seabeachfred

I enjoy reading your posts 700 but to say Theo gets full credit for 2007 is really bogus if you look carefully at it. Remember the gorilla suit episode late in 2005? It was during that hiatus that the trade for Beckett and Lowell was made. Theo came back later in December and publicly said he would NOT have made that trade. No trade, no 2007 Title because we couldn't have won it without the contributions of Beckett and Lowell. Josh was 20-7 that season, the only 20 game winner in the Majors that year, and he went 4-0 in the post-season. He was a horse that fall. Lowell went 324-21-120 and was WS MVP. Theo gets a lot of credit for Pedroia, Ellsbury, Papelbon and others, but without those two in the trade it all goes for naught that year.

Nothing we can do about that now RSR. Just be grateful this season's nightmare is over and that we get a tougher and more determined leader in the dugout. That has to be a first priority in my opinion. The new skipper must be a complete opposite of Francona.

Crawford thrived in Tampa Bay batting in the second position and just maybe that might be a comfort zone for him. Pedroia showed he could hit fourth, as strange as that might seem for a guy his size. If Crawford can come back next season it would bode well for us. Another 2011 type season and we have a white elephant on our hands and we cannot affored that. We need a rejuvinated Carl next year.

Anyone here could go to Sawxheads and post there as well. At least we get some hard hitting opinions here and that would be refreshing change of pace from that group that couldn't take the heat and fled to start a new board. However, my main concern right now is to see whether Cherrington has the fire in his belly and the guts and brains to go with it and hire a manager who will demand compliance with some much needed rules, will emphasize fundamentals and have the team physically and mentally ready to play ball next April, something the past regime was very unsuccessful getting it done.

Whether Henry threw Crawford under the bus or not the burden of proof is on Carl Crawford to rectify his sad and sorry performance on 2010. If he has the heart and guts to go with the ability he has shown before he could make a big comeback and help the team regain its self-respect. If he is a namby pamby who takes what Henry said personally and goes into a shell next year he will only be a self fullfilling prophecy and make Henry looks smart. Have a big year Carl and in your own way stick to your stumbling and bumbling owner

SoxSport----Cherrington is a done deal and whether we like it or not we have to accept it. He was not one of Epstein's clones so that part is good news. Whether he succeeds or not remains to be seen but we all better root for him to do so because failure means many more years of miserable Red Sox seasons. A new manager who demands accountability, stresses fundamentals, and is willing to play both big inning and small ball when appropriate is what we need badly now, not to mention cutting ties with Varitek and Wakefield. As for Ortiz, I keep going around in circles about him. One day it's yes, resign him, the next day let him walk. Either way, with his dismal finish last month I would offer him just a one year contract--no option. Take it or leave it .

Ex---we are still a little too left handed in the lineup if you ask me. We need at least another RH hitter with some sock and that means DeJesus or another southpaw is not the answer. I have great confidence that Ryan Lavarnway can emerge as a solid power hitting catcher-DH, occasional outfielder (that's what he was originally), and that means there can be no more Varitek holding him or anyone else back. Speaking of lefties, I make an exception for Jacoby Ellsbury. Somehow, someway, we need to keep this guy. He has emerged as a near superstar. We can get a RH hitter RF and DH to become more balanced and I'm getting the feeling the team just might let Ortiz walk this winter. He has a horrid September (pretty much like everyone else), and I didn't like hearing he wouldn't mind playing for the Yankees. That is pure heresy with me.

Example1, you had to be on that board to see for yourself. There was one camp that would brook no criticism whatsoever directed at Francona or Epstein---no matter what. Even when things were coming apart they stubbornly stuck to their guns and feeble retorts. Many of us left Dirt Dogs when the moderator of Sawxheads promised a new and interesting board, but that came to mean we all go along to get along, and that meant no criticism leveled at the demonic duo. The guys who came here are baseball people and we have minds of our own and right now we are in a real lather over what happened this season to ruin it for all of us. I'm hoping that we will be exchanging some useful insights and can learn from each other. It becomes rather sad when the most rabid fans in baseball have to look forward to seeing other teams competing in the playoffs while we sit by and eat our hearts out. Next year has to be different.

