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Mid Season report cards:
AL:http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5766948
NL:http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5768562
comments?
DM,
They have to climb over two teams, I am not sure they can do that although it certainly is possible.
Wakefield and his back is going to be a key for the Red Sox and Jason Varitek is an enigma, he is hitting .220 since the beginning of last September.
The Yankees injured outfielders are a big question as well as the Yankee starters. If Johnson can become consistant, Mussina can hold up in the second half, and they can find a fourth and fifth pitcher behind Wong, they have a chance. I still wonder what Matsui and Sheffield can bring to the table, even if they return. Wrist injuries are tough for hitters to come back from that soon.
Toronto has worn Boston out the last couple of years, so they have the talent to compete, Burnett needs to come back strong and Halliday has to be healthy.
I still feel the edge goes to the Red Sox, but the Yanks remain within shooting distance. I still think a lot of the Yankee problems have been a blessing for them the last couple of years, otherwise do Wang, Cabrerra and Cano even get a chance to play? With the mindset before all the setbacks it would of appeared to be doubtful.
Standings at the break
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/standings
The current leaders in each division, other than Detroit are about as expected. Detroit's young players have jelled and even if they play .500 ball the second half should still be in great shape for a minimum of the wild card.
Texas could also be considered a mild suprise, but both western divisions appear to be wide open at this point.
The Mets are running away with the NL East and should be able to coast to the finish as their opponents appear to be pretty weak thru the first half.
The AL East is still up in the air as the Red Sox hold a three game lead. All three top contenders have had some serious injuries and the team who is healthiest the second half may take the division. The schedule favors Boston which has a large disparity in home games and plays extremly tough in the Fens.
The NL Central is up for grabs as Houston, Milwaukee and Cincinnati chase the annual leader St. Louis. I think this will be one of the funner divisions to keep an eye on as we move toward October.
Susie,
Didn't you hear what Excel stated? Stay on target.
When did he gang tackle anyway? Just stop.
It doesn't do a Red Sox fan
much good to defend Ortiz or any Red Sox player. We are accused of being biased and get gang tackled by all the Yankee lovers on the board.
That said, it is widely recognized that Ortiz had some serious holes in his swing, particularly on inside pitches. Thanks to Papa Jack working with him and watching film, those holes have been closed. Manny also gets credit for helping him with them.
Does he use something? I don't know. As Excel stated, as long as there is insufficiant testing we won't know. But, his numbers keep getting better as he gains experience, that to me says a lot of it is about his learning curve.
I tend to question more those whose numbers have shown a strong decline coughalexrodriquezcough than someone who is doing better during testing or someone who miraculously improves when threatened to be sent to the minors coughjasongiabmicough.
Perhaps none are or have used in the past but without proper testing we don't know.
It does seem from those caught so far that pitchers may of been as guilty or more than hitters. Which ones benefit with their skill sets more may not be determined for a while.
I would like to see salary caps, not per team but per player based on playing time and make it strong to help prevent the temptations. Make the owners lower ticket prices accordingly to give the game back to the fans. Governments have that ability by threatening to take away stadium construction, tax relief, police protection, etc.
I know I have thrown a lot into one post, but that is my general overview of the situation.
26,
you are mistaken, again, no one said anything racist. I don't know and don't care what races inhabit the Bronx, it just looks like some end of the world urban blight.
Yes,
So what are you arguing about? I just stated I didn't understand the discussion. Man, Susie you flip out over anything and everything.
I don't know what you are talking about,
I haven't posted my picture anywhere here.
White Sox win in 19,
Red Sox finish the first half of the season in first, three games up on the trailer.
Guess what,
Francona has a medical excuse, Torre doesn't. As far as class Francona probably has to much or he wouldn't of had Millar playing as much as he did last year.
Finally, Francona has won more World Championships this century than Torre has. :p
Concerning being in uniform,
today Joe Torre had on a warm up thruout the game, he was not dressed to Yankee regs.
On to the bottom of the eighteenth...
