Kimmi

This is another one of those notions that is largely untrue.

No matter how good the #1 and #2 hitters are, the #3 guy still comes up the most often with 2 outs and no men on base. That is not the situation where you want your best hitter. I have said many times that I'd put Mookie 4th. But if the choice is between 1st or 3rd, I'm leaving him in the lead off spot. You also have to keep in mind that it's not just about maximizing Mookie's production, but it's about maximizing the entire line up. Moving Mookie from 1st to 3rd has an effect on several other spots and hitters.

Goodness, I don't know where this came from all of a sudden.

Within certain limits, I really don't care where Farrell has them hitting either. He knows his players better than the rest of us. I trust his judgment, and we are winning.

No, I'm not ignoring how good the batters before Betts are. That is all taken into account. The #1 and #2 guys are your highest OBP guys and 2 of your 3 best hitters, and that still leaves some of Betts' talent being 'wasted' in the 3 spot. Anyway, it really doesn't make much of a difference.

If Price can do what Porcello did last night and keep the team in the game, then we can win this. Hopefully, the offense has their hitting shoes on.

The Pablo and Crawford deals may have been head scratchers and terrible contracts, but if the player is projected and expected to be a 4 WAR player (and I'm not talking about any player in particular) but then plays at replacement level, that is not the GMs fault. Price's performance is on him, but Pablo's and Crawford's performances are also on them.

I'm not saying that GMs don't make mistakes. They all have their share of bad moves. Pablo was certainly not a good move, but I still maintain that while expecting some decline was reasonable, anticipating him falling off as much as he did was not. Despite it being a bad contract, almost everyone expected the team to be good enough to make the playoffs. I didn't like the Price contract, but I have not criticized Dombrowski for Price's performance to date. Price was about as sure a bet to uphold the value of his contract through at least the first 3 years as any pitcher could be. If Price stinks for the next 2 years, that is not Dombrowski's fault. The last 3 years of his contract are a different story. My point is that we may or may not like some signings, but if the consensus is that the team is the division favorite, then the GM has done his job for that season. If we fail to make the postseason this year, that will not be Dombrowski's fault, regardless of the fact that I am not a fan of his overall philosophy.

Well said Bama. We are truly fortunate to live in such a great country, and we owe a lot of that to our military. God Bless America.

The term genius may not have been used, but I there are posters who are overly praising him, IMO. IMO, the some of the best moves he has made are the under the radar types of moves, like Moreland and Ziegler. That's where I think he deserves praise.

As sk said so well, generate base runners and the runs will come.

Right back at you! Independence Day win coming up! Go Sox!!!

Well, everyone who wants to bat Mookie 3rd is thinking 'traditionally'. And pretty much every manager's line up is what I would call 'traditional' Bat a guy like Papi or Bonds in the leadoff spot. That's bucking tradition. And any manager would be crucified if he did that, though it wouldn't be a crazy idea.

That could be. I have not seen that study, but it would not surprise me. I do know that the #2 slot has been the most undervalued slot in the line up, based on the types of hitters that managers put in the 2 hole. That is slowly changing though.

I am not trying to tinker with the line up. My line up posts are usually in response to someone else trying to tinker with the line up. The only line up changes I suggest are moving a player down in the order who is struggling and seems to be pressing, just to take some pressure off. That said, line up changes do make some difference, just not very much. If you're going to tinker with the line up, ignoring any human factors, then you should go with what the numbers tell you, IMO.

Home runs are nice, but contrary to popular belief, they are not the key to scoring runs. OBP remains king, and our team has gotten on base at a good clip all year long.

Yeah, it is kind of the point. Dombrowski is being touted as some kind of genius pulling off these signings and these trades, but if you're willing to overpay, any GM can do that. And Dombrowski is doing it with resources made available to him by Ben. Would Ben have made the same moves? Probably not. Would he have made moves to get the Sox back in the playoffs last year if given the chance? I'm 100% certain of it.

Dave Cameron - my man. Even when I don't agree with him, which is rare, when he speaks, I listen.

Pretty good analysis Oldtimer. I was not pleased with Hanley's at bats. He looks like he's swinging for the fences, and we know that hitters are usually not successful in doing that. I did read a funny tweet today about how Hanley is 5 for 6 against lefties since he found out he couldn't hit lefties. The next two pitchers we face in Texas will be tougher than what we've faced in the past 4 or 5 games. It was important to win that first game.

In the 2014 season, pretty much everyone, computers systems and baseball analysts, projected the Sox to finish in first place. The projections weren't quite as good in 2015, but the Sox were projected to be a contender. The teams each of those years were built to contend. What happens on the field is beyond the GMs control.

We really do have it pretty good as Red Sox fans.

The batter in the 3rd hole comes up with the bases empty and 2 outs more than any other slot. Because of that, you are 'wasting' some of the potential of your best hitter by putting him in the 3 hole. It's not that it's not 'appropriate', it's that the 3 hole is not the optimal slot for your best hitter. That said, I will state again that batting Mookie 3rd versus batting him 4th makes so little difference (maybe 2 runs over the entire season), that a manager is better off putting hitters where they feel the most comfortable. While batting order discussions are fun and interesting, the hand wringing over tweaking the line up is really mostly for naught. Now if a manager were willing to go completely against tradition and truly optimize his line up, then we would be talking a difference of 2-3 games. But a manager would be crucified if he did that, not because it would be wrong, but because it opposes most people's opinion of what a line up should look like.

Ha. Funny how that works.

That's pretty much all I've been saying. Except that I would prefer him 4th instead of 3rd.

Awesome play by Pedroia. He had himself one heck of a game.