Where did all the Red Sox's fans go

[10DimeBry]

The reason the sox are losing isnt because varitek is gone....Teams lose players all the time, shit the yankees lost a ton of guys and they find ways to keep winning. Saying varitek is the reason they have been losing is an excuse in my opinion. If the reason that pitching staff has completley sucked latley is because of varitek being gone then they should not be playing big league ball.

jeff,

varitek is as important to the red sox success as your boy D. wade is to the heat. if you think i'm kidding just ask anyone who knows anything about the redsox team.

[10DimeBry]

I dont understand why they dont use mirabelli....he has played with the team before, he at least has more knowledge about that staff then lopez does. ...doesnt he?

meatballbelli BA is like .186. not to mention he was the exclusive catcher for wakefield. varitek caught everyone else on the staff.

[JBC13]

meatballbelli BA is like .186. not to mention he was the exclusive catcher for wakefield. varitek caught everyone else on the staff.

im not saying he is better than varitek....i just thought he may know a liitle more about catching the red sox staff than lopez does.

[TwoTonTony]

jeff,

varitek is as important to the red sox success as your boy D. wade is to the heat. if you think i'm kidding just ask anyone who knows anything about the redsox team.

i do not think that is an accurate analogy at all.....D-Wade accounts for like 25-30% of the offense......Varitek does not....

I think it would be hard to make a cross comparison with a sport such as basketball where a star is 20% of the equation wheres in baseball there are 9 starters......and alot more variables.....

It would be hard to compare it to any other position in sports....I think of Qb's but they have a direct hand in offense and scoring......I think this position in sports stands on its own....JMHO

[savage1]

I will say it again.....When players on teams go down....good teams pick that player up for weeks at a time....Maybe not long term.....but who would have thought Melky Cabrera could have held the fort down in NY???
Tony-I think you may have answered youw own question in a sense.
I think Sox may not be a good team WITHOUT Varitek, and that with him they are a good team, meaning that they are probably more reliant on him than say another team would/should be.
Also, you said Cabrera held down the fort when Yanks had injuries;in essence you are saying Cabrera is a very good player who helped a team which was a good team before the injuries.
However, to use your comparison, than one would have to place the burden on Lopez to do the same(be a good player and contribute and replace Varitek), and even more importantly because he is a catcher;so far he has NOT contributed too much.
Does that make sense?

[TheRook]

i do not think that is an accurate analogy at all.....D-Wade accounts for like 25-30% of the offense......Varitek does not....

I think it would be hard to make a cross comparison with a sport such as basketball where a star is 20% of the equation wheres in baseball there are 9 starters......and alot more variables.....

It would be hard to compare it to any other position in sports....I think of Qb's but they have a direct hand in offense and scoring......I think this position in sports stands on its own....JMHO

I agree with that 1000%

Veritek is IMPORTANT...emotionally, for leadership, and for some of the offense, but he's not the end all be all to the success of the team. It may be a coincidence that they're slide started when he went down, but i don't think it's a direct reflection.

Take Wade off the Heat, and they don't win the championship. Period.

[savage1]

Where would the Sox be if had Francona and NOT Varitrek had gone down for the duration(that is a coach had filled in for Francona had he been unable to manage) and Vartitek had NOT been injured? Ponder that one! It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure this one out.

[10DimeBry]

I agree with that 1000%

Veritek is IMPORTANT...emotionally, for leadership, and for some of the offense, but he's not the end all be all to the success of the team. It may be a coincidence that they're slide started when he went down, but i don't think it's a direct reflection.

Take Wade off the Heat, and they don't win the championship. Period.

varitek helps the staff beyond stats, that is huge. W/O him they suck. i'm telling you this as fact. the record proves as much. and prior to this year varitek was a .280 20hr 75rbi guy with the stick. bottom line is varitek is the most important player in that team. Overall. take varitek off the sox, they dont win WS.

[wayne1218]

im not saying he is better than varitek....i just thought he may know a liitle more about catching the red sox staff than lopez does.

He is better behind the plate jeff but he proved in S.F. that he couldn't handle the every day wear of being the number one guy. They can only use him so often!

[savage1]

varitek helps the staff beyond stats, that is huge. W/O him they suck. i'm telling you this as fact. the record proves as much. and prior to this year varitek was a .280 20hr 75rbi guy with the stick. bottom line is varitek is the most important player in that team. Overall. take varitek off the sox, they dont win WS.

