The team to beat.

[WilliamPitt]

Their position quite favorable
By Bob Ryan
Globe Columnist / February 23, 2008

FORT MYERS, Fla. - You're on top. Can you handle it?

You can't lapse back into that narcissistic, woe-is-me routine. There is no woe. There is only Whoa!

The Boston Red Sox are baseball's gold standard. Even the Yankees admit it.

"We look up to them," says Jorge Posada, and we all know who "them" is.

"This is the first time in my five years we are not the team to beat," says Alex Rodriguez, and he isn't referring to the Blue Jays, even if they are the smart choice among baseball Wise Guys to make the American League East a three-team race. (Yeah, yeah, I've been saying that for three years, but this time I mean it.)

No, no, it's the Boston Red Sox - the defending world champion Boston Red Sox - who are the logical favorites to win the 2008 World Series.

More: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/02/23/their_position_quite_favorable/

....aaaahhhhh, baseball...

:)

[Tektonik]

1. I wish I could say I care

But baseball is quickly being run into the ground by Selig. :shrug:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. They opened last year with an $143M payroll. Is it $200M yet?

:shrug:

[Yavin4]

3. Shhhheeeeeeeiiiiiiiitttttt

[madinmaryland]

4. Hmmm. Weren't they saying about the Patriots....

"who are the logical favorites to win the 2008 Super Bowl."

:hi:

[Forkboy]

5. Arrrgh...twisting the knife!

:D

[MaineDem]

6. Aw, now don't go dragging football into a good baseball thread

As a life-long Red Sox fan having them the favorite only means there's greater distance to fall. Been up, been down, like up better.

LDefending champs" brings a good feeling. :)

[bulldogge]

7. Pitching

Will determine alot this year for those guys, they had a nice rotation until this whole debate about schillings shoulder came up. The american league is tough, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, NY, LAA ....the list goes on, I thought last year and I believe it will be true again this year that the American league series are more of a world series atmosphere than the world series itself. I do think the Mets will finally make an appearance this year but can they keep up with any of the AL teams? On that note GO SOX!

[Forkboy]

8. I'll probably regret saying this, but Schilling isn't a big deal at this point.

Had he retired not many here would have been upset, so his injury thing is something to talk about, but not the end of the world.

File this under the "Famous last words" category. :)

[bulldogge]

9. Your

probably right, now that I think about it a bit more, since his whole "bloody" sock routine he is barely above 500 as a regular season starter but he still shines in the post season when he is needed most.

[Forkboy]

10. That's the catch.

Say what you will about him, he's awesome in the postseason. Still, I think lester may be ready to step in, and Dice K will hopefully be better than last year (and he wasn't bad at all last year).

Besides, he's such a repub tool that I can't bring myself to root for him when he pitches. :)

And by the way...welcome to DU! :toast: