a700hitter

You never heard of Reggie Smith? He's pretty high up on the list of All Time switch hitting HR hitters. Never heard of George Boomer Scott or Elstin Howard? Never heard of Rico who had the season HR mark for SS for a number of years -- 40? Go study up. The players on that team had better careers than the 2013 squad.

They rehire Ben Cherington who finishes last a record 5 straight seasons. Despair and Civil Unrest grip the City of Boston and Fenway Park is burned to the ground on a massive riot. The once Great wealthy iconic franchise is broke and resettles in Plattsburgh.

At the game mojo and Impossible Dream Golden Anniversary mojo! Go Red Sox!

Did the camera pick him up on the way to the dugout when he popped up? It looked like he was grimacing and holding one of his hands as of it hurt. But then again, my eyes are not that young and I am not that close to the dugout, so he could just have been upset at popping up and he was removing his batting gloves very slowly. I was just wondering if the cameras picked up something. also, for a guy who never used to strike out, he k's qulte a bit now.

They probably wants to ice his leg.

My bad. Benintendi is out of the game.

What happened to Mookie. He was holding his hand and grimacing after he popped out? Young replaced him in RF.

At the game mojo!

And that makes two of us.

[TABLE=class: shsTable, width: 343] [TR=class: shsTableSubttlRow, bgcolor: #B40F19] [TD=class: gamedate, align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][TABLE=width: 321] [TR] [TD=class: shsNamD shsMiniTeamName][/TD] [TD=class: shsTotD shsMiniTeamScore, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: shsMiniStatus][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: shsTable, width: 343] [TR] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] http://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.weei.com/s3fs-public/styles/nts_image_cover_tall_775x425/public/encarnacion.jpg?itok=ZmpBaOd0&c=72bce310a7b3ef4d556239232adaf9f8Bob DeChiara/USA Today Sports Edwin Encarnacion: 'I was surprised' Red Sox didn't make offer http://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.weei.com/s3fs-public/styles/nts_image_on_demand_lg_thumbnail_60x60/public/Bradford_775x425.jpg?itok=EjDGVYgN&c=07cfd156da39905a39506181625fc2cd ROB BRADFORDAUGUST 14, 2017 - 10:55 PM When Edwin Encarnacion sat down with his agent, Paul Kinzer, to strategize the slugger's plan heading into free agency after the 2016 season, three teams were surfaced by the player as preferred destinations: Toronto, Boston and another team. (No, that third club wasn't the Yankees.) David Ortiz had dubbed Encarnacion as the player he viewed as his perfect replacement. The positional fit seemed good enough, with the first baseman/designated hitter ready to alternate with Hanley Ramirez. And with Ortiz gone, the one thing that seemed to be missing from the Red Sox' lineup was that kind of middle-of-the-order presence that the 34-year-old had been supplying for the Blue Jays on the way to five straight seasons of 34 or more homers. But, the Red Sox had other plans. Not wanting to go over the luxury tax threshold, or potentially block up-and-coming first baseman Sam Travis, Dave Dombrowski let it be known in early November that Encarnacion wasn't going to be one of his free agent targets. This was not what Encarnacion was expecting. "I was surprised because the way David was pushing and talking to the media and everything, and they don't even make an offer to me," Encarnacion told WEEI.com after hitting two home runs in his Guardians' 7-3 win over the Red Sox. "I was surprised, but you know how it is." With Encarnacion ultimately having to settle for a three-year, $60 million deal with Cleveland, it's easy to take a look at the damage he inflicted on the Red Sox Monday night and point to the righty hitter as one that got away. But the pointing really should have began back when free agency kicked off. Signing this guy would have been worth whatever financial or positional discomfort might follow. He was a really good fit then, and remains a really good fit now. After an extremely slow start, Encarnacion has 26 homers and an .856 OPS. At Fenway Park for his career, he has 17 homers and a .922 OPS in 53 games. For a point of reference, here are the ramifications of going over the CBT: - The tax itself. (Just money.) - The team am receives less compensation (lower draft choice) when they lose a qualified free agent after that season. (Not an issue for the Red Sox.) - The team gives up a higher draft choice when they sign a qualified free agent after that season. (Most likely not an issue for the Red Sox.) - The team loses more international signing bonus pool money if sign a qualified fee agent. (Most likely not an issue for the Red Sox.) - Higher tax rate/surcharge if team is more than $20 million over threshold; even more above $40 million over. (Just money).) And the ramifications of going over multiple times in a row: - The more times you go over, the higher your tax rate is. Third time in a row equals 50 percent for first $20 million over. (Money.) - The more times you go over, the more revenue sharing money you lose. (Money.) So, most of the penalties for committing to Encarnacion would be financial, which would seem palatable considering the priority this ownership group has put on winning. They did, after, just let a player (Pablo Sandoval) go that is going to cost them upwards of $48 million for not wearing the Red Sox uniform. As for Travis, he is undeniably an intriguing prospect who might be able to serve as a starting first baseman in the majors next season. But he isn't going to supply the kind of power this lineup seems to be thirsting for. The 23-year-old is currently hitting .268 with a .711 OPS and four home runs in 66 Triple-A games this season. The Red Sox have gotten very good value from Mitch Moreland at first base on a short-term deal. They also hold a 4 1/2-game lead in the American League East. But, especially after the latest reminder, Edwin Encarnacion has left the Red Sox with at least a twinge of what could have been. "I love it," the slugger said when asked what he thought about the Green Monster. That's just rubbing it in.

[TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2]8/14/17, 10:23 AM WOW. Baseball was made to break your heart, and Rafael Devers just did it to this Yankees fan. (via @JoezMcfLy) pic.twitter.com/3ivcTPwErR [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] A Yankee fan's reaction to Devers' Home Run. A Yankee fan shared this with me.

