Maxbialystock

I'm not sure Williams was merely being stubborn. My memory is that he knew he had a great swing that in fact allowed him--along with his great eyesight and reflexes--to hit a round ball with a round bat squarely and do so on a regular basis. One way to beat that shift regularly was/is to hit the ball hard, which makes it difficult to field even if within reach. This also enabled him to keep hitting dingers. I believe he was able to hit to left on occasion by shifting his stance, not by adjusting his swing. But he normally did not do that because his swing and especially his ball contact were so good that he still had a high OPS throughout his career. Remember 1941 when he hit .406? His OPS that year was 1.287. Fantastic! In 1957 when he was 39 years old his OPS was 1.257, and that was 11 years after Lou Boudreau used his shift for the first time, so by 1957 it's a good bet everyone was using it against in Williams. In other words, Williams was simply that great a hitter. Not many today, if any, are that great, so those shifts generally work.

I don't see Eovaldi being bumped to the bullpen, but you make a good point about what he could do there--if he is suited. Some guys are uncomfortable coming out of the bullpen.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the primary reason why all teams now use shifts and use them often is precisely because the adjustment ain't that easy. If it were easy, teams would use the shifts less. I believe I am correct in saying that Ted Williams never really adjusted, and he was not only a great natural hitter, but a real student of the swing.

This thread sure went south in a hurry. Now we have the worst bullpen ever and a stupid manager who brings in the wrong guy (Hembree) and who won't leave effective relievers in the game, preferring to "search for disaster" by bringing in a new guy each inning. The Sox currently have the second lowest ERA in MLB, so I gotta wonder just how bad things are, especially after watching the Yankees bullpen give away not 1 but 2 games in the recently completely series. In my opinion, way too much negativism directed toward the bullpen, which I agree sure ain't perfect, but which has had some good moments/games. FWIW, last night I would not have brought Price out for the 7th but would have brought Hembree instead. Price got the 2 earned runs in the 7th, and Hembree's were both unearned.

I too could not stay up for the finale and actually went to bed when the Yankees scored 4 in the 7th. Not sure I would have brought Price out for the 7th. As for Betances in the 9th, that's all on him, not the manager. Plus that single by Benintendi was not hit hard--it was a grounder with eyes. Nobody was hitting last night, and both rallies depended on walks and errors. Getting to Betances, however, is oh so sweet--which the Yankees almost did vs. Kimbrel Saturday. Great baserunning by JBJ scoring from 2b on the groundout-turned-error. Tied the game

Never have understood complaints about announcers because I almost always have the sound off. Funny thing, but I also usually like radio announcers. As for Buchholz, it appears two things have changed for him. First, surgery last year on his forearm, which might have helped. Second, last year was his last of three in which he was paid $13.5M/year. The four years before that he was paid $3.5M, $5.5M, $7.7M, and $12M. His current contract is for $1.5M and I'll just bet that has done wonders for his ability to concentrate.

I'm a big Cora fan and completely agree he was a great find by DD. But royf19, as always, makes a ton of sense. Cora has been helped by JDM, who leads MLB in dingers and rbi's and has an OPS over 1.000--Ortiz country. Moonslav has said repeatedly that he expected Betts, Beni, Bogey, et al, to be better this year than last. Price is way better this year, ditto Wright (until he went back on the DL) and ERod. Pom has been terrible, but, heck, I never liked him anyway. Here's a little something to think about with respect to Farrell. Last year this board regularly erupted in denunciations of the unconscionable base running that Farrell seemed unwilling or unable to control. This year I think we have about the same number of mistakes--perhaps fewer now that HanRam is gone--but, more than that, the Sox currently lead MLB in stolen bases. Of some interest is that this year there are still the same complaints about Benintendi not being under control, but in fact he has 20 SB's, one less than Mookie, and has been caught just once. The Sox currently succeed 83% on attempted steals, which is pretty good. But I honestly think--maybe Bill James is whispering in my ear--that the key to the offense this year is what it has always been: a high OPS, including a high slugging percentage and plenty of dingers. All that said, I don't think this team would be this good under Farrell. Hats off to Cora.

Twelve years ago, same month, the Yankees came to town and destroyed the Sox pitching while sweeping a 4 game series that basically destroyed that season. Time for some payback. It was Beckett's first season in Boston and I think his ERA was around 5. But he was a whole lot better in 2007. Two very nicely pitched games by Porcello and Eovoldi, but the Yankees are missing Judge and Sanchez (also known as "Charlie Shuffle").

Time to put a foot on the throat. Still a little unreal that in the last series at Yankee Stadium Sabathia and Severino were in complete control. The world turned upside down.

