a700hitter

^ I don't get this. Manny wasn't a good guy, at least that is how the press portrayed him, and I'd take 9 of him in the line up on any given day.

The point is that we don't know who these guys are or their true character. Guys with great public images are often jackasses and guys like Ted Williams who were painted as villains by the press were actually good teammates and loyal friends. I wasn't justifying Beckett's behavior by pointing to Williams behavior with the press. I was making the point that we don't know these guys. If you want to root for athletes based on their public images, feel free to do so. Meeting the "good guys" is usually a disappointment. Most of them are coddle, spoiled jackasses, even the "good guys." I root for guys that a. wear the Sox uni and 2. that give it their all for the team. I do have a problem with Becket, and it has nothing to do with his disdain for the press and dropping the F-bomb etc. I kind of admire that he doesn't whore himself out to the press. The problem that I do have is that he is a bit of a prima dona princess. I don't like that he gets so overly concerned about physical discomforts that are not impediments to performing like he did in 2008. That pissed me off. It took 3 sets of doctors to convince him that there was nothing wrong with him. In the course of this process he shut himself down for 3 weeks and really ruined the Sox season. It pissed me off that he was able to perform and didn't for 3 weeks and he was under contract for 2 more seasons. Up to that time, I had thought he was a bulldog, but he showed himself to be a diva.

My niece has lived in Florida since 2001. She was a season ticket holder of the Marlins for several years, including their 2003 championship season. She was and has remained a big fan of Beckett's. She said that he was very nice to people. My niece also hates *******s, so if she says he was a nice guy, I believe her. Beckett is prick to the press and they hate him for it, but that doesn't mean anything to me. Ted Williams was a gigantic ******* with the writers, much worse than the way Beckett acts with them.

Cook with a complete game victory today. Hmmm?

Kuroda looked pretty bad tonight.

He's a very streaky player. When he is on a hot streak, he plays like an All Star, but more often he plays like this.

Mike Gonzalez would have to be an upgrade over Albers. He has been terrible since the end of July. They should cut him and sign Mike Gonzalez and trade for Uehara. Those would be two quality arms. They would be a big help.

I couldn't be bringing any worse luck. This is brutal.

I wonder if Beckett is going to be complaining about his thumb after the game. Personally, I would prefer that this was just a butt kicking by two heavy hitters and that his thumb feels fine. If his performance was affected by the thumb, we may have some bad performances to watch from Beckett this season.

Dude, it's the first weekend. We had to face the reigning MVP on Thursday, and the Tigers had two of the best sluggers in the game seeing Beckett's gopher balls today. This is what happens when you have too much optimism about everything. When adversity, comes and it always comes, there is a lot of disappointment. It won't all bee this bad.

Fielder and Miggy look like they will be a wrecking crew this season. They might be the most devastating duo since Manny and Papi were doing their thing. I haven't seen Beckett give up this many bombs in a game since 2006. It looks like the 7 run rule has carried over with Bobby V.

VA, you gave me a scare by putting this in the "Crawford Setback" thread.

Do nothing is a choice.

Surprisingly, 65% of the votes in the poll so far are for Cook to be promoted.

I'd rate Papelbon over Valverde for the reasons you cited, but just because I would put Papelbon ahead of Valverde doesn't mean that Valverde should get dropped to second tier. Despite the extra basrunners, Valverde has been very consistent at getting the job done over an extended period. It may be ugly at times, but he does get the job done.

I think you are straining to help yourself feel better about the fact that we have no closer. You may be able to make yourself feel better in this manner, but it doesn't work for me. Papelbon, with the exception of 2010, was very reliable. The same goes for Valverde. He too had one bad year but he has been very reliable every other season. These guys save 30+ games each year and they lock down around 90% of their save opportunities every year. That's not volatile, and although Valverde is an a--hole but he is not second tier. Brad Lidge, Houston Street and even KRod are volatile. Mo, Papelbon and Valverde are reliable and consistent and not volatile It's a small class of reliable consistent closers. We don't have one at the moment, and I don't feel good about it.

Starting clearly is his preference, but that doesn't preclude his success in another role. Goose Gossage came up as a starter and preferred starting too. Things ended up pretty good for him. The same can be said for Eck.

But he is on record about his preference to start. That is not in question.

I don't think this issue is whether Bard will pitch well in a role he doesn't want. I think the Sox made a commitment to let him win a starting job. He prepared himself and won the job, not by overwhelming acclamation, but he did enough to win the spot. The words and commitments of the FO should mean something. I think they feel committed to letting him prove himself. If he craps all over himself for 3 or 4 starts, they might feel that he blew his chance and put him back in the pen.

I like the Uehara idea, but i don't know what it would take to get him, and what about the budgetary restraints.

Agreed. As we proved once again today, even frequent disagreement on issues, philosophies etc. doesn't preclude agreement on the next issue. I don't mind the disagreements, because with rare exception, every point of view has at least some merit. There are times when I can't find merit to an argument. I am still having trouble with Doji's position that we started the season 8 starters deep. I can't get close on that one, but that doesn't mean that Doji doesn't make a lot of good points on other issues. Most of us make a lot of good points. Doji, please don't take offense. This is just a recent example of a very rare circumstance.