SoxFanForsyth

Buchholz just pumped 98 on NESN's gun!

Ok fine. I guess I forgive Gonzo for that swinging strike 2. Dammit.

That ball was over Gonzo's head. And he's a tall man.

I hate rookies

WIN!!!!!

Hey Buck. Who's going to win tonight? http://floppingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Buck-Showalter.gif Why thank you. Hey Buck. Who is the coolest guy you know? http://floppingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Buck-Showalter.gif Yeah. I think that's about right. Hey Buck. Who's gay? http://floppingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Buck-Showalter.gif Awww f*** you Buck!! You got me!

http://floppingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Buck-Showalter.gif Photographer: Alright Buck. I think we're all done here. Buck Showalter: You sure? That's it? Photographer: Yup. Unless you have anything else? Buck Showalter: OH. MY. GOD! I have the BEST idea. Get this. Ok. I'm going to get like this really stern look on my face right? Ok. And then I'm going to point at the camera, like Uncle Sam. Photographer: Wait. Seriously? Buck Showalter: Just take the picture, dickhead. What? You think you're smarter than me? You can take photos because you have a camera, and that makes you smarter?!? Just take the picture. Buck see's the photo. Buck Showalter: My dear God. That's going on the mantle. I look like a straight up badass. Hey guys. Watch this. Watch what I say in Mens Journal now. I'm such a badass.

Is anyone else shocked that Varitek is catching today when Beckett throws tomorrow??

ORIOLES (8-12) Roberts 2B Markakis RF Lee 1B Guerrero DH Scott LF Jones CF Reynolds 3B Weiters C Andino SS Pitching: LHP Zach Britton (3-1, 3.16)

RED SOX (10-11) Ellsbury CF Pedroia 2B Gonzalez 1B Youkilis 3B Ortiz DH Lowrie SS Drew RF Crawford LF Varitek C Pitching: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-2, 5.31)

All of Pedroias wall ball doubles would turn into wall ball singles when Gonzo was on 1st base because he can't make it to 3rd. You have to play into our hitters strengths. Lowrie is a perfect candidate to split up Drew and Ortiz in the 6-7-8 slots because of how well he hits LHP.

Craw 9 Ells 1, Ells 9 Craw 1, it's all the same.

That's fine. I absolutely 110% cannot disagree any more than I do with that comment. I don't see how you can have a .305 hitter who scored 110 runs last year in the 7 hole. That's mind boggling to me.

Why?? Why not have a leadoff guy in Ellsbury followed by 2 #2 hitters in Craw and Pedey, then go to your typical 3-4-5 hitters, but they're just shifted down a bit because you've got 3 perfect 1-2 hitters. Pedey can knock in runners. He's a .375 OBP guy, he walks as much as he strikes out, he hits .305+, why not put him in that 3 hole and give Gonzo Youk and Ortiz some extra ammo in front of them?

I don't understand this logic for a couple reasons. 1. Crawford doesn't like leading off. He's said it before. He may have tried to take those comments back in a PR statement, but he doesn't like it. Out of our entire offense, him, Pedey, and Youk all said they don't like leading off. So why put him leadoff when we have a guy in Ellsbury who is just 1 injured season off of hitting .300 with a .350 OBP and 70 steals in the leadoff role? 2. Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .258 with a .686 OPS in the 3 slot this year. Compare that with his games hitting 4th and 5th, in which he hit .368 with a 1.061 OPS. That's consistent with his career too, as he has hit just 1 less HR in 56 fewer AB batting 4th compared to 3rd. 3. At home, Pedroia wears out the monster. He hits double after double after double. If you hit him 3rd (I know, he's in the 2 hole in my original line up, but I think he should a 3 hole hitter), you have Craw and Ells who can both score from 1st on a double off the monster. That would come in huge if Pedey hit 3. Plus, Pedroia is a .305+, 20+ HR, 40+ Double guy, which is fine for the 3 slot. 4. Final point - By hitting Ells - Craw - Pedey in the top 3 of the order, you're extending the order all the way down. I'd rather have 3 guys who can get on base and get into scoring position at the top of the order for our big boys coming behind them to knock them in. Oh - one more thing. Jed Lowrie's ability to hit for power and average, get on base at a solid clip, and split up Ortiz and Drew, our two biggest holes vs LHP, that's invaluable when an opposing manager has to go to the bullpen. Even as much as people love him, I still don't think we realize just how valuable he is.

