fathom

If you did get Torre, then we'd also likely raise payroll. I can't see Torre taking over for a team without a top 10 payroll, etc. Am I the only one who gets way too happy when anyone suggests Ozzie might not be back?

No way this team spends money on a closer with Jenks on the roster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 06:48 PM) We both know they would have to do quite a bit to remedy the situation if they blow it. A lot of fans will not be happy at all. I've never been more proud of my fellow Sox fans than the last week or so when they boo Ozzie every time he comes to the mound. You can even tell that KW senses this, and his article didn't go out of the way to try and take pressure off of Ozzie.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 06:47 PM) Considering Griffey hasn't played basically at all in September and is officially out for the season and having 2 more surgeries...I really don't see this as a huge negative. I thought that if Griffey Jr. really wanted to play right now, he could. The Reds basically shut him down as a cautionary measure.

If the Sox do fail to make the playoffs, there will be such hatred from the fans for what happened that the best step the organization could do would be to fire the person who's pissing the fans off the most, Ozzie. Who knows, maybe the fan backlash would make JR open up the checkbook and bring in a superstar this offseason? Who the f*** am I kidding!

I know that Ozzie said he wants to keep the same lineup the rest of the way, but that's just being stubborn if he can't make one substitute, etc. Everett is hurting this team. However, I'm sure he'll be in the lineup, especially since he had a 2 homer game against Lohse earlier this year. And he'll be playing tomorrow, as he destroys Mays.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 06:28 PM) If Everett bunts Iguchi over in the 9th with nobody out- Pauly gets the winning hit. Instead Everett strikes in a big situation like he normally does. Lets face it- nobody is coming up with those clutch hits anymore. They would have intentionally walked PK with the open base.

Dye was swinging the bat well yesterday, and AJP isn't exactly tearing the cover off the ball. AJP is also a much bigger DP threat in that situation, while Dye usually hits a lot of fly balls. That was the right call by Ozzie.

QUOTE(SpringfieldFan @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 06:19 PM) He DID get a bat. He completed a deal for Griffey (who was at the time healthy), remember? Reds ownership nixed it after the fact but KW did his part. He made the trade; he aquired the bat. SFF No offense to you, but if I hear that excuse actually come from Sox management after the season, I might join Ozzie in throwing up. There's no bonus points for coming close to making a deal.

QUOTE(Darren @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 05:18 PM) I'm amazed at the number of utter F'n cry-babies that troll this site. If this is the Sox fan base then I'm embarassed to call myself a Sox fan. Everybody is blaming Ozzie for the record in the 2nd half. What about the first half? He go from genius to idiot over the All Star break?? And don't give me the BS that their first half was an easier schedule. Even if that was the case, that's why they play the whole season, and here we are less than two weeks from the end with the BEST RECORD IN THE AL. There were a lot of us on this site saying that if Ozzie continued to make the similar decisions that he was in the first half of the year in the second half of the year, that the Sox were going to be in a lot of trouble. Also, with the weather being colder in the early part of the season, our offense was able to win more games like 2-1 because our starting pitching completely overachieved.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:48 PM) Hmmm, I still think we're overpaying just slightly in that. Hank scares me, his AWAY splits from Tex have been BRUTAL this season, and he's lost a lot of his power recently. Mench would be a good get though for LF. I used to love Blalock, but a big time AL scout told my brother that Blalock has stopped listening to people, and he's likely already on the downfall of his career. He's stopped trying to do the little things that made him a good hitter, and is just swinging out of his ass with no regard now.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 05:14 PM) And while I'm at it, a special shout out to those who b****ed all season long. Bet you all feel better, right? No, I feel worse.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 05:06 PM) Can I just say, I've never seen a manager gone from getting numerous praises around the league and being considered a shoe - in for AL Manager of the Year, to one that the majority of his fan base wants fired. Quite a fall from grace. Here's a situation I thought was extremely odd. The whole Ozzie sucks momentum with the fans at the game started when he pulled Jenks for Marte against the Royals in that game the Sox won 1-0. The Sox were on the verge of their 7th straight win, yet the fans still went apes*** on Ozzie. No one can blame the fans for only getting pissed at Ozzie when the Sox were losing. I think the whole Ozzie experience has soured with Sox fans.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:54 PM) It seems from my viewpoint there's a collective hatred towards Ozzie which is really gaining momentum. I've said it once, I'll say it again. KW should NOT be fired for this. KW's just gotta weigh up in the improvements he's made to this team from hiring Ozzie from the looser clubhouse etc. are worth the mistakes he's making in terms of handling a pitching staff, and playing "his" guys. KW had his best offseason yet as a GM, as he brought in numerous solid players w/the Sox. It's not his fault that his manager is self-destructing in front of everyone. I'll be extremely pissed if KW is the scapegoat, and Ozzie stays.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:31 AM) I agree. The Sox are probably the only team in baseball that has a #3 hitter with the lowest average in the line-up. And yet continues to play EVERY game, even when he's not coming close to getting a hit. I hate Timo, but he'd give this team a much better chance to win if he was playing. Ozzie says he doesn't want to hurt the team's chemistry because he wants the players to feel like he believes in them. I think it's safe to say that every single player on the Sox feels like they just got punched in the f***ing jaw, and they're dazed and confused. Play to win the game Ozzie, and stop trying to be everyone's friend. If you keep this up, you can be friends with them on the golf course in 2 weeks.

