flavum

Speaking of former Sox pitching prospects, David Holmberg pitched 6 shutout innings last night to finish up his solid age-20 season. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?s...&pid=571787

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Sep 2, 2012 -> 02:26 PM) The problem I have with you people is the jumping to conclusions. Thats the most annoying s*** about the all the negative posts...I'm fine if you wanna rip them for something they've already done but the "He'll give it right back" "oh no here comes Matt, game over" "this is not a good game to watch. It's gonna be all Detroit" is just sooooo effing annoying and it makes this board look like its full of trolls..... Until they're actually out of it how bout we just sit back relax and strap it down folks. Everyone is different. People have different ways of looking at things. I consider myself a huge Sox fan. I want them to win. But I can't ignore what I'm seeing and think they're in a good position going into this last month. Go Sox, but the baseball observer in me thinks they maxed out on what they could for 5 months, and now the better team in a crappy division is going to play better over the next 30 games. If that makes me a troll, sorry.

Pirates aren't going to go 10-20 the last 30, are they?

Twins series: M: Deduno vs Santiago T: Diamond vs Quintana W: Walters vs Peavy

And Buehrle gave up a 5-spot in the 1st inning to the Mets today, so yeah....

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 2, 2012 -> 11:05 AM) There is no parity in MLB. (See NFL, NBA.) That idea sucks. Even Selig would reject it. It's not the Tigers or Sox fault the rest of their division sucks. Oh I know it'll never happen, because they want teams to finish "First" so they can print t-shirts and have less travel. But let's not kid ourselves--the AL Central is a f***ing joke, and the playoff format is more flawed than ever. And you're just wrong about the parity in baseball. But whatever.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 10:49 PM) That sounds beyond boring. That punishes teams who might win a weak division and only injuries have kept them from winning more. I couldn't think of a better way to deteriorate the viewing audience of a sport where there is little or no attempt at parity. ESPN would like it. So teams are supposed to win divisions inspite of having no depth to overcome injuries? MLB doesn't have parity? Look at how many teams have made the postseason, made the World Series, and won the World Series over the last 11 years. Even without a salary cap, they have a ton of parity. I'd just rather see the Sox play every AL team 10 or 11 games, with a limited amount of interleague, and just have the top 3 make the playoffs, with the 4 and 5 seed playing to get in. You know, fairness. I'd rather see the Sox get the credit they deserve in the years they make the top 3, and not just have the AL Central be some consolation prize. With the old format, you know that the wild card is the next best team, and possibly the second best team in the league. Now with two wild cards, you could have two teams better than a division winner playing one game to move on. Yes, you can justify it by saying, "They didn't win their division". But in real life observation, those teams can both be better than a weak division winner. I say make it a 15-team division, and send the top 5 to the postseason.

Next 11 games -- go 7-4, with 3 wins against the Tigers. There...motivation.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 10:21 PM) It is with the additional wildcard. It's a manufactured playoff spot. If the AL Central winner gets in with 86-88 wins, while the two wild card teams have better records from better divisions, it's a big flaw in the system. I'd rather see no divisions, a more balanced schedule, and have the top 5 teams earn their spots with correct playoff seeding. Plus again, enough of 18 games against the same four teams.

After the A's beat the Red Sox again tonight, records with 30 games left: Tex 78-54 NY 76-56 Oak 75-57 Bal 73-59 Sox 72-60 TB 71-61 Det 71-61 LAA 70-62 I wish the standings actually looked like this so we didn't have to play the same four teams 18-19 games a year, and we can stop pretending winning the AL Central is some type of achievement.

Dumb thread, but you had a point.

Who cares, Hawk? Idiot. Now Viciedo swings out of his shoes, and makes an out.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 09:11 PM) Is that not true though? You know I hate that type of mentality as much as anyone, but no matter what happens this year, it's been a strong season. Something of note if the Sox don't make the postseason is that thankfully they didn't give up anyone who had a real future in the organization in order to get Youk, Liriano and Myers. I guess that's one way of looking at it. I will give Kenny credit for not doing anything too stupid during the season. But yet, it's still going to be a Kenny Williams team that didn't make the playoffs. I mean, enough is enough with him. It's time for a new GM. It has been for a couple years now.

Their defense sucks, and that's what will probably sink them in the playoffs. But the Tigers are better, and their starting pitching is in better shape going into the final 30 games. The Sox are done. 86-76, here we come.

Dunn's got an owie. Dan Johnson at DH

Upton throws out Vizquel at home to end the game. Rays win 5-4.

Yankees beat the O's. Rays trying to close out the Blue Jays, and Rodney walks Vizquel to lead off the 9th.

JJ Hardy with a big error. 4-3 Yankees, top 8

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 02:35 PM) I swear sox fans have to be the most miserable out there. A win tonight will do a lot for everyone's mood. Even though the Tigers got swept in KC, let's not forget the Sox are 1-4 this week, and now have to face the Tigers best two pitchers. Wins make Sox fans happy, so let's get at least one before they come home.

Yeah, this deserves its own thread.

Same lineup as yesterday. De Aza back tomorrow night.

Omogrosso, Heath, Septimo, with Flowers, Hudson and Johnson.

Orioles up on the Yankees 3-1 in the 5th. They could move to one game back.

Let's break it down--- 2 more games in Detroit. Split them. 1-1 Come home for 10 games. Home cooking against the Twins, Royals, and Tigers. Win more than you lose. 6-4 Hit the road for 9 games. Twins, Royals, and Angels. Win more than you lose. 5-4 Come home for 7 games. Indians and Rays. Win more than you lose. 4-3 Finish at Cleveland for 3. Win more than you lose. 2-1 That's 90 wins and should be good enough. And should be attainable for a first place team. If they don't win 90 games, it's a choke job if they don't make the playoffs, and if they do make the playoffs, they're backing in.

Coolstandings had the Sox at 75.9% to win the division going into last night's game. Dropped to 69.5% with one loss. Let's go in the right direction tonight. Ok?