Seanez in the game,
That means trouble for the Red Sox.
DM,
I think some of the comments about the Trop, maybe most of them stem from two things,
1) very little history there, and what history there is, is not good as far as the Rays are concerned.
But the biggest thing, and something I see on Sox boards too is basically "baseball is meant to be played outdoors". While it would be nice to have a retractable roof, I have already stated on more than one occasion why they do need a roof. The retractables are way to expensive for the draw the Devil Rays get.
There were nice crowds the last two days, 36 thousand last night and 31 thousand today. For the Rays, that is a huge turnout.
It is one thing for posters,
to tease and razz another teams players with nicknames, it is quite different for announcers who are hired by one of the teams to belittle the fans of other teams who come to visit their park publically like that. The same for such comments about the other teams players.
Their constant complaining about other teams being favored in the calling of pitches is really the most annoying thing.
As far as my remarks about those Yankee fans, it is quite true, they laughed at my comments and we kidded around. They didn't take what I had to say to seriously, kinda like P40 does.
We appreciate the game and laugh at the silly stuff. Some here do not, and you know who you are.
Welcome to the board boss!
Devil Rays and Yankees
Just got back from the game, I had a great time. There were five young Yankee fans in the row in front of me and we all did some good natured kidding around, we really enjoyed each other. It is a shame that there aren't more Yankee fans like those guys.
I thought the Rays were out of it early with Giambi hitting the Grand Slam, but they hung in there and chipped and battled back.
A-rod lived up to expectations with a couple strike outs and a double play with runners in scoring position and made a wild throw.
Overall a great time, now the Red Sox need to win the extra inning game. They were up 3-2 in the 7th when I left. :(
First,
All star games and World Series have nothing to do with the MVP voting and second those were hypotheticals which most likely do not come true as you know.
As for the Trop, I like it, I get great seats, they are comfortable, I can bring in food, get free parking, get tickets for any team that comes in to town. I also have a personal ticket rep that I can contact to get extra seats. Food prices are good, the interstate is easily reached to start me on my two hour drive home.
I have not been to Yankee Stadium, but I am not thrilled with it's location. Fenway is a grand old ballpark that I dearly love, but its drawbacks have been mentioned before, small seats, obstructed views, high prices, no parking (except by neighboring parking lots charging obscene prices).
Fenway and Yankee Stadiums are a treasure because of thier history. The only thing I don't care for about the Devil Rays are their TV announcers they complain about calls and belittle other teams. Just tonight they called Yankee fans "cave dwelling neandrathals" and commented that Manny "didn't have his monthly flea dip". Those kinds of things are just low class.
But, I like the Trop, they improved it last year by adding some colorful signage, the restrooms aren't bad and the sight lines are great.
It is much better than the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, old Fulton Co. Stadium, Riverfront, all of which I have been to in the past. I like it better than Turner Field today.
He was only 21,
I was quite a bit smaller at 21 than I was at 30 too. I was a lot smaller at 30 than I am at 50....
I would imagine with a few paychecks he has found a way to eat.
Melky made a good catch in left a little while ago, Yankees up 3-0 on a Johnny Damon triple. A-rod strikes out for the second time in a row with a runner in scoring position.
Excel,
I hope you will do as you promised and start pulling the personal attack comments off the thread. It is starting up again as the Red Sox begin another winning streak. It is very obvious that some board members can't accept the Red Sox success and take it out on other posters.
Thanks, Vic
I just hope he does it,
it would be sweet for him to get to sixty.
I don't see why folks don't want him to win the MVP. They could stick him in the field, but it helps the team to have Youk at first with an over .400 OBP and for him to concentrate on hitting.
My biggest problem with Tito is that he keeps starters out there to long, but given most teams problems with middle relievers, I guess he feels more comfortable leaving them out there.
They don't want to do that
it would destroy all their false illusions. Papi is a student of hitting.
I found the comments of Francona interesting, he seems to feel it is a lot tougher coming off the bench:
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060708&content_id=1546513&vkey=news_bos....