Another good article from WEEI.com http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2011/04/26/zero-for-three-sox-amidst-home-run-drought-in-third-spot/

I'm pretty sure Italian was being sarcastic and ripping Tito for often times being overly loyal to veteran players.

I agree those aren't necessarily star studded numbers, but as Dojji mentioned, what is out there and available right now that trumps Salty? I mean you've got Bengie Molina, great defensive catcher but we'd be lucky to get a .205 average out of him. You've got Doumit who can rake but he can't call a game or catch. Montero is a good option but 1. he would cost a ton and 2. he's coming off an injury. You've got Pudge, who is as fragile as Tek and would be a stop gap, but who is going to take his place next year? I think what Dojji said is exactly right. As bad as it sucks, we need to show some patience with Salty. I truly believe that he will come around and be an above average catcher, he just needs a little time, definitely more than 14 games. I really think that if we were 13-8 right now, and Crawford was hitting, this wouldn't be as big of an issue. Theo has loved this guy for a while, and he's one of the best young-talent evaluators I've seen, as shown by how well he drafts. Think about this. When Craw starts hitting, Tito said he likes Crawford in the 3 slot. That means our line up will be: Ellsbury Pedroia Crawford Gonzalez Youkilis Ortiz Lowrie Salty Drew You can flip flop Salty and Drew, I like having Drew in the 9 hole because of his OBP and he can turn over the line up a good % of the time. Either way - when our offense is clicking, we have ONE hole. And that's Salty. So when we start clicking, we can hide his bat a little bit and take some pressure off of him and give him a fair shot.

I'm not saying he's a great game caller right now, but I think with experience both with our pitching staff and in the league, along with mentoring from Varitek, he could become a great game caller. The reason his CERA is high this year is because he's got no idea what these pitchers want to throw. Pitchers thrive on rhythm, which is why Tek has such a low CERA, he's always on the same page with the pitchers, and that's because he's worked so long with the pitchers and against the league. He knows what pitch to call, how to set up the hitters, the hitters weaknesses, etc. That's all stuff that doesn't just come overnight. I'm not trying to defend Salty to the point where I'm hard headed about making a change. I just know that there are really not many options left. I mean you think Doumit, well he's a catcher in the NL who has never caught in the AL, doesn't know the AL East, doesn't know our pitchers, and he has a career 4.92 CERA in the NL East. Salty has a career 4.69 CERA, so is it really an upgrade, especially since the biggest concern with Salty is his defense? Salty can hit, that will come around, he may not be a 20 HR, .280 hitter, but he'll be a 12-14 HR, .260 hitter, which is fine in this line up. All I'm saying is let him get acclimated to the pitching staff before we replace him. You wouldn't dump a girl because cooked you something that you didn't like on the 2nd date, let Salty get to know these pitchers and then we can make judgements.

I guess I just think it's absurd to judge a player after 14 games on a new team, with a new pitching staff. It takes a lot of time to adapt to a new staff and learn each pitchers strengths and weaknesses. And it's not like Salty was calling for pitches right down the cock. It's not his fault that he called a curveball and Lackey threw it down broadway and it got smoked. I feel like everyone looks at Salty and sees his first few starts and just hate him for them, yet in his last 4 starts, Lackey has allowed 1 ER and Lester hasn't allowed an ER. It's not Salty's fault that Oki came in at Oakland and blew the game open. Lackey threw a compete gem in Oakland. And Anaheim. Lester threw a hell of a game vs TOR and @LAA. The last 4 games that Salty has caught, the pitchers have thrown to the tune of a 2.25 ERA and Salty has hit .286 with a .333 OBP and 3 RBI. Why is this being ignored?