seabeachfred

I don't know as much about Dick Radatz as you do, but I do remember readin Sport and the Sporting News during that period and some of the stories about "The Monster" were unreal. If they had used him as closers are used today he would be in the Hall of Fame because he would have had a long career, but this guy would come into a game in the sixth innings and throw seeds for four and he did this over and over again. From 1962 until he started fading in 1965 the guy was from another planet. The way he threw hard and the amount of work he did it is surprising he lasted as long as he did as a top flight quality reliever and closer.

Very true Dojji; Tek wasn't worth a damn as a hitter or thrower after 2007, and he actually started to fall apart that year but had a good September and a not too bad post season. By 2008 he was pretty much a has-been and should have been released after that disastrous season but he got signed on two more times. Still, he made some great contribtions to the team and from 1999-2007 was a solid player for the Red Sox and a true team leader. Sometimes players don't know when enough is enough but I like the way Varitek is doing this---retiring on pretty much his own terms instead of trying to force his way on the team when it was obvious that Valentine didn't want him on the club. He will get his day to be feted by Red Sox fans and is future looks bright from where I sit. He will go to work for the Red Sox, quickly move up the ranks and most likely will be BV's successor or the successor to the one who succeeds Bobby. For the most part Tek, you did a terrific job for us. You just stayed around too long.

Sox Sport, when I was a youngster living in Queens that's how I learned to hit--by playing stickball. Not the one bounce variety with teams but against a hand ball wall with a zone from the knees to the shoulders and using a broom stick and either a spaldeen ( a pink rubber ball or a tennis ball). I became a decent hitter but when I moved to California when I was 14 I didn't hit well because I missed stickball which helped my timing. I started playing it with my brother and friends when I was 15 and was one of the top players in the local league I played it . It really helped me. Alas, by the time I was 16 all the bad players had dropped out and I was playing against the best from other cities and when I was 17 all the mediocre players dropped out. As Clint Eastwood put it in "Magnum Force", "A man has to know his limitations." That was the end of my dream in baseball. When I coached I recommended stickball to some of my players and some played it and it helped their hitting. I'm told they no longer play it in New York and they sure as hell don't play it out here in California.

Plus they're a miserly and miserable liberal paper....ooooppppsss!!!!!! Sorry, not politics. You know, though, all kidding aside Sox Sport, it is as if the Globe almost acting like a Fifth Column against the Red Sox. They knocked the players and they had it coming, but when I download the Globe on my computer I never saw squat against Epstein or Francona. It's as if they were as innocent as new born babes. I think it is time for the Globe, Herald, the Courant and the Journal to focus on the team and try to accentuate the positive during this ST. If there is some bad news, fine, report it, but there are a lot of story lines in Fort Myers and it would be nice to see a lot of those as well.

This one comes in from over the Green Monster. What about David Ortiz?? Ridiculously as that may sound to some of you his comments so far have been pretty positive for the most part and it would be a good way for him to go out in what is likely his last year with the Red Sox. He once was looked upon as a leader and maybe his persona could rub off on others. I don't think any player would want to tangle with him and sometimes extra responsibility pays dividends not readily seen at the time of such a promotion. Well, just thinking out loud since I really don't think we need or should have one.

Ted Williams said hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in an sport---and I totally agree with him. If that's the case, why do batters make it more difficult on themselves with some of the wierdest stances imaginable---like Crawford and Youkilis. Those two will have to adjust as their bat speed slows down with age. I coached for over 30 years and got some insights from men like Joe Gordon (AL MVP, 1942), Sparky Anderson, Ben Hines and o thers. They tried to make a difficult task easier by making it simpler. Moderate stance, maybe slightly closed, elbows and shoulders level, slight bending at the waist toward the plate because that's where your body is heading towards the ball (Ted Williams, Life, 1956). The top of the bat is t ilted towards one or two O'clock in what is called the launch position---Babe Ruth Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente to name a few. Then down and through with a quick swing and finishing high. Mays and Ruth had a slight uppercut swing, the ot her three actually hit down on the ball which is what I taught. You're not going to make a good hitter out of a bad one but you can improve a weak hitter to a point with some good mechanics, something Youkilis along with Crawford are going to have to adjust to as their bat speed slows down with age.

I'd have to see it in person to give any kind of an opinion and that will have to wait until next Spring, but it got me to thinking. What if after another decade or so they decide to finally build a new ballpark. Would this "New Fenway" serve as a nostalgia for long time fans. I think my friend Elk had it probably right when he said it would help young players get used to the knook and cranies of the real Fenway. If the Red Sox are going to be successful they need to really rack up the wins on their home turf.

It most likely would have been very difficult to trade Beckett this past winter since his contract was a blocking point. Besides, if he can take that competitive spirit out to the mound with him he will do just fine. I think that one good year, one bad year show will come to an inglorious end this season. I look for Josh to have a solid season as our No. 1 or 2 pitcher. Besides, none of us know if the team did try to trade the guy this off season. Whether some want to like it or not, Beckett is a big piece to the Red Sox puzzle this season, and personally he has given me some big thrills the way he seems to always beat the Yankees when I see him pitch in person. I think he is going to do just fine.

