jung

They don't pitch the same. But ERod's biggest issues seem to be at 2 strikes and he definitely works his way off the edge and into the meat of the plate, the way Rick did in the 1st. Hopefully Rick does not continue. He does not need to add Erod's problems to his own.

and isn't that the very description of ERod Disease.

Porcello avoids the Porcello but has now contracted ERod disease, working his way back to the meat of the plate and BANG!

Grzelcyk suiting up and playing for the Bruins tonight. Hope he is not loopy. But glad to have him back. Bruins have to play as they did in game 6 and we have to hope the refs don't totally swallow their whistles. IMO there is only one way for the Blues to win tonight's hockey game....MUGGINGS!

The problem IMO is that this "anybody can play anywhere attitude" which is clearly prevalent in the current game IS promoted by sabre-matricians because of course defense does not matter and a bunt in all cases is a wasted out. Then they get to wait for the actual numbers to come in on a player in a defensive position when in fact all it would take in Mookie's case and in most cases with most players is a pair of baseball eyes to see that he simply does not read the ball well from CF. You can see it in how he positions himself out there and in how he reacts to the batted ball from out there. You don't need numbers to stack up to figure that out. You just need a pair of eyes. If a player can't read the baseball from CF he is doomed as a CF. Its just that simple. Never mind the other characteristics of a CF that a player simply may not posess. Corner OFers do not rely as much on their reads because it is soooooo much easier to read the batted baseball from Corner OF than it is from CF. So if we bothered to look, we could have seen that CF was going to be a problem for Mookie from the first step he took out to his position in CF and from the very first step he took toward a batted ball from that position. You can teach an OF player what base to throw to, how to back up his brother OFers, where he should look to pick up his cut off men, how to effectively call for the ball, how to successfully cut off the ball hit in the hole that has come to earth, how to turn and shield his eyes from the sun or lights and still be in position to catch and throw the darned thing. You can even teach him how to take more direct routes to catch the baseball in the first place. You can't teach him how to read the batted ball in the air and that happens to be the very talent that defines the CFer. You can't teach a strong arm though you can refine an inherently strong arm. Those are talents he either has or he does not have, just as you cannot teach hand eye coordination from the batter's box. The reason so many of us have stated regularly that we needed to be patient with Devers in the field is because you could literally see the natural talent to play 3rd base oozing out of him if you knew how to look for it. Didn't need some number which would have suggested just the opposite in his case. I have often said here that if Devers does not improve his footwork he will never even be an average 3rd baseman. That was not because he didn't have the physical talent to improve his footwork. It was simply ignored in his development as a player. But the physical talent was always there as evidenced if nothing else by his pre-pitch posture ahead of that grass-cutter he gobbled up at 3rd last night and the way he gobbled it up....on his toes, glove down, two hands. I don't want to remember how Rafi would have gone after that ball even a year ago. I have a weak stomach.

Simply more evidence that Mookie is utterly lost in CF. He is just not a CFer. For those keeping score, Beni isn't either but at least if they move Beni to CF, your GG RFer is still in RF, WHERE HE BELONGS. One thing I hope this season of being terrorized by this particular Sox team proves is that regardless of what the sabre-slugs would have you believe Corner OF is not CF and the three positions are NOT simply manned by interchangeable players. A Center Fielder can move to the Corner although its a waste of his talents. Corner OFers can rarely move to CF without screwing up. Mookie has actually missed or botched more plays in CF this year than he has made as hard to believe as that might be.

Oh yea....the Yanks split. So we only lost another half game to them.

Splinter doing his best Jerry Remy sarcasm impression.

I was wrong. It took all of 10 seconds for the usher to move down there and tell them to shut the f*** up or get the f*** out. Lets see....will it be a full minute before the next Usher visit or will they just let this ugliness play out. Oh my God....it took less than a minute and the Usher is back AGAIN!

I see a few restless natives have moved down right behind home plate. That should last about 5 seconds at the rate they are going.

You guys are right. Jerry is thoroughly enjoying himself. You almost wonder if Jerry reaches into his pill bottle and pops a couple extra when games start going this way. But he is really enjoying himself...no question about that. Only Jerry of the Mighty NESN crew could start a competition between the ump crew for best toss out motion of the game.

Please don't tell me that the Star Trek theme is Marco's walk up music.

He has not been terrible when compared to the rest of our Bucket-o-Bum Bullpen. That will be the new Kentucky Fried promo. Jerry will roll it out sometime next few games. "Go to your local Kentucky Fried and order up a Bucket-o-Bums. Tell them DD sent you" As a special offer they will come with a big fork stuck right in the heart of the bucket.

You God Damned got that right!!!!

I think we can safely say that this was the series when the fork went in and verified that our goose was thoroughly cooked.

