HeadOfSoxNation

Foulke's done...I'd say at least for the duration of this season, Little Pappy should continue to close out games for the Sox. If Hansen can do it next year and beyond, then I say once he proves himself, we should work Papelbon into the rotation, but until that point, don't mess with success.

Well he's not even going on the Sox 9 game road trip...so it's safe to say he's gone for at least another 2 weeks.

Kazmir for Victor Zambrano...easily one of the most lobsided trades in the recent past.

I'm actually watching on NESN haha. Maybe I should look into a career in broadcasting then?

Damn...horrible story. I hate the Yanks, but in situations like this, they're always a class organization. I'm sure Steinbrenner will make sure the families are taken care of. Thoughts and prayers with everyone involved.

I didn't think that was a bad play by Wily Mo at all, yea, he slipped, but that ball goes by you on the left if it hugs the wall, and to your right if it kicks off the wall. Wily kept it in front of him and saved the double from becoming a triple. I'm not saying Nixon isn't far superior, but lets fault Wily Mo for K'ing twice already rather than that play in the field.

Wait...I'm confused...do you think this trade will go through?

Sheff's got some of the quickest hands in the league, and thusly, can afford for his hands and bat to be moving all around when the pitch comes. It also allows his bat to already be in motion as he decides weather or not to swing. He says it provides his bat more momentum to start his swing, and that transfers to more bat speed through the zone. I'm with you, I tried it once, and, this just in, I'm not as good a hitter as Shef. Nor are my hands as quick. I'll tell you what, when the Sox are in a big situation against the Yanks, and Shef's up, that little bat flip intimidates the HELL out of me. I don't know if that's planned, or just a bonus, but my god for some reason it just freaks me out.

I think they'll keep Pedroia in the minors this year...get him some more experience and time to grow. Pedroia could possibly take over for Loretta in the next couple of years, he's not the youngest guy on the field. Obviously, all depends on contracts and whatnot.

I think the thing we all have gotta understand, is that this rivalry just ISN'T AS BIG to the players as it is to us. I've gotta be honest, I'd be far more surprise and disgusted by a Die Hard BoSox fan deciding to jump ship and start rooting for the bombers than I'll ever be when a player on either of the two changes teams. It's just not a big deal to them. Sure, they feed off the rivalry because of what it means to the fans, but as a whole, it's just not as big of a deal to them. Might they get a little more pumped up for a Sox/Yanks game than a Sox/DRays or a Yanks/Jays game? For sure, but they don't eat, sleep, and breathe it like we do. I think you have to look at baseball more from a business standpoint rather than a fan standpoint when it comes to determining whether or not you want Clemens back in Boston. He left Boston while other teams were willing to pay him more and treat him better than Boston was, there have been a couple of pit stops along the way, and now he's thinking of coming back to Beantown. I honestly don't see any kind of problem with that. It's just becaues these guys are ballplayers that we fault them for decisions that any one of us would make if put in the same situation. Put it in layman's terms...you're working for UPS, and they start treating you like s***, saying your past your prime, etc....and then DHL comes up with some huge deal to get you to come and deliver for them, paying you far more than UPS was giving you. Don't you do it? Of course you do. Then, after a couple of years later, FedEx sees what you've done in your career, needs a solid delivery man, and offers you an INTENSE package to come there, making even mooooore then what you were making at DHL. Don't you do it again? Sure thing. But what about the rivalry? What about the intense hatred in the shipping industry (haha)? But they're UPS's biggest competitor! It doesn't matter, they're giving you the better deal, you go for it. I fault Clemens for the whole Piazza thing, and because if it, he's not one of my favorite people. But if last year, and well, the previous what, 20, are any indication, the dude can flat out pitch and I'd love him back in Sox and honestly, would think of it as having a former Beantown Hero back, not a former Bronx Bomber for the first time.

