MANNY MAY BE IN BOSTON THIS WEEKEND ----
SO FANS WILL BE THERE IN DROVES AS ALWAYS.....
Boston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Fri, Sep 3 Fenway Park, Boston, MABoston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Sat, Sep 4 Fenway Park, Boston, MABoston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Sun, Sep 5 Fenway Park, Boston, MA
SO FANS WILL BE THERE IN DROVES AS ALWAYS.....
Boston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Fri, Sep 3 Fenway Park, Boston, MABoston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Sat, Sep 4 Fenway Park, Boston, MABoston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Sun, Sep 5 Fenway Park, Boston, MA
http://www.nesn.com/2010/08/red-sox...proportions-after-losing-series-in-tampa.html
Red Sox Face Uphill Battle of Epic Proportions After Losing Series in Tampa
by Tony Lee on Aug 30, 2010 12:17:49 AM
Terry Francona was asked early in August whether his team was feeling any pressure to make its move in the playoff race.
In typical Francona fashion he cited an awareness of the next game on the schedule and nothing more.
The skipper said that he had yet to start “doing math” to figure out the Red Sox’ chances of reaching the postseason. He did, however, admit that if and when he does need to crunch some numbers the team is in trouble.
The team is in trouble.
While bigger comebacks have occurred several times throughout baseball history, including just a year ago when Minnesota erased a seven-game deficit in the final month before defeating Detroit in one-game playoff, any abacus, calculator or counting method you want to choose presents an uphill climb for the Red Sox, to say the least. Dropping two of three in Tampa Bay this weekend was a crushing blow.
Consider where it leaves Francona’s bunch.
Boston leaves Florida seven games out in the loss column with 31 games to play. If either Tampa Bay or New York, both of which have 32 games left, split their remaining games then the Red Sox would have to go 22-9 just to tie. And this is all if one of the two teams tied for the best record in major league baseball play .500 baseball for over a month, an unlikely scenario.
Perhaps an even unlikelier scenario is Boston playing .700-plus ball down the stretch. It has won as many as four straight games just once since mid-June, plays the majority of its remaining games on the road and finishes with seven away from home before hosting the Yankees for three, a daunting final flurry.
But just because the calculator is out it doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. The Sox had a 24-8 stretch earlier in the season and they can look to several great playoff pushes for inspiration, including the Twins’ remarkable run last September.
There were the 1951 New York Giants, who erased a 13-game deficit in the final 44 games. The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals were 11 out on Aug. 24 but won the National League pennant. Five years later the Miracle Mets overcame a 10-game deficit on Aug. 14. Seattle wiped away a 13-game gap to catch the Angels, then of California, in 1995. There are others.
What has also given Boston hope is the fact that the starting rotation, when on its game, can be stacked up against anyone else’s. In fact, it is superior to New York’s right now and just as good as Tampa’s.
Two problems.
One, the rotation has not always been on its game, John Lackey’s uneven performance Sunday night in Tampa the latest example. Lackey gave up five runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Two, the offense that once provided support and then some for that rotation continues to trend toward being very ordinary as the games dwindle by without the likes of Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, who may be done for the year.
Since Pedroia’s last game Aug. 18, the Red Sox have averaged 3.5 runs during a 5-5 stretch. They’ve scored a grand total of 10 runs in their last four games and seven in the three games in St. Petersburg.
A comeback of historic proportions will require not only a handful of quality starts, but also a lineup on par with the one that once tore through opponents for a solid three months earlier in the season.
That was an attack, complete with Pedroia and Youkilis, which set the pace in the major leagues in several offensive categories, often requiring a heavy dose of number-crunching to analyze just how good it was.
The number-crunching has taken on a different feel as September 1 approaches. The kind that Terry Francona once feared.
Red Sox Face Uphill Battle of Epic Proportions After Losing Series in Tampa
by Tony Lee on Aug 30, 2010 12:17:49 AM
Terry Francona was asked early in August whether his team was feeling any pressure to make its move in the playoff race.