There's a lot of people that was to say things like "I'm f***ing done with this team" in order to try and lessen the disappointment. It's a defense mechanism to try and distance themselves from the team. What do these people have to lose by sticking it out for the next 10 games? I just hope some of these people don't let the door hit their ass on the way out.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:27 AM) Hats off to BMac, he was awesome tonight matching Santana pitch for pitch. In fact he may even have been more impressive. The fact that he's a rookie makes me think he could be a star. And you know what....it makes me even happier we didn't trade him. I was down on him earlier in the year when he threw his straight high fastball and didn't throw his change-up. Since he's come back, he's been fantastic. In the long run, we'll be thankful we didn't trade him. Not to sound even more negative than I am, but unless we got about 2 or 3 offensive contributors on this team for McCarthy, I still don't think this team would have had enough to win the World Series.

QUOTE(Felix @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:20 AM) When we make the playoffs and when we go to the ALCS and possibly the WS, they will all come back and say they were here all along, but supporting silently. You can't criticize the team and be a fan? Now, I know a lot of people will be on crutches tomorrow after they went free-falling off of the bandwagon. But lets not make this into another in or out thread. As someone so perfectly put it yesterday, believe it or not, not a single thing said on a message board is responsible for a win or a loss. The sooner some of us realize that, the quicker we'll stop blaming people on this site for what we see on the field. The funny thing is that as much as we argue with others on this site, if I was at school/bar, and someone said they were a Sox fan, I would automatically have a good opinion of the person.

QUOTE(Felix @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:19 AM) Punch a f***ing pillow if you are pissed off. There are plenty of these posts already on the forums, no need to make more. Wow, I hope you never work on a suicide hotline This team isn't worth the pain (hopefully only emotional) that so many of us put ourselves through.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:11 AM) He should retire right now. The Sox best chance at making the playoffs a week ago would have been if Ozzie was fired (of course, no way that would have happened). He doesn't have the composure for this pennant run. He's completely lost this team, and just continues to make wrong decisions, especially late in the game. We're losing way too many games lately with the lead after 6 innings.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:08 AM) I'm think a pinch runner who is going to steal second. If he's thrown out, Crede with 5 career walk off homers is leading off the ninth. Wait, the Sox are allowed to steal a base successfully? With Santana on the mound, and Mauer catching, I don't think any of our players could have a prayer at stealing the base.

QUOTE(Felix @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 04:01 AM) Yea, I also know that the Sox, while they lost 2/3 from Cleveland, looked back to form in the first two games of that series, which is promising. No such thing as moral victories now. If you lose a game the rest of the way, it's a bad loss. If we keep losing games that we have the lead in heading into the 7th inning, they won't make the playoffs.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 03:58 AM) I just got back in the game, can someone tell me why Widger wasn't pinch run for with a guy who could steal second in the 8th. The run would have scored on Crede's single. How so? I didn't see the play, but wasn't Widger on first base? And BTW, I thought also that Widger should have been pinch ran for. Someone needs to tell Ozzie we have an extended bench.

QUOTE(Felix @ Sep 23, 2005 -> 03:57 AM) I doubt it, simply because of who we are playing. We'll take at least 2 from Minnesota this series and another 2 from Detroit. And with the way Boston is playing recently, I doubt they can gain ground on the Sox at that rate. I was just saying it was a possibility. There's no guarantee that any particular team will win another game for the rest of the season. As I said two months ago, and I'll say again: THERE'S NO GUARANTEES IN SPORTS!