Well, here we stand, it is august 13th and the team is currently six games out of first place and 2 games out of a tie for the wildcard. The Sox have been beleaguered with injuries this season as Jacoby Ellsbury spent months on the disabled list he was then followed by Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia, Jeremy Hermida,Tim Wakefield, Mike Cameron, Mike Lowell, a few others i have missed and Kevin Youkilis has been lost for the remainder of the season.
Pitchers Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Hideki Okijima, and Ramon Ramirez have all underperformed and even Jonathan Papelbon has been showing some signs of vulnerability by blowing some important saves at key times for the Sox. But despite all the turmoil and dozens of roster callups in attempts to patch up the damage it hasnt all been bad news.
Young pitcher Clay Buchholz has finally matured into the strong number 2 starter (next to Lester) that everyone had hoped he would be when drafted and call ups like Ryan Khalish and Daniel Nava have filled in admirably for some of our fallen stars. Another pleasant surprise was the emergence of Adrian Beltre as dominate offense threat he used to be before injuries had severely hampered his 2009 season with Seattle. His signing seemed abit risky as the Cameron was (considering his age) but so far it has worked and for much of the year he was the team's best hitter.
Daniel Bard looks like he is ready to be the closer if Papelbon should leave next year for Free Agency and really he has been the savior in an otherwise underwhelming bullpen overall. The most alarming part was the fact that Jonathan Papelbon seemed to lose some velocity on his pitches and more importantly some of the movement and "bite" so to speak at the end just wasn't there much this season. Lastnite even though he blew another save the velocity seemed to be back for paps but the end movement is still missing in action.
Will it return? Is his arm cooked already at such a young age? I believe there are enough signs to prove that his bite and movement are coming back and this sort of thing does happen to pitchers from time to time. Mentally i believe Jonathan is tough enough to believe in himself until it does and that bodes well for him and the Red Sox.
When you look at all the things the sox have had to overcome in this past year i believe they have done an amazing job to stay in contention and had the bullpen just been a little bit better they would in the wildcard but as it stands now they are 2 games behind to tie and 3 to take the lead. Lastnite's loss was a tough one but the Rays have alot of struggling offensive players and they now have a few injuries to deal with as well. Can they keep the wildcard? I believe the red sox have a great opportunity to make the playoffs if they just finish off the wins when they have a healthy lead.
Pedroia is still on the disabled list but when he returns i believe his guts and determination will be the catalyst to strong run for the wildcard. Will they make it? If any one of the big three (Beckett,Lackey,Papelbon) get hot i believe they most likely will.
I've been a fan since 1978 and im not ready to give up now, i still believe. Go Red Sox!
Comments Add a Comment
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randymossrules |
Posted on: August 18, 2010 12:37 am
State of the Red SoxHey Xbombx,
Do you make a habit of making up stuff? The only player on that list that the sox "bought" as you like to say is Manny Ramirez, everyone else was had in a trade. Now if you are angry that the Red Sox were able to win the deal and give up the least amount of prospects to acquire the best talent then you are really just jealous that your gm could not do the same. Stop posting lies about my team. |
jhubba1
Since: Dec 7, 2007 |
Posted on: August 16, 2010 8:46 pm
State of the Red SoxI admit it, a blanket statement and one should never deal in generalities.
The fact is the vast majority of red sox fans I know complained vociferously about the Yankees spending freely to build the best possible team. For those same fans to forgive the red sox and not call them out when they did the same thing is simply hypocritical. And while the Rays have stood by BJ Upton, let's not forget a pretty talented player was shown the door when his steroid and drug problems surfaced in the minors. And Elijah Dukes was a 5 star talent with a no-star head. Delmon Young had his moments and needed a change of scenery. No team is perfect. I get that. Examine this thread further and you'll see the whines of red sox fans. And I apologize for lumping you in but when a team spends enough to roughly equal 3 of the four teams in the playoffs right now they should be able to handle some injuries. It came off like a whine. And let's not forget Varitek is not a red sox farm hand but the result of a pretty decent trade for both teams - Moyer heading to seattle for Slocumb and Varitek if I remember right. And Jeter ? I see no evidence in his injury history, his statistics, or his play to suggest he's a cheater. The guy won me over with one play, a dive into the stands in boston in what was at the time a meaningless game. A guy that plays like that can play for my team any day of the week. And I'd guess he could play for yours over Lugo or Lowrie. |
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XBombersX |
Posted on: August 16, 2010 4:02 pm
State of the Red SoxDesperation is a stinky cologne.
