SoxSport

Rosenthal tweets the Sox just got Pods back in a trade. No mention of who they traded, but I'm guessing Shoppach.

The problem is the starting pitching--look at the ERAs. And they keep trotting out the same deadbeats every game to get hit. They can't last more than 5-6 innings, probably because they aren't asked to--and the arms aren't there to do it when it's needed.

Now Miller is in there. If he's any good, I'm sure he won't come out for the next inning. Red Sox policy. LOL. Their starting pitching really sucks. That's their main problem. Look at those ERAs.

And another thing... it's abundantly clear by now Aviles is a utility player--not a starter. He's an average fielder at best with an OPS below. 700. And yet he remains--stubbornly--the starting SS, when the better player right now is clearly Ciriaco. It's this kind of stubborn persistence by the FO that is killing the Red Sox. And the fact they are almost always wrong with personnel judgements. Why wasn't Ciriaco stealing when he got on base a couple of innings ago? Jiminez has such a slow pitching motion almost anyone could steal on him. And yet he was cemented on 1B, with Ells and Crawford batting. You look at this kind of crap, and you can see why the Red Sox management sucks.

The more I watch Red Sox starters, the more I'm convinced these guys just aren't conditioned to go more than 5-6 innings--with the rigid pitch count principles the Red Sox follow. Come 5th or 6th inning, they start to weaken. Could be the arms just aren't strong enough to go much more. It's absurd to have starters incapable of going further into the game--7 or 8 innings--or even a complete game. Doubront is now struggling in the 5th inning. There are good reasons why this team has lagged behind the league in pitching the last few years. I suspect it goes beyond the personnel.

The Olympic coverage by NBC has been very spotty. Too much sand volleyball with pretty girls in bikinis who don't look like athletes. Looks like a made for TV sport designed strictly for ratings.The girls look like they were picked off Venice beach for their bodies. The coverage in gymnastics and swimming was much better. Much more athleticism, and great performances by Americans--male and female. American girls look very competitive in soccer. Soccer is now a hot sport in American high schools--and it shows in the Olympics. Not enough track and field. Not nearly enough. You have to go to their website and use your internet video to see a lot of the track events. The silver medals won by US male runners in the 1500m and 10000m were huge, but NBC hardly noticed because they weren't gold. The Africans dominate in the long distance events, and beating them is a huge accomplishment. Salazar trained the top 1-2 finishers in the 10000m to run as a team, and they beat the Kenyans and Ethiopians.The latter win the Boston Marathon every year running as teams, while everybody else runs as individuals. Salazar's accomplishment will change that. I should add that the other runner trained by Salazar, Farah, won both the 5000 and 10000m races. British, of African descent. Probably the best long distance runner in the world, right now. In the shorter distance races, it is all USA and Jamaica. Men and Women. Tremendous athletes. Here, it is Americans and Caribbeans of African descent that dominate. You wonder why the Kenyans and Ethiopians don't have more of a presence at the shorter distances. Interesting question. Closing ceremonies seem to be a rock show, from what I've seen. That will keep the Queen awake. LOL.

I wrote somewhere here last night Lavernway was named defensive catcher of the year in the IL by the managers. There was a lot of bitching and moaning about Lav's defense the past year, and now it seems his defense was his strength. You figure a guy with his educational background would learn fast. It took the FO a long time to get the message. And they are still stuck with Shoppach. These guys are so friggin' cautious in everything they do, they get nothing done. This team will never win anything with Ben as GM. He is a classic Peter Principle case.

He's like a lot of those guys on that team--they aren't in shape. Papi finally got in shape last year, and look what happened. Watched that Allyson Felix win her 200m heat in a jog the other night while I was making a post here. Predicted she'd win the gold. She just did. The Red Sox will not win the gold this year.

Dicekettackeyter

Hey. Don't knock the guy. He's been looking like a decent $5-10 mil player lately. Improvement over last year. Too bad the season's almost over.

Ha. Abraham just tweeted that Lav was named the best defensive catcher in the International League. So the guy is strong defensively and he sits in the minors while they are carrying Shoppach. Ben and the Katzenjammer FO kids strike again. Poll by IL managers. Also named best defensive: Anderson, 1B; Ciriaco, 2B; Iggy, SS. Too bad the KJ kids don't value defense.

V should quit. He can't really do anything to help this team. The die was cast pre-season. It was useless to hire him. If the FO was going to keep the power, they should have hired Sveum.

Josh should have said my fastball is straight and 91 mph, and very hittable. He could also be honest about whether he is in shape or not.

Morales should start in place of Beckett. Josh is cooked.

He's lucky nobody threw a cup of beer at him. It's happened. Somebody should send him a 30-pack of empty beer cans. Daddy Henry has really spoiled his boys rotten. What do you expect after two Championships?

I'm afraid this isn't Texas. This is a pretty rigid front office that lives by a certain set of cockamamy rules. One of them is starters don't relieve, another is stolen bases and small ball are for quiche eaters, another is a guy rehabs and rehabs until he gets hurt again--rehabbing. Oddly, one of their rules they seem to have forgotten is we like guys who get walks. Bikini beach volleyball again. Better than watching the Red Sox.

Josh is cooked. I think Lester and Beckett are out of shape. Think Ortiz. He had to trim down to get his stroke again. It's what I said last fall. The holdovers on this team are soft. They have gotten older and not stayed in shape. I would exclude Pedroia. That's not in his nature.

They need to drop Ells in the order. He no longer is a leadoff batter. Doesn't get enough walks. 0-5 today. If Crawford continues to hit, Ells will be dealt in the offseason. for sure.

punto and melancon sounds good. not crawford--he's playing too well right now.

They're a .500 team, period. Beckett and Lester still suck. Lost both Texas games. I think they're both out of shape. The Papi syndrome.

Can't win the close ones. Somebody always screws up. This time it was the manager. I think V should resign. The atmosphere on the team has gotten to him.

Bailey was last seen pitching batting practice in Portland. Likes the weather out there.

Mortenson just couldn't recover from the shock of being asked to pitch a 3rd inning. It's usually one inning and out for relievers on this team. Good or bad. The tweet consensus is Aceves should have started the 9th. Bobby blew it.

Has Bobby V managed to manage his way into a loss? Looks that way.