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Misfit · 08-21-2006, 06:54 PM

Oh come on, how can you honestly blame Francona for much of anything? Moving Youk out of the lead-off spot was not the smartest thing, but it didn't cause the Red Sox to lose 5 in a row here either. Beckett's ERA is over 5. Nixon, Varitek, Foulke, Wells, Clement, Crisp, and Wakefield all either spent a ton of time on the DL or are still on the DL. Timlin hasn't been good. Hansen and Delcarmen can only pitch to the NL teams. They have had no bench all season. Other than Schilling's bounce back season, Papelbon's emergence, and the seasons by Ortiz and Manny, nothing has gone right. In retrospect, I can't believe this team has hung around this long.

Clearly going into the season, the Red Sox were just plugging holes with temp guys and putting a lot on the rookies. Loretta and Gonzalez were just stop-gaps in the rotation and Wakefield and Schilling are just here until they can't go any longer. Wells will be done after this year and Nixon and Clement might be as well. The Sox were hoping to add to the present and future by bringing in Beckett, Pena, and Crisp in trying to create a new nucleus for the club since Manny will be gone after 08 and Ortiz and Varitek are only going to get older. It is hard to say when this team will be a true force again, I'm of the belief most of that resides on Beckett's shoulders and if the front office panics and deals away Crisp and Pena before giving them an entire season here in Boston (which I would not be in favor of).

Next year's team will look a lot different all over. And I'm talking about next year because this year is over and done with. Right now the Red Sox have 69 wins and have a chance of finishing the season at .500 or worse. 90 wins is really starting to look like a long shot given their schedule to close out the year.

Really, I don't have much to complain about. Even in my pessimism, I didn't actually believe the Sox would drop 5 in a row to the Yankees but it is what it is. They won the whole damn thing less than 2 years ago, and the Patriots have dominated the NFL for the last few years so all in all I'm pretty content, even if momentarily frustrated at times.

Now everybody, repeat after me: Five year grace period. Five year grace period. Five year grace period. Five year grace period. Five year grace period...

08-21-2006, 06:54 PM	#2469
Misfit All Star OVR: 25 Join Date: Mar 2003 Blog Entries: 14	Re: Boston Red Sox - 2006 Oh come on, how can you honestly blame Francona for much of anything? Moving Youk out of the lead-off spot was not the smartest thing, but it didn't cause the Red Sox to lose 5 in a row here either. Beckett's ERA is over 5. Nixon, Varitek, Foulke, Wells, Clement, Crisp, and Wakefield all either spent a ton of time on the DL or are still on the DL. Timlin hasn't been good. Hansen and Delcarmen can only pitch to the NL teams. They have had no bench all season. Other than Schilling's bounce back season, Papelbon's emergence, and the seasons by Ortiz and Manny, nothing has gone right. In retrospect, I can't believe this team has hung around this long. Clearly going into the season, the Red Sox were just plugging holes with temp guys and putting a lot on the rookies. Loretta and Gonzalez were just stop-gaps in the rotation and Wakefield and Schilling are just here until they can't go any longer. Wells will be done after this year and Nixon and Clement might be as well. The Sox were hoping to add to the present and future by bringing in Beckett, Pena, and Crisp in trying to create a new nucleus for the club since Manny will be gone after 08 and Ortiz and Varitek are only going to get older. It is hard to say when this team will be a true force again, I'm of the belief most of that resides on Beckett's shoulders and if the front office panics and deals away Crisp and Pena before giving them an entire season here in Boston (which I would not be in favor of). Next year's team will look a lot different all over. And I'm talking about next year because this year is over and done with. Right now the Red Sox have 69 wins and have a chance of finishing the season at .500 or worse. 90 wins is really starting to look like a long shot given their schedule to close out the year. Really, I don't have much to complain about. Even in my pessimism, I didn't actually believe the Sox would drop 5 in a row to the Yankees but it is what it is. They won the whole damn thing less than 2 years ago, and the Patriots have dominated the NFL for the last few years so all in all I'm pretty content, even if momentarily frustrated at times. Now everybody, repeat after me: Five year grace period. Five year grace period. Five year grace period. Five year grace period. Five year grace period...