Sox Therapy: Dave Dombrowski Fired

I don’t have a lot to say on this at the late hour but the title kind of covers it and it deserves a thread. After four plus seasons, three division titles and 108 win season capped with a World Series title the Sox have let GM (I don’t care what his title was, that’s what he was) go. Eddie Romero (not that one) will take over for now.

What the next step will be is obviously the big question. The first job of the next person will be to make Mookie Betts unspeakably rich. Beyond that the ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1920 Discussion

Babe Ruth became a Yankee in January.

The Negro National League was founded in February with teams in Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City and St. Louis.

In July Walter Johnson threw his only no-hitter.

In August Ray Chapman was hit by a Carl Mays pitch and killed.

The Chicago American Giants won the first pennant in the Negro National League.

The Cleveland Indians defeated the Brooklyn Robins in the World Series 5 games to 2.

In November Kenesaw Mountain ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1919 Results

Congratulations to Babe Ruth, our 1919 Most Meritorious Player! This is his first MMP award.

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Babe Ruth	99	7	6
Walter Johnson	95	7	1
Eddie Cicotte	73	6	0
Bobby Veach	52	5	0
Pete Alexander	51	6	0
Dick Redding	49	5	0
Dick Whitworth	47	4	0
Hippo Vaughn	45	5	0
Oscar Charleston	39	3	0
Ty Cobb	33	4	0
Rogers Hornsby	21	3	0
Joe Jackson	15	2	0
Joe Williams	14	1	0
Edd Roush	13	2	0
Stan Coveleski	12	2	0
Heinie Groh	11	1	0
Babe Adams	11	1	0
George Sisler	11	1	0
Cristobal ...

Sox Therapy: One Month to the Playoffs

Why yes, with 28 games to go the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox are still playing baseball games and in fact they are playing baseball games that matter!  The magic number to win a fourth consecutive AL East title is just 43!

OK OK, I’m willing to concede that their division chances have probably dipped a shade below 50% (though a sweep against the Yankees next weekend and just make up another 11 1/2 games…) but the Wild Card is still doable.  The 5 1/2 game deficit, while ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1919 Ballot

For 1919 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 4 September 2019.

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 3 September 2019.
For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Sox Therapy: A Little More Acceptable

Let’s start with the obvious, the Boston Red Sox are almost certainly not making not making the playoffs in 2019.  The hole is too deep and despite playing well since getting squashed in the Bronx they’ve gone 8-4 (with a suspended game looming) including a nice series win in Cleveland.  With that said a team that looked in disarray two weeks ago suddenly is at least providing some encouragement.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe dropped a comparison to 2002 earlier this week.  That is the ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1918 Results

Congratulations to Walter Johnson, our 1918 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Walter Johnson	102	7	5
Babe Ruth	95	7	2
Hippo Vaughn	80	7	0
Tyrus Cobb	79	7	0
Stan Coveleski	68	7	0
Joe Williams	50	5	0
George Sisler	49	5	0
Tris Speaker	34	4	0
Scott Perry	28	3	0
Cristobal Torriente	28	3	0
George H Burns	23	3	0
Heinie Groh	18	2	0
Oscar Charleston	17	2	0
John Henry Lloyd	10	1	0
Dick Redding	9	1	0
Harry Hooper	9	1	0
Dick Whitworth	8	1	0
Lefty Tyler	8	1	0
Max Carey	7	1	0
Charlie ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1919 Discussion

Players returned from the war. Sunday baseball starts in New York. Ray Caldwell gets hit by lightning and finishes the game anyway. The Giants and Phillies played a 51 minute 9 inning game.

The White Sox threw the World Series to the Reds losing 5 games to 3 in a best of 9 contest.

The Atlantic City Bacharach Giants defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4 in the “Colored Championship of the East”. The Detroit Stars and Chicago American Giants were the best teams in the West.

Vote for 10.

Player			SH ...

Sox Therapy: Unacceptable

Well the good news is they aren’t dead yet but at this point pretending the 2019 Boston Red Sox are going to mount any kind of defense of their 2018 World Series title is a fool’s errand to say the least.  The simple reality is the pitching has been a complete disaster and frankly it’s a bit of a shocker.  From top to bottom they have underperformed and I can’t help but feel like this falls heavily on the shoulders of Alex Cora and management in general (both above and below him) for ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1918 Ballot

For 1918 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 7 August 2019.

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 6 August 2019.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.