I hate to sound like a broken record, but here we go again! In the never-ending yo-yo of Canadian regulatory rulings, the CRTC is now being told by the Federal Cabinet to go back and re-think their VoIP decision from last May. In short, it sounds like they are taking to heart the recommendations of the Telecom Policy Review that came out in March, which any fan of IP would have been happy with.
Needless to say, the incumbents like Bell and Telus were happy. It�s interesting to note that just like the RBOCs are largely getting their way with the FCC in the US, it�s looking more like that�s the case in Canada as well. This is exactly what the ILECs want to hear, as they can now watch the CRTC squirm and possibly � likely � go back on their word and let market forces rule.
If this does, in fact, come to pass, I know Jeff Pulver will be smiling. He was the lone American invited to come up and make a submission during the CRTC�s VoIP public hearings back in September 2004. His message was not well received, but for IP advocates such as myself, it was a message they needed to hear. For those of you who want to step into the time machine, you can review his submission here.
In short, Jeff's position was that the U.S. experiment of letting market forces rule was creating a highly competitive, innovative market, that in turn was driving rapid adoption of VoIP. I would argue that neither has really been the case in Canada. Sure, it�s different up here, but I think the playing field should be level, and we just might see that now.
And we just might see the kind of changes for the CRTC that the TPR has been advocating. Don�t get me wrong, the CRTC has a very hard job, and on the whole, they strike a good balance among the competing interests of free enterprise, good government, and well-served consumers. But their mandate and purpose needs re-thinking, at least as it pertains to the Internet world, which is quickly becoming about everything.
Monday, May 8, 2006
Friday, May 5, 2006
Cable VoIP + WiFi = MSO Advantage
Earlier today I mentioned I had another post coming about some interesting news that's good for the cable guys.
BridgePort Networks has been a leader in developing FMC platforms, and yesterday they announced a global reseller agreement with Siemens . Their NomadicONE server will be integrated with the Siemens IMS platform, and will enable the seamless handover of landline calls to WiFi and vice versa. This means that carriers can now support calls to and from a single phone number across different networks, and perhaps more importantly, it enables end-to-end VoIP.
This is great news for MSOs, and bad news for RBOCs - at least initially. And of course, it's terrific news for BridgePort who now get a global stage to strut their technology on.
Siemens has been particularly successful selling into U.S. MSOs, and strong evidence of this came earlier this week with news of a successful FMC trial with Time Warner Cable to support their IMS platform.
So, with these news items, it's not hard to see how together, Time Warner Cable, Siemens and Bridgeport can now create an infrastructure to keep subscriber calls off the PSTN altogether, and set the stage for more lucrative multimedia applications. What works for Time Warner Cable will work for the other MSOs, especially since the majors are working closely with Sprint/Nextel for the underlying network infrastructure and EV-DO access. Put this all together, and the MSOs have a pretty strong triple play, and if executed well, an even stronger quad play.
As a short coda, there's a bit of a Canadian flavor to this story. BridgePort, of course, is focused on telcos too, and have been working with Bell Canada for some time. Furthermore, BCE Capital is one of their investors, and of their founders, Tom Carter, is Canadian.
Hat tip to Andy Abramson on this one, and I'm sure Andy would agree that one of his clients, Iotum, would bring a lot to the party here. Imagine this - Web 2.0-style intelligent call routing across fixed and mobile networks with a single phone number (mapped to a SIP address). The MSOs could do an awful lot with that and truly take VoIP to another level.
BridgePort Networks has been a leader in developing FMC platforms, and yesterday they announced a global reseller agreement with Siemens . Their NomadicONE server will be integrated with the Siemens IMS platform, and will enable the seamless handover of landline calls to WiFi and vice versa. This means that carriers can now support calls to and from a single phone number across different networks, and perhaps more importantly, it enables end-to-end VoIP.
This is great news for MSOs, and bad news for RBOCs - at least initially. And of course, it's terrific news for BridgePort who now get a global stage to strut their technology on.
