MR

I've been a Red Sox fan through thick (two titles) and thin (every other damned hair-pulling year in between) since 1976.

The time has come to fire Francona. This team is doomed to become the most over-rated of all time unless something drastic happens. This is getting fucking ridiculous. Brett Cecil outpitching Buccholz?

Sorry. I'm not off the bandwagon - I'll be a diehard even if they go 2-160 (which seems possible at this point). But Francona has to go. That's the only solution.

What a bunch of horse shit. That much talent, and they have 2 fucking wins after the IRS tax deadline? He has failed at his job - this team was not ready. Time to go. NOW.

Saltalamacchia sucks
Matsuzaka blows
Crawford got his deal, now he bites
Scutaro was never good
Drew...enough about him

Pedroia is the team right now.....

This team should still have won 95 games even with those flaws. This season is bullshit. Fuck Francona.

Seven Wishes wrote:This team should still have won 95 games even with those flaws. This season is bullshit. Fuck Francona.

T-Frank has lost his mojo.....this team should be 9-2 right now....now watch Ortiz pop it up....

And god forbid someone bunts against this gimmicky 'shift'.....

NEXT STOP: Fairweather Place. With non-stop service to Bandwagon Crossing and Frontrunner Junction....ALL GET OFF!!!!!

And this just in.......Chicken Little has landed at Logan.....stay tuned....

Shouldn't you be worried idk in september?

No...The Sox were overrated to begin with. Their offense should straighten out but I'm not sure about the starting pitching OR bullpen.

Lester and Buchholz should be fine. Lester's looked fairly good in two of his three starts, especially considering he usually sucks for the first month and a half or so. Other than that, Beckett is iffy. He's been on and off again ever since he came to the team. I've got no confidence that Lackey won't live up to his last name. Then, of course, there's Matsuzaka who makes you want to blow your brains out. Dude hasn't been very good since his rookie year. At this point, the 3rd best starter may be a near 45 year old guy in the bullpen.

Francona is a great manager, but he can't play the field. Under-performing players are the reason for Boston's poor record, not Francona. Personally, I think the Red Sox will be fine.

Saint John wrote:Francona is a great manager, but he can't play the field. Under-performing players are the reason for Boston's poor record, not Francona. Personally, I think the Red Sox will be fine.

To me, it all depends on if Beckett and Lackey can be consistently decent. By decent, I mean keeping the ERA under 4.50 and not giving up 12 hits per nine innings and 2 homers every game.

conversationpc wrote:

Saint John wrote:Francona is a great manager, but he can't play the field. Under-performing players are the reason for Boston's poor record, not Francona. Personally, I think the Red Sox will be fine.

To me, it all depends on if Beckett and Lackey can be consistently decent. By decent, I mean keeping the ERA under 4.50 and not giving up 12 hits per nine innings and 2 homers every game.

John Shalackey has certainly lived up to his name....he's approaching Upperdecki Irabu stature....

This just in...the Red Sox have the same exact record this season as they did last season at this time. They went on to win 89 games with a PATHETIC lineup and most of their key offensive players injured! Lackey is a train wreck and I didn't like the signing when they made it. Crawford may well be Edgar Renteria re-visited (i.e. simply can't handle playing in Boston). Playing in Tampa with 5000 so-called fans and 1 beat reporter is an entirely different experience than playing at Fenway, which is banged out every night and has more reporters following the team than the Rays have fans. Gonzalez and Youkilis will both hit. Still not prepared to say that I have no worries about Buchholz, given he has no real track record. That said, the Yankees pitching staff is a fucking DISASTER, Baltimore blows, Tampa is a last place team, and Toronto might be a .500 team or a bit better, but not much. The takeaway here...It will once again come down to the Yankees and Red Sox in a AL East and I believe the Red Sox are a better team.

Francona is still one of the best managers in the game. The Sox will be fine and will still prove to be one of the best teams in baseball- slow starts mean nothing- fast starts mean nothing. As always, it comes down to injuries (or the lack therof); fear not Red Sox Nation there is plenty of time.
These comments/opinions brought to you courtesy of a card holding (literally) member of the Yankees Universe

Things are looking up in Red Sox nation. Even Dice K is getting people out at the moment . And Crawford hit one out Sunday.

now that Ive just said that they sure as hell better not go getting swept by the Orioles.!

They're about to strand another 15 and lose to the lowly Mariners again.

11-15, 6 1/2 games out of first - before May 1.

Time to fire the overrated shithead manager. If they don't fire him NOW, the Sox won't finish over .500.

Seven Wishes wrote:They're about to strand another 15 and lose to the lowly Mariners again.

11-15, 6 1/2 games out of first - before May 1.

Time to fire the overrated shithead manager. If they don't fire him NOW, the Sox won't finish over .500.

Get a grip and a clue! Say what you want about Francona, but last I checked, he is the ONLY Red Sox Manager to win a championship in the past 85 years and he has two of them! How about coming down on the players for WOEFULLY under-performing! Carl Crawford is a career .300 hitter and now can't come close to hitting his weight. For all the money and players spent to get Gonzalez (who I still think will be fine), the dude has one HR on the season. The guys on this team REALLY need to step up their game, because their performance is simply embarrassing!

Enigma869 wrote:

Seven Wishes wrote:They're about to strand another 15 and lose to the lowly Mariners again.

11-15, 6 1/2 games out of first - before May 1.

Time to fire the overrated shithead manager. If they don't fire him NOW, the Sox won't finish over .500.

