OT: 2016 Red Sox/MLB Regular Season V - "And down the stretch they come!"

[JRull86]

I still think we could have got a decent return for Ortiz.

They literally could've been the worst team and the league, and they wouldn't have traded him in his final season like that unless he absolutely demanded it. It's not like he's chasing a championship.

 

[BMC]

They literally could've been the worst team and the league, and they wouldn't have traded him in his final season like that unless he absolutely demanded it. It's not like he's chasing a championship.

And what a final season he's had. Most athletes when they reach their last season are a shell of their former selves but Ortiz has been hitting like its 2004. What a way to go out.

 

[Seidenbergy]

I still think we could have got a decent return for Ortiz.

Kenmore Square would still be on fire.

 

[Johnnyduke]

How to be price, good stuff

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

Lol, what was Hanley looking at? They seriously let Worley off the hook, he threw like 4 meatballs to Ortiz and Hanley.

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

Thank god for Benintendo. Sill don't know why he's batting so low and quite franky should switch positions with Shaw.

Meanwhile the Indians refuse to give up their lead on us. It might happen eventually, same goes for the Rangers.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Nice job by Price.

Now need some add-on runs.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Like that.

Hanley might hit 30....unbelievable. I was hoping he would just get to 20 a month ago.

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

SOX WIN! Never thought they would take all 4 in baltimore, but that effectively took the O's out of the running (not that the Jays are very much in it, too). Plus the Orioles will now have trouble defending the WC-spot. Many teams are on their heels.

And concerning Kimbrel: I gotta say, when his control is on, he's filthy. His slider is a devastating pitch.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Beautiful stuff.

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

What an amazing weeks of baseball. Not only did we effectively end the MFY and O's division-winning chances, we also put them into bad positions in the WC-hunt. And it's not gonna take long until the magic number is down to 0 and we will be AL East champions again.

 

[Fossy21]

What an amazing weeks of baseball. Not only did we effectively end the MFY and O's division-winning chances, we also put them into bad positions in the WC-hunt. And it's not gonna take long until the magic number is down to 0 and we will be AL East champions again.

Only bad thing is: Hate to help the Tigers.

 

[Fenway]

And what a final season he's had. Most athletes when they reach their last season are a shell of their former selves but Ortiz has been hitting like its 2004. What a way to go out.

I really think something like this could happen.

Game 7 of the World Series against the Cubs - Bottom of the 9th with Sox trailing but the winning run comes to the plate with Papi and then..............

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

According to Abraham:

Archer beat the Red Sox the first time he faced them in 2012. He is 0-10, 5.56 in 15 starts since.

Wonder if there are any other instances where a team owns a top pitcher to that extreme?

 

[Fenway]

9 in a row

Magic Number is

 

[sarge88]

According to Abraham:

Archer beat the Red Sox the first time he faced them in 2012. He is 0-10, 5.56 in 15 starts since.

Wonder if there are any other instances where a team owns a top pitcher to that extreme?

Who was the Baltimore pitcher that the Sox owned back around 2006-2009?

 

[PB37]

Who was the Baltimore pitcher that the Sox owned back around 2006-2009?

Was it Bedard?

 

[sarge88]

Was it Bedard?

I think he was hispanic.

Might be thinking of Rodrigo Lopez.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Yep, I think that's who it was. He only really had 2 good years though, not really a top pitcher (4.82 career ERA).

EDIT - and on further review, he was 10-10 with a 4.69 ERA against Boston....so better than his career numbers.

 

[BMC]

I really think something like this could happen.

Game 7 of the World Series against the Cubs - Bottom of the 9th with Sox trailing but the winning run comes to the plate with Papi and then..............

OMG all of New England would literally explode

 

[sarge88]

Yep, I think that's who it was. He only really had 2 good years though, not really a top pitcher (4.82 career ERA).

EDIT - and on further review, he was 10-10 with a 4.69 ERA against Boston....so better than his career numbers.

I'm pretty sure it was him too....but the stats are better than I Thought.

