2 slp prchnce 2 drm

Mike:
So it wasn't so much Red Sox fans losing sleep over the closah situation as it was Jonathan Papelbon himself.

 

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Susan:
I love the image of the restless Paps, tossing and turning in the sheets like a lattah day Hamlet, Prince of the Fens.

 

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Susan:
"To close or not to close: that is the question."

 

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Mike:
Whether 'tis nobler to go every 5th day
Of fortuitous routine and 200 innings,
Or to seize the ball in a 9th of troubles,
And once, twice, thrice end them?

 

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Susan:
Of course, now Batshit Tavarez is in the rotation.

 

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Mike:
Ah, there's the rub.

 

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Susan:
Oh, show me the steep and thorny way to heaven.

 

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Mike:
There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.

 

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Author's Notes
As you most likely realized, most of today's lines are ripped and/or repurposed from Hamlet.

Comments

[paddy24]

What is this shit? Now the inmates are back to running the asylum? Papelbon is a great pitcher. Now we will get only 65 innings out of him, instead of 220. He would have won 17 to 21 games. All closers are the same. They all collect around 35 saves and "blow" six or seven saves. Papelbon "blew" plenty of big games last year. Our starting rotation suffers a huge blow with this silliness. If Theo had simply made a move for any run of the mill experienced closer, we wouldn't be in this situation. We stink up the middle. The soon-to-be bust Lugo, Coco, an aging Varitek, and Pedroia aren't exactly Concepcion, Geronimo, Bench and Morgan. Drew will have an incredible year, although it may only be for 135 games. I see a possible batting title for him. Manny and Papi are taken for granted. One of them is due to miss about 60 games. I'll go with Manny because he's a position player. Lowell won't do as well. Schilling has never been the same since sacrificing his career for the Red Sox World Series title. Lugo mailed it in for the last 45 games in the middle of a tight pennant race last year. Youkilis will get better and better. Timlin is done. Beckett has already taught his flat 93 mile per hour fastball up in the zone pitch to Dice-K. If the players are running the team, the season's now over before it ever began. - Paddy

[soxdownunder]

Sonoma,
Certainly on a Friday there is not much joy from any east coast (other than this one down 'ere) after 5. Sonoma ... ah, I have spent some glorious, if blurry, days there.

[soxdownunder]

The time is out of joint,
Oh cursed spite!
That ever Paddy24 was born to set it right.

[Kaz]

paddy24, thanks for that entertaining dose of stupidity. All closers are not the same, see: 2003, 2005. Papelbon's "big game" losses were HARDLY "big game" and mattered about as much as your doomsaying when it came to what killed us in 2006. We can only be improved by moving Tavarez out of the pen (I don't care where, but out..SP will do just fine). We didn't get Lugo for his defense, Coco and Pedroia are largely unknowns, and Tek is looking his best since 2004. Schilling has added a pitch and he's feeling his best since 2004.

I think Timlin is the only one you got right and Beckett is my "wait and see" pick. If the players were really running the team, then Papelbon would be a starter, Schilling would be sending in columns to the Globe, and Manny would be the team cook.

[Griffin]

Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand/that I might touch that face!

Closing is where Papelbon's heart is. Coincidentally, it's where the Red Sox's best interests are. It's so nice when things dovetail so sweetly.

[Rob in CT]

Downunder - nice limmerick! Is that a genetic gift of the Empire, or a more individualistic talent?

-----------------------------

Bob, Just for you --

Roar, Lions, Roar
For Alma Mater in the Hudson Valley
Fight on for Victory Evermore
While the Sons of Knickerbocker Rally Round
Columbia, Columbia
Shouting Her Name Forever
Roar, Lion, Roar
For Alma Mater on the Hudson Shore

What's that? 7-7 in conference play? No tourney bid? Oh.... Well, nevermind then. (F-ing U-Penn...)