Sox Therapy: A Short Observation

The Sox played game number 20 last night falling to the Yankees to drop their record to 11-9.  My general feeling given the injuries and illnesses is that this about where you’d want this team to be right now.  But one thing I was thinking about was the general idea that the Sox acquired Chris Sale to replace David Ortiz.  It is no secret that the offense has struggled at times in the early going and that was one of the big concerns coming in.  I decided to just do a quick check versus where ...

Sox Therapy: Witty Minor League Thread Title Here

After a busy weekend in Baltimore and then a couple of off days (thanks rain!) I figured today might be a good time to throw up a minor league thread.  The Red Sox minor league system is probably as uninteresting as it has been in several years with graduations and trades emptying things out.  That does not mean there is not anything to talk about.  Without further ado…

1B - Josh Ockimey - Salem (Hi A) -  The big 21 year old lefty swinger has come out of the blocks quickly.  He earned Player ...

Gonfalon Cubs: Week 3 Thoughts

The Good:
Rizzo: Homered in 3 straight games, and he looks like his normal dominating self.  He also has 3 stolen bases already, mostly the kind where the pitcher forgets about him.  He’s up to .296/..412/.535 on the season so far.
Heyward: I still hate talking about him as much, but those nice swings/hard hit balls are finally turning into hits.  We’d all be pretty happy with a .297/.348/.422 line this year.  He’s played a lot more CF that we were led to believe, and while he’s pretty good ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 2003 Ballot

For 2003 each voter should rank the top 15 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 3 May 2017.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 2 May 2017.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Sox Therapy: Chris Sale Is A Terrible Person

I mean it’s the only excuse right?  The four runs they got on Thursday is the highest total they’ve gotten in one of his starts.  He is probably lucky to be 1-1 despite a 0.91 ERA with that kind of run “support.”  In games he has started the Sox have actually scored more runs in extra innings (6) than they have in innings 1-9 (4).  The only explanation is that he is a terrible person and everyone on the team hates him.  With that out of the way I figured I’d throw up a few random thoughts as ...

Sox Therapy: Feeling Groovy

After a pretty nice win on Thursday the Sox sit at a neat and tidy 5-4 after a week and a half.  Small sample sizes and all but wins is wins and that’s a start.  Thinking of it this way, a 5-4 start in 2011 and the Sox would have clinched a playoff spot before going to Baltimore.

This is encouraging because after a season when the Sox were absurdly healthy they have played only two games with a full team.  According to NESN in 2016 none of the quartet of Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez, Jackie ...

Sox Therapy: The Fenway Experience

This isn’t really about the Sox as much as it is about going to Fenway Park.  I have had the good fortune to have season tickets for the last seventeen years and there has never been a time when I regretted it.  Fenway has its flaws but there are very few, if any, places I would rather be on a nice summer evening than the self-proclaimed “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” (I don’t know how to add a little trademark symbol there). 

Anyway, last night I went to the game on what was a close to ...

Gonfalon Cubs: Assorted Week 1 Thoughts

Trying to get any work done is nearly impossible while counting down the hours until I head over to Wrigley for the banner raising tonight.  I’ve watched most of all 6 games so far, and it’s been such a different feeling.  I don’t find myself hanging on to every pitch, or find myself annoyed by missed chances or pointless pitching changes with 2 outs in the 9th and no one on base (ok, maybe that’s still annoying).  Maybe things will snap back after a few more games, but I’m still completely in ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 2003 Discussion

The Florida Marlins beat the Yankees in the World Series. Vote for 15.

Player Name		SH WS		rWAR
Barry Bonds		41.0		9.2
Albert Pujols		38.1		8.6
Alex Rodriguez		33.1		8.4
Javier Lopez		28.9		6.8
Marcus Giles		29.8		7.8
Jorge Posada		27.4		5.9
Gary Sheffield		33.8		6.8
Carlos Beltran		27.7		5.8
Edgar Renteria		25.7		5.6
Todd Helton		32.6		6.2
Bret Boone		31.6		5.9
Jim Edmonds		24.2		6.0
Nomar Garciaparra	25.3		6.1
Bobby Abreu		25.3		5.4
Richard Hidalgo		24.6		5.7
Jim Thome		28.8		4.7
Manny ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 2002 Results

Congratulations to Barry Bonds for being unanimously voted the 2002 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Barry Bonds	165	11	11
Alex Rodriguez	140	11	0
Randy Johnson	129	10	0
Jim Thome	123	10	0
Jason Giambi	104	11	0
Jeff Kent	76	10	0
Curt Schilling	71	8	0
Brian Giles	70	9	0
Jim Edmonds	58	9	0
Derek Lowe	57	9	0
Vlad Guerrero	52	8	0
Pedro Martinez	42	7	0
Shawn Green	37	6	0
Manny Ramirez	31	5	0
Roy Halladay	30	8	0
Barry Zito	23	6	0
Sammy Sosa	19	3	0
Todd Helton	17	3	0
Chipper ...