Siemens has been particularly successful selling into U.S. MSOs, and strong evidence of this came earlier this week with news of a successful FMC trial with Time Warner Cable to support their IMS platform.
So, with these news items, it's not hard to see how together, Time Warner Cable, Siemens and Bridgeport can now create an infrastructure to keep subscriber calls off the PSTN altogether, and set the stage for more lucrative multimedia applications. What works for Time Warner Cable will work for the other MSOs, especially since the majors are working closely with Sprint/Nextel for the underlying network infrastructure and EV-DO access. Put this all together, and the MSOs have a pretty strong triple play, and if executed well, an even stronger quad play.
As a short coda, there's a bit of a Canadian flavor to this story. BridgePort, of course, is focused on telcos too, and have been working with Bell Canada for some time. Furthermore, BCE Capital is one of their investors, and of their founders, Tom Carter, is Canadian.
Hat tip to Andy Abramson on this one, and I'm sure Andy would agree that one of his clients, Iotum, would bring a lot to the party here. Imagine this - Web 2.0-style intelligent call routing across fixed and mobile networks with a single phone number (mapped to a SIP address). The MSOs could do an awful lot with that and truly take VoIP to another level.
Verizon's Price Cut - Raising the Stakes for Vonage
I mentioned the other day about speaking with Business Week about a VoIP story, and it was one of their lead stories today.
Basically, Verizon's price cut for VoIP can't be anything but bad news for Vonage, and you knew it was just a matter of time until the RBOCs - well, all two of them at this point - played the price card to put tacks on the road as Vonage speeds along towards its IPO.
In all fairness, Vonage started this game back in 2004 when the threat of them being the RBOC-killer was more perceived than real. However, they succeeded in baiting AT&T into a costly price war that slowed up their CallVantage roll out. I would even surmise that this episode played no small part in AT&T's rapid demise and takeout by SBC a year and some later.
If you buy into that school of thought, Verizon's price cut is simply payback for the pain Vonage has inflicted on the RBOCs. I don't think VZ is so benevolent to be doing AT&T such a favor, but it sure makes things more interesting. So, now the question must be asked of AT&T - will they now jump in the ring and match VZ? You could call this collusion - the way the oil companies are always accused of fixing pump prices. It's probably more the case that AT&T would do so just to keep pace with VZ since they do compete against each other.
The Business Week article does a nice job of telling the story, and they were nice enough to quote me in a few places.
Bottom line - this move will be a real test for Vonage. Do they blink first, and drop their price - which will hurt their valuation, or do they hold fast and focus on quality and features? I'm sure I'm not alone in being concerned that the RBOCs will use the power of pricing to quash Vonage and basically retain control over the landline market, bringing us ever closer - and back - to the pre-1984 monopoly world.
COMING UP... am working on a posting for later today that will be of interest to anyone following FMC. In short, BridgePort Networks has got something going with Siemens that I think the MSOs will get pretty excited about. Stay tuned.
voip
Basically, Verizon's price cut for VoIP can't be anything but bad news for Vonage, and you knew it was just a matter of time until the RBOCs - well, all two of them at this point - played the price card to put tacks on the road as Vonage speeds along towards its IPO.
In all fairness, Vonage started this game back in 2004 when the threat of them being the RBOC-killer was more perceived than real. However, they succeeded in baiting AT&T into a costly price war that slowed up their CallVantage roll out. I would even surmise that this episode played no small part in AT&T's rapid demise and takeout by SBC a year and some later.
If you buy into that school of thought, Verizon's price cut is simply payback for the pain Vonage has inflicted on the RBOCs. I don't think VZ is so benevolent to be doing AT&T such a favor, but it sure makes things more interesting. So, now the question must be asked of AT&T - will they now jump in the ring and match VZ? You could call this collusion - the way the oil companies are always accused of fixing pump prices. It's probably more the case that AT&T would do so just to keep pace with VZ since they do compete against each other.
The Business Week article does a nice job of telling the story, and they were nice enough to quote me in a few places.