Red Sox are 4-1 vs chicago and detroit
Yankee fans should be grateful the Red Sox are keeping the Yankees (barely) in the wildcard race.
RE: Trading for A-rod,
no I don't think I was posting on baseball boards at the time, but my feelings about the trade were bittersweet, to be honest I was more interested int the other part of that scenerio. I wanted to see Magglio in place of Nomar.
A-rod for Manny was mostly a wash IMHO but I was and am tired of Manny's antics. I wanted the deal because I felt A-rod and Mags were a better fit for Boston than Nomar and Manny were.
Susie,
Please keep your comments on baseball not making personal attacks. I could comment on what I think about the intelligence of some of your posts, but that would be irrelevent to the discussions.
Susie,
Not true at all. I have stated Manny is a Jerk. If Papi was playing for the Yankees and had all those game winning hits he would be the MVP hands down. New York would build a skyscraper in his honor. Michael Kaye would grovel at his feet. John and Susie would be in orgasmic delight. Do you get the picture?
bullnbear,
Well you are just not reading the posts, I was giving credit to the Devil Rays for playing so well, which they did. Hopefully they will win tonight and tomorrow when I am there as well.
GO RAYS!!
I don't hate a-rod,
he is just over rated, like Jeter is. Heck, A-rod wanted to be in Boston. He wanted to be a Red Sox. His wife has family in Mass. He just isn't everything he is made to be.
Do you think A-rod would have more homeruns if he were able to rest for most of the game?
No I think he would have the same number. Hitting and fielding are mutually exclusive unless you are saying that A-rod is a headcase because of his fielding, and I am looking at it objectively. If a game is on the line I would take Ortiz over anyone.
You can put it on the board, Yes!
Red Sox win 9-6. Shows what a great job the Devil Rays did, excluding that series Boston would be 16-1.
Susie,
He doesn't get full pay or at least hadn't until he signed his new contract. He plays defense when asked, you can't blame someone who has 13 game winning hits and 8 game winning home runs since 2003 simply because of his position.
I would take him over any position player out there right now.
Ortiz hits eighth in eight days,
to put the Red Sox up again by two.
I don't care what any say, he should be the MVP.
31 Home Runs before the break.
Bullnbear,
Well, if people want to throw stones at Manny they should throw them at Pedro too.
They both are prima donnas who have no respect for the history of the game.
I am glad the Sox let Pedro walk, hopefully they will find someone to take Manny next winter.
Pedro's hip just happens to kill him the week before the ASG. Yeah, right.
You can put it on the board, Yes!
Red Sox take game one in series against Chicago, 7-2. Lester goes to 4-0 on the season and MVP canidate David Ortiz got things going with a two run homer in the first. Mike Lowell and Covelli Crisp also homered.
excel,
Overall the Rays did a very nice job of pitching during the series. I don't see anyone holding Boston down four straight with that offense. Sooner or later it was going to erupt.
I hope they do as well against the Yankees this weekend.
Red Sox win!!
We needed this one to give us some momentum going into Chicago. Especially with Jae Soo (sp?) pitching against the Yankees tomorrow.
Papi hits grand slam in the ninth,
his second homer of the game.
Someone please tell Ric's dad to put the broom back in the closet. ROFLMAO
excel,
because it has only been torn the last two seasons. I was wondering why the Sox didn't go for him, I got reminded of the torn rotator cuff this afternoon on a Red Sox board.
I think he has been damaged goods ever since going to Seattle myself, he has not been the pitcher he was with the Twins.
excel,
I dont think it is confidence. He has pitched the last two years with a torn rotator cuff and elected not to have surgery. The results are obvious.
Jeff Weaver traded to Cardinals
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2510568
Indoor Stadiums,
for some reason the Red Sox have reeked in indoor stadiums this year:
0-3 Twins
1-5 Devil Rays
2-4 Blue Jays
3-12 indoors .200 winning percentage
47-20 outdoors .701 winning percentage
now that is an anomolie!