The Red Sox Thread

[Jersey Yankee]

Come on, it is the big 8th Anniversary, it is an important one! I am just surprised they didn't do it when the Yankees were in town.

After they uncorked their WS ring at the first Yanks visit in 2005, you think they could think of anything even tackier?

All I can say is that there's lots more than just 8 years that separate the 2004 and 2012 teams.

[TommyK8]

They didn't wait for the Yankees to come to Boston in 2005 to schedule their ring ceremony. The Yankees were scheduled for the first home game at Fenway in 2005.

[Mr Coffee]

Clarification, Bobby V style:

"The other day when I made a comment about our September roster, that wasn't meant to be a criticism of any players or anything in the organization," Valentine said. "It's a statement of fact because of the injuries and our Triple-A team in the playoffs. This is different. We have less people than most September rosters. We have less positions filled than any September roster I've ever seen before.

"Anybody who thought that to be anything other than a statement of what it was, stand corrected on that," Valentine added.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[Seth]

Clarification, Bobby V style:



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

Whatever you say Bobby V. What a douche bag.

[TommyK8]

Just about 2 1/2 weeks to go. The most painful Red Sox season in over a decade will be over, and Bobby Valentine will be gone.

[JDPNYY]

How wonderful would it be if the Red Sox would cheap out and keep Valentine on for another year?

[Jersey Yankee]

They didn't wait for the Yankees to come to Boston in 2005 to schedule their ring ceremony. The Yankees were scheduled for the first home game at Fenway in 2005.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that part. In that case, it was the used car salesman, the DB Selig who scheduled this.

[ieddyi]

And you thought it couldn't get worse:

"With the Sox duking it out with the Blue Jays for last place in the AL East, this is precisely the sort of time when teams ride out the struggles of their young players. That made a seventh-inning decision by manager Bobby Valentine in Toronto unexpected.

Iglesias was at the plate with Pedro Ciriaco on first and two out in a 0-0 tie in the top of the seventh inning. He took the first two pitches (ball, called strike), fouled off a 1-1 offering and then laid off a sharp 1-2 curveball from reliever Brandon Lyon on which Ciriaco stole second to put himself into scoring position.

With the count then even at 2-2, Valentine elected to pull Iglesias in favor of pinch-hitter Daniel Nava. Pinch-hitting, of course, is a tough gig — the average American League pinch-hitter has a .203 average, .287 OBP, .334 slugging mark and .621 OPS, compared to a league average line of .255/.320/.411/.731 — and the task of coming in to pinch hit with two strikes already elevates the degree of difficulty even more.

Still, Valentine felt that as well as starter Jon Lester had pitched to that point — he’d given up just one hit through six shutout innings — the right move was to lift Iglesias when Ciriaco got into scoring position.

“Just trying to get a run for Jon, obviously. I told Daniel, if we steal second, you got it. Otherwise, I was all set to play defense in a nothing-nothing game. Once a guy gets to second base, I figured take a shot on a base hit,” Valentine told reporters. “It’s tough. Jon’s pitching such a good game is what it is. You get him a run there and he wins a ballgame. He’s battling, too. It’s not about one guy. It’s about a whole group of guys.”

The guys begging to get fired- make him happy

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/bos...ergarten-here/

[4bronxbombers]

Clarification, Bobby V style:



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

Whatever you say Bobby V. What a douche bag.

Truer words were never spoken. What an embarrassment. I pray the Sox keep him.

[4bronxbombers]

And you thought it couldn't get worse:

"With the Sox duking it out with the Blue Jays for last place in the AL East, this is precisely the sort of time when teams ride out the struggles of their young players. That made a seventh-inning decision by manager Bobby Valentine in Toronto unexpected.

Iglesias was at the plate with Pedro Ciriaco on first and two out in a 0-0 tie in the top of the seventh inning. He took the first two pitches (ball, called strike), fouled off a 1-1 offering and then laid off a sharp 1-2 curveball from reliever Brandon Lyon on which Ciriaco stole second to put himself into scoring position.

With the count then even at 2-2, Valentine elected to pull Iglesias in favor of pinch-hitter Daniel Nava. Pinch-hitting, of course, is a tough gig — the average American League pinch-hitter has a .203 average, .287 OBP, .334 slugging mark and .621 OPS, compared to a league average line of .255/.320/.411/.731 — and the task of coming in to pinch hit with two strikes already elevates the degree of difficulty even more.

Still, Valentine felt that as well as starter Jon Lester had pitched to that point — he’d given up just one hit through six shutout innings — the right move was to lift Iglesias when Ciriaco got into scoring position.

