Winners of seven out of their last ten games, the Red Sox are showing some life here as we approach the last week before the All Star Game.

At 39-45, things aren’t great, they’ve still got major issues with guys like Rick Porcello and Mike Napoli, but slowly, things are improving.

The talks shows must feel good, they’ve been able to bring out all their old material on the Dominican left-fielder named Ramirez, who doesn’t always make the smartest plays in the field or on the basepaths, and can make routine plays an adventure.

While Hanley Ramirez hit a game winning home run in yesterday’s 5-4 win over the Houston Astros, Ramirez also ran into an out at third base early in the game, and served as the DH while David Ortiz played first in place of the struggling Napoli.

Gary Tanguay, who has suddenly become the top fill-in at WEEI despite getting fired from three jobs (Patriots radio, Celtics TV and 98.5 mid-days) in the last few years, spent this morning screaming that Ramirez should’ve been in there at first instead of Ortiz and was being selfish.

So let me get this straight. Ramirez, who has struggled mightily in adapting to a new position in left field, should’ve been put at another position he has never played before. Sounds insane.

By the way, Ramirez is hitting .308/.357/.538 since June 1st.  He’s clearly the problem.

The reemergence of Tanguay is nothing short of baffling to me.

****

On Friday, Chad Finn gave a rundown of the local sports radio shows, an endeavor I’ve been meaning to do myself recently.

How do Boston’s sports radio shows rate?

I’d say I pretty much agree with him across the board. I’m not a huge fan of the style of Toucher and Rich, but I understand the appeal for many.

****

CSNNE will broadcast three Celtics summer league games over the next week or so:

Following are the NBA Summer League games available LIVE on Comcast SportsNet and online:

LIVE: Monday, July 6 at 9PM Celtics vs. Utah (in Utah)

Replay: Saturday, July 25th at Noon

 

LIVE: Thursday, July 9 at 7PM Celtics vs. San Antonio (in Utah)

Replay: Saturday, July 25th at 2PM

 

LIVE: Thursday, July 14 at 7PM Celtics vs. Miami (in Las Vegas)

Replay: Saturday, July 25th at 4PM

 

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

60 thoughts on “Red Sox Showing Signs Of Life”

  1. Tanguay is the biggest phony of them all. It’s an act, and a poor one at that.

    His comment makes no logical sense (it makes plenty of sense if you’re trying to cause a scene on the radio and get people to notice you) – Hanley HAS NEVER played 1B in the majors and Ortiz has played there as recently as earlier this season.

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    1. Having GT on with Bradford made it difficult to listen this morning. The only reason why I continued to listen on my 60 minute ride to work was I got to hear Tanguay continue to dig himself into a deeper and deeper hole with the Ramirez to 1st base nonsense.

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      1. I tend to agree with you…however as far as I know JD and Big O have always gotten along well both professionally and personally.

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  3. Since it’s always a topic, depending on the show, update on the WWC #:

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      1. I think the reality is that it continues to chip away. It’s like college football continued growth. For both, this market is? Nope. All 4 major sports are still going to be front and center–for now.

        And, I really wonder if it were the mens.. how nuts would it be? Could it beat a typical Superbowl?

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        1. Last years mens final with non US participants brought in 25 million and the u.s vs portugal game (just a group game) brought in 27 million viewers. US Belgium had 21 million. So my guess would be the mens team would bring in 40 million viewers if they made a world cup appearance.

          Just for fun, game 7 of the world series last year averaged 23.5 million viewers.

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          1. Reasonable estimate based on the previous numbers. I just wondered if there would be that “new” factor if it got that far, pushing many, many more

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      2. It was an EVENT. This country loves big events. Lets stop acting like this was the Revolution vs I don’t even know another MLS team. People watching the World Cup Final with the US team in it does NOTHING to dispel the reality that this country doesn’t give two sh*ts about soccer.

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        1. You’re confusing the MLS with real soccer. To real soccer fans the MLS is the equivalent of the Canadian Football League, maybe the World Football League when that was around. Though the tv numbers aren’t close to the four major North American sports if you look at the TV ratings for high level soccer leagues like the English Premier League or the Champions League you will see a steady rise in US viewers over the last 5 years.

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          1. I’m not saying there isn’t an audience out there for soccer but you can’t use the Women’s World Cup Final as the barometer. I hate soccer and even I watched it. You wanna know the next time I’ll watch soccer? In four years if the men make it to the elimination rounds. Not one second before and not one second after.