When I was a kid I used to read tons of stuff about how hard the Boston Press was with the Red Sox, but apparently a lot changed over the decades because some like Edes and others have become little more than flunkies for the front office. The crime is that the fans are the ones who were kept in the dark and now have to endure a miserable winter of wondering when the hell our team is going to win anything again. 2007 now seems like a generation ago and we now can see that the team has had a ton of garbage heaped on them and we wonder how long before we see the light of success again. Many of us have never been Francona fans, believing he was too lax in the discipline and accountability department as well as some of the bizarre things he did in the dugout. If Henry has any part of his brain left he has to know that the new manager must NOT be a Francona clone; we need someone with some spunk and starch who will demand the players bust their tails from April through the season. I'm not sold on Cherrington at all because he was one of Epstein's shadows and one has to wonder just how much like Epstein the guy is. I hope Lucchino keeps a sharp eye on the guy if that's the case because it is now evident that H enry gave the Boy Blunder pretty much of a carte blance account to do as he pleased and the results were disastrous. It is pretty frustrating being a Red Sox fan now as we see what went down this season. I was at Yankee Stadium for that three game series a few weeks ago and I swear it looked like Jon Lester was hoping to be anywhere but on the mound. He was fussing, shaking and looking total disorientated. The results showed it in bold letters.

IPOT, living in Southern California, I got to read and gag on Gordon Edes for years when he was covering the Dodgers in the 80's. You know what a rumpswab is? Edes is proof personified of that. He was the biggest ball washer in LA and if Peter O'Malley or Tom LaSorda stopped short he would have winded half way up his rectum. The guy is a total brown nose and apologist for any team he covers. He really has no credibility at all. Oh yes, if something earth shaking developed his prediction could come though, but for him not to see all the rot that has festooned itself on the Red Sox and the total lack of leadership, accountability and mental toughness, it is just demonstrates that after over two decades of coverning teams he hasn't learned a damn thing.

Derach, there's that old saying that when talking about a baseball team it all starts at the top. We now know that Francona was out of sorts this season with all that information that is coming out now. Even with that, he was most likely the wrong person for this team. We need a stronger leader in the dugout, one that will demand accountablity and a top notch effort. We got none of that this season except for two long winning streaks. The team seemed to just quit, just lie down and die in September and another Terry type is just what we don't need. It's bad enough that we replaced Epstein with what appears to be an Epstein lite, but we don't need to compound that misdemeanor with a felony in the person of another Francona. Maybe finally hard ass Lucchino will once again become a force in the front office. We can sure use some tough leadership, not to mention a new medical staff and a stronger commitment from the players.

I don't know if I'm going to drop Sawxheads intirelly Pumpsie. I've posted here a few years back when I got into a row with some jerks from a now defunct Dodger Board. I still cannot understand how those pollies over on Sawxheads could have been so blind as to not see what we were. We just didn't know how right we were about the rot in the clubhouse. What angers me is that we might be talking about 2012 as a bridge year unless Dame Fortune finally smiles on us and the front office starts doing the right thing like hiring a manager who will not stand for the crap that took place in the dugout and clubhouse this season. I just hope this board has a few more realists than the dreamers we were dealing with on Sawxheads.

You said a mouthful Gringo. We need a general housecleaning after this year's diastrous failure. We don't need a Epstein-light running the show. I also wonder what kind of power he is going to have anyway if Lucchino finally comes out of hiding and decides to take charge again. Many of us were down on him back in '05 when he apparently forced Epstein into the gorilla suit, but as subsequent events have proved he was probably right all along. As for a manager, we must stay away from anyone on Francona's staff. Most were dull and unispired clones of the departed skipper and a tougher brand is needed for next year. Chicken and beer in the clubhouse during games also must go along with the miserable medical staff that became synonomous with one misdiagnoses after another. It is looking up to be a long winter of discontent for us but a good pick for a manager and ridding ourselves of relics like Varitek and Wakefield would be a step in the right direction, but there is also a lot of o ther dead weight we may not have much success in upchucking.

SCM, well some of us can hope that Epstein takes the Cubs job and gets out of town. Unless the Red Sox hit paydirt with a couple of surprises as the Yankees did this season with Garcia and Colon, not to mention Nova's great rookie season, we are going to have to go out and sign one of the free agent pitchers available this winter. I would think that Beckett, Lester and Bucholz would make a nice Big Three but can you count on them staying healthy as Clay didn't this year. We have no one down on the farm except Renaudo and he is two years away at least. Right now I don't see us coming back and winning the division and it kills me to say it. I hate finishing behind the Yankees and even winning the season series against them pales in comparison to what might have been.

