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Sunday, August 12, 2007

Boston Herald: Massarotti: Sox may have fatal flaw

Damn…my benign paroxysmal positional vertigo problem is acting up again!

Since baseball is a game of numbers, let’s look at it in these terms: Through 114 games this year, the Sox had 1,617 baserunners and 589 runs scored, meaning that 36.4 percent of all Sox baserunners had crossed home plate. That percentage was one of the lowest in the league. So while a team like the Los Angeles Angels actually had scored 15 fewer runs (574) than the Sox, the Angels also had done so despite having just 1,481 baserunners. In comparison to the Sox, the Angels had scored 38.8 percent of their baserunners, a figure that gets even more magnified when one considers that the Angels’ 80 home runs rank 13th in the AL in that category, ahead of only the Kansas City Royals.

Get the picture? The point is that when the Angels get a baserunner, he is more likely to score than any runner put on base by the Sox. So if and when those teams meet in the playoffs and match up two of the best bullpens in the AAL, which club do you think will have the better chance of scoring?

Repoz Posted: August 12, 2007 at 02:22 PM | 31 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: red sox

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1. catomi01 Posted: August 12, 2007 at 02:51 PM (#2481934)

maybe the team that with almost 150 more baserunners?

2. Russlan will never be fond of Jason Bay Posted: August 12, 2007 at 02:52 PM (#2481935)

I just want to say I am really surprised that the Red Sox aren't scoring much more runs than the Angels. I haven't been paying attention to the AL that much this year and thought the Angels were really struggling to score.

3. TVerik Posted: August 12, 2007 at 03:14 PM (#2481949)

4. Dingbat_Charlie

Posted: August 12, 2007 at 03:15 PM (#2481951)

the sky is falling again.

5. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: August 12, 2007 at 03:22 PM (#2481955)

The sky I assumed landed like 2 weeks ago.

6. Dudefella Posted: August 12, 2007 at 03:51 PM (#2481976)

Er, if there's a team in either league right now that doesn't have a potentially fatal flaw, please let me know right now so I can wager heavily on them.

7. tjm1 Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:05 PM (#2482013)

Hmm. A team like the Angels with great base stealers and great overall team speed, but mostly guys who never walks scores a bigger fraction of its baserunners than a team like the Red Sox that draws a ton of walks, and has only two guys with any speed? Really?

What matters is how many you score, not how you score them.

8. tfbg9 Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:06 PM (#2482014)

Slow guys with high OBP's followed frequently by guys like Drew and Lugo, Fenway LF'er 20 feet behind the SS, and yes, choking, er, pressing. And the really fast guys tend to be the ones who get on less often: Crisp, Lugo.

9. Best Regards, Larry M. Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:16 PM (#2482025)

Do you think Massarotti woke up in the morning and said, "I'm going to look as deeply as I can into the raw numbers this year and come up with some explanation about why the Sox are losing ground in the AL East race"?

10. Eraser-X is emphatically dominating teh site!!! Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:25 PM (#2482042)

My fatal flaw is bullets.

11. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:28 PM (#2482049)

My fatal flaw is bullets.

I always thought it was your skin colour.

12. shoewizard Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:30 PM (#2482054)

uh oh

13. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:38 PM (#2482069)

Relax, me and X are tight. I've got him on Facebook!

14. shoewizard Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:44 PM (#2482086)

I know, but someone else will come around soon and say you are the worst person in the world since.......Ghengis Khan

15. Eraser-X is emphatically dominating teh site!!! Posted: August 12, 2007 at 05:57 PM (#2482137)

I know, but someone else will come around soon and say you are the worst person in the world since.......Ghengis Khan

Is that White Ghengis Khan or Japanese Ghengis Khan?

At least we know who is the better actor, and he's done the vocals for club mixes too!

16. Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: August 12, 2007 at 06:02 PM (#2482159)

White Ghengis Kahn?
"Yer beautiful in yer wrath."
Ah yes, The Conqueror. Filmed on radioactive dirt, you know.

