jad

I know he does. That's why I think it should be correctible. The same thing happened to Ellsbury years back-- surely there must be things that hitting coaches can do to shake someone out of such slumps. One tactic I heard from a coach--forget who it was--was that he would simply make something up (you're not watching the ball, you need to kick higher, you're gripping the bat too loosely), and have the guy focus exclusively on that, nothing else. It was complete b.s., but it jolted the guy into focussing on one thing, letting the natural ability do the rest. (The same thing of course works in golf, which is why everyone has a thousand golf tips they have tried and firmly believe they work: they're all useless, but concentrating on any one of them will generally 'get your mind right' and result in improvement). Maybe players are so sophisticated now that they're beyond being 'tricked' effectively in this way.

Since the RS are paying a hitting coach, who got a lot of credit earlier in the year, why don't they ask him nicely to do something to correct whatever has happened to JBJ? It can't be that the league has discovered a flaw in his swing, since the same thing happened last year: for a while he hits everything. Then falls off a cliff.

"Gay"-rod. Wow. I get it. That's so funny! You must be a professional. Either that, or you're 10 years old. (Did you know he was Hispanic? I'll bet you could come up with something really good based on that too.)

Not all a-hole 15-year-olds are a-hole-racist/anti-Semitic 15 year olds who need to get laid.

Exactly: the best definition of a clutch hitter (since several posters have noted that we all on some level believe in the existence of such a thing--as fans we can believe whatever we want) is a hitter who doesn't choke. There was in fact a quantifiable study on this, that began with a couple of assumptions (1) that you could define 'clutch' situations, and (2) that a presumably 'clutch' hitter (that is, one who performed better in those situations) would do that year after year. But they didn't (that is, the fact that someone would do better in clutch situations one year was no guarantee of doing so the next year). i.e., what looks like 'clutch' hitting is pure chance. Now obviously a .350 hitter is better in the clutch that a .250 hitter. That's why Ortiz is so good: his performance in clutch situations is the same as elsewhere. Another one who would fit this is Manny, who seemed never to give a crap what the situation was (probably the best attitude for a hitter to have). (For you duffer golfers out there, this is why you can hit provisions so well, or why you play so much better when you don't keep score! ... did I mention my hole-in-one two weeks ago on just such a shot?)

By "baseball needs to learn," you mean the players' union has to completely give up what it has negotiated for and turn over power to the owners?

Still, upstaged by Lester's walk-off in the 12th. (Obviously, should NEVER have let him go.)

Exactly

Oh, I watch when I can too. But doesn't 'this season is better than the last two' only mean "They likely won't end up in last place"? That's astonishing given the years of Betts, Bogaerts, Papi!, JBJ, even Pedroia and of course Leon, as well the unexpected improvement of Hanley (none of them were expected to play as well as they have) and the acquisition of two of the best pitchers in the league.

Finally! Got the hitting to match the pitching! It really sucks to lose 2-1 or 9-8, and to waste good hitting or pitching performances.

As long as once league-leading hitters swing at 3-2 pitches that bounce in front of the plate, he should be fine.

Didn't see it, but it must have been awful to inspire a string of subjunctives and conditionals like that! (If we had some ham [hitting], we could have some ham and eggs [wins], if we had some eggs [pitching]) Glad you survived it.

The other problem is that, contrary to popular belief, the air is lighter on humid, drizzly days, so a pitch like a knuckleball probably doesn't move as much. Might be true of curves too. (It's also true of hits, although announcers persist in describing moist air as "heavy", which it is not.) It would be easy enough to check stats on this, although I don't know if anyone has.

Taking the bat out of the hands of a .400 hitter in order to bunt is the kind of Old School move that has served the Sox well in 3 of the last 4 years.

Wasn't this week a time (we were told) that the RS could 'put some distance' between themselves and Baltimore? Well, at least in that, they have succeeded.

Yeah, that had to be tough on him, going in with an 8-0 lead. Obviously, he was just trying to get it down to something more comfortable, where he would have that focus. Can't understand why Farrell took him out once he got there.

Yeah, really. It was only one bad inning out of four, and even there, there were only a couple of home runs. Why hell, if you do that at the plate, you'd be hitting .750! And your HR numbers would be awesome.

Ah. I see you posted that after the third. How are you enjoying this now?

I assume, if the rehab is so short, they must be taking the option often said to be chosen by athletes for small tears: just snipping off the torn section, rather than trying to surgically repair it. Theoretically, you end up paying for it later. (Of course we have no information on any of this, but then, that's in keeping with most of the discussions here, no?)

Ouch! That was ugly. Looks like he'll be back on the DL.

He must have assumed that with a throw like that, there would be a play at the plate?

As long as hitters keep swinging at balls up around their eyes, Price should be fine.

"Without naming names?" ... Why? these are entertainers, not overly sensitive colleagues. Say who you are talking about so that the rest of us can discuss it.

L.A.? Then perhaps, like me, you turned to NBA news for some relief from this horrific game and discovered that the Cllippers' GM, instead of landing Kevin Durant, just paid $36mil to re-sign the Clippers' coach's son?

Ha ha! Never touch the stuff. But I do kick back occasionally and think of the glory days of the RS in the late fifties and sixties, while musing on their performance in 3 or the last 4 years.