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          2. I agree with this. As I’ve stated before I work with middle and high schoolers as a teacher and track and xc coach. In January there were kids huddled around their phones on the way home from a meet, were they watching the NFC Playoff game? No, they were watching international soccer. One kid, ONE was following the playoff game and there were plenty of football players and fans on the bus, but the soccer match they were watching was huge to them. These are kids who are wearing their European soccer player jerseys to school. And it is not just boys either. When the current crop of 12-17 year olds are in the desired demographic, I would expect to see soccer ratings hit a pretty high number in this country. NFL numbers? No, but definitely a spike.

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  4. I couldn’t agree with you more on middays. Absolutely atrocious radio from 10-2 since they let go of Gresh, The minute I heard Beetle was taking over I knew I’d have nothing to listen to at that time slot. Beetle totally dominates the show, doesn’t shutup, and takes himself and sports way too freaking seriously. He is just another Felger. Plus I don’t understand his sense of humor. It’s like he tries to make things funny that just aren’t. Beetle forces things way too much. Put in Ordway over Benz and I’m with you, at least that’s more listenable.

    Calm down, Beetle. Sports isn’t that big a deal. Dude needs to chill.

    Like

  5. I think Finn was being understandably diplomatic in his ratings, but I can’t disagree with him more on Zo and Beetle. Bertrand has ruined that show imo. It’s hard to listen to him and his strange sense of humor. Add on his annoying, Felger-esque sports takes and his serious lack of chemistry with Zo and it just makes me wish Gresh was back. Him, Zo and Hardy maybe has the best chemistry on the radio.

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      1. I did, but honestly, he never bothered me. He was a different voice compared to everyone else on the radio. Not a hot take machine nor does he dominate the conversation like Beetle does. Gresh may be annoying to some, but he is different, and for that I liked him.

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        1. To each their own I guess. In my opinion Gresh was pompous, bombastic, unprepared (unless he was talking football and even then I was not impressed… Zolak on the other hand had real insight. Gresh often relied on his Westerly High School and URI experience and put that off as insider knowledge), cliquey in a frat type of way and worst of all because he was a Steelers fan he came off as uninspired when taking about the Pats, unintelligent when talking Sox, Celts and Bruins. Gresh lasted a long time in the NE market between his time in Providence and then his time in Boston. Yet he never developed a passionate fan base. He was always considered Meh. So when his contract was up I think he valued himself far higher than management did. They knew he was easily replaceable. The midday numbers under Bertrand show that management was right. We can argue whether or not Bertrand is any good. I have my theories on the problems with that show and it is all about expectations of the non football talk now that Gresh is not there being higher….yet you still have Zolak and anything non football becomes a black hole. Add to that the major football stories since Bertrand took over have been deflate gate and losing Revis…two stories screaming for negative takes and non intelligent analysis and you have a situation where it appears that Bertrand is just a Felger clone and a bad one at that…I want to see how that show evolves this fall.

          Finally the most telling thing to me is that Gresh is doing radio in CT. I don’t believe he has done any CSSNE TV since his break with 98.5. That tells me he was only a “personality” because of his radio affiliation and not because of his knowledge. Even Tanguay does TV occasionally. To me this is the most telling and damning of all. It is like Gresh was completely erased from our collective media memory…which in my mind is a good thing. I wish him well on the radio in CT. He has a family to support and no one likes to see someone fired. However from my perspective he was serious dead weight.

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    2. I’m with you. They will really be missed come late August. Hands down Gresh & Zo was the best show in town during football season.

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  6. “Winners of seven out of their last ten games”

    I’ll go one step further.

    Last 20 games = 12-8 record, +16 run differential. They’ve played seven series’, splitting two, losing one and winning four.

    Main problems:

    1. Porcello
    2. Napoli
    3. A lack of high quality bullpen depth

    During August and what remains of July, they play only two series against divisional opponents – both against the NYY. And then from late August through September, they’re playing ONLY divisional opponents, with a series against the Indians to finish the regular season.

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    1. A good 3 weeks does not a season make/turn around. Call me unimpressed. Still have no faith in the starting pitching. Buchholz, will break down and the brass are not smart enough to trade him now, Porcello, and Masterson don’t elicit any song term confidence. So that leaves a kid and a few prayers. Call me still very apprehensive. On the offense side…the 800 lb gorilla is the return of Pedroia who has not been right in 4 years. Add to that Ortiz comments abut playing first if he HAS to, Panda’s inability to do anything and Hanley’s inability to field and I am not convinced they will continue to hit.