In typical Francona fashion he cited an awareness of the next game on the schedule and nothing more.
The skipper said that he had yet to start “doing math” to figure out the Red Sox’ chances of reaching the postseason. He did, however, admit that if and when he does need to crunch some numbers the team is in trouble.
The team is in trouble.
While bigger comebacks have occurred several times throughout baseball history, including just a year ago when Minnesota erased a seven-game deficit in the final month before defeating Detroit in one-game playoff, any abacus, calculator or counting method you want to choose presents an uphill climb for the Red Sox, to say the least. Dropping two of three in Tampa Bay this weekend was a crushing blow.
Consider where it leaves Francona’s bunch.
Boston leaves Florida seven games out in the loss column with 31 games to play. If either Tampa Bay or New York, both of which have 32 games left, split their remaining games then the Red Sox would have to go 22-9 just to tie. And this is all if one of the two teams tied for the best record in major league baseball play .500 baseball for over a month, an unlikely scenario.
Perhaps an even unlikelier scenario is Boston playing .700-plus ball down the stretch. It has won as many as four straight games just once since mid-June, plays the majority of its remaining games on the road and finishes with seven away from home before hosting the Yankees for three, a daunting final flurry.
But just because the calculator is out it doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. The Sox had a 24-8 stretch earlier in the season and they can look to several great playoff pushes for inspiration, including the Twins’ remarkable run last September.
There were the 1951 New York Giants, who erased a 13-game deficit in the final 44 games. The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals were 11 out on Aug. 24 but won the National League pennant. Five years later the Miracle Mets overcame a 10-game deficit on Aug. 14. Seattle wiped away a 13-game gap to catch the Angels, then of California, in 1995. There are others.
What has also given Boston hope is the fact that the starting rotation, when on its game, can be stacked up against anyone else’s. In fact, it is superior to New York’s right now and just as good as Tampa’s.
Two problems.
One, the rotation has not always been on its game, John Lackey’s uneven performance Sunday night in Tampa the latest example. Lackey gave up five runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Two, the offense that once provided support and then some for that rotation continues to trend toward being very ordinary as the games dwindle by without the likes of Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, who may be done for the year.
Since Pedroia’s last game Aug. 18, the Red Sox have averaged 3.5 runs during a 5-5 stretch. They’ve scored a grand total of 10 runs in their last four games and seven in the three games in St. Petersburg.
A comeback of historic proportions will require not only a handful of quality starts, but also a lineup on par with the one that once tore through opponents for a solid three months earlier in the season.
That was an attack, complete with Pedroia and Youkilis, which set the pace in the major leagues in several offensive categories, often requiring a heavy dose of number-crunching to analyze just how good it was.
The number-crunching has taken on a different feel as September 1 approaches. The kind that Terry Francona once feared.
according to baseball prospectus they have > than 10% chance to make PO.... only have to catch 1 of 2 teams....
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php
10.87078 on august 30..........................
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php
10.87078 on august 30..........................
The old adage says you can't use injuries as an excuse, but that's exactly what happened.
Too many core players hurt all year, I'll say it again, I believe if healthy MLB might have seen one of the greatest 3 team pennant race of all time, with Sox, Yanks and Rays neck and neck.
IMO Sox management should have made some waiver wire or trade moves instead of going with the kids, but who knows?
Too many core players hurt all year, I'll say it again, I believe if healthy MLB might have seen one of the greatest 3 team pennant race of all time, with Sox, Yanks and Rays neck and neck.
IMO Sox management should have made some waiver wire or trade moves instead of going with the kids, but who knows?
Given the injuries and geography, even if they miss the playoffs, the last month will still go a long way in determining how successful the season was
Winning 92 or 94 games would give them an argument as the third best team in all of baseball. Like the Patriots being the only 11 win team to miss the playoffs, there can be some satisfaction
Winning 92 or 94 games would give them an argument as the third best team in all of baseball. Like the Patriots being the only 11 win team to miss the playoffs, there can be some satisfaction
I confess that after the top of sixth inning Sunday when Sox went up 3-1 that I was grimly considering Sox moving to within 4.5 and it being a harbinger of the next five weeks flip flopping in standings.
