seabeachfred

Riverside, it is amazing how one game becomes two, and two games becomes three and before you know it we have a full blown platoon situation and a first base controversy on our hands. It happened last year---and don't think Francona will abandon it if is not working. He will keep plugging Snow in that lineup until someone in the front office orders him not to and that might never happen. Then Youk loses another year because he is misused. Look, Kevin is hitting and hitting with power in ST; he deserves that first base job. JT has become nothing but a journeyman and a late inning replacement. Youk can turn out to be even better than predicted. I think the guy has a tremendous upside and can do better against Millwood and an 0 for 4 which I will bet will be what Snow winds up getting. And it might cost us the game. Francona cost us a few last year with his stubborness in continuing to use Millar, and his constant use of the ineffective and arson causing Embree and Mantei until the front office wisely got rid of them so he couldn't use them anymore. Those moves by Tito cost us the AL East title last year.

That lineup makes me sick Riverside. Once again, they are f***ing around with Kevin Youkalis. The guy deserves to be in that friggin' lineup from the get-go. J.T. is a fill-in, a reserve, he is over the hill and lacks power. We don't need another Menky, or God forbid, a Millar type offensive player out there. Snow is supposed to be a defensive replacement and spot starter from rare time to time. If Francona is going to screw Kevin again I and every Red Sox fan in Christendom should raise holy hell about it. This absolutely sickens me if it is true.

Slugger, Lowell got two hits yesterday in the Red Sox win over the Twins and we can hope this is the start of something good for both him and the team. As a man who managed baseball teams for 30 years I learned that winning is a habit, and so, unfortunately, is losing. Spring Training games or no, a few wins here and there certainly cannot hurt. Besides Riverside, I am going to Spring Training on the 26th and have tickets for three games. I sure as heck don't want to see three loses because it's a hell of a long trip from California to Florida just for that. Have a great day.

Mr. "K", hopefully you're right and we have nothing to worry about, except maybe when they are going start winning at least a few Spring Training games. We are overdue and a hot Lowell might just be what we need to get everything in order. Youk, Loretta, Coco, and Mohr are doing their jobs, the rest ought to follow. At least that is what I'm hoping.

Riverside, when has Ken Rosenthal ever taken a positive spin on the Red Sox? What did you expect from that guy anyway? I pay him no mind at all, but I will tell you this: If Lowell doesn't start to turn it around the next week or two we may have a problem. I'm now beginning to wonder if the rumors of him being on roids might have a tinge of truth to them. I hope I'm wrong.

Remember 700, the team did not take final form until August of that year when we got Roberts, Cabrera and Menky to round out our squad. Even then we had to make the greatest comeback in baseball history to win the Big Enchilada. Not to worry, in my opinion, Theo has his hands firmly on the matter; if we need to augment our team as the season wears on he will do it. I just hope we do not have a three month dry spell as we did in the May-July period in 2004. I would like to see us break from the gate and play consistent baseball for the full season. It has been done before. Why can't it happen to us?

Hammer, those months can fly by very fast and we still could be in this "holding pattern" mode with Papi as far as getting this signing business done. AND---if this drags out too long we could find ourselves getting the business and could lose the guy. I really think that as bad as losing Roger, Petey, Mo, and Judas were, if we were to see the Big Papi sign with another team I think the current ownership would lose all credibility in Boston and could not recover from it. As outlandish as it might seem to you, I think their gooses would be cooked in Red Sox Nation and would eventually have to sell the team. It would be one PR debacle that could never be rectified.

You know Riverside, if it wasn't for fans like us here and on other boards around the country talking up our love for baseball the game might actually be in trouble because of players like that. What in hell did Wells expect? What is he, the Manny of the pitching staff? Francona doesn't have to stand for garbage like that. Hey Wells, shut up and pitch---and if you do a good job we may keep you and put higher in the rotation as the season progresses. Until then, put a sock in your mouth. Hey Riverside, I am starting only my sixth season as a Red Sox fanatic so answer me this question---Do we always have wierdos like this on our team?

No they can't 700 Hitter, but you and I should not be splitting hairs over it. As good as a team might be you simply cannot have everything. We were able to get Roberts into the roster mix two seasons ago because there were roster openings and our farm system was still developing so their were no prospects really ready. It is different this year, and as much as I liked Dave Roberts you didn't really hear much from him until that critical steal in the 4th game. Yes, I miss Roberts but it appears we still will have more depth this year. My worry is that we make sure the right guys make the team who can help us the most on both sides of the ball.

Monsterman, Harris has great speed but he is way behind the others at this point so it looks like Crisp and Stern are our best hopes. After Stern gets sent down I hope he goes on a tear and have to bring him up. We could then send some pitcher down or trade one of them and make room on our team for the guy to help give us another diimension in our lineup.

700 Man, he hit a dinger yesterday so maybe the hits will start falling in..

mtb, no need to apologize. I know where you were coming from and it wasn't you that I was talking about. A couple of weeks back I saw a whole host of posts on Youkalis' lack of talent to get the job done, and one or two were on this board. For the life of me I cannot understand why so many people undersell this player. He has heart, works hard, is a real Dirt Dog and when give a chance to play over a period of time does a good job. He is not flashy which is fine with me. I have too many of those kind burn out when clutch situations develop. Give a hard nosed blue collar player every time.