Two astonishing games back to back. Wow. Porcello was just unreal. Yes, a few got hit hard, but overall he was unbelievably on his game. So much so this was the best game pitched by any Sox starter this year, and I am including all of Sale's starts in that comparison. Everything was working. Agree with Cora about what happened in the 1st. To me there was no equivalency between Gardner's HBP--it was obvious to me he wanted to get hit in the shoulder and thereby get on base--his only time all night on base--and Severino going for Mookie's head. Huge difference between those two pitches. Then tossing Cora was ridiculous. Poor baby. Poor defenseless umpire having to hear harsh words. Had I been on his ump team, I would have immediately run over to protect him from that vicious manager with his unseemly language. I don't know that the heck Cora is doing, but these guys are playing out of their minds. Was that Mookie playing errorless ball at 2B? Are the Sox stealing that subpar Yankee catcher blind (or is it the Yankees pitchers)?

Betts RF Beni LF Pearce 1B JDM DH Kinsler 2B Nunez 3B Holt SS Leon C JBJ CF Swihart on DL. Moreland still hurt. Ditto Bogaerts.

Hey, guys. Good comments at the start of a game thread. What I like about tonight's matchup is it's unpredictability. Normally, I would simply advise Cora to forfeit the game when he meets with the umps. Severino is that much better than Porcello. Not lately. Who the heck is the backup catcher tonight?

Darn. I was going to say that--that it was a mistake made good. It wasn't just a great slide. He also made the decision to be aggressive and not just get into a rundown.

Who said "you're only as good as your next starting pitcher?" Agree with you that Severino needs to step up and I have absolutely no idea why he suddenly seems almost human.

Better thread than I expected. Agree Workman has been effective. Amazingly, also agree our bullpen just might be as good as or better than the Yankees, especially if you look at the cumulative WAR's of their relievers vs. ours. Last night proves nothing, of course, because it's just one game, and we have had those things happen if not quite as bad. The big question for any bullpen of course is whether they will hold up. It seems so simple just to go out there and pitch just one lousy inning, but in fact it is always fraught with peril because the margins are so small between success and failure. A couple of bad calls by an ump. A nice curve that unfortunately is up in the zone and fat. Ditto Kelly's fastball sometimes. And so on. I like this bullpen as imperfect as it no doubt is. More than that, I like Cora's handling of the pitching staff as a whole. So, yes, I think the bullpen will hold up over the next two months and begone. Not perfect, but good enough.

I am strongly in the Johnson camp for these reasons: 1. He's a lefty with a changeup, which Pom doesn't have. 2. He's all business on the mound, whereas Pom always looks tortured and sometimes simply afraid to make the next pitch. 3. Better control. Just as good a curve. 4. Good at covering 1B on grounders to the right, which Pom is not good at. 5. A lot less salary. In fact, I am appalled that Pom gets $14M. 6. Last year is ancient history. I want to win this year. Plus I didn't like Pom last year either.

I think there were several factors: Curt Flood broke the 'reserve clause;" MLBPA is probably the most powerful union in pro sports; agents, especially Scott Boras, are convincing players they should always shoot for the moon because often they will get it; owners in the big markets can pay big salaries and still make a profit. In his series on Baseball, Ken Burns has someone say that in the old days the average MLB player made 7 times the salary of the average fan. After Curt Flood and as of the making of that series, it was then 7 X 7 times (or 50 times as much as the average fan). Years ago there was a very, very successful basketball coach at Butler. He and his wife Tracy were both from Indiana and were happy raising their kids in Indianapolis--plus she was/is a lawyer. His salary was $1M/year, which was all he needed but well under his probable value at a major program, several of which came calling while he was at Butler. I would have bet he would never leave Butler, but in fact his wife negotiated the contract with the Celtics for six years and $22M. I also would have bet you can't transfer great college coaching skill into success at the NBA level. My guess is that the whole Brad Stevens family is thriving in Boston as I write this. My point, I guess, is that people are unpredictable.

Somewhere around page 3 I gave up completely--except I kept watching. Could not be happier to be so wrong. What an amazing turnaround. Absolutely stunning.

Call is the Boston Orioles and start the rain dance now. We need a game- saving deluge.

We’ve seen this movie about a month ago at Yankee Stadium. Not sure I want to watch a reun.

What's the weather look like? My NOAA shows rain headed toward Boston. Soon.

Thunder this year is the right guy to start this game thread. Yankees are so lucky we are without Sale, ERod, and Wright--and Bogey and Devers. Hopefully, Bogey plays tomorrow or Sat at the latest.

True. But also a nightmare.

It might keep him fresh down the stretch, but Sale is one of those guys who really wants to be out there on the mound. If he is complaining about shoulder pain, it's something to worry about. So I agree with your "hopefully."

Sarcasm? You think?