For those concerned about Red Sox Nation

[YmoBeThere]

The rookie right hander in his second start has provided a reprieve at least for this evening.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_y...901102&prov=ap

[hc5duke]

And of course, the receiving team of the no-hitter is... the Baltimore Orioles.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

The rookie right hander in his second start has provided a reprieve at least for this evening.

Congrats to the rookie for the no hitter.

The Yankees' Phil Hughes had a no hitter through 7 in his second start way back in May, before pulling a muscle and heading to the DL for 3 months. Now that he's back, he hasn't been as effective. Looks like these kids, along with Yankee rookies Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, will be big time rivals for years to come! I sure hope so.

[Bostondevil]

I watched the game but because of the 2 walks in the 4th where there were 2 on and no outs, I kind of lost track that it was a no-hitter going. When Remy said that they were at Fenway for what could be a historic night I was thinking why? The announcers never said the word. Also my oldest son had been switching to watch some football during a couple of Oriole at bats. He said, "Look Mom, no hits." When Buchholz got through the 7th, I called the whole family down to watch the rest of the game. Bedtime was delayed but for a good reason I think.

Buchholz may be 23 but he looks like he should be playing in the Little League World Series. What I would have given to have been at Fenway last night. And Ozzie? If you got me tickets, I'd even root for a Yankee to pitch a no-hitter (as long as they weren't playing the Sox). That's my sports dream, to witness a no-hitter someday.

[cspan37421]

I only got to see the highlight of the last pitch of the game, and man, did that thing drop!

I feel bad for Orioles fans. On the short end of a 30-3 pasting, and now this.

[dukehoopsgirl]

I was psyched for Bucholz (and had a stomach ache throughout the 8th and 9th innings!). I've said it before but my husband and I love the Sox who have come through the minor league system, since we get to watch them all summer in AA Portland. We had seen Bucholz pitch as a SeaDog for my 30th birthday in June.

I felt badly for him during the post-game news conference, though. He just looked like he wanted out and the reporters kept asking him the same thing over and over...how do you feel? Jeez, he's 23, in his second game as a major leaguer, and just pitched a no hitter...how to heck is he supposed to feel?!

[YmoBeThere]

After the disasterous little trip to NYC and a loss to Baltimore, Boston appears to have righted the ship with wins against the Orioles and Blue Jays. 7 game lead with 23 to go.

[bhd28]

http://www.bugsandcranks.com/boston-...ty-lookalikes/

http://www.bugsandcranks.com/boston-...the-new-class/

[hc5duke]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=270906101
Wasn't as pretty, he had a bases loaded with no outs situation but got out unscathed. The O's just can't catch a break.

[TillyGalore]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=270906101
Wasn't as pretty, he had a bases loaded with no outs situation but got out unscathed. The O's just can't catch a break.

The Red Sox are quickly becoming equal to the Yankees in my book. Hate 'em both!

[tombrady]

The Red Sox are quickly becoming equal to the Yankees in my book. Hate 'em both!

Could you please clarify why this is? Is it simply because the Red Sox have been quite good for several years now?

And if this is the case -- shouldn't you generally hate Duke then too? Your hate should be directed towards the inept management of the Orioles.

[TillyGalore]

Could you please clarify why this is? Is it simply because the Red Sox have been quite good for several years now?

And if this is the case -- shouldn't you generally hate Duke then too? Your hate should be directed towards the inept management of the Orioles.

I do hate the inept management of the O's. But I'm tired of the AL East always being about the Spankees and Red Flops.

As for hating Duke, shame on you for even mentioning such a thing on the board. I do hate Carolina.

[Bostondevil]

What is the best analogy for the Red Sox in the ACC? Really, sad to say, they haven't won enough to be the equivalent of Duke to the Yankees Carolina. (If others on this board would prefer thinking of it the other way around, be my guest, but I'm not comparing the Sox to you know who.) Right after the heartbreak of 2003 I looked up how many times the Sox had finished second to the Yankees, I think it was 17, it may just have been 17 times finishing second to anybody. Still, 17 times, any team would build up a complex about that I think, although now it must be 19. And given 17 more chances, I'm sure the Sox would have won a couple of World Series and they'd be more like St. Louis in people's collective baseball minds.

