Maxbialystock

Not sure I agree dumping Buchholz is a no-brainer. He was actually pretty good innings 2 thru 5. And the first inning was mostly a bunch of singles. The Sox also hit the ball hard in the first inning, but right at someone. I think Buch gets into trouble when he assumes he can get by on his fastball, especially in the first inning. When he mixed up his pitches, he was fine. The other problem is more serious and might merit letting him go: control. He gave up 5 walks. Bad as Buchholz has been this season, he is better than the alternatives we have seen so far.

It's really simple what happened to Wright tonight. He lost control of his knuckler and started giving up very hittable fastballs. The errors hurt too of course.

Second time in the past week or so that Pedroia has come up with the bases loaded and just s*** in his pants. That GIDP was on an inside pitch. The other time he struck with the bases loaded and no one out.

What control this guy has. Every pitch to betts on the edge.

Hot in Arlington, TX. 91 degrees last night. Sox are going with a pretty steady lineup: Betts, Pedroia, Bogaerts, Ortiz, Ramirez, Bradley, Shaw, Brentz, Vazquez. Plus our ace Wright, who has been way, way more consistent--amazing for a knuckleballer--than our presumptive ace Price. AJ Griffin coming off the DL will start for the reborn Washington Senators. You remember them--first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League. The current Nationals are the third Washington MLB franchise. The first one decamped for Minneapolis, and the second went to Texas. The current franchise has been successful largely, I think, because of enlightened ownership, the same thing that saved the Boston Red Sox and ended the 86 year curse/drought. The Sox have now won two straight by identical 8-7 scores and both times with some good bullpen moves by Farrell. Against the Chisox he got a 2 inning win from closer Kimbrel, so last night he went back to Uehara, who has been very up and down this year. But the save opportunity, great control, and a splitter that was working provided some real magic--3 batters, 3 K's against a pretty fair Rangers lineup. Even with last night's loss the Rangers have the second best record in MLB and best in the AL and are 8-2 in their last 10. They are an insane 26-12 at home. Another win tonight would be huge, incredible, fantastic, whatever. And it's actually possible if Wright is on and Vazquez can catch him.

Definitely.

pretty good managing too. Just one helluva game.

Bill James and sabermetrics say bunting is bad and a wasted at bat, but plenty of teams use bunts well. The problem for the Sox is they don't have any reliable bunters because they don't practice it. The NL generally is better at bunting if only because they will often have pitchers bunt if there is a man on first. I like the bunt, not so much because it's a good tactic, but because it's an interesting play and places demands on the batter and the infield you don't see that often.

When MLB integrated in 1947, the NFL, NHL, and NBA were struggling to stay alive while baseball was the national pastime. Plus baseball had the negro leagues. My point is that baseball finally got smart/enlightened when it made economic sense to do so. I recently read a book, A Nation Forged in War: How World War II Taught Americans to Get Along, which makes the case that 11 million plus serving in the armed services and then returning to their communities helped integration. My assumption is that MLB was/is conservative because it had more to lose than the other sports. Instant replay, in my opinion, is a mixed blessing. Helmets in football and hockey are far more likely to be needed than in baseball. And, oh, by the way, the NFL has a huge problem even today with head injuries and the long terms effects of regular blows to the helmet, so please don't claim that the NFL is way out in front on player safety. Speaking of the NFL, most people today say it's now the national pastime, but in fact MLB has much greater attendance because they play 10 times as many games in ballparks that average 30,000/game vs. I guess 80,000 in football stadiums. The TV coverage of the NFL, I agree, is the most extensive by far even though for fewer games, which are mitigated by the fact that espn and others fill in the weeks with all kinds of stories about players, teams, trends, etc. The NFL season may be short, but NFL talk and shows and films and whatever go straight through the spring and summer.

Two extremes. More likely is that Wright's ERA will rise, but not much over 3.00m and that Buchholz shows some improvement, which i thought I saw in his last start. Wright's knuckler is a real problem for hitters when it is working. However, when it is working PB's are more likely, as are walks. When Wright starts missing the knuckler, he is inclined to feed in more fastballs, which are hittable. He also has that curve, but it's rarely in the strike zone or effective. In his last outing Buchholz's fastball was 93-95 I think, and he also has a good curve and changeup and cut fastball. Command is his issue.

That's actually a good idea. The problem with removing umpires who don't meet the standard is that I think they are unionized. But I agree the tools are there now to encourage/make umpire to improve on balls and strikes.

I thought I'd restart this thread by dredging up the OP and reminding everyone that, while I will defend specific decisions by Farrell, I do think managers are ultimately accountable for the overall performance of their teams. Right now the Sox have the biggest margin of runs scored vs. runs against of any team in the AL, but they continue to struggle, especially against good pitching and even when it isn't that good. They have a losing record in June. Injuries have not hurt this team because the best pitchers and hitters have for the most part been available when needed. So have at it.

