while this is a benign post, you are an absolute MORON to even insinuate that Kotsay was a "patient" hitter.
Did you watch any of the Sox games? AT ALL?
Mark Kotsay, aka "Sir Hacksalot" was swinging at first pitches before he even got in the batters box...............wow.
Yes he had a few important hits(while batting a whopping .200ish for the Sox) but "Patient"? Sorry man, morons like you shouldn't even have a job delivering papers, let alone writing for one............

All the crying about Giles was pretty shallow and cold, to be honest. The guy built no-trade protection into his contract and then used it. I fail to see what is wrong with that. He did it for more than respectable reasons, too. Good on him.

Good for him. I would have vetoed it too.

" Kotsay, like Giles a patient, lefthanded hitting outfielder"....

Kotsay swung at the first pitch at least 60-70% of the time it seemed like. He also manged to have zero base on balls the entire postseason. How is that even possible? Guy is the least patient hitter we've had since Nomar. He destroyed us in the playoffs. Missing Lowells bat proved to be the one injury that was too insurmountable.

When you hat tip someone, you shoot them a link, not just a shout, in the politest of society.

Thanks for the interesting tidbit, Chad -- and, by the way, it was great to see your insightful and half deranged sense of humor back again, in the TATB pieces on (imaginary) exit interviews and the 2009 Bill James predictions for various Sox. Comments on the Krasovic link suggest that Padre fans weren't thrilled to lay out 9 million for Giles in '09, especially while the team shops its ace pitcher.

Recalling the Giles episode offers a peek back into some of the lesser nooks and crannies of a Sox season whose main story arc was stout resilience, to force a seven game ALCS, following the rash of injuries and the Scratch 'n' Sniff opera of Manny leaving. Our sudden lunge for Giles struck me as weak at the time, as if Theo had gotten another 'hot foot' from the Tampa Rays, reported to have gone after Giles, too. I imagined Theo blushing the next day, had we gotten Giles, as the Media notes, in famous Duquette like tones, we 'had replaced Manny's OBP,' and maybe chuckled about replacing Manny's age and foot speed as well.

As it turned out, Giles might have given Tampa a stabilizing veteran presence, and a model for plate patience, especially against a Phillies team he had faced many times. Also as it turned out, he might helped OUR shortened lineup AGAINST the Rays, by creating baserunners, and by setting a tone with 7 and 8 pitch at bats to get the Rays starters out of the game. An even bigger 'What if' possibility: Picking him up might have resuffled the deck and perked up the energy when it came to staffing the rest of the playoff roster -- maybe our weakest, most lifeless stretch of management performance in an otherwise strong year for the Sox brass.

We had light hitting catchers on the playoff roster as far as the eye could see. Maybe we were caught looking ahead to the Tek wars with Boras. But Ross had managed one single and an OBP of .125 in limited at bats with us. How does he take a roster spot from.... Chris Carter, who had a rash of singles for an OBP three times that? Carter can sub at three OF positions and 1st, and is way more athletic than ... Sean Casey, also deserving. But if Tito won't play him because he is too unathletic, why is he on the roster over... Jeff Bailey, who was League MVP at Pawtucket, and in 50 AB over a long call up had an OBP of .390, fourth on the team, and OPS of .850 -- below Pedroia and Papi, but ahead of Lowell, all three shortstops, catchers, CFs and bench players, and .220 ahead of... Mark Kotsay, a nice piece of 'veteran insurance' when picked up in August. He proved to be that and a fave of Mr. Henry, too. But after hitting .236 with no walks or power for us, and career playoff numbers at the Mendoza line, how did he morph into everyday playoff regular at 1B? Well, given the roster... what were the other choices.

A small area with room for improvement should not tak anything away from the long view of the season, the many crippling injuries, or the many positives. Not at all. But it is also part of the long view that, four times in six years, it has come down to an ALCS dogfighit, settled by an eyelash. The last spots on the playoff roster, the bench players like Dave Roberts, often count for an eyelash and then some. For a story that seemed tiny, and evaporated into sniffing about a beach creature too chilled out to come East and try for a ring... it is interesting to wonder about Giles, what his bat might have added, and whether getting him might have had trickle down effects on selecting the other role players for the playoffs.

Kevin