Duren, Duren

Adell obviously was/is incredibly raw all around. His fielding was a disaster. His at bats were mostly futile. Now his base running is being exposed. But at least he's on base more than in the past. Give him credit for working on his fielding and at bats. Still a work in progress after multiple years of apprenticeship. Hopefully the new coaching staff helps him with his base running. But a lot of that is instant recognition/reaction. Anyways, I have to make a choice in my TV viewing. The Angel game, the final game of the season for my (still rebuilding) Montreal Canadiens, and the last ever game for the Arizona Coyotes all are on within the same general time frame. So I will watch hockey live, flipping/pausing/recording between games when on simultaneously. Different time zones means only a partial overlap. And I'll record the Angel game and watch it as my nightcap. Once the NHL playoffs start I may have to do similar juggling though not having a favorite team in it makes it less of a priority. As long as Toronto doesn't win the Cup I'm fine with any other result.

I've been in eBay for 24 years. Bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of stuff. But it has become a nightmare now in some ways. Especially for Canadians. A five dollar postage item now costs around twenty five bucks to be mailed from the U.S. to Canada. Instead of just going from one address to another it's sent to a sorting center in Illinois. And takes triple the time to arrive. As well I've had two purchases lost there, even with tracking, in the last month. And I'm dealing with a deadbeat buyer who makes excuses over and over for the last two months for not returning an item I refunded him. Which I didn't have to because he misread the ad. But now it's almost impossible to dig through the automatic 'help' templates they use instead of talking to real people. I finally waded my way through and did speak to someone who was clueless and just told me to keep contacting this guy. Just on principal I'm going to continue digging through this. The item isn't very valuable, but I will not let this situation fade away without a fight. So once I saw that Ippei was involved with eBay I knew something shady was going on.

I just watched it on PVR. A few observations. Solid work from Sandoval. He could have blown up but hung in there. Thais had the big hit. One of the few times multiple runs were driven in without a homer. Moore wasn't sharp but got away without big damage. Sano is a pleasant surprise. He has as good plate discipline as anyone. Rendon actually producing steadily. Maybe the worst is over. Trout and Ward add to their leaderboard stats. Tomorrow will be a challenge on the mound.

His numbers overall career wise aren't bad. But we're talking about the present and recent trends. Still early this season. But the optics aren't great. He's swung and missed, taken for strikes or fouled off quite a few hittable pitches in or near his comfort zone. Especially with men on base. When you would assume the pitcher is focussed more intensely on getting the out. Without me on base pitchers can challenge more, based on score and game situation. Not a big concern yet but something to watch. And maybe having more productive help from the rest of the lineup would help.

Still too dependent on the home run. Marginal difference in a more aggressive philosophy from Washington. Though the roster at present doesn't provide for a lot of versatility. Too many slow players. And few who rarely try to use all of the field. Things don't change overnight, but I thought after they hired Washington that they would tweak the roster more to suit his style.

You could see in his first at bat that Trout wasn't sharp. He missed a mediocre straight pitch waist high down the middle for a K. Left a man on base. And even worse to end the game. All his homers were solo shots. There is a real argument to be made about his clutch production. Especially the last few years of his career.

Should have kept Cimber in. Relief pitching has become so micromanaged and specialized that it's become automated. Regardless of the actual stuff a pitcher shows in the game.

Suarez, right on cue blows the game open for Boston.

Frustrating game. Just not making the key plays.

Anderson runs out of gas. Got to stay close and come from behind. Too bad they missed chances to add runs earlier.

Turned into a pitchers duel.

Middle of the lineup, back to back Ks with men on base. Not productive at bats.

Hicks is clueless. Drury finally connects.

Anderson can't throw those pitches over the middle of the plate and not get hurt. Another lousy first inning.

Trout missed a fat pitch right down the middle, waist high.

The challenge system works pretty good in hockey. Both for goals and off sides. But you need indisputable video evidence. Often from different angles and high zoom capacity cameras. And even then there are some calls that just can't be confirmed because of obstructions blocking the cameras. Hockey is a fast action sport, With balls/strikes everything is much more static. There are built in problems though with late moving pitches, hitters stance, the angle the ump stands at. The question is how close to 100% do they want the calls to be? Traditionally it's always been accepted that each ump has his own strike zone. But that just admits that there is no absolute way calls will always be totally accurate. The technology seems to be there for the robo system, though I haven't looked at the details in depth. Presumably it would come closer to 100% over the long haul. But it would radically change the heart of the game. However, big mistakes really do affect entire games and have repercussions for the standings over a season. And what about non ball/strike situations? They allow challenges for safe/out calls on the bases and fielding plays. Those seem to be accepted and are non controversial. So it seems balls/strikes are the final frontier. I would keep the umps, but really judge them more harshly. And add a number of challenges per game.

A great start got the team going. Jumped on Houck early, who was let down by his defense. Detmers did the rest. And a mix of hitters padded the cushion.

A rare game that never was in doubt from the first inning on. Given how Detmers pitched. Now let's start moving further ahead of .500.

Staff ace. With Anderson, a nice 1 - 2 combo. Though for how long remains to be seen.

ward is dialed in this season! They are having some sort of charity/fundraising event on the Sox broadcast. Of course, tied in with betting (Draftkings). Which is what it is. But it completely has taken over their broadcast. Split screens, cutaways, obligatory interviews, urging people to try for the jackpot in the middle of the action. Baseball broadcasts in most cities do this to some degree. But It varies in the way it interfers with the actual enjoyment of the game. been part of

One thing about the Red Sox. It really is cool seeing a game at Fenway. You don't get the actual feel of what it's like otherwise. I've been there a few times sitting in different sections and you are right on top of the action behind home, along the bases and in right field.I once sat near the "Pesky Pole" and watched an easy fly ball just bend around it for a homer. The Green Monster was just an old style wooden wall from the outside. Back in the Fred Lynn/Jim Rice days of my youth!

Detmers down to 72 mph on his curve. Just about equal to Herget's fastball.

Sox broadcasters chastising Rendon for just jogging to second and keeping Schanuel from getting a double. And bringing up all the Rendon controversy. Seems this will follow him everywhere.

Batting practice!

Now Detmers has a 20 mph difference in speeds. 74-94. This is great when he keeps his control. 94 seems to be his ceiling but it must seem faster after the slow stuff.