Dojji

That was the Tek v. Slappy game.

Is that Ram Ram or Ram A. Ram?

Honestly Mueller's walk-off in the same game did more towards that. Tek fights A-Rod and we lose, it's a footnote.

I consider that to be overrated, but I can understand why fans love it. You might as well say Pedro taking down Don Zimmer. But I find I rather prefer moments where we beat the Yankees at baseball. I'm weird that way.

Ehh, it's a leftover from a few arguments I've had in other places. I'm basically using him as a prototype of Reddick's percieved skillset as a RF with great defense and power potential and no plate discipline.

Well, Ortiz just tried to steal his annual base, so I guess the knee is fine at least.

Also this: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/03/24/amd_schilling.jpg Re-signing him afterward was a bad idea as it turns out, but I'll always be grateful to Schill for keeping his promise. Twice. Two of our last two World Series wins are largely his fault. You could never say of Schilling that he held ANYTHING back, and he laid his body on the line twice to defy history and get us the ultimate prize. First with the ankle, then with the shoulder. The second time it cost him for good. You said a lot, you got on our nerves, but you always gave everything you had and you always put your money where your mouth was. God bless and thanks for everything, ya big loudmouthed lug.

Richardson before all of them.

http://www.soxspacenews.com/img/blog/1222754904.jpg Swing and a LONG DRIVE TO LEFT! WAY BACK! DEEP INTO THE NIGHT!!! My favorite part, as soon as Mike Napoli saw how hard he hit that ball, he didn't even wait to watch it go, he just turned around and walked slowly to the dugout.

Doubront before Embree.

I should mention I think that any comparison between Josh Reddick and Jeff Francoeur is probably not fair to Reddick. Reddick's displayed better contact skills and better discipline than Francoeur demonstrated in the minors. Probably because the org harps on it so much. His Portland performance this year with IsoD is yards better than anything Francoeur ever put up in the minors. Also better than he'd ever done before himself. So there's certainly room for optomism that the adjustments to his approach are being made and made successfully. BTW, I don't think you need a ton of raw power to be a "middle of the order bat." Youkilis doesn't have a ton of raw power, although he does have his fair share. What he does have is a great ability to see the ball combined with excellent batspeed, allowing him to fully capitalize on the power he has. Reddick has more power than Youkilis had at the same age. His approach isn't nearly as refined and probably never will be, but he also gets the head of the bat on the ball fairly well, so if he can maximize his value at the plate a little better, I don't see 20-25 HR's a year as an unreasonable projection for the kid.

There's a lot of luck involved in any prospect realizing his potential. The kid could get stuck on average street, but I really see Reddick as either a boom or bust guy. Either he mows down the league for the next 10 years, or they exploit his approach and he turns into Gabe Kapler.

No, it would simply require some reasonable luck and solid progress from a guy with a lot of upside. Unless you think the guy has the ceiling of a 4th outfielder, he's going to need to produce on the outfield corners for Boston, so either you think he has middle of the order potential or you think he should be traded to a team that has less stringent requirements for their corner outfield. Pick yer poison.

http://media.kiiitv.com/images/lester3.jpg Somehow that one was more special than Buchholz' no-no of the previous year, at least partly because in 2007 Lester was still recovering from cancer treatment and he proved to be such a huge franchise leader down the stretch the last two years, where as Buchholz' no hitter is, well not a fluke since he has great stuff but more sort of an isolated event surrounded by the struggles of a developing pitcher. There was a more awesome timeliness about Lester's no-no in other words I guess.

Which has nothing to do with what I said, which was that he could make an impact this year and be a middle of the order bat down the line. Both true.

Felix Doubront (0.00 ERA)- 5 innings, 2 Hits, Walk, 5 Ks Think he's got a chance, or has Boof got that last bullpen spot locked up? Personally I think we could really use a second lefty, and our rotation is loaded with Tazawa and Bowden already in the wings, so unless you're looking to dangle Doubront, he might as well be considered a relief prospect.

And who was going to pitch if he didn't? You had the choice between Justin Masterson who wasn't even stretched out, or Clay Buchholz and his 7 ERA.

Jed came into the system with as much talent and upside as Pedroia had. It's really a pitty to watch his health whittle that away. First it's the wrist injury, now it turns out he's got Baldelli-itis or something. Seriously sucks, considering what a good shortstop he COULD be if his body would just LET him. At this point you have to wonder if there mightn't be a curse after all. Uggh. I still think this kid has a future on this team. But as much as I hate to admit it, it may be time to swallow my pride and admit that that future will probably be on the bench. At the least it would have to start there. Next up, breaking news on Jose Iglesias' compound femur fracture and its potential significance to the Sox.

oh dear. Brain surgery? I thought it was something a bit more mundane, I apologize for treating this so blase in prior posts. Seriously, this kid has no luck. If he needs surgery, especially near the brain stem, a return to baseball is far from a sure thing, even if he goes on to have a long, healthy life.. Hope for a quick and complete recovery.

Shocker. This is why, if you can bring in Gonzalez and Westmoreland is one of the pieces going the other way, you take that.

I said "if" we need a platoon RHH OF. Which of Drew or Ellsbury is going to be sitting for Hall on a regular basis? Hopefully neither, since Drew nor Ellsbury has particular trouble dealing with lefthanded pitching and Hall isn't that good. I honestly think we're set in the OF. With Ellsbury and Drew both able in theory to back up CF, Hermida's all the OF backup you need unless you have injuries, and that's what guys like Reddick and Kalish are doing in Pawtucket.

Better fit, sure in theory, although every role Hall covers could be covered by someone else we already have on the roster. Better player, only if you think the world ended in 2008. A 4 man bench is par for the course -- are we starting 10 position players for any reason? C: Tek, Martinez (2) 1B: Youkilis (1+2=3) IF: Pedroia, Hulett/Hall, Lowell, Beltre, Scutaro,(3+5=8) OF: Hermida, Ellsbury, Cameron, Drew (8+4=12) DH: Ortiz (12+1=13) + 12 pitchers = 25 since Ellsbury can back up CF, and so, in theory, can Drew, Hall isn't strictly necessary, and Hulett allows for the same infield flexibility we actually need Hall for. Honestly, I'm rooting for Lowrie, not Hulett, but the fact is it could work.

So is Mike Cameron. What's your point? Finding a RHH platoon OF, if we figure we need one, is not that difficult. Neither Drew nor Ellsbury struggles particularly much against LHP.