jung

The speculation is that vic is no longer switch hitting because of injury. Heck maybe he should stop anyway.

Also interested to see how WMB does against a RH pitcher. Last night was the first night since he came back that he actually got his weight shifted and drove the ball. There was such a big difference that I almost have to think Farrell or somebody talked to him....More likely Pedey got him to realize that if he projects as a singles hitter that does not swing at as many bad pitches as he once did, that still won't work out so good for him. So if he establishes his usual posture at the plate can he lay off the s*** pitches from a RH pitcher? One outing won't tell us much but it might tell us something. FB, NL pitchers might help him a good deal.

It will be interesting to see how Jon goes after the SF hitters. These are guys that will only see him once this year and guys that are as NL hitters used to see wayyyyyyy fewer breaking balls than an AL pitchers throws. If he comes out and goes right after the hitters I think that will be a very good sign. If he comes out and dicks around...I give up. I don't know if he just can't see it or can't help himself. When he comes out and attacks he really does pretty well. When he comes out looking to hit the edge of the edge....and won't pitch inside it is only a matter of time.

I don't know if MLB is using the "conduct unbecoming" charge possibility as a last resort if A-roid does not capitulate or if they simply do not have enough to go down that road. It would certainly cause a much longer delay as I think they would have to wait for A-roid to face some sort of criminal charge and then be convicted for it. Even if the stuff that has come out in the media is true I don't think criminal charges will be levied at this point. Unlike some people we know.....The Miami Dade County DA appears to be too smart to stick its toes in these waters at this point.

All kinds of s*** after last night's game. The idiot from the "Brick House" said that the Sox fans urged Demps on and implied that in some sense they were a part of Demps decision making process...be that as it may. The Sox fans had nothing to do with it.....and if that idiot thinks anything he heard or saw last night compares to both Yankee and Red Sox fan behavior from lets say the 70's when I was a Sox season ticket holder, he is dreaming. Both grounds crews used to have to pick up the D and C cell batteries fans from both camps would throw at the OFers depending on what park the game was played in. It got so bad that some of the outfielders started wearing batting helmets out there. I saw a fan throw a bear in the face of a player trying to make a play on a foul ball in one game. Yes the fan was tossed, probably charged but I can't remember that part. The umps pulled a team off the field in one game and made the announcer threaten a forfeit if the stuff thrown from the stands did not stop. Actually the timing was pretty good for the announcement since there was so much stuff out there that the grounds crew had to do a general clean up.

Of course no XB tonight because as I said earlier XB is not here to support a tired Drew as was announced by the Sox. XB is here to support a Can't hit LH pitching Drew. Last I looked, TL pitches from the right side.

So I would guess turning A-roid into a sympathetic figure even if only by a little bit did not make much sense now did it? And if anybody does not think that was one result, they have had their ears closed since last night and their heads in the sand.

Life would be easier of people including ballplayers did not anoint themselves with the authority to make pointless statements particularly if they did not have the nuts to back it up. Did Dempster back it up by preventing any negative outcomes even on that particular night...NO...Did the Sox back him up and bail him out of that mess....NO....f***ing stupidity

Have it your way....Ignore the damn posters that say it cost the game. There is no way around the fact the it contributed to losing the game...NO WAY. There is also no way around the possibility that it could vitalize the Skanks making the Skanks tougher for us to play in the remaining games we have with them. There is no way around the fact that the media will peck away at the Sox team about this horse s*** which will be a distraction of sorts. There is no way around the fact that Dempster about managed the impossible in turning A-roid into a sympathetic figure. That much is already evident less than 24 hours later and what did any of that have to do with playing a baseball game???? Answer....NOTHING. Reward to the Sox....NOTHING....potential downside.....INFINITE Without question one of the most idiotic things I have seen in baseball

Ells got into the batters box very gingerly as the first LH hitter up with any cred for the Sox. He was dancing so much in the box you would have thought he should have visited the little boy's room before heading to the plate...the polar opposite of digging in. But after Ells, I think the rest of the Sox took pretty reasonable stances...none of them dug in as much as they usually do but Ells was the only one doing the Irish Jig in Box.

