Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

After seeing the Red Sox total choke collapse in the month of September I'm not sure I'm up for any postseason baseball. But if I have to, Go Brewers!!

BTW, Boston management, if you're looking for a left fielder this offseason that strikeouts, doesn't get clutch hits, drops fly balls and never looks happy, I'll do it for the league minimum! I'm also available to give up many runs and and not throw strikes for the league minimum. I know you've got a glut of those types but my price tag is significantly less.

My cousin was the gm with the mets and I made him an offer to be the 25th man at the league minimum salary which was about $180,000 at the time. Promised to cheer from the top step and that I would never complain or holdout. All I wanted was a 10 year contract

After listening to all the hyperbole about the monumental comebacks, the tremendous collapses, the historical significance, the thrills and excitement and what a great day for baseball this was, I couldn't help but think...

That sure was a heck of a dogfight...for second place!

Fourth place actually. The Red Sox made it look easy. Just lay down and get run over by the bottom of the lineup.

Crawford for Tom Brunansky..... who doesn't make that deal? I'm sure Tom would consider it.

All this talk about choking and collapse; my feeling is that any team going through the injury setbacks that the Red Sox went through would have found it just a difficult to win consistently. It's just not that easy to replace front line starters. This team was paired down and couldn't sustain their lead. I wish Francona wasn't leaving. I know he'll succeed where ever he winds up. All this said and I'm a 62 year old Yankee Fan. First game I ever saw in person was in 1958. Yankees vs. Red Sox, sitting with my Dad in the stands, listening to tales of Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey and DiMaggio while watching Mantle and Berra and Teddy Ballgame and Jackie Jensen (to name a few).

Hey Mike, I'm a 62 year old Met fan who grew up a Yankee fan in the 1950s. My first game was also in 1958 at Yankee Stadium with my dad. I still have the team signed ball that was given to me that day (a long story for another time). I was shocked to hear that Francona was leaving. I guess two World Championships in 8 years just doesn't cut it anymore.

Scott

Funny thing. I also had a signed ball from back then. I kept it on my shelf for a couple of years and then broke down and took it out to play with it. Soon it was just like all the other practice and catch balls. I wish I'd taken better care of it.

Not shocked at all that Francona is gone. It seems there was a lot going on in that clubhouse and he probably needed to excuse himself from the situation. There are tons of stories being printed about what guys were being problems - I think the annonymous players who are feeding the stories to the press are a big part of the problem too. It will be an interesting off season for the Red Sox. If I'm Epstein I'm calling up Brian Saebean and say "Hey, you take my albatross in Lackey and I'll take your Zito."

Interesting to look in on the cultures of different clubs. The Angels don't make the playoffs for the second straight year and the GM resigns. The Bosox don't make it and there goes the manager. Historically, somebody's got to go. I just liked Tito so much as a manager of those guys. It was an almost impossible situation. Epstein was trying to come up with another pitcher right up to the last game. Also, had they made the playoffs, it's quite possible none of this would have happened.

I think if the Sox had made the playoffs, they would not have gone far anyway. Either Detroit or Texas would have been too tough for them to match up against in their present condition. I'll just have to watch my copy of "Still We Believe" repeatedly to get me through the winter.

The collapse of the Red Sox was embarrassing, but they would have been humiliated in the playoffs. They're lucky in that sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if Theo jumps too. The GM job for the Cubs is probably tempting. Doesn't sound like Lucchino is long for Boston either. Not that he'd necessarily be missed.

It would be so sad to see both Francona and Theo out of Boston. Both of those guys played a huge role in the championship seasons, both for their actions and their attitudes. The sad part is we'd be left with a bunch of dysfunctional players who, for the most part, haven't contributed much of anything. That's a rough trade.

GO PHILLIES!
I would have NEVER in a MILLION YEARS guessed I would be saying that, especially being a Jays fan.
But our boy Doc is a Phillie now and I would support him no matter the team (even the...ugh...Yankees).
He is a class act and one hell of a pitcher. Game 1 started wobbly, but 21 retired in a row was a nice way to finish up!