YAZMAN

We may have seen the last of Mike Timlin then.

I understand it, it's a neat little tool which predicts future results and correlates nicely with teams winning percentages. Great. It does not tell you where your team is weak, where your players need to improve, or where your team has exploited to be successsful. I'm much more into the human performance and strategic aspects of the game. At the end of many games the difference between winning and losing, success and failure, boils down to nuance. I appreciate the subtleties of a batter's grip, the position of the hands in the stance, pitch selection and location, etc. And I love to see the adjustments made by players as a game progresses. I appreciate a player's ability to perform in a state of flux much more than the numbers they accumulate while doing so. Statistics are like a bikini......what they show is revealing, but what they hide is crucial. I have no beef with Kilo, the smart a$$ pic was a response to a smart a$$ comment. I enjoy the repartee as does Kilo as well it appears . Now at 7 games back, shouldn't you be worried about something other than trying to stir up some crap on the board? Clemens and Mussina combined for a real dandy there yesterday, eh?

Yes. I took plenty of math right through Calculus. I also played a ton of baseball. Life occurs around the law of averages. Life also occurs on the field, and in books and numbers. I chose to live mine as a player, others kept score. It's an easy game; you catch the ball, you hit the ball, you throw the ball - unless you can't, then you keep score and crunch numbers. Lighten up, the pic was a joke. PS - Your legs are squared.

Pedroia is my clear favorite. While Bannister is having a fine year, what's the argument? "Without Bannister, we'd be WAY more than 17 games out of first place." - KC manager Buddy Bell

Honorable Mention must go to Dustin "Tanner Boyle" Pedroia. Who could have possibly predicted this kid would accomplish what he has this season? He carried the middle infield for the first half of the season.

"The Gagne T-shirt jersey comes with a complimentary can of gasoline and a set of matches." OUCH! It did get a chuckle out of me, though.

Give him a few days of ultrasound and get his ass back in the lineup.

Drew looked like a pile of dog crap. To make matters worse his nonchalant attitude gives the appearance that all he's concerned about is cashing his checks. Crisp was fooled all night at the plate, Petit's change up was absolutely nasty and he mixed in a tiny sprinkle of 75mph curves just to keep the hitters honest. Lugo had great looks and great swings all night which was promising. Chamberlain is a mutant.

I'll be at the game tonight. I wonder how much team gear will be safe to wear? I'm thinking of leaving the team jersey I got for Christmas from the kids at home, some of their fans are complete tools.

Cautiously optimistic? As opposed to irrational exhuberance? Do you have any market picks for me, Mr. Greenspan? (actually, having my childhood nearly destroyed in 1978 has also left me forever "cautiously optomistic") PS - Even Coach Nosehair has the Sox in '07

The skanks are playing like it's over tonight, they're getting massacred in Detroit.

PAPELBON IS OUR CLOSER. PERIOD. END OF STORY. HE WANTS TO PLAY THAT ROLE AND IS DEVELOPING INTO THE BEST IN THE GAME. HE'S THE NEXT MO RIVERA - DO NOT MESS WITH IT!!!

Does Chynna pitch? I'd hit that.

Hi, G! Good to see you. Go easy on some of the young lads over here.

I'll see your ROFLcopter http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v495/BoNeato/roflcopter_1.gif And raise you a pair of Lollerskates http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v495/BoNeato/lollerskates.gif ROTFLMAOBBQSAUCE!!1!!ONE!!11!ELEVENTEEN!

Fat Curt's mouth is bigger than his gut. Still love to see him pitch, though.

Timlin hasn't been the same since after that world baseball exhibition crap he pitched in last year. He had been a workhorse, and at his age he needed the winter off to rest. Instead, he wound up pitching competitively last February, logged a bunch of innings, started the season with a tiring arm which ran out of gas (off the top of my head by May/June). Now he's pushing it to pitch because at his age he can't afford the time he'd need to properly rehab his arm - he's wind up looking like damaged goods that are too old anyway. I can see the Sox at the end of the season offering him a retirement day and still recognizing him for his contributions should he look to sign with someone else. You can't blame the guy for wanting to hang on another year if someone makes an offer - it's the greatest job in the world and it'd be worth a cool million or two not to hang up the spikes.

Last night's outing looked promising.

That's a load of crap. The learning curve for pitchers is the steepest for all players. Anybody who's played much competitive baseball knows it's not what you're throwing so much as when and where you throw it. Very few guys can come right up to pitch and stick for good in the show. Last year he should have been sent down after a few tough outings if they valued him, if you remember his first call up wasn't that bad but last year they hung him out to dry. Maybe he won't ever wind up being the stud the Sox projected him to be, but by handling him the way they did they've almost assured that.