jung

The thing that kills me about Iggy is that ya' gotta' know that they must have been working to help him improve all this time and........this is as far as they have gotten!!!!! Holy s***.....either they don't know what they are doing or Iggy has been and is simply not capable of improving. Changing a guys hitting style is very difficult. More college .300 hitting ball players have been done in when they got to a level in baseball where slap hitting just won't get it done than you can shake a stick at. There are way more failure stories than success stories. So not being able to change his style would not surprise me. But look at the guy....does he look like he could bulk up or even be bulked up? That is not a frame that looks like it will support any weight. Ciriaco is the guy that actually looks like he can handle some additional weight OK but not Iggy. So to be honest, the more I see, the more I just don't get it. I guess once they committed to that signing bonus four years ago the Sox really had no choice but to give this a shot. However, I very much suspect he will be traded away or released outright at some point cause this is just not happening. I don't see Iggy being able to improve enough. It would take a miracle.

A yes the end of the dice episode....complete with posting fee, interpreter, contract stipulated limousine service, TJ and whatever other ******** we ended up committed to for the pleasure of seeing one season of decent baseball out of him. Goodbye and good riddance.

Ciriaco swings at a lotta' bad balls but he at least has a real swing...as I have noted before, Iggy slaps at the ball and really does not have enough muscle to do anything with it just slapping at the ball like that.

The suspense is killing me. Will we see Iggy get a ball out of the infield? Not this time...However Iggy does chip in with his most exciting plate contribution so far....a walk! Ciriaco seems to be playing himself into a position and Iggy seems to be playing himself out of one.

Then again dice looks more and more like toast as well.

Rays are looking more and more like toast. Hate seeing idiot Scott and his jackass grin on the base paths. I think I would go nuts if I had to deal with Nick Swisher and Scott on the same team on the bases at the same time.

Cook sandwiched a 5 inning stint giving up 3 runs against NY between two stints against Seattle and the Rays, two of the weakest hitting teams you will ever see. If the Sox want to bring him back as the 6 (the guy that comes in when somebody gets injured) I suppose that would be fine. If he comes back even as a 5 I would consider that a comment on their off season plan to resolve the pitching and not a positive comment either.

As for Iggy he would have to at least have a "2" be the first digit of his BA and then maybe another "2" a the second MIGHT be OK but having seen him for a couple of weeks now, I no longer am confident he can get there. They should give Iggy the whole rest of the season to see if he can improve. He has improved a bit but I think there are some basic problems here that that the Sox must see and I can only guess have not been able to work out. Iggy is a slap hitter. He hits like a guy that has played with the older style metal bats his entire life, the ones that allowed you to sting the ball just by slapping at it with the bat. I have to believe that they have either tried to get him to develop a normal swing or have tried to beef him up so that he can survive on that slap swing but if they have not been trying one or the other or have failed in both cases, I don't know what they do with him now. Iggy does not appear to be able to handle the bat well either. So he does not generate any sacrifices, even via the bunt and he does not walk very much. I just don't know what you do with that. I had not watched him play in AAA this year but I had figured they were trying to do something to get his offensive numbers up to something acceptable. If they have been, it appears to me that it has all gone for naught or has gone for very little. I have seen Iggy get a fly ball to the middle outfield depth one time in his 40-50 or so at bats. He is barely able to get the ball out of the infield. So I am happy to see the Sox give Iggy the rest of the season but unless something remarkable happens, I don't see him penciled into SS for 2013. Going on a year now I have offered that i do not believe Iggy will see meaningful time in a Sox uniform and as much as I like him, I still think that is true. I think they will end up trading him to the NL somewhere. As for the $10M they have spent on him, it appears they either screwed up again or somebody should have been working much more diligently to turn him into a ML hitter.

I never bought the "genius of Madden" ******** in the first place. In fact both so called genius managers are simply not all that impressive. Managers are not unimportant. However I think we all to often overlay on baseball managers the kind of criticality that you see with football coaches and the two things are simply not comparable. I suspect that the only difference between "genius" V and "genius" Madden is that I suspect Madden does not take himself all that seriously....but takes the money to bank and does not argue about his genius or lack thereof. V takes himself entirely to seriously.

The Sox and Spanks have carried this aging stars thing to far. Both teams are suffering from the same malady....hanging on to aging stars as a nod to their fan bases as much as anything else while in reality, those same aging stars are more prone to injury and less likely to come back from injury once they go on the shelf. Both teams have grown entirely to old. The Sox might have gotten a leg up on getting back to more team balance out of necessity. However at least in recent history, the Spanks have seemed to act more aggressively than the Sox have with regard to personnel. The Spanks might catch up quickly. I also agree that the A's will likely not turn out to be a one season wonder nor will the O's and the Angels will likely rebound from what is shaping up to be a disappointing season for them. While i think the Sox will do much to reshape this team going forward, the truth is that the rest of the AL has gotten much tougher. That was true going into this season though many wanted to discount that factor. That will remain a key element in the coming season as well I suspect. The Sox will get better. Will they get enough better in the short run. Probably not. Not at all convinced that 2013 turns out much different than 2012 and not at all convinced that the Sox should try a one year turnaround in the first place. The balance of power seems to have shifted to the AL West for that matter.

I am beginning to conclude that Madden is not that brilliant after all. I know he has got extra hands in the pen here due to September call ups but this is ridiculous.