Anything coming raining down from the stands can be dangerous. It sounds ridiculous to think about it, but say the corner of that tube of toothpaste hits Bonds in the eye, after having being thrown from, what, 10 or 15 feet up? You bet it's dangerous. Yea, the odds aren't likely, but there shouldn't be any kind of discussion about it...throwing stuff, be it a bowling ball or a paper airplane, has no place in sports.

I hate Bonds as much as the next guy, but we can't condone throwing things at players. Bonds CHEATED THE GAME, he didn't put anybody in physical danger. When Barry throws something up into the crowd at a fan, I'll condone the fan throwing something back down at him, but until then, this needs to stop. NOTHING at ALL gives any fan the right to throw something at a player on the field, be it Barry Bonds or anyone else. When you purchase your ticket to a game, you have the right to root for whomever you choose, root against whoever you choose, cheer or boo your little heart out, but it by no means give you the right to throw something on the field. This guy should have been arrested and I'm glad that he was. The guy who threw the syringe should have been arrested, too. If we condone throwing things at Bonds, then it snowballs. Where do we stop? The American Public pushes things...they always have, and they always will. 'We don't like Bonds cause he cheated' will get to be 'We don't like Pujols because he hits loads of homeruns against us' in no time, and then we have a huge debacle on our hands. I hate Bonds. HATE him. Fully intend to let him know that when I go to see him play in NY against the Mets in June. But, you can't be throwing things at players. Make all the steriod signs, asterisk signs, Anti-HOF signs that you want...but keep all your objects in the stands. No body deserves to be put in danger while doing their job. (Besides, don't we think Bonds put himself in danger enough by loading up on beef roids? haha)

Outside shot...anyone have tickets to this game they're looking to get rid of? My Dad and I are going up for Saturday's game and staying over, and we'd like to hit Sunday's day game too if possible, but, not surprisingly, no tickets available. Replay only has 1 seat too, and that obviously does us no good. Anyone have any friends with Season's that they'd be willing to part with for this game? I'll pay cash, check, or sexual favors haha...

I agree with you whole heartedly...the only thing that scares me a little bit is Clemen's history of choking haaaaaard in the post season. Even so, his performance in the regular season makes me willing to take a chance on him. The guy's the greatest pitcher of our time, no doubt about it. I think the only thing we'd have to take into consideration is check out his conditioning. I've heard a ton of baseball players say that it doesn't take long at all for them to fall out of 'baseball shape'...I'd want to make sure that he's ready, willing, and able, and in solid, sound physical shape before we go schilling (haha) out all the money that he's going to demand. Does anyone think that Rog would have a problem being a number 3? Would ego come into play here at all?

Pitchers always improve when they swap leagues. It's a proven fact. Arroyo is throwing against people that have never seen him before. The same way Beckett is tearing it up now, he'll stay good, but this good? Common, you know he's benefitting from facing new guys. Pitchers definitley have the advantage in first matchups, regardless of what some might say. We'd be screwed without Wily Mo right now, and I'm so pumped about his future.

I think that Beckett is a far far superior pitcher to Clement. There's no two ways about it. I think Clement's start last year was a huge surprise, where as we're seeing what Beckett is capable of. Now, I don't think Beckett is going to go bell to bell with an ERA under 2 and a perfect record, but I just think he's more refined then Clement is. Everyone always says "Clement has great stuff" no one really says "Clement is a great pitcher" where as I think Beckett is definitely the latter, he has the stuff and has it refined enough to put together a HUGE year.

Welcome to the site! Unfortunatley, I can't welcome you to the world of baseball knowledge just yet... Pena has ridiculous upsides, and the potential to be an absolute STAR in the future. Arroyo has peaked and is a slightly above average pitcher at BEST. You have to make this trade, especially with the holes in the OF that are going to come in the next few years. Getting a young guy that can hit like Pena just makes sense. Ortiz struck out a lot before he matured as a hitter, and I'd go so far as to say Pena is much further along and refined the Ortiz was at his age...do you think it was stupid for the Sox to pick him up when they did? I didn't think so. Release Wells...good idea...why would we want a guy who won 15 games last year, has been a 20 game winner in the past, has the experience neccessary to mentor our young arms, and is argueably the most dominant big game pitcher in the recent past on the Sox anymore. I'd give him the boot too.

