chw42

Heads up play by Beckham.

QUOTE (The Baconator @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 06:36 PM) For what it's worth, the Red Sox trotted nearly 140 different lineups last year. Say what you will about the late collapse, they were still a damn good team, and I don't think the different lineups were the reason for the fall. That probably had something to do with injuries. Nobody's hurt right now on this team.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 06:31 PM) Bard wasn't really good down the stretch last year either...and their rotation is very, very weak without him being solid. Lester is good...Buchholz and Beckett have gotten beaten the last 2 days, then I can't even remember who their 4th starter was. Their 4th starter is Bard, Doubront's their 5th. Bard didn't look all that good in spring and I honestly don't think he's going to be anything more than an average starter this year. If you put him in the bullpen, he can be a 2 win reliever for you. So the tradeoff in overall value is small, but the innings he's pitching are far more important, especially when you consider how much the rest of that bullpen sucks.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 04:59 PM) I don't think they're reeling. I think they're just bad. Not really bad. But they're no longer elite. Tampa has flown by everybody in that division, IMO. Their bullpen has lost them games. Aceves and Melancon straight up suck as high leverage relievers. They should have never converted Bard to a starter, especially since the guy they were relying on was Andrew Bailey.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 06:24 PM) Konerko and Buehrle are very borderline candidates, but it's more of a compliment to the team and organization that a bunch of unsung and underappreciated players pulled together and had that type of season. It's like criticizing the Cardinals for 2006 and 2011 for their regular season play, then saying, well, they had Albert Pujols, so they actually deserved those titles. The 2005 post-season was never in doubt. I love how a group of marginal players were able to compile the best playoff record of all time.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 03:58 PM) DeAza8-Beckham4-DunnDH-Paulie3-Rios9-AJ2-Lexi6-Viciedo7-Escobar5 Looks good to me....let's roll. Escobar can play 3B? And I really don't like Robin juggling the lineup this much. Guys need stability. Think of a good place to put somebody and let them stay there until they prove to you they can't hit.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 05:46 PM) stupid mlb.tv blackouts means i can't watch the game on my TV! probably gonna catch some feed online... but not the same. You can get this game through espn3.com.

Avila with the walkoff. Boston's in for another massively disappointing season.

Boston's bullpen is freaking awful. They should have just let Bard become closer.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 03:34 PM) Well, that was a quick blown save for Aceves. 10-10 game. Wow, screw Aceves.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 03:30 PM) Sorry, 45 inches, just a little hyperbole and overexaggeration. But that's still better or comparable with Michael Jordan. Maybe only Spud Webb, before he became a topless womens' strip club-sponsored basketball coach, and a few others top that. That's not even his vertical. That's a box jump. There's a HUGE difference.

Hanley Ramirez is an awful 3B. The ball Rolen hit was pretty routine and he couldn't come up with it cleanly. He probably wouldn't have gotten the runner at home anyways, but he should still come up with that cleanly. If Hanley's not happy and producing, the Marlins aren't going to be very good.

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 01:11 AM) Imagine that Cepedes guy sandwiched between him and Konerko Sox management really blew that one. Now he's playing to crowds of 16k in Oakland. We have that Viciedo guy who can be just as good...

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 02:59 PM) Heath Bell just blew a save. Lol. $27 million well spent.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 01:18 PM) Ozzie truly is certifiably mad. I like him, but he's pretty insane for commenting like that on Castro and saying he gets drunk in his hotel room after every road game. You can't say these things at least until people get to know what "Ozzie being Ozzie" really is about. He's talked about Castro, getting drunk daily and animal sacrifice. Two of those 3 things can hurt attendance. Maybe all 3. Can you see Ozzie speaking to Little Leaguers or high school teams. "When you grow up, you can get s***faced in your hotel room every night." I still like him, but no question he is troubled. Thing about Ozzie is, I can't think of any other manager/coach willing to comment on any of these issues in any sport. Can you? I think he prides himself, well it's obvious he prides himself on having no filter, but you can be a colorful person in the press w/out delving into these things. Yikes. I think when you start saying things that will affect attendance in a place that doesn't draw ... trouble may be brewing already. Marlins officials had to be furious to immediately issue a statement completely disagreeing with their manager's statement . http://blogs.herald.com/random_evidence/20...rlins-fans.html Wow, for once Greg, you've finally decided to say something bad about Ozzie. It's a Easter miracle.

