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Post by sittingstill on Apr 28, 2024 20:59:04 GMT -5
Kavadas doing Kavadas things, a HR, 2BB's and 2 K's.
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Post by sittingstill on Apr 28, 2024 18:42:09 GMT -5
I would honestly toss out Hoppe's inning today--totally one of those "whatever can go wrong will go wrong" kind of things. He deflected balls hit back at him *twice* trying to make plays and the Mayer error didn't help.
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Post by sittingstill on Apr 18, 2024 15:13:35 GMT -5
WooSox postponed--they'll play a doubleheader Saturday at the originally scheduled start time (4:05pm).
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Post by sittingstill on Apr 18, 2024 11:08:15 GMT -5
Had to remind myself that my instinctive choice to fill in the first word in today's Keyword was probably not the one they wanted.
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Post by sittingstill on Apr 13, 2024 7:01:49 GMT -5
Does anyone have the schedule for the Florida Complex League? I know it starts on May 4 but can't seem to find any information. Thanks! So nobody has the schedule? Any idea when it will be made public? I'm hoping to take in A LOT more games this year. Cespedes and Arias I can only confirm that my source, who will need the schedule even more than we do, doesn't have it yet either. Last year it was released about a month before games started.
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Post by sittingstill on Apr 3, 2024 11:13:20 GMT -5
Alas, WooSox postponed. Doubleheader Friday at 3:35pm.
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Post by sittingstill on Mar 29, 2024 12:30:43 GMT -5
Grant Gambrell gets the Opening Day start.
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Post by sittingstill on Mar 17, 2024 18:13:08 GMT -5
I didn't recognize Bleis the first time I shot him this spring. It's a really noticeable difference.
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Post by sittingstill on Mar 17, 2024 18:11:20 GMT -5
Somewhat unrelated but why is Chris Paddack pitching in a backfield game? These games were on the Twins back fields, and the Twins were either off or on the road today--might have slotted in as his day to pitch but they didn't want to have him travel or wait. I'm told Correa went over to JetBlue to get some ABs in the higher level game.
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Post by sittingstill on Feb 23, 2024 21:31:48 GMT -5
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Post by sittingstill on Feb 13, 2024 21:13:00 GMT -5
This feels like a much more natural progression from having everyone on site in spring training. Also the Fort is nicer in May than in August/September.
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Post by sittingstill on Jan 14, 2024 21:38:05 GMT -5
Anyone who cites Alan Nathan is A-OK in my book.
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Post by sittingstill on Dec 16, 2023 17:24:17 GMT -5
I thought these were described as doubleheaders, but it looks the the Red Sox will host the Braves minor leaguers March 16 while the big club is on the road.
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Post by sittingstill on Dec 13, 2023 19:58:01 GMT -5
Red Sox schedule: March 14: at Phillies, announced as 1:05pm March 15: hosting Twins, time TBA March 16: at Orioles, announced as 1:05pm March 17: split squad, hosting Yankees, on the road at Braves, both times TBA
March 15 would certainly work for both teams. But if that's the plan I hope they announce it soon because someone needs to change her flight.
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Post by sittingstill on Dec 11, 2023 21:55:37 GMT -5
Charlie Zink's only MLB game is on Youtube. The Red Sox won 19-17. Is that maybe the most runs a team ever gave up in a win? It was definitely the most exhausting win I've ever seen at Fenway. So excited for Zink (and maybe a little anxious). He got through the top of the first clean--and the Red Sox put up 10 in the bottom half (Ortiz hit two 3-run home runs in the half inning). Couple of runs on each side over the next few and Charlie started the 5th up 12-2. Then the wheels came off. Pulled with 1 out after 4 runs in, leaving two runners, Lopez added a run and an out, Aardsma came in and gave up a 3-run jack on his third pitch, and I left about two grand worth of cameras under my seat and went down to the concourse for a beer. Ugly back-and-forth scoring from there (though Okajima was unscathed). I still think I'm going to wake up and say "I shouldn't listen to the podcast before bed, I dreamed the Sox signed a guy from Curaçao named Charlie Zink."
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Post by sittingstill on Dec 4, 2023 13:55:54 GMT -5
I think there's always tension when staff competence is evaluated based on the performance of others, and also when you have an organization where it's difficult to move up the ranks if the folks in positions senior to you don't move first. And plenty of things can go wrong internally in all organizations if management styles don't mesh or if there's inadequate opportunity for professional development and advancement (which has to be a priority established at the top). I have zero inside information here but I did find it interesting that after being highlighted by the Sox as women in baseball both Katie Krall and Bianca Smith chose to leave the org for new opportunities. Are there staff venting to that agent that they are not appreciated/valued/paid enough? Folks who feel threatened by newcomers? Coaches or ops people determined that their methods are sound and failure is the players' fault? Are there people who were great at staff management who have either been promoted out of the roles or who have left the organization without that talent being a priority in replacing them?
