hogan873

I knew the name sounded familiar (aside from just seeing him pitch). Now I remember how upset Mariners players were.

Was not expecting a deal for Graveman, but I like it. Solidifies the pen and all but guarantees Kimbrel is gone. I wouldn't be surprised if he's traded within the next couple days.

Watched the first two episodes and really enjoyed them. I have not read the books, but I've read complaints from those who have about some changes. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

I'm torn on the Sox not offering Rodon the QO. I wonder if there was any speculation on whether he would accept. My gut says they thought he might accept and therefore tie up $18MM in payroll. That's a huge jump from the $3MM he got for 2021, so I can understand the reluctance to give him 6X that without still knowing if he'd be healthy enough to give the team what they need. Maybe they still want to offer him a multi-year deal that would give him more money overall but less stress on the budget. I think, however, he signs elsewhere on a 2 or 3 year deal for more than the Sox would be willing to pay. When he does sign somewhere, with the Sox or not, we can be sure of one thing: Some of us will be okay, some will want to punch Hahn in the face, and some of us will be meh about it.

The show does such a great job making you care about people and hate them at the same time. Some of the best TV right now.

Midnight Mass was one of the best series I've seen. Creepy throughout, several jump-scares, incredible dialogue, and some of the best acting, especially from Hamish Linklater and Samantha Sloyan.

Good point. Injuries definitely could have played a hand in the results. I look back at 2005 and see what our pitchers did during the playoffs. Four consecutive complete games in ALCS, and even in the WS they went deep into games. I know it's not fair to compare that crew to this year's, but the starting pitching was very disappointing. My guess is that there had to be some injuries and/or fatigue. Although I think Cease's struggles were primarily mental.

Despite the Sox having a lot of talent, the Astros are the better team right now. Even looking at just talent, there are fewer holes on Houston's team. But the bigger issue is execution. The Sox did not play well, and there were some management miscues. The majority of the fault lies with the players, though. You're not going to win a series against a very good team by hitting mostly singles, hitting into a bunch of ground ball outs and DPs, and having all of your starters exit the game early. I still don't like the approach down the stretch, taking it easy, playing subpar baseball. That mentality carried over into the playoffs, even though we were told that wouldn't happen. But that's on the players, too to an extent. These are professionals who for the most part didn't do their jobs well when it really counted.

Unless they make some bold moves before then. The team is going to be handcuffed a bit with money, but a few creative moves could free up some cash and allow them to make a splash. If they end up with a true RF and another solid SP (and maybe a good 2B) by then, SoxFest could be a better time for Hahn.

Well put. It's frustrating, but looking back at what this team did while missing A LOT of what we were counting on, we can see plenty of positives. I think the part that angers many of us is now having the full team back, they didn't play very well. Down the stretch and into the playoffs. Whether guys got burnt out or bad managing or long slumps, it was a perfect storm of bad stuff.

Knew it would be an afternoon game if postponed if they're going to play Wednesday in Houston. Good for the bullpen, but I'm concerned about the lose of momentum. It's the right decision, though. There's no way they'd get the game in with the weather forecast.

Aggressive strikeout call

Nasty pitch from Kopech.

He has no obligation to take it easy on the Sox. There have been many poor choices by TLR, and this team’s lackluster play in September has followed them right into the playoffs…even though we were ensured that wouldn’t happen.

And on their way to their cars by the 7th.

Raise your hand if you’re surprised by the way this game has unfolded. *looks around* That’s what I thought.

The Sox don't need guys to play above their potential to win the series. If the starting pitching is good enough to keep them in each game (maybe better in one game that shuts down the Astros) and guys like TA, Abreu, Moncada, Robert, and Eloy play like their capable, the Sox have a real chance to win the series, even without HFA. But if one of more of the core guys goes cold for the series or a starter has a really bad start, it'll be tough to win the series. As others have mentioned, winning one in Houston is almost a must-have. My gut says the series goes 5 games, and game 5 is similar to game 4 of the 2005 WS. Great pitching that shuts down both offenses. Someone sneaks a run or two late. Game 1 - Sox Game 2 - Astros Game 3 - Astros Game 4 - Sox Game 5 - ....

That's a fair point.

I agree with you here. And what's interesting is that we're not hearing about any spikes of COVID from football games where there are 50K+ people, college or pro. Maybe it's really not that interesting considering better than 50% of the population is vaccinated, and there is a percentage that have had COVID and are (at least temporarily) immune.

Many schools are requiring vaccinations or weekly testing for admittance. I can't say for sure what the policy is at the above pictured school, but I'd be willing to bet the majority are vaccinated. So, I'm not sure what you meant by your comment.

This is not true. Plenty of young and healthy people have had COVID. Although most young and/or healthy people who catch COVID recover well, they are as much at risk of catching it. Don't forget that cases jumped again once the mask mandate was lifted "for vaccinated people only". Everyone knew that meant no masks for anyone because who was going to police mask-wearing for unvaccinated people? No one was going to ask anyone else if they were vaccinated. The vast majority of new COVID cases are in unvaccinated people. Most hospitalizations and deaths are in the unvaccinated population. So, no, cases aren't spiking because people are getting vaccinated. Cases are rising because people, all people, stopped wearing masks and there's still a stubborn, selfish percent of the population who refuse to get vaccinated. If everyone got vaccinated, COVID wouldn't be eradicated, but it would be affecting very few people. And those it affected would have mild symptoms (at worst) and not end up in the hospital. But not everyone will get vaccinated because of dumbass conspiracy theorists and the sheep that believe them.

So, who will be sober enough to play in game 2?

Lotta young folks on this site. I feel old now.

In 2008, I was a 35 year old father of three young kids (all under 8). Now I'm a 48 year old father of two college kids and a junior in high school...and a pug.

This team was great when facing adversity - the lengthy losses of Eloy and Robert, Grandal being out for an extended period, Madrigal going down for the year. Now, with Eloy, Robert, and Grandal back, the additions of Tepera, Hernandez, and Kimbrel (on paper, all good additions), the team is struggling. That's quite frustrating. But, even if they play okay for the rest of the season, they're going to win 90+ games and win the division handily. That's something that many of us thought not likely, especially after losing Robert and Madrigal. I'm not saying we should take it easy on these guys. They need to get their shit together by the time the playoffs start. If they go into the playoffs playing like they are now (lifeless, sloppy baseball), they will exit quickly. I'll be more optimistic and believe they'll play good baseball come playoff time. But if a quick exit happens, it'll be really easy to look back at the last 50 or so games of the season and say we saw it coming from miles away.