This argument could go into the wee hours of the morning and no one is going to budge from their opinions, but for the record Forsythe I totally agree with you. Batting Crawford down in the lineup is a total waste. He never hit there for TB and his record there was excellent. Where did he bat? He batted mostly second, sometimes third. It is well known in managing and coaching circles that players do have a favorite place to bat and places they do not want to be in under any circumstances. Crawford loves the #2 spot, hates leadoff and doesn't like batting low because it seems to evaporate his confidence. This is not something to take lightly. Bat him second; he likes it and has had success batting there. Pedroia can bat anywhere as he has proved in the past, success at leadoff and even cleanup. We have a big investment in Carl and we need his head cleared and need to have people to have confidence in him. Confidence is enormously important for a hitter. Without he you don't have much. Crawford needs to hit second.

He hit leadoff most of those first 12 games and I saw him bat there in two of those games against the Yankees. 700 and Forsyth were right, though. Francona did not use him properly at all. Then again last season Francona really didn't do much of a job either and that is why he is no longer with the Red Sox.

Peple here have to understand Crawford does NOT like batting leadoff. He has said, Joe Maddon has said and last y ear Francona said it. Comfort zone is very important to some hitters and in Carl's case this is especially true. He must not hit at leadoff; besides his OBP is not as good as some o thers who could bat leadoff. Pedroia could bat anywhere and though he is perfect for the No. 2 spot, he could hit first or third or in a pinch even fourth. He can hit for average, can hit 20 or more homers and can steal bases, and I suspect if he had to be depended on for run production he could very well with that. Anyway, that's my take on things.

Good upbeat post Forsyth, no not Pollyanna, very upbeat. It is nice to paint such nice picture and I hope the team is falling in line with the new manager's methods. We need to win our share of Grapefruit League games this Spring, build up a culture of winning and success as well as be physically and mentally ready to enter the regular season. Other teams have improved while we might be no better than even with last year's team ON PAPER. We must remember, though, that we were the worst team in baseball record wise in September and our first 12 games were a disaster in red, but if we can reverse that our 2011 90-72 record could be improved by a half dozen games. Again, though, as I've said before we need to stay healthy and get some breaks in that department, and our key players must come through. There cannot be four or five hitters and two or three pitchers trying to do it all. I think it can be done.

If you jog your memory back to the fall of 2008, Epstein called the signings of Smoltz and Penny LOW RISK, HIGH REWARD. It turned out just the opposite because they became high risk when Penny was inserted into the rotation as well as Smoltz when he was healthy enough to do so. The reward was pathetically low because they both failed miserably and wound up being released after both of them were scalded by the Yankees in the openers of two separate series, which BTW, the Sox won only one of the seven games. When they were signed they were supposed to be low risk but as soon as they got into the rotation they were no longer that; they were high risk. And as I said, they both failed miserably. That is why I really don't have any use for that term. Bobby Jenks, for instance. How would be classify him? Three million per year down the crapper and what did we get from him? Not much. Was that low risk considering his past physical ailments or high risk? That's where the confusion comes in for me.

Now they are trying to kill a flea with a sledgehammer. This chicken crap doesn't make any sense at all. Doesn't the team put on a spread after the game as most teams do? Why not chicken? It's a hell of a lot better for your health than beef, pork or lamb. The pendulum has swung completely out of kilter here. It is one thing to ban beer from the clubhouse, though after a game I see nothing wrong with that. But chicken too? Let's face it, last year Francona lost the team. Some of the players carried Terry's openess too far and took advantage of his leniency; now the front office is over-reacting if you ask me.

I voted for Dustin because there was a ballot and I cast a vote, but frankly I do not think we should have a captain, nor do I think we need one. We had one last season and he couldn't much about the collapse and disintigration in the clubhouse, nor could some of the other veterans on the team. Let Bobby and his coaches take the lead; that's what they were hired for.

I can feel for Zumaya as well; hell of a way for his season to end. It me to thinking that I don't want to see anything of that nature in print about a Red Sox player going on the shelf because of that kind or any kind of injury. We've had our fill of them the past three seasons.

I have a suggestion friends....I don't know who erases topics but EX1 started this one about the Off Season. There has been a lot of heat generated from it and a few hard feelings. Think maybe EX1 or someone else could delete this thread once and for all so we put the controversy and 2011 as far back in our rear view mirror as we can. Besides, doesn't hope spring eternal during Spring Training. Maybe someone can start a ST thread where we can weigh in our our team's prospects and chances and most likely see more upbeat comments. Just a suggestion.

This shouldn't even have been necessary. However, we all know what went down last season in the clubhouse with the fried chicken and beer. I see nothing wrong with a brewski after the game when the team tries to wind down from that contest. I remember as a kid seeing Brooklyn Dodgers like Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider and others enjoying a Schaefer and those scenes got into the papers. No one blinked an eye. If the owners were at this meeting as was stated you can bet your last dime that this is exactly what they wanted. I wonder if this is going to be a hard fast rule or whether there will be a change to flexibility as the season wears on and the team performs as it should.