seabeachfred

You see it, RSF3 sees it, Enemy Lines see it, I see it, but we actually have posters here who think Gomez would be fine for us next season at first base. That is insane. You said it best....THAT WOULD BE A TOTAL EMBARRASSMENT AND NULLIFICATION OF THE OFF SEASON EFFORTS TO PATCH TOGETHER A COMPETITIVE TEAM. Absolutely right on Bellhorn!!!!!!

And a very Happy New Year to you my friend. Now you must come north of the border from down Mexico way and this season YOU MUST SEE THE RED SOX PLAY AT FENWAY PARK. I still get a few snickers from friends when I tell them the event that made me a Red Sox fan back in the summer of 2010 was Fenway Park, the fans and atmosphere around the ball park. I know there are those who complain about the narrowness of the seats and how we need a new ballpark. Bull@@it IMO. Fenway Park is a gem and I don't ever want to see them tear it down. I saw this painting by the late Thomas Kinkade of Fenway Park and when I saw the 2,700 price I nearly gagged, but then said Hell with it!!!!!! I wanted that painting. The people there gave me a $600.00 discount and that was my Christmas present to myself a few years ago. It hangs right over my living room couch---and keep in mind that my wife roots for the Angels. But she knows my passion for the Red Sox.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that since Prune Face Henry got married in 2008 his head has been up his keester concerning the Red Sox. He's been pretty much a combination of absentee and tardy owner and it shows in the team's demise. Let's also face it, Lucchino is pretty much running things now and we should all know by now that his forte is in promotions and marketing and that his knowledge of baseball is so small that it could be placed on a safety pin and leave enough room for the Constitution of the United States.

Of course it is too low. Hell shoot for 99---that's a good number to shoot for and it would win us the division most years if we could reach that. Unfortunately we came up 30 games short of that this past season. Maybe in a few years we might reach my magic mark.

Yo irotiz, when I was on this board earlier in the season it seemed you and I were simpatico on just about everything, but earlier today you gave me some flak for one of my posts, so they can't that argument against me. Don't worry, 700 Hitter and I are usually on the same page too and I don't catch flak from MVP on that at all. He gets me with the division title stuff. All in a day's work. For he most part this board is very civil.

Some of our picks of late have been duds Ted, but please don't give the Red Sox brass any ideas with your half baked suggestion of Carlos Lee for first base. Where have you been my friend? The guy has drastically had his power sapped by time, he can't field his position worth s*** and he has just about eaten his way into obesity. Pick someone else.

I caught that too Ted and won dered why some others had that fly right over their heads. Look, I'm elated that the Red Sox have won two World Series since I've come aboard 12 years ago, but we should all face it---the Yankees have bettered us in the regular season every year but two. To me that is not drumfire success by any means. Some of the more critical posters like you, me and a few o thers catch some flak for bringing it up, but facts are facts. We've won only one damn division title in 17 years, only two AL Pennants in 26 and that is not what I would all outstanding at all. For me two WS Titles in 12 years is not bad, but for you and others whose fandom goes back to the 70's and some to the 60's, that is not a very impressive record at all. My guess is that after so many horse s*** seasons, when a WS Title came down the pike, they were so elated that they were willing to forget all those miserable seasons because they were on a high. Looking at realistically, the record is still not very impressive. I'd like to see us win four division titles, three AL Pennants and two more WS during the next decade. That would be success from where I sit.

No doubt BSN that the division title is more important now than it might have been before, save for that important potential home field advantage, but I take it also from a different angle. An AL East Title of and by itself is not that big a thing, but it does signal winning and being of champion of something. In the Red Sox case, we haven't won anything at all the past five seasons, nada, nyet, nein, no mas!!!!!!! Perhaps getting a division title might be a large step in regaining our prestige and winning ways, and once you've won one the path to further success might be a little easier. Tp me the Red Sox have to win something....and soon!!!!!!!

