Matt

Beckett really needs to learn how to control the strike zone. He also needs to start mixing in more of his pitches (curveball and changeup). There are stretches where he'll throw 5 straight fastballs, and because of that, batters are sitting on pitches and hitting them out of the park.

The fact that they sent Jared Weaver back to the minors means that the Angels are preparing to trade one of their starters for a bat. In order to bump up the trade value, they need to start guys like Jeff Weaver over Jared for the time being. Once they make a deal, Jared will be back up with the Angels for the long run.

From ESPN Insider...

Excerpt from ESPN Insider... I don't see the Yankees parting ways with Phillip Hughes in order to get Soriano, so that's out of the question. Two other teams interested in Soriano, however, are the Dodgers and the Angels.

The following is an excerpt from ESPN Insider's rumor mill Personally, I don't know where the Red Sox would put Hunter unless they decide to unload Trot Nixon and decide to move Coco Crisp to RF. If I'm the Red Sox, I'd just stick with the OF I've got.

Can somebody please tell me why Riske or Delcarmen wasn't used in this situation? Tavarez is awful, plain and simple. Francona needs to stop being so stubborn when it comes to staying loyal to his veterans, and start using relievers who can get the job done.

Apparently Big Ben hasn't learned from Jay Williams and Kellen Winslow Jr.'s mistakes.

So much for being the "All-American Boy".

Wakefield has certainly done enough to keep the Red Sox in games during the course of this season...

BRACKET ONE Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Joe DiMaggio (New York Yankees) Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees) vs Tris Speaker (Boston Red Sox) BRACKET TWO Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) vs Reggie Jackson (Oakland Athletics) Hank Aaron (Milwaukee Braves) vs Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants) BRACKET THREE Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) vs Carl Yastrzemski (Boston Red Sox) Stan Musial (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Frank Robinson (Cincinnati Reds) BRACKET FOUR Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) vs Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners) Ricky Henderson (Oakland Athletics) vs Manny Ramirez (Boston Red Sox)

Voting for this round will end on June 17th at 11:59pm. BRACKET ONE Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Joe DiMaggio (New York Yankees) Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees) vs Tris Speaker (Boston Red Sox) BRACKET TWO Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) vs Reggie Jackson (Oakland Athletics) Hank Aaron (Milwaukee Braves) vs Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants) BRACKET THREE Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) vs Carl Yastrzemski (Boston Red Sox) Stan Musial (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Frank Robinson (Cincinnati Reds) BRACKET FOUR Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) vs Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners) Ricky Henderson (Oakland Athletics) vs Manny Ramirez (Boston Red Sox)

Hopefully Delcarmen will be take over Tavarez's role as the Red Sox's 7th inning guy after his performance this weekend, but I find it unlikely since Francona is pretty stubborn when it comes to demoting and promoting players' roles on the team.

Whoever believes that there is no such thing as clutch hitting has his head completely up his ass. Ortiz is the personification of clutch.

Bump. Voting ends at 11:59pm tomorrow night.

Don't get on Tavarez, he did he job tonight. Francona shouldn't have left the guy in there as long as he did. I'm not one to usually criticize Tito, but he screwed up here.

They still have to clean the stadium up and get all the people out for the next game though. It won't be enough time. The first game will be called.

This weather sucks. That's it I'm moving to San Diego.

You know what that means, don't you? You're the official "gameday thread creator guy" until the Sox lose one. Yeah, I'm a little superstitious.

I think that Coco's base-stealing ability would be more useful at the bottom of the order, just ahead of guys like Varitek and Gonzalez. I'd rather Crisp risk an out ahead of those guys than risk an out ahead of Ortiz and Ramirez.

After the Toronto game, I predicted that Pauley's next start would be a better showing of what he has to offer. In Toronto, it was obvious that nerves got the best of him, thus causing him to miss his spots. In New York, he showed his potential. During the New York game, I saw a little bit of D-Lowe in Pauley, but I think that Pauley has the chance to be the better pitcher, simply because he has better "stuff". I also like Pauley's attitude. If only he could learn how to field a grounder...

BRACKET ONE Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Andre Dawson (Montreal Expos) Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees) vs Paul Waner (Pittsburgh Pirates) Tris Speaker (Boston Red Sox) vs Lou Brock (St. Louis Cardinals) Joe DiMaggio (New York Yankees) vs Al Kaline (Detroit Tigers) BRACKET TWO Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) vs Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh Pirates) Hank Aaron (Milwaukee Braves) vs Al Simmons (Philadelphia Athletics) vs Billy Williams (Chicago Cubs) Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants) vs Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh Pirates) Mel Ott (New York Giants) vs Reggie Jackson (Oakland Athletics) BRACKET THREE Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) vs "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Cleveland Guardians) Stan Musial (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Kirby Puckett (Minnesota Twins) Frank Robinson (Cincinnati Reds) vs Earl Averill (Cleveland Guardians) vs Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) Duke Snider (Brooklyn Dodgers) vs Carl Yastrzemski (Boston Red Sox) BRACKET FOUR Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) vs Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) Ricky Henderson (Oakland Athletics) vs Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres) Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Manny Ramirez (Boston Red Sox) Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners)

Below are the brackets for Round 2. As you did in Round 1, make sure to bold your picks. Matchups with three players rather than two are because of ties from Round 1, so only vote for one player out of the three. The voting for Round 2 will end on June 12th at 11:59pm. BRACKET ONE Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Andre Dawson (Montreal Expos) Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees) vs Paul Waner (Pittsburgh Pirates) Tris Speaker (Boston Red Sox) vs Lou Brock (St. Louis Cardinals) Joe DiMaggio (New York Yankees) vs Al Kaline (Detroit Tigers) BRACKET TWO Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) vs Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh Pirates) Hank Aaron (Milwaukee Braves) vs Al Simmons (Philadelphia Athletics) vs Billy Williams (Chicago Cubs) Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants) vs Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh Pirates) Mel Ott (New York Giants) vs Reggie Jackson (Oakland Athletics) BRACKET THREE Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) vs "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Cleveland Guardians) Stan Musial (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Kirby Puckett (Minnesota Twins) Frank Robinson (Cincinnati Reds) vs Earl Averill (Cleveland Guardians) vs Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) Duke Snider (Brooklyn Dodgers) vs Carl Yastrzemski (Boston Red Sox) BRACKET FOUR Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) vs Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) Ricky Henderson (Oakland Athletics) vs Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres) Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Manny Ramirez (Boston Red Sox) Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners)

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BACK WASDIN! Man, I don't miss those days at all.

Van Buren has been a pleasant surprise. Like redsoxrules mentioned above, I'd like to see him improve on hitting his spots, but as long as he gets the job done, I have no complaints at this point.

Everything I've heard says that Lester is starting on Saturday night as well.