knew Williams would pull that Sh**!<br>It's
just typical. And yes I DID write as soon as the hook
was put on Wasdin, before he made a move with Gordon.
I think he has his reasons for pulling someone, no
matter how good they're doing.<br>I STRONGLY dissagree
with it, but you know he'll have some kind of answer
if asked why. As far as putting Flash in, I think
he's being VERY stupid!<br>EVERY time he's be put in
sofar in a non-save situation, he runs into trouble. It
was just lucky today that the worst he did was loadd
the bases.. One more single would have produced at
least two more runs. Flash is INCREDIBLE when he's got
the pressure on, but he's not there to give a guy a
break in a winning or losing situation, he's there to
do a job and keep the other side down when it counts
most. He should be left alone untill the threat is
there and THEN and only THEN take care of business.
Sorry to complain and sound like a crybaby, I just get
really annoyed when they lose like this. And ONE other
thing,,,,, HOW MANY MORE CHANCES does Merced need to show
that he's not worth a goddamn PENNY on a contending
team???? Christ, williams pisses me off with that move
too! Benjamain has a better average (maybee not as
many homers) and is a faster runner. Totall stupidity
on Williams's part as far as I'm concerned!

rite your hate mail, not only the hook but Gordon was called to.  Clemens did it
again.  It is now neck and neck with Pedro again...catch ya

o you see my point about Williams and
pitching?<br>Wasdin strikes out 4 of 5 batters and is CRUISING along,
and I see Williams has TWO guys warmiong up already
(Lowe and Reyes).. If Wasdin continues to pitch well in
this game and Williams gives him the hook,, I can
garuntee he's going to get some serious hate mail from me
as soon as the hook comes.

'm just glad he didint go to Flash, whenever he
brings in Flash in a NON-save situation, he falls apart.
Not knocking Gordon, but he's MUCH better under the
pressure of a one or two run game.. I'm just glad Jimmy
got off his "let's give him some work" kick! It's
done nothing but bad in the past.<br>And I STILL think
Pedro should've stuck around. I believe in protecting
your starters, but not OVER protecting them and
stopping personal achievement.

edro, certainly, looked strong in the 8th inning
and capable to pitch the 9th. I don't know why
Williams went to Swindell. I do know that the Sox have
very few complete games from thier starting pitchers
and this may be due to Williams' managerial style. He
always seems to go to the bullpen in the 8th or 9th
inning no matter how well the starting pitcher is
throwing.

know it's a team thing and a pitcher should
come out when it's time,, but if williams left pedro
in for maybee one more batter or one more inning,
whichever worked, Pedro not only would have tied cone for
wins, but he was also only one K away from a tie with
clemens for strikeouts. Understood that we're not playing
for individual numbers, and also the fact that the
rocket will pitch today and sureley will notch a few
more, But it certainly wouldint hurt ANYONES numbers to
leave pedro in to get that last K.. UNLESS OF COURSE HE
WAS TIRED OR SORE. But if it was only Williams trying
to get swindell some work, then I dont see how that
helped anyone. Anyone dispute this?

edro looked magnificent today! He picked up his 18th win to tie Cone for the
league lead. How rare is it in recent Red Sox history has a player they traded
for lived up to his advance publicity!

was wondering the same thing myself. I have only seen the Sox wear the blue cap
this year. I know last year the white cap was known as the "Sunday Cap"

always wondered why more managers didn't use
that strategy. It makes sense. In the Avery game, he
was consistently throwing the ball in the dirt, and
an umpire would believe that something is wrong with
his arm or elbow.

hen a starter has a history of not making it past the 4th, 5th, or 6th inning,
it would make sense to be prepared.  You are not crazy and stupid!

eriously! I really appreciate your comment since
after yesterdays game, I called WEEI, and barked about
williams leaving avery in too long one day and taking
wakefield out too early on another. I mentioned the
suggestion to start to warmup the bullpen early and the on
air host said I was just being absurd! So thanks for
making me not feel like I'm so "off the wall".<br>On
another subject,, does anyone in the small but great club
know the actuall protocall for the boston uniform
(cap) of the day?? I havent seen anything but the
standard blue since WAY before the all star break and was
just curious. To be totally honest, I thought the road
70's throwback red cap was ugly anyways. But I also
thought the white alternate cap was sharp as hell! Anyone
have any inside info on when and under what
circumstances they change caps?<br><br>The Bosox fan living in
hostile territory!

ood constructive points such as your are not
stupid or crazy. When Avery was on his way south,
Kerrigan should of had a sign to the catcher, who in turn
signals Avery, who in turn has a pain in elbow. Alas,
relief pitcher has all the time he needs to warm up. I
used this a couple of time when I managed town league
ball. But you are right, Jimmy should of been prepare
last night.

ut I really think the best strategy would be
this. When Avery, Shoureck and even Saberhagen pitch,
Williams should have the bullpen start warm tossing a long
reliever in the third inning no matter how good the
starter is doing.. A guy constantly soft tossing in the
bullpen from the 3rd on can be ready for the 4th, 5th or
6th if there happens to be another big collapse. If
the starter cruises with a good performance, thats
just great, but I think Williams better have somene
READY since the last 3 in the rotation seem to have
early points of self destruction.<br>I know it might
sound a little stupid and possibly a waste of energy to
the poor bastard in the bullpen, but it would
certainly be better than watching 2 batters straight walk
home after the ball only travels 30 feet between the
mound and home plate.

very self-destructed before Fenway's eyes. He
was pitching so well until that inning. Then
everything he threw was in the dirt. If Lowe was ready to
come in, I think Jimy Williams would have made the the
switch sooner.

