Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home

Friday, July 18, 2008

More Manny News

A wild rumor that Manny had to pay a 6 figure fine for his altercation with the traveling secretary circled parts of the blogosphere today but it has been dismissed. Extra Bases tries to clear up some of the reporting with the following:

According to industry sources, Ramirez, in addition to apologizing to McCormick, paid a fine of between $10,000 to $15,000, with the money going to an agreed-upon charity. Reports that Ramirez had been assessed a six-figure fine are not true, and Red Sox officials have not raised the issue that Ramirez's strikeout against Mariano Rivera in a pinch-hit appearance July 6 was in any way related to the discipline administered.

No can we please get back to baseball? It figures that the Sox would have to start the second half on the West Coast so we have to wait even longer for them to get back into the action.

Feel The Excitement of Angel Nation

Wow, this is sad. I think the funniest part of the video is they were trying to showcase Angel fans and half of the people they interviewed were Dodger fans. Watch below:

John Farrell Discusses the Staff

Red Sox Pitching coach analyzes each of the pitchers to the Globe's Nick Cafardo. Here are some highlights:

Lester- He's gone from being very deliberate - and I'm not saying he was unsure of himself - to one who attacks hitters, and his pace of game is at a much brisker pace now.

Wake- He's done a tremendous job on his slide step and holding runners on. He's considerably faster to the plate than a year ago, which allows us to throw out some runners.

Buchholz - If he trusts his stuff and doesn't feel that he has to overthrow to generate extra velocity, he'll be successful.

Okajima-I think as he came into this season, there was a tendency to pace himself a little bit to get through the full year, but while that was happening, the sharpness to his stuff wasn't quite what it was a year ago.

Farrell goes through the entire staff with some insight on his approach to each pitcher, well worth the read.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

How Many Out There in RSN Said "YES!" When They Heard Lugo's Going on the DL?

Lenny Megliola of The MetroWest Daily News in Milford, MA just posted a great piece about Lugo and, Cora, and Lowrie, and the recent history of Sox shortstop's short stays in Beantown.

Big Papi Goes Yard for the PawSox

In his first rehab start, David Ortiz went 1-3 with a solo home run. Not bad for someone that has not been in a game in over a month.

Top baseball salaries

From newsday.com today:

Top 50 salaries in Major League Baseball for 2008.

1) Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees, $28,000,000
2) Jason Giambi, New York Yankees, $23,428,571
3) Derek Jeter, New York Yankees, $21,600,000
4) Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, $18,929,923
5) Carlos Beltran, New York Mets, $18,622,810
6) Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners, $17,102,149
7) Johan Santana, New York Mets, $16,984,216
8) Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies, $16,600,000
9) Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels, $16,500,000
10) Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs, $16,000,000
11) dl-Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees, $16,000,000
12) Bobby Abreu, New York Yankees, $16,000,000
13) Carlos Delgado, New York Mets, $16,000,000
14) Mike Hampton, Atlanta Braves, $15,975,185
15) Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers, $15,768,175
16) Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers, $15,730,196
17) Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox, $15,666,667
18) Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves, $15,500,000
19) Richie Sexson, Seattle Mariners, $15,500,000
20) Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels, $15,500,000
21) Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs, $15,250,000
22) dl-Jason Schmidt, Los Angeles Dodgers, $15,217,401
23) Sdl-Randy Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks, $15,100,546
24) Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, $15,000,000
25) Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros, $14,811,415
26) Andruw Jones, Los Angeles Dodgers, $14,726,911
27) Lance Berkman, Houston Astros, $14,500,000
28) Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants, $14,500,000
29) Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies, $14,250,000
30) dl-John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves, $14,000,000
31) J.D. Drew, Boston Red Sox, $14,000,000
32) Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs, $14,000,000
33) Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox, $14,000,000
34) Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals, $13,870,950
35) Troy Glaus, St. Louis Cardinals, $13,500,000
36) Adrian Beltre, Seattle Mariners, $13,400,000
37) Gary Sheffield, Detroit Tigers, $13,326,306
38) Derrek Lee, Chicago Cubs, $13,250,000
39) A.J. Burnett, Toronto Blue Jays, $13,200,000
40) Jorge Posada, New York Yankees, $13,100,000
41) David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox, $13,000,000
42) Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees, $13,000,000
43) Johnny Damon, New York Yankees, $13,000,000
44) Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros, $13,000,000
45) Adam Dunn, Cincinnati Reds, $13,000,000
46) Garret Anderson, Los Angeles Angels, $12,600,000
47) Frank Thomas, Toronto Blue Jays, $12,560,000
48) Carlos Lee, Houston Astros, $12,500,000
49) Mark Teixeira, Atlanta Braves, $12,500,000
50) Mike Lowell, Boston Red Sox, $12,500,000

That's over $700 million bucks, folks. I'll be voicing my thoughts on player's salaries in the future, but for now~ read 'em and weep.