Not absurd at all Rdsx. If you followed Theo Epstein's pre-season spiels over the years he always said the first priority was to win between 90-95 games and get into the playoffs. He never said WIN THE DIVISION, I gu ess because he didn't we had to since we usually had better records than other second place teams in other divisions. Now with the new format winning division titles takes on a more important aspect in a teams potential success. In fact the only person connected to the Red Sox who talked about winning the division was Larry Lucchino who said he wanted to win it in 2003 (we didn't) and wanted to win one or two afterward. Interesting to note that when the team looked like it was ready to blow what was once a 12 game lead over the Yankees and finish second again in 2007, the strategy challenged Francona said the WC was fine with him only to have Larry tell him in no uncertain terms that it was not ok, that this year we win that division and stop using Eric Gagne in key situations that last week of the regular season because of his constant failures in key situations that last month. It was the only division we have won in 17 years and it helped us get home field advantage---and that be came critical in the ALCS with Cleveland when the last two games were played at Fenway. Perhaps you remember that.

Once again Palodios you hit a booming extra base hit. Is money that tight or is there a red flag with LaRoche? IPOT, who sometimes post here, believes the Nationals are holding fast to a two year offer on Adam because they have a solid alternate in that Morse fellow. That could be a reason for the delay. The contrast is the Nats have Morse while we have Gomez or Salty, a piss poor comparison IMHO. Perhaps this Napoli thing will work its way out, but remember we have blown sky high negotiations for players before when the front office insisted on clauses that were insulting to players or the amount of money wasn't right or whatever. I think I'm reading that you think this will turn out right for us after all and if so I hope you are right on about that. If I may say so, it looks like you're not in agreement with my take on things but couch it in terms that tell me I'm probably wrong with calling me an asshat like Nixon does, nor getting all bent out of shape because I take a different tack on things. Hell, we're all in this together and while many of us have different ways of expressing ourselves we all are of a mind that we want what is best for the Red Sox.

Yea Cody Ross!!!!!! I'm serious. Certainly in comparison to the declining Victorino and that bloated contract he got, or Gomes who can't field a ball or hit a RH to save his sorry ass. Oh yea, you don't approve of those moves you say, so let me hear why they are better moves than resigning Ross. There's your chance to reverse course again and defend the moves after all. And who the hell am I insulting? I state that you are a strong defender of the front office as I am a critic. That isn't insulting; it is the TRUTH, and you know it and most of the board knows it. Nothing satisfies me so you say but I recall lauding the Napoli "signing", trading for Hanrahan, and signing Uehara. I don't remember bitching at that. The fact is you don't like what I write so you accuse me of being a know-it-all when I have never said that I consider myself above anyone on this board knowledge wise. The asshat comes in because you don't like or agree with what I write because we are wired differently. As for entitled about what has t ranspired over the years, you can go right ahead and be cool and comforted with one AL East Title in 17 years and two AL Pennants in 26. I not at all with that record and doubt too many on this or any other board are satisfied with it either.

As I recall MVP you are right on the money, but aren't there some differences this time around? In J.D's case the money was a big bundle and no o ther team was doing to offer him anything like what the Red Sox were offering, that, plus the word around was that he wanted to play for the Red Sox. We're hearing another team is already talking to Napoli, and whether that is hot air or the truth, it would seem a little more urgency to get this done, that, or move on, would seem to be the prudent move about now. The more this drags on the more chance it has to blow up IMHO.

You know Ted, if you take 2 WS Titles in the 11 years Henry and Co. have been in charge it would not be that bad a record considering there are 30 teams in the Major Leagues, but 2 AL Pennants in 26 years? One AL East Title in 17? That 's pathetic---and yet we have apologists like Nixon waxing poetic about what a bang-up job the front office has done. He claims there are things that they do that he disapproves of but he never elaborates on them, and most of the time he defends them to the last breath. Are we entitled to more? Perhaps long suffering fans are happy with what they gotten after so many dreary seasons, but I'm only a 12 plus year veteran and feel entitled to more than one division and two pennants. Why? It has a lot to do with the fandom of our team. I have become totally convinced since my Red Sox epiphony that we are the most rabid and loyal fans in the game. We support the team in attendance, buying Red Sox gear, taking team destination trips, flooding the baseball sites with our enthusiasm for our team. And what did we get this year? The 100 year of Fenway Park and they give us that pig of a team as an anniversary present? That is a total disgrace and was a slap in the face to every loyal Red Sox fan in the country---including Nixon. Keep in mind when the Yankees opened their new stadium in 2009 they christened it with a WS Title that year. Contrast that to our anniversary year this past season. Quite a contrast, wouldn't you say?

