i think tito's probably right here just because they've been doing it as a standard move forever and i dont think the organization is dumb enough to make a mistake there that many times

its not super easy to quantify and judge

not sure that one was legit, but dustin pedroia is EASILY the best tag dodger ive ever seen. seriously some of his slides are nutty good.

pedroia is the best in baseball at avoiding tags imo

lol

i love that move where he's sliding headfirst into second and manages to jump over the tag while sliding

with 0 outs i agree, and with 0-2 outs in a game where the sox are down i agree, but it just seems so unlikely to me that before a single out is made, darnell will score on a hit that papi wouldn't have scored on. if the sox are down a run then take the chance, but tied with 1 out to go i say keep the bat in the lineup.

you are right tho i dont have any specific numbers to back me up, just doesnt feel smart to me at all in that particular spot.

haha yea exactly. what's annoying is when he pulls it off he still gets called out more often than not. but yea he's amazing at it.

how much do u think mcdonald needs to increase the chances of scoring in the inning for it to be break-even? its probably less than 1.5%

papelbon's slider and splitter seem a lot better this year

yeah hes looked like a beast this year

i think varitek might retire before tomorrow's game if he has another passed ball in this inning

holla

Jade McCarthy is going to cause the Great Boston Makeup Shortage of 2011, take it easy girl

thank ****ing christ.

you could be right, i just feel like the large majority of runs scored are runs almost any runner would've scored on, really. there's a big difference between darnell's speed and papi's speed the same way there's a big difference between a 200 hitter and a 300 hitter--it still only makes a difference 1 out of 10 abs.

and when you then factor in that practically any time darnell scores on a play papi wouldn't have, they'd then have another chance to drive in papi from 3rd, i just feel like i'd prefer to pass up that opportunity in favor of keeping papi in the lineup for extra innings.

definitely. he still hasn't looked like quite the celeb sex tape he looked like in 06-08 to me, but he's looked way better than 09-10.

i said 11-15 by the end of april and i'd feel fine, that's now just 4-4. a win tomorrow would be great, obv it's hard to feel like a dog with lester going but haren's been amazing so far so we def aren't monster favorites.

This guy's got a lot of teeth

u have to remember he pitched 1.2 innings the game before with about 20 pitches. I dont think its so much the pitch count its that these guys arent used to going out for more than one inning thats the harder part.

Watched highlights of the game.

Pedroia is just beyond awesome.

Lowrie is reaching legend status.

Gonzo making nice strides.

Bullpen too.

Watching Varitek at the plate makes me want to harm myself.

I'm telling you, they should DH him. Say the starter goes 6 or 7 and only gets 2 AB's, then with relievers in the game you can pinch hit for them in the late innings, use double switches etc.

wat

he's saying make the pitcher hit instead of varitek.

I've seen Josh Beckett hit a home run in Philly one time so it just might work.

gonzo looked ****ing terrible before that 2B in the 11th. he popped out on the first pitch from fernando rodney after the guy had walked 2 guys in a row, then made a weak out on another first pitch swing the following AB.

Wait til it gets hot before we judge gonzo.

Carl Crawford's OPS+ right now: 4

right, he's hacking at the first pitch because he's cold and wants to get back to the dugout.