SO Sox finished April with a solid start from Procello to win the series from the Jays, finishing 2 games above .500 and a game out of first. Hanley Ramirez finishes the month with 10 HR tying his career best for a month and the Sox club record for April (shared withPapi in 2006). And if you had told me Mookie Betts was going to be second on the team in RBI at the end of the first month, I would never have believed you. Panda has also been solid and Pedey looks like he's healthy again, so there's some things to make you feel good after a month. But the rotation and bullpen are still a mess. Vavaro was DFA'd today and the Pawtucket shuttle for relieves is in action again, with Tommy Layne and Cuban prospect Hinojosa coming up the replenish the depleted ranks. So bring on May and the Yankees!
-M
As bad as the pitching has been, all we have to do is keep hanging in there for a while. Really rooting for Napoli to get on track as the weather gets better.
Yeah, he was crushing it in Spring Training then fell off the table once the season started. IIRC correctly though, his first season, he had a terrible April then essentially carried the team in May, but he has been a streaky player since he's gotten to Boston. I am hoping for a hot streak soon from him too.
I was kind of hoping JBJ would stay up for a bit, hoping he would see some time in RF 'til Victorino comes back, but they are using the opportunity to get Holt and Nava some PT. Craig seems he has fallen out of favor again though.
Rough loss to the Yanks, Masterson actually pitched well enough to win, a couple of bad bounces on ground rule doubles cost the Sox 2 runs. But the big news is the Swihart era starts for the Sox tomorrow. Hannigan broke a finger on his throwing hand on a freak ricochet on an hbp, and needs surgery to repair it so Swihart is getting the call much sooner than anticipated. If he hasn't already singed elsewhere, I can see the Sox now signing Salty back and the league minimum to get some depth back at the position, which was a position of deep resources when spring training started, but has been severely depleted by injuries in a few short weeks.
Rough loss to the Yanks, Masterson actually pitched well enough to win, a couple of bad bounces on ground rule doubles cost the Sox 2 runs. But the big news is the Swihart era starts for the Sox tomorrow. Hannigan broke a finger on his throwing hand on a freak ricochet on an hbp, and needs surgery to repair it so Swihart is getting the call much sooner than anticipated. If he hasn't already singed elsewhere, I can see the Sox now signing Salty back and the league minimum to get some depth back at the position, which was a position of deep resources when spring training started, but has been severely depleted by injuries in a few short weeks.
-M
Amazing how things can turn on a dime. As soon as Hannigan left the game, I said to my wife, "Here comes Swihart." Wh knows? This may all go well. There's nothing like a dive into the deep end of the pool to get you swimming...
The game itself had all the omens of a bad loss for the Sox, but the worst was the "Bartman" moment when a fan reached out and tried to glove a high bounce of a ball that Hannigan had sent down the left field line. Bogaerts, who had walked after an Alan Craig HR, was already around third, but was sent back by the umps and Betts grounded out to end what might have been a nice little threat and cost the Sox, at very least, a run. The fan, a kid who was with his father, was removed. The father acted like, "What? What was wrong?" when he should have been ashamed for not keeping his kid in his seat unless and until the ball went into the stands. Had it happened in the seventh or eighth instead of the third, the father might have been in bodily danger as he and the kid were being led out.
"You have to love the irony of hiring two people to run the Department of Government Efficiency."
In the Who'da thunk department...anyone predict that a month into the season the Houston Astros would be tied for the most wins in the majors with 17? (The Cards have the same # of wins but 1 fewer loss for the highest winning percentage). The Astros-the team that perennially loses 100 games...I like it!
We all know that Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
About a hour before fight time - My local Cable Company was overwhelmed of the sheer orders of people ordering this fight through automated ordering system and my Cable went out for FOUR HOURS LAST NIGHT so I could not watch any TV during this window - 7 PM to 11 PM due to the sheer number of people wanting to see this Fight for nearly $100. So, I end up watching movies off of my DVD player to kill time.
In the Who'da thunk department...anyone predict that a month into the season the Houston Astros would be tied for the most wins in the majors with 17? (The Cards have the same # of wins but 1 fewer loss for the highest winning percentage). The Astros-the team that perennially loses 100 games...I like it!
-M
The Astros are in a position similar to where the Rays were eight years ago and the Pirates were four years ago. After years of being abysmal and getting high draft picks, those guys are finally starting to make the majors; coupling that with not signing any big money contracts while the team was horrible, they had money to spend when the team was finally starting to get good. The Cubs are doing the same thing in the NL, while teams like the Brewers, Rangers, and Phillies, who had their period of success, are locked into fat contracts with aging and declining players while their farm systems, decimated by years of trading prospects for rentals at the trade deadline, have yet to be replenished by years of high draft picks.
