HeadOfSoxNation

Forgive me if this was mentioned before...but does anyone have any idea why Manny is wearing number 95 in Spring Training? I thought the really high numbers were reserved for scrubs trying to make the system and minor leaguers? Guys like Lowell are wearing their regular numbers. Maybe Manny forgot his uniform at home and they had to hook him up with something? Oh Manny being Manny

What does everyone think about a SS who's more of a threat offensively?

I'm totally with you. Can't blame the guy for making a business decision...but I hope it blows up in the face of the NYY...but I wouldn't wish any harm on him, at least physical harm.

I don't know if you can really make that arguement...granted the Yankees are a storied franchise and have won 26 World Championships and what not, but it's not like they're on EVERY SINGLE YEAR. It can be easy to think that way because of their performance over the last 15 years or so, but when Steinbrenner took over the team the Yankees were AWFUL. They had a huge lul in the 80's when they couldn't win a freaking game. And we can't pretend there aren't any Sox fans who just jumped on the bandwagon either. I know for the most part, all fans here of the Sox and the Yanks have been there through and through, but there's bandwagoneers on both sides, not just the Yanks. That being said...I still hate Yankee fans

If we all chip in, is there anyway we can buy a stupidity censor? Comparing Bronson Arroyo to Jeff Bagwell? Are you serious? Arroyo will never win 20 games. Ever. He'll be lucky if he ever sees 16 wins in a season. I liked the guy, I got a kick out of some of his antics, but he's an average to sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiightly above average pitcher, that's the long and short of it. Comparing him to a future HOFer like Bagwell is assinine.

He's 24 freaking years old. The guy's a far more polished then Ortiz was at his age. His fielding will improve as he gets a bit older and gets more experience, the dude was up in the majors at 20 because of his ridiculous potential, he never put in his time in the minors to develop some skills and fine tune others. It'll come in time. Mark my words, it'll come in time. The hometown discount thing is ridiculous...at the time the Sox signed Arroyo, it was in their best interest to keep him in a Sox uni, so they did. At the time Arroyo signed with the Sox, he felt it was in he and his family's best interest to stay in Boston, so he did. This is hardly a binding agreement. You have to do what benefits you when it benefits you in business. And, it wouldn't benefit us now to pay Bronson 2 and a half mil a year to be a middle relief guy when we have AMPLE pitching. We lack a solid 4th outfielder. I appreciate what Arroyo gave to the team (except those freaking CornRows) and wish him the best in the National League.

Dude...I'm wicked pumped about this deal. Everyone's real quick to get on Pena about his strikeouts and lack of walks. We gotta remember a couple of things...first things first, power hitters strike out a lot. Some more than others, but I'm talking as a whole, power hitters have a higher strikeout/at bat ratio then the proverbial contact singles and doubles guys. Not that his numbers in those categories don't need to improve significantly, but they don't need to come down quite as much as everyone is saying. We're not expecting Ichiro here. The other thing that needs to be taken into consideration, as a few of you've said previously, dude is freaking 24 years old. That's a baby! He's still developing the plate discipline and the eye that he's going to need to succeed in the Bigs. That'll come with time, experience, and coaching, and Papa Jack is one of the, if not the, best hitting coach in the league. Ortiz wasn't a polished hitter when he came to Boston...granted he was more refined then Pena is, but he was also older and had more experience under his belt. Pena's a good 4 or 5 years away from his prime (or 16 years away from his prime if he's on the Barry Bonds Diet ) And, let's not forget also, that Pena's going to spend this year platooning with Trot and getting the VAST majority of his starts against LHP, where he had a something like a ridiculous .880 OPS. That's Manny-Esque. I'll take that. Gammons compared the numbers of Pena to Jessie Barfield, and said that that's what the RedSox are hoping to have on their hands, the next Jessie Barfield. Am I the only guy who thinks that we could have something way more significant here?

I'm wicked naive I guess...and even though I'm not involved in this...I gotta ask. What's a custom user title?

Hahahahaha I don't even believe this. Juan Freaking Gonzalez... Dude's durability makes Jr Griffey look like Jr. Ripken. I think we should sign Steve Balboni and George Bell to minor league deals too...I think they've got something left too. Hahahaha.

Does anyone else feel like getting out of this ridiculous tournament without an injury (knock on wood Papi) is a victory in itself?

Dude I don't blame Schill at all. The fact of the matter is, it's ******** that guys are wearing this freaking body armor that allows them to hang right over the plate, knowing that even if they get hit with a pitch, it's not going to do much damage. Balls up and in are the only way that pitchers are ever going to be able to get back the inside corner of the plate.

My bad...well I guess that idea was short lived

Would anybody be interested in doing a Fantasy Baseball league for some money? I was thinking about $20 a guy. I'd be willing to run it if there'd be enough interest to get it rolling. I was thinking Head to Head, Live Draft, All The Regular Statistical Categories... Any suggestions or feedback, let me know.

