OK, I admit.  I react strongly to early season stuff, even spring training stuff. 

Yesterday I looked at the AL team stats and saw the Sox have the lowest ERA in the AL,  but also one of the lowest team OPS's.  So back of the envelope is--no hit, good pitch.  Pretty normal for spring training except the good pitching.  Four starters--Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, and Doubront--have good to very good ERA's so far.  OVerall, not bad. 

Then I monitor today's Orioles game--you know, a pretty good team these days and one that has owned the Sox.  Both teams with real starters and real lineups because April is less than two weeks away.  What happens?  Dempster the $14M/year acquisition gets pounded in the 3d inning for three runs.  And in the bottom of the 3d the Sox have men on 1st and 3d with one man out and the #2 (Victorino) and #3 (Pedroia) coming up against Matusz.  Vic pops up, and Dustin strikes out.  Methinks a harbinger. 

By all means, tell me to go pound sand. 

OK, I admit.  I react strongly to early season stuff, even spring training stuff. 

Yesterday I looked at the AL team stats and saw the Sox have the lowest ERA in the AL,  but also one of the lowest team OPS's.  So back of the envelope is--no hit, good pitch.  Pretty normal for spring training except the good pitching.  Four starters--Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, and Doubront--have good to very good ERA's so far.  OVerall, not bad. 

Then I monitor today's Orioles game--you know, a pretty good team these days and one that has owned the Sox.  Both teams with real starters and real lineups because April is less than two weeks away.  What happens?  Dempster the $14M/year acquisition gets pounded in the 3d inning for three runs.  And in the bottom of the 3d the Sox have men on 1st and 3d with one man out and the #2 (Victorino) and #3 (Pedroia) coming up against Matusz.  Vic pops up, and Dustin strikes out.  Methinks a harbinger. 

By all means, tell me to go pound sand. 

OK, I admit.  I react strongly to early season stuff, even spring training stuff. 

Yesterday I looked at the AL team stats and saw the Sox have the lowest ERA in the AL,  but also one of the lowest team OPS's.  So back of the envelope is--no hit, good pitch.  Pretty normal for spring training except the good pitching.  Four starters--Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, and Doubront--have good to very good ERA's so far.  OVerall, not bad. 

Then I monitor today's Orioles game--you know, a pretty good team these days and one that has owned the Sox.  Both teams with real starters and real lineups because April is less than two weeks away.  What happens?  Dempster the $14M/year acquisition gets pounded in the 3d inning for three runs.  And in the bottom of the 3d the Sox have men on 1st and 3d with one man out and the #2 (Victorino) and #3 (Pedroia) coming up against Matusz.  Vic pops up, and Dustin strikes out.  Methinks a harbinger. 

By all means, tell me to go pound sand. 

I'm still trying to figure out if max is being sarcastic or not.

So we're talking about two ABs and one IP.  How do you people make it through the day without heart attacks?  This is like saying the train is not here, and it was due a minute ago.  What if the train is never showing up again.  I'll have to get a new job and move.  And if I get a new job, and don't insurance immediately, and if I get sick, I'll go bankrupt and have to live in the streets.

Maybe Pedey will get a hit tomorrow and you can go buy WS tickets.

In response to maxbialystock's comment:

OK, I admit.  I react strongly to early season stuff, even spring training stuff. 

Yesterday I looked at the AL team stats and saw the Sox have the lowest ERA in the AL,  but also one of the lowest team OPS's.  So back of the envelope is--no hit, good pitch.  Pretty normal for spring training except the good pitching.  Four starters--Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, and Doubront--have good to very good ERA's so far.  OVerall, not bad. 

Then I monitor today's Orioles game--you know, a pretty good team these days and one that has owned the Sox.  Both teams with real starters and real lineups because April is less than two weeks away.  What happens?  Dempster the $14M/year acquisition gets pounded in the 3d inning for three runs.  And in the bottom of the 3d the Sox have men on 1st and 3d with one man out and the #2 (Victorino) and #3 (Pedroia) coming up against Matusz.  Vic pops up, and Dustin strikes out.  Methinks a harbinger. 

By all means, tell me to go pound sand. 

The problem with this post is you make it sound like Dempster had a lousy outing. He gave up the three runs in the third inning, but that was it. He bounced back in the fourth and fifth and had thrown just 73 pitches, meaning he could have pitched another inning or two had it been the regular season. It's ridiculous to think that a pitcher won't ever have a bad inning. It's more important how they bounce back after the bad inning.

 And you failed to mention how the Sox rallied to tie the score.