It's why what the Cardinals do year after year is so amazing. They never draft high (the lowest they've drafted in the first round in the past 17 seasons is 13th), they rarely spend a ton of money in free agency, but they just win every season, even when their roster and rotation look to be just a little above average. Guys like Kevin Siegrist (41st Round pick), Matt Adams (23rd Round pick), Trevor Rosenthal (21st Round pick), Matt Carpenter (13th Round pick), and Seth Maness (11th Round pick), who have little to no pedigree, get called up every season and turn into valuable parts of their roster, while they make great trades and somehow manage to weather every serious injury by just plugging someone into that spot and carrying one.
For a fan of the Pirates as I am, it's maddening, because the Cardinals are never down, they're never out, and they never struggle. The last time the Cards didn't finish at least 1st or 2nd in the division for more than two straight years was 1997-1999; since then, they've won the division 9 times and finished 2nd another 4 times.
Last Edit: May 3, 2015 13:49:27 GMT -5 by The Captain
"As a youngin' I used to share the colt 45 on the street corners with my friends. I'm not proud." - icctrombone
"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever." - Baron Helmut Zemo
The fact that there is a Highway to Hell but only a Stairway to Heaven should tell us all we need to know about expected future traffic.
In the Who'da thunk department...anyone predict that a month into the season the Houston Astros would be tied for the most wins in the majors with 17? (The Cards have the same # of wins but 1 fewer loss for the highest winning percentage). The Astros-the team that perennially loses 100 games...I like it!
-M
The Astros are in a position similar to where the Rays were eight years ago and the Pirates were four years ago. After years of being abysmal and getting high draft picks, those guys are finally starting to make the majors; coupling that with not signing any big money contracts while the team was horrible, they had money to spend when the team was finally starting to get good. The Cubs are doing the same thing in the NL, while teams like the Brewers, Rangers, and Phillies, who had their period of success, are locked into fat contracts with aging and declining players while their farm systems, decimated by years of trading prospects for rentals at the trade deadline, have yet to be replenished by years of high draft picks.
It's why what the Cardinals do year after year is so amazing. They never draft high (the lowest they've drafted in the first round in the past 17 seasons is 13th), they rarely spend a ton of money in free agency, but they just win every season, even when their roster and rotation look to be just a little above average. Guys like Kevin Siegrist (41st Round pick), Matt Adams (23rd Round pick), Trevor Rosenthal (21st Round pick), Matt Carpenter (13th Round pick), and Seth Maness (11th Round pick), who have little to no pedigree, get called up every season and turn into valuable parts of their roster, while they make great trades and somehow manage to weather every serious injury by just plugging someone into that spot and carrying one.
For a fan of the Pirates as I am, it's maddening, because the Cardinals are never down, they're never out, and they never struggle. The last time the Cards didn't finish at least 1st or 2nd in the division for more than two straight years was 1997-1999; since then, they've won the division 9 times and finished 2nd another 4 times.
Who could it be that's responsible for all of this...
The neverending battle against evil continues tomorrow night when the Cubs visit St. Louis.
My usual luck in the Kentucky Derby continued. I had the winner, third and fourth placed horses correct, but missed on the runner up and had no winning tickets.
Sox celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1975 team with a pre-game ceremony and the red throwback unis and hats tonight. Loved those Red hats back in the day..love the classic blue but loved those red hats.
Tom Brady - New England Patriots could be punished - big time due to Deflategate - he possibly could be suspended by the NFL in his role in this affair. Suspension / Loss of Pay. I don't know. But, he will face disciplinary actions from NFL and his coach is cleared. ESPN and USA Today reported this.
Didn't know if I should make this a separate thread or not, so I'll throw it in here and see how it turns out. I've recently started watching the Barclay's Premier League, as both of my daughters are playing soccer now, and was wondering what teams, if any, that folks here follow and why. This is uncharted territory for me, as someone who has long been a detractor of football, but after watching it, however, I find myself at least intrigued by it, if not downright interested.
For myself, I haven't picked a team to be "my team" yet. However, in my proud tradition of hating front-runners, I am trying to avoid the usual suspects (Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U) and pick a team that is good but not Evil Empire level. I'm leaning towards Swansea City right now, although I also enjoy watching Tottenham and Southampton.
"As a youngin' I used to share the colt 45 on the street corners with my friends. I'm not proud." - icctrombone
"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever." - Baron Helmut Zemo
The fact that there is a Highway to Hell but only a Stairway to Heaven should tell us all we need to know about expected future traffic.