I like Arroyo, and think he's a solid pitcher who's only going to get more solid when he gains a couple of more years. However, with the plethora of starting pitchers that we have in Boston, he belongs in the 'Pen here. I don't doubt that he could be a solid #2 starter in some cities that lack a good rotation, but we don't have that problem here. He's not a closer, but he's a good middle or long man. I really don't think there's any question as to where Bronson is pitching this year, if he stays in Boston. PS...I'm in favor of putting him on waivers if he brings back the cornrows again

I'd keep Stern on the Big League roster for the minimum amount of time...he showed promise in the WBC game, but has pretty muched sucked the house in any opportunity he's gotten for the Sox. I'm a big fan of ending the Adam Stern Project. We had a thread about this earlier, I'm sick and tired of hearing people paint this guy out to be the second coming of Jesus Christ (not in this forum in particular, but in things I've read and stuff around the League), everyone doubts him and then he puts one good game together in a meaningless tournament and now he's the stud he was supposed to be. If that's the case, Mark Freaking Whitten should be in the Hall of Fame. After he stays the requirement with the Sox, he can be sent down, right? I know there's all kinds of rules with Rule 5 guys, but I don't think there's anything that makes him unable to play in Pawtucket. The guy has shown someeeee progress, granted he was hurt a lot of last year, but to use up a Big League roster spot for him is ridiculous. And he's only 26, maybe a year or two in Pawtucket could turn him into the guy everyone expected him to be. Did I read it correctly when I read before that someone said maybe he could develop "Papi-Like Power"?? Can we get some kind of a screening process going before we allow people to post on here?

Is Hanley coming right up for Florida with Pokey now gone?

Did you catch the pitcher ( I think it was the starter ) for Cuba? Tell me this dude wasn't Jose Contreras's twin brother... And just out of curiosity...what's to stop some of these Cuban players from just staying in the USA? I'd venture to think that there must be some kind of way of preventing this. Not that I'm against it, I just can't see how the Powers That Be could let it happen. I know the game was in PR, but that's still a territory of the USA. Anyone know the logistics of it?

I haven't gone back and read this entire post, but I had to chime in. I don't like Steinbrenner. I really don't. However, I don't blame the guy AT ALL for being against the Classic. Big Stein has loooooooooads of money invested in his team and, more specifically, his players. He assembled a staff of guys and put together a team to get the job done in Professional Baseball. That is, Major League Baseball. That is, the pre-season, regular season, and post season. I don't understand why owners are required to pay these guys that are out of camp for something optional. What if ARod ruptures his Achilles Tendon rounding 2nd base, is Big Stein obligated to pay him for the whole season? It's ridiculous. The WBC is stupid. I don't blame Steinbrenner, and he was actually MORE understanding with his players then I would have been with mine.

With the main point of Giambi's coaching being "Make sure you appologize, loooooads of times, but never EVER say what you're appologizing for."

I'll be content if Coco puts up the same numbers as he did from when he was 24 throught his tenure with the Sox. It's so hard not to think about what he can possibly do with proper tuning though...

I agree...I think Mac will get in, but not first ballot. One huge reason I think BigMac could get in over Bonds was his relationship with the media. You're right, McGwire's Congress testimony was horrible, and there's no doubt in my mind that it was an indirect admission of guilt, but people from this era are still going to get in. Like it or not, they're not just going to have a black hole of 15 years where no guys get in...and the people that have the votes are the media and the sportswriters. And I think that McGwire's relationship with them makes him a frontrunner over Bonds. McGwire is widely regarded as a good guy. I think that he cheated the game, which I'm deadset against, but when you compare him next to a guy like Bonds who cheated the game aaaaaand is a huge ******* to the people that are going to hold the ultimate votes, I'd say it's McGwire that gets in. It sucks that a bunch of HOF inductions are going to come down to the lesser of two evils. I can't wait for the Gwynn/Ripken Jr. ceremony, it's going to be the last 100% legit, 100% not debatable one we see for a while...

That's true, it doesn't matter though. Say I make 75,000 a year...it's not loads of money, but it's a good living. Does someone making 12,000 or whatever have any kind of right to tell me that I shouldn't go to a different job where I can make 80,000 or 85,000? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I think most athletes are greedy people. And sometimes, it really irritates me how important money is when it comes to making decisions in professional sports...but I also think it's unfair to criticize when most of us never have been, and never will be, in a position with that kind of money. We can say how we think we'd act, but weather we WOULD actually act that way is entirely up in the air. Without the exact situation, there's no way of saying for sure.

You think Bonds will still be a first ballot HOFer? Obviously numbers alone say yes. But, there's a lot of people that have said that they no longer will vote ANYONE from this era in on the first ballot. And that's before all of this new, well, I'm not sure if you'd call it new, but this current information came out. I'd love to see Bonds rejected first time around. I feel like he'll eventually get in, and I think that that's criminal. But at least it's some kind of crack-back if he doesn't go first ballot...

That's exactly what I was getting at when I started the thread. I never doubted any kind of accomplishments that KP had on the field, just that "exemplifying a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word" meant more then hustled his ass off, got some rings, and banged out a bunch of hits. It goes beyond that. I think off the field performance is invaluable. And that was my goal in starting this thread, to get some names of HOFers who you feel belongs in the "people hall of fame" as well as the "player hall of fame", as corny as that may sound. That's why I mentioned Killer, Brooks, and the future HOFer, Cal Ripken, Jr.

He tired to strangle her with a telephone cord prior to their divorce. It was in the SI Issue in 2003...called "The Secret Life Of Kirby Puckett: The Rise and Fall Of A Sports Idol". This Kirby s*** is going to go on forever... Can we all just say that the dude was a peice of s*** person but a fantastic ballplayer that brought a lot to the table on the field, and that are thoughts and condolences are with his family and move on?