      Having said all of this the real issue as I see it is John Farrell who does not illicit any confidence in me that this team will not finish last for the 3rd time in 4 years. I think he continues to struggle developing the younger kids while seemingly alienating veterans because he does not want to make hard decisions.

      So…glass is half full…they are only 6 out. Glass is half empty…they might be peaking.

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      1. I agree with you here: “A good 3 weeks does not a season make/turn around.”

        and here: “So…glass is half full…they are only 6 out. Glass is half empty…they might be peaking.”

        Not (entirely) here: “Pedroia who has not been right in 4 years.”

        We’ll see if this knee thing bothers him for the rest of the season, but it has nothing to do with the hand/wrist issues that plagued him for three years in a row. You can’t honestly say that he hasn’t been “right” at the plate in 2015. It does seem as if he’s lost a step in the field.

        not here: “the real issue as I see it is John Farrell who does not illicit any confidence in me that this team will not finish last for the 3rd time in 4 years. I think he continues to struggle developing the younger kids while seemingly alienating veterans because he does not want to make hard decisions.”

        Betts? Bogaers? E-Rod? Swihart? They’re all looking good to me, and probably almost every other observer on the face of the Earth.

        What veterans has he alienated? Ortiz has always been an ornery prick. So, who else?

        It sounds like you simply have an axe to grind with Farrell.

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        1. Its is not an axe to grind with Farrell, it is that I don’t see him being good at his job. I don’t see progress in Betts, Bogarts or Swihart. E-Rod has been great at times but he has had some bad outings. But I will grant you E-Rod. Name me another pitcher that has come through the minors and made an impact when he got to Farrell and the big club. There are none on the Sox current roster.

          Likewise, they failed miserably with Middlebrooks, they punted on Iglesias (a move some of us are still angry about), JBJ failed under his influence and no one else has had anything but a cup of coffee. Where I am more critical of him is the pitching. Where did all of the supposed arms go? They can’t develop starters and they have not developed any young relievers. Yet you want me to have faith that what we are seeing is not a mirage?

          Lastly, on the veterans…I think Ramirez has already tuned him out. I think Sandoval is not listening. Yes, Ortiz is difficult but he can’t be bothered with him. Napoli can’t possibly like this guy so he is going. They had to trade Lackey because he tired of his act. I wonder what the real story is with Lester…was it just money? Alan Craig was a good player in St. Louis…now he is toast. joe Kelly can throw 98 and yet Farrell the pitching guru can’t get him straightened out. I just don’t see where he is competent.

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        2. Forgot to adress Pedroia. His power numbers are still down, now his defense is worse. I don’t think he has been the disruptive player he was in 4 years. If he is just average defensively and below average to average offensively then he is just a JAG. At the money he is getting they expect more. They moved Betts to the outfield to placate him. I expect more than average. I think they did as well. Because the pitching has been so bad, and the overall hitting esp. Ramirez and Sandoval has not lived up to expectation I think Pedroia’s lack of production has gone under the radar.

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  8. Tanguay has never, not once, said a single thing that made me smarter, made me say;
    “wow, that’s an interesting thought”. In thousands of hours on the air that should have happened once by now, no? Utter waste of a microphone. And to compound matters, he seems oblivious to his meaninglessness.

    Like

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    Like

  12. Anyone catch that 6-7 opening hour this morning on D+C? Rather interesting.

    Looks like Ordway did call in a favor and get himself back on.

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    1. How much longer is Gary going to let the world know he wanted the Pats PbP job? Seems to come up a lot.

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    2. At what point does WEEI stop airing 98.5’s dirty laundry. Listening to Tanguay say Bob Socci is 10 as a person but a 4 as a play by play guy, claim that Zo is happy Tanguay did not get the job because now it is “his booth”, and to hear Tanguay act like a two year old when a caller calls him a brown noser are all reason why Tanguay does not have a full time gig. The shear amount of time that has been used when he has filled in to discuss why he no longer has a full time guy amazes me. It also proves the point over and over again.

      As for Dennis’ hurt feelings that Gerry seems to be pushing for Ordway to fill in and as Tanguay put it push Dennis out…its a work. I am not convinced all of this chat is not contrived and a work because someone at WEEI realized Gary can’t talk about anything other than himself. It does not make compelling radio. Yet WEEI keeps putting him on the air so quality seems not to be an a priority for the WEEI suits when someone takes a day off.

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    3. Listening to it now…is Tanguay seriously bemoaning his fate to an audience who literally despises him? Big O bumped you out. Do you think ANYBODY will miss you or wish you were filling in over Ordway? People are high-fiving and looking at the clock waiting until 6am to come.

