4/10-4/12 Red Sox vs. Yankees Series Thread

To be fair, Swihart is a better hitter from the left side than the right, with the opposite true for Leon. Even last year when he was awful, Leon was .247/.321/.411 vs. LHP as opposed to .217/.279/.333 vs. RHP, whereas Swihart for his career is .253/.337/.322 vs. LHP and .274/.327/.398 vs. RHP.

Am I the only one who thinks JDM is close to going on a major tear? I think he is going to have a huge year. Seems to at a minimum come close to homering every game. Offense will be fine, it will all come down to pitching. There is a reliever on one of the other 31 teams that isnt here yet.

If there is such a thing as a respectable loss to the MFYs last night was it.

I'll be convinced that David Price is alright when I see him go out and pitch like he normally can. Until then I'm still worried about him. As it is, it can get cold in October and I wouldn't want Price to have the same issue in a playoff start.

I guess I'll find out soon why Poyner needs to go on the DL.

As for the game itself, I liked how the Red Sox kept fighting, literally and figuratively. They fell behind, climbed back in, and at least made the Yankees nervous in the 9th. Chapman got the key K of Mookie to deflate the rally, but the Sox were fighting to the end in a way that to me didn't feel like a tease.

When the Sox are down in the 9th they keep plugging away. Other editions have rolled over and played dead. I like this about this year's squad.

And the brawl and the way the Sox handled it was far and away better than the way they handled last year's fiasco with the Orioles.

Kind of reminds me a little bit of 1989 when Joe Price, a lefty reliever for the Sox, tried to fire the Sox up by initiating a brawl, plunked a batter and none of his teammates came out to support him. Later on Mike Greenwell labeled his teammates "a bunch of whimps and fairies", and when asked about it, manager Walpole Joe Morgan said that was an accurate assessment.

Fast forward a year later Roger Clemens drills Stan Jefferson of Cleveland and instead of lying about the intent, Morgan told everybody that the Sox took a vote and it was unanimous 35-0 that Jefferson was going down. Morgan got suspended for the statement but it told everybody that unlike the previous year the Sox were on the same page. As it was the not-too-talented 1990 squad overachieved their way to a division title.

I think this incident last night reminds me of that comparison and I think it bodes well for the season.

If you're going to put in a rule that makes it so players at 2b or at home no longer have to defend themselves, then there has to be zero tolerance on slides like that, every single time.  Otherwise you will always have this happen, no matter what stupid crap is said off the field.  You'll also end up with more injuries.

His foot was almost two feet off the ground and off to the side instead of pointing at the bag.  He's clearly trying to break up the out by spiking Holt which he did.  It easily could have ended with a torn ACL.  Then what?

There is absolutely no question that it was intentional.  He should be suspended as long as Kelly is but of course he won't be because it's the Yankees.

Oh yeah and he also punched Feebles in the head.

www.weei.com/blogs/alex-reimer/red-sox-ratings-reportedly-40-percent-season

I'm gonna just throw this in here for all of the "JD Martinez and other free agents taking too long to sign is bad for baseball!" takes that we were seeing in January.

When you say baseball and then only bring up the Red Sox ratings, it's kind of a moot point.

There is probably going to be a work stoppage because of free agency and the issues surrounding it in the next CBA. It is still a problem and it still isn't good for baseball.

Marcus Walden is The Highlander.

It is a fair point...but I think the 9-2 record probably has the most to do with it

There's maybe 10 teams with good on field products though and a lot of teams aren't spending which had a lot to do about that subject.

Alex Cobb signed in March and his team has already started playing games without him because of it. Same with Greg Holland. It might have already cost their team wins.

Is that good for baseball?

Edit- The Sox are one of the 5 or 7 best teams in the sport. This team should be drawing fans or we as Boston fans should hang out heads in shame.

I kind of agree about the rule but I'm not a rules expert.  I just read that he drew blood and that alone should probably result in a call of some sort, be it the double play the Sox weren't trying to get or even an ejection.  All of that is about what happened rather than intent.  I'm  addressing whether or not there was malicious intent.

I'm using the criminal jury rule.  At first I screamed at the TV about what he'd done but after watching several view, especially the one I mentioned, I cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that his intent was to kick Holt.  I haven't played organized baseball in probably 60 years but I do think that in sliding there can be issues of balance.  It's possible for a leg to fly up out of carelessness as one slides.  Looking at where Holt's leg was at the start of the slide and where both legs were when contact is made, I vote not guilty, your honor, on the count of intent to injure. 


I can certainly understand the opposing point of view but, OTOH, I'm not going to look at it anymore.  :-)