Sox upbeat

So, from what I can gather, the things we can do to rally the troops, let Paul Byrd be the calm reasonable voice, let Dustin Pedroia get everyone revved up, have Youk and Tek get that revved up focused and finally, try and get Kevin Millar to do the honors of throwing out the first pitch like Trot Nixon did last night and maybe enough of 2004 will be around.

Fire francona and hire the pitching coach so we can have a real manager instead of a cheerleader. Francona looks like the philadelphia manager he is now that he does not have the best team on field. No clue how to win without the best players , right tito moron

hawk i think it's time to jump off the bandwagon

will you please manage this team if you're so much better?

Hawk....those are such silly comments. The guy has brought us 2 World Championships in 4 yrs, after no other manager did that over the last 86...what a ridiculous comment. If you knew ANYTHING about the Sox, the key to them playing well over the last decade or so, is keeping it as loose as possible. They're all grown men and what do you want Francona to do? He treats them like men. John Farrell is an excellent pitching coach and suddenly he should be fired too? Did you ever stop to think that the Rays are just outplaying us right now? They're getting hot, while we're not? Do you recall last year when we ran off 7 in a row to win it all? Or 8 in a row in '04 to win it all?

....did you stop to think that maybe OTHER TEAMS can go on similar runs? Firing Francona or Farrell makes no sense what so ever after losing three games. Can they go out there and PITCH for the players? Or HIT for them? If you don't have faith, then so be it, but complaining and blaming never won anyone , anything. Maybe you should remember back to '03 and the 84 yrs before that when NO manager or pitching coach we had EVER won ANYTHING for you.

Yeah, let's trash Francona. Two championships after a century without one. And while we're at it, screw Big Papi! He's nothing without Manny, after all.

Hawk, you sound like a Yankees fan. We are not the Yankees. Are you sure you don't have a Derek Jeter poster pinned up in your closet?

Too many injuries, too many slumps, too much whinning.
The Rays slowly and steadily improved all year. We have been slowly and steadily falling apart all year. We did not beat the Angels, luck did. Sorry, see ya next year Boston. Congrats Tampa on your 08 WS Championship.

I don't believe in firing Francona. He manages the club well, but I draw a distinction between 'managing' on an everyday basis and the key personnel decisions that must be made once in a while. Like, for example, keeping Ortiz in the lineup. I think decisions like that should be made in conjunction with the front office, because with stuff like that what Tito needs is nothing less than an intervention.

Even decisions like leaving Beckett in, in game 2 - during the postseason, I would want decisions like that coming in conjunction with the people upstairs.You have to acknowledge that the postseason is special and has a somewhat different set of rules. (During the season, though, I'd tend to let Tito handle that stuff pretty much on his own.)

Look at the way Maddon, in the Ray's dugout, has gotten in the faces of his players during the season. That's something Tito can't bring himself to do, so those kinds of confrontations have to be handled differently.

It's all about recognizing weaknesses and addressing them. For that to happen on the field, it first has to happen in Red Sox management.

Shut up Hawk, speaking of managing, I'm surprised you managed to leave a comment on this blog. I didn't think idiots such as yourself were capable of such a thing. Tito / Sox bashers / bandwagoners, and displaced Rays fans all need to go away because your idiot comments are a bit too extreme.

anything to get the troops motivated, have them all take shots of alcohol like to '04 team, & work together to win it one game at a time!