I agree 1000%. He is the Sox version of "The straw that stirs the drink."

[wayne1218]

i do not think that is an accurate analogy at all.....D-Wade accounts for like 25-30% of the offense......Varitek does not....

I think it would be hard to make a cross comparison with a sport such as basketball where a star is 20% of the equation wheres in baseball there are 9 starters......and alot more variables.....

It would be hard to compare it to any other position in sports....I think of Qb's but they have a direct hand in offense and scoring......I think this position in sports stands on its own....JMHO

Who touches the ball on almost every snap and can call the game? The QB

Who receives EVERY pitch and calls the game? The Catcher

I think QB & Catcher have always been used in the same comparison and i think for good reason.

[TwoTonTony]

I will say it again.....When players on teams go down....good teams pick that player up for weeks at a time....Maybe not long term.....but who would have thought Melky Cabrera could have held the fort down in NY???
Tony-I think you may have answered youw own question in a sense.
I think Sox may not be a good team WITHOUT Varitek, and that with him they are a good team, meaning that they are probably more reliant on him than say another team would/should be.
Also, you said Cabrera held down the fort when Yanks had injuries;in essence you are saying Cabrera is a very good player who helped a team which was a good team before the injuries.
However, to use your comparison, than one would have to place the burden on Lopez to do the same(be a good player and contribute and replace Varitek), and even more importantly because he is a catcher;so far he has NOT contributed too much.
Does that make sense?

Savage-

If that is truly the case then Varitek is a HOF catcher and the position has been elveated to a new standard......If he is the lynchpin that makes the team go from medicore to great then we have BIG BIG problems...

I am not drawing a direct to Cabrera other than to say he had to fill in with a guy who has much better numbers than Varitek and plays a pretty darn good left field, combined with the loss of Sheffield who also has HUGE numbers...To compare the 2 would be fruitless, but they lost 2 huge guys and we lost a defensive stalwart and the manager of our staff.....If you were to pose that question 2-3 months ago, who would you rather lose Varitek for 1 month or Shef/Matsui for 3-4 months there is not a person alive who would choose the latter.......So in those terms i never heard the Yanks use that as an excuse for losing.....Nobody cares about excuses.....

I think we agree it was a big loss....Where we disagree is the severity of the loss....Can we agree on that??? I can not imagine the difference between Varitek and Mirabelli calling a game being the difference between wins and losses on a day in and out basis......Someone has to hit to cover the loss of Varitek....and we have not done that....VAritek would not have gotten us wins against TB and KC...and if you can not beat them.....you do not even need to mention variteks name as an excuse.........Your team should be ashamed since these are basically AAA teams....

I think Varitek should maybe run for President since everyone has elevated him to God like status....

Catching is a rough position and it is a given that guys wear out during the year and can not go everyday.....What do teams do who lose all-star catchers???

[wayne1218]

I agree with that 1000%

Veritek is IMPORTANT...emotionally, for leadership, and for some of the offense, but he's not the end all be all to the success of the team. It may be a coincidence that they're slide started when he went down, but i don't think it's a direct reflection.

Take Wade off the Heat, and they don't win the championship. Period.

Opinions from a Cubs fan don't count. They havn't watched a Real MLB team in 90 years. How would they know?!

[TheRook]

varitek helps the staff beyond stats, that is huge. W/O him they suck. i'm telling you this as fact. the record proves as much. and prior to this year varitek was a .280 20hr 75rbi guy with the stick. bottom line is varitek is the most important player in that team. Overall. take varitek off the sox, they dont win WS.

Well its not like he's at home nursing his wounds. If he's THAT important to a staff, then he should be able to help the pitchers as well as the others in the clubhouse as well as on the bench.

You weren't gonna win the WS with Veritek healthy, let alone without him.

He's important...I will give you that, but I think taking Manny or Ortiz out of the lineup is far worse.

[wayne1218]

varitek helps the staff beyond stats, that is huge. W/O him they suck. i'm telling you this as fact. the record proves as much. and prior to this year varitek was a .280 20hr 75rbi guy with the stick. bottom line is varitek is the most important player in that team. Overall. take varitek off the sox, they dont win WS.

BINGO!