Mecca
Wade Wilson
Posts: 25,046
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Post by Mecca on Feb 11, 2020 13:01:49 GMT -5
Believe me, I'm the same way with Red Sox management. The Red Sox have won four World Series in 16 years, but that does not make the ownership group immune to criticism when they made decisions that range from tone-deaf to bone-headed to actually malevolent. On the one hand, they invested enough money into Fenway Park to save it and restore it as the jewel of professional sporting venues. But what they did was essentially what Jon Taffer does on "Bar Rescue." He comes in, sees a smelly, old, dirty dive bar and cleans it up. But along the way, he also completely sterilizes it and homogenizes it so that its natural charm or character is lost under all those bright lights and loud colors and corporate ambiance. And that's what Red Sox ownership did. Sure, you don't stick to the floor at Fenway Park anymore and the feeling that you might caught up in a brawl is long gone, but in the process, they've transformed Fenway Park into a place to see and be seen rather than watch the game. It's place to tag yourself on Instagram rather than watch the local nine. They hired Terry Francona. It was the smart decision, it was the right decision in the aftermath of the Grady Little blunder, and he was the steady hand at the helm for two world champions. But they also catered to out-of-control, literally fat and happy millionaires in 2010 and 2011 and totally undermined Francona. Then, in what cannot ever be forgiven, they absolutely smeared Francona with one of the most shameless hit pieces in local sports history. They then somehow thought Bobby Valentine would be the right guy for the organization, when everyone with a functioning brain outside of Yawkey Way knew it was going to be a disaster. They seem so focused on milking every last penny out of Red Sox fans - exorbitant ticket prices, pink hats, commemorative bricks - when really all the fans want is a good on-field product. And Red Sox fans as a whole are smart enough to call bulls**t when they see it, but ownership thinks we're still the same dumb yokels who just wanted a championship and we'd be content. Ownership put the wheels in motion for such a product most years, but there have been other years where the bottom line has clearly been more important to them than the box score, and we're going to see that night in and night out in 2020. The part about Fenway that makes it tough is that seating is mildly uncomfortable at best, and at worse, leaves you in actual pain by the time the 6th inning rolls around. When you factor in that your average game is somewhere in the 3 and a half to four hour range, it's a tough sell Ok now don't take this the wrong way, but a lot of what you're saying is why other sports fans have issues with Boston. The city has won how many titles in a 20 year span? Lets see....6 SB's, 4 WS, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 NBA title. That is kinda crazy to be honest and for the most part ( not saying you just to be clear) a lot of fans from that area act like they are entitled to win something every year. Matter of fact a lot of fans from that area look a bit scared because the Red Sox are punting their season and well the Patriots dynasty is on it's last legs.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Feb 11, 2020 13:05:44 GMT -5
The part about Fenway that makes it tough is that seating is mildly uncomfortable at best, and at worse, leaves you in actual pain by the time the 6th inning rolls around. When you factor in that your average game is somewhere in the 3 and a half to four hour range, it's a tough sell Ok now don't take this the wrong way, but a lot of what you're saying is why other sports fans have issues with Boston. The city has won how many titles in a 20 year span? Lets see....6 SB's, 4 WS, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 NBA title. That is kinda crazy to be honest and for the most part ( not saying you just to be clear) a lot of fans from that area act like they are entitled to win something every year. Matter of fact a lot of fans from that area look a bit scared because the Red Sox are punting their season and well the Patriots dynasty is on it's last legs. There is literally a generation of Boston fans who does not know what it is like to lose
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Mecca
Wade Wilson
Posts: 25,046
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Post by Mecca on Feb 11, 2020 13:11:27 GMT -5
Ok now don't take this the wrong way, but a lot of what you're saying is why other sports fans have issues with Boston. The city has won how many titles in a 20 year span? Lets see....6 SB's, 4 WS, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 NBA title. That is kinda crazy to be honest and for the most part ( not saying you just to be clear) a lot of fans from that area act like they are entitled to win something every year. Matter of fact a lot of fans from that area look a bit scared because the Red Sox are punting their season and well the Patriots dynasty is on it's last legs. There is literally a generation of Boston fans who does not know what it is like to lose I never thought about it that way, but that is a good point. I honestly always kind of wondered why so many fans from that area lose their shit over nothing.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Feb 11, 2020 13:26:53 GMT -5
There is literally a generation of Boston fans who does not know what it is like to lose I never thought about it that way, but that is a good point. I honestly always kind of wondered why so many fans from that area lose their shit over nothing. It is a weird thing and one you can't really duplicate where almost all your teams are clicking for years Like for me it is two tales of the coin, as a Yankee fan i've gotten to see a few championships and witness good teams. As a Knicks fan, that shit is slim
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BRV
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants him some Taco Flavored Kisses.
