dgalehouse

I think you mean when the Oriole's manager Buck Showalter held back Zach Britton , waiting for a lead that never came.

I liked Harry Caray . And I always enjoyed Hawk Harrelson . John Sterling too. And I think an announcer like Cosell really helped to popularize Monday Night Football , even though everyone loved to hate him. I don't much care for the bland , colorless , low charisma types.

I was still sweating with a seven run lead in Game 7.

Mel Allen was a pretty good announcer and an unabashed Yankee homer. Back in the day , he would be in the booth for Sunday doubleheaders at the Stadium . By the fifth inning of the nightcap he would be pretty well into the Ballantine Ale , and the games became much more fun.

Maybe you are a fan of Dave " Mr. Personality " O'Brien.

Baseball was way more fun when we had more Harry Carays and fewer Nate Silvers.

A lot of folks always seem to focus on the negative. Yaz made the last out in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series and the 1978 playoff game. Failed both times . Choker. And you just could not count on Eck and Mo in the big game.

Cody Allen had been the closer all season . Tito was a loyal " player's manager " , perhaps to a fault . I think Tito was reluctant to " demote " Allen after Miller was acquired. It worked out okay , but all things being equal , Miller should have closed.

Using your closer in a so called " leverage " situation in the 7th inning is an idea that has been kicked around for a few years now. It has never really caught on. I think the reason is that baseball people feel that , with few exceptions, the game is never more " on the line " than it is in the ninth inning. Everything is amped up to the max in the ninth inning.

Chavis has too much power to give up on too quickly. I would like to see him get a real opportunity. Between him and Dalbec , there is some serious right handed pop. Plus , I really love the way Chavis records his at bats in a notebook. Classic old school stuff .

Not a good idea to spend too much on a player jersey these days. I do think a little more continuity would be a good thing. Too much constant turnover of the roster is a turnoff for many fans.

Kind of strange that they released him so quickly. I always thought of him as a good reliever. Why not give him a try ?

Henry is the owner who finally broke the curse . Now he has four rings. He didn't do that by cutting costs. He deserves credit for that. But let's be honest. Before Henry , the Sox came very close several times. Sometimes just an out away. Nothing an owner can do about that. That is not to take anything away from Henry , but the breaks have to go your way sometimes. I don't think he is a dummy. He is a billionaire. Smart . A stock market guy. A money manager. Hedge fund type. Not the most likable folks , but successful. And he is kind of an odd duck. I don't think he would fit in with , or relate to , the average Sox fan. As for hiring Bloom , we will have to see whether that leads to sustained success or just lower cost decent , but not great Red Sox teams. Time will tell , but last season was an inauspicious debut no matter how you slice it.

Winning is everything. Not necessarily championships, but just overall good , winning baseball. Division titles and good pennant races. When you don't win , people are going to start complaining and questioning your moves. Maybe we are a bit spoiled, but that's life. You should not accept losing and bad baseball just because you like the people involved and their styles and methods. And it's not good business. The majority of the paying customers don't much care about all of the nuances involved or all of the hundreds of metrics floating around. They don't want excuses . They want good baseball with players they know and like. When they don't see it , they are not going to part with their money. When they see a Mookie Betts traded and then watch the team tank , they are not going to be happy campers. They would rather see JBJ roam the outfield than some lesser paid newcomer , a " better value " if you will. A Division title could change that. The question is : When might that happen if we continue our current approach? And will we continue our current approach if things don't improve soon ? Or if attendance and NESN ratings plummet.

I'm afraid it will be a long wait for the next one if we can't acquire and retain top talent.

Most people would give most of the credit for the Brave's run to Maddox , Glavine and Smoltz . Leave it to you to credit the supporting cast.

If you throw enough jabronis against the wall ; one or two may stick. But you will have a mess of splattered jabronis on the floor . Not the best way to excite the Fenway Faithful.

" We " can't afford it . John Henry can . He just doesn't want to.

When Henry was spending , the Sox had some great teams. But after the duckboats were put away in 2018 , he seems to have had some reluctance to continue shelling out the bucks. He said it himself. Not sure why he changed , but it definitely has an adverse effect on the roster.

The main way to achieve sustained excellence is to pay what it takes to sign and retain the excellent players. We know that from history. When you shy away from doing that , it is very difficult to field an outstanding team. The idea of achieving sustained excellence by building a farm that produces bumper crops every year is mostly a pipe dream.

I don't think it was too much money for JBJ. He has earned it. And Boras is the king of agents. Now the Sox have rid themselves of their entire championship outfield. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Let's just hope the new group produces the way we have come to expect.

A product of the " barren farm."

The Cooler.

I asked an old friend, 78 year old Sox fan Henry Farge , what he thought of the Sox ' projected outfield . He started talking about some of the many illustrious outfielders who have graced Fenway and provided excitement in the field , on the bases and at bat for the fans over the years , but when he came to this year's group all he could say was " I am trying hard to be optimistic." I guess we all are .