Get a grip and a clue! Say what you want about Francona, but last I checked, he is the ONLY Red Sox Manager to win a championship in the past 85 years and he has two of them! How about coming down on the players for WOEFULLY under-performing! Carl Crawford is a career .300 hitter and now can't come close to hitting his weight. For all the money and players spent to get Gonzalez (who I still think will be fine), the dude has one HR on the season. The guys on this team REALLY need to step up their game, because their performance is simply embarrassing!

The pitching has really come around over the last three weeks now but, even though the hitting has also improved, they are still struggling with RISP. That'll come around as well. This is certainly no time to be calling for Francona's ouster.

Time to fire Francona and release Slackey. 14-17, seven games out...Slackey 2-4 with a 7.00 ERA. BOTH need to go. Enough already.

14 up, 18 down. Almost double digits in the games behind department. Starting the god-awful Tim Wakefield at age 47. Enough!!! Fire Francona!!!!!!!!!

Seven Wishes wrote:Slackey 2-4 with a 7.00 ERA. BOTH need to go. Enough already.

Right, and it's Terry Francona's fault that John Lackey can't pitch! Last I checked, Francona didn't sign the guy. Another clueless Red Sox follower!

No, it's Francona's fault he keeps putting BP pitchers like Slackey and Old Man Wakefield out there, and keeps giving Jenks and Wheeler the ball in key situations. That's what I'm referring to.

Seven Wishes wrote:No, it's Francona's fault he keeps putting BP pitchers like Slackey and Old Man Wakefield out there, and keeps giving Jenks and Wheeler the ball in key situations. That's what I'm referring to.

Dude...I'll say it again. You are a fucking dope! You obviously don't understand baseball, even a little! Listen, I'm with you 1000% that Lackey SUCKS, and I didn't like the signing at the time it was done (not after seeing how much the guy sucks). As for Wakefield...the guy should have retired three years ago. Wheeler and Jenks have been fucking DREADFUL. The point you don't seem to comprehend is that Francona (and every other manager) can only play the guys that the front office has signed. I'm pretty sure that given the contract Lackey signed that he'll be handed the ball every 5th day whether Francona is the Manager or not! I'd love to know what you were saying in 2004 and 2007 when Francona managed his teams to the championship. Interesting how managers become less intelligent when their players suck

Take it easy, cowboy. You seem to have anointed yourself to some kind of Socratic status on these sports threads, but you just can't ever admit you could be wrong about something, can you? Anyway, he has made a ton of lousy decisions this year. At some point you have to NOT go with the guy with the bigger salary and put the guy who's playing better out there.

Seven Wishes wrote:Take it easy, cowboy. You seem to have anointed yourself to some kind of Socratic status on these sports threads, but you just can't ever admit you could be wrong about something, can you? Anyway, he has made a ton of lousy decisions this year. At some point you have to NOT go with the guy with the bigger salary and put the guy who's playing better out there.

I haven't "anointed" myself as anything, fuckwad. Like you, I weigh in with an opinion when I have one. If you don't like that opinion, I could give a fuck!

Well, every one of your opinions is affrontary and demeaning. So, fuck off! Goodnight!

Enigma869 wrote:

Seven Wishes wrote:Take it easy, cowboy. You seem to have anointed yourself to some kind of Socratic status on these sports threads, but you just can't ever admit you could be wrong about something, can you? Anyway, he has made a ton of lousy decisions this year. At some point you have to NOT go with the guy with the bigger salary and put the guy who's playing better out there.

I haven't "anointed" myself as anything, fuckwad. Like you, I weigh in with an opinion when I have one. If you don't like that opinion, I could give a fuck!

What I think you meant to say was, "I COULDN'T give a fuck". Just an observation there, chief.

Seven Wishes wrote:
What I think you meant to say was, "I COULDN'T give a fuck". Just an observation there, chief.

Go shit in your hat, moron! Let me know when you have something remotely intelligent to say about baseball instead of whining like a little bitch that the manager sucks. With any luck at all, Theo will replace Terry with you and you can bring every player from Pawtucket up to the big league club to replace all the major league players who are under performing! I'm sure that will fix everything.

Truce, dude. We're on the same side. And everyone knows George Bamberger would be the best replacement for Francona.

The dumbass started Slackey again. Every time this bullshit team threatens to get to .500 they fuck it up.

Fire Francona and release Lackey outright. Problem solved. Douche bags.

They maybe underachieving at this point, but way too soon to worry so much about their record or Francona. This team always comes around, and agree with Enigma... Francona doesn't play the field, and he's got to play the high priced players, whether they suck or not. Hey, it could be worse, my team was taken over by MLB because of their douchebag owner who is singlehandedly destorying one of the higher tiered teams in baseball. If you believe it's all about the manager, Torre "should" have won a World Series for the Dodgers because he was a "superb" manager for the Yankees. That didn't happen because the team on the field wasn't strong enough to ever truly contend for that. Just like Torre likely would never had won as many WS titles with the Yankees as he did if they didn't field the team they did every year, and drop the $$$ they did. With well over 100 games to go, I am sure the Red Sox will be just fine.

As much as I hate to say it because I love Tim Wakefield, I think they need to release him and call up Bowden. That guy has looked nearly unhittable at AAA this year and deserves a full-time shot in the bullpen, in my opinion.

Also, if they keep getting such weak hitting from the catcher position, they might want to consider calling up McKenry from Pawtucket.