And as for Bard, while I'm not necessarily optimistic of him bouncing back, from what I heard, a callous broke on his pitching hand at the start of his outing, so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt for this outing.

It's fine if you're going to point out the negatives, but at least tell the full story.

In response to royf19's comment:

In response to maxbialystock's comment:

OK, I admit.  I react strongly to early season stuff, even spring training stuff. 

Yesterday I looked at the AL team stats and saw the Sox have the lowest ERA in the AL,  but also one of the lowest team OPS's.  So back of the envelope is--no hit, good pitch.  Pretty normal for spring training except the good pitching.  Four starters--Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, and Doubront--have good to very good ERA's so far.  OVerall, not bad. 

Then I monitor today's Orioles game--you know, a pretty good team these days and one that has owned the Sox.  Both teams with real starters and real lineups because April is less than two weeks away.  What happens?  Dempster the $14M/year acquisition gets pounded in the 3d inning for three runs.  And in the bottom of the 3d the Sox have men on 1st and 3d with one man out and the #2 (Victorino) and #3 (Pedroia) coming up against Matusz.  Vic pops up, and Dustin strikes out.  Methinks a harbinger. 

By all means, tell me to go pound sand. 

The problem with this post is you make it sound like Dempster had a lousy outing. He gave up the three runs in the third inning, but that was it. He bounced back in the fourth and fifth and had thrown just 73 pitches, meaning he could have pitched another inning or two had it been the regular season. It's ridiculous to think that a pitcher won't ever have a bad inning. It's more important how they bounce back after the bad inning.

 And you failed to mention how the Sox rallied to tie the score.

And as for Bard, while I'm not necessarily optimistic of him bouncing back, from what I heard, a callous broke on his pitching hand at the start of his outing, so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt for this outing.

It's fine if you're going to point out the negatives, but at least tell the full story.

Thanks for the full story.  True, Dempster did bounce back, which he himself noted after the game. 

I discount the late rally because those runs came from guys who aren't going to be on the 25 man roster when the season starts.

Good point about Bard's callous, etc, which I was unaware of when I posted. 

I really have no defense for the OP other than being pessimistic about the season. 

I can't resist dragging this back up because I really liked last night's win and today's loss.  Last night Lackey pitched well and I watched in lieu of march madness, and today Aceves also pitched well.  Both starts were against bonafide lineups.  So a little sunshine amidst the gloom and doom.  I still think the lineup stinks, but definitely hope I'm wrong about that. 

Meanwhile, Peter Abraham and others have pointed out that my gloom and doom is reflected in ticket sales (or lack thereof) by the Sox faithful and declining viewership on NESN. 

The Sox have had 10-20 years of a renaissance---playing competitive ball just about every year--but I go back to 1949 and following when that didn't happen very often.  I had an uncle who was a Sox fan for over 70 years but did not live to see the 2004 WS title, so I come by pessimism honestly. 

OK, I admit.  I react strongly to early season stuff, even spring training stuff. 

Yesterday I looked at the AL team stats and saw the Sox have the lowest ERA in the AL,  but also one of the lowest team OPS's.  So back of the envelope is--no hit, good pitch.  Pretty normal for spring training except the good pitching.  Four starters--Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, and Doubront--have good to very good ERA's so far.  OVerall, not bad. 

Then I monitor today's Orioles game--you know, a pretty good team these days and one that has owned the Sox.  Both teams with real starters and real lineups because April is less than two weeks away.  What happens?  Dempster the $14M/year acquisition gets pounded in the 3d inning for three runs.  And in the bottom of the 3d the Sox have men on 1st and 3d with one man out and the #2 (Victorino) and #3 (Pedroia) coming up against Matusz.  Vic pops up, and Dustin strikes out.  Methinks a harbinger. 

By all means, tell me to go pound sand. 

I can't resist dragging this back up because I really liked last night's win and today's loss.  Last night Lackey pitched well and I watched in lieu of march madness, and today Aceves also pitched well.  Both starts were against bonafide lineups.  So a little sunshine amidst the gloom and doom.  I still think the lineup stinks, but definitely hope I'm wrong about that. 

Meanwhile, Peter Abraham and others have pointed out that my gloom and doom is reflected in ticket sales (or lack thereof) by the Sox faithful and declining viewership on NESN. 

The Sox have had 10-20 years of a renaissance---playing competitive ball just about every year--but I go back to 1949 and following when that didn't happen very often.  I had an uncle who was a Sox fan for over 70 years but did not live to see the 2004 WS title, so I come by pessimism honestly.