redsoxfan3

McDonald went 2 for 2 with a homer and double. He is doing solid this Spring. I am assuming he makes the opening day roster. If he does, hopefully he can keep this up and be a decent 4th OF offensively until Crawford comes back. Bard did horrible today, he needs to get that out of his system before the season starts. Is anyone watching the game on tv? I am not watching the game, but I want to know what happened with Bard. Also, Aceves gave up a run in four innings, how did he look?

Don't take it personal if someone disagrees with you on that. You have an opinion and you are sticking to it. If Doubront has a good year and does his job, everyone is going to remember that you were the guy that had faith in Doubront from day 1. Doubront could be a huge reason why we could be successful this year if he proves to be a quality starter in the 5th spot.

I agree with you about Ciriaco. Also, that is a good comparison to Darnell McDonald. I just wish him the best of luck, because I know that the man is doing everything possible to make this team and is actually making a strong case. I don't think he has a spot on our roster, but he could very well go somewhere else and be a good asset off of the bench potentially (for a crappier team). I do not want anyone think that I am advertising for the other site or anything, but I do not believe that the website even exists anymore to my knowledge. I was a moderator at a forum called Red Sox 24/7 and it ended up becoming New England Sports 24/7. I was also moderator and adminstrator at several other forums that were general sports forums. This is the only forum I am currently active at because after a while the forums got shut down due to several reasons.

I have one Red Sox authentic jersey and six replica jerseys. I don't know why people would buy authentic, unless you have a lot of extra money to spend or if you get them for free. I would prefer to spend $75 as opposed to $200. I haven't spent more than $60 on any of my jerseys and I am content with just replicas.

I don't think I have seen anything like this on the forum and I know that I have done this at other forums in the past that I have been an administrator/moderator at. I am going to post some questions just so you can share some of your favorite memories and information about being a Red Sox fan. This might be worth pinning for the future just in case any new Sox fans come along and want to post answers, it is up to the staff though. I will start it off. How long have you been a fan? I have been a diehard Red Sox fan since December of 2000. I followed the Red Sox well before 2000, but I declared that I would be a lifetime Sox fan in 2000. How did you become a Red Sox fan? I was born in 1989 in Ohio. I travelled to Florida every year during the Spring since I was three to visit my aunt and uncle that live in Cape Coral. I would always go to Red Sox Spring Training games since City of Palms Park was opened in 1993. I remember that my favorite players growing up were Mo Vaughn and Mike Greenwell. I lived in Ohio, so I went to a lot of Guardians, Tigers, and Reds games. My mom got a lot of free tickets from her work. At the time I was a big Manny Ramirez fan. Since I did not have a dedicated team, I knew that when Manny Ramirez signed with the Red Sox in December of 2000 that I would be a lifelong Red Sox fan. I loved the atmosphere of going to Red Sox Spring Training games and my favorite player at the time just signed with them. I followed the Red Sox every game. I tried to go to every game that I possibly could when they would travel on the road to Detroit or Cleveland. It was a great feeling when I became a diehard Red Sox fan. I love the game of baseball and everything about it. I knew I found the perfect team. I played baseball for 17 years, including one in college, so baseball was basically my life. Who is your favorite current Red Sox player? Dustin Pedroia. He is a hard worker and a good leader. He also is a great role model for younger kids as well. I like his work ethic and the way he plays the game. When he retires, I probably will say that he is my favorite baseball player of all-time. Who is your favorite all-time Red Sox player? Ted Williams. Although I never got the chance to watch Teddy Ballgame play in a live game, I always hear good stories about him and about how good of a hitter he was. Who is your least favorite Red Sox player ever? Manny Ramirez. Quite ironic if you ask me. He is one of the reasons I am a Red Sox fan and is also a big reason why we won our two most recent World Series. The reason why I consider him my least favorite player ever is because of his attitude and hearing about how he pushed McCormick to the ground over tickets to a game. I did not like that. I respected him growing up, but when I learned about some of the bad things he has done over time, that made me strongly dislike him. What state/country do you live in (to see how spread out the fan base is here)? I grew up in Ohio and lived there until I was 20, but I moved to Fort Myers two summers ago to attend college and to be right where I always dreamed of being. I have always wanted to live in Florida and I really wanted to live in the area where the Red Sox are for Spring Training. What is your favorite memory being a Red Sox fan? My favorite memory being a Red Sox fan is obviously probably what a lot of people consider their favorite memory, winning the 2004 World Series. There was nothing better than being down 0-3 in the ALCS and coming back and winning the next four games to defeat the Yankees and make it to the World Series. When was the first time you ever went to Fenway Park? I don't remember the exact date, but it was in the summer in 2001 when the Yankees came to town to play the Red Sox. My mom surprised me with the trip to Boston and to a Red Sox vs. Yankees game for my birthday (even though my birthday isn't until the fall). Who is your least favorite Yankee player of all-time? I don't like any Yankees player, even though I do respect a lot of them. My least favorite player of all-time is definitely A-Rod. Any other comments that you would like to add? I just want to add that I am glad I am a huge Red Sox fan. I was not born into a family of Red Sox fans probably like a lot of others, but I must say that I am a proud Red Sox fan by choice. Go Red Sox!!!

