Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home: 4/13/08 - 4/20/08

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Manny Crushes #496 Towards The Mass Pike

Manny's game winning 8th inning home run may not have landed yet.
Jon Lester pitched well after a shaky start and kept the Sox in the game. The bullpen did their job and the offense delivered once again. In the eighth Pedroia got a hit and Big Papi drove one trough the shift to set the table for Manny's blast. Paps came in for the 9th and sealed the deal. Sox win 5-3. Manny continues his MVP season and Youk has an 8 game hit streak. The Yankees were shut out in Baltimore...life is good.

Box Score

Tito Discusses Lowrie and Lowell

Before tonight's game Terry Francona was interviewed on WRKO and said the Sox were very impressed with Jed Lowrie and that he would start at second base tomorrow and third base the next night. Tito also said it would be a week before Mike Lowell enters a game and he will most likely have a rehab start in Pawtucket.

Tonight's Lineup 4/19 vs Texas

no surprises...Coco is still out

Jacoby Ellsbury, cf
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, lf
Kevin Youkilis, 3b
J.D. Drew, rf
Jason Varitek, c
Sean Casey, 1b
Julio Lugo, ss

Jon Lester, SP

Kyle Farnsworth Will Be Suspended For Throwing At Manny

The NY Daily News is reporting that Yankee pitcher Kyle Farnsworth will be suspended for 3 games and fined $2,000 for throwing a pitch at Manny Ramirez's head on Thursday. Manny had hit 2 home runs in the game before he was thrown at. There is no word if Aardsma will have any punishment for hitting A-Rod the night before.

Youk Talks About Yankee Fans

The New York Times has an article about Kevin Youkilis and the Yankee rivalry. The Times asks Youk what it is like to now be one of the more hated players on the Red Sox by Yankee fans. Youk told the Times the following:

"It’s weird thing, though, it’s real different where I grew up. I was a real Cincinnati Reds fan. If some guy was using expletives and this and that to a player on the field, with kids around, a parent would say something to those people. Here, it’s like it’s taught to the kids.”

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Hit Parade Continues

The Red Sox crushed the Rangers by a score of 11-3 tonight. Boston has averaged 7.6 runs per game over the last week and 38 hits over the last 3 games. Every player on the team is contributing and now Big Papi has broken out of his slump with 5 RBI's. Rookie Jed Lowrie had 2 more hits tonight so the pressure will start to build on Lugo. All this and the Yankees lost 8-2 to the O's, you couldn't ask for much more. Box Score

Papi Is Back

David Ortiz has hit a grand slam in tonight's game to put the Sox ahead. The entire team mobbed Ortiz in the dugout after he rounded the bases. There is not a much better way to break out of a slump.

Tonight's Lineup 4/18 vs Texas

Coco is still out. Watch out Lugo, Jed's in at short.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Manny Ramirez LF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Jason Varitek C
Sean Casey 1B
Jed Lowrie SS

Dice-K P

Manny Passes Crime Dog, Gehrig. 5 More to 500

With his two taters in yesterday's game, Manny moved up the all-time homer run ladder, passing Lou Gehrig and Fred "the Crime Dog" McGriff. He is now ranked 24th on the all-time list.

Manny has been crushing the ball lately. He's hit 3 homers in the past 6 days. Five more and he will have 500 career home runs.

Mike Lowell To Miss More Time

Mike Lowell can come off the DL next week but Tito said "odds are against it." Lowell has yet to start swinging a bat. Lowell's swelling has gone down but it looks like another 2 weeks before we see him in the lineup. The Red Sox will be ok if Lowell misses some more time with the way Casey has been filling in. Youk asked Fancona to put him in the game yesterday even though his toe was not 100% so a DL trip does not look likely.

Red Sox to Celebrate Earth Day

When the Red Sox play the Angels on Earth Day (Tuesday) they will be wearing a special green patch on their sleeves to mark the occasion. In addition to the patch the Sox will be given an Environmental Merit Award by the EPA for the "green" changes they made to Fenway in the off season. Representatives from the NRDC and EPA will throw out the first pitch.

Bid For the Ortiz Jersey or Take a Chance on a Ring

There are 2 ways to get a coveted Red Sox souvenir going on right now. The Ortiz jersey that was cemented and dug up from the new Yankee Stadium is up for auction on ebay, proceeds go to the Jimmy Fund. You have 6 days left to bid but it is already over $30,000. Take a look at the auction here.

You can also win one of 9 2007 World Series Rings by entering the raffle on the Red Sox Foundation website. The raffle is only open to Massachusetts residents online and the only way to enter if you are not a Massachusetts resident is to buy a ticket at select malls in Massachusetts...not very accommodating to the fans in the rest of New England and across the country.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Sox Strike Back

The Red Sox won 7-5 in the Bronx tonight but the game was never really close. Beckett dominated the Yankee lineup for the first 4 innings before he ran into a little bit of trouble in the 5th. After the 5th he resumed making quick work of Yankee batters until he handed off the ball to Paps in the 9th.

