illinoisredsox

Yeah, normally you see the out on a guy going into second, not third.

That was nearly a great DP by Abreu

The theory was to force the cutoff and assure Benintendi scores, so it wasn't as dumb as a lot of them. Still, with play in front he should have seen that AB was going to make it home. Not a total boneheaded play but not a good one either.

You really need to pay attention on what those hits are. A bunt (due to the shift), a hard hit double, a looper that landed in the infield where the shortstop normally plays (another shift hit) and a ground ball perfectly placed between Moreland and Holt. Not like he was giving up frozen ropes all over the yard.

May 30th, the Palehose slapped Sale around pretty good. In an eventual 13-7 Red Sox win, Sale threw 111 pitches in only 5 innings, giving up 10 hits and 6 runs (5 earned). It was one of his 2 worst outings of the year, the Cleveland game last Monday being the other.

Overall, a good outing for ERod tonight. No way Kimbrel could have kept up what he was doing in May, but I think part of his issues may be lack of work. The rough couple weeks the team went through didn't give him a lot of opportunities to pitch.

It's designed to change the eye level, but you can't do it all the time. It's become too automatic with the Sox.

However he's been pitching, he's been pinpoint with his control tonight. Almost nothing near the middle of the plate and he's not throwing many balls either.

One thing I would like to see go, especially with Rodriguez, is that automatic high pitch on 0-2. Everybody knows it's coming and he doesn't usually throw it close enough for the hitter to even think about going after it.

Rodon is pitching; Rodriguez is throwing. Up, down, in, out and almost nothing that one would hit hard.

Rodriguez needs to stop trying to strike everyone out and locate in the strike zone. Everything's is max effort all the time. That's bullpen mentality.

Trying for 3rd may have been okay but he stumbled part of the way to 3rd which killed any shot. Steve Stone, the White Sox color man summed it up very well: "Benintendi has proven conclusively that he needs some work on base running."

Rule 5.09 (a )(1) Comment (Rule 6.05(a ) Comment ) : A fielder may reach into, but not step into, a dugout to make a catch, and if he holds the ball, the catch shall be allowed. A fielder, in order to make a catch on a foul ball nearing a dugout or other out-of-play area (such as the stands), must have one or both feet on or over the playing surface (including the lip of the dugout) and neither foot on the ground inside the dugout or in any other out-of-play area. Ball is in play, unless the fielder, after making a legal catch, steps or falls into a dugout or other out-of-play area, in which case the ball is dead. Status of run- ners shall be as described in Rule 5.06 ((3)© Comment (Rule 7.04 © Comment). Catch Comment : A catch is legal if the ball is finally held by any fielder, even though juggled, or held by another fielder before it touches the ground. Runners may leave their bases the instant the first fielder touches the ball. A fielder may reach over a fence, railing, rope or other line of demarcation to make a catch. He may jump on top of a railing, or canvas that may be in foul ground. No interference should be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk. If a fielder, attempting a catch at the edge of the dugout, is “held up” and kept from an apparent fall by a player or players of either team and the catch is made, it shall be allowed. 2017 Official Baseball Rules_2017 Official Baseball Rules Page 39 The referenced part about the runner(s) basically says if the fielder makes a legal catch and carries the ball out of play (i.e., he is completely in the stands/bullpen/dugout), each runner advances one base. The second part sounds like the fielder would be allowed to to use the top of the wall to propel himself up to make a catch (if he could figure out a way to keep a foot still in play, not sure the laws of physics would allow that).

So where is Steve Lyons these days?

Hence my words, "while not a secret". And it is admirable on the part of Eck. I just saw no need to expound on it and and have it brought up by, as good a poster as he is, a fan of the Evil Empire.

Yep but I was saving that information for later in the semester.

I'd take that bet. He's still on it and he's basically got to go through this spring training, which is going to take some time. That means he won't be activated before at least the middle of August. If he makes it 2 weeks at that point, I'd win.

While not a secret, I felt no need to broadcast that fact.

Another question is where is Steve Lyons?

Well the original article came out when they were on the West Coast, a trip Eck wasn't on (for personal reasons, he seldom does away games). He headed up to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame ceremonies over last weekend; that was planned well in advance. Only the Cleveland series is an unplanned absence IMO.

Wrong sport (and you said you knew baseball )

Those are our catchers combined stats this year. Not Johnny Bench or Pudge Fisk, but not quite a black hole in context either. Although to be fair, both guys seem streaky as can be. Feast or famine if you will. Looked up the catchers OPS listings, Vazquez and Leon are 12th and 15th among the 29 AL catchers with more than 100 PAs, so middle of the pack. I was particularly impressed with that RBI stat. They may not hit much, but they seem to hit when there are guys to drive in. That's 10 more RBIs than our DH has and also ahead of Bogie, JBJ and Moreland.

Would you find the following player okay for hitting 8-9 in the lineup? .262/.306/.694, 48 runs, 22 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 50 RBIs

MVP and a700 must be lawyers. They sure discuss things like they are; pick a point of view and never deviate from it. There is no profession in the world that purports to be more of an expert in everyone else's field than lawyers.

Time to give it up. In MVPs world, EVERY boneheaded play by a Red Sox player is a Red Sox coaching issue.