So tired of the "underdog" rhetoric around the Red Sox. They're a racist organization that should be dissolved: https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/beyond-jones-incident-its-time-...
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There is also the fact the team and their fans are simply unlikable. I can't think of another team except maybe the Dallas Cowboys who project such arrogance and smugness and who are more or less disdained by everyone who isn't already hardcore fan. They're just obnoxious and it is as simple as that. I have good friends who are Sox fans and I can't stand them this time of the year if the team is doing well. It's like they grow horns and sharp teeth.
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the premise of this article is stupid. as a neutral, I was sure Boston would go to the WS after about game 20, with Betts, JD, Bienintendi, etc.
the team has 4 or 5 of the best hitters in the league, plus a real ace (Sale), one of the best closers in the league (Kimbrel), a strong fan base. the idea that they were underappreciated is totally false and stupid.
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Then there's the Cubbies.
Red Sox in 6.
What an inexplicable article. I guess I don't follow baseball as closely as I thought, as I've heard nothing but praise for the Red Sox since the all-star game. That they are in the World Series is a surprise to no one, as far as I can tell, save for a few book makers in Vegas. I guess sometimes you need to invent controversy when none exist or hoist a chip needlessly on to someone's shoulder. No one hopes the Red Sox lose to the Dodgers (or anyone) more than I do. But this team has been the obvious favorite to win everything since they got off to such a hot start. Why create the fiction that that was not the case?
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Red Sox are the new Yankees... they just buy championships: vhttps://www.statista.com/statistics/236206/payroll-of-major-league-baseb...
This is not a team that I can get excited about... no heart
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I think the platooning of positions - Vasquez-Leon-Swihart at catcher, Pearce-Moreland at 1st, Holt-Kinsler at 2nd, and Nunez-Devers at 3rd - that many point to as a weakness, is actually a strength, in large part thanks to Cora. It allows him the flexibility to attack opposing teams' pitching in a variety of ways and find who has the 'hot bat'. Also the fact that the Sox are a very low ego/drama team allows for this and makes Cora's job that much easier.
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As a life long Yankee fan, my hat is off to this bunch. The top of the lineup is as good as it gets and the acquisitions of Sale and Martinez were masterful.
One only shudders at the thought of them adding Manny Machado in the off season - particularly in light of their hole at third base. The Yankees have to do all in their power to make sure that doesn’t happen or else it will be a long time ‘til they gain supremacy in the talented AL East.
I really wanted to see Houston and Milwaukee battle for the championship simply because of my intense dislike for the The Sox and the Dodgers... oh well!
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Saw this today on Facebook:
"What's the difference between a Fenway Park hotdog and a Yankee Stadium hotdog? You can get a Fenway Park hotdog next week!"
Savage, but I don't have a dog in this fight.
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@Arthur Mullen
Oldest joke in the book, but you got it backwards, chief...
27 > 8
I am always with the underdogs, so my pick is Dodgers.
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Go Sox !!!!!
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It just goes to show: with a lot of heart -- and a $220 million payroll -- anything is possible.
Only someone outside the Northeast could find this balanced. This is yet another woe-is-me-I'm-a-Yankees-fan article that HOPES the still-honorary-New-York-team (the Dodgers, never mind that they left Brooklyn 60 years ago) can find the chinks in the Sox armor to bring joy to Mudville-on-the Hudson. Sox in 5. The Dodgers, even with a National League advantage, aren't as good as either the Yankees or the Astros were this season (I would have predicted Astros in five if it had come to that)
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Cora gets MVP in a way. He has shown real guts and creativity in his decisions, and the results are almost magic.
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Just as the Pats play a full 60 minutes without letting up, so the Sox play aggressively until the final out. Sports writers love to create drama where there may be none. I get it! They are writers, not reporters (big difference). The point is that no matter whatever is said of the Sox, they continue to play as a close-knit group. I consider Alex as an important factor in their success. Dave has filled in the gaps with hard-working and experienced players. The coaches are devoted in supporting player development and performance. Finally, they play with heart and determination. 'nuff said ...
Stephen
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Pre 2004, this Red Sox Fan/Yankee hater heard constantly about "26 Rings" and "1918". Since 2004, the shoe has been on the other foot.
I suffered through years of Yankee domination in the 1950s and early 1960s, and again during the Steinbrenner era. It wasn't the teams as much as it was the arrogant fans.
I now realize, that a New England sports fan, of say, 21 years of age, has experienced nothing but successful baseball and football teams. Maybe that is why they act like the Yankee fans I used to remember.
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@RM, I agree. This 50+ y.o. Red Sox fan grew up in the 70s in Connecticut, or what I refer to as the 'dmz' between fan bases. Back in those years, I was about the only Sox fan I knew and would hear it from the Yankees fans incessantly.
Now that I've lived in NY for 20+ years, when I go back to Ct. it seems like everyone is a Sox fan. 'Fair weather' fans? Time will tell I suppose.
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A pretty balanced and spot-on article, in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the team.
One thing that bears mentioning is the relative dearth of "small ball" employed thus far. The Sox have rarely gone than route (and, as some commentators have mentioned, it seems to be somewhat of a dying aspect of the sport in general), preferring to rely on the heavy lumber to come through -- if need be, "miraculously," Big Papi-style -- as they have for many decades.
The World Series is a different animal, though...not least of all because they will have to deal with National League rules in the games at Chavez Ravine, where pitchers hit and pinch-hitters and -runners may well be key factors.
Manny Machado took a page from Jose Altuve's ALCS playbook, during the Dodgers' series against Milwaukee, bunting with an 0-2 count. It ain't just for the pitchers! Especially for some of Boston's fleet-footed baserunners (JBJ, Bogaerts, Nunez and Mookie Betts), it could provide a fruitful way to offset the frustrations of routinely grounding into inning-ending double plays, advancing runners, and beating the over-utilized defensive shift. (Whenever Turner shifts and Machado has to cover the whole left side, an exploitable hole opens up in L.A.'s defense ...)
If Alex Cora can put Sandy Leon in as a pinch-runner, he can have him bunt when necessary, too. Ditto Brockstar, despite his pyrotechnics in hitting for the cycle.
In baseball, balance, and its other (in the opposing team) seem to be key.
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@enormisimo Small ball is not just about bunting. It is about situational hitting, among other things, as opposed to simply waiting on the long ball. The Sox are not completely HR dependent as they proved in the ALCS. They hit, and consistently. They run and take extra bases. They move runners. They have what in today's game counts as a relatively diversified offense.
And Machado bunted on a 3-2 , not an 0-2 count.
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Small ball is not just about bunting, you're right. But the World Series is about bunting: those decorative red-white-and-blue doodads, hung around the stands...
And those in attendance (or watching on TV) will no doubt want to see great baseball being played, which is why an offensive strategy that aims to mix-and-match (and therefore stand a chance at beating) situational defensive deployments, to exploit opposing weak spots. and to not run the risk of leaving quite so many runners stranded (especially in scoring position) would clearly be a positive addition to the club's play.
Altuve bunted on 0-2...perhaps I should have written that he and Machado bunted "with two strikes against them," so you would stand a better chance at understanding my point: great hitters (even guys like Altuve, struggling against hobbling injuries!) aren't necessarily those who just rely on going deep. Hit-and-run, run-and-hit, double steals, sac bunts, successful bunting to get on base and start a possible rally, etc., are all part of the bag of tricks that hitters (and managers) have at their disposal.