Hey Dice K, I know you are the artist formerly known as, but can we possibly keep the game tonight under 20 hours long? Maybe instead of out waiting every hitter by intentionally throwing balls when you have two strikes, you could just throw strikes tonight and pitch to contact?

Biggest winner so far in Dice-K’s career, the Seibu Lions, not only did they get fifty million for Dice K but they also don’t have to watch him pitch anymore.

Okay, so how’s Tito going to F up the lineup tonight? here’s what the lineup should be EVERY night. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzo, Ortiz, Youk, Crawford, Drew, Scutaro, Salty. Screw that phony-ass left right, left right BS. Never seems to matter with the righties. You need someone fleet of foot at the top, but you can’t have both Ellsbury and Crawford together. One can’t run with the other on the bases. Bat Crawford 6th until he gets his Sox legs under him and Youk 5th until he stops taking called strikes.

Mike, your lineup is fine but I would disagree with putting Ortiz right behind Gonzales. The offense should be completely designed around Gonzales, therefore you want a righty to bat after him so that teams do not bring in a lefty specialist every game to face Gonzales and Ortiz late in games when the runs matter the most. I would prefer keeping Youkilis at fourth and Ortiz fifth. Btw Ellsbury and Crawford can run together at the top of the lineup, ever heard of the double steal? The Lineup should be as follows

1. L – Ellsbury, great speed, .300 hitter, likes hitting in the leadoff spot. You want his speed at the top of the order so far as he his batting .300
2. L – Crawford, best numbers as a 2 hole hitter, bats .300, more pop in his bat than Ellsbury, has great speed which you want at the top of the order to set up the power of the lineup. If Ellsbury is on base it takes pressure off Crawford as the pitcher will be worrying about the stolen base.
3. R – Dustin Pedroia, bats righty, best contact hitter on the team possibly. Hits a lot of doubles which would score Ellsbury or Crawford from first base. Almost never swings and misses, great at situational hitting. With either Crawford or Ellsbury on base the pitcher will be worried about the stolen base and pay less attention to the batter.
4.L- Adrian Gonzales, The best hitter and best power hitter on the sox roster should be batting third, but with this team he is a four hole hitter because of the lefty righty thing. With three fast guys possibly on base before him, any doubles or singles he hits will most likely drive in a run, he will have more opportunities to hit with men on base than he would at either the five or the three spot in the lineup. With the three guys in front of him being high on base % type hitters, having Adrian in the lineup batting fourth is not a problem as he will more than likely get his first at bat in the first inning of most games. Last time I checked there were not many pitchers with less than a 1.00 WHIP which means at least every inning someone gets on base.
5.R- Youkilis, I want him batting after Adrain Gonzales as Youkilis is probably the second best hitter on the team. However with more power than Pedroia you want him batting later in the lineup. Also Hitting directly behind Gonzales will ensure that teams, a. don’t bring in a lefty specialist to deal with Gonzales and Ortiz back to back, b. don’t pitch around Gonzales to get to Youkilis. Youkilis has great numbers for a five hole hitter, just plug him into that spot in the order.
6. L- David Ortiz, Hits sixth so that he can protect Youkilis in the lineup forcing people to throw Youkilis strikes. Hitting sixth keeps any added pressure off Ortiz and that late in the order he should be seeing some pretty decent pitches to hit.
7. S- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, switch hitter, bats better from the left side. Being a switch hitter will hopefully keep opposing managers from bringing in a lefty specialist to face Ortiz. Having him hit before Drew will force teams to pitch strikes to him.
8. JD Drew, about to retire and doesn’t care where he hits in the lineup so far as he gets paid. You cannot hit him right after Ortiz because both Drew and Ortiz are the worst hitters on the team vs lefties. So having them back to back in the lineup would be almost an automatic two outs every game in the late innings vs teams that have a lefty specialist.
9. Scutaro, backup leadoff hitter, should he hitting ninth as he is almost like the third leadoff type hitter on the team and will most likely be on base in front of Ellsbury or Crawford. At his older age less at bats might be better for him.
Basically L,L,R,L,R,L,S,L,R, and yes the righty lefty thing does matter.

Of course there are a myriad of ways to set this lineup up. However, if they don’t hit; it won’t matter how you set the lineup. I would go with what I wrote above for about 200 at bats this year then I would make changes where necessary.

One thing we can all agree on is, Tito needs to set up a regular lineup so the players can develop into their roles on this team. You can’t switch a guys role every day and expect consistency. Every spot in the lineup has a different role and requires a different approach to the at bat. Let these guys settle in for at least 200 ABs before we start juggling everyone around.

Mike and deano: you really need to find something to do with your time… Thanks for the lineups, maybe you should get off your butts and manage a little laugh team instead of arguing on the Internet from your moms basements. If you want to discuss the above, I’ll be behind home plate tonight;) losers

Ellsbury has not hit big league pitching now since 2009. How long must we wait for this guy to hit. Right now, they are a better team with Cameron or Mcdonald in center. As for not understanding platooning, Mike, how many times does Papi have to bounce into a double play, or strike out, against a lefthander before you get it. Same thing for Drew. This team needs more productive right handed bats, but they were either to cheap, or to stupid to do anything about it. They are to stupid to use the RHders(Lowrie) they have at the appropriate time. Thats okay, Tito, you just keep on patting your veterans on the back, no matter how little sense it makes. You have nothing to worry about.

Hey ethan, why make comments about people you clearly know nothing about? Have fun at the game, hope you get hit in the head by a foul ball while you are kissing your boyfriend.

Hey, I can’t view your website properly within Opera, I actually hope you look into fixing this.