YASNY

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 28, 2012 -> 09:56 PM) I felt like tonight he was effectively wild. Didn't think he was particularly crisp. If you watched where Flowers was setting up, and then where Humber was throwing it, he certainly was missing his location a lot. Texas is scuffling. They aren't hitting the ball particularly well right now and I think tonight we saw that. I agree with this post. The Rangers are not hitting like they usually do. Sox caught them at a good time.

Ummmm ... I'm speechless. Way to go KW!!!!!!!

De Aza, Alexie and AJ out. Humber starting against 1st place Texas at Texas ... Tigers and Tribe losing ... ummm yeah, I'll take it.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 26, 2012 -> 01:25 AM) detroit's last 12 games of the season are all against the royals and the twins. How the f*** does that happen? That right there is the kiss of death for the Sox. The Twins and Royals will be playing minor leaguers to see what they have.

If I'm not mistaken, nobody has mentioned that Cleveland and Detroit both lost. So it was a damn good night.

Three points inspired by posts on this thread: 1. Extra set of eyes remark regarding Ventura ... With Robin being a solid lefty hitter, has he had input the resulted in the resurgence of Dunn and A.J. ... also De Aza's success. Could be, but we'll never know. 2. Rios resurgence. I think it's because he's back in RF where he's comfortable. 3. Honestly, I forget number 3 but I'll say this. Robin has done a masterful job of putting players in a position to succeed. Switching Reed to closer has helped both pitchers involved. All 3, if you include Thornton in the mix. Also, not giving up outs offensively and defensively. This is HUGE! And the fundamentals have been much better compared to recent seasons.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 02:03 PM) We traded him for cash. The Sox had removed him from the 40 man roster about a month ago, because he was terrible. When they waived him, no one claimed him. The Dodgers were in a situation where they needed a warm body for AAA, which is why the deal was done. Yes, he was terrible. I just hadn't heard anything about this.

The Trib article says we traded Ozzie Martinez to the Dodgers on Monday. For who or what? Anybody know?

This was probably done to add an arm to the Knight's bullpen. It has to be pretty thin with all the young guys in Chicago.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 6, 2012 -> 10:12 AM) So, 3 Hall of Fame SS's. Of course, you are refering to the mustache HOF with Valentin.

I went with Paulie. He's a pro's pro.

At the start of Ozzie's managerial run with the Sox, he was a breath of fresh air and an asset. Toward the end he was an infected, puss-oozing, stinking wound on the franchise. He needed to go. He is no longer the Sox manager and I don't care what happens with Miami. Ozzie will be welcome when we have a 20 year reunion in 2025. Otherwise, stay away.

Right now, I went with Price on both questions because I believe he has less of a chance of injury. Otherwise, it's a coin flip.

I like our bullpen.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 04:35 PM) Yesterday is the kind of game that makes me cautious when using run differential to evaluate a team. Once the Sox got ahead by 10 or so, the Rangers weren't going to trot out their best relievers to try and keep the run differential down. This ... and the series against Cleveland where we put a ton of runs on the board. That skewed our runs upward and theirs downward.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 02:47 PM) Feliz was a converted RP trying to be a starter and Holland pitched a normal starter innings last season. Ogando's injury is a strained groin and was having a good season don't see how any of those have to do with their deep playoff runs. Hell the guy who pitched the most for those 2 teams only is having the best season of his career now for the Angels. I will agree that AJ could probably use a few more days off or maybe at DH with Dunn at 1B a couple times given his age and the position but besides that this team is being managed perfectly imo. Robin has done good job this year.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 02:43 PM) Ugh. I get so tired of hearing defensive metrics quoted as if that's the ONLY thing that matters. If you watch this team day after day, you'll know Ramirez has been VERY good this season. Maybe not quite Gold Glove level, as a couple of seasons ago, but very very close. Just like OPS. It's important, no doubt. But a SS putting up 79 RBI's isn't ever going to be a BAD thing, especially when he's one of the best defensively in the entire AL. True, but he does lack focus out there sometimes as well as in the batter's box.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 12:43 PM) Look at all the problems the Rangers are having this year with Feliz, Ogando, Holland, etc. Seems like teams always suffer the year after that deep playoff run, unless they're a "superteam" who can sustain a couple of key pitching injuries. We saw this phenomenon firsthand in 2000-01, 2006, etc. If anything, we should be more worried about how hard Robin's pushing all the starters, particularly AJ. You just wonder how long they can hold up. It worked wonderfully for Ozzie to have his Sunday line-ups in 2005 and 2008, but the pendulum's really swung back the other direction, with our bench being perhaps the least utilized of any in the majors (and hard to fault Ventura, they're really just not that good that any of those guys should be pressing for additional playing time or starting roles). The Rangers didn't suffer too much from their deep 2010 playoff run considering they repeated as AL champs in '11.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 12:44 AM) It's a lot easier to remember those situations when you need the clutch hit and don't get it. There's no way they lead the league in RISP and are awful in those situations compared to with a big lead. But the whole idea of "clutch" is silly anyway, a guy is going to hit what he hits in that at bat. I call BS on this. There some hitters that definitely have a knack for the clutch hit, as well as some pitchers that have the knack of not allowing the clutch hit.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 03:55 PM) You have to think all of these players can recognize the difference between this game and a game that really means something like an actual Major league ballgame though. I understand what you are saying, but I really dont think any of them understood that message as "It is ok to lose a game" as much as "holy crap we ran out of players and this game has no sign of ending" I see your point but at the same time, wasn't the other team also in the same predicament? The manager effectively told his players that their 18 innings of effort was worthy of blowing off because he was tired.

I've got mixed thoughts on this. While looking out for the health of his players is a good move on a certain level, he also sent a message to his entire team that this particular game was not that impopstant. While in the grand scheme of things that may be true, it does set a bad precendent and put questions in the mind of his young ballplayers.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 08:26 AM) Who the hell names their kid "Roy"? Mr.and Mrs. Rogers?

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 1, 2012 -> 08:48 AM) The Sox have the highest BA RISP in all of baseball so far this year... http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#sect...&split=risp Don't tell me what you hit, but when you hit it. The Sox are good at hitting with runners in scoring position with a big lead. Not so much in come from behind situations. At least, it appears that way to me.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 1, 2012 -> 08:39 AM) 19 here. I saw Luke Appling as a pinch hitter, still fouled off a bunch of pitches. I might have seen Tresh play, just don't have a specific memory of him. That would be 20. I saw Appling homer in an old timers game.. Does that count?

QUOTE (Hawk09 @ Jun 30, 2012 -> 02:03 AM) Lets cross our fingers and hope that Crain can come back soon. One silver lining to all the pitching injuries to Danks,Crain,Humber ect...is that if they come back healthy, they could be stronger in September than normal with so few innings. Septimo looked good, in a non-pressure situation. Live arm,decent control. Can he do it in a one run game late? We will see,but hope so. I like how Matt Thornton has looked his last two outings. Tonite his breaking ball was sharp. If Gordo catches that popup he has a clean inning. Great sign for Matt. Love that Reed,and the rest got the nite off. Need them tomorrow and Sunday,then a day off. The score may have made it a nonpressure situation in some respects, but making your major league debut, in Yankee Stadium, facing if I remember correctly ARod, Tex and Cano? That's pressure.