It's a wonder these brain-dead fuckers are still in first place. God, this team sucks right now. They are painful to watch. That the Red Sox can make so many mistakes on the field, at the plate, on the bases and on the mound and still have even a slim grip on first place says a lot about "good" the Yankees are.
We are in a team-wide hitting slump, except for David Ortiz, who is trying like hell to win the division single-handedly (and almost succeeding). Half our starters can't get their shit together enough to throw even three fucking innings in the heat of a mid-September pennant race. Our shortstop has become one of the bigger free-agent busts in recent memory -- and we are stuck with a manager who flat-out refuses to move him out of the top of the lineup ... because that might hurt his self-confidence ... as if he isn't already dreading every goddamn ground ball hit his way and every single at-bat with a man on base.
If Tito truly wants to win some games in these final weeks, Renteria must be dropped to #8 in the order and benched against right-handed pitchers. He finally made the move (sort of) with Millar, let's see if he has the guts to do the same with E6gar.
David Wells had nothing -- like Matt Clement before him -- giving up 10 hits and two walks in 2.2 innings -- though only four runs (Tampa left eight guys on base in the first three innings). The fat fucker failed to cover first base on a ball hit to Millar during the third inning. It's practically the first fucking thing pitchers practice in spring training, but Wells, as you may recall, said he knew his body so well, he didn't need much spring training. Well, fuck you, Orson.
Kevin Millar continues to steal the Red Sox's money. He hit into two double plays (erasing a leadoff runner both times) and (after a seven-pitch walk and the tying run on second in the seventh) hacked at the first pitch and popped to left, killing yet another rally. Fuck you, Cabin, go design another t-shirt.
Hollywood Damon has long hair and never fails to remind us that he's playing hurt, so he can't do anything wrong, yet he's dropping fly balls in center (though somehow not getting charged with any errors) seemingly every night. Fuck you, you Idiot.
If we could catch the ball, we would have won. If we could get a timely hit here or there, we would have won. If we could get a decent outing from our starter, we would have won. If we could excute simple fucking basic plays, we would have won.
Any one of those scenarios would have likely resulted in a victory. Yet, even if the Sox had somehow come back, it would still have ranked as the most frustrating game of the season. I don't want to hate this team, but they aren't giving me much reason not to.
Oh yeah: The Yankees won on a Bubba Crosby ninth-inning home run, so Boston's lead is down to .5.
Somewhere in there, between the cursing and scowling and head-shaking, Craig Hansen made his major league debut, striking out two Rays in a 1-2-3 inning. I liked that, though it is a distant memory right now.
Amen, that's all that can be said. This team enjoys stomping on our hearts and sucking. Papi, meanwhile, has become God, hoisting a bloated, $123 million waste of money on his back as everyone else tries to lose the division. They're pathetic.
ReplyDeleteYeah, why are we trying so desparately to LOSE the division? It's like we are doing everything in our power NOT to win games. It's amazing.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that our starters just aren't warming up as much now that its later in the season? Remember how Pedro and others were doing this last year and it was killing them early on? Seems to be like the same problem. When will management make adjustments?
Yes, Edgar needs to be batting 8th. Mueller batting 2nd. That's a no-brainer at this point. Now Graf and Youk are both hurt.
And, where is Manny Delcarmen in a tight game? Why is Francoma so in love with Bradford who is an automatic run no matter what?
Finally...where is Manny? We had him for two games and now he is gone again.
Well my frustration and now gloom is as deep as yours. David Wells should have come on and anchored us for the final drive. Perhaps it is an omen. Johnny dropping the ball in center was ugly and resulted in the margin of victory for the Devil Rays. Hitting into double plays to take us out of an inning seems to be an art form. ANd what is with the constant changing of the line-up? Is it to get a higher OBP or is Tony Francoma out of his mind? But alas, such is the life of a Red Sox fan. We haven't heard this all season so maybe now is the time??
ReplyDeleteEveryone on three! 1, 2, 3, WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!
(the cursing is not necessary because it doesn't result in better pitching or better fielding or better hitting. It only demeans the person sinking to that lowly position. Stay confident that the BoSox will be back next year!
I feel your pain, I feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteI am beyond frustrated with the lack of effort or the ability to play decent baseball. The yankess are winning the games they are suppoused to and we aren't.
I have to imagine that if our bench players weren't dropping like flies, amon would have gotten a two or three game rest by now - he just looks awful, as do they all. Tek looks at times like he's never seen MLB pitching before. Manny is not being anything like Manny. And now the pitchers are getting in on it. We can't even afford to sit a regular now, with Youk, Graff, Stern, and Kapler on the shelf. We have no MLB quality backups at several key defensive positions.
ReplyDeleteIf we win this division, it will be a miracle.
You guys are still .5 up and are in the driving seat!
ReplyDeleteYeah, but 2 weeks ago we had the lead to almost 6 games! Our team is hurting. Bullpen is over-worked (due to Francoma's love affair with Bradford, Myers and Timlin), the hitting is nonexistent against so-so pitching and our defense is worst than little league.
ReplyDeleteNot typically the resume of a playoff team.
To paraphrase Churchill, never have so few spoken so truthfully for so many....
ReplyDeleteWhile Papi's stature grows to almost mythical proportions with each passing day, where his heroics are a veritable scream of " JUST CLIMB ON MY BACK, BRO", where are the rest of these guys?