Tough call right now after losing three straight at Fenway against the ChiSox, but I'm pretty confident they will finish over .500 despite the ongoing June swoon. Because of that, I also think the Sox will be contenders for the playoffs and could get in. But right now, as someone else said on a game thread, the Sox seem to be looking for ways to lose. When the pitching is good, the hitting sucks. When the hitting is there, the starter or the bullpen blows it.

All I said was they have weeded out the worst offenders, which is true. Maybe Bagwell was unfairly grouped with them, I don't know.

Getting picked off at 3B can't be blamed on the manager. 3b coach, maybe.

ERod does have breaking pitches, changeup and slider. Unfortunately, both are very unreliable. As you say, he relies on the fastball because he can't control the slider or changeup.

So Young moves up to batting fifth and his hitless in 3 at bats. The simple fact--documented--is that with this lineup it almost makes no difference where you bat if you want to be productive. Betts has a low OBP, but leads the the team comfortably in runs scored and as lead off hitter--the guy following the 7th, 8th, and 9th batters--is second on the the team in rbi's. Speaking of which, Bradley had more rbi's when he batted 8th and 9th than he does batting 5th. Was that a dinger I just saw HanRam hit to give the Sox the lead? My, my. Bosoxmal sure can call them.

If you take umpires out of calling balls and strikes, you have effectively put them on the sidelines. Balls and strikes are uniquely central to the game of baseball. I love your point about "the outrage if the 1b ump missed 13% of the plays at 1B." I love it because everybody watching games on TV knows that umpires miss calls on balls and strikes--call it 13% of the time if you will--and there has been no public outcry because it's an expected part of the game. As I keep saying, missed calls on balls and strikes do not prevent good pitchers from getting hitters out and bad pitchers from getting hit.

I think Ortiz is relatively clean, but my opinion means nothing. I will continue to rely on the sportswriters who vote on HOF candidates for the final judgment. I think they have so far done a good job of weeding out the worst offenders. Let us not forget that most of those who are losing out on the HOF still made a ton of money made possible in part by the use of PED's. Back to the thread subject. I would like to introduce a simple thought about a "realistic view" of this year's team. And that thought came from others on other threads: this team seems to be running out of steam, some would even call it a "June swoon" because the Sox have a losing record this month. For awhile the problem seemed to be primarily pitching, especially the starters, but lately the lineup also seems to be struggling.

I would need to read something definitive on your a and b. As for c, I think the DH is moot because the NL eschews it. The playoffs are about money, nothing more, and hardly a refinement to the basic game. Heck, they were copies from the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Instant replay is a mixed blessing to me. Overall, it speeds up the game by preventing managers from racing onto the field every time they don't like a call. But instant replays also interrupt the flow of the game, and half the time they only confirm what the umpire called. As for you later point about goggles to assist umpires, I'm not so sure, but will at least reserve judgment.

I said I didn't watch all the pitches, so maybe I missed the bad calls. Even if I had seen them, however, I would have said the same thing: we lost and Chicago won because of the players, not the umpire behind the plate. If none of us had watched the game and were simply told that Chicago and Sales beat Boston and Buchholz 3-1, most of us would have said, "it was that close? Was Buchholz lucky? Why can't our guys hit Chicago pitching. This is the second game in a row of weak hitting." No one, but no one would have said, "that score had to be because of the home plate umpire." If we assume--as you assert--that the home plate umpire was terrible, I would offer this game as solid evidence that umpires do not prevent good pitchers from getting players out nor bad pitchers from getting hit because that's exactly what happened tonight. Despite bad calls the better pitcher won.

Sales is now 12-2 with an ERA of 2.83. Tonight he had 9 K's and 1 BB and gave up 1 run and 4 hits in 7 innings. Buchholz wasn't great, but was better than he has been. If he could only take back his first two pitches, he might have had a really good night.

My reading comprehensive and interpretative skills are doing fine, thanks. If the Red Sox had won this game 3-1, there would have been very few complaints about calls of balls and strikes. Indeed, there would have been unrestrained jubilation if Buchholz had beat Sales. It absolutely, positively is about the Red Sox. And, I should admit, that's human nature and even, to a degree, commendable. Nothing wrong with rooting for the home team and getting mad at the umps. It's been going on for 150 years.

I like that. He probably should have pinch hit Ortiz for Ramirez, but nobody on the Sox is getting clutch hits in this series. And no one on the Sox can bunt worth a s***. No one. How many teams have a player who can put down such a piss poor bunt that it turns into a double play? The Sox do not teach, coach, or emphasize bunting--almost certainly because of Bill James and sabermetrics.

Chris Sale is vastly overrated as a starter. He just has those home plate umpires in his pocket like they were loose change. Meanwhile Clay Buchholz, one of the best starters ever to grace the Red Sox uniform, just couldn't catch a break from that really terrible home plate umpire.