Angel is such an awful Home Plate ump. Goes from squeezing a pitcher to giving him three inches off the plate because the pitching coach rags on him a bit. I will take it. But the guy is just terrible.

That is a hitter not looking for a walk and an RBI by that route. Tremendous respect for that sort of hitting myself.

Shocked by the way to hear one of the Mighty NESN's (Jerry of course) acknowledge that not only is the 2019 a juiced baseball but that it is the rocket ship of rocket ships...hotter than the 2016-2018 baseballs. First time I have heard one of them categorically call it like it is on that subject.

Like I said earlier, I have no idea where we would be without X this year.

I am actually tired of hearing that I am supposed to be impressed because they are 5-6 ranked in offensive categories. We are 5th in the league in runs scored. We are only +33 in run differential. We are among the last 3 teams in the league that actually has a + run differential. There are a total of 7 teams with a + differential. The other 8 can't produce a + differential. We can blame the pitching. But there is no missing that 1-6 in this order have not produced consistently. If anything, now the entire bunch 1-6 are not hitting at all, never mind consistently. Take X out and where are these guys....NOWHERE thats where. They need to either bunch hits more often or hit more HR's....one or the other. In fact, they need to do more of both. Scoring 2-3 even 4 runs per game and leaving the game in the hands of our journeyman relief pitchers does not sound like a winning tactic to me. I still think they make a wild card play in game, saved by the number of utter trash teams in the league. No telling what happens at that point because no matter who you put on the mound for that play-in game, there is no bigger crap shoot in baseball than that game.

1. Shin-Soo Choo (L) LF 2. Danny Santana (S) CF 3. Elvis Andrus ® SS 4. Nomar Mazara (L) RF 5. Hunter Pence ® DH 6. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) 3B 7. Rougned Odor (L) 2B 8. Ronald Guzman (L) 1B 9. Tim Federowicz ® C 1. Mookie Betts ® RF 2. Andrew Benintendi (L) CF 3. J.D. Martinez ® DH 4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B 5. Xander Bogaerts ® SS 6. Brock Holt (L) LF 7. Christian Vazquez ® C 8. Marco Hernandez (L) 2B 9. Michael Chavis ® 1B

In my opinion, before this torture is over, they will have tried virtually EVERYBODY in the closer role. "Thorny back yet....heck throw him in there" will be something we are destined to hear I fear. At least the 9th starts as a clean inning. That is about the only thing that recommends either Work OR Hembree for it. I am not optimistic on that score.

Anybody looked at some film of Mookie and his swing last year and his swing this year? I have not. I have a feeling that its not as compact this year as last....and therefore not as quick through the strike zone. That might actually be a consequence of swinging at crap. He is getting to two strikes by taking good pitches to hit and then swinging at crap. Then the coup d' grace has been 2 strike crap low on the outer edge and swinging at THOSE pitches appears to have opened up his swing some in an effort to reach dead nuts pitchers pitches. I think its altered his swing on everything now. Worse, he seems to be looking for that pitchers pitch which he can't seem to hit anyway and he is being caught with the bat on his shoulder with two strikes on a pitch he can actually handle. In a word, he is a mess! Can be fixed. But if he is going to keep taking good pitches to hit and swinging at crap, I don't see how this is supposed to get better. Maybe if he does not change it gets marginally better just based on the law of averages.....but markedly better....I don't see it if he keeps on this way.

I don't know how pissed off I am as much as I am appalled. They are making the Astro's 2018 repeat effort look heroic in comparison. Anybody looked at some film of Mookie and his swing last year and his swing this year? I have not. I have a feeling that its not as compact this year as last....and therefore not as quick through the strike zone. That might actually be a consequence of swinging at crap. He is getting to two strikes by taking good pitches to hit and then swinging at crap. Then the coup d' grace has been 2 strike crap low on the outer edge and swinging at THOSE pitches appears to have opened up his swing some in an effort to reach dead nuts pitchers pitches. I think its altered his swing on everything now. Can be fixed. But if he is going to keep taking good pitches to hit and swinging at crap, I don't see how this is supposed to get better.

Jerry and OB down to musing about Hembree as closer. Well the 9th starts as a clean inning and Hembree is yet another Sox relief pitcher that needs to get a clean inning. So what the heck. Seems like they will end up trying everybody before this torture ends. "Thorny....heck back from IL yet....lets try Thorny." Sorta like that. Is it possible that your fireman who is usually one of your possible closers (in this case Barnes) can play the fireman role but can't close? Sure seems possible. Is it possible that there is nobody on this team that can close? Sure seems possible. Next in the list of ugly rationalizations the Mighty NESN's will be saying that we have to give these bums 3 run leads or they can't close.