a700hitter

Rangers with a man on second and no outs in the top of the 12th.

f***ing O's!

Choker Nathan blew save. Rays tied with Rangers in the bottom of the 11th.

I am not quite sure about that strategy. He is a base stealer and by bunting him over we took the bat out of Middlebrooks hands and got an unfavorable lefty-lefty matchup with Drew.

Rays down by a run going to the bottom of the 11th.

He just sort of serves them up there like he is hitting fungoes.

How does Naps hit those high pitches so far?

VA's BF stinks. Jk;)

VA is not online. I suspect that she is watching this game with the lights dimmed, the sound off and some Barry White playing.

I think that they should expand the program for the post season as bad calls can change the trajectory of the playoffs. I am not sold that instant replay is needed in the regular season. I am not sure that it is worth the effort.

They probably got some calls in their favor throughout the season. I'd say that each team probably gets screwed on around the same number of calls over a 162 game span. You can't bitch and moan about a bad call in one game changing the entire trajectory of your season when you play 162 games and probably benefitted from some bad calls.

And yet they still get plenty of stuff wrong. I think that wrong calls are much more crucial and can unfairly impact a season when you only play 16 games. When you play 162 games it is not as crucial as the good and bad calls tend to even out.

I don't think you are a nut. This is a pet peeve issue for a lot of people. The technology has been available for a long time, but the baseball establishment has been resistant to implementing and expanding instant replay precisely for many of the reasons that you have raised. They certainly are taking into consideration the good of the game. If they thought that there would be no negative implications, they would have already expanded replay and had balls and strikes called by a machine. I personally I would rather have every call be correct, but look at other sports. The officiating of basketball is horrendous. In football, you could call holding on every play and pass interference or illegal contact on every other play. In boxing if there is no knock out, it comes down to a beauty contest in the words of George Foreman. Some people would like balls and strikes call by technology, and the technology exists to do it very accurately. In addition to the counter arguments that you have set forth, what happens if the technology goes down in a big game? The umpire would have to call the balls and strikes the old fashion way, how reliable would he be if he hasn't called balls and strikes in 5 years? It would be like asking kids to do math after using a calculator for their entire lives or navigate using a map after years of depending on GPS. The skill would be lost. If this was such a black and white issue, instant replay would already be in place.

If Napoli finishes strong and produces in the post season, he will probably be the better value than Abreu. I can't imagine that Napoli will command a very long term contract with his hip condition.

I don't know if Pedroia has given his opinion on being captain, but my guess is that he probably doesn't want the title. He's loud, brash and he likes to needle the other guys. As a clubhouse guy, he helps keep the other guys loose. He gets them up for games and he makes the ballpark an enjoyable place for his mates. He is a leader by example. That doesn't necessarily translate into being a captain. With Varitek and Yaz, they were also leaders by example and Yaz was by all accounts a cut up and prankster. Neither one had the willingness to deliver a tough but needed message to his mates. If Pedroia is the Captain, I think he would be the same way.

Dempster has had prior success as a reliever and closer. I would not be surprised if he stepped into Workman's role in the play offs.

It was very encouraging that his results were so good tonight when he clearly did not have good stuff or command.

He's worth a lot more than KRod. I think he will be the 3B in 2014, but down the road better talents may squeeze him out.

Yankee fans will be hiding under their desks at work tomorrow.

one more inning until the game is Thornton proof.

Joba is next in the parade of pigs.

LOL!! Lefty pig throws at Ortiz. Ortiz rips liner to CF for an RBI.

What is Buch's pitch count for tonight?

I hope that Napole didn't hurt his hand. s***!

With WMB's power, he is good trade bait.