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OK Sox fans, what would you take if you had your choice, schedule option A or B?

Right now, as of mid-day Friday Boston & Cleveland sit tied with the AL's best record. And everyone's been talking about how deep the Sox's pitching staff goes, and how Cleveland would really want Option B so they could throw out CC & Faust twice in the opening series. But I'm not satisfied with that answer. I think it's a little short-sighted. So let's look into this a little deeper.

If you're so concerned about the ALDS and making sure that your two biggest guns get out there if the series goes to the limit, what happens if that works? Now you walk into the ALCS going #3, #1, #2 (in that order) all on 4 days rest. Then you need to use a #4, before you're back into #1, #3, #2 (in that order) . And if all that goes well, you get into the World Series with your #1 on 6 days rest. And during the series #1, #2, & #3 will all pitch on 4 days rest.

Now if option A was the choice, starting on Thursday, you roll through the ALDS using 4 pitchers, and everyone's got extra rest. Then you look ahead to the ALCS, and if you wanna use 1,2, & 3 twice each, only #1 will be going on 4 days rest twice. Then in the WS similarly to the other scenerio, 1,2, & 3 will all pitch on 4 days rest at some point.

That said, I personally feel that Option A is still the answer. The depth of the rotation is good enough, everyone's got good rest for the first series (which has been huge this year for Dice & Schill), and it sets up better for the ALCS. Plus, why not force your opponent to go to a #4 starter. And best reason yet....why not give the Indians some help against the Spankmes?

And on another note, anyone that has ever paid attention to Townienews.com make sure you check out Fitzy now on ESPN.com under their video section with his Monday Night Mania's. They're hysterical, and now he's finally getting the national recognition he deserves. Can't wait to see him going nuts in Cinci this week.

So no more losses, go Sox, take the East, and roll into October.

One More Week....will the Sox Survive?

I'm really not sure. Yeah, the Tigers are 7 games behind, and the Mariners 8 games back in the Wild Card. But dropping 5 of the last 6 ain't too promising. Yeah the line-up's a bit off, when you see an outfield of Ellsbury, Moss, & Kielty, but the pitching just hasn't been there either. Especially the bullpen. Is the superstar pen finally showing it's cracks? Or does the team just have a case of the shanks, ala Tin Cup?

I hope it's the latter. And I hope that Tito can play the Cheech role and cure 'em pretty quick, cause he's only gotta week and a half to do it.

Whether they get the Wild Card or the Division, the bottom line is they gotta get hot. And do it NOW! What do the 06 Cards, 05 ChiSox, 04 BoSox, etc all have in common? They got hot down the stretch. Who's hot right now? (that's rhetorical, we all know the division rival who's 13-4 for this month) Lucky for us, we can't play them in round one (assuming we get there). And we should have the starting pitching depth to not need the bonus day off gift, like the Tribe would love to have (and at 13-5 are also pretty hot this month). The only playoff bound team that's also been cold this month is the Angels (however they just swept the dRays), but I wouldn't want to have to play the coast-to-coast 5 game series with them. Especially how good they've been at home this year.

Bottom line, we need some wins. We need our starting lineup back and healthy. And let the match ups fall where they may. If I had my choice, I'd take the Tribe with the single day of rest between games, and throw Beckett, Dice, Schill, and Lester (who's got a 2.70 ERA for Sept). So let's get some wins from Tampa, Oakland, and Minnesota, and get rolling for October.

Go Sox!

Another Week, Another Roller Coaster



Sub-title: This week's Sox update



So Clay comes out and tosses a No-No. Awesome. But now it's up to Tito to guide the boys down this stretch run. Swept by the Spankees. Horrible. Chances of seeing them again in October. Huge. So the team's gotta get it together, and not just against the teams they've been beating. How weird is this, A-rod has become clutch, and the Sox can only perform against mediocre teams. What a twist.

Yeah, this post is kinda random thoughts, but that's what it feels like as the team does well, and then not, and then back on, and round we go. Wake has an off night, and Tito brings Clay from the pen for some good stuff. Anyone else getting excited to see if they do stuff like that in October? Well not the Wake being off part, but come on, talk about a bullpen: Pap, Oki, Gagne, Clay, Javi, Manny-Del, Julian, and for good measure...Wake too. I mean why not. You only rotate 4 starters in post-season, right? So go Beckett, Dice, Schill, and Lester. I'm thinking Wake's better out of the pen than Jon. And if they go three starter rotation, then we go 3 righties. And that pen's got plenty of long relief help. Now the bats just gotta stay hot to pair with those pitchers, and look out. Hopefully ManRam's relaxing, and getting back to full power, and JD gets hot again. But I guess you ask for the moon right?

So one more week, and we got the O's & Rays. Then it's revenge time. Oh how sweet would that knock out punch be, if the Sox can take the pinstripes out of the Wild Card. But let's not get too greedy.

Go Sox!