Patience

maybe i’m overly sensitive to old guy references sf, being one myself, but none of the yankee injuries trouble me all that much…nick j’s seems to be the most serious, and he wasn’t performing anyway…hopefully, we’ll get granderson back soon to give the outfield a boost…i’m more concerned about inconsistency with the big guys: tex, arod, jeter…i guess 2 of those 3 could be considered “old”…and i’m worried about mo, and annoyed with vazquez…also hurts to lose posada for 2 weeks…but, like the sox, we’re scoring a lot of runs, but the pitching is giving it right back…injury bugs like the yanks have experienced are flukes…but, to your real point, unless the rays run away with it, and i don’t think they will despite the way the standings look this morning, this will be a 3 team race [sorry blue jays] down to the end…also sorry rays, you’re not this good, very good, but not this good, and the sox aren’t as bad as they’ve shown so far…the yanks?, i guess they’re right about where i expected record-wise…the yanks seem to be slow starters anyway, so this good start is a bonus…heck the yanks would be leading every other div in baseball, except nl east, 1/2 game behind phillie…damn rays

I don’t really hate the Rays, though I am not a big fan of Maddon (he gives me the same feelings that Tony LaRussa does, the whole “legend in his own mind” thing, though that could be irrational). And for some reason I really dislike James Shields, I think with him it is the “Big Game” nickname, as if he has some sort of history of just being the absolute t*ts in massive contests. That isn’t his fault necessarily, that he has that nickname, but it really bugs the crap out of me, and for that I have an odd dislike of Shields.

PS any fanbase that needs artificial noisemakers is a joke. Those cowbells are an embarrassment and SUPER annoying. Can you imagine thundersticks at the Stadium or Fenway???? laughable.

i currently live in florida, and i know some wonderful, friendly, good-hearted people, some i call friends…but, i concur with krueg’s assessment…this is not baseball country…tim tebow and the gators rule here, along with the seminoles and ‘canes depending on what part of fla you happen to be in…yes, they’re still talking about tebow, apparently in denial about his graduation and move to denver…the first time i wore my yankee tee-shirt to a local bar, a guy confronted me because he thought i was making a political statement about the war between the states…for real…but, i’ve convinced the folks that work at the place i hang out at to at least humor me and turn one of the tv’s [with no sound] to baseball [we don’t need all 3 of them on the speed channel / nascar], and they seem genuinely interested in the fate of my team, so we’re making progress…i had a guy ask me last night who else was in the playoffs with the yanks, or was the game just an exhibition…another guy wanted to know when the yanks play the gators next…he wanted to go to gainesville [UF] with me to see the game…he gets po’d when the fox saturday coverage doesn’t end in time for “cops”…i expect a groundswell of bandwagon support for this team though if they continue to overachieve…they might even half fill the trop if they give away enough free tickets…no, this is definitely not baseball country, but i’m becoming less and less of a fish out of water…

Also, regardless of what the standings say, does any objective mind really (really?) think that the Sox are in the same class as the Yanks and Rays? Sure, I’m not going to ignore the fact that Sox could stay in the hunt all season long. But there’s a reason they’re 2-9 against their only competition. Moreover, what’s the explanation for that disparity? It ain’t injuries because they’ve gotten from Hermida and McDowell what they would likely get from Ellsbury and Cameron.
One problem? Beltre and Scutaro – that vaunted leftside defense? – have 13 errors between them. Of course, Scutaro has always been mediocre with the glove. And his bat has reverted to form. Otherwise, what’s the explanation? That the pitching hasn’t been great? Oh-kay….but neither Beckett nor Lackey are aces – i.e. expect inconsistency. Lester is fantastic. Buchholz is coming around. The pitching and defense has been inconsistent. Given the players involved that shouldn’t be too surprising.
I look at the Sox and I still see a 92 win team. Maybe they win 95 games. But can anyone here honestly say, based on what we’ve seen, they’ll approach 98-100 wins? Cause in all likelihood that’s what it will take to make the playoffs, if not more. Don’t get me wrong – I’d rather a race than not. But I don’t see how this Sox team has shown they’re capable of making it one.

