Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home: 4/26/09 - 5/3/09

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Red Sox Offense Comes Alive for Wake

Tim Wakefield won his third game of the season although he needed some help from the Red Sox bats. He gave up 5 runs in 7 innings of work on 5 hits and 2 walks. Boston's offense put up 10 runs with 13 hits including a home run by Mike Lowell. Green had 3 hits and 3 RBI's in the game, which is sure to make the Lugo's return that much harder. Ellsbury had 3 stolen bases. The final game of the series take place tomorrow at the Trop.

Red Sox Win 10-5 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	2	3	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	10	13	1
Rays	1	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	1	6	11	2

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 5/2 vs. the Rays

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF 2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B 3. David Ortiz, DH 4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B 5. J.D. Drew, RF 6. Jason Bay, LF 7. Mike Lowell, 3B 8. George Kottaras, C 9. Nick Green, SS Tim Wakefield, SP

The Wolves are Circling

Big Papi's pass for being a Red Sox legend came to an end yesterday. Fans and reporters let last year's lower numbers slide because of the wrist injury. This season he was given all of April to get going again but with the lack of one home run people began to worry. Now that we are in May the pressure will only build on David Ortiz, and last night's 0-fer did not help. The calls for him to move down in the order have begun, and this will be followed by people saying he is done as a fearsome power hitter. Take a look at what has already been written:

If the first rule of hitting is to trust yourself, Ortiz has been failing at the most fundamental concept of life in the batter's box. If you cannot hit a fastball in the major leagues, you cannot hit anything because you are vulnerable to anything and everything in any pitcher's arsenal.

A couple of homers in the next few games will put everyone at ease. However, with each day that Ortiz sits on zero homers and has an average below .250 the wolves will circle a little closer.

Red Sox Injury Report

J.D. Drew - has a tight hamstring but will continue to play through the injury. He will get an occasional day off.

Rocco Baldelli - has mostly recovered from the hamstring injury and should begin some rehab games with the PawSox next week.

John Smoltz - after being shut down last week he should resume throwing this week. He will join the team tomorrow at the Trop and could pitch in a minor league game by the end of next week.

Mark Kotsay - will DH for the PawSox today and has almost recovered from his off-season back surgery.

Dice-K - will pitch three innings for the PawSox on Tuesday, his return to the rotation will be based on his velocity in the rehab start.

source: Boston Globe

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Rays Have the Red Sox Number

Before last night's game the Rays had only won one series; the opening week series against the Red Sox. Tonight's game went the way most of the recent games have against the Rays: poorly. Masterson started out pretty well until the wheels came off in the 5th. The Rays loaded the bases and then Longoria hit a grand slam followed by a homer from Pena. Just like that the Red Sox were down 6-2 and that is the way it would stay. Mr. Clutch Jason Bay did not come through in 7th as he watched strike three sail across the plate. Ortiz is still looking for his first home run and Ellsbury went 0-5 at the top of the order. If you are looking for a silver lining, here it is: MDC and RR still have ERA's of 0.00.

Red Sox Lose 6-2 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	9	0
Rays	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	6	7	0

Live Blog Tonight

I'm hosting the live blog at Sawxheads.com, head over and join the conversation.

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 5/1 vs the Rays

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS Justin Masterson, SP

Roger* Had Man-Boobs Too

Maybe the Yankees need to issue bras for their team because their players seem to have a propensity for man-boobs. Yesterday we found out that A-Rod* had the steroid related side effect and today we learn that Roger Clemens* was also developing breasts:

"Roger Clemens had man boobs, and he must have been embarrassed because he was often the first Yankee out of the shower and the first to get dressed after the game."

Live Blog For Tonight's Game

I will be hosting the live blog for tonight's game over at Sawxheads.com. Please join the conversation beginning at 7:30 Eastern/4:30 Pacific.

Reasons For Concern/Reasons Not to Worry

Through the first month of the season some signs of trouble have arisen for the Red Sox but overall the team should be OK.

REASONS TO WORRY

The Rotation:
Dice-K having arm fatigue due so early in the season is worrisome.
Josh Beckett has an ERA over 7.
Jon Lester can't put together 2 good starts in a row.
Brad Penny looks like he will not work out.
John Smoltz return has hit a bump in the road.

The Bullpen:
Javier Lopez has been a complete disaster.
Saito and Oki have been inconsistent.

The Offense:
Big Papi has no homers.
Jacoby's OBP is only .320 in the lead-off spot.
Mike Lowell is grounding into a lot of double plays.
J.D. Drew is batting .234 and is constantly hurt.

