Maxbialystock

Any 10 games in a season can be important, but I kind of like the next 10--3 vs the Brewers; 3 @ the Orioles; and 4 vs. the Tigers--as an indicator of which is more real, the current 4 game winning streak when the Sox hit the dang ball, or the 5-11 record before that when they didn't. Brewers lead the NL Central @ 28-21 and have almost exactly the same run differential, +38, as the Sox, +39. So they are a good litmus test. The Orioles, as they did last season, have been kicking our butts and swept the Sox @ the Fens 6 weeks ago (7-1, 7-5, 9-4). Let it be noted, however, that most of the butt kicking was against the Sox rotten defense and so-so bullpen. So I do not believe this series (Fri, Sat, Sun) is a lost cause. Finally, 4 vs the 23-27 Tigers back at Fenway Park, is a series the Sox should win if the rotation remains solid, the defense doesn't go sour, the bullpen doesn't blow up, and the lineup keeps hitting. Right now the 5 Sox starters--Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Houck, and Criswell--are about as good as we could possibly hope for. And their combined salaries add up to $15M. And the hitting seems to be coming around. As I said elsewhere, maybe all they need/needed was some confidence because the current available OPS's--Ref .956, Devers .925, O'Neill .882, Wong .882, Abreu .842, Duran .800, Gonzalez .730, McGuire .708, Hamilton .696, and Rafaela .585--are almost decent. Grissom .316 is not, nor is Smith .483 or Cooper .592. Thus is Cora more than willing to pinch hit. The point is, these 10 games--which I have arbitrarily selected--can help determine where the hitting and pitching are. Which reminds me--the bullpen is up and down like a yo-yo, but did not jeopardize the 4 game winning streak the Sox are on (thanks to the rotation and hitting). Same goes for the defense. I kind of like the outfield of Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu, and even Ref and O'Neill are almost decent. The infield, however, has been error prone and also "should-have-been-an-error prone." Like when Devers grabbed a grounder a game or two ago, checked his watch, looked at the flags, waved to a fan, and finally threw to 1b late. Nevertheless, Devers has made some good plays and so have the others. I do not consider the infield defense to be hopeless. This is not an especially young team, but it is an inexperienced one. Duran, Abreu, Wong, Grissom, Hamilton, and Rafaela--6 players who start a lot of games these days--are in their first or second full season of MLB. It's possible they will improve as they gain experience. We already know that's true of Duran, Abreu, and Wong--and Casas, on the IL until June 21.

It's factual and irresistible to an editor.

That's what the write-up on Koufax says--that with backspin his fastball gave the impression of rising (without actually doing so). Eck would have known about Koufax, who will turn 90 next year. When he announced his retirement at age 30, he said he wanted to be able to live the rest of his life without great discomfort from his left arm. Turns out, he made exactly the right decision.

Go back and look at those strikeout, ERA, IP, and complete game stats I cited. Koufax was an incredible phenom, if only for six years, 1961-66. I agree today's game has a whole lot more technology to measure spin rates, etc, to say nothing for positioning players on defense, analyzing swings and pitching motions, etc. But I'm not sure that makes these guys better because I know what I saw then and what I see today. One thing we can measure in both eras is number of home runs. And right now it sure looks to me as those both Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron had swings every bit as good as any in the game today. And, while we're on the topic of eras, Mays, Ruth, and Aaron didn't use drugs/supplements to enhance performance they way the modern guys (Bonds, et al) have.

He's being funny. As a Sox fan, I love the season Houck is having, but he is nothing compared to Koufax, even with all the computer data supporting him.

Agree on fastballs, but he did in fact have backspin on the heater. And the curve is reputed to have been the best ever. You are obviously joking about Houck, who is having a great season so far, but who is nothing compared to Koufax. Defenses, sadly, are probably better today than in Koufax's day because of those computer programs which determine the positioning of infielders and outfielders based on hitting data for every batter.

I went from '49 to '04, but with a giant caveat. I only lived in Massachusetts for 6 months when I was born and later, 1953-54, when I was in 8th and 9th grades. Those 16 months made me a fanatic, but for the next 45 years I rarely could even watch a Sox game on TV. When I lived in OK, I was an Astros fan and listened to their games on radio. In PA, a Phillies fan. In VA, an Orioles fan of sorts. In NY, a basketball fan (Knicks when they won their two NBA titles with Bill Bradley, Frasier, Monroe, Debusschere, and Reed). In KS, I went to Royals games. Finally, circa 2001, I got satellite cable and could watch Sox games. So, very frankly, I definitely didn't suffer much during the 86 year drought. However, I also missed every bit of the 1967 season because I was very busy overseas. Same for the 1975 season--and 1986.

You're dead wrong. I've watched both Koufax and Houck pitch and can assure you that, once Koufax was able to command/control his pitches, he was unreal in a way that Houck could never be. His curve dropped like a rock and his fast ball rose like a rocket. Moreover, in his last six seasons he pitched 255, 184, 311, 223, 335, and 323 innings with ERA's (in the same order, 1961-66) of 3.53, 2.54, 1.88, 1.74, 2.04, and 1.73. In those same 6 seasons he pitched, same order, 15, 11, 20, 15, 27, and 27 complete games. Same six seasons, he had 269, 216, 305, 223, 382, and 317 K's. Do I need to remind you that, as recently as last year, there was doubt that Houck could face a batting order a third freaking time? Koufax was 30 years old in his last season, 1966, and quit because the doctors insisted he must. In his last two seasons, 1965 and 1966, Koufax received a cortisone shot and capsaicin-based capsolin rubbed into his shoulder and arm before every game. After each game, he soaked his arm in ice, but with a rubber sleeve to prevent frostbite. For pain he took empirin with codeine every night and sometimes during games. He threw a perfect game on September 8, 1965. He threw 4 no-hitters. He twice struck out 18 in a single game. He was the first NL pitcher in 20 years to post an ERA under 2.00 and he did it 3 times. In 1963 and 1965 he was the World Series MVP.