Early Evening News Roundup

David Ortiz is making his first rehab start for the PawSox, in his first AB he popped up to short.

Hideo Nomo has retired. Nomo threw a no-hitter for the Sox against Baltimore in 2001.

The Sox have signed their first round draft pick Casey Kelly.

and in perhap the best Sox news of the day... The New York Yankees have signed Richie Sexson. Seattle dropped Sexson after he only hit .218 this season. That should help their offense.

10 Keys to the Back Half

1 Tek’s bat~ We’re not expecting him to hit .295 as he was on May 25th, but ‘Tek needs to get his swing back.

2 Bullpen’s arms~ Oki, not so doki this year. Part of it is that batters are now seeing him for the 2nd season. While his ERA is a respectable 2.82, it is not a complete picture. He needs to get his splitter fixed. Aardsma has been great. Timlin, Delcarmen and Hansen however need to be more consistent. They’ve had great performances, followed by disasters.

3 Papi’s bat~ Let’s hope that his wrist has healed, and that the time off also helped his knees. BP looked good, but Papi needs to come back hitting like he did post slump.

4 Beckett and Dice-K~ Beckett’s pitching mostly well, but he’s not consistently overpowering this year as last. Dice-K has great numbers and an uncanny ability to wiggle out of jams, but those free passes and high pitch counts are giving fans, coaches, and managers grey hair, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

5 Pap’s mouth~ Yes, he is one of the elite closers, but off field remarks and antics cannot overshadow on field performances. Have fun on and off the field, but make sure you’re not stirring up anything unsavory that spills onto the field. Save the theatrics for post-season and post-career.

6 Shortstop~ Hopefully Lowrie will shine in Lugo’s absence. Let’s also hope that upon his eventual return to the line-up, Lugo will have also worked on whatever is causing his on field brain farts, and get hit BA back up to .290 or better.

7 Centerfield~ Tito has done a fantastic job of getting decent playing time to both Crisp and Ellsbury. Ellsbury is the rookie and should be satisfied with his playing time. If Crisp can accept his given role this year, (as it is looking like he may not get traded during this season), keep a clear head, and play to the best of his abilities (i.e. get his BA back up to .290 or better), the outfield will still be good.

8 Manny Being Manny~ Manny’s numbers are up this year. That’s a good thing. He’s a better fielder than most give him credit for. That’s a good thing. But I’m just a bit concerned over a couple of recent incidents. One day he’s looking all happy-go-lucky high-fiving fans, and having fun in the green monster, etc., and the next he’s having scuffles with teammates and office personnel. Those are the actions people will recall before the antics and hijinx. I don’t really care what players do in their personal lives, but if he’s got something is going on that we don’t know about (nor do we need to know about) that affects his public behavior and playing field performance, he needs to deal with it. (Same goes for all players.)

9 No more injuries! DL so far this year: Lowell, Dice-K, Papi, Schilling, Colon, Timlin…

10 Business as usual for Pedroia, Youk, Drew, Wake, Lester, & Lowell.

Manny Stirs the Pot

As the season hit the second half Sox fans will have to come to the realization that next year's team could be very different. Varitek will be a free agent and Boras will try to get as many years possible in a deal which the Sox may balk at. Manny has a $20 million option for next year but if he is to stay on the team he will most likely be given a long term deal. The uncertanties about Manny's future found their way into the media yesterday when Manny made this comment to the Herald:

“I want no more (expletive) where they tell you one thing and behind your back they do another thing,” Ramirez told The Herald. “I think I’ve earned that respect, for a team to sit down with me and tell me this is what we want, this is what we want to do.”

John Henry was none to happy with Manny airing some dirty laundry out in the press and responded with an email to the Herald:

“I find remarks that we have been anything other than completely straightforward to be personally offensive,” Henry wrote. “Manny has been a crucial part of two world championships. I do not believe we would have won either without him. He has never played a more important role than he has thus far this year.”