Oh yea and if you wanna talk about buying players: Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Manny Ramirez, & David Ortiz (arguably the Sox 5 biggest stars this last decade) all snatched from other teams. So yea cherry picked (& with some Special wink wink sauce on the side) is how I describe the mid-2000's Sux. |
DA GREEN MONSTA
Since: Jan 30, 2008 |
Posted on: August 15, 2010 3:01 am
State of the Red Sox.....AMEN.
I agree, when you root for a team, especially a team that has been involved in a fierce and historical rivalry, its automatic to be critical of the nemesis good or bad, right or wrong. Heck I hate the montreal canadiens so much that sometimes I wish the kids that skate before the game at the bell centre fall flat on there face or when I saw a concert there and intentionally puked on the canadiens symbol. Does that mean I hate kids? of course not! The beauty of being a Boston sports fan is that all 4 of the major teams are involved in a rivalry that most consider the most intense in there respective sports. |
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phatgzus |
Posted on: August 15, 2010 1:26 am
State of the Red SoxI couldn't agree with you more pats, you hit every point on the head and appear to be a true, respectable red sox and baseball fan. I too do not hate the yankees solely for cheating (players on every team did it, come on) that is just an added incentive to hate them. I hate them for the same reason any true fan of the game hates them, 1. because they have been winning for so long; 2. because the front office (the steinbrenners) are enablers and jerks (look at how hank steinbrenner treated joe torre) that provide a ridiculous team salary (george steinbrenner=the al davis of baseball), granted the red sox are second, but they are still many millions behind; 3. because of the plethora of obnoxious, big-headed, front-runner fans (yes there are many true, respectable yankees fans, but there are a great many more trolls); 4. because they have blowhards like joba chamberlain, a-rod, etc.; 5. and because they have been the red sox biggest rival essentially every year since major league baseball was created.
Also, don't forget the aaron boone 2003 pennant game 7 fiasco. |
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randymossrules |
Posted on: August 14, 2010 10:57 pm
State of the Red SoxSo Jhubby, you are critical and angry at the Red Sox for wanting the best team possible? Are you an idiot or what? Take any team that has a good 3rd baseman and rewind that 6 years ago when arod was in his prime and you wouldnt trade for him if you could? You would be an absolute fool if the opportunity was there and you didnt! Arod was the best in the game at that point and if you dont want that you need a brain lobotomy.
Btw, Pats is usually one of the nicest boston fans and other than Lebron james i dont often see him say a bad word about anyone. You can hate the red sox all you want but dont go harassing their fans just because you assume they are all alike, stereotypes and assumptions are for children, Grow up! |
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pats_fever |
Posted on: August 14, 2010 4:36 pm
State of the Red SoxSo according to you the 2007 team cherrypicked talent from other teams Jhubba?
Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarman, Jed Lowrie, Jason Varitek, Kason Gabbard, Davern Hasack, David Murphy, Brandon Moss were all members of the 2007 red sox and came up through our farm system. Julio Lugo who stunk and other than dice k the only other free agents were castoffs that basically nobody wanted like bobby kielty, alex corey and kyle snyder. Even the guys at the deadline Eric Gagne did so awful in a sox uni that we often got more out of the cheap scraps players like cora and kielty than we did lugo or gagme who were supposed to be such great great players. Donnelly was a mildly decent player but we traded a stastictly better player from the minors to get him and then he was found roiding so he was ultimately a wasted deal as well. Manny used roids and probably ortiz as well but i dont dislike the Yankees for the money or their cheating, i dislike them because they are the yankees and if you wanted to get into a war of words i can name many things and issues of drugs like cokehead strawberry, gooden, howe, the cheating of jeter, arod, howe and others but i dont waste my time. The Sox had some arrogant players and a few cheaters yes, but nowhere near as many jerks as the Yankees did. The Rays even have a manny of their own and his name is bj upton. Every team has this and we dont dislike the team for the players for as much as we dislike their fanbase for being rude and never taking the sox seriously as a contender when the Yankees didnt win a title for 9 years their fans were still bragging! I dont whine about the Yankees, check my threads, i picked them earlier this year to win the division and the world series. Some of us can be impartial and fair if you give us the time and talk to us you will realize this. Some of the younger college crowd of sox fans can be obnoxious i admit, but they never went thru the 86 years of fail like we did, ive been a fan since 78 so ive seen bucky dent and the 86 series and several heartbreaking losses to the yankees in which their fans lovingly like to mention at every possible convenience. It's part of the rivalry. But please, do not lump ALL sox fans as arrogant just for the few that are because many of us are just longtime passionate fans of the team we love. Good luck to your rays. |
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pats_fever |
Posted on: August 14, 2010 4:13 pm
State of the Red SoxWell i agree Johnny, the deals just did not seem to be there for us at the deadline this year. Theo tried but came up shooting blanks but i believe the sox still have a chance if their pitching can simply play up to the level of expections. The pen has been a bummer buf if Josh and Lackey can pitch well and sometimes dominate it would take an awful lot of pressure off them.
Im hoping it all works out but if it doesn't as everquest said Adrian Gonzalez in the offseason would be a nice consolation prize. |
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pats_fever |
Posted on: August 14, 2010 4:03 pm
State of the Red SoxThanks everquest, i love Penn State as well as you already know and was a 49er fan growing up along with the Patriots. How can anyone not like Jerry Rice and his work ethic and everything he did for the game? Can understand your skepticism and most people will doubt us but we are still in the race and we do have a good chance if the pitching can wakeup and smell the coffee.
Say, out of curiousity? what is your take on Crabtree or Vernon Davis? Would you take either on in Fantasy this year? And Adrian Gonzalez, ummm yea i think i can speak for most sox fans and say OH HELL YEA! If theo could pull of that deal i would be more than happy and with way the Padres asking for Jacoby Ellsbury at the deadline an offseason trade of the two could be possible. Obviously it would take alot more tho.. |
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jhubba1
Since: Dec 7, 2007 |
Posted on: August 14, 2010 2:15 pm
State of the Red SoxYou know, I used to root for the red sox.
Growing up a cub fan I but rarely being able to make day games the games I got to see were the White Sox vs. Whoever. I saw the Red Sox play them with Yaz, and Fisk, and Boomer Scott, and Lynn, and Rico...It's been a long time but I think the pitching match-up was Bill Lee vs. Stan Bahnsen. The White Sox had Richie Allen and Bill Melton back then. The old Red and White uniforms. My dad grabbed a foul ball hit by Yaz. It was for years my Yaz ball. Some nobody in the white sox bullpen named Steve Stone signed it. Fisk hit a grand slam or a really big three run shot into the 2nd deck at old commiskey. I found my American League team. I followed them for years. Loved it when a team with guys like Timlin, Millar, Bellhorn, Roberts, Mientkiewicz, Mueller put it all together in 2004. Then something happened the team that loved to hate the Yankees, and claimed to be the American League light against the rule of the evil empire became exactly like the evil empire. I changed my American league allegiance to the up and coming tampa devil rays in 2005 guessing they were 3 years off. And I cringed each time I heard the hypocrites of red sox nation whine about the evil empire. By the 2007 world series we saw a red sox team that cherry picked up and coming talent from small market teams just as the sox had complained about the Yankees for years. A team that got in a bidding war for A-rod despite having an All-Star at 3B already. A team willing to let Manny be Manny while criticizing Derek Jeter, Jeter plays his a$$ off. A team that over paid for JD Drew and had multiple players seemingly tainted in steroids scandals. And still the cries went out that it was the yankees. Clemens and Giambi were culprits but Manny, and David Ortiz, and Manny, and all the others loosely implicated in Boston were completely innocent. all that steroid stuff results in soft tissue injuries, Red Sox fans. I Hope you lose. Sox fans whine too much and complain about the yankees while living in glass houses. |
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