cp176

I think that you would be surprised at how much I actually agree with you! You are one of the ones that I think we can have a little fun with. We need to have some fun with this forum. I might come off as being a little serious from time to time but for the most part I'm full of ********. Keep posting my friend.

I am officially apologizing for my rant. For the record, I'm not calling everyone who disagrees with me an idiot. There certainly are a few idiots other than myself on here. If your implication is that I am calling anyone who disagrees with me an idiot, then you are wrong. With respect to shifts, I don't mind them at all. That is the type of strategy that comes about from an actual study (metrically I guess) of the game. I personally think that this gives an advantage to any player who has learned bat control no matter how difficult a skill that is to learn.

I'm with you! I also really don't think that it has anything to do with the fact that I am older and stubborn! lol

I've always supported the guy. I just liked him a lot better when he could throw the the ball about 3 miles per hour faster.

I read the article and I really would like to know what other players in the game feel.

Moving Pomeranz to the bullpen accomplishes nothing if he continues to struggle finding the plate.

??? - not everybody - DD did not eviscerate the farm even though he dealt your favorite and someday he may even pitch in a major league game. I could give a s*** what Cherington is doing now. Closers I guess might be over rated by some - not by me. Thing is though, elite closers don't come along that often! Kimbrel is elite. You sign him if you can. You don't just let him go and throw s*** at the wall and hope it sticks. What the f*** do I know right slasher - I hate replay. In an effort to get everything right, most people here would have a f***ing robot calling balls and strikes. Maybe even eliminate shifts right. If losing more fans is your gig, lets all just endorse all of the changes coming to the game. My world just isn't perfect - I love this game but oh well I am growing tired of the geniuses who think that they can make it better by continually eliminating the human factor. I really do wonder what the guys who play the game for a living think about all the new wave s*** that clutters the game? I have hunch I know. Is this where some idiot calls me out because I don't name the geniuses or maybe people like me just get written off because we are old school.

In my mind and in the minds of many others, JD Martinez has helped this offense in many many ways. In the minds of most who have experience in the game, he has in fact offered the type of protection that this team so badly needed. It has to be easier hitting in a lineup that has a hitter of this quality in it.

Does the fact that this information came from a Yale professor supposed to make some sort of impression Slasher? It is probably information that most of us simply could have guessed at. I'll bet that who ever compiled this info was paid for it as well. My question would be why? Why is it important to know something that we already know. Human error! That is how it works. Constantly changing this game in an attempt to make it perfect will eliminate much of this human factor. As a result, the audience who gives a s*** about the game will continue to get smaller than it is right now.

Why really would a franchise like the Red Sox take a chance on cheaping on a closer if they didn't have to? Im sure that there are lots of peckerheads out there who just might become damn good closers but really - why take the chance? It would be a poor man's move and in the case of a large franchise team, absolutely ridiculous. Right - Let's go bargain basement shopping just to prove a point - stupidity personified.

Really Slasher - say it ain't so.

Personaly it is this subjectivity that comes as a result of the human element that has made the game so very entertaining over the years. The more the effort made to clean up and correct all of the faults that occur as a result of human error in many cases, the game just doesn't feel the same.

Multiple ways of looking at things I guess I see here. I like the path the Red Sox have chosen to travel. I believe that they will continue to move along in the right direction. It certainly isn't a discussion that says anything about anyone who thinks they might have a deeper thought process than someone else. I think that it is unique that anyone can vehemently disagree and sound like they might dislike the way a team does business and still be a true fan of that franchise. Understand that I am not saying they aren't fans just that it seems unusual to me. It is one thing to criticize play on the field and management decisions day to day, but to constantly question the overall direction the team is and has been going in?

I read and appreciate your posts even though I may not always agree with what you say because you have actually played the game and understand from a non- sterile perspective What makes it a great game. I understand how important the use of metrics has become and I think that it is important to use them but when too much emphasis is made of them, it tends to make the game a little too clean for me. It is the human element with all of its warts that made me fall in love with baseball. Personally, the statistics for me have always been important but it is the actual play on the field with all of its unmeasuralbes that make it work.

boiled eggs aplenty.

Jerry Remy was the second baseman I always wished that I could have been. Local kid made good! An endearing, humble, fun loving man in the booth. He'll beat this again.

This is pretty much what I have been saying . It is why I place so much significance on the regular season. I have not been spoiled. I'll take what ever we get once we get to the playoffs. Winning it all requires a great deal of luck during the second season.

If anyone is playing for an aggressive running team and they are distracted and affected by a player when they attempt to steal a base, there is a good chance that that player should not be playing for that team. I'm a real believer in "what goes around comes around", stealing bases, moving runners along by any means and just in general playing good fundamental baseball is going to make a return.

I'm with you here for sure.

Thanks - and I do appreciate people who feel this way. I love those rings too but I still feel that you have to be damn lucky to get one even if you are the far better team.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones here because I look at just getting to the playoffs as a much greater feat than actually winning once you get there. In my opinion, it is by far a much tougher job to keep a team motivated, moving , and winning throughout the course of the regular season. Slightly above average teams have lucked out on more than one occasion and come out big winners. Get me to the dance - small or big - and I'm proud and happy as well. It is nice to win it all but I will never judge a player or coach based on what they do in the payoffs. Once again the opinion that some have that if you don't win it all then you are not successful is a totally hot dose of stinking ******** the way I see things. In the playoffs which I think are far too long anyway, anything can happen. The best teams don't always win. Too much luck involved. Once again it is just me, but maybe that is why I think that Cora right now is a far better coach then we have seen in some time and also that our General Manager is equally as good.

Reading your posts has made it much more clear to me. Dave Dombrowski has done an excellent job as the GM of this team. I absolutely believe that he will continue to do so as we move forward. I am enjoying a good old solid dose of New England dominance. Our lineup is filled with players who seem to be of pretty good character. they work hard and they like each other. Our team being in the hands of our current ownership, Cora, and DD indicates to me that we will be just fine as we head into the future. I have every expectation that we will compete at a high level for years to come and there will obviously be plenty of griping about how the franchise does what it does. Personally I will continue to enjoy the types of players that make up our roster and I could care less about how they are all acquired. Just a fan here who doesn't believe in playing GM particularly through the use of hindsight. Obviously contract signings are going to just continue getting tougher for every competitive team. I'm just glad that we have someone who is more than competent at what they do leading the way.

I'm not sure that he was too big a problem, but it is really pretty obvious that our team is a better team without him. His productive years were all used up and our guys were sharp enough to see it. Maybe Hanley was the great teammate that some said he was and maybe he wasn't. who really knows? I like the guys that were brought in a lot more than I ever liked Hanley Ramirez.

I've really come a long way on this one. In my time as a Sox fan, got to say I have seen and enjoyed my share of great ones for sure. This guy is special. I don't think that they can slap a price tag on him. If he gets away, the cost to this franchise in today's world of declining interest in America's past time, might be too much for them to bear. He is worth that much. It'll get done.

We are fortunate that our current ownership has never embraced the theory of what many of our fans think the "farm" exists for. Our lower level talent pool really does have some interesting kids there. As long as Henry keeps the club and has DD as the GM, this team competes for many many years. Let's go. Someone here said that DD traded away "elite" pieces to acquire Sale and Kimbrel. What really makes any of those traded elite? We have a young team, an excellent GM, and an owner who seems to identify with doing what it takes to win. Not just now but year after year. with respect to this elite talent (lol) that was traded away, sorry I for one am very content with the players that they were used to bring in for us.