So fortunately no complaint that the current Boston lineup is just not likely to pop more than three to four runs versus any kind of strong pitching.....Adios and cya next year
So fortunately no complaint that the current Boston lineup is just not likely to pop more than three to four runs versus any kind of strong pitching.....Adios and cya next year
maybe they come back?? no??
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/08/31/its_official_sox_are_a_done_deal/
DAN SHAUGHNESSY
It’s official, Sox are a done deal
By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist | August 31, 2010
It’s liberating.
We can all stop now. We can stop scoreboard watching, and doing math tricks, and harboring silly hope that there’s a big surge ahead that will thrust the Red Sox into the 2010 playoffs.
Better to cease with the torment now and accept the obvious. The Sox are not going to be in the hunt in October. The Boston baseball season is going to end Sunday, Oct. 3, at Fenway Park. When Game No. 162 is over, the Yankees will leave town and start their American League Division Series. The Sox will scatter to the four winds.
It’s not like they didn’t warn us. Remember Theo’s comments in December about the “bridge period’’? He said that’s not what he really meant, but it was a moment of truth. The reality is the Sox figured they were in for a soft season. They just didn’t think they were going to have 20 guys hit the disabled list.
It’s disappointing because postseason baseball has been an autumn staple here since 2003. The Sox have qualified for the tournament in six of the last seven seasons. They have spoiled us.
But the lost weekend in St. Petersburg crystallized what has been obvious to the rest of the baseball world since the injuries started piling up in July.
The Yankees and Rays are on 99-win paces. They are in a great race and have no reason to let up. Boston’s quixotic quest to get into the race has been a figment of our imaginations. No where else in the country are people assessing Boston’s playoff chances. It’s Texas in the AL West, Minnesota or Chicago in the AL Central, and New York and Tampa slugging it out for AL East supremacy with the loser earning the wild card. This is what Johnny Damon was telling us last week when he said no to Boston. Damon was telling us the Sox are no different from the Tigers. Boston is just another non-playoff team this year.
Think the Sox can catch the Rays with a strong stretch run? Boston still has to go on a six-games-in-six-days West Coast trip. The Sox finish with 10 games against the Yankees and White Sox. During that stretch, the Rays will be playing the Mariners, Orioles, and Royals.
I mean, what could we have been thinking? Decimated by injuries, these Red Sox are 27-25 since July 1. In the last two weeks, they rank 21st in the majors in runs scored. Terry Francona has only two relievers he can trust. John Lackey can’t hold a lead. Josh Beckett has four wins, none against a team over .500. The Sox scored only eight runs in three games at Tropicana Field. Sunday night, in the biggest game of the year, Boston started Daniel Nava in left, Darnell McDonald in center, and the second baseman was a 22-year-old kid making his second big league start (Yamaico Navarro). Oh, and let’s not forget that because of injuries, Boston’s everyday first baseman is Mike Lowell — a guy hitting .234 who plans to retire at the end of the year and then no doubt will have his hip replaced.
Really now? These guys were going to make the playoffs?
Now that I’ve said this the Sox will probably sweep their Baltimore cousins at Camden Yards this week, but let’s not be fooled again.
My moment of clarity came Saturday night when J.D. Drew ran a quarter of a mile into foul territory to catch a ball he should have let drop. So typical. No Sox player has a better skill set than Drew and J.D. is a good guy who always tries to do the right thing — so it was somewhat perfect that the defining play of this sad season would be a sensational catch on a ball that should have been left alone.
Now it’s over and we can think about next year and beyond. Let’s see what Felix Doubront can do out of the bullpen. Is Ryan Kalish an everyday player in the bigs next season? Do the Sox want to renew David Ortiz and make big offers to Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez? Trade Jacoby Ellsbury and Daisuke Matsuzaka? Make a play for Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford?