Don’t get me wrong…
How in the hell could anyone “get you wrong”?
You’ve been spewing the same rhetoric over and over and over for awhile now. You’re a damn flame throwing specialist, but it’s kinda like winning the special olympics.

Seriously, the stats have shown since 2008 how Ortiz should be used. Why did it take two+ seasons to finally figure it out?
See, you can’t call me a homer then pretend that the stats don’t exist. The same goes for V-Mart. He’s been terrible for a few years now. The Indians knew it. Scutaro was always mediocre at SS. The Jays knew it. Lackey is pretty inconsistent. The Angels knew it. If anything, you’re the one drinking the Kool-Aid. Though where’s the guy that wrote post after post this off-season about how great this pitching and defense version of the Sox we were going to get?

Personally I think the Red Sox will win 100 games.
But I also refuse to say over how many seasons it will take them to win those 100 games and will leave that to everyone’s speculation.

you can’t count spring training wins either sf…my prediction made over on the “boring” thread?: nobody in the al east will win 100 games…we might have a 100 game loser though…

Actually, it’s not about feelings at all. It’s about the fact that the stats only tell part of the story – especially when 25% of the season has been consumed. I don’t believe the stats can accurately account for injuries, moves to be made, and a thousand other things that may or may not happen.
Listen, I said you win. You win the big blue ribbon for knowing what has happened up till now. And trust me, it’s absolutely fine with me that you “can’t talk rationally” to me. Although, through all the opinions on this page, which is exaclty what they are, yours is the only one that is so concrete in it’s setting that you refuse to acknowledge the chance that things won’t look as they did in April.
Every year for the past five years on this site, there is some idiot screaming “they’re not good” or “it’s over” or “the X are not good players” and on and on and on. It’s been me, SF, Paul, dc, Ath, Nick and on down the line. And every single time (sans 2008), they’re proven wrong.
I guess it’s just your turn to bat. Like I said, I’ll wait and see what happens.

Whatever, cherrypicker. :)

“Actually, it’s not about feelings at all.”
You’ve used “feeling” to describe a few things in this thread. And since none of your counterarguments present objective facts, that pretty much describes your own “feelings”. Problem is, I can point to or measure feelings. We might as well debate God’s existence or Theo’s philosophy.
“I don’t believe the stats can accurately account for injuries, moves to be made, and a thousand other things that may or may not happen.”
None of those things explain how the Sox have performed. They’re the exact team they were made to be. Hermida and McDowell have given what Cameron and Ellsbury would. Otherwise, it’s the team you started the year with.
“yours is the only one that is so concrete in it’s setting that you refuse to acknowledge the chance that things won’t look as they did in April.”
Hmmm, except I said I think the Sox will win 92-95 games and have since the off-season. That would be markedly better than they’ve performed so far.

Julio Lugo sucks.

Come on Paul, you are in serious attack mode today! Let’s chill and be pals. Kum-ba-ya my science…kum-ba-ya… ;)
Sox are going to make a run, we are going to make a run (if we ever get healthy) and the Rays are going to fail. It’s really that simple and yes, I did pull that out of my bowl! ;)

sf, did julio lugo play the tin man, or just his glove?
paul’s like one of those annoying little flying monkees from that movie…

“so it’s clearly not the injuries for the yanks either.”
Oh yeah? Who’s replacing Nick Johnson? Or Swisher? The Yanks have missed four bats from their lineup. Thames has hit but doesn’t field. Hermida and McDowell have been close to par on both sides of the ball.
“organizationally speaking, maybe you could justify the austin jackson and javier vasquez moves for me?”
Hmmm, so you were doubting the Granderson trade when it was made? Seems like with al your trolling there would be a record. Meanwhile, Jackson’s Ks would have gone over real well and he’s already falling back to earth – like a .695 OPS in May. As for Vazquez, how’s Melky been doing?
Kennedy and Coke hurt. When’s the last time the Sox pulled off a decent trade. Beckett for Hanley? Seems like all they know how to do these days is spend money…poorly. I know I’m looking forward to another two years of Scutaro. Maybe they can bring in Pudge to catch next year! And JD Drew is beloved, isn’t he?