moonslav59

You know, it could be the right move, even though it failed, that time. It could also be the wrong move that works, too. It was a tough call to make. This time, it failed. Most times, his moves have worked, even many that looked like head-scratcher, at the time.

You really think another manager would have snapped the team out of that slump? Who do you think will be MOY? Whoever it is, I can dig up a slump and ask why didn't he stop it? Look at this Sox pitching staff and defense. The defense is way worse than the numbers show as many bad plays and non plays were not called errors. Our BAbip against is atrocious. It may even be record-breaking, in terms of how far worse it is against the league average. We started the year with 3 mega-elite batters and a bunch of also-rans, except for maybe Verdugo showing hopes of being .800+ again. The line-up is now as deep as just about any other team. I'm not giving Cora credit for everything that went right, but his patience with Dalbec, Renfroe and others looks genius, now. Sure, maybe he stuck with Marwin, Santana, Cordero and a few others, too long, but IMO, you need to do that, at times. I won't give Cora credit for squeezing great numbers from Iggy, Shaw, Richards as a RP'er and the rag-tag pen behind him, but I think he deserves partial credit for much of what has gone right, this year. I thought I was being generous projecting 86 wins before any FAs were signed, and we are already at 88 with 7 to go. I bet most baseball experts projected 76-84 wins for the Sox. One can argue we have been remarkably healthy, except for that COVID stretch, but part of that could be credited to Cora for his resting routine and by not hurrying Sale or pushing Houck and Whitlock beyond their current capacity. To me, Cora has been a genius. That does not mean I don't ever disagree with some moves and choices. I do a lot, but I'm no expert. Many of the times I disagreed, Cora proved me wrong. A few times it looked like I was right, maybe I just got lucky. At worst, Cora is the second best manager the Sox have had since 1971. I don't think I am alone in that opinion.

Things tighter than we hoped... 88-67 BOS 88-67 NYY 86-69 TOR 85-69 SEA Remember when the Jays looked like a shoe-in for the WC1 slot? Things can change on a dime in MLB, and let's hope that happens, tonight. Next match-ups: Sunday TOR (Manoah) @ MIN (Jax) NYY (Montgomery) @ BOS (ERod) Monday Off Tuesday BOS (Sale) @ BAL (No Means - prob: Akin or Lowther) NYY (Kluber) @ TOR (Matz) Wednesday BOS (Eovaldi) @ BAL (No Means- maybe Lowther or Wells) NYY (Cole) @ TOR (Berrios) Thursday BOS (Pivetta) @ BAL (No Means- maybe Wells or Ellis) NYY (Cortes) @ TOR (RRay) Last series: BOS @ WSH (ERod, Seabold/Houck, Sale, if needed) TBR @ NYY BAL @ TOR

I guess I should stop feeling surprised. I realize much of it is just heat of the moment lashing out in anger and frustration, but several posters double down when confronted with questions and comments about what they are actually suggesting be done. He’ll, one guy, and I won’t name names, but seriously, he has at least one time over this season called for the DFAing of half the 40 man roster, the trading away of nearly the rest of the 20 remaining players, along with Bloom, Cora and maybe even the ball boys. Maybe my feelings on what a fan should be is old-fashioned or unrealistic, and I’m not saying we should blindly support every member of our team and never be critical, but it just seems like the anger and frustration some posters express borderlines or crosses the border into outright hatred territory. It’s venomous. It’s relentless. It’s extreme. To me, it’s hatred.

Then, the 3 batter rule kept DHern in for the mismatch.

100% Cora? I hope that is just hyperbole. A few of us posters thought leaving Houck in longer was the right thing to do, and I find Cora maybe 1% responsible for the loss. The players lost that game. We had 2 solo blasts. They had one granny. We walked and hit batsmenned the bases loaded. Cora didn’t pitch one pitch. He’s the clear cut manager of the year. The hyper criticism is mind-boggling, and it might be part of the reason some players want out of this toxic environment.

Just read our game threads, and we’d have no players left on a roster about to shock the baseball world by making the playoffs.

I share your feelings, but remember this: the Yanks have gotten to this point several times, this year, only to stumble and bumble their edge away. They have major flaws just like we do, and time catches up with them just like us. It seemed, to me, like we lost, yesterday, more than the Yankees won. Yes, they got the key hit, when it mattered, but we handed them the opportunity. Maybe, they return the favor, tonight.

Your defeatism is extreme. Perhaps you do this to ease the letdown- should it occur. The team has gone 53-23 in ERod’s last 76 starts, including 18-11, this year. I guess none of those 53 wins were in big moments as all his 23 losses were. It sounds like you’ll be happy, if you are proven right about ERod, today. I’m glad he’s pitching: we need a win. The Sox win when he pitches more than anyone else.

I’ve had doubts, too, but I guess being a fan means different things to different people, which I guess should be expected.

At the risk of sounding disrespectful, so what? We have faults like all teams. We’ve played a tougher schedule than most teams. We have been playing better than expected, which in some weird way seems to get some fans here more upset than had we just stunk like we were supposed to. Newsflash: the Yanks, Jays and Ms have major flaws, too. We deserve the playoffs because we earned it by outplaying most of our opponents- good ones and bad ones by more than the Jays. If we end up losing our slot, it would suck, and yes, we can only blame ourselves, but I will never get the relentless bashing of our manager and plus players on our roster based on one play, one game, one week or month. You’d think the team just went 2-7. The regency effect is something some poster can never shake, I guess.

Our team won 7 in a row, and we lose 2 games, and suddenly we don't deserve anything and are bums. It's one thing to get frustrated or even angry, but to me, real fans keep supporting their team, especially one like this one that has way exceeded almost everyone's wildest expectation.

The pretender fans are back in force, I see.

Let’s see if ERod is the winner I have said he is for years, now.

About Cora is a bum not DHern. Lost cred.

do you honestly believe your own words?

where was that homer when men were on base?

No, 1978. We were up like 9 games but it was down to 4 games. The Yanks beat us 15-3 13-2 7-0 7-4

This might date me, but this feels like that time the Yanks came to Boston and killed us by like 30 runs.

Sick. Just sick.

I know. You can’t walk anyone, but I was responding to the singling out of Gardner.

That’s why I said several years not 15.

Gardner has hurt us more than any Yankee over several years.

That goes without saying.

Houck for 3 or Richards for the 9th.