jung

Taz tired just at the ASB. He is on his second wind already and is showing signs of running low on gas again. He was showing signs of running out of gas his second to last stint. I am particularly concerned that last stint he completely changed his sequence. Have not seen him do that all year regardless if team, batter, circumstance etc. Nothing has inclined Taz to make that sort of change till then. That did not work out for him either. But I am more concerned with why he would change his sequence like that so drastically this late in the year. Whether you see that in Taz or not all you have to do to see what Farrell is doing with Workman is look. He has steadily moved Workman closer to the end of the game. I would not at all be prepared to rely on Taz to be able to fill the role going into the end of the regular season and I suspect Farrell is preparing to have Workman take some of that load if need be.

Farrell is moving Workman closer game by game because he does not have a choice really. I do not think it unreasonable to see a bump in the road as a consequence. There is no chance of Farrell moving Ueh out of the 9th for Workman. But, Taz is fading and I would not at all be surprised to see Workman replace Taz with Taz moved to some other spot in the sequence. I will never understand why people think the maturation process is over just because a guy is now wearing a ML uni. I don't think there is much on the horizon to hope for either. Demps????....he throws way too many meatballs to be brought in late in games when there is no time to recover from one of his doing nothing pitches as it soars over the fence.

I would much rather Workman learn a valuable lesson in a game like this after having slaughtered the opponent three straight. Nothing teaches a young player like an actual experience. He will hopefully learn that he has to control his emotions, his adrenaline and make sure that his motion does not go out the window in a case like this. Clearly Farrell is trying to move Workman closer to the end of the game and he is going to be needed there I suspect.

The young man just humped it up too much. That was an overthrow in every sense and Salty just could not drag it down. True he probably should have but Salty is not that sort of catcher.

Another wind tunnel shot..... Flash announcement.....Yankees announce the new Yankees hotel going up just off the 2nd deck in RF. Recent opponent success noted as not being a factor.

Maybe ultimately the thing that has changed the most for Jon is his margin for error. He often does not have enough movement on the FB to get it by hitters and if he misses just a little bit with it he is in some trouble. Even when the Cutter is on he rarely gets it called for a strike and if he is not fooling anybody with it then that can be a problem. Had both problems for a time today but I really don't think he pitched that badly. Hence, maybe it is that his margin for error is down unless he can hump that FB up there at 95 with movement. Last year I think on a day like this steam would have been coming out of his ears.

Pedey has to feel like he made a mistake there. Had to know what Kelly was going to throw there and Pedey just tried to do too much with it.

ding...ding....ding....dinner bell!!!

I take your point. He has certainly had that issue this year at times. But usually when that happens to him he is missing FB or mostly the Cutter so badly that he can't even throw them and hence, has no put away pitch. Here, he was not missing by more than an inch or two making pitches that were swing and miss pitches.

Boy he is lucky most of this has been to RH hitters. One of these LH *******s would have a much better chance to ride one of these FB's outta' here. The way the inning ended may make everything look so easy like "why didn't he throw that curve a little more". But he was missing with Cutter and FB by so little. Water coolers beware. He has got to be pissed right now.

He just can't get the FB down right now. He must be frustrated as hell. It is not like he is serving up meatballs. Still can't get the cutter in the happy spot enough times either

What the f*** was that...who is the home plate ump... Come on Jon LH batter. Ya gotta get this guy

That was an almost perfect cutter to Wells Just can't get that FB down a little bit. Spanks are hitting these little jam shots out of them but he is still missing just by a little bit.

Jon wants to get that cutter just up a tad cause he is not going to get any called strikes on it and right now can't get the hitters to swing at it and conversely he just wants to get that FB down just a little bit. That is probably why is is a little pissed at himself. He has been missing just a little bit with both pitches the last couple of innings.

His first step was a jab step and it was slightly forward and then he crossed over and headed back. He did not start back immediately. Why do you think turning back to the ball took his so long in the first place. If he had started back immediately he would not have had to make that wide loop to start back. He sure in hell did not think it was headed over his head to start with. Balls hit straight at you are actually the toughest balls to make a play on but usually it is line drives that are tough. Not sure what he thought he saw but he sure as hell did not see a ball headed back to the wall.

How is JBJ starting in on something like that. There was no way in hell that was going to end up in front of him....Jeez

Stewart is too skinny to be a catcher anyway. Somebody is going to come home and cut him in half.

Karoda found that spitter. Good thing his PC is up. Although I don't think Joe has much choice today. He has to get some innings out of Karoda almost regardless of what he is doing.

f***ing Pedey....Lester is going to kiss him in the dugout...unashamedly

If you remember how Jeter injured the ankle, it was just stressed out...it shattered doing nothing. I don't think an offseason is going to do anything substantial for Jeter...I think he is very close to done. Lester is attacking hitters and not relying on that cutter.....points to a potential great outing.

Thought Karoda would try to get Bradley to chase a ball just off the plate. Strike 1 to Nava was not even close to being strike 1. Hate it when that kind of call changes the whole AB and subsequently the whole inning.

Boy Karoda has probably got to get out of this for Girardi who really has nowhere to go now....Sloba!!!

No interest in Pats/Bills with Sox/Yanks going.

I am 100% positive that somebody in the room at the time will say "this will hopefully help David's HOF effort" They won't campaign to put his number up on the wall just to help get him into the HOF, but they will almost all if not all be hoping that it will help and if anything it might likely push the effort to get Ortiz up on Fenway's wall over the edge in his first year of eligibility if there is a thought that he does not belong up there. Frankly I think the chance of David not ending up on the Fenway wall is 0.

It amazes me no end how much attention the start of the pro football season now gets in this town right in the middle of what has got to be considered one of the watershed and most entertaining seasons in Red Sox history. I played both games on an organized basis at least through high school and while telling a teenage boy that he is going to be able to go out and hit people as hard as he can every day for a couple months has an appeal all its own at that age, baseball IMO is so much a better game. It is even a better TV game if MLB in its various monied constituencies, owners, PA and Networks had not f***ed it up so much. You don't see what matters watching football on TV. By the time the QB either hands the ball off or throws the ball, the play has already happened. Yet unless you know what to look for and are fortunate in what the damned camera is following, your chances of seeing it are slim to none. In baseball at least you get to see the pitcher throwing to the catcher with the batter in the box. While I would love a positional shot of the fielders more often than baseball provides it, you get to see the relationship between the pitcher and hitter, the most important relationship to the outcome of every single play or pitch. On top of that, the cameras are quick enough to at least get you to where the fielder is going to make his play and what he is going to do from there. Only the three groups in combination, owners, PA and Networks could have f***ed up something so beautiful to the point now where there are serious discussions that pro football is now the "national pastime". I could just scream!