Yea, but do the Yankees really have the cash to throw in? Hahahahahaha. Has Big Stein really been this quiet about your lackluster start to the season? You needed late inning heroics to beat the freaking Royals today. I'd put my money on the Waltar Mathou coached Bad News Bears against the Royals. Am I just looking in the wrong spot, or has he not issued a statement?

If I'm not mistaking, Paps was a closer in college, then a starter in the minors, now being conditioned as a temp closer again, and then he's going to go back to a starter role. I don't think rebuilding his stamina is going to be as hard as someone older, but it's still kind of risky. I think Paps goes out with a closer mentality every time he gets the ball though, he's gotta get guys out. That's why he's been so dominant. I hope he can keep it up. Dude is a blast to watch. It might be a pseudo-blow to his psyche if he has to go down to AAA to rebuild his stamina, especially after having kicked so much ass in the Bigs. I hope he's mature enough to understand the reasoning behind it. I think he is. It would be fun to see him in Pawtucket when they come to Syracuse. I've got all kinds of plans when the PawSox come to town.

I dated a Yankee fan before...all through 2004 and 2005 actually. We had to watch the games in seperate rooms...haha....oh man. Welcome to TalkSox! There's quite a cast of characters here, you should enjoy yourself.

I'm seriously considering scowering the internet for a mail order bride service that specializes in RedSoxFans. Finding a girl who likes the Sox around here is next to impossible. I get all the "Go Yankees...I love Jeter" girls and I'm sick and damn tired. I really think I could make a killing creating a company that sends willing young brides who actually know something about baseball to the houses of Sox fans...and then maybe I'll expand into all the other teams. Especially the Yankees...only with them, I'll have paperwork errors that send big hairy old dudes to their houses by mistake. That's it! This is my calling! I'm dropping out of college and starting this right now. Big hairy men, be ready for your assignments.

Oooooh....yikes.....that doesn't make me feel too comfortable.... I still think the DTrain would be worth the risk. I think Lester would be a given in the deal, but I think the Marlins would probably ask for something else in return, also. Who do you think they'd send? I can't see giving another of the Sox big pitching prospects, but I wouldn't object to throwing something else in.

Anyone have the lines from the DTrain's performance in the WS 2 years ago...or the playoffs leading up? I'm curious about his big game capability, because that's somewhere Beckett has come up HUUUUUUUUUUGE previously. I can't remember how Dontrelle did for the life of me. But I'd deal Lester for DTrain, even if we did have to throw something else in. Dontrelle is the real deal. He's a character too, I love characters. If I could go have beers with any two major leaguers, I'd have to say him and Papi would top the list. No one could say that duo wouldn't be a good time.

Can we make it official that Papelboner is an acceptable title? Because I think it's fantastic. Speaking of...did anyone hear him on Baseball Tonight this evening? (I would have put 'tonight', but it looked stupid after 'Baseball Tonight') Dude sounds like a riot and a blast to be around. His stuff looked utterly electric today, that heater man, he freezes me while I sit on the couch, and I'm usually the ******* yelling at the TV claiming I could hit any given pitcher. Oh...my dad stole me 2 seats for the May 6th Sox/O's game (his company has seasons, and they usually go to customers and such, not bums like me haha)...Section 11, Row 1, Seat 1....Dugout Box baby! I'm so pumped. I've been to Fenway a shade under a zillion times, but never had good seats. This is going to be AWESOME!

I wouldn't say starting job...but he's definitley making a case for himself regarding staying well beyond the day Coco comes back. Especially now that Nixon has gone down too. If we've learned anything from Trot's injuries, is that they're never as minor and easily correct as is originally thought.