I agree. I am not saying that he would actually get any significant playing time. I am just saying that there may potentially be a roster spot for him. He would not even hold that roster spot for long because of Crawford. I would prefer if we could have Lavarnway as a bat off of the bench, but that would take away from his defensive development in AAA. I guess the point I am really trying to make is that I would prefer to have Ciriaco be a bench warmer in the majors over someone like Middlebrooks, Lavarnway, or Iglesias.

If it comes down to us needing a bench player, why not give Ciriaco a shot? If Iglesias is not going to win the starting SS job (which most likely he won't), then he is going to be in AAA so he can play every day. We have one bench position available until Crawford gets healthy. We have one backup OF, one backup IF, and one backup C. I don't see us carrying three catchers. We can most likely get by with the four OF's that we have until Crawford returns, and that means we could have a bench position open for a guy like Ciriaco. There are a couple OF's that could win it, but Ciriaco is the one that has impressed me the most so far. Kroeger, Repko, Lin, and Spears have not done as good as Ciriaco this spring. I do understand that Spring stats do not really have any value, but if he is working hard everyday and Valentine likes what he sees, the guy might have an actual shot at making the opening day roster until Crawford returns. However, I do not see Ciriaco actually being a player that stays in the majors for this team for very long, just until we get some guys back from injuries.

I live in Fort Myers and I have been to two games so far. I have attended five practices or so as well. I will be going to my third game on Friday when we play the Twins. If you go to the game and you want to look for tickets, I would go there really early. I got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes the other day just because I decided to leave for the game an hour before it started and I only live 10 minutes away. I would stay off of Daniels Parkway west of I75 and Treeline, it will probably be backed up. The new stadium is extremely nice, you will like it. It is not hard to find your way around. The parking is $9 if you want to park at the stadium. If you do this, I still suggest that you try to get there a couple hours before the game starts, maybe earlier since you are trying to get tickets. Since it is a new park, a lot of the tickets are already sold. I know there is a parking lot that you can park in that is only $5. There are also some scalpers that sell tickets there. That parking lot is located right before JetBlue Park if you are heading East on Daniels Parkway. The only problem with that parking lot is that you have to do quite a bit of walking.