The game should have never been all that close at the end. When two of our best players miss all their free throws, we deserve to lose. Rose also looked awful at times.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 10:46 PM) So it's really intriguing watching a game with a new manager, as it's so hard to figure out what he's going to do. So far, Ventura definitely seems like he doesn't care about lefty/righty match-ups all that much. We've yet to see any bunt attempts as well. I disagreed with leaving Thornton in to face Napoli, but Ventura seems to be asking players to prove their ability to him and not relying on previous season stats. I said this in the game thread, but I loved how he pitched out with 2 outs and 2 strikes. It didn't work, but we'll get a handful of easy outs this year doing that. He definitely used Ohman the right way. Ohman's a LOOGY and nothing more. Ozzie didn't know what the hell that meant, apparently.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 10:01 PM) Ozzie likes dictators until someone tells him its not good to like them. He used to like Chavez as well. He's a total fool. How does a guy trying to attract Cubans to come watch his team play say anything nice about Fidel Castro? He's the idiot of the year. Guillen caused another stir late last September when he was introduced as the Marlins' new manager, saying he did not support the president of his native land, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. "Don't tell my wife that, because she hates that man. She hates him to death," Guillen said. "I supported Chavez? If I was supporting Chavez, do you think I would be manager of the Marlins? I never supported Chavez." But reports eventually emerged that Guillen had twice appeared on the Venezuelan leader's national radio show in October 2005, right after the then-Guillen managed White Sox had won the World Series. "Not too many people like the president. I do. My mom will kill me, but it's an honor to talk to the president," Guillen said at the time. I don't know how any sensible person can take Ozzie seriously.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 10:08 PM) And Fister's already gone on the DL for an oblique injury. Drew Smyly is their 5th....so they're going to have to use LHP Below or maybe Jacob Turner for awhile. That should keep them from running away from the division in the first month or so. s***, must replace him for fantasy team.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 7, 2012 -> 09:57 PM) I really think we can compete with Detroit, obviously a ton has to go our way but I just don't think the Tigers are as good as everyone thinks. And congrats Robin/Santiago!! If Dunn, Peavy, and Rios play like they're paid, then yeah, we can definitely compete.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 09:53 AM) okay guys so ill admit we definitely went over the top with pictures like these. but damn it looks so good! Pictures are NSFW! (If you're at home, make sure you have a sock or some tissue handy) http://www.urbanpartylife.com/wp-content/u...04_20-52-06.jpg http://www.urbanpartylife.com/wp-content/g...04_18-40-17.jpg http://www.urbanpartylife.com/wp-content/g...04_20-21-05.jpg http://www.urbanpartylife.com/wp-content/g...04_20-52-47.jpg http://www.urbanpartylife.com/wp-content/g...04_20-51-28.jpg Damn, this is one family friendly ballpark.

Peavy also looked okay. He hung a decent amount of pitches, but the wind really helped us today. The Rangers got robbed of a couple of home runs, most notably Beltre's fly to left center.

Santiago looks like he has some decent stuff. It's nice of Rios to finally start earning his $12 million paycheck. Gritty win.

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 04:21 PM) That was Dunn's 8th opening day home run. Trying a record with Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey Jr. Also, Dunn hit 2 home runs in openers in Cincinnati in 2005 and 2007. Way to go Adam! Keep it up. He's always been good on opening day. He was also good on opening day last year (the entire lineup was). So yeah, I guess that means we're not out of the blue yet in terms of the possibility that Adam Dunn straight up sucks.

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 12:44 PM) KW getting some more KW. Lots of KW love. Time to sign some more KWs BOOM