seabeachfred

EX, Manny is one of many, or almost all, ballplayers who haven't a freaking clue of how lucky they are to be pulling the big bucks for playing a kid's game with a talent that most of us would have robbed and pilfered for. However, as I said in an earlier post, we simply have to take the whole package with Manny or reject him out of hand and I'm not going to do that, especially when I know he has plenty of company in that regard all over the Majors. Or have we forgotten Bonds, Palmiero, Canseco, and the rest of the crowd already? You're younger than me and still have to punch the clock to make ends meet, and I had to put up some s*** part-time jobs in high school and college before I could start teaching for even shittier pay, and not until 20 years of classroom experience did I start to make decent money. Most players don't comprehend or even begin to understand that, but that's the way if seems to be nowadays with baseball players. For me, I haven't any choice. I will root hard for Manny and any other greedy bastards on the Red Sox and so will you because they are our team and we sure as hell would rather see them stand triumphant than that dirty band of gazillionaires called the Yankees.

Papelbon is a helluva pitcher and one that can be a star for the Red Sox for years if they don't ruin him by running him back to the bullpen. The doctors themselves said relief pitching every day, whether he pitches or just warms up, could take a toll on his arm. Theo seems determined to keep him as a starter and to me that's the best move possible. The only fly in the ointment is when Piniero inevitably proves he cannot do the job, what then? Hansen would have been a great fit but he regressed last year, and as for the rest, how many chances are they going to get in ST games to give Francona a chance to decide who can do the job and who can't. It would have been great if we could have made a trade for Cordero but that seems out of the picture now and we can only hope that someone steps up and wins the spot because Paps down there is a sure way of ruining the arm of a damn good pitcher.

It is too late for the Red Sox to sit on Manny Ramirez because the discipline train left the station years ago. They have let him get away with his nonsense since they signed him, but, then again, the guy hits 315, 40 homers and 130+ RBI's and how the hell can we replace that? Helton wouldn't put up those numbers anymore and, besides, if we traded them even up we would be too lefthanded and vulnerable to good left hand pitching. As long as his teammates don't mind and he does the job leave the guy along and let him produce for us. Besides, I don't want to see Papi become the walking machine.

So why in hell ORS would I want to take what those scribes say seriously anyway? Only two got in partly right with the Cardinals and wrong on their opponent. I don't think they know any more than some of us, and maybe we ought to be grateful that some don't pick us because the way their luck has been going it would more like the kiss of death anyway. I would concede that because the Yankees have won the AL East nine times in a row they ought to be the slight favorite, but that's only a paper advantage and their pitching is very suspect as it is. However, we need a closer and must have a decent one if we don't want to give away part of the store before we find ourselves in the deep mud.

If I looked at our pitching the way you do Jackson I would also go hide in the closet, but what I do know is that we are a lot deeper than last year, some of our young studs might surprise this spring, and I don't think for a minute that Piniero will be our closer. Admittedly that has to be the bigges joke of the spring. Okajima was given a questionmark, but he is rated higher than Takishi Saito who turned out to be a helluva closer for the Dodgers last year. Oki has better stuff, is faster, and younger. No reason why he can't be considered for such a spot. Donnelly has always been a fighter and gets the most of his ability and success to back it up. Hansen is the missing link. If he can show something this spring approximating what potential he's supposed to have, then he could be a big factor in my team's success. I agree with Romero; he is a waste of a roster spot and a rotten attitude to boot, but Timlin showed my something when he saved three games in succession at YS last September. I still think he has some fuel left in his tank.

Baseball is the greatest sport ever invented by man and it will be so centuries from now. Stark is a pretty astute baseball writer and has been as accurate or wrong about as much as anybody else who covers the sport so I am taking him with a grain of salt. We are most definately stronger than last year both in offense and pitching, especially in the bullpen, but because the Yankees have won the division nine years in a row they should be the favorite going into the season because they have done it many times before. Having said that, I think this will be the best chance we've had for upending them since they started running off their streak. The only thing that would throw a wrench in my thinking is if I see Joel Piniero trying to close games for us down at Fort Myers. Then I will know how task is not complete. I will gladly pull in my horns if this guy turns out to be the savior that Epstein thinks he's going to be, but in my opinion JP is a combo of fools gold and a cheap rhinestone.:dunno: :dunno: :dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

We have the depth this year Jacksonian, but what we need to find is a closer. We find such an animal and we can end your nine year AL East title streak. We don't and we have to battle like hell to win it and or go again for the WC.

