a700hitter

I got in late for the game and just finished fast forwarding through the DVR. I'm loving this game. Beckett was filthy. Big hits by Lowrie, Crawford, Ellsbury, and Captain Varitek. Varitek got a big walk too. AGon is just a flat out stud. I'm liking this guy Albers more and more. If Jenks turns out to be a bust, Albers is a nice find.

Tito's in game moves drive me nuts, but he has earned legendary status in my opinion. In 1978, Zimmer gave away the pennant by burying Bill Lee in the bullpen like a stubborn ass.

There were a lot of great young Red Sox pitchers in my 45 years, and none of them broke the record. Clemens managed a tie.

He deserves to have records for appearances, innings and other things that would reflect his durability. However, for him to have the distinction of the Winning-est pitcher in Red Sox history is completely misleading and it misrepresents his contribution to the Red Sox. The record for wins for an original franchise like the Red Sox conveys a level of excellence. Wakefield has not been an excellent pitcher. He has been consistently mediocre throughout his career and very inconsistent from game to game (and even within games) throughout his career. He has never, in his long career, been the Red Sox stopper or ace. He has never been even the second best pitcher on any Sox team, except for an improbable run during 1995. There may have been a year or two where he had the best or second best stats on the team, but he was never the top guy or number 2 guy. In a number of years he barely made the starting rotation. In my four and a half decades, I can think of many many pitchers who have had more excellent Red Sox careers. Obviously, if he gets the record, it's his achievement, but the Sox should make no extraordinary effort to keep him on the team in the hope that he gets the record, because in my opinion, he's not good enough to hold that record.

As much as I despise Clemens for his Yankee years, Wakefield doesn't deserve to hold any franchise record.

... and it wouldn't surprise me if he were right.

Sometimes I can be very succinct.

I really think the major part of this teams dysfunction is the catching position. Letting Russell Martin slip through their fingers and land with the Yankees was a colossal blunder. They could have had him for a measly $3-4 million. It's inexplicable to me that after spending $300 million on 2 players that they pinched pennies at such a critical position where they were so week. That was not Francona's fault. Theo built a Space Shuttle team, but he gave the keys to a crackhead (Salty).

They need to really pick things up if they want to match last year's pace. After the game, the NESN guys mentioned something about Lackey's wife. I didn't catch what they said. Is she sick, divorcing him, etc.? Is this going to be the excuse for him sucking?

What was the Red Sox record at this time last year?

Yankee announcers are speculating why Joba has been unavailable tonight. A fat embolism... maybe?

He was being diplomatic. Lackey always gives the hitter something he can hammer.

The 2 automatic outs at the bottom of the order don't help.

I have been saying since last season that it is very frustrating that Tito leaves his starters in until they give up 7 runs. I just don't get it.

We will be at least 7 games behind the Yankees in the loss column when the weekend starts.

Bobby Valentine

Magic #7. Tito's cue to remove the pitcher. . . after the game is over. Getting beat by John McDonald in 2 ABs is ridiculous.

Crawford should be in the 2-hole at Yankee Stadium this weekend.

Ortiz and AGon need to be batting back to back until Youk's bat shows some consistent life. Pedroia needs to be dropped to the bottom third of the order until he emerges from his funk. Crawford should be in the 2 hole.

Getting taken yard by John McDonald is extremely embarrassing.

Pedroia is killing this lineup right now. AGon is a an opposite field beast.