FredLynn

Its time, isn't it. The Yankees will win at least two games in this series. I think its time we started unloading some of our aging players, like Youkilis, and plan for the future-while they still have some trade value. I think that in a couple of year we could be a very strong team again.

There is an article in the SF Chronicle today that supports Valentine vis a vis Youk. Its written by John Shea and is titled: "Valentine shouldn't have apologized", in bold. I am going to use some selected areas to get the gist of the article across. Shea compared this situation with one that occurred with Aubrey Huff last year. The Giants manager called out Huff saying Huff "owned up to what happened this year, and he knows his struggles helped cause our struggles". The Giants GM backed up his manager. Shea says that if Huff had been pushed to do better earlier in the year (this was said towards the end of the year) maybe he would have pushed himself to do better. Shea goes on to mention that Pedroia "piled on" Valentine when he said "thats not the way we do things around here, he will figure that out" and says that "Truth is, its the players who need to figure it out. Valentine is the manager because the players treated their clubhouse like as country club last year, prompting management to replace Terry Francona, who always protected his guys, with Valentine, who's obviously as straight shooter". Shea concludes by saying that "Valentine apologized, which really wasn't necessary", "Valentine should have stood his ground", and "players should have respected his words", and finally "Thats the way its supposed to work". Can't say as I disagree with much of that any more. Very persuasive arguement, isn't it.

If we give up just six runs tonite, our team ERA will go DOWN. Everyone ready to bring on the Yankees?

This team stinks folks. 6-2 now. Time to turn the game off. The Celtics are on and could clinch the Atlantic division tonite.

Spears deserves a spot on a ML roster somewhere. Very versatile, hits a bit too. This team is just painful to watch now.

I made no pretense about "knowing" anything. How any player will finish the year is all guesswork. I was just presenting his history since last July-a fairly LARGE sample size involving nearly 200 PAs last year alone. The only indicator that gives us any framework to estimate how a player will perform is his recent history, so I looked that up. Its not a pretty sight.

Kevin Youkilis stats from July 1, 2011 to end of season: BA: .240 OPS: .764 Thats about where I expect him to finish this season. Not as bad as he has been, but nowhere near his career numbers. I think he is working as hard as he can, but he is losing his skills. Too bad...I feel sorry for the guy.

I read that already. I still have no trust in the Red Sox medical personnel after the bungling of Ellsbury's injuries two years ago and Buchholtz's injury last year. I am sure they will try rest and rehab first, as they should, but if that doesn't work surgery remains a possibility despite what they are now claiming.

You seem like the MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD. At the risk of po'ing our mod, I think that one picture on a night like this, for comic relief, is in order: http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww58/barrydkusumah/revised_dos_equis_man.jpg

No. You get AIDS from MAKIN' BACON.....

You could change it to: WILL OF THE NATION

Maybe I should give it a try. In some perverse way it might work.

Youk is 0 for 3 with 3 Ks. Wow. Looks like Valentine had nothing to apologize for.

Lester sure stepped up tonite, eh? Seems that we will be able to win games when we can score at least 6-12 runs, but if its just 3-4 runs its going to be near impossible. Such is life with a crappy pitching staff.

You mean the guys that put out fires?

The way I understand it SFF is that a 100% subluxation= a dislocation. Also, frequently a dislocation pops back into place on its own. If the head of the humerus only partly left the socket then popped back in it would certainly be very painful, but is classified as a subluxation and again, is far less serious. Ellsbury did indeed have an MRI done and they are saying that there is no evidence of cartilage/ligament damage. Hopefully the MRI was done with contrast because thats really the best way to visualize those kinds of soft tissue injuries (ie cartilage/ligament damage). I have to admit that I don't really trust our medical staff very much. I heard the head of the staff was fired but most of the rest of the staff is the same..could be wrong. The problem with the shoulder joint is this: think of a basketball (the head of the humerus- upper arm bone near the shoulder) trying to stay in a socket that looks like a tea saucer. The socket is too small and not deep enough. That is why shoulders are inherently unstable when compared to other ball and socket joints in the body like the hip. Too much detail?