Bottom line - this move will be a real test for Vonage. Do they blink first, and drop their price - which will hurt their valuation, or do they hold fast and focus on quality and features? I'm sure I'm not alone in being concerned that the RBOCs will use the power of pricing to quash Vonage and basically retain control over the landline market, bringing us ever closer - and back - to the pre-1984 monopoly world.
COMING UP... am working on a posting for later today that will be of interest to anyone following FMC. In short, BridgePort Networks has got something going with Siemens that I think the MSOs will get pretty excited about. Stay tuned.
voip
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Conference Updates/More Media
Just wanted to update you on some upcoming conferences I'll be attending this month.
May 10-12 - Canadian Venture Forum, Toronto
At the CVF, a variety of fund-hungry startups will be telling/selling their story, and I'm looking forward to being part of the process. There are a couple of IP-based companies in the mix, which will be of most interest to me, including EQO (enables mobile Skype), Cascada (mobile P2P gaming apps), Voxlib (enables any-device, any-network communication), and Zonez (wireless broadband routers).
May 15-16 - mesh Web 2.0, Toronto.
It's been put together as a first-timer by 5 leading lights of Toronto's tech scene, including Mark Evans, Mathew Ingram, Rob Hyndman (they were all on my Bloggers Syndicate panel at VON Canada last month), and Mike McDerment (one of his companies is putting together my soon-to-be-launched website). They've managed to line up a great speaker roster, including uber-blogger Om Malik, and a lot of great sponsors are supporting it, which tells you there must money in this market somewhere!
Update - I was scheduled to be a Course Leader at a Toronto-based VoIP conference for next week, but their plans have just changed, and the date has been moved out to October.
More media....
Just a quick sidebar. I should get sick more often - for some reason, the media have been calling a lot this week, and for all kinds of stories.
Got a local double-play today - was cited in both the Globe & Mail and the National Post.
First, the Globe story was about how VoIP is starting to drive wireless, noting how Vonage Canada has finally launched its WiFi sevice with a UTS WiFi phone. It's not dual mode, though, so you really need a hotspot to use it. Still, it's a step in the right direction for them to compete against the bundles.
Second is the Post, where Mark Evans wrote about how declining landline revenues are hurting our incumbents. You have to be paid subscriber to get the whole article, but here's the story lead.
Also spoke with Business Week yesterday about another residential VoIP story, but it hasn't run yet.
And today, I spoke with Telemanagement magazine about Iotum. Stay tuned.
May 10-12 - Canadian Venture Forum, Toronto
At the CVF, a variety of fund-hungry startups will be telling/selling their story, and I'm looking forward to being part of the process. There are a couple of IP-based companies in the mix, which will be of most interest to me, including EQO (enables mobile Skype), Cascada (mobile P2P gaming apps), Voxlib (enables any-device, any-network communication), and Zonez (wireless broadband routers).
May 15-16 - mesh Web 2.0, Toronto.
It's been put together as a first-timer by 5 leading lights of Toronto's tech scene, including Mark Evans, Mathew Ingram, Rob Hyndman (they were all on my Bloggers Syndicate panel at VON Canada last month), and Mike McDerment (one of his companies is putting together my soon-to-be-launched website). They've managed to line up a great speaker roster, including uber-blogger Om Malik, and a lot of great sponsors are supporting it, which tells you there must money in this market somewhere!
Update - I was scheduled to be a Course Leader at a Toronto-based VoIP conference for next week, but their plans have just changed, and the date has been moved out to October.
More media....
Just a quick sidebar. I should get sick more often - for some reason, the media have been calling a lot this week, and for all kinds of stories.
Got a local double-play today - was cited in both the Globe & Mail and the National Post.
First, the Globe story was about how VoIP is starting to drive wireless, noting how Vonage Canada has finally launched its WiFi sevice with a UTS WiFi phone. It's not dual mode, though, so you really need a hotspot to use it. Still, it's a step in the right direction for them to compete against the bundles.