17. Mister High Standards Posted: August 12, 2007 at 06:57 PM (#2482360)

Mazz hasz a point. The redsox are IMHO going to have trouble socring runs in the playoffs as they do not have enough power in their lineup. There best offensive weapon realtive to competition has been the walk, and in the playoffs singular offensive events don't play as well since the offensive chain tends to get broken before crooked numbers get put up. Though the Sox aren't too far from getting to be where they need to be. They need Papi, Manny and Drew to hit for the type of power they have historicly hit for.

So I wouldn't say it's fatal flaw.

18. Flynn Posted: August 12, 2007 at 07:12 PM (#2482414)

I still say playing Papi while hurt was a ridiculously stupid thing to do.

19. Mister High Standards Posted: August 12, 2007 at 07:49 PM (#2482523)

Flynn, make the case because it doesn't seem nearly clear to me.

20. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: August 12, 2007 at 07:52 PM (#2482530)

I still say playing Papi while hurt was a ridiculously stupid thing to do.

The fact that Papi has not had one DL stint the entire year pisses me off beyond belief.

21. Garth found his way to daylight Posted: August 12, 2007 at 08:02 PM (#2482552)

Ross: So, Dr. Green, how's the old boat?

Rachel's Dad: They found rust. ... You know what rust does to a boat?

Ross: It gives it a nice antique-y look?

Rachel's Dad: Rust is boat cancer, Ross.

Ross: Wow. ... I'm sorry, when I was a kid I lost a bike to that.

22. Answer Guy Posted: August 12, 2007 at 09:38 PM (#2482757)

The redsox are IMHO going to have trouble socring runs in the playoffs

What playoffs? That's FAR from a sure thing at this point.

23. tfbg9 Posted: August 12, 2007 at 10:02 PM (#2482771)

Fatal flaw: choking like rookie competitive eaters.

24. Zach Posted: August 12, 2007 at 10:16 PM (#2482781)

Choking like a porn blooper reel?

25. Ray (RDP)

Posted: August 12, 2007 at 10:33 PM (#2482792)

Do you think Massarotti woke up in the morning and said, "I'm going to look as deeply as I can into the raw numbers this year and come up with some explanation about why the Sox are losing ground in the AL East race"?

Yeah. As a Red Sox fan, it's hard to panic about the fact that the Yankees have been closing in. The Red Sox have the best record in the majors this year, and the biggest lead (4 games) of any division leader. What more can people ask for?

26. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: August 12, 2007 at 10:36 PM (#2482794)

Only a nice life insurance policy that pays the wife and kids in the event of suicide, with another million bucks put aside for a contract on Gagne.

27. CWS Keith plans to boo your show at the Apollo Posted: August 12, 2007 at 11:12 PM (#2482819)

They've lost ground because they were playing over their heads the first two months while the Yankees were slumping, and have been slumping the last two months while the Yankees have played over their heads.

The real reason the Red Sox are losing ground is because they didn't exploit the Rule V draft enough this season.

28. robinred

Posted: August 12, 2007 at 11:23 PM (#2482824)

Yeah. As a Red Sox fan, it's hard to panic about the fact that the Yankees have been closing in. The Red Sox have the best record in the majors this year, and the biggest lead (4 games) of any division leader. What more can people ask for?

I have said this a few times (and I am anything but a Red Sox fan). They also have the WC to fall back on in case the Yankees actually catch them.

29. tfbg9 Posted: August 12, 2007 at 11:33 PM (#2482828)

Lemmee get this straight, the reason we're losing ground, is unlike before, when we were playing well and the NYY's were losing, now we're losing, and the NYY's are playing well?

Thanks guys. Very helpful stuff. Really.

30. Biff isn't really an apt handle anymore Posted: August 13, 2007 at 12:21 AM (#2482842)

I'm still not concerned. I just hope Tito stops managing as idiotically as he did today.

31. Jeff K. Posted: August 13, 2007 at 01:41 AM (#2482931)

Mazz hasz a point. The redsox are IMHO going to have trouble socring runs in the playoffs as they do not have enough power in their lineup. There best offensive weapon realtive to competition has been the walk, and in the playoffs singular offensive events don't play as well since the offensive chain tends to get broken before crooked numbers get put up.

But, but, but...I keep hearing that teams that "rely on homers" are bad!

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Boston Herald: Massarotti: Sox may have fatal flaw

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