Here is how subluxation is differentiated from dislocation. Its the best explanation of a confusing subject: ■ Dislocations This happens when the head of the humerus completely pops out of the socket. The first few times this happens, it is usually with significant trauma (although some people can have these without any injury at all). After that, it can get easier and easier for the joint to dislocate. Most shoulder dislocations are anterior. This means that the ball pops out the front of the socket. ■ Subluxations This is the feeling that the shoulder slips slightly out of socket, then immediately comes back in place. This often happens without any major trauma. Sometimes it happens in people who are very "loose-jointed". Sometimes these happen in just one direction (like out the front, or anterior), and other times they happen out multiple directions (e.g., front, anterior and back, posterior). This is called "multidirectional instability". I am not an orthopedist, just a pediatrician (the disclaimer). I interpret this to mean that a subluxation is a partial dislocation and is much less serious form of trauma. Since Ellsbury is young, the odds of him having a Bankart lesion (tearing of shoulder ligaments, frequently requiring surgery to fix) with a subluxation is less than had he had a dislocation (see above: Bankart lesions are present in 90% of young people under 30 with actual dislocations), so thats really good news. This assumes that they are telling us the truth (and they are under no obligation to tell us the truth) and that they have the diagnosis right. I think about six weeks is a good estimate for a shoulder subluxation. Keep your fingers crossed.

More information about shoulder dislocations (Ells may not have this-he could have a subluxation which is not a serious): The Bankart lesion is a specific injury to a part of the shoulder joint called the labrum. The shoulder joint is a ball and socket joint, similar to the hip; however, the socket of the shoulder joint is extremely shallow, and thus inherently unstable. To compensate for the shallow socket, the shoulder joint has a cuff of cartilage called a labrum that forms a cup for the end of the arm bone (humerus) to move within. This cuff of cartilage makes the shoulder joint much more stable, yet allows for a very wide range of movements (in fact, the range of movements your shoulder can make far exceeds any other joint in the body). What is a Bankart lesion? When the labrum of the shoulder joint is torn, the stability of the shoulder joint is compromised. A specific type of labral tear is called a Bankart lesion. A Bankart lesion occurs when an individual sustains a shoulder dislocation. As the shoulder pops out of joint, it often tears the labrum, especially in younger patients. The tear is to part of the labrum called the inferior glenohumeral ligament. When the inferior glenohumeral ligament is torn, this is called a Bankart lesion. What happens after sustaining a Bankart injury? Typical symptoms of a Bankart lesion include: •a sense of instability •repeat dislocations •catching sensations •aching of the shoulder Often patients will complain that they cannot "trust" their shoulder, fearing it may dislocate again. How is the diagnosis of a Bankart lesion made? Most young patients (under the age of 30) who sustain a shoulder dislocation will sustain a Bankart lesion; therefore, there is a high suspicion of this injury whenever a patient dislocates their shoulder. On examination, patients will often have a sense their shoulder is about to dislocate if their arm is placed behind their head. X-rays are sometimes normal, but they may show an injury to the bone called a Hill-Sachs lesion. This is a divot of bone that was injured when the shoulder dislocation occurred. A MRI may also be obtained in patients who are suspected of having a Bankart lesion. Bankart lesions do not always show up well on MRI scans. When a MRI is performed with an injection of contrast, a Bankart lesion is much more likely to be seen. What is the treatment for a Bankart lesion? There are two general options for the treatment of a Bankart lesion. One option is to allow the arm to rest, and the inflammation to subside with the use of a sling. This is usually followed by physical therapy to regain motion of the extremity. The potential downside of this option is that people who dislocate a shoulder once are much more likely to dislocate the shoulder again. The other option is to perform surgery to repair the torn labrum. When surgery is performed, the torn labrum of the Bankart lesion is reattached to the socket of the shoulder. The results of surgery are usually very good, with over 90% of patients returning to their activities without any further dislocations. More and more commonly this surgery is being performed arthroscopically; however, there are indications in some patients who should have a Bankart repair performed through a standard incision.

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/pfx.php?month=4&day=13&year=2012&game=gid_2012_04_13_tbamlb_bosmlb_1%2F&pitchSel=277417&prevGame=gid_2012_04_13_tbamlb_bosmlb_1%2F&prevDate=413 Here, for anyone interested, is the link to Beckett's data from yesterday's game. He topped out at 92.4mph, but his average fastball was 91.1. In Detroit his max speed was 92.5 and his average velocity was just over 91. Very similar data. Maybe he can pitch at that velocity, but I would like to see him a little faster.