Jax, Mike, Nomar.......I am a 55 yr old Vermont Native living in VA, went to first fenway game in 1962 against yanks. I hate the yankees as much as anyone of us and am so happy to have lived long enough to see a championship that my father did not see. I love the sox and travel to see them play HOWEVER don't believe for one second that the reason we have won recently so 100% due to the ownership and general manager. Francona is very poor strategically and that is that. To leave Beckett in when he is not 100% and getting line drives all over and only 4 pitches that were swung at and missed but tito says he wanted him to go 5 innings so he left him in is a Crime........we should have been up 2-0 with no pressure on us and all pressure on the Rays. That being said the Rays are a great story and whoever wins this series will kill philly / LA. Bet a million on the AL champs in the series

Is it just possible that managers, like players, go into slumps? I'm glad we didn't fire Pedroia on the 30th of April 2007. Oh I'm sorry the Red Sox fans, for the most part were quite willing to do just that. Someone else was a bit more level headed and if that person is now in a slump, well I'm sure that like Pedroia, he'll work his way out of it. Hell even Theo has made a couple of bad decisions and I'd like to see him stick around too!

the rays are a better team period..BE REALISTIC!
WE NEED TO REBUILD ,ORTIZ IS NOBODY WITHOUT MANNY ..EVEN A BLIND PERSON CAN SEE THAT !

Francona's record speaks for itself, however, he needs to sit Ortiz. Big Papi is not just in a slump, he is obviously hurt.

If any team knows how to rebound after 3 straight losses, and with their backs to the wall, it's the Sox. I believe they will do it, or go down swinging with an all out effort. Pitching and hitting, hitting and pitching, that's where they're losing. I'm a fan since the mid-1960s (Yaz' the man!) and followed the team thru good and bad, including in 2004 and 2007. I remember, and therefore, believe. This is my view from RedSoxNavajoNation in Arizona/New Mexico. In Navajo language, "yeigo lechee sox"! (go red sox!)

If there's any team that can pull this off its our boys.And if the ship sinks we'll hoist our glasses and go down with 'em
Rhyno Stinchfield
Red Sox Nation
Montana

An Interesting Quote" Ortiz Said" i see people faces changes ,,yeah david ,you was talking about the reflection on the mirror when you look at yourself ,without manny...we`re the clutch go! pitcherz dont respect you no more,THEY GOT YOUR NUMBER!BUDDY ,NO MANNY NO PAPI..SAD BUT TRUE! THATS BASEBALL..Is not o4 or o7 ..is a young hot team ,beating a squad that was already beat! since that last week of the season.beckett is not the same,pedriora got cold at the wrong time,ortis was a ghost,lester was due for a bad game(wrong timing) and the bullpen was exposed..BIG TIME// WAKEFIELD NEEDS TO GO! A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIMER MONEYsERIOUSLY..HE
P.S: WAKEFIELD NEEDS TO GO

I wouldn't say the Rays are better...they are just PLAYING better right now. In both of our previous WS runs, we got hot, and won 8 in a row, 7 in a row respectively...the Rays are hot right now, where as we're not. Papi struggling right now can't be pinned down to one reason. Sure, he misses Manny, but he's still seeing the same pitches by the same guys. Wise up and don't blame Manny leaving for his woes. It's time to get over Manny. REBUILDING? Are you insane? Half of our team is young guys we've brought up in the last few years haha...sometimes I wonder what game people like you are watching. It's called, the Rays are playing better than us right now. End of.

All things considered, with the hurdles that the Red Sox have encountered this season, they are fortunate to have made it this far down the road. A huge amount of this years success is directly attributed to the ranks brought up from the minors who rose to the occasion and kept the Sox in it till the end. Jason Bay is another who came into a situation that most would have faltered and responded more than anyone could expect him to. A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL! I would love nothing more than to see the Sox rebound on this Rays team (and still hold hope that can happen......all it takes is one game at a time), but if not, I can't think of a team more deserving to move on than Tampa Bay and would tip my hat to them for their success.

sOXJOURNALIST...if your typing wasn't worse than your evaluation of the Red Sox , I'd give you a second thought. Picking out the things going wrong with the Sox right now, doesn't make you smart, it makes you an armchair quarterback, not that you'd know what that means anyways. Everyone can see the glaring inadequacies right now, but this stuff happens in baseball. They're hot, we're not. You say we were done after the season, but who whupped the BEST team supposedly in baseball in the ALDS? That's American League Divisional Series. Stop trying to be smart , and learn to type instead.