“Just trying to get a run for Jon, obviously. I told Daniel, if we steal second, you got it. Otherwise, I was all set to play defense in a nothing-nothing game. Once a guy gets to second base, I figured take a shot on a base hit,” Valentine told reporters. “It’s tough. Jon’s pitching such a good game is what it is. You get him a run there and he wins a ballgame. He’s battling, too. It’s not about one guy. It’s about a whole group of guys.”

The guys begging to get fired- make him happy

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/bos...ergarten-here/

Here's another good part:

Nava grounded out to second on the first pitch he saw, ending the inning. Asked if he was concerned that Iglesias’ confidence might suffer after being lifted in the middle of his plate appearance, Valentine suggested he was not concerned.
“I was pinch hit for with the bases loaded and a 3-2 count. It didn’t ruin my confidence. I think he’ll get over it. I talked to him. He said, ‘Whatever’s right for the team,’ ” Valentine told reporters. “I did let him hit. He went up there. I think there’s a good balance there. [Lester has] just pitched 100 pitches trying to win a baseball game. There will be plenty of time. I don’t think that’s a make or break situation. He’s gotten one hit so far. He’ll get the opportunity to get some hits. It’s not kindergarten here.
“If you don’t think it was a good decision, so what,” Valentine added. “I think it was the right thing to do trying to win a game for a guy who’s busting his butt out there.”

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if he brought Ted Williams' head in to be his hitting coach.

[ChinMusic]

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if he brought Ted Williams' head in to be his hitting coach.

Is that allowed?

[ieddyi]

Is that allowed?

Severed heads have rights too

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

According to Public Policy Polling, Bobby V. has an 18% approval rating among Sox fans.

On the bright side, it's better than Congress' rating.

[pleasepassthesoup]

According to Public Policy Polling, Bobby V. has an 18% approval rating among Sox fans.

On the bright side, it's better than Congress' rating.

I saw a homeless guy last weekend with a sign that said, "Red Sox future manager".

[gregzzy22]

holy crap. he really pulled a kid in a 2-2 count for a pinch hitter. obvious troll is obvious.

all yankee fans across the world will shed a tear when hes fired. i'm going to shed several tears personally.

[ieddyi]

holy crap. he really pulled a kid in a 2-2 count for a pinch hitter. obvious troll is obvious.

all yankee fans across the world will shed a tear when hes fired. i'm going to shed several tears personally.

He's poisoning the well for any other managerial job also

If he had acted less of a Dbag, he could have pointed to the injuries, etc and not been a total joke

I'm sure he'll get another job on TV where his clown act will play well to bring on gawkers ( like a car wreck ) at least for a bit

[philleotardo]

Clinched a losing season tonight

[nhyankeefan]

Of all of the awesome Red Sox stats this year I think this is my favorite...

Bard has walked 71 in 90 1/3 innings this season, counting his time with Triple A Pawtucket. He also has hit 18 and thrown 10 wild pitches.

In other words, even without including hits Bard has allowed nearly one base runner per inning.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...ExtraBasesning.

[Jax Teller]

Bard's numbers are Harold Garce-like.

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

Bard's numbers are Harold Garce-like.

I had no idea who that was so I looked it up:

2008 DSL Yankees: 37.2 IP, 84BB, 21 WP, 20.1 BB/9, 2.920 WHIP

[4bronxbombers]

Wow, Dice-K. What the heck happened to him - not that he was ever great but man.....

[False1]

Wow, Dice-K. What the heck happened to him - not that he was ever great but man.....

His gyroball has stopped gyrating. Even his full conversion to Dirt Doggydom is insufficient to save him.

This was a great poll from 2009, to get predictions on who would have a better year - Pettitte or Matsuzaka. One of teknetic's responses was particularly insightful relative to your question:

http://forums.nyyfans.com/showthread...itte-or-Dice-K

You can only have a 4 leaf-clover embedded in your ass for so long.

[effdamets]

Dice-K's ERA+ this season is 57... Holy schnikees...
He's been pretty bad for the last 4 seasons.

Hey Boston, how's that 100 million you spent on this guy looking now?

[False1]

Dice-K's ERA+ this season is 57... Holy schnikees...
He's been pretty bad for the last 4 seasons.

Hey Boston, how's that 100 million you spent on this guy looking now?

Uh, yeah. 82 ERA+, 1.5 WHIP and <300 IP (which is probably a good thing).

Complete and utter bust, even with the luckiest season of all time in '08 to his credit.