Could Salty be tipping pitches? Clay Buchholz allowed only 9 HR all of last year, but in his last 14 IP with Salty has allowed 8 HR (going back to ST)

The Yankees lost 3 straight to open the season in 1998. Girardi caught all 3 games. Posada caught the next 4 and most of the games thereafter. Not exactly the same situation as the Red Sox as nobody stands to lose his job as a result of this series.

This is the sport where favorites are never more than 3 to 1, pretty much never more than 2 to 1 to win a game.

Eh.

Today, 2 games opened at 2-1 (NYY and PHA).

You'll see the NYY's over 3-1 when they're at home vs KC with CC on the mound. That sort of thing. Or the Sox with Lester.

Hopping in late;
Past Binkies-Dewey, Barrett,Greenwell, Lyons, Boggs (OMG yes. The ultimate Binky. I used to check his line daily to see if he went 2/5 with a W), Manny, Petey,Daubach, Carlos Quintana (I like alliteration)

Anti-Binkies-Reardon, Smith, Brunansky, Danny Darwin, Urbina

From Bink to Anti-Phil Plantier (I had such high hopes for him)
From Bink to anti and back again-Lowe

Have to confess I woke up this morning in a pants-pissing mood. A loss tonight with Daisuke then April Lester going the next two days and the Yankees and Rays looming...

Intellectually I know we're going to be 4-5, maybe 3-6 at worst come Monday morning and we'll have 92-97 wins come October but I can't shake the feeling that 0-9 is in my future with an 83-79 record while my summer gets ruined.

Ugh. The great thing about baseball is they play everyday. When you are going good you can't wait to see the team that next night. When you are going bad you feel like you are never going to win again.

The Sox are now 2.5 back of the Yankees. Coming into the year I'd have said we were maybe 3-4 games better than the Yankees, so they've pissed away most of their advantage in a weekend. (The RLYW projection blowout had the difference a little over two games, which would mean they're back to even.)

Right now, the team is hitting 200/279/330. That's bad, but check out the overall pitching line:

24 IP, 34 H, 26 R, 11 HR, 10 BB, 12 K, 9.75 ERA, 0-3

Really, the Red Sox are lucky they only played three games against Texas. They could sweep the Indians and still be way below a projected .500 record in component stats.

Could Salty be tipping pitches? Clay Buchholz allowed only 9 HR all of last year

Yes, but aside from the four solo HR, Buchholz wasn't getting knocked around the lot all day: he left almost nobody on base.

I realize that's a little like saying "Aside from Our American Cousin," but maybe it's mostly a matter of getting the ball down slightly or a little more movement on it, rather than wholesale disaster with a given catcher.

Other than Wake, who has been my favorite since he got there, the only other players that could probably qualify on the positive side are equally odd choices, Bellhorn and Damon Buford (I've always had a thing for speedy centerfielders). Craig Grebeck would have qualified too, but checking his line during his brief Boston stay was just too painful.

Coming into the year I'd have said we were maybe 3-4 games better than the Yankees, so they've pissed away most of their advantage in a weekend.

The fact that the Yanks have been playing at home and the Sox have been playing on the road must mitigate that to some degree.

The Sox are now 2.5 back of the Yankees. Coming into the year I'd have said we were maybe 3-4 games better than the Yankees, so they've pissed away most of their advantage in a weekend. (The RLYW projection blowout had the difference a little over two games, which would mean they're back to even.)

This doesn't make any sense to me. If the Yanks lose their next three and the Sox sweep, do we say we're back to square one? Do we do this during every losing streak and winning streak all season long?

agonz is definitely my binky, and lackey my anti-binky. he could throw a perfect game and i wouldn't care.

This doesn't make any sense to me. If the Yanks lose their next three and the Sox sweep, do we say we're back to square one? Do we do this during every losing streak and winning streak all season long?

I don't like it either. We made it through the winter people! We can toss aside all the projections we've been gnawing on, and feast on real fresh standings!

According to Extra Bases Saltalamacchia is in the lineup tonight, Crawford is batting 2nd with Pedroia 3rd.

I haven't been able to watch all of the games, but what I've seen Salty looks decent behind the dish. He moves well enough (which is pretty well for such a big guy) and doesn't look like a huge defensive liability which is what I think the Sox are really concerned about right now. Keeping him in the line up is classic tito showing loyalty and confidence to a player on a slow start. He stuck with Pedroia through a miserable start to 2007 and that worked out much better in the long run than immediately sending him back to AAA would've.

I haven't been able to watch all of the games, but what I've seen Salty looks decent behind the dish. He moves well enough (which is pretty well for such a big guy) and doesn't look like a huge defensive liability which is what I think the Sox are really concerned about right now. Keeping him in the line up is classic tito showing loyalty and confidence to a player on a slow start. He stuck with Pedroia through a miserable start to 2007 and that worked out much better in the long run than immediately sending him back to AAA would've.

While I agree that this is classic Tito showing loyalty, I'm afraid to say that comparing Pedroia and Salty in this way makes my brain hurt. I'm struggling to see what "much better in the long run" is with Salty....