If we're honest with ourselves we should agree on that part concerning Lester, but I keep thinking back to all the rotten breaks the Red Sox have had in their history since the Babe Ruth trade and just wonder if we shouldn't expect a few extra good breaks to start coming our way and evening things out a little more. A great recovery from Lester and a surprise contribution from him would really stimulate and rouse RSN. Why not think positive on that?

BoNat, it is only my prediction and nothing more, but if we are stuck with Piniero as our closer we could be in deep do-do this coming year. I saw this guy pitch a couple of times last season in Anaheim and unimpressed is a mild term for what I thought of his stuff. The Angels, no great shakes of a hitting team, seemed to like teeing off on him. The guy had his last good year in 2003 and has been a has-been since. It is hard for me to imagine how this guy can suddenly "find it". As for you Jackson, Yankee fans always think that the Red Sox have something up their sleeves just as I always think Cashman is up to something. I wish it were true, but I really think Epstein has convinced himself that Piniero is his man. The fact is he is not his man, my man, BoNat's man, RSN's man or anything of the kind. Hope I'm wrong but that's how I see it.

TGov, I wish I had the answer to our closer situation. I can agree with Theo that he doesn't want to pay a ransom for one if he trades for Cordero, and trading with the A's' Billy Beane means we would have to dispense some good young talent for Duscherer. We may not have a choice if someone doesn't step up by the end of Spring Training. I will be in Fort Myers the last week of the Grapefruit League and I sure as hell hope we've settled something of that order by then. If not, we could all be nervous by Opening Day.:dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

You know Rician, I think we Red Sox fans have to be gluttons for punishment because your reply post to me speaks volumes when you bring 2003 up. For some reason I just cannot get that non-decision by that bum out of my craw. It was so evident that Martinez had had it that you could even see it from your TV screen. What's more, I have been told by others that they were doing the same thing I was in the eighth inning---screaming at their TV set to get the guy our of there and turn it over to our now solid bullpen. The fact is I had less courage than the rest of you. I simply left the room and went to bed despite us still being ahead buy two runs. I knew right then and there that this game would be blown. No matter how much I revel at our great 2004 Title I still have trouble getting that 2003 game out of my mind no matter how the hell I try to do so.

Keith Foulke got a lot of Red Sox fans pissed off at him with some of his antics the past two seasons and didn't leave Boston with a great deal of good will, but can't we all at least admit that without the guy we would not have won the 2004 WS? He was great that year, 32 saves and a bullwark in the Playoffs and WS. Frankly, I would like to see the Red Sox invite him out to throw out the first ball in, say, a Red Sox-Yankees game and let the crowd show its appreciation for what the guy did for us three seasons back. Who know how those knee and arm injuries played on his head the past two years? I'd rather remember what the hell he did for our team when it counted. Think of how we'd be feeling now if 2004 hadn't happened the way it did without the guy.

ORS, didn't I read somewhere that the doctors said pitching in the closer's role night after night was causing undue strain on Paps shoulder? To me a guy like that capable of winning 15-20 games would be much more valuable as a starter, and it would make our rotation that much stronger. I really don't know if Theo is serious with his tap dance with all those usual suspects he has lined up as potential closers, and I've been saying for two months to go get Cordero and be done with it. However, I really think Epstein thinks he can find one in his own stable. I know only one thing for sure. I don't want Papelbon in the bullpen. One more thing---how many of those closer suspects are going to get enough chances to close a game in ST to tell any of us whether they are the guy or not?

Man, I feel like Patton when he gave a speech to the English ladies and failed to mention Russia and got accused to being nasty to our ally and was sent home. No, I'm going off this board for a month. I hope when I return most of you will see that I am only interested in supporting the Red Sox and nothing else.

Ok, to show that I meant to start nothing by that at all I will take not only a week off, but I will take a while month off from this board. I'm still puzzled as to why some of you think I wanted this pissing contest to continue. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As for me being a "current" Red Sox fan I have explained repeatedly how that came about. I'm only sorry I didn't become one before but my love of that team should not be questioned at all. I will tell the moderators that I will not post again until February 19th. I just don't understand how some of you could be thinking I was trying to cause trouble when I was actually praising someone I had differences with. It makes no sense. I will notify the moderators of my decision. I will look in from time to time but will not post anything at all for a month. I hope that quells some of the suspicions you have for me As far as that Dodger Board I had a friend who posted there and he thought as a Los Angeles resident that it would be a good board to post on. It was a bad mistake.

He played 146 games last year and could have played more but Grady Little tried to keep him strong and injury free and gave him a few extra days off. Again, I think we need a RF who can play at Fenway Park, hit well, and drive in runs with decent power. Drew has those tools. If I'm wrong I will catch it for sure. I think I have this one right.