Injuries:
Lowrie, Baldelli, Drew, Dice-K, Smoltz, and Lugo all had setbacks in April.

REASONS NOT TO WORRY

The Rotation:
Wake has been great.
The team has plenty of depth with Buchholz, Smoltz, Masterson, and Bowden waiting to step up.

The Bullpen:
Masterson can eat innings.
MDC has been rock solid.
RR has been untouchable.

The Offense:
Jason Bay has a .490 OBP.
Youk has a .505 OBP.
Mike Lowell has 23 RBI's.
Jacoby has 10 SB's.

The Bench:
Van Every can fill in all of the gaps by himself.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Rays Crush Red Sox at the Trop

Matt Garza set them down in order until Jacoby broke up the perfect game with a wimpy infield hit in the 7th. Pedroia then GIDP. Oritz's walk later in the inning made up the rest of the Red Sox offense. That's it, 1 hit and 1 walk.

The Rays had no problem with offense, scoring 13 runs on 18 hits. Beckett was charged for 7 of the runs in 4 2/3 innings. The bleeding continued when Jones gave up a home run. Saito got through an inning unscathed before the hemorrhaging began again with Javier Lopez. The Rays got 4 hits and a walk off of Lopez who only lasted 1/3 of an inning. Tito had to bring in Jonathan Van Every to finish out the inning! Lopez's ERA is now over 9. He needs to find his way to Pawtucket ASAP. Want another reason to be worried? Beckett's ERA is now over 7.

Red Sox Lose 13-0 BOX SCORE

Dave Roberts Now with NESN

Boston.com staff writer Chad Finn reports that Dave Roberts has joined the network to serve as a studio analyst.

May West Coast TV Schedule

For those of you such as myself without pricey CATV or MLB.com TV packages, here is the network TV schedule for the Sox in May:

03 Sun 10:38 AM- SOX @ TBY on TBS
04 Mon 04:05 PM- SOX @ NYY on ESPN
09 Sat 12:40 PM- TBY @ SOX on Fox
10 Sun 05:05 PM- TBY @ SOX on ESPN

All times PDT.

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 4/30 at the Trop

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. George Kottaras, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS

Josh Beckett, SP

A-Rod* - Doing God's Work

Please stop asking A-Rod* any questions about roids or man-boobs, he is doing God's work. When confronted with the allegations of steroid use in high school he responded with:

"I've worked extremely hard and I'm very anxious to do what God put me on this Earth to do and that's play baseball."

Twitter in the Broadcast Booth

Jerry Remy has fully embraced twitter and is even using it for a nightly contest to win a t-shirts. The Red Sox radio team is also on twitter, but not all announcers are embracing this form of social media. Bob Uecker from the Brewer's booth says he twitters in the morning until he has his first Miller Lite with his Frosted Flakes. Listen below:

hat tip to Right Field Bleachers

A-Rod* Scandal of the Week- Pitch Tipping with Man-Boobs

The A-Rod* scandals are so voluminous that they now fill a book. The reporter that broke the steroids story is coming out with a book that is sure to be a best seller among Red Sox Nation. In the book, Selena Roberts says A-Rod* starting taking roids in high school and grew man-boobs. It also accused him of helping others cheat:

In one shocking disclosure, the book accuses A-Rod of "pitch tipping" when he was with the Rangers - letting a friendly opponent at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games.

Hat tip to The Bottom Line

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Jonathan Van EVERYWHERE

The Red Sox can chalk tonight's win up to Jonathan Van Every. The 28 year old rookie had two great plays in the field, a game tying single, and hit the game winning home run in the 10th inning off of his former roommate. Van Every was in the game for J.D. Drew who is still suffering from the hamstring injury.

Jon Lester started the game and struggled with location and his off-speed pitches early. He gave up 5 runs in the first 4 innings before settling down and getting it to the bullpen. Lopez looked better tonight than he did last night. MDC and Oki both kept runs off the board while causing a few heart attacks across New England. After Van Every's homer in the 10th, Papelbon closed the door on the Tribe and started a brand new win streak.

Red Sox win 6-5 BOX SCORE

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Red Sox	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	1	6	10	1
Indians	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	8	1

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 4/29 vs the Indians

J..D. Drew is out again and so is Lugo.

Ellsbury-CF
Pedroia-2B
Ortiz-DH
Bay-LF
Lowell-3B
Varitek-C
Bailey-1B
Van Every-RF
Nick Green-SS

Jon Lester-SP

Sizing Up Penny

How do other chubby pitchers compare to Brad Penny? Pound for pound he doesn't measure up.

