SoxSport

Talk about media speculation. In June, no less. That's what happens when it rains. The Globe says Papi showed up the Yankees flipping his bat? Aaron Boone style. :thumbsup:

Good excuse for CC to bat no.2 again. Pedroia should be dropped down in the lineup anyways to keep the pressure of stealing bases off his legs. The guy has 13 SBs so far--about 5? more than CC. That shouldn't stay that way for long if the Red Sox are going to get their moneys worth out of Crawford. Pedey probably has an MCL strain, maybe a mild one. They linger. You can tape them and play through them, and they self heal over time if they are mild. If they're torn a bit, they will also self-heal, but it takes much longer. Doctors don't like to do surgery unless it's necessary. Running actually helps the healing process, as long as you don't twist the knee. He has to avoid sharp lateral movements.

note to Tek: hey, catching Wake wasn't so painful after all, was it? :thumbsup:

Red Sox vs Yankees has always been about pitching, and right now the Red Sox have the edge. All that left handed lumber in Yankee Stadium doesn't hurt either.

I thought Teixeira wasn't hurt that bad, and he's back in the lineup tonite. That pitch last night hit him about 2 inches above his right kneecap--probably on the quads. Too bad Lowrie has a bad back. He should be at SS against RHP this series. Can Wake keep them in this game? 50/50 chance. Those lefty hitters better hit Burnett. They will miss Salty tonite at bat. And maybe behind the plate. Are Tek and Wake on speaking terms?

With the kind of pitching the Yankees are throwing out there this series, the Red Sox left handed hitters should be feasting. Lowrie clearly belongs in the lineup at SS this series over Scutaro against RHP, but I understand he has some back problems keeping him out.

Martin and Salty are catchers with entirely separate issues. Martin's health and ability to sustain a full season at catcher is an issue. The other is his hitting deterioration the past few seasons. He started well this season hitting a bunch of HRs like a lot of other Yankees, but has tailed off his hitting lately. We'll see how durable he is. His signing was a $4-5mm gamble--chump change in NY. Salty has yet to prove himself as a major league catcher. He was given a lot of visibility early--probably too much--and struggled a bit. But lately he has been showing signs of putting it all together. He looked good defensively last night behind the plate, and he has been hitting. He is one big athletic guy, still young, and could break out to be the player he was projected to be.

6 out of 7 against NY. I don't think the Yankees have the pitching to beat the Red Sox.

Papi has the same trainer this year as Granderson and Teixeira. Trainers can make a huge difference.

yeah, the Sutton thing was a killer. And then you have the Globe typically defending Tito on a bad move. Tito gets away with mistakes when they win, and the media loves him. Pap crapped his own bed, but that wasn't a closer situation. Closers frequently crap the bed in a non-save. they hate 'em. It's like a blind date with Jane Ugly.:thumbdown

don't agree with the scribe. you run for papi. you can't afford to run for adgon. tito plays percentages like scrambled eggs. There is a pro-Tito campaign going on at the Globe. But that will change in an instant if they don't make the playoffs. It's up to the Sports Editor.

Nick Cafardo's Globe article today on Dice-K and Bobby Valentine's comments have changed my perspective on Dice-K. Valentine, who managed in Japan for 6 years, says the emphasis there is on conditioning and throwing a lot of pitches--while the emphasis here is on pitch counts (fewer pitches) and less conditioning. Because of this philosophy, Dice-K was forced by the Red Sox to change his regimen, which limited his conditioning and may have contributed to his physical breakdown. I tend to agree, since I think pitch counts are probably more harmful than helpful. If you condition any athlete (including racehorses) to do only so much, that's all they will be able to do. Basically, that's the problem with pitch counts. You limit what your starting pitchers can do, which transfers the burden to the bullpen. And the bullpen gets overused, especially when you use up a fresh arm every inning. Asking a guy to heat up 3 days out of 4 to pitch one inning is a ticket to needing another pitcher in 2-3 months. This is what Tito does, but also what a great many managers in baseball do. They are just following orders from the front office. From what I've heard, there is a lot more disagreement on this matter just below the surface than meets the eye. The old system made a lot more sense to me. It's the conditioning that counts--not the pitch counts. Here's another thing for you younger guys: you think the doctors know everything? Wait 'till you grow older, and get something common the doctors don't know anything about. It happens all the time. You just don't read about it in the papers.

Tito tried hard to lose this game, but it didn't happen. Too much talent. Instant replay is really showing up the umps. In the Phils-Pirates game today, a Pirates guy was called out stealing at 2B with a high, very late tag. One of the worst I've seen. Total incompetence. The replay was an embarrassment to the League. It wasn't even close. The replay also shows the home plate ump cannot call balls and strikes efficiently from behind home plate. He can't see well enough behind a 230 lb catcher. The view is much better from the pitcher's mound. So why don't they stand out there behind the pitcher? That's where the replay camera is.

Yeah. Life is good. The talent overcame the manager--again.

Drew isn't a bad player. It's just that he isn't a full season player. And he was "sold" by that shark Boras as a full-season player. His salary is +8 on the insanity scale which averages about +5 in MLB.

Tito keeps trying to lose this game. But they won't let him.

ESPN hoping for a suspension for the Yankee series. Typical ESP-NY.

hey they tied the game 8-8. this is a helluva team even with tito managing.

LESS

You are joking? I once spoke to a player who had played for Mac. That's why you must be joking.

I could never handle the players and the media as well as he does. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to manage a better game than he does.

Tito kills this team every close game. He is simply a lousy game manager. Especially handling pitchers. Or should I say overhandling them. When will second guessing Tito start in the media? Don't hold your breath.

Well, Tito game-managing at his normal sucky. Uses up most of the bullpen. Throws Pap in there with a 4-run lead (non-save?). Pap gets bombed. Closers suck in non-save situations. Well-known by now. Maybe they give saves for 4-run leads nowadays. Tito manages to lose another game. But you won't see that in the media. The players get the blame.

hey. they won. the world is good.

The Cardinals left Garcia in the other night to give up 11 runs--to save the bullpen so they could use it when they were ahead 11-1 and the starter had thrown 100 pitches. It isn't just Tito. In the old days, you didn't fix what wasn't broke. So when you really needed the bullpen, you had it.