Middle Buffalo

I thought One Battle was really good. Leo is good. Sean Penn, too. There will definitely be several Oscar noms. It has a Tarantino vibe where stuff just keeps happening. And then another thing. And another. It reminded me a little of Anora in that aspect. Recommend it. Only negative is it’s 3 hours. I’m not a fan of long movies.

Well, you’re going to win 162 games and lose 162 games. It’s what you do in the other 162 games that matters…

Probably true long term, but short term it’s not like the Sox have much better options than him to play LF regularly.

They need to stick him in one place (probably LF) so he can get comfortable defensively. He’s not good enough anywhere defensively to be moved around so much at this point, but he has a live bat. Maybe after he becomes proficient in LF, the transition to the other outfield spots will be easier. I’m more confident in him doing something offensively than I was with Sheets or Vaughn, and they got tons of opportunities in the outfield.

C / C- 19 game improvement with mostly 1st and 2nd year players. There are some nice building pieces. Still a long way to go. I’d be surprised if we sign any difference makers in the offseason due to the labor questions. Unfortunately, next years success will be greatly dependent on continued improvement of the young players.

Taylor’s throw to the plate didn’t even make it to second base. He has to dive in that situation.

MAT should never pinch hit.

Totally agree, but it’s not like they’ll sign any premium FA’s.

It’s also unlikely they’ll spend big money. JR isn’t going to lock into a big contract (surprise) not knowing how the financial landscape will change going forward. One year contracts will probably be the play, so we’re looking at the scrap heap again. Have to hope for internal improvements and some luck with whoever we sign. .500ish isn’t out of the question, and, as was said, that’s on the border of the last wildcard. So, we might be deadline buyers rather than sellers for a change. As I’ve said in other threads, I’d rather watch these young guys try and fail than the players from the last rebuild go through the motions again. This has been an enjoyable second half. I’ve watched way more than I expected.

Insane stat.

The enforcement of the balk on the infraction Davis had is really inconsistent - much like all umpiring, I guess. I’ve noticed guys are always double pumping their front foot, and I figured I didn’t remember what a balk was. Stone said you can get away with it if you do it all the time. Davis did it on the next pitch after the balk.😔

We used to call it “just the tip.”

In case anyone missed Eloy, Chase did a fair imitation of him running to first.

Gentlemen’s agreement. The Cubs are letting Civale throw one more game for the Sox to keep us from 50 wins and top spot in the sports section tomorrow.

Michael Taylor is the only position player that I have zero desire to see play. Benintendi is borderline because he at least gives a professional at bat, but I hate to see him take ABs from Baldwin.

They’d be pulling Eloy out of the net.

Well, we were really bad last year. A 20 win improvement and 100+ improvement in runs scored is noteworthy. I’s be less excited about it if the major contributors were veterans. Most of our success has been driven by our young core.

It’s the Sox

Bases loaded with Robert up next… Vargas cannot try to score there.

If they would have Lady and the Tramp’d that hot dog, I don’t think I could have lived it down.

I’m just glad to see some progress this season. The record stinks, but at least they have players who aren’t just going through the motions. They have some situational awareness issues, though. Eg. I’d like Montgomery to try to make contact rather than try for a 500 foot homer on every swing. Venable is doing a decent job. He’s learning the difference in being the guy making suggestions and the guy making decisions. He needs some time, but overall I think he’s ok.

It’s a fair assessment of the stadium. The main issue is there is nothing to do immediately around it. So, the experience is limited to game. The stadium is nothing special or breathtaking, but there’s also nothing wrong with it when compared to most other stadiums.

The Sox camera crew does a bad job of locating HRs. I can never tell where the ball lands because they don’t zoom in - even on the replay. And Schriffen still can’t identify a HR off the bat.

Good news is Leasure can’t blow this one.

It was like a Buehrle game for you.😛