[Libertarian444]

                 

FIRE THIS MORON

[gridlock]

I loved the manager interviews with Francona and Torre in the Fifth last night. Torre's mic was bad and you could only hear every third word, and he still made a lot more sense than Francona...

[misterrob]

Theo and the rest of the front office deserve all of the blame for this mess. Tito plays the guys he's been given and right now they are all failing to do the job. Francona isn't the best manager in the world but Torre wouldn't do any better with this bunch.

[andy58-in-nh]

I haven't always agreed with Tito's field decisions, but he's generally had good instincts. That said, it was a mistake not to put Papelbon into last night's game in the 8th. He was just playing the percentages, but sometimes (as the Bill James-besotted Sox Brainless Trust is now discovering) the percentages lie. (That's a whole other riff that I won't indulge now).

Besides, let's be fair about this. John Friggin' McGraw himself couldn't win with the ramshackle collection of bullpen stiffs Theo Epstein has provided his manager: Seanez, Tavarez, Hansen, Delcarmen, Van Buren, Polk, Jackson - oh sorry - those last two are dead Presidents, but what's the difference? They couldn't pitch any worse than the Sox 'pen has since the All-Star break.

Aside from Schilling, the starting pitching has been atrocious. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz have carried the offense, while the team batting average with runners in scoring position has dropped off the table. And the front office has offered little help, choosing to play for the future instead of the present, while pretending that the Sox can still be competitive against the Yankees (or Detroit, or the Twins, for that matter) in 2006. Yeah, right.

Sorry, Red Sox Nation, but no pitching, no clutch hitting, no acquisitions = no pennant this year.