We need Manny Ramirez back, hitting a lot of home runs for and ungratefull team

Don't know if you all have seen the espn story about Ortiz wearing a "Got Manny?" T-shirt after the game like the "Got Milk?" shirt....he also seems to want everyone to believe it's not him folding up in clutch situations. he says he's only been up 4 times with RISP, while it's actually 7 in the series. Would be nice if Ortiz would be a man and stop deflecting the blame on others when he is batting 3rd and performing as bad as one can do. If Papi would come through a bit more, the Sox may actually win the series. Bay and Youkilis are doing what they are suppose to do. If Papi keeps blaming his lousy playoffs on Manny being gone, he should join him. Time to go after Mark Teixiera. go after Mark Teixiera.Big Papi is not the same hitter anymore and won't admit his his ineptness.

Hey we are playing with house money as no one expected the red sox to beat the angels and they did. they do need one more starter next year and a bigger bat like texiera to bat after papi...time will tell but i like their chances if they get to beckett and lester as I have a feeling ......

Everybody chill. We are capable of three strong outings from the next three starters. Its one game at a time and srew Manny.

Let me see: When the Sox came back in 2007, gosh, the last two games were at Fenway, not on the road. In the Trop. Where the Rays had the best home record in the league.

Too bad, so sad.

Even if the Rays somehow win a fourth straight game, they are not the better team. We have a lot more injured/ailing players, and there's no way Upton is going to hit another homer in this series.

Well people that want Tex to come to the Sox, that's NOT going to happen understand? Lowell is locked in to a 3 yr deal, 2 of which he still will need to complete....and Youk is a gold glove first basemen...so you should stop even thinking about it right now. As for rumors of Papi's demise, they are premature. The guy got hurt, and is obviously not the same guy this year as he's been in the past. One reason could be age. Believe it or not, he WILL decline at some point. I think he's still feeling the effects, mental or physical from his injury this year. But it'll be interesting to see what he's like next season at full health. Bay will be batting 4th next year, and that'll help to insure Papi.

The sox have been dominated these past 2 games. BUT if anyone can comeback its the sox. I know the 'one game at a time" line is a cliche, but in baseball it is even more true, where momentum swings day to day. I beleive well win with dice k. (dice k not attacking the zone should be very effective against this very hot rays lineup, when your hot you dont want to walk you want to swing the bat so look for dice k to do well). We win game 5 and now all the pressure is back on the rays who will not want to see a game 7, in game 6 id move up lester who i believe would still be on normal rest. And if we are able to go to 7 pitch beck. The off day today should help cool of the rays hot bats too. GO SOX, till the last out.

I'd like to point out his screen name, "raysseasonticketholder"....is that since this year? Because, even with the best home record in the league, and even though the last 10 yrs, you've been in the bottom 3 in home attendance, this year, with your amazing record, you were STILL in the bottom 5 in the league in attendance, so I wonder how long you've been one of the 10 people with season tickets? Rays fans are ignorant, you've suffered SO long you think....10 yrs....try nearly 100. Maybe the key to your success isn't pitching or hitting or defense, it's sucking for 10 straight years in order to get all the top picks in the draft and then be good ONE year...the Marlins set the blueprint for success long before the Rays tried to.

Maddon's pitching decision was a total non-event.
He's got 3 to win one. If Kazmir can find his groove and sneak out of Fenway with the win and the Championship - he'll be stoked for the WS. If not, well the Rays weren't supposed to SWEEP the Red Sox in Fenway!
Remember, even though Kaz had a bad last outing, the Rays still won that game.
As a fan from the beginning, it is really exciting to say that the Rays are headed to the World Series! Almost too good to be true - but catching the Bosox on a serious downswing is just typical of the Rays season this year - forget about the '69 Mets - the 2008 Rays are truly AMAZING!