So, beaten up by the bigs boys enough times to develop a complex, you know, the more I think about it, the Sox are the Maryland of the AL East, with less terping.

And Tilly, if overexposure is your reason for hating the Sox, it's ESPN's fault. The E stands for evil. I truly believe they've caused most of the Duke hate too. Now they're after the Sox. It's all their fault, stop watching.

[YmoBeThere]

The Yankees just took Game 1 of a three game set and did it in dramatic fashion. They roughed up Okajima and Papelbon for 6 runs in the top of the 8th. Why wasn't Gagne in earlier? How could they have lost their 5th in a row to the Yankees? All this after Ortiz' 9th inning heroics on Wednesday night.

[Olympic Fan]

To answer the question as to why more and more neutral (non Yankee and non Red Sox) fans are hating on the Sox ... I think it's because to a large degree, the Red Sox have BECOME the Yankees.

After years of complaining about how the Yankees "buy" pennants, the Red Sox now have the second-largest payroll in baseball -- by a wide margin. The team that finally broke the Red Sox World Series jinx remains to this day the highest payroll of any world championship team.

Look, I'm not blaming them for that. I'm a Yankee fan and know how unfair much of the criticism is (one, I don't see why its so terrible to re-invest the profits of the team back into the franchise; and, two, a lot of the payroll goes towards keeping together the core of a championship team).

Other teams have tried to "buy" their way to success -- the Orioles have spent almost as much on high-priced free agents as anybody. Other teams just haven't spent their money as well.

I'm not criticizing the Red Sox in this case, merely trying to point out that you guys are no longer the poor, scrappy underdogs that you were for so long. Today, you are, like my Yankees, another rich, bloated Evil Empire, using your wealth to bludgen the opposition.

[captmojo]

Every time I hear of "buying" a championship, I think back to Charlie Finley and cringe at the lack of revenue sharing he had with his players. If they put'em in the seats, they should receive just compensation. If an owner is willing to put forth such justified payroll and pennants ensue, then so be it. Let the free market dictate.

Off to another side, I don't like salary caps for reasons stated above.

[billybreen]

One thing that makes it easy to hate on the Sox is that, living in Boston, many of my Sox fan friends hate both Duke and the Yankees and typically make the (flawed but flattering) comparison between the two. My token response is "How are the Sox any different from the Yankees, except that they've won so, so much less?"

[YmoBeThere]

Not sure if it proves anything, but road attendance for both the Yankees and Red Sox has been consistently good over the last few years.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...e_N.htm?csp=34

[Bostondevil]

After today, I'm no longer concerned about Red Sox Nation. At least not until tomorrow.

They may be well paid, but the 2007 version of the Red Sox is an extremely likeable team. It's my absolute favorite in recent memory (yes, including '04) although I miss Pedro. Lowell, I love him! LOOOOOOOOVVVVEEE him. He just looks like he could be from Saugus, no flash, show up every day and get it done. Ortiz, c'mon, how could you not like Big Papi? Even Manny being Manny. He's a nut case, but a fun one, and he's not hurting anybody, except maybe Sox fans when he takes plays off.

I know the Red Sox have this huge payroll (I thought both the Mets and Yankees were bigger), but in the end they didn't pull the trigger with A-Rod, the Yankees did. Who's getting it too, I know Manny is making a mint and I assume a couple of the pitchers are, did JD Drew get a huge contract? Julio Lugo? How many of the Sox are of the high-priced free agent variety? Won't the salary come back down from the stratosphere once Manny's contract expires? That is assuming the don't sign him to another one. I don't think he wants to stay here though.

[YmoBeThere]

I am really surprised by the angst shown by many of the Red Sox fans around here. Perhaps they have seen too much go wrong so they aren't overconfident. Or perhaps because the ones around the office know I am a Dodgers fan, they know I don't have any real skin in the game and it is all in the name of good fun.

I was happy to see the Sox take JD Drew, saved the Dodgers millions. He signed a 5 year, $70 million contract. Manny has another year on his contract at $20 million. Ortiz is here through '10 at $12.5 Varitek and Lugo(yes, Lugo) around a couple each at $9. Lowell and Clement both likely gone after this season at $9+. Dice-K and Beckett at $9+ for the next couple. Everyone else is either gone or at much lower $$$$.