Hard to beat 1978….but I think the Sox have a good chance of blowing it this season…the inability to sustain a winning streak is the crux of the matter.

Why Bother

Yup. Part 1 of 4 has just been completed tonight. Batting order, pitching and bad blood or something in the clubhouse has been the downfall.
To me, any meathead who doesn’t consider batting Crawford #2 in this lineup doesn’t really have a baseball mind. I’ve heard so many buffoons on this website scoff at this idea..”then Youkilis will lose at bats” or the best was “then you’re moving Ellsbury down in the lineup.”
Morons! Crawford always hit #2 in TBay:
Bartlett
Crawford
Zobrist
Longoria
Pena
Upton
……this was normally the top 6 for the recent winning years in TB.

Maybe if Maddon were managing he might try a normal B. order here.
Ellsbury
Crawford
Pedroia
Gonzalez
Ortiz
Youkilis
…… this SHOULD be the first 6!!! Pretty fucking no-brainer. Speed between high OBP. No experts on this website get it. “F” for baseball common sense around here.

Secondly, why would you continue sticking stiffs like Lackey out there? Because you’re so stubborn and pissed off that he’s getting $16 million a year? So, because we paid so much money, maybe he’ll start pitching like he’s being paid? He NEVER will. He NEVER has. Isn’t that obvious? Time to cut him loose. I would think such a shitty pitcher making so much money and having such a piss-poor attitude would bring this team down…especially when they know he keeps getting trotted out there every 5th day and they will probably lose.

Good bye Epstein—you suck!
Good bye Lackey–you also suck and are a clubhouse poison
Good bye Papelbon—upping your performance in 2011 for more $ in 2012
Good bye big Fatty–12 mill. is too much for a fat DH
Good bye Youkilis–always injured and avg 3rd base defense. Batting sucks.
Hello Ellsbury–you get new huge contract
Hello Someone older than 20 that has a clue about baseball as GM.
Hello New 3rd starter. Can’t be C. Carpenter as boy wonder Epstein failed to act before it was too late.
Hello revolving door, new short stop. Maybe you’re Iglesias. Maybe not.

Assesment on the above post. He is absolutly right in batting CC 2nd, where he has been the most comfortable. The difference is, I would have Ellsbury batting further down in the line up. The man has become a major slugger. Somehow, he has knocked in 94 runs from the leadoff spot. 28 HR’s and 94 RBI kind of production belongs further down. A healthy Scutaro would do fine leading off. Then put Ells behind the best OBP people. As for Lackey, they have no choice but to throw him out there,and because of this kind of terribble pitching, the Sox will not make it, which should be a relief. Who needs to get swept out in the first round? Lackey falls directly on Theo, as does Jenks,Cameron,Drew, and many other bad decisions going all the way back to Freddy Sanchez. He did aquire one good bullpen arm in Aceves. Other then that, he passed on Kelly Downs, who has a sub 2.00 ERA, Benoit, who has done exactly what Detroit expected, save for a couple of early bad outings, and look where they are. The kid who went from TB to Oakland,(can’t think of his name) whose ERA is once again in the low 2′s All of these fine pitchers worked in the AL East. What better resume could one have? Crawford has turned into an albatross,although you can’t blame Theo for this one. Who knew he would be this bad, but you can blame Dumb Dumb in the dugout for not batting him second. Doing so, he might be able to return to form. Theo has laid down an impressive homegrown core,and did make some great aquisitions in the early years, but he is in a serious slump. Time for the two T’s to go. As for Pap, he must be re-signed at any cost. You can not let a homegrown talent like this get away. See the Yankees. They don’t lose key players to free agency. Rivera, Jeter,Posada,Bernie Williams, and other home growns were re-signed. The Sox must do the same to remain competitive. Bard’s meltdown shows the kind of pither he really is. He can not be counted on when it counts. He should be traded, if he has any value left. The idea of him replacing Papelbon is a scary thought. Papi must be re-signed. He has shown that he still has value, and he would run to the Yankees if not signed. Forget about C Carpenter.He would be another John Smoltz. This would be my lineup to get the most out of Ellsbury’s new found power.

Scut
CC
A-Gon
Pedroia
Ortiz
Ellsbury
Youk
Salty
Reddick

Ells might have 115 RBI by now.Naturally,Tito never figured this out as the season progressed.

Remember last season when SF had everything go their way? San Diego loses 15 of last 18 to let them slip into the playoffs. Atlanta makes 3 errors in last inning to allow them to win the playoff series. The NL finally wins an All Star game to give them homefield in the WS. Texas was worn out after beating the Yankees?

All that stuff that went their way…Its just the OPPOSITE for the Red Sox. Not a good sign.

Good point.But it was just the opposite for the Red Sox last year,too.Something is wrong when players are constantly injured.It’s Tito’s job to recognize when a player is hurt and not play him. It does the player no good, or the team.Otherwise, players will play hurt for fear of looking weak to their teammates or fans.Players should sit untill they are healthy.

The problem with 1978 is people forget the Sox had to win like 12 out of their last 14 games to force the playoff game. Tiant was on the mound that final game on Sunday because it was a must win. That’s why the Sox were forced to use ex Yankees’ pitcher Mike Torrez(who actually had a decent(16-13 3.97) season before Dent) on Monday.

Joe,

things suck for the Sox right now and they are limping toward the finish line. Last time I checked though, your team was 3 back with 13 to play and 7 of your final 10 are against the Yankees, who won’t be able to give those games away. Beckett and Lester throw tonight and tomorrow. Oh yeah, remember when the Sox started 2 and 10 and everyone wrote them off? How did that work out for the rest of the AL?

To all the Tito bashers, remember what it was like before this guy came on board? Good, now shut the hole under your nose.

Take a look at the top bats in the Red Sox lineup
.318 94rbi
.298 82 rbi
.338 111 rbi
.314 92 rbi

If Scutaro stays hot and you get anything out of Reddick (.291) and Youk, I could pitch and it wouldn’t matter. I like our chances.

Good point about Tito VS. what we had before. But, not a good enough reason to keep him around forever.

What a shame Tiant couldn’t have pitched that 78 playoff game. The day before, in his final appearance with the Sox, he shutout Toronto on three hits, and was allowed to go to the yankees where he had one good year left in him.

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