It's amazing how many people are ready to throw Tito, Papi, Wakefield, the Sox under the bus, just because we're down 3-1 against a very talented and hot team. Remember, with injuries and significant time lost to Beckett, Lowell, Drew and Big Papi, not to mention the exodus of the Manny, this team still won 95 games this year. We have guys like Pedroia, Lowrie, Elsbury who are all under the age of 25. Beckett, Lester and Dice-K are all under 30 and capable of being aces of pitching staff that could have 3 guys next year with 20+ wins. And with Masterson as the reliable set-up man, the Sox are in very good standing for next year. There is no rebuilding necessary... we are in now way as bad shape as the Yankees, but the Rays are the team to beat. i don't believe we have anough this year to come back from 3-1,... but have faith in Tito and the upper management. they know what they are doing. Not every decision is going to be the right one, but they've made a whole lot more right dedecisions in the past 4 years than wrong ones.

Hey RaysSeasonTicketHolder . . . . it's amazing how one good season after being a joke for the past 10 can make you so obnoxious. If and when the Rays are ever at the bottom again, I can guarantee you won't be so brazen. Let's hope the Sox are as better at coming back tomorrow than you are at sarcasm.

Fire Francona....................
farrell is better than coma.....

It's been a fun ride, but this is not a championship line-up we're bringing to the diamond every day. Mediocre or green shortstops, mediocre or green center fielders. this is not the stuff of World Series achievement. As these folks age, the team will seem more beefy to me. The Rays have a date with Destiny. There's always next year.

Maybe since the Rays are going to the World Series after tomorrow, they wouldn't mind putting on a hitting clinic for the soggy noodle bats of the pathetic Red Sox. You know, just an hour of tips and tricks on how to hit a baseball in the major leagues. Could do the hometown heroes some good.

Wow. The Rays could win the ALCS. Then, like the Marlins, they will lose their hot players and go back to being irrelevant bottom dwellers of the AL East.

T

Manny is going down with the Dodgers. So much for him bringing them a title. Sox are better off without MANNY THE MALINGERER AROUND. who wants somebody on the team who is so selfish and only cares for himself. Good ridence Manny.

RaysSeason TicketHolder,
The last two in 04 were at Yankee Stadium. Rays are on a un but it's not over yet.
I agree with Rhyno. Best effort going forward. Let's get this thing to Tampa and see what happens. If not this tear, a few tweaks in the off season and The Sox will be the best team in baseball next year! Can you say Mark Tiexiera?

Have any of you compared Bay and Ramirez's playoff stats?? Pretty close to equal offensively and Bay is faster and better defensively. With or without Manny, the Sox would be down 3-1 to Tampa... If they go on to lose a 6 or 7 game series, in my opinion the series was lost in game 2... momentum shifted. That's why people are so upset at Francona. He lost that game, no one else... Not even Beckett, b/c all he was doing was listening to Tito's orders.

FIrst, I think Bob Ryan was right when he said that this year we are playing with the house's money. We did take the Angels in 3 games. And the ALCS has always been the toughest series. Lowell's out, Beckett's hurt, BIg Papi, Ellsbury and Varitek haven't been hitting. The last 2 games are in Tampa. Sounds like we got 'em just where we want 'em. Time for a 7 game winning streak.

Wheather we win or lose this series with Tampa Bay, the Sox Nation can hold their heads high, and say once again say thank you to management for fielding a great team. When you consider the injuries to Ortiz, Lowell, Schilling, Drew, Beckett, Logo, is it any wonder we even made the playoffs. What I see are too many "baseball fans" that don't know what they are talking about. We have the best fan base in baseball, and have had it for years, like selling out games when the sox were a second division team. Come on Sox fans, stop bashing management for our present situation, and as for Manny Ramierz, I say good ridance. At least now we have 9 players who are trying. I will never forget his at bat in the yankee series, when he stood at home plate and without any intent to take the bat off his shoulder let Marino Rivera throw 3 strikes past him. He went into the tank, and that is a slap in the face to the fans, his fellow players, management, and worst of all to the game of baseball. So if you want to take a shot at anyone, you know now who I feel deserves that.