This is the stuff to think about now. The 2010 season is over. You can have some fun booing new White Sox designated hitter Manny Ramirez this weekend and it might be easy to score tickets for that big September weeknight series against the Orioles, but we can finally stop torturing ourselves about the summer of heat and hurt when the Red Sox never really had a chance.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/08/31/its_official_sox_are_a_done_deal/
DAN SHAUGHNESSY
It’s official, Sox are a done deal
By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist | August 31, 2010
It’s liberating.
We can all stop now. We can stop scoreboard watching, and doing math tricks, and harboring silly hope that there’s a big surge ahead that will thrust the Red Sox into the 2010 playoffs.
Better to cease with the torment now and accept the obvious. The Sox are not going to be in the hunt in October. The Boston baseball season is going to end Sunday, Oct. 3, at Fenway Park. When Game No. 162 is over, the Yankees will leave town and start their American League Division Series. The Sox will scatter to the four winds.
It’s not like they didn’t warn us. Remember Theo’s comments in December about the “bridge period’’? He said that’s not what he really meant, but it was a moment of truth. The reality is the Sox figured they were in for a soft season. They just didn’t think they were going to have 20 guys hit the disabled list.
It’s disappointing because postseason baseball has been an autumn staple here since 2003. The Sox have qualified for the tournament in six of the last seven seasons. They have spoiled us.
But the lost weekend in St. Petersburg crystallized what has been obvious to the rest of the baseball world since the injuries started piling up in July.
The Yankees and Rays are on 99-win paces. They are in a great race and have no reason to let up. Boston’s quixotic quest to get into the race has been a figment of our imaginations. No where else in the country are people assessing Boston’s playoff chances. It’s Texas in the AL West, Minnesota or Chicago in the AL Central, and New York and Tampa slugging it out for AL East supremacy with the loser earning the wild card. This is what Johnny Damon was telling us last week when he said no to Boston. Damon was telling us the Sox are no different from the Tigers. Boston is just another non-playoff team this year.
Think the Sox can catch the Rays with a strong stretch run? Boston still has to go on a six-games-in-six-days West Coast trip. The Sox finish with 10 games against the Yankees and White Sox. During that stretch, the Rays will be playing the Mariners, Orioles, and Royals.
I mean, what could we have been thinking? Decimated by injuries, these Red Sox are 27-25 since July 1. In the last two weeks, they rank 21st in the majors in runs scored. Terry Francona has only two relievers he can trust. John Lackey can’t hold a lead. Josh Beckett has four wins, none against a team over .500. The Sox scored only eight runs in three games at Tropicana Field. Sunday night, in the biggest game of the year, Boston started Daniel Nava in left, Darnell McDonald in center, and the second baseman was a 22-year-old kid making his second big league start (Yamaico Navarro). Oh, and let’s not forget that because of injuries, Boston’s everyday first baseman is Mike Lowell — a guy hitting .234 who plans to retire at the end of the year and then no doubt will have his hip replaced.
Really now? These guys were going to make the playoffs?
Now that I’ve said this the Sox will probably sweep their Baltimore cousins at Camden Yards this week, but let’s not be fooled again.
My moment of clarity came Saturday night when J.D. Drew ran a quarter of a mile into foul territory to catch a ball he should have let drop. So typical. No Sox player has a better skill set than Drew and J.D. is a good guy who always tries to do the right thing — so it was somewhat perfect that the defining play of this sad season would be a sensational catch on a ball that should have been left alone.
Now it’s over and we can think about next year and beyond. Let’s see what Felix Doubront can do out of the bullpen. Is Ryan Kalish an everyday player in the bigs next season? Do the Sox want to renew David Ortiz and make big offers to Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez? Trade Jacoby Ellsbury and Daisuke Matsuzaka? Make a play for Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford?
This is the stuff to think about now. The 2010 season is over. You can have some fun booing new White Sox designated hitter Manny Ramirez this weekend and it might be easy to score tickets for that big September weeknight series against the Orioles, but we can finally stop torturing ourselves about the summer of heat and hurt when the Red Sox never really had a chance.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.