We will see more of this as the season comes to an end, right now we need to get back to playing some baseball and hope the salary discussions are done in private and don't become a distraction.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Sox Head Back Out West

The Red Sox will start the second half in California just as they began the first half (after the Japan trip) only this time they will be in Anaheim. I remember hating West Coast road trips when I lived back East because of the late start but after the All-Star Game, all of you East Coasters should be used to staying up late. I will not be making the trip South because I will be playing in a softball tourney this weekend and with gas prices what they are it would cost me about $1000 to drive there and back. Having been to Anaheim before I can tell you that it will be well represented with Sox fans only it will be harder to tell with both team's fans wearing red. The Angels have a good team this year (I got to see them play Oakland in June) and they are not decimated with injuries like they have been in recent playoff match-ups with the Sox. The Angel fans are harmless for the most part and even though the Sox have gone through Anaheim en route to their last two World Championships there is not much animosity between the teams/players/fans. It is strange when you think of the "Beat LA" chants just last month but for some reason it does not carry over to the Angels, I guess because nobody really associated them with LA. There are however a few things to dread about a trip to Anaheim:

1. Thundersticks. What is wrong with clapping? Why do you need to use some silly inflatable gimmick to try to make it seem like there are more Angel fans than Sox fans in the stadium?

2. The rockpile in center. WTF? The bad attempt at product placement by Disney when they owned the franchise is still out there waiting for somebody to figure out what to replace it with.

3. The Rally Monkey. Really, are they still using it? Monkeys are just plain annoying, like the one on Friends that they had to write out of the show because it wasn't funny. Below however is one monkey video I find funny.

Did Navarro Purposely Blow the 8th Inning?

Maybe it’s the innocent little kid in me, but that thought *never* occurred to me last night watching the game. This is a comment made in response to Chad Finn’s “Touching All the Bases” on boston.com yesterday:

"I'm kind of shocked that I haven't seen any coverage on Navarro's role in the 8th inning last night. (Feel free to point me in the right direction if you've seen any articles on this) I can't be the only one thinks he tanked that throw to second on Tejada's steal on purpose. That guy is too good a player to blow the throw that bad. Worse yet, he throws a perfect strike to second in the ninth with Rivera on the mound. And just to make matters worse, the guy made no effort to slap a tag on Tejada on the sac fly. I doubt he could have gotten Tejada, but he could have made it close by at least trying to make a play. Even my Yankee fan buddy called me right away to say he thought Navarro tanked that eighth on purpose!Any Sox fan who doesn't think that Navarro didn't catch that eighth inning last night with a chip on his shoulder after the Sox/Rays scuffle and Papelbon's comments are lying to themselves. To me, that was the story of the night that I'm not seeing anyone talk about."

At the time last night, I thought, ‘high pressure situation, young catcher, 1st ASG, yadda…’, but after reading this today, I began to wonder. Maybe the yankee fans booing Pap *while he was pitching* put the idea in Navarro’s head. I don’t know. Yankee fans (the only reason I capitalized it this time is because it’s the first word of the sentence) continue to lower themselves while being led into the fandom hall of shame, or maybe they’re leading the local mullet wrapper down that road.

Whatever it is, Navarro stepped in it and now the whole world is wondering did he purposely put up a brick to get back at the Sox for the events of last month? If he did, whatever he stepped in will need to be wiped off his cleats by the whole team of the (yankee wannabe) Tampa Bay Rays.

Poetic justice~ Drew wins the MVP in the last ASG to be played at the venerable Yankee Stadium. If goddess forbid, the yanks or the rays make it to the World Series, and win it, then it would be proven that ‘karma’ does not exist. But if either of those two teams realistically think that they have any chance of making it to the Series, then they had better take a hard look at Navarro’s selfish little ego trip last night, and the potential loss of home advantage that might have ensued. Fortunately for the AL, Pap was on the mound and negated the shoddy playing of the rays catcher.

Book Review: "The Greatest Game" by Richard Bradley

Last night we witnessed another chapter in the history of the greatest rivalry in sports as the Red Sox stole the show in what was supposed to be a day for the Yankees. In The Greatest Game Richard Bradley takes us back to perhaps the biggest moment of the Sox/Yanks rivalry; the playoff of 1978.

