jung

Could be interesting to see if Fister is going to continue to groove strike 1 like that. If so, the Sox need to get more aggressive and jump on that thing.

Come on Sox..This we are going to need a few runs to have a shot at winning this game. Doubt 2-3 is going to get it done.

Nice K Jon. Jackson out of the Tiger's lineup is a huge break for the Sox. Jackson provides them with the only speed option they have at the top of the lineup.

Last night Bradford tried to compare WMB to Iggy at 3rd. That is a joke. As much as I commend WMB for having improved his defense over this offseason, Iggy's physical attributes are so much better than WMB's that even at 3rd, Iggy is clearly the superior fielder.

I wonder when push comes to shove on this closer thing if the Sox end up doing what the had at one point announced with Bailey. Ueh is the closer but Taz gets some closing assignments. I cannot see the Sox just relying on Ueh to close every game.

Surely the Sox will have to do something with Bailey either in low pressure situations or by putting him on the DL. I really don't know what Bailey can do successfully at this point. In some sense Bailey has been aided by the many DL stints he has had. The league's hitters have really never had much time to look at this version of Bailey...the one that only has one pitch that he can throw at all....his FB. Even if his FB gets better I don't think it will be good enough to get hitters that expect his FB out with it. Hitters are just going to sit on his FB....foul them off until he tires a little and then they are going to clean his clock...that is assuming he ever gets enough confidence in it to throw it for a strike ever again.

I agree SFF as far as how much time guys like WMB have. The interesting thing about BC's comment which I think is accurate for big market teams, according to him, the Sox do not even consider AAA as important from a developmental perspective. You can agree with the approach or not but it does appear that a big market team like the Sox simply does not do much developmentally with players beyond a certain point. At the opposite end of the spectrum you have teams like the Rays who will take a guy that has already made it to the bigs, like Loney for example and will work with him to make significant changes. We had Loney. We needed a 1st baseman. Did we do anything with him. Yea...we sent him packing. A team like the Rays really must make the most of the players they have. A team like the Sox is more likely to say...screw it...we will pick somebody out of our system or we will just buy somebody. We just heard Lavarnway talking about going through all kinds of changes last year cause he was trying to continue to develop as a HR hitter. Sounds like a guy that the Sox simply allowed to work his way out of his hitting problems or not but weren't doing much organizationally to help him one way or the other. So I agree with you SFF. Especially with regard to WMB. I don't think he really has as much time as some might think to get himself straightened out. Frankly I think he will need to take a short term approach to resolving his issues and I have thought that for a while now. That is also one thing driving my concern that trying to turn him into a ML (as opposed to minor league) hitter capable of hitting to all fields will simply turn into a ticket out of town for WMB. He does not have that kind of time.

Correct...no way he should have been out there tonight. I really have struggled all year with the way Farrell handles the pen and this mess with Bailey is maybe just the best example of it. What the f*** is Bailey doing out there. He has one pitch that he is even willing to throw and he is not willing to throw it for strikes!!! That is the guy you throw out there to close...just give the Tigers the game and start fresh tomorrow if you are going to do that. On top of everything else Farrell is talking nonsense. Bailey was "not up over the plate". Nothing was over the plate but everything Bailey threw was up.

This is all so much ********. Look at what Bailey has done and what he is doing. He no longer throws anything but FB and his FB is simply not that good. He does not throw his secondary pitches any longer cause it simply hurts too much and his elbow won't take it. That said his FB is not good enough for him to just go out there and throw it. He does not even try to throw it over the plate! He is done and has been done. Nobody especially within the Sox organization itself is willing to admit it...but he is done.

Well I was wrong...took two batters this time. Now we will really get a test of Farrell's oft discussed stubbornness. Will he dare bring Bailey out to close again? However it should not have cost us a game to figure this out. Bailey should never have been brought out tonight. I really don't care who Farrell brought in instead....Bailey should have been done already. But to e honest he STILL may not be done...even after this fiasco.

Well at least it is usually over quickly with Bailey..like the first batter

I wouldn't say never but the runner literally has to chase the fielder off the base to get that called. It is almost like the blocking foul in auto racing where the car in front can move across the nose of the car trying to pass once but cannot move back the other way once he has established a line. If the baserunner holds a pretty straight line even way off the base, the ump will not make that call. If the baserunner changes his route and literally chases the fielder, the fielder will get the call. Nothing less than that gets called though. Its a shame cause that is not the way the play should be called.

Jeez Iggy is an acrobat.

Wow, Iggy got rid of that ball so fast.

Doesn't it seem like the Sox have had a ton of tight, relatively low scoring ball games the last couple weeks. They have definitely won more than their share of them. Getting production from so many different guys and I think that has really helped them through this stretch.

Lackey looked like he thought WMB would have had a play at 1st if he let the ball go.

I know I have said this before but since we are discussing Lackey, what he has shown me this year is how much of a real professional pitcher he is on the mound. Now that he is healthy and has access to all of his pitches, he really does a great job with his pitch sequences. He sets up the hitters but does not do it in such a way that he ends up with crazy pitch counst by the fourth inning. We see guys all the time that run up crazy pitch counts. Sometimes they don't even do a good job setting up the hitters while running up big pitch count numbers.

Wow....way to go Iggy. Hunter running in cement out there.

Talking about Lavarnway and expectations now gone that he would have turned into a ML HR threat. I always had a hard time with that one. He is such a line drive hitter whereas Salty just as an example gets the ball in the air. Wonder how much trying to become a HR hitter screwed with Lavarnway's approach at the plate.

If anything the entire cast of also rans make me yearn for the return of Remy. Eck is an exception. TC was terrible the other night. Rice is terrible. Bradford is like chalk across a blackboard! Gammons is Gammons I guess.

Boy Ross seems to have really had some bad luck with that hockey style catcher's mask. I know Molina uses one. I think there are fewer guys using it than guys using the traditional mask. I wonder if the strength of his neck has anything to do with it. Ross can't be the only guy getting whacked square in the mug wearing that hockey style mask. But boy when he would get hit it was like somebody hit him with a sledge hammer.

Lackey's Brooks pitchfx records shows Lackey at 93 and change in September and October 2010 and again in August 2011. But that could be differences in guns/systems...who knows. I honestly did not remember him able to hit 94. Outside of those months at 93.3 and 93.4 the rest of his career numbers show 91 and change and mostly 92 and change. I would have thought he would have had a tough time getting it up there at 94.

Bradford seems snake bitten as a replacement analyst. "John Lackey is not throwing harder than he was before" just as Lackey runs one up there at 94 mph.

5-5 in the 3rd. Battle of wills. Hawks strong on their skates and through center ice. Bruins strong in the corners, behind the net and out in front of the net. On an optimistic note...this looks like the best the Hawks can play and the Bruins are far from playing as good as they can play. With all that the Hawks have not been able to manage more than a 5-5 tie.

Bruins just can't seem to get their skates under them tonight. Bruins score to make it 3-2 Hawks. Hawks come right back and create an odd man rush just by out-skating the Bruins through center ice and go up 4-2. Hawks are just skating right by them at every turn tonight.