Second is the Post, where Mark Evans wrote about how declining landline revenues are hurting our incumbents. You have to be paid subscriber to get the whole article, but here's the story lead.
Also spoke with Business Week yesterday about another residential VoIP story, but it hasn't run yet.
And today, I spoke with Telemanagement magazine about Iotum. Stay tuned.
Canadian IP Thought Leaders Podcast - Ray Vilis, Versatel Networks
This week's pod was with Ray Vilis of Versatel Networks, which is based in Ottawa. Versatel has been a leading proponent of pushing intelligence out to the network edge, and on this chat, we focused on opportunities they are seeing in the social networking and conferencing areas. Ray talks about how the IM companies like Google and Yahoo are ahead of the traditional service providers on this front, and how they see value in the kinds of applications Versatel has developed. Another good example of Canadian telecom ingenuity at work!
You can download the podcast and/or learn more about Ray here.
You can download the podcast and/or learn more about Ray here.
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Loose Ends - Iotum, Skype, Vonage, Wikis and Eagles
Been besieged with a nasty cold the past few days, so my blogging has been limited. I feel especially badly for not weighing in on the Iotum/PhoneGnome news, which is pretty exciting.
It's been covered very well by now, mainly via Andy Abramson, and Jeff Pulver, who, this morning cited a number of other posts about the news.
That aside, I wanted to reference two things quickly.
First, a posting from Alec Saunders about something I wanted to post about, but was just too under the weather. On Monday, one of our national dailies, the Globe & Mail ran - as its lead editorial item - a piece about Wikis, and how they're gaining legitmacy as a way to gather and publish credible information. It's very much the antithesis of traditional journalism, and it was quite interesting to see the paper give such prominence to the idea. Was glad to see something so Web 2.0 get attention on the editorial pages, and hope to see them do more of the same.
Second - just wanted to quickly revisit my posting last week about the eagle web cam site. This thing continues to explode - the web site now claims they're up to 10 million hits a day as excitement builds about the imminent hatching of the eggs. Here's some additional press coverage about it. Not sure what happens when the eggs hatch, but this gives us a whole new take about what reality television can be.
While I haven't been up to doing much blogging, I did manage to speak with the media and get cited about a few things...
BusinessWeek, about Skype 2.5, which ran this morning.
New Telephony about Vonage's IPO plans,which also ran today.
Canadian Business magazine for an upcoming feature on IPTV, and the Globe & Mail about wireless (for later this week).
Am also speaking with Telemanagement magazine first thing tomorrow about Iotum.
It's been covered very well by now, mainly via Andy Abramson, and Jeff Pulver, who, this morning cited a number of other posts about the news.
That aside, I wanted to reference two things quickly.
First, a posting from Alec Saunders about something I wanted to post about, but was just too under the weather. On Monday, one of our national dailies, the Globe & Mail ran - as its lead editorial item - a piece about Wikis, and how they're gaining legitmacy as a way to gather and publish credible information. It's very much the antithesis of traditional journalism, and it was quite interesting to see the paper give such prominence to the idea. Was glad to see something so Web 2.0 get attention on the editorial pages, and hope to see them do more of the same.
Second - just wanted to quickly revisit my posting last week about the eagle web cam site. This thing continues to explode - the web site now claims they're up to 10 million hits a day as excitement builds about the imminent hatching of the eggs. Here's some additional press coverage about it. Not sure what happens when the eggs hatch, but this gives us a whole new take about what reality television can be.
While I haven't been up to doing much blogging, I did manage to speak with the media and get cited about a few things...
BusinessWeek, about Skype 2.5, which ran this morning.
New Telephony about Vonage's IPO plans,which also ran today.
Canadian Business magazine for an upcoming feature on IPTV, and the Globe & Mail about wireless (for later this week).
Am also speaking with Telemanagement magazine first thing tomorrow about Iotum.