Bradley's book does not just follow how the game unfolded but he tells about the entire 1978 season in New York and Boston. He brings old names like Fisk, Munson, Billy Martin, and Don Zimmer back to their prime, making it seem like they just stepped off the field and are getting ready for the second half of the season. He also does an excellent job at showing what a transitional time the late 70's were for Major League Baseball with the onset of free agency and the rise of big-market teams.

As a Sox fan I don't agree with the title of the book because no game can be the greatest if the Yankees come out on top. However, Bradley reminds us that the 1978 playoff game was not just Bucky F'n Dent's home run nor Yaz's pop up for the third out in the ninth anymore than the '86 World Series was just about Buckner. There were so many other storylines to the season and the game like Matin and Jackson's relationship or Mike Torrez on the mound for the Sox to face his former team that he believed never appreciated him.

The Greatest Game is a good read and something Red Sox and Yankee fans could enjoy as we get closer to the 30th anniversary of the game.

"Francona Rule" On Display at the All-Star Game

Joe Lemrie of SI noted the following about last night's game:

• Oddest sight of the night wasn't so much that Red Sox and Yankees were sharing the infield but that Francona was wearing a uniform top. There was no word whether he even knew his own jersey number before last night.

It was kind of odd to see Tito without the fleece warm-up over the uniform last night but he might have gone without it to avoid Bob Watson and the uniform police that seem to lurk at Yankee Stadium. Francona usually wears the warmup to help with circulation from various ailments. He will be getting a shot today to deal with some numbness he has been experiencing from an old back injury.

Roger* Getting Closer to that Pejury Charge

More bad news for Roger Clemens* appeared in the NY Daily News today:

Confessed drug supplier Kirk Radomski has provided documentary evidence to the government showing that he shipped drugs to the Texas home of Roger Clemens, who is under investigation for perjury after telling Congress he never used steroids or human growth hormone.
According to sources with close knowledge of the investigation, Radomski has discovered shipping receipts for a package of two kits of human growth hormone that he sent in late 2002 or 2003 to Clemens at the pitcher's palatial mansion in Houston.

How's that lawsuit going BTW? Maybe your ex-friend Andy Pettitte made the right decision on admitting use, nobody mentions steroids with him anymore. Don't bend over for the soap when you're in the big house or you might get to meet another rocket.

JD Drew On the Mound??

Terry Francona was running out of pitchers fast. He was down to his last pitcher, Scott Kazmir of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay manager would have preferred that he not pitch at all, since he hurled over 100 pitches on Sunday and is scheduled to pitch again soon, but when you’re into the 15th inning of the All Star Game, a manager doesn’t have many choices left. Fortunately, Kazmir got through his inning and the Red Sox All Star Team, er, make that the AL All Star Team scored a run in the bottom of that inning to win the game. Here’s what Francona had to say if he needed another pitcher after Kazmir:

"You know, you wait a lot of your life to do something like this," Francona said. "And in the last two hours, it wasn't a whole lot of fun. I was very nervous. I actually was more nervous before the game than I ever thought I would be. You know, but an excitable, you know, nervousness. It was fun to be part of something so special. And then later on, [I] started to have panic set in."
That's because he had run out of pitching. Rays lefty Scott Kazmir came on for the top of the 15th, and Francona had nobody left. And Kazmir was not in a position to throw all night, having thrown 104 pitches on Sunday.
In fact, Francona hadn't even planned on using Kazmir until the desperation set in. One thing nobody wanted was a tie.
So Kazmir blanked the NL in that top of the 15th, and Michael Young's walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning prevented he ace from having to throw another inning.
"I mean, we got to the point where [Tigers manager] Jimmy Leyland saw him, came down to the dugout just to check, and I asked him if he could pitch," Francona said. "It wasn't a real fun situation. I mean, that's just it was you try so hard to win and get everybody in. I thought we excelled at that, because we used everybody. We did a great job of using everybody."
And if the game had dragged on a few innings more, Francona confessed that he might have been forced to put his right fielder, J.D. Drew, on the pitcher's mound and send Evan Longoria -- the designated hitter -- into the outfield. Drew wound up winning the Most Valuable Player by belting a two-run homer, adding a single and stealing a base.
"He might have been a little more of an MVP if we went a couple more innings," said Francona. "He might have pitched. He's been begging me a long time to pitch, and we almost got close. But we were still a ways away from that."

Drew would have welcomed the opportunity.
"I've given him a hard time for the couple years that I played for him, if he ever runs out [of pitching], just give me a holler out here," said Drew. "We would have seen what happened. But after it started to [become a possibility], I was a little bit nervous to be honest with you."