Good to come here and see some posters with balls enough to call out that moron we have for a manager. Believe it or not, on Sawxheads we actually have a pack of apologists who believe FrancoMa is a brilliant strategist and two camps there have been going at it all season. I think it is evident that the guy is not the sharpest tool in the shed, is stubborn beyond reason, and never learns from the multitude of mistakes the guy keeps making. Over on our board some of us have already tallied about six games the imbecile has already lost for us this year. I simply don't have the courage to watch the game tonight. It is almost as if we have a Fifth Columnist right in our ranks with that dumb ass at the helm.

Andrew Miller is an interesting case. He seems to have found himself, but that was in Pawtucket and we all know the Big is a totally different animal. The guy has good stuff, has apparently found his control and will get a start next week against San Diego. Needless to say if he can handle the promotion and pitch well it would give us another good starter for the back end of our rotation, and we all know we need some help there for the long haul. What I don't want to see is a six man rotation; keep the pitchers working on normal rest if for no other reason than it's in their comfort zone. Also, can John Lackey pitched consistent good ball for us? That would also go a long way to getting us to where we want to end up.

Frankly, I don't want to mess with the lineup right now at all. It looks like Pedroia might be finally getting it together and Crawford seems to be handling the sixth spot well enough. You start moving CC up in the order and the question becomes do you hit him third and drop Adrian and Youk and Papi one notch down? I'd leave well enough alone and hopefully we won't have to mess with this batting order at all.

I think every Red Sox fan wants to be upbeat and optimistic about the team this year, but in my case I have this strange feeling as to what I saw those first 12 games this year. Right now we look like world beaters but we can't be this good, can we? Not any more terrific than we were terrible earlier in the season. Are we somewhere in between? My optimisitc bent is based, believe it or not, on what the Yankees did after the ASB in 2009. They went on a two-and-a-half month tear and then ripped through the playoffs to a WS Title. My feeling is if that team could do it then so could we, but I still have some reservations about the back end of our rotation and a few cohorts in the bullpen. I think by the ASB this year we will have a real fix on just how good our team really is. Just my opinion though.

Being chosen for the Hall of Fame usually revolves around numbers and years. Usually it means at least 15 years of top quality play and if you're a hitter, a 300 average or better during that time or less than 300 but hitting over 450 homers and driving in around 1200 runs. Pitchers usually have to have at least 250 wins, though some like Don Drysdale got in with about 210. Of course, I am not talking about the juicers because they most likely aren't getting in during their lifetimes if at all. Interesting you bring up Parnell's name. When I was a kid living in Queens, in 1953 the Yankees announcer Mel Allen, one of the biggest homers around, was muttering all season about Mel. That year he shut out the Yankees four times. Too bad he couldn't have used one of them that last two game series in '49 when the Sox went into YS with a one game lead and lost both of them. We most likely wouldn't have heard about any curse because in my opinion the Red Sox would have beaten the Brooklyn Dodgers in the WS since my childhood team was still pretty young for the most part and inexperienced in Major League years.

Pretty good research Will. However, your final take is that the team could afford him when all is said and done. Let me throw up this trial balloon.....We have some money coming off the books this off season. Could we do with Ells what we did with Lester, Youkilis and Pedroia and extend him past his free agent years, something like a four year offer with an option year? It seems it could be done but it all depends on how badly Jacoby wants to stay with the Red Sox and how badly Epstein wants to retain him. I could mention Boras but I know he is the joker in this deck.

Oh boy, all we had to do was mention the name Scott Boras and the whole scenario changes. With Ellsbury a lot would depend on how badly he wants to remain with the Red Sox. The team has the money to pay him and, likewise, it would remain to be seen how badly Epstein and Co. want to hold on to him. Whiskey's point about CF getting hurt or moving over later in their careers is certainly a valid point and Crawford looks ensconced in LF for the next seven years. Again, though, the Red Sox must keep in mind the offensive ability of a player who can over 300, steal 70 bases, show surprising power for a speedy CF, and hit lefties successfully, when they contemplate whether to resign him or bid him a fond adieu. I'm an Ellsbury fan and want him around.....as seems obvious by my posts on this topic.

It's really all conjecture which Red Sox player makes the Hall of Fame and right now it's too early to tell on many of them. Wakefield I don't think makes it; Papi would need five or six more big years in my opinion before he is given consideration due to the fact that the only thing he does is hit. He would really have to light up the boards with numbers to get in as a DH. Again, my bet goes to Adrian, but he would have to have seven or eight more big seasons as well.