Bartolo Colon has twice as many strikeouts this season.

Livan Hernandez has given up 5 less runs this season.

Sydney Ponson has one less walk.

C.C. Sabathia's ERA is 3.93 points lower than Penny's.

Wednesday in the Nation

Jerry Remy is jonesing for a cigarette.

Grady vs. Ells- who's better? win a shirt.

Lugo lets fans down once again.

Why was Lopez on the mound in the 9th?

Just How Good is Ramon Ramirez?

When Theo shipped off Coco for RR early in the offseason you could hear rumblings across Red Sox Nation, "Is this all we got?" During Spring Training Ramirez had a 4.38 ERA and it looked like the deal was a complete waste. Once the opening day rolled around, RR turned into a different pitcher. In 10 games he has given up just 5 hits and 4 walks with no runs. He has not even allowed an inherited runner to score. Now we just need to clone him so we can get rid of Javi Lopez.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Red Sox DROP Game to Tribe

The streak is over at 11. Brad Penny was bad. Again. He went 2 2/3 giving up 7 hits, 4 walks and 7 runs (4 earned). The Red Sox offense bailed him out with 7 early runs but Lugo's throwing error allowed the Indians to tie it up. In the bottom of the 9th the Indians scored the winning run on a grounder to Youk. He fielded it and underhanded it to Javi Lopez who dropped the ball allowing the winning run to score. A very tough loss because of the sloppy D and bad starting pitching. Both teams threw over 200 pitches and the game went over 4 hours.

Red Sox Lose 9-8 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	1	4	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	8	14	3
Indians	1	2	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	9	13	0

The Ellsbury Steal

The youtube clips have all been pulled by MLB.

Here's a better one: Ellsbury surprises Yanks with swipe of home (via mlb.com)

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 4/28 vs. the Tribe

Julio Lugo is once again the starting shortstop.

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jason Varitek, C
Julio Lugo, SS Brad Penny, SP

How Could the Swine Flu Impact Baseball?

If you have seen empty soccer stadiums in Mexico then maybe you should think about what could happen to America's pastime if swine flu becomes a pandemic. When the last major flu pandemic hit the U.S. in 1918 the Red Sox captain, Dick Hoblitzell, nearly died from the illness. (He was at an Army camp in El Paso at the time) Braves outfielder Larry Chappell did die from the illness.

Games could be cancelled across the U.S. or players could play in empty stadiums. Even a mild outbreak would have a major impact on attendance. Teams like the Red Sox and Yankees can survive something like this but what about the Royals or A's. These teams are hurting enough with the bad economy and could fold if the swine flu becomes a pandemic.

Right now there is no need to avoid baseball games but just take a second to think about what a pandemic could do to our beloved sport.

Interview With RSN CA Governor Karen Doherty

Late last season the Red Sox announced the Governors of Red Sox Nation for all 50 States. Karen Doherty was selected as RSN Governor of California. Fenway West spoke with her this week:

FW: What made you become a Red Sox fan?

Gov. Doherty: The Nation made me want to become a Red Sox fan. I went to a Giants/Red Sox game in June of 2004. I noticed that about 40% of the people in attendance were Red Sox fans. A lot of them flew in from Boston. I started talking with them, joking, laughing, betting (dollar bills flying around) and I never had so much fun at a baseball game. I thought "who are these crazy people who fly around the country for a baseball game? I want to be a part of this." The fans were extremely knowledgeable, loyal, devoted. I started following the team, went to Fenway. We all know what happened in the playoffs and finally the World Series. I felt partially responsible for reversing the curse. I converted a Yankee fan that year.

FW: Who is your favorite player? Historic and current

Gov. Doherty: Ted Williams. Dave Roberts changed my life. Current: too difficult to choose just one. JD & JBay are so solid. I admire Youk's work ethic and the way he plays like every play is do or die. I love Papelbon. I'm starting to take Pedroia for granted. Jacoby? Come on!

FW: Have you had any contact with Jerry Remy?

Gov. Doherty: No contact with Remy. We are having a Governors Day 6/16 at Fenway so I hope to meet him then.

FW: What are your goals for RSN in California?

Gov. Doherty: Goals: Continually promote and support our team in a positive manner. Get the word out about RSN. My experience so far is not that many California fans are aware of RSN citizenship, Fenway West, Sawxheads and even redsox.com.

FW: Have you met any of the other governors?

