5GoldGlovesOF,75

Now we just have to fix Rutchsman.

He just read my post and looked like a pro hitter again: took two pitches, then barreled a fly to center. This could be the turning point!

Just to confirm what I'm seeing: went back to Gameday on MLB -- in the last two games, Rafaela is 1-for-7 with 5 Ks. Pitt has thrown him 22 pitches... he's swung at 20. On half of them the problem may be his bat... when instead he needs a shovel. The reason fans get to complain isn't because we think we're as good as Ceddanne. It's because we're disappointed, since we know how much better he is (but isn't it easy to imagine if any of us stood in the box and took a level swing in the zone as soon as the pitcher picked up his front foot that one or two pitches out of 20 might eventually hit our bats?)

Four pitches to Ceddanne, four swings -- the last one he only missed by 98 centimeters.

Maybe I missed a few ABs, but has anyone seen Rutschman barrel a single pitch yet? Even on a foul? It looks like he's pulling off with every swing, like he doesn't want to make contact because it may hurt... And I don't care who returns, but DO NOT BENCH MONASTERIO. Andruw has 12 doubles in the past six weeks; that's one more in that span than the AL doubles leader, Rafaela, who is now back to hacking. at every. single. pitch. The point is, the Red Sox just don't have that many good hitters, and have no choice but to ride anyone who is hot while they're hot. Or they're not.

All great lists of albums, but I couldn't find one old hippy with Allman Brothers' At Filmore East. Still one of the all-time best live LPs -- with tye-die video on youtube -- and it didn't even include "One Way Out" or "Trouble No More"... (which are on Eat A Peach; also highly recommended).

Why would any club want a local player with a swing tailored for its home ballpark who grew up a fan of the team and was eager to sign with them, when they can instead draft a guy who lives thousands of miles away who'd rather go back to school than agree to get paid to play in one of the best baseball markets in the world? As long as the Red Sox front office always picks the Best Player Available on their draft board, they're covered for ignoring all the other intangibles that used to matter to all the old timey scouts they fired who weren't laptops or tablets. Good thing a draft didn't exist yet when hometown hero Tony Conigliaro signed with Boston. Otherwise, the Sox wouldn't have had a kid hitting home runs at Fenway when he was 19, or leading the league in HRs when he was 20.

He's not declining in San Fran; when they ask him to play 1B, he says yes. But if he was only a DH, he'd be reclining... between at bats.

Machine Head -- now there's an all-time rocker overplayed so much in the day (at parties, not radio) that all songs are still memorable half a century later... ... except maybe "Pictures of Home" -- play it! Only 7 songs on the album!

Arias Watch, Saturday afternoon in WOO: Franklin had a great at bat -- with two outs and a 2-2 count, fouled off 5 consecutive low and outside sweepers... pitcher Richard Gallardo then bounced one, allowing a run to score, then hung one, which Arias ripped up the middle for a well-earned single. The worn-out Gallardo then gave up a double to Eaton, and a walk to Gasper, until Romy drilled a bases-loaded two-run single to put Woo ahead. The entire rally was ignited by Arias, now one of only two minor leaguers with at least a .315 BA and 23 HRs (the other is Zac Veen, 4 years older and 73 pounds heavier).

All that already happened in history. They dug under those big heads on Easter Island and found statue bodies wearing Red Sox uniforms... originally in home whites but turned moldy through the centuries -- the PR dept. still thought it was cool, and now you know where they got the idea for their best-selling green jerseys.

Whitlock will be ok. The Sox just flew him back to Transylvania for evaluation by Doctor Ahm Shallcutta.

Just remember when Sam Kennedy said, "Roman Anthony coming off the IL from FLA will be better than any Roman Anthony who could've rehabbed in Boston with a sprained ring finger wrist."

And this is why Rich Hill is ramping it up again. He should be ready to pitch again by October of 2018.

I only mentioned Stairway because a recent article rated it having the greatest guitar solo in rock history. But anyone who grew up in the Seventies hating on it must have never stayed up until midnight, because one popular FM station played it every single night at 11:50 PM -- and that's how we knew what time it was, no matter where we were... Led Zeppelin IV was always the most overplayed, but true fans know that one of the greatest studio albums of all time is still Led Zeppelin II (and moon, I love Physical Graffiti and "Ten Years Gone").