37 Feet Up

What a revolutionary idea, letting a manager pick his coaches. Now tell me again how Valentine wasn't set up to fail

Covering this team is like working for FEMA

Opening Day walk off for the Tigers. Devastation for the Sox.

John Henry spoke so softly the other day I was sure we were all going to have to wear puffy shirts.

Later in the day, when he was WEEI, McClure said his style as a coach was to, "kick ass and win."

#RedSox bid for Darvish was a half-used MBTA Charlie Card and $300 headphones that Josh Beckett didn't want

But there's no doubt it's ending appropriately. Here's hoping Varitek recognizes that you don't get to keep the roster spot forever. That's what the photographs are for.

Mighty sporting of the Red Sox to pick up the tab for Dale Sveum's plane ticket from Phoenix and his hotel accommodations here, just so he could become manager of the Chicago Cubs.

There are so many things wrong with the Sox at this hour, it’s difficult to know where to start. The manager is gone, the general manager is gone, the owners are in hiding, and the players are a loathsome lot totally unworthy of the money and adulation they receive.

And so it went for the 2011 Red Sox, the biggest chokers of any Boston team in my lifetime. At least the '78 Sox fought back and forced a one-game playoff; these guys couldn't even do that. They disintegrated over an entire month, day after day after day. You can't even explain how brutal they were unless you followed the free fall firsthand. Once 82-51, they finished 90-72. From August 30 through September 24, they were 2-18 in games in which they scored fewer than nine runs. Their team ERA for September was 5.90. Their starters finished 4-13 for the month with a 7.03 ERA. Their best setup guy single-handedly blew four games. Their bats went mysteriously silent at the worst possible times, personified by Papi's three-foot out tonight in a situation in which it was almost impossible NOT to score. If the 2004 Red Sox distinguished themselves by everyone chipping in, the 2011 Red Sox distinguished themselves by chipping out.

Player IP H R ER BB K HR BFP Pit B-S ERA OpBA J. Beckett, (W 6-2) 9.0 1 0 0 0 6 0 28 97 29 - 68 1.86 .174

Red Sox are working on a plan to add lefthander Andrew Miller, currently at Triple A Pawtucket, to the rotation.

I got almost 370 bombs in the big leagues and everybody wants to make a big deal because I bat-flip one of them. (Expletive) that (expletive), man. If I have to make that video on my (expletive), let's see how many bat flips I got on this (expletive). Good night.