jung

Well that was interesting. Ortiz not pounding around the bases anything like he was last year. I think we have seen the last of that and good riddance. David is not paid to pound around the base paths.

Dempster has been a hair better than his scouting reports so far this season which makes him lightyears better than his harsher criticizers here.

Poster's Francoeur/WMB reference relevance exposed here. Francoeur is WMB to the power of 3 as far as sliders go.

Well Drew had to pass the battery of post concussion tests mandated by the league in order to get back into a uni again. I do think that a number of folks commented before the season started that Drew was on the slide before his injury and that there was good reason to expect that he would continue on the slide once he got back on the field again post rehab from the ankle. I was not one of them cause I really did not know how I felt about Drew's performance level before the ankle exploded on him. For example, was he nursing some sort of injury that had an impact on his performance before the ankle exploded on him.

Well Santana has certainly found the bottom of the strike zone the last couple innings

If a pitcher, especially a RH pitcher has the right combination of pitches in his tool chest, he can make WMB look bad all day long. It will be that way until WMB learns to lay off of sliders 6" off the plate for one thing.

Alex was referring to Drew's range not whether Iggy should be playing. I believe Alex is saying it is a bit unfair to criticize Drew for his range because he is struggling back from a horrendous injury to his ankle. I really thought and commented here that one thing we would have to monitor was his range post injury. I think Alex is a little uncomfortable criticizing Drew when that ankle really did explode on him.

Perez seems to be a monster. Has been killing us all over the place. Has been hitting and is going to have runners holding onto the bag with both hands when he is behind the plate like Yadi has them eventually.

Look at Santana's location!!! Drew is going to go back looking for the hole in his bat.

Santana can't last pitching like this. Ball/strike ratio is too high the wrong way to succeed. Has to come in with pitches that are meat.

Come on NESN you have between innings to do this stuff.

Much better location for Dempster so far this inning.

Ball doinks off Salty's glove like it has an anti-baseball virus

This is the kind of guy Salty can take out of the park

Santana pitching from behind is sort of a Royal mess!

Not going to get that crap past Papi

Pedey using the Victorino school of hitting technique

First innings are tough on starters but Dempster is getting too much plate so far.

Hosmer batting cleanup....???

You really can't put a moratorium on discussion or comment on a discussion board. Some people have one opinion, others have another and that is what makes a board a board worth visiting.

While you would have thought that whole Neil Diamond deal was planned as it turns out, it was a total surprise to the Sox. Diamond showed up and asked to sing in the 8th inning. Apparently he wanted to be part of today's events. But the Sox were not prepared for it and I suspect things went a little goofy cause they were unprepared. It was a surreal kind of day from the very start with the pre-game events and Ortiz proclaiming that "this is our f***ing city" (not bleeped out by NESN). Then the game itself was a gem, a baseball jewel to be treasured surely by all that were there and even those of us able to see the game on TV or listen on radio. One of the best baseball days I can remember for a long time.

I think calling up Webster to pitch this game is a really interesting development. Circumstances have really created so much opportunity for us to see young players play this year....JBJ, Iggy, now Webster. We have been so incredibly fortunate so far and have been treated to so much interesting and exciting baseball. Funny how the organization could not buy a break the last couple years. So many of their marketing efforts fall on deaf ears mainly because the core product was just so unappealing. Now, they seem to land in a bed of roses no matter what they do because the core product is so appealing.

That was one of the most enjoyable days of watching baseball I have had in a looooong time. That was a terrific game. Gotta' give KC some credit although they also had Shields going. Be interesting to see how they are in a DH on Sunday. Really all I wanted out of this year was fun baseball games and a team that did not embarrass us. They are giving us at least that much and then some. I have to admit to being hard pressed to come up with a specific regular season game that was better than this one. If I think about it long enough I will likely come up with something. But without putting in any effort to think of another, today's game is very hard to beat. Pal went to today's game. What a terrific game to see at Fenway.

Saying a team's closer formula is a fail based on whether they make the post season or not is really not an argument that will wash. For one thing, so many teams make the post season without having paid a fortune for their closer. How many of those teams were make or break for the post season based on their closer? There are several more critical factors to making the post season than who is pitching the 9th inning. Games are often won or lost before the 9th inning. If you are losing too many games going into the 9th inning the guy closing is not going to have much to say about whether or not you are going to the post season. Pointing the Sox in 2012 won't wash either. That team was not going to the post season if God was closing. Just give me a closer that is not as easy to figure out as Bailey. Maybe that is Hanrahan when he gets back. Maybe it is Ueh...maybe Taz.

Paps is a dead horse. No sense in continuing to beat it. I don't mind a guy not going completely clean in the ninth. I don't need completely clean. I just don't need to see hitter after hitter coming to plate knowing exactly what to expect and knowing that what they can expect is something they can hit. You know what you are going to get from Rivera for example but you can't hit it. Actually I have not seen Rivera enough to know if that is what he is this year as well. Not saying there are multiple Rivera' s out there cause there are not. But you either have to be unhittable if you are predictable...Rivera with two strikes for example or you have to be a little unpredictable....maybe Rodney with that FB that seems like it is moving a foot combined with his cutter for example. Paps for his part has that FB that does move until he gets overused. Then it flattens out on him. Bailey's does not move that much and when it is up...watch out. Hanrahan's seemingly moves after he has thrown seven or eight. But he seems pretty vulnerable until he has gotten a few under his belt. If you are going to be Bailey you have to depend on hitters coming to the plate that cannot hit a FB that is up and flat that they were expecting. I don't care how hard you are throwing it, if it is up and flat, most ML hitters are going to tag it if they are expecting it. That is in part why they are in the ML. I am hoping Hanrahan takes the time he is getting to heal and to get it figured out. Ya' don't get seven or eight pitches to get straightened out in the AL East as a closer. Until then, I might choose Taz over Ueh for the reasons I stated earlier. Love the way Ueh throws cold water on rallies.