I feel the same way you do about Lavarnway. I also am big on Middlebrooks. His time is coming in the near future. Youk better step it up this year. If he has another s***** injury prone year, he might find himself packing his bags and leaving town next year. If Big Papi has a decent year, then I don't see why the FO won't try to bring him back again, it seems like they want him to stick around. If that is the the case, then there is no DH spot available for Youk. This is a make or break year for him at 3B. I really hope that Lavarnway and Middlebrooks both can become very good major league players. I like Lin, I just don't see a place for him on the roster this year. When Crawford gets healthy and if Kalish gets healthy and gets a spot on the roster, then we will have Crawford, Ells, Ross, Sweeney, McDonald, and Kalish. That is 6 outfielders. We are only going to carry five at the most, so if Kalish comes back then that means we will have to figure out what to do with either Sweeney or McDonald. I could see us seriously consider keeping Ciriaco for the last spot on the bench to start the year. He has had a good Spring so far. If he keeps it up, it might be hard to keep him off of the roster.

I am excited to see more of Bowden as well. I don't know about being a great reliever, but he could definitely help this team out in the pen if he can become a decent reliever. I like what I am hearing about Bowden.

Agreed. Pitching four decent innings last night is a good start for him in the right direction. Last night is a good example as to why we need Aceves in the pen though. I am hoping he can concentrate on getting his pitch count down. I know the Yankees are very disciplined at the plate. I am just happy he gave up no runs. Padilla also had good results. Maybe he could thrive in a bullpen role if Doubront earns the 5th spot?

I didn't watch him pitch that inning, but I am still impressed he got out of that inning without giving up a run.

I want some feedback on this: Say that we do give the 5th spot in the rotation to Aceves, what would your bullpen be? I know that the bullpen would be weaker, obviously. Bailey and Melancon are locks for the closing role and set-up role, respectively. Morales, Albers, Bowden, Miller, Doubront, Atchinson, Carlson, Padilla, etc. would all be options. Would Doubront be able to handle a versatile role like Aceves has in the past? He obviously wouldn't be as good, but do you think he could be effective enough for us to succeed? I think Bailey, Melancon, Morales, and Albers will make the pen. Miller, Doubront, and Bowden are all out of options, but would you rather see Padilla or Atchinson in a role in the bullpen in place of a guy like Bowden or Miller?

Bobby V has already said that he is going to get Lars some playing time in LF.

This should be an interesting game to watch. We are obviously playing without a bunch of our starters, we only have Pedroia, Ells, Aviles, and Salty going tonight that are probably all starters for us this year. I am excited to see Doubront start. This could be huge for Doubront and him winning the 5th spot this year. This might also be good for Padilla as well if he wants a shot at even possibly becoming a starter or having a role in the pen after his last performance. I know it is only a Spring Training game, but if we win I will be extremely happy because I feel the Yanks have the better lineup out there tonight.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this. I know that Aceves is doing good so far this Spring. He is my favorite to become the 5th starter, but I honestly think he will be better in the bullpen. We already know that if we lose him from the pen then that will be a big blow. The reason that he has to stay in the pen is because of Bailey's injury history. I hope Bailey stays healthy this year, but if for some reason Bailey were to get hurt, either Melancon or Aceves could temporarily close out games. I am really hoping Doubront can be a decent 5th starter. I think we need Aceves in the pen. He can be in a similar role as he was last year. He can also start some games if we really really need him to. I am really not counting on Padilla or Cook to start for us. Padilla might be better off pitching in relief. Cook I am not so sure about. He pitched two scoreless innings in his first game, but I need to see more. Also with Dice-K coming back, I think we can get by with Doubront as a starter. I like Doubront, Aceves, and Dice-K as potential starters in the 5th role during this season. I do not like Miller, Cook, Padilla, or Silva.

Aren't you just a jokester?

I am not saying he has proven anything in the majors except for his power. I simply stated that he hit two homers in a game and that proves he has power to hit major league pitchers. By no means does that mean I think he is proven against MLB pitching. You can't say someone is proven with only 39 career at bats. That would be like me saying that when I was in college the only game I played against a division one team, I went one for one in a pinch hit at bat in my first career at bat in college, that I am proven to be good enough to play in division one. I played division two schools and did decent, but by no means did that mean I am proven to be able to handle division one talent.

OPS was .737 and he has a career OPS of .712. His OPS is average, which is why I said I could live with his production offensively.