cp176

So far today, I have read that the Yankees are all in on Machado, Harper, and now Kershaw. Pretty soon they will be in on every free agent. lol For the record, Kershaw would be the only one I would not want to see them able to sign.

You really keep track of how many times you question Cora's calls? I realize that we have people here who question and second guess almost every move Cora makes but I have to applaud you for only calling him out 8 times. You know that there are people here who are never wrong right?

Oh man I'm ok with a minor beatdown from all of my "friends" on talksox but I'm afraid that it doesn't change my opinion about the value of human interaction in this game. Continuing to sterilize it an an attempt to "get it right" isn't going to enhance its popularity. Age really has nothing to do with this either. It is all about people to people. The popular approach and the safe approach today is to try to get everything right but that doesn't make it right. Personally I miss an occasional manager umpire confrontation. I respect all of your opinions too for real just like I know you all respect mine. If you continue to robotocize, when does it stop? Oh well, I'm one of those people who more enjoy discussing the topics we discuss here in person as opposed to in print. I hope that doesn't make me too old even though i had to have the extra dose of my flu shot the other day for the first time. The old person's extra dose.

They are interesting plus they are focused and very determined I've said right from the beginning that the team has done a great job with the types of players that they have brought in as well as the types of players that they have gotten rid of. We haven't heard much but what we have heard is that these guys like each other and to a player support each other. I like that. Alex Cora is certainly partly responsible for this. I think that he has a pretty good idea of the types of guys he wants on the roster. This is far more important to me than any in game decisions that he might make.

I think that Francona goes down as one of the best ever but not simply because of championships. They help for sure but there have been many many great coaches who never won one. We'll see how Cora does over the long haul - one season does not a career make but he is off to a good start. if i felt that winning titles was that much of a career definer than i would have to believe that Eli Manning is a better QB than Dan Marino was - I don't. Eli is not a Hall of Famer regardless of the titles.

Turning the game into a technological monster and trending toward eliminating the human factor will do nothing to help grow the game. People just seem to keep things interesting.

I sure hope this doesn't happen.

Kind of like using or not using Kimbrel in the 9th for me. You coach a team over the course of a long long successful season and then you all of a sudden make a philosophical change in the 11th hour. I don't think so. It is a no brainer that Price starts and that he starts game number two. A short leash i guess but he starts.

I'm not going to criticize Cora for any move that he makes. He has been too good over the course of a remarkable season. It is the whole process of scripted pitching that bugs me. I'm not sure that you need designated 7th, 8th inning guys. A guy in that "role" blows through an inning of that magnitude and makes it look easy, couldn't you kind of maybe at least let him start the next inning? Sale - one inning max the other night for sure but Barnes and Brasier - they couldn't of at least started the next inning? it is a plan that is used by almost every team in the game so I guess that is just the way it goes. And no, once the plan is in place you aren't going to change it. Kimbrel in the 9th regardless and there was no other choice. He gets it done or he doesn't. No Kelly and no Workman. Maybe we got a little lucky but it worked. Oh and I feel that I have to add no I am not in favor of closer by committee.

agree here

Sadly this is the way it is in many very very important jobs across this country - jobs a lot more important than umpiring. Seniority just seems to be rewarded far more often than just being good.

!!!! - and boy did he ever pitch a gem. A real Yankee killer this guy. Young guy - rebuilt arm - keep him.

There were also people here suggesting for real that Devers not be on the playoff roster. That one I could not believe.

I guess we found out where Holt and Devers were!!!

This is a very determined focused, all in kind of team.

Liking this a lot!!!

You have a offered great deal here. You played the game! You were and might still be an athlete. Statistics are important to you for sure but the big but is they don't dictate quite to the extent that the primarily metrics folks think they do the outcomes of games. Home field - the crowd - momentum- how you feel about a pitcher on any given day - these are the things that truly matter. Using statistics might give someone a safe bet from day to day but in the real world of athletics you just never know. I think that David Price is an obviously gifted pitcher. I also believe that he has a thing about the Yankees. It is in his mind. I guess to some it might seem condescending but I also I guess I don't care. To understand the importance of these types of things , yup I do think that you have to have had some hands on practical experience in the game or games.

The days of players not wanting to come to Boston are long gone. I'm glad that you mentioned this though since if the belief is that feeling wanted makes more players want to come here and play harder then I'm all for making them feel wanted although I think that if John Henry shows them that they are wanted that probably is enough. If the thought is that happy players play better then clearly someone else believes in all of the unquantifiable things that I do. Momentum can change in a heartbeat but indeed it matters. If you believe that you can do something, quite often you can. I also like seeing the use of the word pride here - having some can also be a great motivator. This has been a wonderful season. We have a team that is young and hungry. They play together and they obviously like each other and understand how all of the intangibles can help lead to winning. I like our chances but I also recognize That the Yankees a damn good team as well. I don't think that me saying that makes me negative. I think that it makes me a realist. There will always be people who want to poke the bear but I don't think that too many fans right now are nasty negative. I do love your positive passion as a real Red Sox fan though.

I'm not arguing that! What fool would. 0-2 - I think I have earned a little credit for minor amounts of baseball wisdom. Yes you do and there isn't anything wrong with it. We all like to have people agree with us. He got squeezed!

He likes it when people agree with him even if what is being said is ********.

Pretty sure that I am going to stand by what I said. You get to praise that home plate umpire all you want to and criticize Price all you want. Never did I suggest that he pitched well nor did I say anything about him not serving up the gopher balls. He got squeezed which very well might have affected his game. Tanaka got calls that he did not.

lol That is right Moon because here on this forum it has been confirmed that there is no such thing as momentum, home field advantage, clutch players, or players who choke. I'm saying that last night Price got screwed by the home plate umpire. He is a pitcher not a thrower. If he can't get the corners, he isn't going to beat a team like the Yankees. Despite that, I have no interest in robotic strike callers. Lord knows all of the wonderful technological "advancements" that we live with have already screwed up enough things. Here we have two excellent baseball teams playing in a series that could go either way. The Red Sox can certainly win this series. Hopefully they will but sadly so can the Yankees.

I like the fact that you still like watching highlights from this incredible time in baseball. We suffered for so long that "wait till next year" seemed to be an expression we got used to by Memorial Day. Captain Carl - Dick Williams - and the rest of those great young athletes helped to change the history that we had had to deal with for so long. Go back to 1967 and watch Yaz's catch in April when Billy Rohr came so close to throwing a no hitter. He had times during that season that he literally did carry that team right on his back. That catch seemed to set the tone for the season in my mind at the time.

This is so so true. An absolute pleasure to be able to cheer for a young exciting Red Sox team that had obvious rising stars. In '75 we played the series without Rice. In '67, we played the series without Tony C. Having them in their day could have made all of the difference.

I agree with you here for sure. I don't like seeing these types of unfounded statements being made but it is what people do these days. People who cannot accept the fact that JD will be used in the outfield from time to time because it disagrees with their thinking, will probably want to believe something like this. Martinez, although having expressed an interest in playing in the field, hasn't appeared selfish to me at all. He appears to be exactly the type of player that we need.