In high school his primary sport was basketball and led his high school team in scoring his senior year with 16.5 pts per game (2d highest in the league). He played in an exhibition game against the NY Knicks and (at 6'2") twice dunked against Harry Gallatin, the Knicks star. The Dodgers GM, Buzzie Bavasi, treated his star pitcher like spit. After a magnificent 1963 season, Koufax asked for a raise to $75K, which was a lot, but Bavasi leaked that he asked for $90K, which was a lie.

You're dead wrong. I've watched both Koufax and Houck pitch and can assure you that, once Koufax was able to command/control his pitches, he was unreal in a way that Houck could never be. His curve dropped like a rock and his fast ball rose like a rocket. Moreover, in his last six seasons he pitched 255, 184, 311, 223, 335, and 323 innings with ERA's (in the same order, 1961-66) of 3.53, 2.54, 1.88, 1.74, 2.04, and 1.73. In those same 6 seasons he pitched, same order, 15, 11, 20, 15, 27, and 27 complete games. Same six seasons, he had 269, 216, 305, 223, 382, and 317 K's. Do I need to remind you that, as recently as last year, there was doubt that Houck could face a batting order a third freaking time? Koufax was 30 years old in his last season, 1966, and quit because the doctors insisted he must. In his last two seasons, 1965 and 1966, Koufax received a cortisone shot and capsaicin-based capsolin rubbed into his shoulder and arm before every game. After each game, he soaked his arm in ice, but with a rubber sleeve to prevent frostbite. For pain he took empirin with codeine every night and sometimes during games. He threw a perfect game on September 8, 1965. He threw 4 no-hitters. He twice struck out 18 in a single game. He was the first NL pitcher in 20 years to post an ERA under 2.00 and he did it 3 times. In 1963 and 1965 he was the World Series MVP.

I think you mean, "It's spending that makes the time right." And I'm not sure I agree. To me spending is first and foremost a gamble, especially if the contract is for 5 or more years. The contracts for David Price and Chris Sale were absolute failures. My guess is that Story will be too--pretty much on a par with the Yankees contract for Ellsbury. As bad as Story's injuries have been, he also has yet to hit the ball with any regularity. Yoshida so far has failed. Meanwhile, however, the combination of Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Houck, and Criswell has been terrific and at bargain basement prices. Same goes for Duran, Abreu, Wong, Rafaela, McGuire, O'Neill, Refsnyder, Casas, Hamilton, Gonzalez, Bernardino, Kelly, Slaten, Booser, and Weissert. Devers is no bargain, but his OPS of .925 is nothing to sneeze at. And who are the non-bargains on the 2024 Sox? Mainly the guys on the IL and/or playing for someone else but paid by the Sox: Story, Giolito, Sale, Whitlock, Yoshida, and Turner.

Grissom is off the hook. Aranda of the Rays went back to 1b on a grounder to Grissom, which he completely mishandled, but still had plenty of time to get Aranda out.

Actually, I think Wong could catch a knuckleballer.

The guy I'm thinking of is Daniel Nava. He stayed on 2d when the next Sox batter bounced one off the RF wall. And don't forget knuckleballer Wright who pinch-ran, slid back to 2b (I think on a throw) and injured himself badly enough to go on the 60 day IL.

I can wait. The guy went on the 60 day IL just from swinging a freaking bat. I think he's due for TammyJohn surgery.

Great game, great run by the Sox, but up ahead looms armageddon. The Sox have to go back to dreaded Fenway Park, where dreams are demolished.

I've been thinking exactly the same thing. The players are OK. The pitching is not bad. But SPLENDIDSPLINTER is on a roll.

Meh. The worst I ever saw by a Sox baserunner was the guy on 2d base who stayed on 2d base when the Sox hitter hit one of the wall in RF. Absolutely true. First he took a lead, but then he decided the ball was caught or about to be, so he slid back into 2b like he was returning to the womb.

Great, great line, moon. What I love is the 2d straight game of coming from behind--to say nothing of 5 runs or more in 4 straight games. If this hitting keeps up, the worthless, no good, underpaid, low down yankee (northerners) Sox just might be climbing back into the AL East race.

Cora knows. Boy, does Cora know. 5-3 Sox in the 5th and the Rays are on their 3d pitcher.

4-3 Sox on a nice opposite field single by Ref.

I've always wondered why the Rays don't let the outfielders come in for those mound conferences.

Abreu gets lucky. Now let's see if Wong can capitalize. He does!! Sweet single and 2 more runs in. Grissom, our fearless one, scored all the way from 3d base.

Lefty Lovelady up against Duran and Abreu.

Back to back BB's by a Rays pitcher. Catastrophe. Grissom is the worst baserunner in the entire history of the sport. And he might have been helped by the Sox 1b coach.