Or they could take their time and blow the whole gambit---just as they did with Damon in late 2005, with Teixiera in late 2008, with Bay and Holiday in late 2009, or with Cody Ross this winter. The moral of this story is that you stubbornly have an almost pathalogical attachment and confidence in a front office that has proved its incompetency time and again the past few years. As far as draft choices are concerned, they are crapshoots anyway. For every Pedroia there is a Craig Hansen, for every Jacoby Ellsbury there is an Andy Marte, for every Jonathan Papelbon there is a Manny Delcarmen. Meanwhile first basemen who hit 30 plus homers and drive in 110 plus runs are nowhere to be now found in Boston, neither at Fenway Park or in our farm system. Pleased? I will be pleased when the RED SOX start winning AL East Division Titles to begin the winning ways again instead of one paltry one in the past 17 years. When we win more than two AL Pennants that the two we've won in the past 26 seasons. From there I'd more than take my chances in the World Series. Fine for you if you think that this record is satisfactory for you; it isn't for me. I want a helluva lot more than that. As for Napoli, it has been four weeks now. Get it done or move on before we're forced to put those two stumblebums on first with most likely disastrous results to follow.

Yes 700, it was a New York term. Some New York things you never get out of your system no matter how long since you moved away. Some people with New York roots still use it out here in California but all in all it isn't used much anymore. Hell even in the East they've sanitized things from what I've heard. Now the term is Ditch when we used to call it Ringalario or Ringalevio (teams being chased within prescribed bounaries until caught and brought to jail). Also keep-away was called Salugi when I was a kid. Kick the can. Three on a pony, etc. All those games gone. Kids today either are on the computer or hanging out.

Once again the Red Sox brass hats are trying to show how smart and slick they are and are about to have this whole thing blow up in the faces.....AGAIN!!!!!!! Twenty-seven days without an outcome of any sort? Yes, we need production and some leadership from that position and we ain't gonna get it from Gomez or Satalamacchia if they Sox are dumb enough to put that defense challenged, poor OBA, high strikeout whiz and weak defensive stumblebum out there. They should now move quickly to sign LaRoche before he is off the boards. The front office cannot not fart and chew gum at the same time anymore. GET IT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wyo, Sands didn't compete with Loney in LA because the Dodgers didn't want him to compete with him. For awhile Loney, a first round draft choice of the Bums, was treated as a sacred cow and he did do well at first for the team. As the seasons progressed he got worse and worse, yet the Dodgers kept hoping he would find himself again and was reluctant to get him out of the lineup. Sands, meanwhile, was jerked around by the Dodgers, shuffling between first and the outfield when he wasn't shuffling between Las Vegas and LA. If Sands is given a chance with te Pirates he will become a 25-35 home run hitter for them. Sands would have been much better for us than Mauro Gomez who I'm afraid will be deposited on first for us next year with disastrous results that will have a ripple effect throughout our lineup.

Got you Spitball. It was 2009. However, keep in mind that at the ASB we were three games up in front of the Yankees in first place and as soon as the second half began we went into the deep freeze and lost that lead very fast. I always believed that Francona's willingness to keep trying to get Varitek in that lineup when he no longer could hit a lick really hurt the team. And didn't Youk get injured late in the season? I believed that we could have put Kotchman at first and keep Victor behind the plate and been much better off offensively and maybe better defensively as well since by that time Jason couldn't throw worth a damn anymore either. Bad year it turned out to be. We were swept out in the ALDS by the Angels while the Yankees won the WS. I still feel Francona's inept field managing cost us the division title that year as well as in 2005 and 2008.

