achilles heel but this Spring it has been awesome. They can revert back to their predicted ways but maybe they are going to be much better. The hitting? That has been rather weak this ST but we should hit better than we have---or will we? And when is Papi coming back....or is he? And that how tough will the AL East be? Questions and more questions. Still, I'll take a flying leap by late next week.:dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno:

Hard for me to actually vision apathy as part of the Red Sox fans. Every time I came to Boston from 2004 through the Opening Home Series in 2011, the crowds were loud, spirited and aggresively supportive. The owners and front office personnel have to take some responsibility Palodios for this seemingly sad state of affairs. Last year's team was about as unlikeable as any team could be and, needless to say, poorly managed. mvp was right about something too. They have spent money but they haven't spent it wisely. I have shaken my head to wonder how things could have gone down so far so fast in the space of four or so years. The only thing I could come up with is that the powers-that-be got far and sassy and felt they could rest on their laurels. Winning didn't seem to be as much of a cause as before. Now we have to dig our way out of it and the only way to do it is to make a nice comeback this season and be in the AL East race all the way.