The Sox offense got it done again tonight scoring 7 runs on 13 hits. Manny went yard twice forcing the Evil Empire to throw behind him late in the game. Big Papi's struggles continued with an 0-5 performance. Ellsbury also failed to get a hit. Pedroia had another multi hit game and every other starter recored a hit against the Yankee staff.

Papelbon did not have his best night giving up 2 runs in the 9th but in the end the Sox won 7-5 and split the series in New York. Box Score

Tonight's Lineup 4/17 at New York

Youk is in....Coco is still out

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Ramirez LF
Youkilis 3B
Drew RF
Varitek C
Casey 1B
Lugo SS
Beckett P

Time To Give Masterson A Try

Schilling is not coming back any time soon and Buchholz has struggled, so has Lester for that matter. The Red Sox have nothing to lose by bringing Justin Masterson up for a few starts until Buchholz can get some control back. Masterson currently has a 1.29 ERA with the Sea Dogs. During Spring Training he pitched well in his 2 games with a 2.25 ERA. There is not much to lose by doing this for a limited time until you can get some quality starts from Colon, Schilling, Lester or Buchholz. The current plan is not working, why not take a chance on Masterson?

Injury Update

Kevin Youkilis -Youk left the game last night after fouling a pitch off of his toe. The X-rays were negative and he should be a game time decision tonight.

Alex Cora- on the 15 day DL with a sore elbow he had an MRI yesterday but the team is still waiting on the results. Joe Thurston was called up to replace him.

Mike Lowell- on 15 day DL with a hand injury. Jed Lowrie called up to replace him.

Coco Crisp- the sore hamstring that kept him out of so many games this spring is back. He missed last night's game and should be out a few more to fully recover.

Bartolo Colon- is on the Minor League DL but threw yesterday and said he was progressing well.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

And The Two Point Conversion is Good

The Red Sox gave up 15 runs in the Bronx tonight to the Yankees. Clay Buchholz looked lost on the mound tonight giving up 7 runs in 3 2/3 innings. The Red Sox will have to decide if Buchholz can remain in the rotation after failing to build on his one good outing this season. The bad pitching for the Red Sox did not end with Buchholz; Tavarez and Timlin struggled mightily on the mound. Aardsma was the only one who was not lit up tonight.

Offensively the Sox were good, scoring 9 runs on 14 hits. As good as the offense was it could have been better; 11 runners were left on base. The only starter without a hit was Ellsbury (0-5).
David Ortiz is still not hitting well and looked like the slump was starting to get to him.

Overall it was a long slugfest with a bad outcome. On top of that, ESPN took a page out of Fox's playbook and felt the need to show Jeter's parents every 5 minutes. Luckily since it was such a long game we don't have to wait long until Beckett takes the hill and shuts down the Yankees tomorrow.

Box Score

Tonight's Lineup 4/16 at New York

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Manny Ramirez LF
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Sean Casey 1B
Jason Varitek
Julio Lugo SS

Clay Buchholz Should Get His First Win Tonight

Buchholz has been getting better with each start; he is keeping balls down in the zone and getting more break on his curve. The Red Sox offense struggled against Wang last time but I just don't see that happening again tonight. Buchholz said the following about tonight's match up:

"I don't really know what to expect. They've seen me once and I've seen them, so I think each of us have maybe a little bit of an edge on one another. I want to go out there and try to do basically the same thing we did at our place, just throw strike one and get some swings out of them. Hopefully get some outs."

Red Sox Don't Do Enough To Honor Robinson

Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day in the Major League Baseball; April 15, 1947 was the day Robinson first played in the majors. I was lucky enough to be at the game at Shea Stadium in 1997 when Robinson's number was retired for all teams. President Clinton spoke to the crowd and Robinson's wife was on hand for the ceremony. Unfortunately the game was not a sellout. I do not think people respect how much Jackie Robinson had to go through when he broke the color barrier, the league and teams should do as much as possible to educate fans about his efforts.

Players are allowed to wear #42 on April 15 each season. Yesterday 9 teams opted to have everyone wear the number to honor Robinson; the Red Sox were not one of them. David Ortiz, Coco Crisp, and coach DeMarlo Hale were the only members of the team to wear #42. This is sad when you consider that the Red Sox were the last team in the majors to integrate; a full 12 years after Robinson joined the Dodgers. The Sox held a tryout for Robinson in 1945 but management was quoted as saying, "Get that nigger off the field." When the new ownership took control of the Red Sox they promised to do more to recognize the problems of the past. Red Sox owner John Henry said the following:

"I think we have to make a statement not just in baseball but in our community that diversity is an issue that hasn't been fully addressed in the past and certainly has to be fully addressed."

