a700hitter

Here's my lineup for next season: 1. Crawford -LF 2. Pedroia - 2B 3. Ellsbury - CF 4. AGon - 1B 5. Youkilis - 3B 6. Ortiz -DH 7. Cuddyer -RF 8. Salty/Lavarnway -C 9. Scutaro SS SP. Beckett SP. C.J. Wilson SP. Lester SP. Bucholz SP. Bard CL Papelbon Setup Heath Bell

I still have a Yaz hat that I got from Wonder Bread wrappers in 1967. Sweet Caroline is sissy s***, and I don't mean that as any sort of anti-gay slur.

I saw a lot of Yankee fans on the Long Island Rail Road coming back from the stadium at midnight. They looked miserable. That made me happy. I hope it rains tomorrow and they play until 3 a.m. and there are 4 or 5 delays. I am also happy that many game 2 ticket holders are getting screwed over by the game getting moved to Sunday night. What a shame.

When has Fenway had 39,000 fans at a game?

This song does make me feel a little better. Plus, the added a Song: Ellsbury for MVP.

Ricciardi is an idiot.

I don't think player personality is a problem. The Red Sox major issues are: 1. Talent - especially pitching 2. Depth- especially pitching 3. Conditioning That's what needs to be addressed.

Off the top of my head, I would look at: 1.Bobby V. 2.Carlton Fisk 3.Jerry Remy No Ken Maccha (guy is an idiot), no Farrell.

Make up your mind. Are they difficult personalities or too affable? Either way, I really don't think getting along with others is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Doji, this is just so Doji. Thanks for the chuckle.

I was puzzled by that too. I thought Ortiz got along with everyone including opposing players.

No Farrell, please!

The team played poor fundamental ball. You would think that major league players would have mastered all the fundamentals, but that is not true. That's why they have coaches. They are not there to take their batting gloves and elbow pads when they get on base. They are not there just to relay signals from the bench. Most players that I have talked to have told me that no coach ever helped them with hitting or pitching mechanics. They are there to drill the fundamentals, and the manager is responsible for the coaches. Tito is responsible the poor execution of fundamentals.

I think they will resign Papelbon in part because they do not have a lot of confidence in Bard in that role. I realize that wins-losses is not the best measure of a pitchers success, but 2-9 is astonishingly bad. It seems that Bard would like to give starting a shot. He couldn't be worse than Wakefield, Miller, and Dice K. If he takes the ball every 5th day that would be a big improvement. The 5th spot has lacked consistency since Bronson Arroyo. To fill the 8th inning slot, I would pursue Heath Bell.

Is he throwing back light beer?

He hasn't had any knee problems. I watch about half of the Mets games and I can tell you that the one thing he still does well is run. He was never a speed burner, but he still has good speed and bust his tail to first every single time. He's a mental mess. It's sad what has happened to him.

He's not a loud guy or a screamer. He's not much for arguing. He doesn't have to. He's as serious as a heart attack. When he talks, people don't argue with him. He'd intimidate umpires without going over the line.

I like the idea of Fisk. He's as no nonsense as they come. He knows the game and he would demand that it be played the right way. He's a very intimidating presence. No one would mess with him. Heck, when he was a young player the veterans were scared of him and they gave him respect. Surround him with some really good coaches and you will never see this kind of collapse. You'll see a much more professional outfit with a killer instinct.

Damon also in the Post Season.

When the Mets went through their collapse, I remember a couple of old time fans saying that Randolph needed to turn over a table in the clubhouse and kick some ass to get some attention. He didn't and the spiral never ended. I saw the same type of despair and desperation setting in on this team when they realized that they didn't have the horses to take them down the stretch. They were hoping to just tick off dates on the calendar before the entire lead was lost, but when they started to realize that the lead was shrinking faster than the dates were coming off the calendar, they shrank into their shells. Someone needed to shake things up-- the manager, a player. I was hoping Pedroia would shake things up, but after games he was giving the same vanilla interviews as everyone else. I could see it coming, because I had seen it before. It's a spiral of collective despair that fed on itself, game after game. My Met fan friends told me to stop watching before the weekend series against the Yankees. They could see it unfolding, and they knew it would make me miserable. As bad as this has been, it pales in comparison to losing 2 parents in 3 1/2 weeks. Perspective. Talk to you all soon. Lot's of good baseball discussions ahead, but I need to take a break.

VMArt and Beltre are going to the playoffs and the So are going home. Who would have figured?

Congrats SFoC!