Monday, May 1, 2006
Mayday, Mayday! - Johnny Comes Marching Home
Well, it's May 1st - and it really does feel like May Day. Well, Mayday, actually. The Red Sox Nation has had this date circled on their calendar ever since Johnny Damon went over to the Evil Empire.
When Johnny met Manny... happier times - never! (courtesy of Boston.com)
Tonight marks the return of JD to Fenway, as the Yankees and Sox meet for the first time this year. On paper, the two teams are fittingly tied for first place in a competitive division, but on the field, they're going in very different directions. It's only one month into the season, and I'm worried - very worried.
The Yankees are playing the kind of baseball that won them championships a few years back, while the Red Sox have gone into a black hole that I have no idea how they'll get out of. They return home after a disastrous 3 and 6 road trip - first time in 3 years they've dropped 3 series in row.
The first game of that trip was right here in Toronto, and it may have set the tone for the rest of the season. Going into that game, things were going smoothly, and the Sox were looking like the team to beat. They were cruising along 6-2 in the 8th inning, and Beckett was looking like the guy we wanted when we signed him. Then the wheels came off, and the Jays made an inspired comeback to tie it, and outlast the Sox to win it in 12. Beckett was shelled even worse next outing Cleveland, giving up 9 runs in like 3 inninings. Huh?? The only good that came out of that trip was Manny ending the longest homerless drought of his career.
It's the nature of a Sox fan to worry, and there's plenty of reason right now. I think everyone is happy to see Theo Epstein back, but the roster overhaul is not giving us the team we need. Just a few things to consider that are not working out yet as planned...
- Coco Crisp - should, and probably will be right move. But he's been hurt, playing only 5 games so far. So, nothing there, and we don't have that table-setter to get those big rallies going. So far, it doesn't look like Damon has missed a beat in NY - he's brought so much to their game, and they sure look strong now.
- Josh Beckett - a bit of a risk, but a key move to get a second ace for the rotation. Had a great start, but has totally flamed out the last 2, and he faces the Yankees tomorrow night. What, me worry?
- Tim Wakefield - has actually pitched very well, but Josh Bard can't handle the knuckleball, and he's losing games he normally wins, and all those passed balls are costing us games. To boot, having Varitek sit every fifth game to have Bard's weak bat in the lineup is a bad idea. Can someone please make a deal to get Mirabelli back?
- Giving up Arroyo for Pena - these are the kinds of bad moves the Sox used to make. What looked like a strong pitching unit has turned out to be anything but, and Arroyo is sorely missed. He's shining in Cinci, and is even keeping pace with Manny in the HR department. To think that he took below market value to stay with the Sox, and we then shipped him to the NL... To boot, Wily Mo is a strikeout machine and a liability in the field. He did come through yesterday, but he's left a lot of men on base. So, the Sox have taken two steps backwards on this deal.
- Manny who? What is he waiting for? You have to wonder if he's feeling overshadowed by Papi and doesn't like being second slugger. Manny being Manny - that never changes, but we need his bat, big time.
- Mark Loretta - his defence has been good, for sure, but he's barely hitting .200. Should he really be hitting second? We need something better in this spot to set the table for Ortiz and Manny.
- Matt Clement/David Wells. If these guys pitched well, the Sox have perhaps the best rotation in baseball. Of course that's a big if. It looks like Wells is done, and Clement has quickly reverted to form for the second half of last year, which was awful. He does give you innings, but when he loses it, we lose. Why can't we have the Matt from the first half of last year when he was a deserving All Star?
- Pitching roster is looking very shaky overall. On paper, we have 5 quality starters, which should carry you a long way. Wakefield will never be fully effective until the catching situation is fixed. Right now, we only seem to have one reliable starter in Schilling, and the middle relief is just a disaster. There's NOONE in that group who can come into a game and stop the bleeding. This is where the Sox are losing games - in the 6th and 7th innings, before they can bring in their good arms. Again, this is where Arroyo would have been so valuable.
