Maxbialystock

Maeda ® vs. Houck ®, big edge to Houck But of course Houck and his 1.90 ERA are 4-5, season to date Duran LF Abreu RF Wong C Devers 3B Refsnyder DH Smith 1B Grissom 2B Hamilton SS Rafaela CF

You got me. The Trop is much, much worse. And maybe Wrigley is too. But the simple fact is that Fenway is over 100 years old and has lousy sight lines for some seats. Camden Yards and the new Nationals Park have nothing but good sight lines. Ditto Royals Park in KC. I do like that you can use public transport to get to Fenway, but so can you (the Metro) to National's Park.

I blame Fenway Park, not the product on the field. That's why I cited the average attendances in 2013, 2018, and 2019--all seasons before covid and all seasons when the product on the field was exceptionally good. As for this season, 2024, I'm astounded it's still over 30K/game. Except for Devers, this is a no-name team that commits a lot of errors and can't score runs. To me Fenway is the worst ballpark in MLB. I've been to just two games there and both times it was like watching the game through the wrong end of binoculars. The ticket prices are insane, and the food is expensive and so-so. On the other hand, I never had a bad seat at Camden Yards, Royals park in KC, Philly (the old park), Griffith Stadium (old Washington Senators park), or the new Washington Nationals park.

Casas reportedly is making terrific progress and could return on the 60th day, June 21. Yoshida is hitting off a tee. O'Neill is on 10 day IL with a bad knee. He struck out 10 times in 15 at bats before Cora pulled him from the lineup.

Meh. After the 86 year curse/drought, he brought 4 WS wins. During that same period, 2002-2023, the Yankees, who have consistently outspent the Sox and who overall have won a whopping 27 WS, have won 1 WS. So I refuse to jump on your anti-Henry bandwagon, not because I'm happy with the current state of affairs, but because I just watch the games on mlb.com/tv (and miss some of them because of the insane blackout restrictions) and because I was a Sox fan for 54 of the 86 years of the drought/curse. The Sox fans who should be raising the biggest fuss are the ones who go to the games at Fenway. Interestingly, the attendance at Fenway increased quickly after JH took over and had several seasons of 81 home game sellouts, which led to increasing the Fenway seating capacity by about 1,000 (from 36.7K to 37.7K). However, by 2013, the year the Sox won their 3d WS under JH, attendance averaged just 34,979. In 2018, the best season in Sox history with 108 wins (plus 11-3 in the postseason), it averaged just 35,747 and in 2019 36,106. Then came covid in 2020, and in the 4 seasons since 2020, average attendance has averaged 21,300 (in 2021), 32,408 (2022), 32,989 (2023), and this year 31,311. In 2002, the last year before the JH era, the average Fenway attendance was 32,716.

Apt.

Ahem. He was equally speechless (because of the stuttering) after hitting 21 of 22 shots to win the NC. I was pretty much anti-hippie, but remain fascinated that a truly gifted basketball player would go that route--and actively oppose the Vietnam War. His right as an American citizen.

Silly, but apt. Martin is definitely our guy, but griping about those bunts was just dumb. I have been up and down like a rollercoaster this spring, and last night was a complete nosedive. It was in fact the perfect game for Martin to have a bad night because the Sox weren't going to score any runs.

I like "Martin pulled a nutty" because that's in fact what he did.

This Sox team is creeping toward pathetic territory. Well, the lineup, anyway.

In his 3d AB vs Flaherty, Devers saw 6 pitches, none of which were in or even near the strike zone, and he swung at 3 of them.

Abreu is clueless. In two at bats, he was thrown 8 straight balls--that is, pitches comfortably outside the strike zone. In the first at bat he struck out swinging--not fouls or foul tips--on 3 of those balls. In the 2d at bat, he got two balls, remained completely oblivious that he he had yet to see a pitch in the strike zone, and swung at the 3d pitch, also outside the strike zone, and grounded out weakly.

I also was wrong about Crawford, Wong, and the pitching coach. After the game Crawford talked at length about walking McCann with 2 on and 2 out. He knew how important that was and that he basically blew it. No one needed to tell Crawford what he had to do.

I'm not there yet. I prefer to say this lineup can do it. But I say that mostly because there ain't no Schwarbers available right now.

Weak bat.

Most of us like funny, but don't always agree on what is and isn't. In my case, I just prefer commentators who can provide insights into the game being played. I didn't like Bobby Knight, but thought his insights were excellent. My favorite coach was Dean Smith, and I thought his color commentary (after he retired) was awful--and thankfully brief.

Payroll has trended downward, 2020 to 2024, but the Sox payroll is still 11th biggest out of 30 MLB teams. This almost matches the Sox attendance to date, which is 12th. In 2018 the Sox payroll was the highest in MLB and the attendance was 9th. So maybe JH is trying to spend about what the Sox bring in--relative to other MLB teams.

Game was over the instant Burnes took the mound because the Sox simply cannot hit him. This was the same lineup that batted in 8 runs last night. Tonight the 1 run was unearned thanks to 2 Orioles errors. Nevertheless I remain astounded by the bottom half of the 2d. Crawford had given up a run and had 2 men on, but he also had 2 outs. Coming up was the Orioles McCann, batting 9th with his OPS of .500. In the on deck circle was a monster-- Henderson with his 17 dingers and over .900 OPS. If there was one certainty about that moment it was that Crawford absolutely had to throw strikes to Mann. Crawford should have known that, but maybe he was too focused on his pitching. So Wong or the pitching coach should have reminded him via a trip to the mound. But no one did that, and Mann was walked on 5 pitches to load 'em up for Henderson. At that point there was absolutely nothing constructive to tell Crawford, who needed a miracle, not advice. But sure enough out came the pitching coach to tell him---- what?

I'd rather have Refsnyder than Yoshida and/or O'Neill. And Story has massively underperformed for three straight years. Good glove, but not enough innings/games, and a weak back.

I agree we don't need to play both McGuire and Wong in the same game. I'm suggesting that the recent downturn in Sox pitching might be related to McGuire catching fewer games. I like a Wong a lot, but I like winning more.

1 terrible inning by Crawford and 3 pretty good ones. And zero good innings for the Sox lineup. The Orioles gave them that 1 run.

I don't know exactly what sabermetrics says about bunts. Maybe, as you imply, they don't like sacrifice bunts. And maybe statistics agree with that. But, as you say, it's still a useful skill that can even get you some hits.

McGuire no longer exists. He's caught 3 games since May 13. More importantly, all 3 were not only wins, but well-pitched games: 2-1, 5-2, and 5-0. Wong is the better hitter, agreed, but maybe McGuire should catch more games.

4th inning, and the Sox so far have 1 hit, 3 K's, and an unearned run. Crawford has given up 5 runs, 3 hits (including a grand slam), a walk, and of course an HBP.

Agree--and agree. Sabermetrics insists that bunts are stupid, stupid, stupid.