The Red Sox have expanded their annual tribute to Robinson on his birthday but it takes place in the middle of the winter and gets little exposure.

The New York Mets have dedicated the entry way to their new stadium to Robinson, why can't the Red Sox all wear #42 for one day? They could wear an advertisement on their sleeves in Japan but not come together to do the right thing on April 15th.

Team Effort Leads To Sweep at the Mistake by the Lake

The Red Sox were running on all cylinders last night when they beat the Tribe 5-3. Wakefield pitched good enough and even though Delcarmen was wild and blew the save, Aardsma and Okajima were outstanding. Rookie Jed Lowrie had a big hit getting 3 RBI's in his first major league game. Tek came off the bench to crush one to center and put the Sox ahead. The game ended with a spectacular catch by Ellsbury. The Sox are on a roll and head into New York ready to continue their winning ways.

Box Score

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

First Pitch In Red Sox -Yankee Game Will Be From Space

Yes you are reading the title correctly, and no, Bill Lee will not be involved. A Yankee fan astronaut will throw out the first pitch on the International Space Station on Wednesday before the Red Sox-Yankees game. I guess Hank's mom wasn't available. Watch below:

Tonight's Lineup.... Coco, Jacoby and Lowrie Too

Jacoby will be in right for Drew, Casey gets a day off

Coco Crisp, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Jacoby Ellsbury, RF
Julio Lugo, SS
Jed Lowrie, 3B
Kevin Cash, C

P -- Tim Wakefield

Lineup Choices

Jed Lowrie will be making his MLB debut tonight, most likely at third base moving Youk to first and giving Casey a day off. Lowrie normally plays short but should not have a problem with the transition to third.

Tito has gone away from his daily switches of Coco and Jacoby in favor of starting Crisp in center and bringing Ellsbury in as a pinch runner or defensive replacement late. Coco is 5-11 lifetime against Byrd so look for him to get the start again tonight.

Tito has consistently changed who leads off the game for the Sox so it could be Crisp, Lugo, Pedroia or even Lowrie tonight. Tonights lineup will be posted here as soon as it is announced.

Manny Drives Cleveland Sport Writers to Despair

Cleveland sports writers must have had a late night. I'm sure more than one of them had their articles just about ready for the presses before Joe Borowski came to the mound and Manny Ramirez came up to bat.

They must have been readying headlines like, "Tribe Win Erases Pain of ALCS" or "This Year It's Our Turn."

After hearing boos all night from the Cleveland crowd, Manny had the last word with a towering shot. Then Cleveland Sports writers hit the delete button on their cheery articles and settled in to a late night slog of reporting doom and gloom.

The bitterness and despair are apparent in Cleveland Plain Dealer Bill Livingston's column, which he titled, "Ramirez continues the Cleveland Indian's Nightmare." I don't think that is the column that he was planning to write in the 8th. He ends it this way:

"The Indians, now into their Diamond Jubilee celebration of the 1948 World Series victory, have never had the national following of the Red Sox. Diamonds are forever. So is futility here.
The only time the Atlanta Braves won the World Series, it was against the Indians.

The first time a team went into the bottom of the ninth inning in the seventh game of the World Series and lost, it was the Indians.

The Indians went 41 years in the wilderness without sniffing the playoffs. Hah! We scoff at Moses!

After games like Monday, the Promised Land looks further away than the ball Ramirez hit off Joe Boo."

All is well that ends well. Go Sox!

Schilling on the Yankees Next Season...No Way

There were rumors that Curt Schilling might pitch for the Yankees next season based on his doctor's comments on WEEI but the notion was quickly squashed. Curt had a follow-up interview on WEEI and said the following:

"Me wearing pinstripes, regardless of what point of the season or my career it would have been, is not an option, I can't ... think back to having that conversation specifically … it's not an option. Never has been an option."

You can listen to the interview here.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Weird April So Far

Coco is hitting, Papi is not. ‘Manny Being Manny’ is now the ‘Man-Ram.’ Detroit is in the cellar, but Baltimore and Oakland lead their divisions. Venerable Mike Timlin’s ERA drops by 61 in one inning of work, Beckett’s ERA is over 6. Dougie is gone. Dumbass Hank threatens the mob, and there's more talk of 'curses'. And you can't forget the 16,000 mile road trip.

Not all is weird, though. The Yankees blew a 7-1 lead over the Rays today, and are in last place. Ok, so eventually they still won the game, but they were in last place when the day started, and their magic number is now down to 148.

Note to self- Yankees return to Fenway July 25th.

Got Manny?

Manny Ramirez continued his MVP start with another great game. Manny's game winning 2 run homer in the top of the 9th drove in his 14th RBI of the young season. Ramirez is now batting .309.

