SoxSport

It's more than luck or short series. It's which teams are hot the last two weeks. A hot team which just makes a wildacard the last few days is very dangerous. Like the Cardinals or the Rays. the Rays almost beat the Rangers, and won the first game in Texas about 10-0. When your hot, the ball bounces for you. The best a manager can do whose team has sewed it up the last month (like the Phillies) is to make sure his veterans and walking wounded are rested. And pay no attention to anything else. That means games with teams contending for a wildcard.

I was a kid when the Braves were in Boston. Those two team days are gone, except for the big media cities. They moved to Milwaukee the year Hank Aaron came up as a rookie, so Boston never saw Aaron play. Eddie Matthews was also a rookie around that time. The Braves had some good teams in Boston-won the pennant in '48. Led by Warren Spahn. They also had a black speedster named Sam Jethroe--years before the Red Sox had a black player. And they would have had Aaron in Boston, had they stayed another year. Boston missed out on a few Braves' championships after that in the 50s and 60s, when they had great teams. They played in Braves Field, which became BU field, the site of the first AFL game between the Patriots and Broncos in 1960. That property is now something else, I believe.

The FO has gotten soft. Keeping guys for loyalty or sentimentality reasons. They thought they could make the playoffs every year without going the extra mile. Hubris is the word. One of Tito's problems as well. Taking guys out before games were won. Wakefield not only deprived a young pitcher of development, he also impeded their abilty to develop a replacement for Tek--another guy kept around too long as an active player.

I think they should wipe the slate on the coaching staff. Signing another top starter should be a priority. But everybody wants to do that. The Yankees will, too. Lackey, Wake and Tek should be replaced. Need the roster spots for younger players. I would not extend Ortiz--they need more versatility at DH--somebody who can play positions- to give them some depth. I think Epstein made a mistake picking up Papi's option last year vs keeping VMart--even though Papi had a good year--unexpected. I wouldn't expect him to repeat it. Vmart would have given them more depth. He's batting cleanup tonite for Detroit in the playoffs.

The problem with Papi is he can't play any positions. He cuts into the team depth. For example, they were better off keeping VMart and declining Papi's option last year. Papi had a big year offensively, but VMart had a good year, too, in Detroit, and he can play 1B and catch, as well as DH. And is a switch hitter. He was also good in the clubhouse. They probably missed him there. The FO has a problem in that it can't cut the cord on older players when it needs to. That has cropped up time and again.

From the gist of what they were saying about keeping interview requests from other teams in-house, I wouldn't be surprised if Epstein has already been given permission to interview the Cubs--and maybe has already been interviewed. They could be working on negotiations right now. It makes sense because they need to get this out of the way before they get to the manager. That means they need a GM fast--most likely Cherington, since he was at the first media conference. They have to keep the GM and manager issues under wraps until something actually happens, or else you will have the media tail wagging the dog. Remember the ARod soap opera. It can get out of hand.

Responding to Jung's post above, I agree ballplayers tend to swing at bad pitches in tense situations. Howard is certainly not a very smart hitter. It's incredible the Phillies are paying him a fortune to hit .260. You pay Pujols, but you don't pay a hitter like Howard. The statistics people downplay batting average these days in deference to OBP and OPS. But Batting average is a measure of how good a hitter a guy is--not how good he is at forcing a walk. What happens when the ball hits the bat, and how often. Having seen Ted Williams at bat many times, I will tell you that he had tremendous plate discipline. He swung only at strikes--regardless of the situation, and got lots of intentional walks. As a result his OBP was huge. As was Babe Ruth's and Barry Bond's--for the same reasons. Is a walk a measure of how good a hitter a guy is? No. It's a measure of how good a batting eye he has. What he does when the ball hits the bat is another story, though his chances are much better if he swings only at strikes--as Williams so aptly showed in his book on hitting. "Get a good pitch to hit", but you got to know what is a good pitch. Mantle, by the way, disagreed with Ted's philosophy. He was up there swinging for the fences every pitch--so he said. The situation dictated what he did. Ted never concerned himself with the situation.

I think these guys are covering their asses right now. Maybe the real question is, "Does Henry have a shelf life?"

Hey, this playoff format sucks. Honestly. First, the Yankees. now the Phillies. The best teams through 162 games, then out in a 5-game series, 3-2. Something wrong here. Probably what's needed is a bye in the first round for the top team in each league. The least they can do is go 7 games. 5 games is too short for the cream to rise to the top. Time for Steinbrenner to kick like hell and get Selig to work.

I got the impression that Theo didn't want to trade any top prospects at the deadline. That's why he got outbid in a couple of deals. I think he felt they had enough to get to the playoffs. He was mistaken. Pence, for example, wasn't a top priority, but he was a great fit long range in RF. And the real sparkplug they are short of--except for Pedey. Plus the RHD power bat they need to balance the lineup. Has Theo gone stale after 8 years? Maybe so.

Weren't they wearing Red Sox uniforms with logos in that commercail? Can't do that without team permission. Hard to believe Lucchino or Henry didn't know about this--or a lot of other things.

Agreed. Time for a new ballpark. Bigger, and outside of Boston. They could make a bundle selling the Fenway real estate, though the market sucks right now. It's a shame they can't buy Landsdowne st (Williams Way, now?). That would do it. The stores across the street won't sell. They are trapped on that tiny space.

Agree with this. A 5 game series doesn't prove anything. Also, 162 games with the best record has to be worth more than just home field advantage for a series. The best record AL and NL teams should get a first round bye.

Certainly sounds like he's leaving--from the WEEI interview. If Theo walks the plank, they'll give him the same rope they gave Tito. The chance to quit.

Theo was throwing darts at the wall the last couple of years--signing free agents. No regards whatsoever for team chemistry.Moving Ells to LF and Youks to 3B were big examples. He falls in love with certain players (e.g., AdGon) with out much regards to the effect on the team. Just a bunch of stars like the Yankees. But it's all about pitching. The Yankees found that out quick in the playoffs.

Ok with me. Just make sure he takes Lackey with him. That's been picked up in the media the last few days--even in the Chicago papers. Theo goes, Lackey goes with him.

Abraham said yesterday at the Globe that Tito has some "personal issues" that also entered into the manager decision. The rumors are those issues related to Watney and Mae. In another article about the next manager, Abraham wants each candidate available to the media when they come to town for an interview. He says they shouldn't hire a candidate who "can't deal with the media." I think Abraham is overstepping a bit here. The media isn't doing the hiring.

Terrible blow to the Yankees. They pretty much have to win every year to justify their budget. The playoffs are all about pitching, and there was a question about whether the Yankees had enough to get them through. The other thing is anybody can win in a short 5 game series. The Cardinals don't have anywhere near the team the Phillies have, for example, but have taken them to 5 games. There is an upside and a downside to the playoffs format. The two best teams this year, the Phillies and Yankees, may not get to the World Series.

I'd like an experienced manager who can handle game fundamentals and pitching. Somebody the players respect--not like. They liked Tito because he let them do as they pleased. I don't think they respected him.

I'm surprised they didn't do an MRI first. MRI's are given out like candy in pro sports. Harder to get for the rest of us. Insurance companies don't like the cost. Back XRays do detect osteo arthitis, by the way.

I'm reading stories where Farrell required workouts between starts for pitchers. Young did not. Could have been a factor in their drop in pitching stats.