cp176

Pretty close I'd say!

i regret responding to your comment a little because I do think that you know enough about baseball to know that if we had not had Buckner playing for us on his broken down wheels it is likely we would not have been playing for a title in '86. I realize what a heartbreak it was for fans but I can't even imagine how deeply that one play must have affected him. Billy Buck was one hell of a baseball player who had a career that we can only hope that young Mr. Devers can come close to matching.

I brought this up for a different reason though. I hope by now everyone has seen this article. There are lots of things far more important in life than the games we play and certainly the things we tend to argue over here. We don't hear enough about the good that some of these people do. What I admire most about Mookie is that he did not want or expect any recognition for his genuine act of kindness. Regardless of his skill on the field, this truly sets him apart from others. You want a role model, there he is. He looks like a gentleman, he acts like a gentleman, he cares about real things. Being possibly the best player in the game today is somewhat fitting because he certainly is among the better people. You win with people who act and do things like Mookie Betts. 2 to go for the face of this franchise.

Hey not to change the subject but to change the subject, I must have missed all of the posts on here talking about what Mookie and his cousin did following the game the other night. Feeding the homeless and just hoping no one would find out about it. This is just one of the reasons this kid deserves the keys to the city. I love him as we all do but this makes him extra special. I would sign him for whatever it takes and for the number of years that it takes. These are the types of people not just players that you can't afford to lose. Understand though I'm one of those guys who thinks JH can afford to sign him as well as most of his friends.

I don't know how bad the guy is beat up but it would be out of character if Cora sat him to rest him. He has been pulling out all of the stops to win every game in these playoffs. Sitting one of the best hitters in the game thinking that you can afford to because of the 2-0 just doesn't seem like something they would do.

I think that I must have missed something. I think that I watched every inning of both games. I saw JD hobbling around for a little while but it didn't seem to slow him down. I didn't think that it looked bad. Maybe we'll find something out tomorrow. 2 games left in the season - I think he goes if he can. His bat means too much for him to sit. Maybe I'll be surprised.

Hope that Rafael Devers can someday become the player Billy Buck was. It is sad that people still don't think of what he did for us and every team he played for as opposed to this one moment in time. With respect to Devers it is also a little sad that the concern over his fielding is even being discussed when he has looked so good out there. He'll make his mistakes but this discussion is happening because a few of us were talking about how good he has looked. Go figure!

just 2 more to go !!!

Another damn good idea! A spending minimum.

Although I think the idea of letting JD get a few days off to rest the ankle isn't a bad idea, I doubt it happens if he is able to move just a little bit. The bigger question for me I guess is who plays second base? There is no doubt that JBJ is one of the best center fielders in the game but Mookie is damn close behind him. Martinez has played a solid right field for us (please don't waste your time trying to make me believe otherwise). Kinsler is a good second baseman who is comfortable playing beside Bogaerts and he is starting to hit. Mookie, no matter how talented he is, has not played that position in some time and throwing him out there thinking that it is an easy position to play is not right. It might happen I guess but I think that overall with Mookie in Center and Kinsler at second we are a stronger team up the middle then we would be if we played Mookie at second. Once again, it will be interesting to see if it happens and it probably will work out fine if it does.

+++

That might actually be a good idea. That would make as much sense as any of the other suggestions floating around.

With respect to the bullpen and its' leap to stardom, it hasn't hurt one bit that E-Rod, Eovaldi, Porcello, and anybody else who can pitch has been moved out there. It would sure give me a confidence boost knowing that if I screwed up, I had these guys backing me up.

Of course those reasons are valid to those who endorse them all. I am an outlier - I think that if wants him, he'll go after him and every one of those reasons will seem very secondary.

Me too - I hope you didn't interpret what I was saying as truly meaning anything else. I think that his best team out there right now would be with JD in right and Kinsler at second. I do love me some JBJ and I think Mookie is a super hero but moving him to second and sitting down a good second baseman who is producing at the plate would be a risky bold move and likely not his best team.

I think that I must be missing some posts here also because the constant refrain all season long has been that Devers just can't field his position. I'd say so far so good. He has looked good out there and not just average. The right guy is playing third base right now. Our utility players are just that although they are awfully good at what they do.

Not to mention the fact that they have all of that money tied up in a guy who can't pitch in October - Is too old to be productive going forward - has fingers that tingle in cold wet weather - doesn't like talking to the media - and must be a bad teammate because he hasn't publicly apologized to Eck. LOL LOL LOL Sorry I just couldn't help myself. But what the hell, I'm one of the guys who has tried to be supportive of him and not so much with Hanly Ramirez (nice guy who just wants to spend time with his family).

With a 2-0 lead in the series, I think that moving Betts to second would be a hasty decision and I hope he doesn't do it. Plus the fact, Kinsler really looks pretty decent to me right now. My vote - JBJ sits for the third game anyway. We shall see.

Good for him. I hope he winds up in Boston. He is the kind of team player that everyone wants. He has been through quite a bit and when bums are being paid huge amounts of money, it will be nice to see someone who is earning it getting it. For the record, personally I could care less about this "small sample size theory" and his "injury history". He has a rebuilt arm and he is getting better and better. My guess is that Boston will make a big play for him. I totally endorse this comment understanding now that I might get to hear: 1. injury history 2. small sample size 3. JH will not be willing to spend the $ due to restricted budget and penalty costs 4. signing him will make it impossible to sign our other favorites 5. since the cliff is threatening our borders, it would be a waste 6. we should be building from within and he just didn't come from within What did I leave out? Will the braintrust please set me straight. I have clearly become enamored with this flash in the pan. How could I possibly want just another guy who throws 100 mph virtually unhittable strikes. Plus the fact that his confidence grows every time he goes to the mound. Take my comments here for what they are worth though because I am one of those guys who has always felt that anyone saying that David Price just couldn't pitch in October based on his record was nuts .

!!!!!!!

nice start

Wait hey wait a minute - I like that one! Did you come of with that change yourself? That gave me my daily chuckle and I will drink to that shortly! My personal post of the day - a gold star to you! Humor is ok

Now that is a firm opinion. lol - It's a good thing none of us on here are opinionated. Just a joke - I'm pretty sure my years of posting here tell me that most of us are.

I understand this and I get it and you quite likely might be correct in your thinking but trying to predict how a billionaire chooses to spend their money isn't always an easy game to play. Looking at all of the monetary restrictions that have been imposed in an effort to create parody and the size of this team's current budget, i think that the common sense route agrees with your thinking. That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if JH didn't feel quite as constrained by spending limits as most of us think he might. Maybe there is a billionaire amongst us. I'm not sure they view the world quite like I do. There I've come clean - I'm no billionaire!

One of those unwritten rules absolutely unless you truly believe that every umpire who witnessed players leaving the bag early or not even touching the bag were simply just blind. My point which I guess I wasn't clear about was that by using slo mo replay to make sure that an infielders foot made contact with that bag coupled with the rule change (trust me I'm familiar with it) was supposed to give an infielder some protection that he did not have before . If replay is insisted upon in this situation and the sliding rule is not enforced at some point in time it is very likely that a middle infielder is going to get hurt. The only rule change I was even remotely referring to was the sliding rules meant to protect.