Posted on 05/09/2006 4:03:54 PM PDT by misterrob
The saga continues in the Bronx this week. The Sox send out Beckett, Wakefield and Schilling. The Yankees counter with Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Shawn Chacon.
The New York Post ran a back cover story questioning why anyone has not dared to throw at David Ortiz.. (maybe because he is 6' 4" and weighs 250 lbs) Sox offseason pickup Josh Beckett returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time since Game 6 of the 2003 World Series.
Series returns to NY after an abbreviated series last week in Boston where Boston fans expressed their true feelings about Johnny Damon.
Geesh, a final score of 9-1 would've been nice... :-(
Keith would look good in a PawSox uniform, along with Alvarez, Seanez, Tarvarez, DiNardo...
After the way Foulke was getting hammered ...I was hoping we could hang on to a 9-8 win.
My FRiends Clemenza and ken5050 are Mets fans (and are Red Sox compadres).
I meant that we don't cough up big leads in the 9th and lose games to the Yanks.
I just love Jonathan Papelbon... he exudes confidence and control.
Oh, I gotcha. What a heartbreaker that game was for Mets fans, though...
When you throw 86mph "fastballs" you are basically throwing BP. He has had long enough to get it back and he cannot.
Stick a fork in him.
Fork Foulke?!?
What a great night! Watching the Yankees lose NEVER GETS OLD!
Shilling didn't look so old tonight!
Foulke still fails to inspire confidence though...
He got it together tonight. Location was there, the split was working, got some D and all in all he was dominant.
The Sox are thinking about Hansen as a potential starter which would be interesting but I think he would be good in the 7th/8th when you need to shut the other team down with a big K. According to flaming liberal Peter Gammons, Lester should be ready in about 6 weeks to start in the majors which might help if someone in the rotation breaks down.
I still don't like this pen. They overpaid for Seanez and while Tavarez is getting it together, it seems that his best years are behind him. Delcarmen is a year away, minimum. Expect to see a big trade at the deadline to solidify the pen.
Stick a fork in him.
Yeah, pretty much. Foulke is about to be forked.
Did you see yesterday's game in Philly? DiNardo and Alvarez were pitching the same 86mph "fastballs". Actually they pitched many "fastballs" at 70mph or lower, per the Philly speed gun. We left once they put Tavarez in... what a disaster of a game. The Phillies fans were loving it, of course.
I'm glad Tito "saved" Schilling and the "A-team" for the Yankees though. I really feel bad for some nice NJ/Philly-area Red Sox fans we met yesterday who spent hundreds of dollars on seats above home plate for yesterday's game. They came to Citizens Bank Park to see their beloved Sox, got rained on for awhile, and had to endure the B-league team including a bunch of lousy pitchers. I hope they stuck around by the time Big Papi came up to bat at least.
My husband and I were at Saturday's and Sunday's games in Philly - both sold out. For each game we had $12 standing-room-only "seats". We watched the games one row behind the expensive seats above home plate. We had to stand for the entire game, but the view of the diamond was fantastic.
What do you think of Abe Alvarez? For some reason I expected big things from him yesterday, and he was a disaster. I was in shock: some of his "fastballs" were 60-70mph. He was sent back to Pawtucket today per NESN...
We were cheerin' on our Sox at Camden Yards this past April (weekend games) and last September. We couldn't make last week's mid-week games.
We followed the Red Sox to Philly this past weekend, and last year also... I think it was around mid-July.
All I can say - from our experiences anyway - is that we have found that the Orioles fans, vendors, etc., have treated us far better than the Philly fans have. And Red Sox fans don't just take over Camden Yards in Baltimore... they take over the entire Inner Harbor of Baltimore! In Philly, Citizens Bank Park is isolated... we never go into the city of Philadelphia.
I can't really blame fans for getting ticked off when their ballpark - and city - is invaded by hordes of fans from the opposing team, ie Red Sox Nation. I know how I'd feel if the same happened at Fenway. Still, I would have appreciated fewer middle finger displays and "F-bombs" (in front of children no less) from some of the Phillies' fans...
Abe needs to learn how to throw a better curveball. And, if you can change speeds as much as 12 mph between pitches and move the ball around you can actually pitch at the major league level. I think he needs a few more years before we write him off. He's only 24. Plus, it seems that a lot of LHPs take longer to develop than RHPs.
Foulke simply cannot throw his fastball like he used to. Back in the day he was clocking it at 90-91mph then dropping the change up on batters. They could never get their timing down.
Fine; when you've got a 1 - 2 run lead, put in Papelbon. When you've got an 8 run lead, put in Foulke. If you've got a 8 run lead, you can let in 4. He eats up innings, we still win, and Papelbon is good for tomorrow.
I know, you're absolutely right. I understand why Tito put Foulke in, and saved Papelbon for tomorrow. Still, it really bugs me to see that fabulous lead against the Yankees vaporize in minutes, as soon as Foulke steps onto the mound. And this seems to be a a habit with Foulke...
He's supposed to be what I call a Plus reliever which means he comes in the game when the Sox are winning and need to hold the fort. Seanez is a guy you bring in when you are behind or the team is so far ahead that he cannot hurt you. To have a good pen you need a closer and 2-3 guys that can hold it till the closer. Foulke's role is really supposed to be the guy that can come in and get the game back under control in the 6th and 7th when things get dicey.
Six scoreless outings in a row, then one outing he comes in with a huge lead and throws strikes and gets knocked around, and you claim he's done?
Puh-lease.
Before this game you were saying how old and washed up Schilling was.
>>I can't really blame fans for getting ticked off when their ballpark - and city - is invaded by hordes of fans from the opposing team, ie Red Sox Nation.
Yes, during one of the Phillies-Sox games, there was a "two strike cheer" when the Phils were down to their last strike--
a loud cheer. You'd think you were at Fenway; then the Phillies fans booed the Sox fans down. (I wasn't at the game;
saw on TV)
Many Red Sox fans follow the team on the road. I know I've
seen the Sox play in Toronto and Chicago while travelling.
In the week before the 1994 strike began, I was at Fenway
HOPING to catch Sox vs. Indians. The game was to begin at 7 pm but was called about 9:30 pm due to non-stop rain. A lot of Indians fans were there and I heard them say that the Tribe was selling out game after game and many had to follow them _on the road_ (Toronto, NY, Boston, Detroit) if they wanted to see them at all.
Jacobs Field got a total of 455 straight sellouts. I've been there and one of the "retired numbers" is "455--The Fans".
Meanwhile, the Sox currently are two-hundred-and-something sellouts in a row at Fenway. They rank second only to the Jacobs Field streak.
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