Sorry my friend but that rotation was anything but effective. You had a rapidly deteriorating Varitek being inserted into the lineup when it was evident that his time was up and that he could no longer hit after the first of June. Lowell, a terrific player and class act, was a cripple by then and all attempts to give him a place to land with a trade was fruitless because Boy Blunder was asking the moon for the guy. Youkilis was begining to have physical problems by that time and Kotchman has always been a reglular up to that time and chaffed at being relegated to the bench. Francona, IMO, by this time was becoming more befuddled, was playing with a ring around the rosie batting order. The team deteriorated that summer and eventually missed the playoffs.

Sorry my friend but that rotation was anything but effective. You had a rapidly deteriorating Varitek being inserted into the lineup when it was evident that his time was up and that he could no longer hit after the first of June. Lowell, a terrific player and class act, was a cripple by then and all attempts to give him a place to land with a trade was fruitless because Boy Blunder was asking the moon for the guy. Youkilis wss begining to have physical problems by that time and Kotchman has always been a reglular up to that time and chaffed at being relegated to the bench. Francona, IMO, by this time was becoming more befuddled, was playing with a ring around the rosie batting order. The team deteriorated.

Curt Schilling??????? Come on SCM, are you freakin' kidding me? For the record, twice Schilling left a Yankee game with a lead only to have the bullpen give it up in games that resulted in win and a loss. Twice in 2005 when he was recovering from that severe angle injury that most likely shortened his career he came back early and lost twice to the Yankees, once in relief and once as a starter. For the record when he was pretty much fully recovered he pitched a three hit, eight inning one run gem against them in a 9-2 win on September 10. I know; I was at that game in YS. With some better luck and better health his record against that team would not have been 7-8, and, besides, when I think of Curt I think of October 19th, 2004. You, me and everyone else on this board knows what happened on that evening. Morales couldn't pitch a game like even in his dreams. Just for the record, though, perhaps a little perspective from my point of view might be enlightening for you and others who think that's a terrible way of looking at it. Before I became a convert to the Red Sox the last team I really rooted for was the Brooklyn Dodgers. Look up their record in WS against the Yankees, and then ask 700 Hitter how his Brooklyn born dad felt and most likely still feels about the Yankees. My antipathy for that team goes all the way back to 1947. Nothing personal, though. Glad we're communicating again. I appreciate your passion for the Red Sox.

Sorry Lucien......not to me. I judge a Red Sox pitcher by how he pitches against the Yankees, the team the Red Sox want to beat more than any other ball club, the team that puts more pressure on Red Sox players than any other ball club. If a Red Sox pitcher can beat the Yankees on a consistent basis, to me he stands to become a better pitcher against other ball clubs. It is one reason why I still haven't written off Jon Lester. When Morales can beat the Yankees and pitch well against them, as Doubrant does, then I'll listen.

It seems to becoming increasingly clear that this is the way the Red Sox might go. I don't like it but there is nothing I can do about it but gripe----and who in their front office hears me or gives a rat's ass. Keep this in mind, the last time the Red Sox tried to replace a premium first baseman, Mo Vaughn they stupidly replaced him with a dud named Jose Oferman. Remember? What a debacle that was. I just have to hope the Napoli things works itself out because I just don't think a lot of Mauro Gomez. As for prospects, the Red Sox have a Red Sox site and looking at their 60 top prospects I recall only one first baseman in the bunch, way down on the list. A guy named Travis something or other. We are going to need a long term first baseman, the sooner the better IMO.

If there is no progress with the Napoli talks it is time for the Red Sox to move away and fast. LaRoche is a better fit than Mauro Gomez. A team on the rebound and trying to regain their footing does not hand over the gateway position to a career minor leaguer like Mauro. Normally a good team always has a solid power hitter or a top notch hitter for average at first base, and, besides, looking at our minor leaguers, and correct me if I'm wrong, but we do not have a first base prospect worth s*** down on any part of the farm.

RS3, what I don't want to see and fear a little is that the front office will pull another boner and send a better reliever down to the farm "for more damn seasoning" because they have options rather than just putting the best relievers on the roster regardless of options. The first time Aceves starts with his antics he needs to be sat on or gone. Bard I think is done. You are right about Lester, Buchholz and Dempster, however. They must come through and that goes for Lackey and Doubrant too. We need to convert a potential problem into a strength.