royf19

In answer to the question, maybe. The Farrell bashing IMO always was been over the the top. He won three division titles in five years, the only Sox manager to do that, and won a World Series. Benintendi, Bogaerts and Betts are all hitting better than last year. To say it's solely because of Cora ignores the fact that Bogaerts and Betts had very good years under Farrell in 2016 and ignores the fact that Bogaerts was hitting fine last year until he got hit in the Tampa game and ignore that Betts was having a decent year until the 30-game slump around August, which can happen to any player. Farrell didn't have J.D. Martinez, which is a huge upgrade over Hanley at DH, and although Devers hasn't quite hit like he did at the end of last year, he's still an upgrade at 3B over what the Sox had there the first four months last year. So the improved offense certainly would have made the record better than it was at this time last year. As for handling the pitching, Farrell was much better at it than he's given credit for by his critics. In fact, I would say it was his strength. So I don't know if the Sox would have 78 wins with Farrell, but I think they would definitely have more than they had at this point last year. All this said, Cora was probably the right man for the job. In dealing with the young players on this roster and the make-up of the roster overall, I would say Cora is better suited for it. Farrell was probably better suited for a veteran roster like the team had in 2013.

Moon, I'm not a Bradley basher and I agree with most of what you posted here, but that "decent stretch of offense dating back to May 12" is tremendously misleading. Yes on May 12, his average was .167, which was his low point and he finished May strong, raising his average 33 points to .200 by June 1. However, he was lousy at the plate for most of June as his average dropped from .200 on June 1 to .178 on June 23, an 18-game stretch in which he batted just .119 (7 for 59) with a .469 OPS. However, I think he finally turned the corner. From June 24 to going into today's game, he batted .288 with an .878 OPS. That's closer to the player I think he can be, and hopefully keep it up the rest of the way.

For what it's worth, in JBJ's last seven games when he's batted, he is hitting .304 (7 for 23) with three doubles, one triple and a .882 OPS. With his average as low as it's been, it's going to take awhile for it to become respectable, but maybe he finally has turned the corner with his hitting.

I agree. Pedey led the Red Sox in batting average last year and played great defense. I like Nunez but he's better suited as a utility guy. His defense at second base isn't great, specifically talking about his range. It's disappointing how some fans have seemed to turn on Pedey. He'll be fine. He likes Cora, so there will be no drama. Pedey will do what he does best -- simply go out and play baseball without drama.

I like the list overall, but I would move Ralph Houk up to fifth. I thought he did a great job getting 89 wins out of the 1982 team. The '83 team had major holes at the bottom of the lineup and the pitching staff had guys not quite ready -- Hurst, Boyd, Ojeja -- plus Eck I his worst years with the Sox and there was just two reliable arms in the bullpen in Stanley and Aponte. And who knows what would have happened in '81 if it weren't for the strike. The Sox were fifth overall in the AL East but just 2.5 games behind Milwaukee as Brewere, O's, Tigers, Yankees and Sox were all bunched up. I would have much rathered had Houk in '86 than McNamara. Houk didn't have nearly have the talent that Zimmer or McNamara had.

Didn't Wade Boggs injure his back putting on his boots -- or taking them off. Something like that.

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't meant they're not out to get you.

All that he does is swing from his heels w/o thinking about the pitch, situation, etc. Sox need Big Papi to come in and try to slap some sense into HanRam.

Now that's what I like to see -- an XBH with runners on.

I like that they're stringing together hits. Now can someone please rip an XBH with runners on.

OMG -- Bogaerts with a clutch hit.

My first game was in 1969 -- still have the program -- when I was 5, so I clicked on 1960s. I was a Sox fan ever since I could remember. I remember Tony C playing for the Sox (before the comeback attempt in 1975), which would likely be the '69 or '70 teams. My first big memories of really knowing and following the team is the 1971 team. I remember George Scott and remember him being traded. I remember Duane Josephson at catcher, and guys like Billy C., Phil Gagliano, John Kennedy. I also remember Jim Longborg pitching for the Sox, which which is '71 and prior and the first big memories of staring pitchers are Sonny Siebert and Ray Culp. My favorite player is Carl Yastrzemski. Like Danny, I was born a Red Sox fan along with Bruins, Celtics and Patriots, in that order when I was a kid. After Bird-Parrish-McHale retired the C's and Pats flipped, though we're splitting hairs. I'm passionate about all four teams. I never understood how Boston fans -- I'm talking about fans who grew up in Massachusetts -- play one team against the other. My first big memories of watching the Red Sox were watching Ken Coleman and Johnny Pesky on Channel 4 and listening to Ned Martin wth Dave Martin on the radio -- early 1970s. I never completely got used to Ken Coleman being on radio and Ned Martin being on TV when Coleman came back in 1979 and he went to radio with Martin going to TV.

Agree.

Well it's about time the Sox scored a run.

The good thing with Bradley last year and this year is that with the exeception of April, the months in which his average was in the .230s or lower, his power and run production numbers were decent (4 or 5 HRs and 12-13 RBIs), so he wasn't a total black hole.