When the season gets underway one thing that I think will stand out is that we are in better shape than we were last year at this time. Face it, most of us knew that we were not really that strong when the bell rang last year and hoped that the previous year's momentum might get us through. It seldom works that way. This off season we retooled as we had to do and are stronger, on paper at least, on defense and on the mound. We can replace Reese's defense but we probably will still be short in the speed department.

Crespo is probably going back to the fact that Pokey came in as the starting second baseman but his hitting was so atrocious that he lost his position to Mark Bellhorn, who it must be admitted, did a pretty good job in 2004 when he took over the keystone. Yet, thorough it all, Pokey remained a great team player, a positive influence inthe clubhouse and was the first out of the dugout with Dave Roberts when David Ortiz got those two clutch hits in games 4 and 5 to get us back to YS and ultimate glory. I think we should remember Pokey for the positive things he did for us.

You know MTB, I am getting good and fed up with Red Sox fans who still are convinced that Youk isn't the answer to first base. Not so much here, though, there has been some of that, but on other Red Sox boards the feeling is that we have to get someone other than Youk. Ok, I will put myself out on a limb. Give Kevin 500 plate appearances and he will hit in the 290's, slug between 18-24 homers and drive in 80 some odd runs. He will be solid for us. Relax if that is your worry. I'm worried more about our pitching being all it's cracked up to be and am waiting for some good spring performaces soon.

Gottcha! And you are right on that, thank goodness. Think we couldn't use Shea ourselves?

Yes MM, we did. And the guy was such a sap that we didn't even put him on the post season roster as I recall. I also believe we got him for Shea Hillenbrand, not one of our better trades and certainly not one of our finest hours.

mtb, there you have it. You mentioned Mariano. I should have done that; it would have strengthened my case more. Thanks for the added touch. See what I mean, though? Look at it this way---do you or anyone out there think that we could have gone all the way in 2004 without a great season from Foulke. He kept us in the Wild Card race after those three crappy months, and was dynamite in the ALCS, and pretty good in the World Series. I think things would be looking up much brighter for us if Keith is back on the beam.

Monsterman, you said the key point. Know what is was? THAT THE CLOSER BY COMMITTEE THING did not work for us; in fact, it was a disaster. I can count on my fingers the number of games we lost in the opening two months because of this disastrous strategy. As for Beane, he gets a lot out of his teams but I don't recall them going anywhere past their Division the last decade or so. A good closer is worth his weight in gold in my opinion. That is why I give such importance to Foulke coming back strong.

ksushi, great post and I will be glad to TRY to give you my lowdown as to why Foulke is the key to the season. First of all, as much as I like Papelbon he has no background as a closer, is inexperienced for such an assignment as is Hansen. It is possible they could do the job but it is taking a chance. Taverez? Maybe. With a healthy Foulke you have one of the best closers in the game. Don't get alarmed with the impression that I think all is lost if Keith can't go out there. We could still win but it would be a lot harder under those circumstances. With him, it could be as many as three or four games in the standings. That ought to put us over the top. Again, this is just the way I see it. What do you think?

OK, 26 I stand corrected and apologize. I hate doing it to a Yankee fan but you seem to be a class guy. I wonder if you are the same 26 guy who once posted on Dirt Dogs? We had some good fun last season giving each other some @hit. But I still hold to my position that Selig will stand down when the chips are down, and maybe you can tell me just when this testing is going to begin? If I don't hear from you tonight, have a nice Sunday, and sorry for the misunderstanding.

Look 26, if I am wrong I will stand down and admit it. Are you sure of that? I really thought I heard him announce that he was ending it for the balance of the 2005 season. Anyway, let's hope you are right on this new policy. It just riles the hell of out of me that some of baseball's greatest records might fall to a pack of cheaters. Have a nice day. Enjoy jousting with you. Keep it up.

mtb, I would like your take on this drug testing controversy and Selig's reaction to it. My friend 26-6 believes Selig is doing a good job so far and this new policy will work well. I have grave doubts about anything Selig does. I really feel he wants this to go away and just let things occur as they have before. My take is that we have to crack down on these cheaters and overturn all those phony home run totals that messrs Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and Palmiero rang up with the use of the steroids.

What policy? Yeh, I know what he said and what he put into writing, but may I remind you that he announced to all juicers last summer that we was suspending drug testing for the rest of the season? Of course, you might have like that because soon after, miraculously, Jason the Juicer went on a tear. That's what I'm talking about. I will defer to you as soon as I see that "new and tough" policy put into action. Action, not words, resonate with me. Have you heard of any drug testing so far this spring? I haven't. Time to start this policy you think is so swell is NOW!!!!! Let's catch those cheaters before the season begins, and insitutute random testing every month. Either that or let the Congress under McCain and Feingold pass legislation mandating it. I'm fed up with these juicers pulling that crap and that goes for your Giambi and Scheffield.

Sorry #22, I meant it for my Yankee friend 26-6. Sorry to have confused you and Manny. I know you are a Red Sox fan. If I confused you, it is probably because I confused myself with another Senior moment. I have them from time to time. I still hold fast to the belief that Selig does a lot of talking but does little. Yes, I know about his new policy. I also know he announced to all that he was suspending drug testing early last summer just before Giambi went on a tear. I don't trust the guy.