FWIW, it's not completely clear this is the correct way of addressing the issue in football.
And Chipotle the next day to make sure. Ah, more satisfying beating them fair and square.
Contrary to popular belief, Dustin Pedroia is still part of this team, too (aside from others' suggestions). He's a larger persona than Mo, Millar, or Gomes, for sure. You'd be hard-pressed to match Ortiz and Pedro in stature and persona. Off the top of my head I only come up with Junior, Reggie, and Rickey over the last 30 years or so.
He's had a total of 13 PA's. Sam Travis is more on this team than Pedey, he also had about 150 more points of OBP. I love Pedroia as much as the next guy, and he can have all the personality in the world, but rehabbing a knee in Arizona doesn't get him much cred on this team.
Lest we forget, there aren't a lot of people on the planet who can be this guy:
True. That said, he texted Cora last night to heckle him.
Yeah, I only meant in terms of personality. He's still a part of the 2018 squad.
It is pretty bizarre. Since the re-alignment to five teams in 1994...
I don't know. The feisty underdog personality seemed a lot stronger during the first 3-4 years of his career. He's all business in the field and at the plate and not nearly as quotable as he used to be.
Six seasons. 1998-2003, the standings were Yankees-Red Sox-Blue Jays-Orioles-Devil Rays. In 2004, the Jays and O's switched.
He's about the same size as Pesky, I'm on board.Lest we forget, there aren't a lot of people on the planet who can be this guy:
And that doesn't have the part where Dustin gets on Papi's case.
True. That said, he texted Cora last night to heckle him.
He could be an amazing boost to an already strong team; I kinda like this potential narratice.
In at least of a couple of those recent 5th place finishes, wasn't there much more of a hard pivot toward rebuilding in September, involving a purge and a ton of callups and playing time for the kids? It seemed like once they conceded the post-season in those years, there was a much more concerted effort than in previous decades to start looking toward next season, with a conscious sacrifice of meaningless late-season victories.
2012 (post-Punto trade) and 2014 (post-Lester/Lackey trades) for sure were such instances. In 2012 they didn't actually fall to last for good until mid-September but in 2014 they were in last well before the trade deadline.
Assuming full health for everyone (except the guys on the 60-day DL)? Tough call. Probably a better exercise if we wait until the end of the season and pit post-season 25-man rosters against each other.
I just learned that I actually do believe in magic in some form, because as soon as I read this I scoffed at the very idea that the 2004 Red Sox could be defeated by mortals wielding conventional tools.
Yeah, I think a good comparison point is a snapshot of where the team is on the final day, heading into the playoffs. Health (the ability to get through a season and keep playing) matters, if you're talking about GOAT.
I wouldn't. But if I had to, Sale is about the only modern era guy I'd go with not named Kershaw.
I know Johnson does from looking at his numbers recently. And Beeks was 0-1. Pomeranz has sucked, though I'm not sure what his record is. And I'd guess Kimbrel, due to lack of opportunity for wins.
Heh, I would take 2018 Chris Sale over 2004 Pedro any day. Pedro wasn't Pedro by that time.
I know Pomeranz has to be one. Beyond that I'd guess a bullpen guy who can rarely get a win, like Kimbrell, might be 0-1. Beeks for sure. Cuevas? Haley? I know that's 5 guesses but no one else is playing
I would argue the other way around. Aside from Betts and JDM (who have been objectively better players this season than Ortiz and Manny), most of the rest of the 2004 lineup beats out this one.
Eh, perhaps because they've already won first 3 against NY? Just push him back a few days, and it allows him to miss start in NL park.
Whenever it is it’ll be long after players on the 2004 and 2018 have already talked about them with their trainers.
They wouldn't have won 120 over the whole season, but once they got Cabrera to stabilize shortstop and Nixon got healthy (people forget Trot missed six weeks in July/August), they were a team with zero easy outs. Not one.
Pom 1-5
So those 4 guys have a record of 3-10. The rest of the staff is... 76-24. I mean, wow.
And the error was really not at all characteristic of Xander's game. He has mediocre range, but he's usually very solid on the balls he gets to. In fact, according to FG, that was the first non-throwing error he's made all year.
1. St Louis Cardinals 2005, Chris Carpenter, 21
I don't know how someone can watch these games and not give Mookie Betts credit for being such a personality. His on-field joy flat out dominates my screen when he is out there. Since last season, the entire Alpha Defense Outfield has seemed to have its own joyous personality that I have enjoyed, it reminds me of the Damon-Manny days, except with better actual defensive players in both positions.
The Brockstar reference makes me think of the Millar-Gomes post-career marketing plan. Being the goofy dugout personality on a good/great Red Sox team while being an good-but-not-great player who has an unknown number of years left has proven to be a good long-term move in the recent past.
