SinceYaz

Howdy Max, I think there is a solid concern here that plays to the way professional athletes are coddled these days. Since that is true, the manager is as much a manager of personalities as anything. The financial investment in the players, more so in the NBA than any other, makes it necessary to have an understanding person in the seat. We have coaches to help with personalities, life coaches, all sorts of things ... in the old days the manager was the boss, now he's a facilitator. That was Tito's magic. We know there was all sorts of screaming about his on field calls, but there isn't one player who didn't stand to benefit from his people skills. Manny being Manny, Paps, et, al, .... Joe Madden is a deep soul who puts his players first and they respond with playing with good fundamentals and team first-ness. His depth includes having fun, building odd quirks that the guys buy into, building team .... well, I begin to repeat. Farrell has the same "player first" heart. We don't agree with some of his calls, but he led a near miraculous WS title in 2013. If we remember correctly, many of us were in love with our kids, even in 2013. The FO was not loath to hide our kids ... we had as many as 7 rookies starting at a time in 2014. What could Farrell do with that? Had the kids played up to the hype, Farrell would not have been the target of displeasure by so many. It's true that some would never be happy. (If we happen to win the WS THIS YEAR, there will still be those who will hold the 2 last place finishes against Farrell. ) Had the five aces held up last season .... and the FO is in charge of the acquisition of players, not the field manager. Other teams speak highly of Farrell's ability to build a team, other than angry Toronto fans, that is. I listen to the feeds from the other team and hear only good things about Farrell. Had the players performed as expected ... I know this is flash point, but apparently Farrell even tries to make pariah like Panda comfortable enough to be a team mate. ... Not sure how to close this but if the players don't perform, the manager can be the best guy out there ... and be a loser. Buck Showalter was a genius in Baltimore the first 10 days of the season because the O's were unbeaten. Is he a bum now that they have a losing record and we are a half game out?

Moon! Good to see you!

It feels good being here, Kingface. Thanks ... and thanks to JBay for the thread at the old site. I had an account at OvertheMonstah but that site has grown to something I don't recognize. Simple minded me. Good format here, says I. Glad for it and kudos to those who have it set up.

Whooaaa .... I wouldn't wish that upon anyone...watching every inning of MFY games. Hah! Keep up the good work! JBJ is still developing at the plate but all the marks are there for him to be a top notch player, IMO. Chili Davis has his work cut out but I still think the subject matter is worthy.

Greetings all .... Another BDC emigre ... after 12 seasons there it seems odd to watch Sox games "alone." I haven't been able to log in for over a week at BDC. I have begun to post at another site but this seems to be more like the format comfortable. I became a Sox fan in 1962 at the tender age of 6. Southern NH was my new home, was born in the Indian subcontinent, so was used to field hockey and cricket but baseball and basketball quickly supplanted them. The Sox have been an ethereal part of my psyche ever since. Yaz quickly became my favorite, being the thread and tapestry of the team in my very young heart and mind. I love basketball and football, but they are just time markers until baseball comes back to life each season. I am currently in a rare situation that I can watch games. I am home convalescing from a misstep on my stairs on the 3rd of last month, breaking my leg. Most of the time I get to watch rarely so this is a silver lining! SinceYaz

SinceYaz signing in ... following Kingface's vapor trails in .... seeing several old friends already.

Hey Slash! Not sure how you want to add this to your tracker, but it's great that JBJ had the game winning hit in two of the recent games, with the solo shot last night and the 12th inning hit against the 'Stros. I watched both games all the way through. I say that because sometimes the feed freezes. It wasn't fun watching Kimbrell give up the moonshot to the erstwhile Blue Jay, but he shut down the Bravos last night. Porcello was terrific.