Talk about a June swoon. We can't think of two worse back-to-back losses than the ones the Red Sox suffered Tuesday and Wednesday nights, simply dreadful. Terry Francona seems to be making all the wrong decisions and players are fielding like they've got "Chico's Bail Bonds" ironed on the back of their jerseys.

To make matters worse, these losses were to the Yankees, and dropped Boston 7½ games behind New York in the AL East, the largest deficit since Grady Little's crew fell that low last August.

Things don't appear to be getting any better, either. The Sox were 11-14 in the month of June, and may have lost setup man Scott Williamson with an elbow injury Wednesday night.

The doctor isn't in, but feel free to sit on our couch and vent your feelings on the Sox. Can they turn this around? How? What are they doing wrong? Is this Francona's fault, or does the blame lie higher up the chain with Theo and the Trio? Or are the players to blame? Trade Nomar? Acquire a first baseman? Bring back Grady? It's open season ...

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Time for a TRADE. We were doing ok till Nomar showed up. It's time to trade him. We should be able to get a very good 5th starter for him. Pokey, Belhorn combo was doing just fine. That's what I think.

Michael , Enfield, Ct.

67 errors in 76 games , 2 & 29 record after trailing after 7 innings , forget about Cowboy Up , How about "Men without Gloves" , I'd be very concered about Tampa Bay right now never mind catching the Yankees.....

tim , fan from Maine , gray,maine

Sit Millar, I'd rather see McCarthy at first base, at least he can field. Garciaparra has to grow up and start playing like he cares, stop pouting. I don't know what it takes to straighten Lowe out, a real head case. Does not look good at all

jack, franklin

I was not surprised to see that Tito got a D- on his last weekly evaluation in the Globe. He deserves it. I think it would be tough to coach in Boston, where the fan base is as knowledgeable as they are. I think the part that the writers are missing is not the late inning pitching decisions or the whacky lineups in major games. I think he fails to create a momentum for the players in his ultra conservative game plan. Let's face it, the Red Sox team we have on the field is a bunch of streaky emotional players, and they need to open it up a bit or they will not create enough momentum to make the play-offs. The good news is that they seem to play well as a team unit, but the bad news is that the strategy does not fit the personnel. If you look at Mike Scioscia, you will see that he takes risks that do not always make sense. At the same time, the cycles that the players go through are much shorter. In many cases, the Angels hitters get the opportunity to break out of a slump through the momentum of the game that he calls. I never played baseball, but I would guess that batting with a man on first and two outs down by a run is very difficult when you are in a slump. Sure, if you hit a home run, it may be enough to break the streak, but short of that the slump intensifies. If Tito sends the runner and he gets thrown out at second, he actually takes pressure off the slumping hitter. If the runner makes it to second, you have a chance to bring him home. I think it is too easy to say that Tito is too conservative to win. I think the important point is that he is the wrong manager for this particular team. With 2005's team such a matter of question as to its composition, it would make sense to make a coaching change now, and recognize that a mistake was made. On a team that has brought in some great players (Ortiz, Schilling, Pokey etc) it would not be too hard to admit that they made one mistake. I am not one of those fans that thinks that a coaching change needs to follow every loss. Grady Little will be never be accused of being the smartest manager the Red Sox ever had, but at least he seemed to understand the players that were on the team. Tito seems to be managing a team without any regard to the specific players, and I think that is a recipe for an early end to the 2004 campaign.

Henry , Park City, UT

PEOPLE!!! Let's not forget who has made the decisions that are killing us right now. . .Who hired Terry??? Who passed on Vladimir Guerrero and rested our hopes on the likes of Kevin Millar and Mark Bellhorn??? Who signed Byung-Hyung Kim to a ridiculous $10,000,000.00 contract AFTER he flipped of the faithful??? Who signed Ramiro Mendoza??? The wonder-kid isn't looking so wonderful anymore. . .The annoyingly ever-optimistic attitude is what THEO wanted. . .he hired Terry. Remember what a GREAT impression he made on Theo and the Trio??? MANY MANY people who covered the Phillies said that this is EXACTLY what Terry was like and that Boston fans and the media would hate him. . .they couldn't have been more right. I hope Theo and the Trio are happy. . .

J.C., Plymouth

Being a Red Sox fan in New York is tough. I think frustrating is the perfect word to describe last night's game... but let's keep things in perspective. The Yankees are currently riding a hot streak, but look at their starting pitching. They too will have slumps, and we will make up some ground before this is over. It's only July 1st. Let's remember we have Schilling, Foulke, Pedro, Manny, Ortiz, Wakefield, Pokey (a human high-light reel), Varitek, and yes, Nomar (I refuse to believe a player can lose his skills that quickly). These guys are worth the price of admission alone. Let's just get the slumps and errors over with now. Once we get to the playoffs all bets are off.

Brad , Brooklyn, New York (formerly of Leominster)

The problem with the Sox is that they do not play fundamental baseball. A team (all players) are on their toes in the field, in the dugout and in the bullpen when a team plays as a team. Offensively: hit & run, bunting when the situation calls for it. Stealing bases and etc. Everyone is on their toes and anticipating and in the game when fundamental baseball is played. I do not know who is calling the game the Sox are playing, but they have a potent lineup, some very fast players, sound baseball people. The way they are playing is reminicent of my high school team when we looked to two guys to carry us and looked for someone on the other team to do something wrong. Maybe it is the guy who has all the stats. Someone ought to tell him that the game is played by humans and stats are just that....figures.

Leo , Billerica Mass

When are the Patriots getting into camp????? This is just plain sad. They are in a real race for the wild card and they looked tired and bored. A team that has won more than it has lost recently (Tampa Bay) is breathing down their neck and my feeling is will past them before the end of next week. Moneyball is a scam, and Theo needs to be held accountable. Kim $5million a year, Trot $5 million a year, Tito is all smiles, Mendoza has he ever pitched for the sox or is he just cashing checks????? Millar, Bellhorn, Youk, McCarty, Kapler WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Don't we have a payroll of $150 million??? Hey Theo, that trade for Kim seems great right about now eh??? Glad you don't have a young cheap 3rd baseman on your team...Oh yeah, Glad to see Todd Walker is hitting .300 for the Cubs.... So about those patriots... Dave

dave, nahant

The Sox should beg for Pete Rose to be reinstated and hire him as the Manager!!!!

Sean , Lynn

I would like to say it is still too early but it really hurts losing like this to the Yankees, no matter when it happens. I'm sure the sox will rebound but this really feels bad. I will always be a fan of the red sox no matter what but after having such a good season last year this burns.

Duane , Denver Colorado