Posts: 16,882
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Post by BRV on Feb 11, 2020 16:04:26 GMT -5
So how long into the season until the Sox have like the best record in baseball and all the fans crying foul start going "Mookie Who?" Believe me, as a Red Sox fan, I want nothing more than for the Red Sox to be good this season, because summer sucks when the Red Sox are lousy. But this team is not constructed to have the best record in baseball or anything close to resembling it. There's an argument to be made that the 2019 Red Sox underperformed their 84-win season and should have been more along the lines of an 87- or 88-win squad, according to Baseball Reference's Pythagorean W-L. But they also exited 2019 with a bullpen ERA of 4.40 (18th in the bigs) and did nothing to improve on it. Their off-season acquisitions were infielder Jose Peraza, catcher Kevin Plawecki, and pitcher Martin Perez, who combined for a 2019 WAR of -0.82, according to Spotrac. It's totally within reason to say that all three of their off-season signings could be demoted or DFA'd by mid-season. In terms of subtractions, they of course traded Mookie Betts and his 6.8 WAR, but they also let Rick Porcello and his 1.2 WAR go to the Mets on a one-year, $10 million deal without so much as batting an eye. Now, Rick Porcello isn't going to win you any championships, but he's a serviceable third starter and would have been miles ahead of the Martin Perez, Nathan Eovaldi, Hector Velazquez triumvirate that will be taking the mound every three days in 2020. Now there could also be some bright spots in 2020. Eduardo Rodriguez took a giant step forward in 2019 and could be a borderline ace in 2020. Chris Sale is bound to bounce back from a dismal 2019. Brandon Workman ended the 2019 season red hot and could carry that into 2020. Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, and Xander Bogaerts are entering their primes, and young players like Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec could become solid everyday contributors. But there is no depth to be seen and no prospects in the pipeline. All it will take to totally undermine this season is one or two extended injuries to everyday players. If I had to make a prediction, the 2020 Red Sox will probably win somewhere between 82 and 86 games. Not bad enough to be out of it in the summer, but not good enough to make September interesting.
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fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
Posts: 38,913
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Post by fw91 on Feb 12, 2020 15:34:24 GMT -5
My idea for this whole revising playoff thing
4 divisions per league (2 team expansion)
NL East 1) Mets 2) Phillies 3) Nationals 4) Montreal Expansion
NL North 1) Cubs 2) Pirates 3) Reds 4) Brewers
NL South 1) Braves 2) Rockies 3) Cardinals 4) Marlins
NL West 1)Dodgers 2) Giants 3) Padres 4) Diamondbacks
Al East 1) Yankees 2) Red Sox 3) Orioles 4) Blue Jays
Al North 1) Indians 2) White Sox 3) Tigers 4) Twins
Al South 1) Rays 2) Nashville expansion 3) Royals 4) Houston Cheaters
Al West 1) A’s 2) Angels 3) Mariners 4) Rangers
Geographically imperfect but Top two division winners get bye into the LDS. Two wild cards. Wild card series. 3 game series at the home site of the non bye division winners. Then re seed to typical 5 game lds and 7 game lcs and World Series. NFL blueprint while rewarding division winners and still expanding playoffs.
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