a700hitter

I really not looking forward to watching a whole year of Eric Hinske.

Rob Deer, Dave Kingman and many other power hitters struck out a lot and every team they played for was better offwithout them.

Just like Derek Jeter, Big Papi always has a mike in his face. Unlike Jeter, Papi opens up and speaks from the heart every day. Jeter basically has about 5 or 6 platitudes that he recites like "we take it one game at a time" and some other pointless drivel. Papi said what was on his mind this time, and it's absolutely true, but the scum suckers in the press needed a story and a controversy. Papi meant no disrespect to Jeter. It's not Papi's fault that Jeter is a pop-gun hitter on a powerhouse team. That's just a fact, and Jeter should take no offense. When has he been an offensive force? He never has. He's a singles hitter that wasn't a very good lead-off hitter (too many DPs) which is why they had to get Damon. He's a #2 hitter. The meat of an order is the #3 and #4 and #5 hitters. Yeah, Jeter has hit #3 a little this year, but he's not the #3 guy. Jeter should take no offense that Papi said he doesn't compare. It was his honest opinion and not a diss, because he doesn't compare. Game on the line, down two runs with two men on and any pitcher in baseball (let me repeat "any pitcher") would rather face Jeter than Ortiz. That's just a fact and Jeter's shouldn't be offended that Papi would say it. When Manny got robbed of a homer by Melky earlier this year, Ortiz looked at Manny and said "that's why I hit mine 450 feet so I don't have to deal with that." Is that a disrespect to Manny? No, it's just a fact, and Manny wasn't offended unlike the prima dona in NY. Really, what is with the obsessed Jeter groupies? No one can utter Jeter's name unless they are praising him to the heavens or it's an international incident. Here's the scoop on the precious Jeter. He's a really good to excellent player. He's got above-average hands, slightly above-average arm, average to slightly below average range. He's an excellent base runner that has lost a half of a step. He's a very good to excellent #2 hitter (this year he's excellent) who can occasionally hit one out (sometimes with the help of a fan). That's it. He's not an icon. If he gets 3,000 hits he should go to the HOF. If he doesn't get the 3,000 hits, he shouldn't go to the Hall, because he is no better a player than Robbie Alomar or Bill Buckner and countless others that fell short of 3,000 hits who had limited power. Final word: Game on the line this year or last year: anyone in his/her right mind wants to see Ortiz hitting above any other AL player. That's what makes him the MVP. Like Dizzy Dean used to say, "If you can do what you say, it ain't braggin." Papi wasn't braggin and he wasn't putting Jeter down, he was just saying it like it is, so the pinstripe whining Jeter groupies have to get over it. They make me nauseas

His win total last year went up to 14 from 10 the year before. BTW: While it is indisputable that there is a disparity in ERA between the AL and NL, it is almost entirely due to the DH. There's no trend that players going from one league to the other will have win totals go up or down. When Clement came to the AL he remained a 13 game winner like he was in the NL. John Lieber stayed pretty consistent going to and from the NL. If anything he slipped in the NL this year.Except years when he was injured, David Wells had fewer wins in SD than he did any year for Toronto, Boston or NY. Derek Lowe's win totals in the AL and NL have been consistent as have been Vincent Padilla's. There's just no evidence that Arroyo wouldn't have continued to be a 10 to 15 game winner in the AL. That being said. He is not an ace in the NL or the AL. He will always be a # 4 or 5 starter, but a very consistent and reliable #4 or 5.

He would have won between 10 and 15 games. That's his track record. How many wins he would have added to the team is questionable, because he would have been taking someone else's starts. It's more likely that he would have been taking Johnson's, Gabbards and DiNardo's starts. They didn't have too many wins between them, so IMO he would have added more than 4 wins.

In winning his 17th game of the year, the Unit's ERA inched back toward 5. After tonight's game, his ERA stands at 4.84.

He would hqave been able to go deep into games in that stretch. Something that "The Ultimate Loser" and others could not do. When combined with Schilling and Beckett, Arroyo's talent to eat innings may have taken some heat off the pen. Look at the 2005 pen with Harville, Remlinger and other assworted crap. It was no better than the '06 bullpen. In fact the '06 bullpen was probably worse as it didn't have a dominant closer. Yet Arroyo won 14 in '05. There's no reason to believe that he wouldn't have won 10-15 this year for the Sox. The bullpen sucked, but the snowball started rolling downhill when starters couldn't get past the 4th or 5th inning on a daily basis.

This somehow makes him look less like a clutch player who is beloved by the fans and feared by opposing pitchers? Really? How so?

His ERA would have been higher as is the league's ERA, but he would have put up between 10-15 wins and made 30-35 starts just like he dide in the AL.

But he has a reputation for disappearing in big games.

That's a thought. If he does well until the end of the season, he could be valuable bait.

Arroyo won his 13th game today, helping the Reds down the stretch. If nothing else, he is consistent and reliable.

You have really gone over the edge if you think Loretta has killed the '06 Sox. I guess the terrible starting pitching and bullpen had nothing to do with it, or replacing Damon's stick with Crisp's, or another half-year from Nixon, or Varitek's .240 avg. and injury. You lose credibility with ridiculous remarks like that.

I agree that Pedroia should be playing in these games, but Loretta is hardly a scrub. If everyone in te lineup had been as consistent as Loretta, the team would have been better off. There were a lot of things wrong with the '06 Sox, but Loretta was not one of the problems.

Some of us have been calling Loretta DFA since JSinger wanted him DFA'd in mid -August.

I thought he was a bad signing, but not as bad as Seanez who I considered to be a waste. Tavarez was in the running for the DFA contest for a while with Seanez especially after that game where he blew up and almost threw away a game only to be saved by a play at the plate for the final out. He has earned some kudos taking the ball as a starter when everyone elese was crapping out in that role.

I thought he was under contract for next year.