Gov. Doherty: I was at spring training in March and met the Governor of Florida, Alexa Jimenez and the Governor of New Hampshire, Janice Paige.

FW: How can Red Sox fans get in touch with you?

Gov. Doherty: cagov@ redsoxnation.com

Monday, April 27, 2009

Yankees Have a Bullpen?

Looks more like a COWpen to me!

ERA Pitcher

05.23 Albaladejo

43.20 Claggett (who?)

04.70 Coke

15.19 Marte

07.36 Ramirez

06.30 Veras

AND!

00.00 Swisher!

Where Have You Gone, Hank Steinbrenner?

A Nation turns its lonely eyes to you. We miss you out here at Fenway West, come back soon.

Wake Being Wake, J-Bay Being J-Bay

The current 11 game win streak began with Wakefield in Oakland and it continued tonight with Wake in Cleveland. Through 7 scoreless innings Wake gave up only 1 hit, unfortunately the Red Sox offense was silent against Indian starter Cliff Lee so Wake did not get the win. Delcarmen pitched a perfect 8th and earned his first win of the season. The Red Sox took the lead on a 3-run blast from Jason Bay who had 3 hits in the game. How long before Theo signs him to a long term deal? Papelbon struggled in the 9th giving up 3 hits and a run before getting the final out on a pop-up.

Jason Bay and Tim Wakefield have been on amazing runs during this current streak; Wake's ERA is 1.86 and Bay has an OBP of .506.

Red Sox win 3-1 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	8	0
Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	1

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 4/27 vs. the Tribe

No Lugo in there, and Jeff Bailey is in right since J.D. is out with and injury again.

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jeff Bailey, RF
George Kottaras, C
Nick Green, SS Tim Wakefield, SP (Don't forget to enter the Wake 2000 strikeout contest, click picture on top left of the page for more info)

Please Nominate This Site

Today is the last day to nominate sites for the New England Blog Awards, only the top 4 nominees will move on. The winner will receive a cash prize and my kids need a fun summer vacation. Please take a moment to nominate this site here. Thanks so much for your vote.

He's Back

Julio Lugo will rejoin the Red Sox tonight in Cleveland. He went 2-5 with a double for the PawSox yesterday as DH. Lugo was taken out of the game for a defensive substitution in Saturday's game and he did not play in the field yesterday. This means one of two things; either the PawSox have no confidence in his glove or he is not ready to go. Check back for lineups later today to see if he is in there at short. Tito has said he will rejoin the team today but it is unclear if he will start playing right away.

More Yankee Covers

The collection continues to grow.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

SWEEP!

The Red Sox completed a three game sweep of the Evil Empire tonight at the Fens. The win was the 10th in a row by Boston and featured what is sure to be one of the most memorable moments of the season when Jacoby Ellsbury stole home on a straight steal, the first one since Billy Hatcher did it on April 22, 1994.

Masterson did well in the start and the bullpen was great, especially Bowden who was called up before the game. Big Papi's bat looked a little better tonight as he drove in 2.

This three game series is sure to have serious ramifications for the Yankees; their big money guys of Burnett and Teixeira fizzled in their rivalry debuts. Burnett took the loss last night and Teixeira was awful at the plate; 0-4 tonight.

Captain Richard Phillips threw out the first pitch before tonight's game.

Red Sox Win 4-1 BOX SCORE

Jacoby Ellsbury Steals Home Vs Andy Pettitte

Jacoby Ellsbury Steals Home Vs Andy Pettitte

Red Sox Need a Long Outing From Masterson

After the bullpen carnage from last night the Sox need Masterson to eat up some innings. Paps, Delcarmen, and RR are not available and Oki has not been reliable. Michael Bowden has been called up in case Masterson gets roughed up early.

Tonigh's Red Sox Lineup 4/26 vs. the Yankees

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Nick Green

Justin Masterson, SP

Tek Throws Out First Pitch for Little League

Last night he hit a grand slam to help the Red Sox beat the Yankees and today he threw out the first pitch for Newton South Little League:

Pedroia Blames Olympic Sprinter

Dustin Pedroia was thrown out trying to advance to second on a sac fly in last night's game. In the post game press conference he put the blame on Usain Bolt:

"I'm chalking all that stuff up to Usain Bolt throwing out the first pitch. I thought I was fast on [the sac fly], and then I was fast on the ground ball."

Usian Bolt holds the world record in the 100 meters and is considered the World's Fastest Man. Good thing the 100 year old bat boy didn't throw out the first pitch.

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