vilehoopster

Wow, it's nice to see McCann hitting the ball again. I was really starting to worry he was going to regress back to that .230 hitter we got from Detroit.

That's what I'm thinking. Just walk his ass and take your chances with the next batter. He is insane.

Also, what you said about Steele Walker in RF and then moving Eloy to DH does make sense. If Eloy isn't showing marked improvement on defense by mid-next year, you're right. Have to really start looking at moving him to DH as Abreu (really actually does) starts to decline. But in the mean time, give him a chance to improve.

We agree on that one.

Good point. When you see stuff like that, it's very disconcerting for many reasons.

Bill's mind was blown wide open long ago. I think at a Dead concert in '91. One of several Dead concerts Bill was at that year.

I don't think last year's Giolito is what he is now or will see going forward, of course not. But I don't think the Giolito we saw the first half of the season will be the Gio we see going forward either, for whatever reason I don't know. I think that was aberration. I think the one we see now is the one we're gonna see the rest of his time with the Sox. Not spectacular like he was earlier this season, but a good solid, smart pitcher who takes the ball and most of the time gives you a chance to win and will get you around 14 wins a year. Do you agree?

Or show some patience

You can always get an DH who can bat (well not the Sox this year, but usually). There aren't too many left fielders out there who are going to get 40 or so home runs for the next 10 years or so. He has a good work ethic; he will get better and be more than adequate.

That's about the only time Ricky has them bunt that I agree with.

This is an overreaction. We need his bat in the lineup from left field. He'll get better and do just fine there. Every player on the team can't DH.

This 100%

Back to Eloy not catching that ball. Do you think he catches that next year?I would say yes. He's already improved a ton from the start of the year.

Nice shot, pretty well thought up. But really, calculus is cold, hard math. Analytics is using biased math to justify opinion. Mark Twain: There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

No, I was a English teacher and basketball coach with bad hair when I played in the 70s and in some ways equally bad when coaching in the 80s, probably too much hair.

The implication or reference escapes me here. Sorry

Actually, the way he is blowing smoke out of his ass that means absolutely nothing reminds me of analytics. Basically the same thing and of equal value.

I loved Walton in his UCLA and Portland days, but he is now a living testement to the dangers of what prolonged drug use does to your brain. He keeps bringing up this book or that book; he has no idea what happened in any of those books. Those brain cells were burnt out years ago. He's just pontificating and putting on airs. As I said before, I quickly muted.

Oh my god. I just turned it on. Could only last a minute before I muted it. Sorry, no way I see this as a good idea.

These are the words of a guy who never coached in high stress situations. I coached high school basketball in Indiana for over 15 years and I’m telling you team leadership and modeling a strong work ethic is really important. If anything it’s underrated. It doesn’t show in games. Everybody bust their asses in games when the crowd is watching. Where it matters is in practice. If have seniors who understand and value drill and practices, you’re gonna get better as the year goes on and pass teams that were better than you at the start of the season. Stuff like that is contagious. If you have seniors who dog it and do just enough to not get yelled at, who snipe and b**** in the locker room, that stuff is even more contagious, and you will underachieve, maybe really underachieve. Remember before the all star game when people on here keep asking how the Sox could be only 2 or 3 games under .500 with their starting pitching, injuries, and other problems. And I know things turned ugly after all-star game, but the ship seems to have righted itself. Anyway, when a team overachieves like that, there’s some positive intangibles happening in the clubhouse, some serious leadership, both verbally and modeling hard work. And everyone you talk to, players and staff, all point to that positive presence as Abreu. That stuff is important, and if you don’t think so, you don’t really know sports. Ask any coach in any sport. We can debate whether Abreu is a really good or just an average 1st baseman, and though I argue against the claims he’s only average, I can see the arguments for the other side. But to claim that locker room or clubhouse atmosphere and leadership have no value, or even little value, when it comes to wins and losses, I’m sorry you lose all credibility with me.

And who would this younger better LH hitter be? Well, A. J. Reed is younger and left handed. Great idea!! Let's have Reed with his .143 average in Charlotte replace Abreu and his 86 RBIs. No good? Let's go to AA and go with Sheets. He's a lefty and sporting a fine .269 BA and .759 OPS in AA How about Vaugh and his .267 BA. Well, he does have a OPS of .842 down there in A ball, but he's a righty, so no. You guys kill me. Why is Abreu no good just because he's older? Younger is not necessarily better, and certainly not in the three people I just listed. Maybe in a couple years, Vaughn might be better, but we don't know that. Think Collins or Fulmer. Plus I am tired of you guys saying he's bad defensively like it's a fact. He throws well above average for a 1st baseman, and how many errors has he saved for Moncada and Anderson by digging hops out of the dirt. Can any of these younger guys, right now, listed above, do that as well as Abreu? Of course not.

I went to the game today. Parking was a complete mess. Got there 50 minutes early, yet lot after lot was full. Took me 35 minutes just to get parked, once at stadium. But the Baines stuff was running late, so I still got to see a lot of that. That made up for the parking mess. But going to a game and seeing your team get shut out, by what you know is probably an average pitcher just sucks. It's ZERO fun. When that 2-run Oakland homer went over the fence, you already felt the game was over, done. And many people around me felt the same way. Inning after inning, you kept this flicker of hope, but you really didn't believe it. It was like watching a ship slowly sink. As of right now, I have no desire to go to a Sox game this year or next. God dammit. Score some runs. Today just sucked. And I agree, get rid of the batting coach or whatever approach is being used organization wide. Did I read from from Merkin on MLB.com that the Sox lead the majors in games where they only score one run or less? Again, other than Baines thing, today's game was ZERO fun.

They have an all-star and clubhouse leader at 1st base.

I agree 100% with Parkman and Cailsoxfan. Bring those guys up. The window does not stay open for long.

He was? Wasn't he? Right after the Minnesota game where he gave up 5 runs in 5 batters. Then Fulmer got hurt and he came right back up.