      Like

    4. Tanguay has now repeatedly admitted that he’s a hack and an actor. Why does anyone (listeners, viewers, co-workers) take him seriously? It’s baffling.

      “Minihane asked Gary if he would have gone off the deep end, as he has with Brady/Spygate, if he got the PbP. He said no.”

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      1. “Off the deep end”….I have to agree with that sentiment. I still think the most moronic media rant of the 2014 Pats season belonged to Tanguay after the first Jets game, a close 27-25 victory on a Thursday night. It was the team’s 4th game in 18 days and, obviously, they played like a tired squad that night, especially on defense. But, they still won the game. Tanguay was unhinged on the post-game show that night, screeching about how the team’s “window is closed!!”. They had just won the game, against a division opponent…their 4th game in 18 days; and this idiot was screaming about closed windows.

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  14. Villani is highly listenable. Joe Murray is a dumber clone of Felger and Adam Jones. Jones is a Felger Youth Troll. Rich Keefe is very good, highly listenable when not with Jones, but when they’re paired together he sucks up to and follows Jones’ lead. I’ve enjoyed Arcand in small doses on the weekend shows. Ryan Johnston means well (i.e. not a troll) but generally sounds unprepared and lazy. Johnston’s co-host is a nitwit. As a columnist at heart, Kaufman loves his Hot Takes.

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  15. I know for some people Danny’s accent is bit much, but when
    I’m clicking around on the weekend and hear him on EEI I stop and listen.
    Because unlike most of the younger hosts in the market I feel like he’s giving
    me his opinion not what he thinks I want to hear, not regurgitating someone
    else’s opinion, or trying to piss me off. Funny how that works.

    Like

  16. I didn’t get a chance to post this morning but while was listening. I thought that the dc and m show this morning read yesterday’s posts about them and used it like script for their show. I’m just saying but it was very close to what was said about them.

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  17. Celts have apparently acquired David Lee from the Warriors for Gerald Wallace. Both have expiring contracts in 2016, but, from a pure talent standpoint, you’d have to say Danny got the better of this deal, no? Warriors must have another player in mind to fill that role as they launch their title defense. Hard not to like this deal from a Celtics fans POV, I think.

    Like

    1. Yes. Draymond Green.

      Good deal for the Celts. They get a player in Lee who’s a skilled big man and who fills a need for them, and they don’t give up the expiring contract trade piece (as they’re swapping one 2016-expiring contract for another) if they want to swing a bigger deal at the trading deadline.

      Like

    2. Absolutely, gotta love this move by Danny. Wallace was pretty useless on the court and Lee may still have something left in the tank.Team needs a rebounder, the dude rebounds.

      I don’t always love Ainge, but this was a good move. I like it.

      Like

    3. It’s a start, right?

      Back when I had TV, I’d tune into this show “Barter Kings” if nothing else was on. Two guys would have a competition between them on who could barter from something basic into an expensive item. They’d start with something like a $100 scuba set, and find a person on Craigslist to trade for a $300 laptop. That $300 laptop would become a $500 tool, etc.

      Eventually, they’d complete 10 trades and that $100 scuba set was now a $20,000 car. Who knows how much was staged or the gaps between the trades, since each EP made it look like they did it all in a matter of weeks.

      Makes me think (hope) it’s what Danny is doing.

      Like

    4. I have to think another move is coming. Lee was traded because he wants minutes. He could easily start for the Celts. I would think at the 3 spot as newly signed Johnson is a 4. I don’t think he wants to come off the bench. The Celts have a lot of guys that are more natural power forwards. Maybe we can move some pieces for a true center. That would be good.

      I have heard some rumors about making a play for restricted FA Kanter from OKC. Maybe Danny can do a sign and trade for some of the Celtics “assets.”

      Like

  18. I’d give the nod to Arcand/Picard, since I am usually in the workshop when they’re on and CBS has gone national. Arcand has done the 12-3 on ESPNNH here for a bit (now is paired with Pete Sheppard).

    Like

  20. The commentary that talk show hosts and some callers use in relation to how they talk about the Dominican/ “brown” players in sports but especially for the Red Sox reminds me why Boston earned it’s rep as a racist city. Dustin Pedroia (white) can act insubordinate towards Bobby V but he’s a “team guy”. Oh and he’s also a “dirt dog” which mysteriously only seems to apply to white guys. The “brown” guys are always selfish (Ortiz) and lazy (all of them). There’s so much talking in code on the airwaves that I find it nauseating that in 2015 there talk show hosts and callers who sound like their grandfathers.