Does not matter whether it "directly" cost the game or not. It did lead to runs being scored and it was moronic beyond belief. If it were not for the oblivious Ump, Dempster would have been and should have been tossed right then and there forcing the Sox to the pen in the 2nd inning of the game. That was nothing more than the Ump being thoughtless or taking pity on the idiot. As just about everybody in baseball with a brain has said, he should have taken his one shot at hitting him, if he did fine...if he didn't get on with the game. It still would have been stupid because he would have put the lead runner on with nobody out. It at least would not have been moronic because he would not have risked being tossed from the game itself. But no, the idiot threw four straight at A-roid and left himself and his team at the mercy of the home plate ump in a game that they really had to have....FOR f***ING WHAT? There is no room for this horse s*** in a pennant race! But excuse me, this is not a baseball team in a pennant race. It is just a bunch of fun lovin' guys that can't get enough of each other for 162 days of the year. On top of that, he left the skanks no choice but to man up in support of a teammate whether they disliked him or not...something that might have a lasting impact and might make it more likely that they continue to play better baseball than they have played all season long against a team they have six more against I think. In addition it is clearly already gaining A-roid some sympathy which he does not deserve and should not get. Turning A-roid into a sympathetic figure even by a little bit is pathetic. Then there is the potential impact on the Sox players who will now be left answering endless media questions about what they knew and when they knew it and what they thought about it and on and on in the middle of a pennant race. The media is not going to be satisfied with Farrell's response. We now know by the way that for poker players, getting Farrell in a poker game would be a dream come true. Dempster put himself AND his team right in the eye of the storm and there will be no way to make this go away easily until the damned media has driven everybody crazy or gets answers they believe. Moronic does not even come close to describing this, one of the dumbest things I have ever seen in baseball. Casey Stengel is baseball's Einstein comparatively speaking.

Story broke last night.....XB to join the Sox on this west coast swing.....

I think you are right SFF. Whether by four man rotation or by replacement I think Demps has started his last game this year....Thank God. I did not think CC pitched at all well tonight. Left lots of pitches in the middle of the plate. We scored enough runs. Ya' score six runs in your house, you expect that should be enough to win the game. Just could not pitch AGAIN. I think there might just be enough days off to go with four for now.

The usual apologists like Lou Merloni are just going to try to bury this but I suspect that it is not going to go away easily. In the first place the whole A-roid thing is not going away easily and idiot Dempster has put himself and his team right in the eye of the hurricane by making himself a self appointed representative of baseball et al. His idiot manager either knew and allowed it to happen or sat on his hands when he could have gone out there and stopped it.

Renaudo is too far down the pecking order to get a shot this year I think. Workman should be in the rotation right now and should have been before tonight. But I am sure that five days from now they will shove Demps out there to fail again.

and making it so obvious was beyond moronic to the point of insanity. You are telling me that ballplayers sat down and thought this out....and that managers and coaches knew or at best sat back and watched it? Gonna take me a while to recover from this one. This kind of stupidity is simply hard for me to just brush off.

I wish...no chance In the first place no Red Sox pitcher would throw inside like that four straight pitches. That is was intentional is a virtual cinch.

This may end up being a very tough night to forget.

Well Salty has been hot tonight. Maybe he bails everybody out

On top of everything else stupid about the A-roid beaning this is going to end up a media frenzy with ballplayers being asked what they knew and when they knew it and on and on and on...just what we needed in a pennant race. If I were BC, I would skin Farrell alive because in truth he just hung BC's ass out to dry as well.

Because many of us have already given up on Dempster. I have been posting all week that he should not be starting any longer even now. So his 7 runs are no surprise to me and not a surprise to many of us. I do agree Bell that it was painfully obvious that Dempster was throwing at A-roid. I actually think that after that second pitch, Farrell should have been on the way to the mound...not Nieves but Farrell. Honestly I would prefer to think that Farrell's weakness or one of them, his in game managerial capabilities were again on display and he made a judgement not to go out there...I have to think that. I can't bring myself to think that he knew ahead of time....I just can't do it. If he did and I were the GM, his ass would be in my office the next morning and he better be explaining to me what the f*** is going on.

Dempster has been toast for weeks. He should not be tossed out there every 5 days any longer.....then again if the Sox managed the Buch situation better, Dempster might already be relegated to the pen.

Can't tell you how disappointed I am if that is true. I mean really...he is supposed to be the manager of this team...I don't want to hear any of this "player's manager" crap either. That is simply unconscionable both as it relates to making a best effort to win every game and a best effort to protect his own players. Beyond irresponsible.... and suggests Farrell has the IQ of an eggplant...maybe even below 700's standards for managers.

WMB finally starting to shift his weight and drive the ball.

OK so does that mean you think Farrell did know about the beaning plan or that he did not know but his in game management has been that terrible outside of the beaning incident?