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Post by sittingstill on Nov 26, 2023 17:10:55 GMT -5
OMG. According to Kevin Acee of the SD Union-Tribune, Adrian Gonzalez was in the running for Padres manager. While I'm not a fan of having a manager start at the MLB level, I think it's great that they interviewed him. He's much beloved by the Padres faithful and it's a very different market there. (I personally think the comments that got him in trouble in Boston were blown way out of proportion and as much a product of the meat grinder of Boston media as of anything he himself believed.) At Spring Training of the Bobby Valentine year, Jose Iglesias had been out for a couple of games--I didn't know exactly why at the time--but he'd been named in the lineup for the game the Sox would play that night. On my back back in from the MiLB games I stopped to see what was happening on the main field. Iglesias was taking grounders while very obviously limping every time he went back to his starting position. Finally Bobby called him in to the batting cage at the plate. I couldn't hear what they were saying--I'm sure Bobby was telling him he couldn't play that night, as he was scratched shortly afterward--but it was one of my first "this is not going to work" moments, as Bobby had what I'm sure he thought was a genial smile that was incredibly condescending, and you could see Iglesias' whole body stiffen with resentment. Gonzalez was on the other side of the batting cage but came over and inserted himself into the conversation--it seemed clear he was mediating, as a veteran backing up his manager's experience but also as a player (not incidentally a Spanish-speaking player) understanding that this was neither what Iggy wanted to hear nor the way he wanted to hear it. (Iglesias subsequently resumed taking grounders with Dustin Pedroia but he was clearly still upset--he was talking nonstop and Dustin was just listening and not responding, something I'm not sure I ever saw at any other time.) Just one anecdote, for sure, but I could see him having the same kind of relationships with players he's leading that Cora has, and I could imagine that would help with a team that has a ton of talent but hasn't seemed to come together. (But it would certainly be good to test that out, and evaluate other skills needed to be an MLB manager, in another role or at another level first.)
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Post by sittingstill on Nov 7, 2023 20:26:39 GMT -5
A questions for the stat gurus. Do they have an analysis of the quality of 3rd base coaches? I imagine it would attempt to measure the quality of the send/stop decisions of the coach wrt close plays against the likelihood of success based on the speed of the runner, the arm of the fielder and the distances in question? Is it done, is it possible, is it meaningful? I can't answer that question but did want to point out that obviously game action is only part of the third base coach's responsibilities--they're usually responsible for defensive coaching (infielders and/or outfielders) and positioning as well. We all know Febles worked extensively with Devers but they work with the whole team. I was sad when the Sox parted ways with Brian Butterfield because watching his infield drills with the team in spring training was utterly hilarious. This was a play where they HAD to get the out--Sean Coyle went crashing into a screen and Mike Napoli decided that since the ball didn't hit the ground, they were good, right? Nice piece from the Washington Post in 2022 on Gary DiSarcina: The ‘absolute rush’ and unending pressure of being a third base coach [gift link]
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Post by sittingstill on Oct 22, 2023 18:35:20 GMT -5
Only current Sox in LIDOM I can tell are Emmanuel Valdez in Este and Rio Gomez in the rotation for las Estrellas. Old friends Gigantes: Roldani Baldwin, Henry Urrutia Aguilas: Jose Adames, Williams Jerez, Yairo Muñoz, Daniel Palka Leones: Gerson Bautista, Ty Buttrey, Deivy Grullon, Carlos Martinez Tigres: Jonathan Aro, Hansel Robles, Dan Altavilla Toros: Engel Beltre, Aneury Tavarez Estrellas: Phillips Valdez, Roman Mendez I think Danny Santana is playing for Licey.
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Post by sittingstill on Oct 5, 2023 10:08:12 GMT -5
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Post by sittingstill on Oct 3, 2023 14:47:45 GMT -5
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Post by sittingstill on Oct 3, 2023 9:33:15 GMT -5
For anyone interested in watching, I believe this website will have a link for live stream of some of the games. Doesn't look like the links are active just yet so my apologies if this is a dead-end www.mlb.com/arizona-fall-league/live-streamsLooks like they are also making the recordings available, which is great for those of us on the east coast. I watched the first five innings last night but had to get the link via mlb.com/video as it never appeared on the livestream page.
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Post by sittingstill on Oct 1, 2023 19:59:37 GMT -5
I am enormously grateful any time anyone in the sport talks about anxiety and depression.
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Post by sittingstill on Sept 29, 2023 9:08:59 GMT -5
Finished Part 1 of the podcast... I can't believe you think your listeners won't remember Bubba Bell. My own Bubba Bell story is one he told himself, and I can't do it justice, but listening to him tell it (to teammates on the back fields) was hilarious. He was playing in the Venezuelan Winter League, and apparently the stadium lighting was really tough. He lost a fly ball in the lights... and it hit him in the throat, badly enough that he had to see a doctor to see if he'd badly damaged his larynx. Despite clearly being injured he was apparently vehemently booed off the field (none of that "we're glad you're alive!" that players usually get). When it was clear after the game that he was OK to resume playing, the manager told him he'd have to sit for a few home games to spare him from the fans' wrath--he said he'd get him back on the field as soon as they went on the road and that it would be OK after that. He was a very entertaining storyteller, which is maybe not unrelated to the situation described on the podcast. Also grateful for the kind words, and amused by the reference to Jonathan Singer's approach to photos... listening the morning after I was once again facing my own discomfort with walking up to people to ask them to pose for photos! Give me a little distance and a zoom lens, please!
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Post by sittingstill on Sept 24, 2023 11:29:15 GMT -5
Meanwhile, though it appears the Sox affiliates haven't made official announcements, the 2024 schedules seem to be up. Thinking only of myself, I am disappointed by how often the WooSox and Sea Dogs have parallel schedules (home at the same time/away at the same time) but grateful that Portland and New Hampshire split the Fourth of July week (in Portland July 1-3, in NH July 4-6) and that there's a series in NH following Labor Day (very timely for late-season promotions if you are driving from MA).
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