Wow! Devers hits one to left and one to right field. He has been rushed. Panic move.

An injured sloth?

lol!!

That is an idea that I support .

It isn't a propaganda contest or a popularity contest. It doesn't matter whether anyone pumps up a guy or not. Baseball is results oriented.

Holt is a very useful player who adds value in many way. Farrell's mistake was not playing Holt last night, but trying to force in a RH bat in Young at the expense of Devers' bat.

Such a smarty pants. I knew the rule. My confusion was that I hadn't t realized that Farrell had visited the mound while Ells was being announced. Maybe I was distracted posting, and when it was pointed out that he has visited the mound, it made sense to me and posted that it made sense. While I might have been distracted, Farrell should have been fully engaged and realized that he made a mound Visit. He didn't. I would conclude early onset dementia or that he was operating on 1 brain cell last night or both. Edit: BTW , that move by Gil Hodges's changing pitchers with a 1-2 count to face Rico Carty in the second inning with runners on second and third, was an out of the box move that shocked everyone including the batter who swung at Ryan's only pitch after it was in the catcher's mitt. Gil would do things like that, because he studied the game intently. He saw things that didn't even occur to most managers. I have spoken at length with former players under Gil. They speak about Hodges's to this day with awe and reverence. They don't talk about their other coaches and managers that way. I asked Seaver if the Mets organization instructed them to adopt the Drop and drive delivery that all Mets pitchers used on that staff. He laughed and told me that the coaches didn't teach them anything-- that they came up with that on their own and they learned from each other. He had open disdain for the pitching coaches in the organization, but when it came to Gil, it was like he was discussing a baseball God.

Managers that manage by the book and the stats on one day and by their observations and fit on the next day are the worst. Terry Collins did that in 2015 World Series. Ahead in game 4 in the 8th inning he went to Tyler Clippard and let him blow up the game and he brought in Familia only after the tying run was in scoring position. The tying run scored against Familia without the benefit of a hit. Collins explanation after the game was that "the book" is that Clippard pitches the 8th and Familia pitches the 9th. in game 5, Harvey threw 8 shutout innings and begged Collins to start the 9th. He walked the lead off hitter. He was clearly gasses and has lost his command. Terry sat on his hands and amazingly let Harvey face another batter who doubles. Only then did Collins go to his closer who once again got credited with a blown save before he had given up a hit. My good friend and Mets fan started screaming "Where was the cook from last night! Terry mist have lost his book. What about the book." He was right Collins picked the wrong night to go by the book and the wrong night to ignore the book and he had blown the World Series. That World Series was thrown away by Collins in a shameful display of managerial stupidity.

I couldn't believe it when he took Chapman's fastball out of the park. Players just don't get on top of 103 mph fastballs and drive them. 103 mph is so fast that the eye barely has time to process it never mind hit it. That is at the limits of human physiology. Only the best of the best can turn around those kinds of fastballs. I remember George Brett turning around a 9$ mph Goose Gossafe heater at his neck and putting it in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium. That was the Pine Tar game. Brett was already an established great. As for a young kid doing it, the only guy I can remember was a 19 year old Andruw Jones getting on top of a Mo Rivera 97 mph 4 seamer and putting it in the Yankee bullpen. Devers shot was unbelievably exciting.

Funny you should mention that, because Girardi came under harsh criticism for letting Chapman fly without a net on Friday night when he was clearly imploding and he had 2 other closer quality guys in the pen in Robertson and Betances. Girardi is also a massive dope. Many Yankee fans despise the guy. I can't tell you how many times I have seen him take out starting pitchers who are cruising with pitch counts in the 80's after 5 innings and a 4 run lead because his binders tell him that the guy sucks the 3rd time through the batting order. And generally the guy does suck the 3rd time through the order because his pitch count was in the upper 90's when he started the inning. On a night when the guy was cruising and his pitch count was 80, he might have 3 or 4 or 5 more outs in him. Girardi would regularly take the guy out before any sign of trouble with the best case scenario being that he was burning up his pen. On many of those night the middle relief guys lost the game. Yes, I come down on the side of Girardi being a dope -- maybe only a moron or imbecile and not quite an idiot.

Other than Joe Maddon submitting a lineup card listing 2 third basemen and costing his team the use of the DH for the game, Farrell's coming out of the dugout to make a pitching change that he couldn't make was the dumbest thing that I can remember a manger doing. Although last season, Terry Collins did not challenge a play at the plate on the final out of a game when his runner looked to be safe. He had nothing to lose, but he didn't challenge it because his video people couldn't communicate with him. The GM Sandy Alderson was at that game, and he told a group of season ticket holders that he and Collins got into a pretty heated discussion after that game. Alderson ran down to the dugout to try to get Collins to challenge the play, but the team had left the dugout. The s*** hit the fan in the clubhouse.

It was because of the prior mound visit. Okay, that makes sense. I checked and Nolan Ryan did replace Gentry with a 1-2 count to face Rico Carty in Game 3 of the 1969 Playoffs, but Carty was not a PH and there was no mound visit during the AB before removing him. http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20090820&content_id=6519428&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

Winning is the ultimate metric for managers. As long as Farrell wins, he stays, but sorry Max, he has two brain cells. Luckily for him there are other managers in MLB who operate with limited brain waves, and some of them win too. In 2015, a couple of Dunce Deluxes faced off in the World Series == Ned Yost and Terry Collins. Collins was over-matched in that battle of the witless.

I am confused about the rule. I think I remember in the 1969 playoffs that Gill Hodges removed Gary Gentry from a game after going 0-2 on Rico Carty and he brought in Nolan Ryan to get the final strike.