- Where's the offence gone? Aside from Ortiz's superman numbers in April, there's nothing shaking here. Nobody else is coming up with clutch hits, and they can't get any rallies going. They must be leading the league with runners LOB, and near the bottom for homers and stolen bases. Time after time they've got good hitters coming up with men on base, and they're just not cashing in. It's costing them games, they're losing ground to both the Jays and Yankees who definitely have a knack of bringing their runners home.
- Finally, what you see is the team we've got. It's not like the Sox are racked with injuries. Aside from Coco and Wells, the team is pretty healthy. The offence just has to improve or we're going nowhere. The pitching has been problematic, but good hitting and offence will negate a lot of that, especially when you've got a great closer.
So, there's LOTS of room for improvement. Of course, there have been some bright lights so far, and that's at least given them a winning record in April. Papelbon has been perfect, and is preserving the wins that Foulke was giving up so painfully last year. That's huge. It's been a while since the Sox have had anyone they can trot out to shut down the Yankees and counter the all powerful Rivera. That said, Foulke has pitched well, but even he knows that Papelbon is the man right now to close.
Schilling has also been great, and really does look to be back in winning form. The Sox have to have that to be contenders. Same goes for Beckett, but now he's got to prove his mettle after his last 2 train wreck starts. He'll have his chance tomorrow night.
Of course, Ortiz has been even better than hoped for, but it's very troubling to see Manny not feeding off this to raise his game.
Finally, the new look infield has been a huge upgrade, and the Sox are right at the top alongside the Twins in team defence. Again, they're saving games that guys like Renteria were throwing away for us last year. Gonzalez has the good glove, and we can live with his low average in the #9 spot - so long as the guys ahead of him are hitting a lot higher. That's not really happening right now, and the bottom 4 of the order is too weak for a contender.
So, a lot of problems are compounding each other, and the good things are being overshadowed by problems that weren't supposed to be there. Well, they've been laid bare, especially on this last road trip. This mini-series with the Yankees will be a big reality check. Is it too soon to be screaming Mayday??? Hopefully not. The Sox have a way of picking up their game against New York, but if they get blown out, I can guarantee you, the alarm bells will be ringing by Wednesday.
When Johnny met Manny... happier times - never! (courtesy of Boston.com)
Tonight marks the return of JD to Fenway, as the Yankees and Sox meet for the first time this year. On paper, the two teams are fittingly tied for first place in a competitive division, but on the field, they're going in very different directions. It's only one month into the season, and I'm worried - very worried.
The Yankees are playing the kind of baseball that won them championships a few years back, while the Red Sox have gone into a black hole that I have no idea how they'll get out of. They return home after a disastrous 3 and 6 road trip - first time in 3 years they've dropped 3 series in row.
The first game of that trip was right here in Toronto, and it may have set the tone for the rest of the season. Going into that game, things were going smoothly, and the Sox were looking like the team to beat. They were cruising along 6-2 in the 8th inning, and Beckett was looking like the guy we wanted when we signed him. Then the wheels came off, and the Jays made an inspired comeback to tie it, and outlast the Sox to win it in 12. Beckett was shelled even worse next outing Cleveland, giving up 9 runs in like 3 inninings. Huh?? The only good that came out of that trip was Manny ending the longest homerless drought of his career.
It's the nature of a Sox fan to worry, and there's plenty of reason right now. I think everyone is happy to see Theo Epstein back, but the roster overhaul is not giving us the team we need. Just a few things to consider that are not working out yet as planned...
- Coco Crisp - should, and probably will be right move. But he's been hurt, playing only 5 games so far. So, nothing there, and we don't have that table-setter to get those big rallies going. So far, it doesn't look like Damon has missed a beat in NY - he's brought so much to their game, and they sure look strong now.
- Josh Beckett - a bit of a risk, but a key move to get a second ace for the rotation. Had a great start, but has totally flamed out the last 2, and he faces the Yankees tomorrow night. What, me worry?
