a700hitter

Salty in the first inning steal attempt looked to have quicker footwork than last season, but he double clutched and then bounced the throw. Hopefully, they can make some adjustments to his mechanics to help against the running game. Last year, there was no difference between lead off doubles or singles, because most of them ended up on second with no outs.

If Bard and Doubront perform to SFF's projections, I predict that they will win the AL East in a cake walk.

Neither Bard or Doubront has any major league track record as a starter. Bard has elite stuff, but the only record he has as a starter in the professional ranks is as a failure. We have no basis for predicting their 2012 performances as starters. The best we can do is hope for the best, but I agree with Emmz. My mind doesn't spin in the direction of 15 win seasons with sub 4 ERA. Hell, I'd be okay with 200 innings and 15 win seasons with sub 4 ERA's from out top 3 guys. I think they can do better, but not a whole lot better and they are All Stars. I spent too many years of my youth in the 60's, 70's and 80's having expectations like that for guys who I can't even remember today. I can't go down that road.

I'll be doing back flips if we can get that from Felix the 5 hole.

But the Sox give the Northeastern kids some very nice goody bags of stuff. I saw them carting the stuff in one year.

Papelbon had 3 pitches too. He just rarely used all three. Bard does have 3 pitches and his secondary pitches are probably more refined and consistent than Pap's pitches. However, as a starter, he is going to be able to go to all 3 with consistency.

Actually Fred was dead right. His point was that you need a third pitch to be an effective starter, but he cited Lincecum and Kershaw as exceptions. If fangraphs show that Lincecum and Kershaw have 3 effective pitches, all it proves is that they are not exceptions to the rule. So, he's still right that Bard needs a 3rd pitch.

...and then there are those that are excellent about complaining about other posters.

Agreed. Their greed will prevent them from shaving off games from the schedule, and the players unio will balk at playing day/night scheduled doubleheaders. There is no way the greed in sports (owners and players) will allow single admission double headers. No way in hell, but that is the best solution for the fan. I hope they have a World Series with snow in November. It would serve them right.

Time to go to the Spring Training Threads. Is this afternoon's game televised?

Who didn't see this coming. Wrists take a long time to heal completely.

Hazelbaker.

I saw this kid a couple of years ago in Ft. Myers. He looked terrible in the OF. He couldn't track fly balls at all.

Oye! Here we go.

I heard that both Bard and Aceves looked good yesterday. By the time I get down there, March 17th -24th, they should be stretched out to 4 or 5 innings. It will be interesting to see how they do the second time through the order. In 2006, Papelbon was a starter in Spring Training. I was psyched to see what he could do. He would tear through the order the first time around, but the second time around it was a different story. He had a lot of problems going deep into a game. I don't think he had the secondary pitches refined enough to be a starter at that time.

You guys need to find some common ground. You are both sick sports fans and strong personalities. Cut each other some slack. He can brag and be emotional and you can be dismissive and nasty, but you are both good sports people.

I know that I can be a jackhole prick at times. I have had my moments over the years, so I am not preaching to you. I just don't want this to go down an ugly path. People have been banned recently and the forum has calmed down a fair bit, so I don't want to see the whole thing spiral out of control again.

And you and others have anointed yourselves to take him down a peg with ridicule. People have been trying to take me down a peg for years because I like to tweak people with statements such as "I am almost never wrong", "I am right 99.6 % of the time." My custom user title used to be "The Ballpark Pontiff" and now I have dubbed myself the "King of TalkSox". I do it all in fun, tongue in cheek, but people lose their minds over it, adding to my enjoyment. Many have made it their mission to take me down a peg or destroy my credibility etc. It's so laughable. At one point a certain poster said that he was waiting for the day when iortiz would come to his senses and repudiate me, because he couldn't stand that iortiz agreed with me on many issues. Well, how well have the efforts to take me down worked? I am still here and still speaking my mind, and it still annoys some people. If people want to take a run at me to prove me wrong and "take me down a peg", they are welcome to go ahead. I like a lively debate, but ridiculing someone because you think they are bragging is childish schoolyard stuff and less funny and entertaining to read than Fred's corniest nicknames. The internet is full of blowhards. Anyone who has been on this forum for an extended period who doesn't think that he/she is a blowhard is just kidding themselves. If you eliminated the blowhards from discussion forums, there would be no internet discussion forums.

Fred, you must have followed Pedroia pretty closely, because a lot of people missed the mark with him, including me. When I saw him at Spring Training in 2006/2007, I thought his skills were very average across the board. I saw no plus skill from him. Also, he was a little guy with a big swing and what I thought was warning track power. I was completely wrong. He' s the type of guy that you have to see a lot of to realize how special he is. Ellsbury's skill set can be easily observed from seeing him play just a few games, but not Pedroia. The ball does seem to really jump off Lavarnway's bat and he seems to have a strong arm, at least compared to our catchers last season. Right now his path seems to be blocked for 2012. They may send him to Pawtucket hoping that he tears up the pitching and increases his market value. Maybe he eventually sticks wit the Sox or maybe they think Swihart is the future catcher and La?arnway is going to be a nice trading chip. It is certainly something to follow.

I like to read Fred's scouing reports. He has obviously taken the time to follow and watch many of these guys. People beat him up for the nicknames and he stopped most of that. Now, he is being ridiculed for his scouting reports. You people need to grow up. If you disagree with what he says, post your reasons. The ridicule is childish.

Once the lineup around him got weak toward the end of the season, he went into a tailspin.