Notice that while this is still a game, the Rays "crowd" has already thinned out from what it was. The place is a real ghost town now. This just does not appear to be a baseball town. There must be some deserving community somewhere that will support ML baseball better than this.

I can never for the life of me figure V out. He puts the shift on for Scott here with a runner on....while not in scoring position, still a bit of a risky move....last night with nobody on (when there is no question but that you should put the shift on) V does not put the shift on for Scott who promptly hit the ball right through were the shifted SS would have been, eventually scoring. At least, they got the out here.

I can never for the life of me figure V out. He puts the shift on for Scott here with a runner on....while not in scoring position, still a bit of a risky move....last night with nobody on (when there is no question but that you should put the shift on) V does not put the shift on for Scott who promptly hit the ball right through were the shifted SS would have been, eventually scoring. At least, they got the out here.

The Rays are a classic example for how you can survive more times than not with pitching even if you can't hit but won't survive all that often if you can hit but can't pitch. Even with what looks like a collapse were it not for the resurrected Baltimore Phoenix's (Orioles) and the A's and even to some extent the rebuilt Angels the Rays would be much more a part of this race than they appear to be even with putrid fielding AND putrid hitting.

We have been touting the Sox bullpen of late but I still don't see much when it comes to a guy that can come in and put out a fire. Ya' we have guys that can start clean innings coming out our butt but guys that can actually put out a fire.....that seems to be a different story. While we want to plug a bunch of these guys in for next season, I still think that true fireman skill set is something that this group lacks.

I think Mortenson might have left his game in the bullpen tonight. Not sure how many he has thrown out here on the mound but must have thrown 50 or so in the bullpen warming up. This is about as late in a game as I have seen Mortenson as well as V has not used him late or even with a lead that often.

My God the Rays look terrible in the field. What the hell has happened to these guys. Rodriguez is subing for Longoria at 3rd but the rest look terrible as well. Lavarnway doubles....hurray!!

At least we know Lavs CAN hit. Lavs just seems a bit lost at the plate this time around...like he does not have a plan going up there. It could be a factor of his youth. Once a guy starts to slump, he might start concentrating to much on just not looking so bad at the plate and be less concerned about having an actual plan of attack at the plate. Unfortunately that is the surest way to continue to slump. Having seen Iggy now for awhile I would love to know what the hell they have been trying to do with him down on the farm. Have they been trying to break him of that slap hitting technique....have they been trying to get him stronger so that he can at least survive using that technique...what???? Lavs WILL hit....I think. I am no longer confident Iggy will ever have a "2" at as the first digit of his BA in he Majors as he cannot even handle the bat well enough to earn a few sacrifices or walk very often. Seems a real shame.

At least we know Lavs CAN hit. Lavs just seems a bit lost at the plate this time around...like he does not have a plan going up there. It could be a factor of his youth. Once a guy starts to slump, he might start concentrating to much on just not looking so bad at the plate and be less concerned about having an actual plan of attack at the plate. Unfortunately that is the surest way to continue to slump. Having seen Iggy now for awhile I would love to know what the hell they have been trying to do with him down on the farm. Have they been trying to break him of that slap hitting technique....have they been trying to get him stronger so that he can at least survive using that technique...what???? Lavs WILL hit....I think. I am no longer confident Iggy will ever have a "2" at as the first digit of his BA in he Majors as he cannot even handle the bat well enough to earn a few sacrifices or walk very often. Seems a real shame.

Felix had the one really bad inning when he could not find the plate but he has actually pitched pretty good tonight. With few exceptions it has been Strike 1 all night for Felix. Rodriguez is a defensive disaster at 3rd for the Rays and as is often the case when struggling, the ball keeps finding him. Single handedly, allowing the Sox to lead tonight. Hellickson-Doubront opposing each other makes three to four hour games a near certainty.

Iggy trying to work his way to his most exciting plate activity...a walk but ends up grounding weakly to 2nd base. While Iggy has gradually looked a bit more competent at the plate as he has gotten more at bats, he really does not have a stroke with the bat. At his size you have to hit the ball pretty cleanly and he just does not do that. Iggy sort of slaps at the ball. Looks like a guy that has spent a lifetime hitting with metal bats. I have yet to see him drive anything anywhere. He did hit a mid-length fly ball earlier tonight but with his swing even that looked more like luck than intent. Not sure what they will be able to do with Iggy now that i have actually seen him hit for an extended period. Clearly they have not broken him of that slap hitting technique and unless he gets a little stronger, it looks to me like he will always struggle to get the ball out of the infield. Meanwhile, Rodriguez continues throwing the ball all over the lot accounting for yet another Sox run. Sox now lead 4-3.

Geez people are disappointed in Iggy's hitting...Lavs is really worrying me at this point. Lavs is supposed to be one of the young hitters we are depending on and he is mired in a terrible slump and looks terrible at the plate.

While I can buy the argument that the Rays are sort of a boring team, there does not even appear to be enough support for MLB in that area. Imagine being able to just walk up to the gate, watch ML ball, basically have your run of the place since it would still be empty if here were another 10k people in the stands. Can't be the weather, at least not tonight. It is pouring in Florida. So it is not like they are all at the beach.

Felix has not been able to coax that high strike from this ump tonight. Has really been frustrating for him as that pitch has been a strike every time. Felix really does not have much else to complain about but the ump has missed that high strike just about every time.