Sure, there are the exceptions - Wakefield, Timlin, Mueller, Cora, Graffanino and V-Tek, who still works his ass off in each AB, personifying the type of no-quit determination that the rest of the team needs as he fights his way through a slump that could not have come at a worse time.
Among the sporting cognescenti, it is often said that team's take on the personality of their coaches. Take for example, NY, where you have the unflappable Joe Torre, fungo bat in hand, making decisions both large and small that help his team win in seemingly different ways almost every day, all in the face of an owner whose confidence in his leadership abilities seems to equal that of Ray Nagin's in Michael Brown...
In contrast, we have our wonder boy, Tito, resplendent in his rumpled red jumper. Last night, as in too many nights of late, he conjured up the image of that dork in Animal House, you know the one who has seized the baton from the band leader and proceeds to gleeefully lead the entire band down a dead-end alley where they all crash together in a crescendo of bodies and instruments.
If you put your ear close to your monitor tonight at about 7:05 p.m. EDT, you may be able to hear the distant wine of a souped up Lincoln V-8 (thanks, D-Day) as the Yankee Deathmobile hurtles screams across the Cross-Bronx Expressway with the words EAT ME, BOSTON spray-painted on the side.
Let's hope Tito and Schilling can both find their inner Blutarski tonight in TB before this team ends up collapsed in their own particular kind of alley. Change the batting order..get Millar the hell out of there...but please, Tito, go easy on the Delta punch before we revoke your charter.
Thank you, redsock, for saying exactly what I feel.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick of Tito's silver lining in the cloud bullshit.
I'm sick of this goddamn fascination with tricky-dicky specialist relievers who are good for one batter. Especially when we have starters that can't get nine outs deep.
I'm sick Edgar Renteria, period.
I'm just sick.
Thanks for the reality check their, Natec! You are right, why are we bashing this team? They have been playing hurt.
ReplyDeleteJust want see some fire out there! And, for Francoma to snap out of it!
They are in a slump, relax.
ReplyDeleteThis is true, and I usually agree with you - the whiners make me more sick than the team. However, on September 20 with a comfortable lead dwindling daily, and the Yankees a mere half-game behind, and the Red Sox seemingly trying to give the game away at every opportunity, it's hard not to agree with Redsock. The Red Sox (minus Ortiz) have sucked royally and there's no sugar-coating it.
Also: I hate Kevin Millar. He is a useless excuse for a ballplayer. He contributes nothing. Fucking Jason Giambi plays a better first base, and that is really saying something. Gamer? Brings a lot to the clubhouse? Who the fuck cares! What does he bring to the field??? Games aren't won in the clubhouse!
Natec, I'm still going to watch this team, no matter how much they continue to disappoint, hoping that they will snap out of it. I hold out all hope that they will, but that being said, they are playing like shit. They are losing the games they should win and playing like the Sox of old in the stretch.
ReplyDeleteThey could have had the East settled already, and we're watching them throw the division hopes (and possibly the playoff hopes) in the shitter, again.
I'm glad you're confident, but forgive those of us who have been here before, seen it before, and lived it before and let us vent.
Being part of a team doesn't mean you defend every player no matter how they perform. Being part of a team means sticking with them win or lose, and everyone here will do that.
ReplyDeleteI think Johnny Damon is one of the worst CFs in the AL. When he hits, it's worth the trade-off, but he can't field and he can't throw. Kapler didn't do any worse than Damon would have.
How much you love any given player is no proof of how big a fan you are.
L-girl
natec-
ReplyDeleteWhen they don't run out grounders, don't even try on defensive plays, and can't pitch 9 outs, why should we think they have some massive comeback left in them? From watching these games, I don't think they care.
I want them to catch fire and care again, but I don't see it happen. We have Papi, then we have a bunch of people either too hurt or too indifferent to care what happens.
This team needs to just try not to injure anyone we need for next year, and cut our losses. Pay another team to take Wells and Clement and Schilling and Renteria off our hands, then just start new with players that can help us.
I want to be confident, but this team has done nothing to inspire my confidence. Please tell me something positive about them, I'm dying to know.
Nate:
ReplyDeleteSettle down ... and use paragraphs.
We are not talking about Damon as a hitter. He was amazing until his shoulder was hurt and he can still contribute with the bat and his speed. I don't think anyone would argue with that.
We are talking about his fielding. He makes some great catches -- as every player will do from time to time -- but he is quite often horrible.
How many 45-hoppers from the track do we need to see? When chasing after deep fly balls, he bumbles around out there as much as Manny. It's amazing that his poor abilities out there are simply accepted and not talked about while every little fault of other players is blabbed about constantly.
And a runner scored from second base on a sac fly to center tonight. Why?
Because (1) Johnny de Milo has no arm and (2) after he caught the ball, he fell back 3 or 4 steps and banged into the wall for absolutely no reason -- purely for effect.
Meanwhile, Crawford sped around to score. Brutal and undefensible.
I'll miss his bat, but I'll be happy when we have a CF with an arm and more of a clue about how to track fly balls.
P.S. ERRORS? You're going to judge players by errors?!? ... How many games do we need to see when hits are called errors and errors are called hits before we see that fielding percentage is worthless?
(Remy still hasn't figured this out.)
*******
They won the fuckin World Series last year, shut the fuck up. You were the same idiots crying after game 3 against the Yankees that they were all done.
How dare you write that? Because we don't agree with you, we are "idiots" who should "shut the fuck up"?
I will not tolerate that here. Feel free to disagree and back it up with info, but cut that shit out.