'm glad to see you hear.

cant believe Jimmy Williams not pulling Avery
after throwing the second ball into the dirt and
walking in that run.. He waited WAY too long..<br>He
either pulls them WAY too soon or WAY too late!<br>He's
a great manager as long as he dont dabble in the
pitching.

i there, thought I'd find you over here. Yes, I
know this is strickly Red Sox country and I will
behave myself. Now about Mo, No I think I will let that
be for now. Avery, tonight, here's hoping he has a
good game. Go Soxs...

o DOES need to put his bad attitude in check and
the duke although he's done a great job bringing up
players from the minors, better realize what he's got
there. Another Boston futre hall of famer. I do think
that Mo is getting closer to staying because of
Stano's return to Boston. The two of them were very tight
before stano left the first time. And Mo even said
before that he wanted to go to toronto just to be with
his friends.. Now,,,, All that we're missing from
that is the rocket and we got a fraternity back in
beantown. I am realistic though, clemens will probably
never return, but I think stano is enough to make
vaughn reconsider if the duke just bends a LITTLE bit
more.

f they don't sign Vaughn, there is no way they
are going to get anyone of near equal value to
replace him. He is a too valuable to let go.<br><br>Mo
does have one problem though, he just doesn't know
when to shut up. He is an emotional guy, and he needs
to be a little bit more restrained when talking to
the press. He has not only alienated Duquette, but a
lot of fans.<br><br>I do think the fans are coming
around, though. He has been getting very good receptions
when he comes up to bat or when the starting lineups
are announced. This is a drastic improvement over a
month ago.<br><br>Duquette should get a little thicker
skin, swallow his enormous ego a little bit, and show
Vaughn more respect. Vaughn will sign. He has a lot
invested in the Boston community.<br><br>As far as Bernie
Williams is concerned, I am surprised he has enough
"at-bats" to qualify for the batting title. It seems he was
out half the season on the DL. Anyway, I would love
to seen Mo win the batting title. It may force the
front office to up the ante and sign him.

asdin on his bad days only lacked offense behind
him. Kinda like Lowe, he pitched well and kept the
scoring low, but the offense couldint produce on the days
when wasdin or lowe pitched.<br>BTW, I like the way ya
think! My familiy in boston dont even agree with me and
are still sceptical about the whole season. you seem
to be thinking the same as me.. Whats your view on
Vaughn and his contract beefs? I really think that the
duke shud do anything possible to keep him. Even
though the majority of fans say to dump him. I think
he's gonna win the batting title this year as bernie
williams slips. Hey, wheres Lewob anyways? I dont see her
since she started this group.

chourek has been a major disappointment. When
they acquired him, I was happy to have a veteran
lefthanded starter in the rotation, but he has been awful.
No wonder Houston gave him away for their playoff
run.<br><br>Wasdin has been pitching pretty well. He looked good in
relief tonight. Maybe he needed that short trip to AAA
to straighten him out, because earlier in the
season, he was getting belted around on a regular basis.
I think he needs to gain Jimy Williams confidence
in him again. He always looked like he had good
stuff -even during his bad games.

e get all of the games on TV and radio here. The
Red Sox are as popular in Maine as they are on Yawkey
way. <br><br>Thanks for the tip, though. I didn't know
that majorleaguebaseball.com provided that service. It
might come in handy if the wild card rece heats up and
I want to listen to a Ranger, Angels, or Orioles
game.

'm quite pissed at the rotation move with
shourek for wasdin. Finally today, in the first inning I
thought Pete S might have it together.<br>But right into
the second, I see my opinion was valid, he's hasint
done nothing but bad for the sox and I certainly HOPE
that he's out of the rotation by the playoffs. Avery
is just fine for a left handed starter and shourek
could be used as an emergency one batter lefty
specialist. But to put all of that into a simple statment is
this:<br>We've seen ENOUGH of Shourek!<br>(pardon me if I
spelled his name wrong)

see you're in maine,, so I dont know if you get
bosox on radio & tv there. In case ya dont, I found a
cool way to hear all the games from NY.<br>If ya go to
majorleaguebaseball.com and click on "todays live events" you can hear
almost any game live using media player or real audio.
All bosox home games are broadcasted. All games heard
are from the home teams local station.

leveland IS quite vunderable but pretty damn
good against the yanks, I think they JUST MIGHT do us
a favor and knock NY out in the playoffs.. If that
happens, the penant is a LOCK! And being a bosox fan
living in NYC, I'm caught behind enemy lines, but you
can bet your ass I'll strut down broadway cheering on
the tribe when they face NY.

couldn't agree more. RedSox Nation should be
feeling great. Baltimore, who I was most concerned about,
is starting to fade from the Wild Card race and it
looks like the Indians are very vulnerable. Everything
seems to be falling in place.

ith the Yanks finally proving they're beatable
and baltimore showing that thier hot streak was
nothing more than a fluke,, the playoff birth is as good
as locked and the bosox probably have a better shot
then ANYBODY at the ALCS.. The yanks wont beat
cleveland and and the angels or rangers are pretty much an
easy series for the bosox. My prediction is this,,
Boston vs Cleveland in the ALCS and as the regular
season record shows, the bosox OWN the tribe. And just
in case it does turn out to be the yanks, Boston has
shown that Pettite and Irabu cant hold them, Mo vaughn
absoloutly KILLS Mr. perfect wells. So cone and el duque are
Bostons only problem.. so I see if the sox play the
yanks, the yanks wont get anymore than two wins from
boston.<br>I can die happy if this is the year!

ports Illustrated has moved Nomar Garciaparra to
the head of the MVP race in the American League. In
my opinion there is not a more exciting player in
baseball than Nomar! If I had a vote, he would receive it!

his could be the year!

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