- Tim Wakefield - has actually pitched very well, but Josh Bard can't handle the knuckleball, and he's losing games he normally wins, and all those passed balls are costing us games. To boot, having Varitek sit every fifth game to have Bard's weak bat in the lineup is a bad idea. Can someone please make a deal to get Mirabelli back?
- Giving up Arroyo for Pena - these are the kinds of bad moves the Sox used to make. What looked like a strong pitching unit has turned out to be anything but, and Arroyo is sorely missed. He's shining in Cinci, and is even keeping pace with Manny in the HR department. To think that he took below market value to stay with the Sox, and we then shipped him to the NL... To boot, Wily Mo is a strikeout machine and a liability in the field. He did come through yesterday, but he's left a lot of men on base. So, the Sox have taken two steps backwards on this deal.
- Manny who? What is he waiting for? You have to wonder if he's feeling overshadowed by Papi and doesn't like being second slugger. Manny being Manny - that never changes, but we need his bat, big time.
- Mark Loretta - his defence has been good, for sure, but he's barely hitting .200. Should he really be hitting second? We need something better in this spot to set the table for Ortiz and Manny.
- Matt Clement/David Wells. If these guys pitched well, the Sox have perhaps the best rotation in baseball. Of course that's a big if. It looks like Wells is done, and Clement has quickly reverted to form for the second half of last year, which was awful. He does give you innings, but when he loses it, we lose. Why can't we have the Matt from the first half of last year when he was a deserving All Star?
- Pitching roster is looking very shaky overall. On paper, we have 5 quality starters, which should carry you a long way. Wakefield will never be fully effective until the catching situation is fixed. Right now, we only seem to have one reliable starter in Schilling, and the middle relief is just a disaster. There's NOONE in that group who can come into a game and stop the bleeding. This is where the Sox are losing games - in the 6th and 7th innings, before they can bring in their good arms. Again, this is where Arroyo would have been so valuable.
- Where's the offence gone? Aside from Ortiz's superman numbers in April, there's nothing shaking here. Nobody else is coming up with clutch hits, and they can't get any rallies going. They must be leading the league with runners LOB, and near the bottom for homers and stolen bases. Time after time they've got good hitters coming up with men on base, and they're just not cashing in. It's costing them games, they're losing ground to both the Jays and Yankees who definitely have a knack of bringing their runners home.
- Finally, what you see is the team we've got. It's not like the Sox are racked with injuries. Aside from Coco and Wells, the team is pretty healthy. The offence just has to improve or we're going nowhere. The pitching has been problematic, but good hitting and offence will negate a lot of that, especially when you've got a great closer.
So, there's LOTS of room for improvement. Of course, there have been some bright lights so far, and that's at least given them a winning record in April. Papelbon has been perfect, and is preserving the wins that Foulke was giving up so painfully last year. That's huge. It's been a while since the Sox have had anyone they can trot out to shut down the Yankees and counter the all powerful Rivera. That said, Foulke has pitched well, but even he knows that Papelbon is the man right now to close.
Schilling has also been great, and really does look to be back in winning form. The Sox have to have that to be contenders. Same goes for Beckett, but now he's got to prove his mettle after his last 2 train wreck starts. He'll have his chance tomorrow night.
Of course, Ortiz has been even better than hoped for, but it's very troubling to see Manny not feeding off this to raise his game.
Finally, the new look infield has been a huge upgrade, and the Sox are right at the top alongside the Twins in team defence. Again, they're saving games that guys like Renteria were throwing away for us last year. Gonzalez has the good glove, and we can live with his low average in the #9 spot - so long as the guys ahead of him are hitting a lot higher. That's not really happening right now, and the bottom 4 of the order is too weak for a contender.
So, a lot of problems are compounding each other, and the good things are being overshadowed by problems that weren't supposed to be there. Well, they've been laid bare, especially on this last road trip. This mini-series with the Yankees will be a big reality check. Is it too soon to be screaming Mayday??? Hopefully not. The Sox have a way of picking up their game against New York, but if they get blown out, I can guarantee you, the alarm bells will be ringing by Wednesday.
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