Greatest Sox Team Ever?

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As an elite franchise in MLB, the greatest Red Sox team ever MUST be one that brings home the rings. So, if the Red Sox win the WS this year, will they be the best team ever. Let's look at the evidence in defense of this argument.

1. Pitching. Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Okajima, Gagne, and Papelbon. No real need to comment here. The overall experience and excellence is manifest. This staff is MLB's best this year and AT LEAST as great as any Sox staff ever.

2. Hitting. The Sox are in first place by 6 games and are yet to have a solid two-week stretch of dominating offense. Three of our "non-stars"--Youk, Lowell, and Pedroia--are all hitting over .300; Manny and Papi are around .300; at least one of these four will burn up the bases down the stretch: Tek, Lugo, Crisp, Drew.

3. Speed. This is the fastest Sox team I can remember. Lugo, Drew, and Crisp are all fast, put pressure on opposing pitchers, and will get us into scoring position in the playoffs.

4. Defense. Clearly not as great as 2004 in the infield, therefore not the best ever. The 2007 defense, however, is really good. Crisp, Lowell and Tek are gold glovers. Youk, Pedroia and Drew are silver glovers. Manny and Lugo are bronze glovers.

5. Coaching. Francona is a WS champion coach. I don't know much about the science of hitting or pitching, but Magadan and Farrell seem to be top tier quality.

Schilling to the DL

With a twelve game lead over the empire, the Schilling "injury" is perfectly timed. Let him rest as long as he needs to. We will need him at his peak in the playoffs if we expect to get past the rotation of the Tigers, Angels, or Indians.


jeni, if you check in, you can contact at peterandholly@gmail.com

Yankees Lose Into Last Place

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While I watch all Red Sox v. Yankees games (sometimes on TIVO), I do not watch Yankee games "just to watch a game". Occasionally, however, I will flip to the YES network to watch the Yankees lose a game. Last night was such a night. I tuned in just in time to watch Wang get yanked from the game and to delight in Crawford's grand slam. Let's see if Schilling will rebound tonight against Baltimore.

The Best Manny Deal

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The best Manny trade is the one that results in Miguel Tejada
as our starting shortstop. Tejada is also going to be a first ballot
hall-of-famer and he is a great defensive player.

RedSoxBloggers Picks It Right Again

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Well, unfortunately, I picked it right again (see yesterday's post and 6/30). Kazmir unhittable, Beckett gives up three solo jacks, we lose. Despite the loss here are two positive notes: 1) Beckett pitched well enough to win against a non-all-star pitcher; and 2) Kazmir loves pitching against the Red Sox and the Yankees which means he might bolt for The Rivalry come free agency. Kazmir has wicked stuff.

Two Wins and Two Hot Hitters

The Red Sox won two out of three from the Marlins as Manny and Papi cast six homers into the fish pond. We're staying in the water with a four game set against Rays. Kazmir is the devil we'll be facing tonight. The plan is the same as it has been in the past: Take a lot of pitches and hope Kazmir walks in a run or two. If we're lucky, he'll hit a couple of our guys as well. If Kazmir is on, he is pretty much unhittable. On the other hand, Beckett, like Schilling, can be on and still give up a couple solo jacks. If Kazmir is showering while the crowd is singing "Take me out to the ballgame,"... we win. That's my prediction.

No Baker's Dozen

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The streak, as I predicted yesterday, came to an end. Last night, my kids and I visited Frontier Field for the first time. FF is the home ballpark for the Rochester Redwings, the Triple A farm team for the Minnesota Twins (formerly for the Baltimore Orioles). Thsi park is awesome, truly a baseball gem. It is no wonder Baseball America desingated Rochester as Baseball City, USA. If you ever make a baseball sweep up the east coast, try and include FF in Rochester. You will nopt be disappointed.