5GoldGlovesOF,75

Everyone knows that people under six feet tall have smaller ligaments and tendons in their hands that always break down from counting large stacks of cash. I'm pretty sure I read this on talksox or in the Deny Science Journal.

ERod pitched ok last weekend, but once again just good enough to not win -- eschewing the shutdown inning after the Sox took the lead. But that was against the mighty Yanks. If Boston can get an early lead, in the house that Schwarber demolished, I think Eduardo will beat the Nats. Remember, there's at least an even chance that this is the last game ERod ever pitches for the Red Sox.

The point is that Cora knows there's no point in trying to "chip away" at a lead when nobody can be counted on anymore to sculpt with chisel and rockhammer. They're all swinging sledgehammers. Underwater. The batting order is too relentful.

I got your percentages right here: Plawecki K-rate 15%, Shaw K-rate 34%. Runner on third, put the ball in play.

But Stroman's too short to earn a longterm deal. His body is bound to break down, and he's sure to join Mookie at the retirement home, cursing together at the TV in the community room because MLB channel is blacking out the local nine.

One moment last night sums up the desperation: when Cora pinch-hit Shaw for Plawecki. Usually -- or on most baseball teams at just about any level -- with a man on third and less than two outs, you want your best contact hitter up to put the ball in play and drive home the run. Instead, Cora opted for the remote chance that a guy sitting on the bench who strikes out a lot would launch a big fly over the fence (it happened once in August); when any batter reaches base these days, the Red Sox need to try anything they can to contrive a rally. That's how rare an actual rally has been the past week.

The Red Sox may wind up with 90 wins and say they "exceeded expectations" this year, but they also receded expectations the past week falling flat on their faces. A baseball season is a marathon -- and a mediocre first half and successful second half could still produce the same record -- but just as a big kick at the finish provides hope for the future, so does wiping out produce despair. The pitching may have gagged against the Yankees, but those are the Bronx Bombers. But there's no excuse for Richards throwing wild pitches vs. Baltimore, or Pivetta grooving one to the Orioles' main power guy with first base open (Mountcastle: the same rookie who beat Sale). The bottom line is that the offense, particularly Boston's star hitters, have just given up by literally giving up at bats. They're supposed to be fighting for a playoff berth and no one works the count to get a good pitch to hit (except Schwarber)? The Sox scored 12 runs in the last game of their winning streak, and have 13 total runs in five losses since. Three runs or less per game isn't going to win anything... unless someone can find a time machine and go back to 1968.

One thing that doesn't is the importance of good defense to win titles or at least go deep in the postseason. That unit contributed great defense to a championship.

I know, but Cincy finished first or second almost every year for a decade in that alignment. Better greenies for the Reds?

Gotta give credit to Cincy leading the big leagues in wins in the Seventies, while constantly having to adjust to three hour time changes every other week going back and forth to LA, SF, SD, even Hou (one-hour diff?). Must've sucked to be a fan trying to stay awake listening to all those late games on the radio.

Well, one of the reasons the Rays lead the MLB in runs scored, and the Jays lead in HRs, and the Yankees lead in bases on balls, is because they all got to face Boston's pitching (and defense) 19 times each.

It totally does if the pitcher can throw his secondary stuff below the zone or off the corner. Ask Ottavino.

Pre-TJ: Sale at 100 mph with a killer slider was unhittable, while Eovaldi at 100 with two other pitches got barreled more. Now: Sale at 93-96 is more vulnerable, while Eovaldi at 100 with four other pitches is hard to handle... for Orioles, Blue Jays, and Black Crowes.

The biggest division rivalry throughout the decade of the 1970s wasn't Boston-New York. It was LA, California vs. Cincinnati, Ohio in the NL West.

The worst part of the concept of Wild Card teams has alway been that interleague play imbalances schedules. The M's having to play the NL West is not the same as playing the NL East. You can say it all evens out eventually, but inequities shouldn't exist when it comes to qualifying for the postseason and having a shot at a World Series title. I remember back when the Yankees and Red Sox were often the top teams fighting for the AL East -- with the runner-up vying for a WC -- how unfair it was (compared to clubs in the Central and West) that they had to play the NL East, which was the best division in the other league at the time.

This is a must-win and the next three O's are batting .190, .193, and .224. I'm not worried about having Nate available for a few frames Sunday if needed. But Cora may be...

Nate escaped! Third time through the order. Now we just bring in Nelson, Honeycutt and Eckersly... and it's over. I mean: Nelson, Mike Stanton and Rivera. Or...

Someone will hit one stitch of the ball, it will roll into no man's land, and it won't be a Red Sox batter. It's 1-0, but when the O's take a 2-1 lead it will feel like 20 to 1. When it gets to 3-1, it will feel like 3,000 to 1.

O's say they can beat the Sox fielding just a pitcher, catcher, first baseman and third baseman.

But that ball in play still moved the runner up a base, unlike a K. A DP can even score a runner; no RBI, but the run ain't scoring on a strikeout (unless Sanchez or Vazquez let the ball bounce to the backstop).

I'm stepping up here to support my teammates (Sox pitchers take note, when a fielder commits an E): on talksox, every season is post season.

As much as a GM who is either clutch or chokes when it comes to making trades, signing free agents or drafting Rule V guys... (see ts-ref's "late-winter and close dollars" category).

Over the decades I've become convinced that professional athletes, especially in such a specialized sport like hardball, rarely forget how to hit a fastball, catch a pop-up or throw a strike. It's almost always some physical malfunction (often translated as age) altering performance. ps. a lot of injuries are undisclosed to the public, mainly to keep info from opponents

Ya, but winning a WC game in Yankee Stadium -- even if the Rays then won the ALDS in a sweep -- would make the season, and give the offseason momentum until Spring Training 2022...

Ellis Burks is a good guy on the telecasts, but so far offers little fresh insight. I don't know why NESN doesn't try Bill Lee... with Eck... nevermind, yes I do: too happy. I think the last time they gave him the mic was during an old-timer's game a few years ago -- face flush, pupils dilated, laughing through half his (loud) words.