Jayhawk Bill

That's an unfair and unkind statement. Just because individuals may be tragic victims of Alzheimer's or severely and profoundly learning disabled, we should not accuse them of contributing to our nation's problems with illegal drug abuse. *** 7-4. The announcers are incoherent.

7-4. I thought that the Twins were getting unreasonably lucky on their fly balls, even given that the knuckler was kinda a straightball tonight...in hindsight you're right, but I can't second-guess Tito on this one. :dunno:

Cuddyer reminds me of Dewey Evans when he throws like that. *** Bases loaded, nobody out...just one run despite Youk's line drive.

You know, though, maybe he could pitch better than Bryan Corey...

Our bullpen just got better: Bryan Corey has been traded to the Padres for cash and a PTBNL. http://blogs.courant.com/redsox/2008/05/cora-activated-lowrie-demoted.html

The outfield of Ellsbury-Crisp-Drew is important for Wakefield. Cora is better than Lugo...I'd rather see Lowrie starting, but he was demoted earlier this afternoon.

Good news. The gun's gotta be accurate within 2-3 mph. Great new avatar!

Great! It has its merits, IMO, same as RZR, PMR, SFR, or the DFTS from which we get FRAA. For Jed Lowrie I have FRAA, and I posted it. But you prefer the results of UZR...So what's Lowrie's minor league UZR at each level? Who rated him best in the AL? BP had Aaron Hill higher, as one counterexample.

Nope. We've conversed elsewhere in cyberspace.

Yost relieves Gagne from closer duties Brewers manager won't commit to one reliever to finish games http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080511&content_id=2680942&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Check that last quote: Gagne can't stand the pressure. Bold and italics added. Yost is right. Can you picture what it must be like for Gagne, to once have been the best closer in the game, and now to have lost both the skill that made him great and the confidence that carried him through the toughest pitches of a game? Can you imagine what it must be like to fail completely on a national stage once a week, with replays shown on ESPN the next morning for those who might have missed your humiliation? I don't know how many millions of dollars it would take for me to accept that role. I do know that, right now, I feel sorry for the man.

He hasn't. As a veteran, I'm not enamored of his political perspectives. He respected my viewpoints when we debated prospects, and I assure you that we have. :dunno:

Meh. Anybody can have a bad day, especially with Lancaster. While he and I frequently disagree on details, nobody disses jsinger121 without dissing me. The guy knows the Red Sox minor league system better than anybody else not affiliated with the organization, IMO. Riverside...you can take care of yourself on this one.

TheKilo continues his assertive approach to Game Thread creation.

As I posted yesterday, Lowrie's range (RZR) in his short time at SS in 2008 would be AL-leading were he a regular. Something interesting--if one looks at Lowrie's FRAA at SS, the best MiLB fielding stat I can access, it shows a big jump for Lowrie at Pawtucket: [table] Level | Games | FRAA A- | 40 | -3 A+ | 88 | -10 AA | 84 | -7 AAA | 31 | 8[/table] http://www.baseballprospectus.com/pecota/LOWRIE19840417A.php In A and AA, Lowrie cost his team a run every 10-11 games at shortstop. In AAA, he's saved his team a run every four games or so. That's a big difference. Maybe that superb RZR isn't just a small-sample fluke. Maybe Lowrie's finally caught on to playing shortstop...after all, he played mostly second base for Stanford. http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/stan/sports/m-basebl/auto_headshot/57319.jpeg FWIW, he actually pitched some in high school. His pro career was his first time playing SS regularly. Cal Ripken Jr. wasn't a "true shortstop" either, but he did excel at SS given a chance. I see Lowrie as potentially being a more-than-adequate defensive shortstop, and right now Lugo isn't.

Red Sox win. Papelbon starts a new consecutive save opportunities converted streak.

I wonder if that popup was obscured by the lights.

Pitch #2 to Young is NOT what I was hoping for.

Roger, got it. You're easily interrupted.

Yup, 2004. 5-2! Go, Pedroia! :thumbsup:

Yeah. *** Hey, how about trading Crisp and Lugo to the Padres for Greene?

Speaking of "glove," in Lowrie's small sample at SS he'd be leading the AL in RZR with an .889. Eckstein at .875 is the top regular SS in the AL. Lugo has a .741 RZR, last among regulars and ahead of only Ramon Santiago of Detroit among AL shortstops who have played the position enough to acquire a mere single assist or more. Seriously, I defend Lugo frequently, but posting a .741 RZR when the next-worst regular has a .778 RZR is pretty bad...shortstops get so many total chances that a difference of 37 points is more or less like posting a batting average 37 points less than the next-to-worst other player at your position.

He's done this.... 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K I will continue this trend. Cool! Lowell blows. Edit: Crap...the Game Thread goes totally dead except for the guy I know has a delayed feed and me, I post ten seconds after the home run, and you beat me to it. Humor killer.

No problem, ORS...dammit, GIDP for Big Papi after that great effort by Pedroia to force the error.

Ellsbury flies out. Ellsbury hits about 200 OPS points lower vs. LHP...as much as I love the guy, that's just not acceptable unless he's going to be platooned.