Mid-Season Musings

Some thoughts from the last few days in sports and the Sox at the unofficial midpoint of the season...

The Sox need pitching help, both a starter and a reliever in my opinion, but given the lack of quality arms available I hope they don't mortgage the future by trading any solid prospects this year. I think the Sox pitching is good enough to make the playoffs and even win the World Series this year, but I think they would be able to bury the Yanks and Jays with some help.

I think a healthy Matt "Meltdown" Clement with his head screwed on straight could be the necessary addition to the rotation. He doesn't have to be amazing, just eat up some innings at the back of the rotation and keep games close, giving the Sox a chance to win.

Julian Tavarez has been hit or miss all year. He could be an asset down the stretch if he strings together some good outings.

Rudy Seanez is worthless. Throw him out with the garbage.

While we're talking about worthless garbage, dump Willie Harris A.S.A.P. He's the worst pinch runner I've ever seen; he's costing the Sox valuable outs and potential runs.

I think that Timlin, Delcarmen, and Papelbon are very solid. I think that Hansen is getting there, but he's still not quite a completely reliable set-up man. Part of the problem may be that Francona pushes him past 3-outs at a time, to which he's seemingly getting more comfortable with. It's the multiple inning appearances that are hurting his numbers.

Varitek should bat in the 8th spot until (hopefully) he heats up. Since Lowell has shown he can't bat 5th either, Nixon and Pena should platoon in the number five spot.

It will be nice to have Pena back (no more Willie!).

Maybe Gonzalez should bat 8th and Tek 9th for while. There's no shame in that. Tek brings a lot to the table as team captain and catcher of the staff even if he's not bringing a lot to the plate this year.


Other topics:

I hate the ESPN baseball power rankings. Whoever does them is a total suck-up and Yankee kiss-ass. I've felt this way for years and it's going to take a lot to change my mind.

How does Michelle Wie suffer from heatstroke? Didn't she grow up in hot and humid (and reportedly beautiful) Hawaii?

Barry Bonds is going to prison, Barry Bonds is going to prison! Ring the bells! Sing it with me, "Barry's going to prison!". It's only a matter of time now. It will be funny for that @$$hole to worry about his @$$hole, if you catch my drift.

I heard one of the guys on ESPN News pronounce Hanley Ramirez's first name "AHN-lay".

I heard the song "The Adventure" by Angels and Airwaves on the radio. I thought it was Blink-182. Turns out the band is fronted by Tom Delonge of Blink fame. Sounds like it could be a great CD.

We'll be heading to the Comic-Con International in San Diego on Wednesday. It should be fun. I can't wait for the presentation by the producers of the show "Lost".