    Like

    1. A lot of this comes from Felgy. I don’t really get it from many of the callers myself. To be honest, i actually think Pedroia’s cred has actually taken a big hit since the Bobby V thing. It doesn’t seem to me he’s as well regarded as he use to be, and Ortiz will only get ripped if he complains about his contract, otherwise fans seem to love him.

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      1. Completely agree. I always felt it was Pedroia who was running up the back stairs to bitch about Valentine to management. I’m not defending Bobby V but he was skewered by the players.

        Like

      2. Ortiz gets ripped for far more than that. People still bring up when he interrupted Francona’s press conference to complain about a scorer’s decision and that was like a decade ago. Who cares? He also gets criticized for when he argues with the umpires and has prematurely been called washed-up numerous times.
        While Felger may be guilty of this, it really started in earnest with Pedro and Manny. I think Manny’s hitting production far outweighed all his gaffes and loopy behavior, but he has certainly provided enough fodder for criticism over the years. But I don’t get the Pedro hate at all. He was a prima donna on occasion but he was an historically dominant pitcher, tough as nails and highly entertaining.
        Shaughnessey has been the leader in criticizing the Latin players, but there are plenty of others, including Callahan, Dennis (Pedro the Punk), Mike Adams, Tanguay etc.
        And i agree with Mateus that “dirt dog” is a white moniker: its poster child was Trot Nixon, who was pretty much a disappointment as a player. Drafted 7th overall, Nixon was a five-tool player who drew comparisons to Micky Mantle for f sake! But in reality, he was always hurt (played 140 or more games 2x in 11 seasons. Manny did it nine times), was a terrible fielder and baserunner, and provided a lot of evidence that he was just plain stupid. When healthy, he was a good, not great, hitter. But he wore a dirty helmet so he was lionized. Imagine if Manny threw the ball into the stands with runners on thinking there were three outs? What if Ortiz threw his bat at an opposing pitcher like Trot did against TB? The outrage would be overwhelming.

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        1. “People still bring up when he interrupted Francona’s press conference to complain about a scorer’s decision and that was like a decade ago.”
          it was summer of 2011. The Pedroia-Bobby V thing was in April 2012.

          Like

    2. I find it funny that a lot of this “lazy” and “diva” talk about some of the non-white players that have trekked through Fenway over the last decade-plus has come from the very same media that usually goes out of its way to present the utmost P.C. views on just about everything else. Personally, I view the players who play for my favorite teams in town as wearers of the same color uniform, and nothing else. With that said, I’m glad that the racial balance of the C’s and Sox has changed dramatically since the 80s, because I simply got sick and tired of hearing how both teams “only want white players.” That may have been true of the Tom Yawkey Red Sox (at least pre-1967), but it slowly ceased to be true as the 60s turned into the 70s and the 70s turned into the 80s (they even, finally, ended their association with the all-white Rotary Club in Winter Haven, FL in the mid-1980s). It was NEVER true of the Celtics. If anything, the opposite was true of the C’s, but they had some white superstars in the 80s, and the Lakers and Sixers had black superstars, and so Spike Lee said the Celtics were racist….and that’s the story that the media ran with (and I still believe, to a certain degree, that Lee’s smear job against the C’s still resonates with some players and that’s another reason why they can’t attract big-time free agents….I could be wrong, but that’s how I feel). Anyway….Pedroia did drop a few notches in my book when he called out Bobby V. the way he did; he was just as spoiled by Francona as Big Papi, and he may even have been more spoiled by Tito. Let’s face it, though, this is how big league players in this day and age want to be treated, and this is how they have to be treated of managers and organizations want to get the best out of them on the field. They have to be coddled, by and large…it’s just the way things are. That’s going to rub a lot of traditionalists the wrong way (especially those in the media and those talk show callers who always have to mention that they’ve “been watching the Red Sox since Ted Williams played for them”).

      Like

  21. I think a lot of us need to be careful with this whole Ordway/Tanguay/D&C/Minihane thing. WEEI is so BS with trying to create these fake feuds between radio hosts. It’s all soap opera drama drummed up by these guys. Remember the whole Minihane hating Salk thing? Or Minihane calling EA a gutless bitch, to only later admit they’re playing “characters” on the radio?

    These dudes aren’t serious, and if they are, they got problems and I’d rather not get sucked into it myself

    Like

    1. So what you are saying is….if it is on camera its a “work”? If so I completely agree with you with one caveat. Tanguay must be totally desperate if he has accepted a “role” that makes him look dumber, more desperate and less politically astute than ever imagined.

      Like

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