Ortiz was back in the lineup tonight and did find a way to get a pair of hits even though one was a Texas Leaguer in the 9th.

Coco had 2 hits and is now batting .343......any offers?

Youk continues to swing a hot bat going 3-4 and driving in 2 runs.

Lester was wild tonight and was lucky to avoid a loss. The Sox pen was excellent; Tavarez, Timlin, and Papelbon went 4 2/3 scoreless innings striking out 7. (Timlin got the W, Paps got the S)

Sox comeback to win 6-4 Box

Yooooooooooouuuuuuuukkkkkkkk

Kevin Youkilis continues to drive the Sox offense. His 1 run homer to start the 8th inning has put the Sox within 1 run. Tavarez has done a nice job of keeping this a close game after Lester walked too many Indians and gave up 4 runs. Tribe leads 4-3

Kruk puts a curse on the yanks

John Kruk was in a great commercial for ESPN's 'Baseball Tonight' during the Sox-Tribe game today.
In it, he's working the yankees-Indians game last September. He's walking on the field when he sees his lost briefcase sticking out of the dirt that he had lost, flies come streaming all about. "I guess I left an egg salad sandwhich in there", he's thinking as the scene cuts away to trainers and coaches and players spraying insect repellent all over the yankees. "Bad luck for the yankees", Kruk says.

Next time yankees are in town and Chamberlain is pitching, Wally the Green Monster should trade his Monster suit for a giant fly suit.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!

Tonight's Lineup at Cleveland

Coco will be starting in center again and leading off tonight. Crisp has been getting the majority of the starts in center over Ellsbury. The Red Sox are trying to portray Crisp as a solid starting center fielder to drum up some interest in a trade. The downside to this is it limits Jacoby but he should have enough time to get ready for the stretch run if they can move Crisp before the All-Star break.

Crisp CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Ramirez LF
Youkilis 1B
Drew RF
Varitek C
Casey 1B
Lugo SS

SP Lester

Yankees May Press Criminal Charges On Shirt Joker

The New York Yankees seem more concerned about punishing a practical joker than putting a winning team on the field. The Boston Herald is reporting the following:

Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost told Associated Press the team has discussed possible criminal charges against Castignoli with the district attorney’s office.

“We will take appropriate action since fortunately we do know the name of the individual,” Trost said.

The Yankees continue to look like a scared team that cannot take a joke. Maybe Roger* will have to come "save" them again this year.

I will give the Yankees credit for one thing; they are going to give the jersey to the Jimmy Fund to be auctioned off. More info on how to bid when it becomes available.

Cleveland Paper Calls For Pitchers To Throw at Manny!

The Cleveland Plain Dealer had this in today's paper:

"He needs to be knocked down -- at the least.

Ramirez's act last October calls for high-and-tight heat. Don't hit him, just put him on the ground.

If Jake Westbrook wants to put a two-seamer into Ramirez's ribs, well, there will be no tears shed here."

Go ahead and throw at Manny and put him on base and watch Youk drive him in. Cleveland is quickly rising high on the hated team list. Maybe they can bring out their white crying towels again tonight.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Sox Bats Win One For a Shaky Dice-K

Dice-K did not have his best stuff and had trouble with his control but the Red Sox bats came alive scoring 8 runs giving him the win. Manny and Youk powered the offense while Big Papi took a night off. The good news on the night is the Red Sox won the game 8-4, and the series 2-1 after losing the first game and now head to Cleveland for 2 games with Ortiz, Okajima, and Papelbon well rested.

Tonight's Lineup- Papi Gets A Rest

Here it is, Tito is going to give Ortiz a night off to clear his head...he may pinch hit later.

LF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Dustin Pedroia
RF JD Drew
DH Manny Ramirez
3B Kevin Youkilis
1B Sean Casey
C Jason Varitek
CF Coco Crisp
SS Julio Lugo
(RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka)

Yankees Find Shirt, Hank Proves He is a Dumbass Again

The Red Sox shirt buried in the New Yankee Stadium has been found after feverish digging by workers. Two workers ratted out the location of the Ortiz jersey, they will hold an "extraction ceremony" today. I thought the shirt did not exist but now that it does Dumbass Hank said the following about Gino Castignoli: "I hope his coworkers kick the shit out of him."

Gino responded by telling the NY Post: "Tell Hank he can come meet me if he wants to try - and tell him to bring [catcher Jorge] Posada, because he's the one Yankee I can't stand."

Note to Dumbass Hank: The Post reported that Gino Catignoli pleaded guilty to being part of a $40 million illegal gambling operation with ties to the Gambino crime family. Nice Job on threatening a mob guy, you may now end up swimming with the fishes.

I for one believe the shirt had a curse on Papi's bat so now that it is removed Ortiz will hit a homer against the Yanks today.

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