infohawk

C'mon Scotty. Base hit!!!

I think Ozzie's a good manager, but has been pushing his luck lately. His one bugaboo is that he does seem to stay with pitchers a little too long sometimes.

A two-run jack right now would make me feel much better about things. C'mon Widge!!!

I understand that keeping the starters in the game through six or seven innings benefits the bullpen, but it seems to me that our bullpen gets plenty of rest. I'm no manager, but wouldn't it be a good idea to have the starters pitch at least an inning less or a certain number of pitches less than what would normally be expected this late into September? That's one way to keep them fresh. Here's hoping the excitement is over for the night and the bulllpen just closes it out with authority!!!

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Sep 14, 2005 -> 09:04 PM) Belliard wins it for Cleveland In all seriousness, when did Belliard become such a good player?

We don't have the margin in this game anymore to mess around. As it stand now, we'll probably end this inning up by two. As bad as the Royals are, I don't want a tie game in the late innings with their hard-throwing relievers coming in. Their bullpen is pretty decent.

Is anyone up in the pen? This may end up being one of those games I have to turn off and check the score later. Thank goodness, here comes Ozzie. It's about time. This is one of the games we really need to hang on to.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Sep 14, 2005 -> 08:51 PM) He doesn't have it tonite. I'd let him try to get through the botttom of the order next inning, then turn it over to the bp. I'd go ahead and pull him now that he is in line for the win. He's battling but just doesn't have it tonight. You can't walk people when you have a big lead. Four runs should be plenty with some decent pitching. If I were Ozzie in this particular case, I wouldn't push my luck.

QUOTE(ceffa2000 @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 10:02 PM) Bruce Levine on the Score just reported he was fired by ESPN1000 for giving too much piece of s*** "insider" info.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 08:34 PM) Appearantly he was never even placed on waivers so... no. Ah, I didn't think so.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 06:37 PM) To be honest I'd be more interested in Nomar Garciaparra but I'd take Walker Actually, I'd love to have Nomar for the stretch run. It would make so much sense. He hits for power and average and the Sox wouldn't have to committ to him beyond this year if they didn't want to. Uribe could slide over to third. Just out of curiousity, is he even available for a trade (waiver process) if the Cubs wanted to deal him?

QUOTE(Tadahito15 @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 06:18 PM) KW has under 5 hours to work some magic. If nothing gets done I will assume the market was still horrible because I believe KW is always searching and working hard on possible deals. Obviously we will all be disappointed if nothing happens, but that is just he way this year has been market wise. IMO it is almost essential to get someone thats better than mediocre to help out our offense be it Walker or anyone else. Wouldn't it be the cruelest of ironies if, in the year when the Sox really do look like a playoff team, our aggresive GM is unable to pull off a big trade because of the nature of the trade market? I have no doubt that KW has done, and is still trying, to do what he can to improve the team. Unfortunately it is a sellers market in the extreme.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 03:43 PM) im less upset with el duque.....he was pitching well, then just fell apart....quickly....so nobody was warm. maybe he should have gotten him before soriano, but even still we woulda lost.....however, it is inexcusable to sit pods, iguchi and carl everett who yesterday batted 1-2-3 all in the same game I still question why El Duque was left in to start the sixth, but this game is officially off of Ozzie's shoulders. Just bad pitching and no offense. One more day until September. Hopefully we can put August behind us and get back to our winning ways.

QUOTE(Misplaced_Sox @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 03:41 PM) WOW.... I mean..... Ozzie needs to yell, throw, maybe just out right release Timo (I know he wont) to send a message When did Timo start pitching out of the bullpen?

QUOTE(daa84 @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 03:41 PM) 7 runs in 1 inning to tie it.....aint no thang Did I prematurely call a loss?

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 03:38 PM) I just fell off the bandwagon You need to get back on. A 5-5 road trip isn't a disaster. There will be plenty of time to jump off the bandwagon if the Sox look like they are tanking by the middle of September.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 03:30 PM) No we wouldn't. If we don't win the division, it would be because of a poor record the rest of the way. If the Indians catch us, it's very likely that the Angels or Yankees would have had a good record the rest of the way. The reason the lead has shrunk so much is because we have played poorly and the Indians have been red hot. The Indians are actually the only team in the wild card hunt that has been red hot. The others (Yankees, Angels and A's) win a few and lose a few. I'm not saying we would be shoe-ins for the wild card, but one or more of those teams would need to pick it up significantly to catch the Sox even if the Sox play mediocre ball. That said, if the Sox go on an extended losing streak, the wild card could slip away. I still think the Sox will win the division. Our schedule gets easier in September and who knows what will happen with the Tribe. They have been red-hot for quite awhile. Oakland looked unbeatable for a pretty long stretch but inevitably cooled off. The same could happen with Cleveland. They are feeling a lot of pressure too. They aren't assured of anything. At least we have a lead in the division and a better record than any wildcard contender.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 03:23 PM) Exactly. Everything on and off the field (HAWK!) have been extremely painful. To think that we're 6 games up right now is actually uplifting, because the way we've played in August, we don't deserve that big of a lead. If the Indians don't cool off, we won't make the playoffs. That's my prediction, and I'm sticking to it! If we didn't win the division, we would almost certainly be front-runners for the wild card barring a total collapse.

Well, at least Marte got his obligatory walk out of the way!!!

I'm going to feel sick if the bullpen shuts the Rangers down for the rest of the game. It will make me dwell on the fact that El Duque should have been pulled to start the sixth.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 02:57 PM) I don't blame the duke. 100 pitches in 100 degree heat? He's probably 40 years old? whatever happens, happens. The Sox don't seem to be fazed at all by the shrinking lead in their division. No sense of urgency. I don't typically question Ozzie, but to me El Duque is really a five-inning pitcher. Especially against a team that can hit like the Rangers. I don't know why he didn't just turn the game over to the bullpen after taking the lead. I'm an Ozzie fan, but I don't see what there is to gain by leaving El Duque in beyond 80-85 pitches against the Rangers.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 01:52 PM) That's grinderball rule #72 1/2 Yeah, "Never take the easy base."

Quote from Willie: "Guys, that was a statement shot. Can I come to your board now?"

Guys, I'm going to suggest a contrary view of today's line-up. If the Sox were fighting for their playoff lives, every starter would probably be playing. Of course Ozzie hopes to win this game, but he may also recognize that a 5-5 road trip that included Minnesota and a good-hitting Ranger team is pretty good. All you can hope for is to play .500 on the road. As a former player who has been through the grind of many a season, Ozzie knows what the stretch run is like. Resting his players like this may be an expression of confidence and that he believes the most important thing is to make sure everyone is rested and ready to go come October. Teams like the Indians, Yankees, A's and Angels probably don't have the luxury of resting players because of the tight wild card race. Lack of rest may cause them to stumble a bit down the stretch.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 31, 2005 -> 10:41 AM) KW may want to pick up Walker to block the Injuns from getting another bat. There have been rumors about the Injuns picking up walker, and maybe two weeks ago we wouldnt care, but now that they have jumped within eye sight of the sox maybe we make this trade to block the injuns and add a left handed bat. Agreed. Acquiring Walker would help us in two ways. We would get a solid left-handed bat while keeping said bat away from the Indians.