 

[Fenway]

A week ago it looked like the Red Sox would be the #3 seed and play Cleveland but now they have a very good chance to be the #1 seed and home field for the entire postseason.

How does Big Papi hitting a walkoff three run homer in Game 7 against the Cubs who were one strike away sound?

 

[Fossy21]

A week ago it looked like the Red Sox would be the #3 seed and play Cleveland but now they have a very good chance to be the #1 seed and home field for the entire postseason.

How does Big Papi hitting a walkoff three run homer in Game 7 against the Cubs who were one strike away sound?

And make one of the runs Pedroia, who walked after an 18 pitch at bat.

 

[Fenway]

Theo finally talks about what drove him away from the Red Sox and seems pretty clear it was Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino.It is important to know that Werner has the FINAL say on all things NESN. That was written into the owners agreement back in 2002.

What frustrates the Red Sox today is that both Comcast and FOX have made bids to buy NESN but under the charter NESN can not be sold unless Jacobs agrees even though he only owns 20%. FSG has tried to buy Jacobs's stake but he will not sell as he is quite content at getting $35 million a year which is 20% of what NESN collects from cable and dish companies and doesn't include any profits from the station itself.

That guaranteed money from NESN is why Jacobs has no qualms about a lockout as he is going to get that money no matter what.


http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/17588399/theo-epstein-mastermind-cubs-season

A cold war broke out between the baseball ops bunker and the second floor, the conflict cutting through every part of the organization. Epstein felt that some of his bosses were obsessed with optics and credit, more worried about personally winning a news cycle than helping create the culture that had developed in Theo's world. "It's rare you can find true togetherness, selflessness, connectedness," Epstein says. "We had that in baseball ops. It was in opposition to what I saw going on in the rest of the company."

Theo is an absolutist. He came to see the fight against the business side as completely black and white, good and evil -- "French Revolution ****," he says -- and in the next seven years, he quit his job twice, first in 2005 for 80 days, the second time for good in 2011.

In 2005, he turned down a contract, unable to work with people who would plant stories in the paper to minimize blame for trades and who worried more about public perception than the long-term health of the franchise. Theo gathered his staff members in the basement and told them he loved them, and that they'd always be family, but he couldn't do this anymore. Several people burst into tears, and he broke down too. They started drinking beer and telling stories, while reporters covering the contract dispute gathered outside the door with television cameras. Because it was Halloween, Theo put on a co-worker's gorilla costume and did a full slide down the conference table in the war room. Then he sneaked past the reporters in costume. When he got home, his confused dog went crazy barking until he took off the gorilla head. After nearly three months of feeling adrift and pathetic, however, Epstein went back to work in the basement. He couldn't stay away.

The second time he quit his job, he and his bosses still hadn't resolved the conflict between baseball and business. He read reports about how winning alone wouldn't stop NESN's flagging ratings; the focus group data said his office needed to chase and sign the big-name free agents, whether the team needed them or not. Epstein felt the culture "jumping the shark," as he puts it today, but also says the only person to blame for his problems was himself. He chased the likes of Carl Crawford. He overreacted to the reports about television ratings. He'd once been willing to quit his job over these kinds of battles, but in the winter of 2010-11, he didn't even have the energy to fight them. Always self-critical, he felt himself slipping, showing the same weaknesses he couldn't abide in others.

Then he started to hear whispers about the Chicago job. Epstein needed out of Boston, or rather, he needed to return to how Boston felt in 2002.

 

[Fenway]

And make one of the runs Pedroia, who walked after an 18 pitch at bat.

I have spent close to 10 years living in Chicagoland for work in the 80's and 00's and it is my second home. I lived all that time on the Northside but because of my American League roots I saw more baseball at Comiskey than Wrigley.

I have far more White Sox friends than Cubs and up until 1981 the White Sox owned Chicago and the Cubs were an afterthought. Then the new White Sox owners made a huge miscalculation when they fired the play by play announcer. They said you are finished in this town as we know the Cubs will never hire you.

Ooops



Consider this - Since the end of World War II the City of Chicago has hosted the World Series twice - in 1959 and 2005 and this is a city with two teams.

This could be a very fascinating October.