Just calm down and lets see what happens tomorrow. We have to have FAITH!!!!!

RaysSeasonTicketHolder

You must be a novelty in St. Pete. Not only a Rays fan but actually a season ticket holder. Wow! You are truly ONE of a kind.

rays fan- when the sox came back in 04 games 6 and 7 were in yankee stadium. don't let the sox win on thursday. you never know what would happen after that.

Will everyone please remember NOT to be a pre-2004 fan......The best team doesn't always win, just the hottest....Rays are smokin' right now, the ball looks like a balloon.......we are going with Lowrie, Kotsay, moving Youk around, Elsbury (STILL a rook). This is NOT last year's team, no one is scared of the present line-up. Every aspect of this years team, from bullpen on down, is not as talented...

The Rays are not some lucky team and the Sox are not the Sox of last year. It's all about the pitching and Boston doesn't have it this year. Lester was due for a stinker and possibly is exhausted after 230 innings and Beckett hasn't been himself all year. I'm not sure about Ortiz, but he could be headed for the decline that many experts predicted for a man of his size and girth. I'm not done believing, but if the Rays win it all, I won't be surprised or depressed. You can't win 'em all!

KEEP THE FAITH- RED SOX FAITHFUL-- NO ONE HAS WON FOUR GAMES YET!!
RAYS FANS, ALL THREE OF YOU, I WOULD ECHO A PREVIOUS COMMENT THAT IT'S ABOUT TIME THE RAYS HAVE MADE THE FINAL FOUR WITH ALL OF THE STOCKPILING OF #1 DRAFT PICKS THE LAST 9 YEARS.

LET'S ROLL THE DICE --- K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ONE W AT A TIME, BABY

The '08 Rays are just a flash-in-the-pan. Yes, the Rays will have a couple of long-term stars like Longoria and Upton, but what will happen when other teams offer big contracts to future free agents? It'll be "see ya Shields, Garza, Iwamura, Crawford..." there's no way, with the sorry state of that market, that Rays management can hold that team together. They've been on quite a run, but with the bandwagon nature of their fan-base, revenues will never allow them to compete year-after-year. I see the '98 and '99 Marlins in the Rays crystal ball.

As for our Sox, with whatever happens, I've seen the team display a lot of courage this year, standing up to an egomaniacal teammate, playing with guts and heart, and playing hurt (Mike Lowell). Nine years out of ten the Sox would win the division, not the Rays. So this year was that one year. But the young guys will learn from this (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Lowrie, etc.) Better days are ahead!

Enough with the Manny saga..his team is getting eliminated as I write this

I hear a fan was riding Evan Longoria pretty hard. How surprising given the general attitude of Boston loudmouth fans. Anyhow, you can keep shooting your mouths off because you're going to be out of business soon. Boston's fan base is a disgraceful bunch of obnoxious drunks who spend most of the game staring at a urinal. For these guys a twelve pack of Narragansett tall boys is about as good as it gets. Enjoy your winter losers! Now you can go back to being just racists and alcoholics.

Hey John from Maine...Sox cant win because of green or mediocre center fielder and SS...Ellsbury & Lowrie.....Sox won it all last year with Ells in center & Lugo at SS...So thats a mediocre and green center fielder and a "seasoned" BUM at SS
Guess we should repeat?

Its IDIOTS like Hawk that make it embarrassing to be associated with as a Red Sox fan..... Its obvious beyond comprehension your level of baseball knowledge, sorry if the words are too big for you....
Why not take your like minded idiot friend and go follow soccer????????????
Its real simple people...If the Rays win, its because they are the better team---nothing more, nothing less.....keep the faith