oldtimer

At the start of today we had 96 errors. Cleveland has 69 and the Yankees and Houston 91. We are not horrible but middle of the road.

The word on Nunez now is that he may not get back during the regular season. That would be a real shame as I agree, we need his bat and aggressiveness.

The Yankees only have 3 away games left on the schedule of the 14 remaining. Talk about a favorable schedule.

We hit just enough to win after getting a strong pitching performance from Porcello. I know guys were tired and we did play some guys we normally don't. Young for instance, who is very cold at the plate these day. Hope we can keep Vaz in as he is hot right now. If not catcher, then DH him. Looking forward to Nunez's return although no word or actual date so far on that front. Would love to see guys try to pull the ball with pitches down the middle. Betts did once, but Moreland, Beni and JBJ all hit the ball to center or go the other way. Center against the Rays is usually an out. We lose what power we have by not pulling balls inside or down the middle. Good game for us as we are in the must win category on the road to save our bid for the pennant. The Yankees look like they won't more than 4 or 5 going down the stretch so we need to win the majority of ours. The magic number is 12 I believe and 8 for the WC. Much rather have the pennant.

It seems some of the spending that we did saddled us with Sandoval, Price, Hanley, Craig, Castillo. That spending may have occured before or during his tenure, but it certainly has limited some of the options the club has had. To be fair to JF, I don't know how much say he had in bringing these guys in or the length of their contracts. Still, he is the manager and as such is accountable for the level of performance of the club. I haven't been a fan of his after the swoon at the end of last season and the underperformance of our hitters this year. Lets see where he takes us this year, but I am not against any move which is likely to improve the team.

We will face another tough one tonight, with having to face Cobb (their best) with Porcello (our worst starter). They swing for the fences and Porcello is prone to give up HRs. We both used a lot of BP last night so the guys on both sides will be tired, including the fiield players. We are now suffering with Nunez out, Hanley hurting and in an awful slump (is he even usable?) and Pedey on one good leg. Our right hand hitting is compromised. Good to see Bogaerts and Betts help the cause as we really need them. Time to roll out Travis and Vaz, although Cobb is really tough on Righties (and Lefties). I admit to losing heart and sacking out last ight after 10 innings. I also played a 3 1/2 hour game in the heat yesterday and these old bone cry out for sleep. I thought we were a 50/50 proposition when I hit the hay and was pleasantly surprised that we had won the bet. Maybe the Rays just ran out of relief pitching. Our guys, especially Beni, Bradley and Moreland need to pull the ball more often to keep the ball away from the Rays center fielder. That kid can play.

That's 7 relief pitchers we have faced and the latest kid can get it up there at 99 mph. Tough on the hitters.

Pedroia strikes out and Beni grounds out. Tough ending to a comeback inning. Now it will be a cat fight.

This time of year, managers have parge BP's and they tend to use them. In tonight's game, there have been a troop of relief pitchers against the Sox and we are having trouble figuring any of them out. We do miss Nunez.

Wait til next year

Where did that come from. Is it from a sportswriter?

Sale looks tired on the mound. Small wonder.

Doezsn't look like it with a walk and a home run.

Moreland made it two. JF must believe his best chance at 2nd base is going with Holt, a proven 170 hitter. We need a win here.

I think the BB execs like Dombrowski are busy people but imagine they might look at the boards from time to time, just as the players might. They rightly believe they have superior knowledge and experience to the posters, on the other hand, many posters have been fans for a very long time, are educated and have professional backgrounds and also tend to see things without pre-conceived ideas or alliances of the BB community. After listening to John Valentin's cliche laced color support of the broadcast last night, one wonders if many BB people have so little to offer. So unlike you, I think the execs and players scan the boards and may actually find some nuggets there.

Hanley hasn't got the joob done for whatever reason. Good to give him additional rest.

JBJ's performance seems to be sensitive to where he appears in the order. I'm not sure he belongs in 9th but he hasn't done well when pushed up in the order

By way of comparison, what would you expect of Betts next year. Nunez has added an aggressiveness to this club. He plays an intense game and maybe lifts the club by his example.

I'd rather look at what he is doing recently than look at lifetime figures. Hanley lifetime would be much better than he is doing now, for instance.

So much of ml hitting is timing. They see where the ball leaves the pitchers hand and how fast it get to them. I can see the htters taking a pitch or two during the first AB, but then all pitches should be fair game if they are down the middle, particularly fast balls.

I expect this to be a fight to the end. JF needs to treat each game as being critical. I would assume the Yankees will lose 4 or 5 along the way but no more. If I am right, the Sox will have to win 10 games, so have to play well to capture the pennant. Lets have the Yankees faced the Guardians.

I think you undervalue Lin's bat. He has good mechanics and a good plate approach. He isn't ever going to hit for power but he is likely to hit for an acceptable average to be a utility player. He isn't currently getting any looks so I would hold judgment on his capability.

Well Nunez is our most aggressive hitter and his numbers are impressive.

This string has morphed into a discussion of pitchning or god knows what. Sox hitting is what the string is named so I will come in with comments on hitting. Pray for the return of Nunez, who is our only really aggressive hitter. If it's over he will make his cut instead of taking a lot of pitches as it appears the others are instructed to do. He adds an aspect to this team they need. Pedey is a very capable hitter and a veteran. Just hope he can hold it together as we continue the pennant race. Beni is hitting well of late and may start popping a few if he will pull the ball. Can't complain with a guy who has been delivering. Vaz and Devers both show decent bat control and can give us a lift at times. Devers might just explode again going down the stretch. After those, it is difficult to be particularly happy with Betts. We know he has a lot of capability but for whatever mechanical issue, he is popping up an awful lot of pitches. The pitching coaches should be all over him as he was doing it before his big day and right back to it after. He ccould well be one of the best hitters if he can straighten his swing mechanics out and lay off the sliders away. Bradley will give something once in a while but doesn't appear to see pitches well and often swings at bad balls. Moreland does produce at times and is at least capable of hitting deep. Too often he is hitting the ball off to the left or into center. He power will most likely be better to right. Seems to be slightly late with his swing. I have no faith at all in Bogey, Hanley or Leon. If on rare ocassions they contribute something, that is all we can hope for. JF should either rest them more often or put them deep enough in the order so they aren't primary rally killers. We need to keep winning and JF needs to put our strongest lineup in to do it.

Now John Valentin as color man. That was a bridge too far for me. The guy just isn't a TV or radio guy and his first time out was a flop.