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Fenway West, the All Star Game, Red Sox v. Yankees, etc...

More on how I came to write for Fenway West furthur on down the line, but tonight I had the good fortune to eat, drink, and watch the Red Sox All Star Game with Fenway West founder and future governor of Red Sox Nation from California, Matt O’Donnell.

We met in person briefly at an A’s-Sox game back in May, but he had the family in tow, so we didn’t get to speak much that day. We decided to meet at McNear’s in Petaluma, CA to watch the game. Now McNear’s has good food, good ale, and TV’s all over the place with the game on many of them, but the BIG screen was on the DL, and they weren’t putting the volume up on any of them either. So we went up the road a bit to Behind the Glory Sports Bar and Grill (yes we know the jokes.) TV’s were all over the place with the game on all of ‘em, but it was a noisy crowd, so we weren’t able to hear Fox’s Ken Rosenthal very well (awwwww…) Our suspicions were aroused when we saw the bartender wearing a pinstriped shirt with #13 on it, and an Evil Empire hat with those mysterious N and Y letters on it. But the food was good, the beer was good, the game was, well….. the AL won the game (we could feel Tito exhaling 3k miles away!), and much to the chagrin of the 100 or so fans left after the game, we got to see JD DREW of the RED SOX WIN the MVP award! And in venerable Yankee Stadium, taboot! Hey, NY! You got what you wanted! Mo pitched the 9th inning! In 1.2 innings, Mo allowed 2 hits, 0 runs, and struck out two. We were (not so secretly) hoping Tito would send him out for the rest of the game, as NY wanted desperately for him to get the win. Like Barry in search of a ring, it would not be (Tito sending Mo out for 6 innings, or getting the win.) Oh well. Nonetheless, it was a great night of baseball. A-Rod and Jeter combined line: 1 for 5 (cheap single) 0 runs, 0 RBI’s, 4 LOB. Drew’s line: 2 for 4 (game tying HR, single), 1 walk, 1 run, 1 SB. Not being able to hear the game well didn’t hurt our enjoyment of it as we told baseball stories back and forth all night.

Now about that bartender. Despite his unsightly NY garb, he said nothing ill of the Sox, no trash talking, nothing. After Matt and I had both eaten, he even came by with a kind offer of some free food, but we were both stuffed and had to pass. Not all Yankee fans are scum. (I dare Yankee fans to say the same of Sox fans, hah!) Didn’t get his name (we just called him A-Rod), but props anyhow. (Just get a better wardrobe :-)

Don't Hang Run NL Run #3 on Papelbon!

That run was the responsibility of catcher Dinosaur Navarro of Tampa Bay. Tejada would've still been on 2nd base when the inning ended had Navarro's throw been anywhere near the bag. As it was, the ball thrown by Navarro wouldn't have hit the broad side of a barn.

MVP J.D. Drew Helps Lead the A.L. To Victory

Even though Fox wanted you to believe this night was all about the Yankees, the Sox players and some of the New York media realized that Boston was the real story. After the predictable Bronx cheer for Sox players, the game got under way and was a relative pitchers duel for the first 5 innings. Manny, Youk, and Pedroia were all hitless, Tek did not get an AB. When Papelbon came in for the 8th he gave up a lead-off hit for which he was soundly booed. The runner eventually scored on a sac fly after going from first to third on a throwing error. Paps did get 2 K's and a fly out in the inning. J.D. Drew had the most plate appearances of any Sox player due to the length of the game. He went 2-4 including a 2 run homer and had a stolen base. He came up in the bottom of the 15th with runners on first and second and 1 out and earned a walk from Lidge putting the winning run on third. Young hit a sac-fly in the next at bat giving the A.L. another victory. J.D. Drew won the MVP and was booed by about 100 fans that were still in the stadium when the trophy and new car were given to him.

American League Wins 4-3 BOX SCORE

Papelbon Responds To Daily News Cover

Jonathan Papelbon was none to pleased with the New York media today and had the following to say about this morning's Daily News:

"It just (makes you mad) when your wife gets involved in that," Papelbon said, and yes, he chose saltier language. "You've got a wife who's pregnant and she doesn't feel safe riding with you in a red-carpet event like that? How would you feel? It just soured me on the whole thing."
Papelbon, wearing a T-shirt that had a hand making a naughty gesture in the Yankees clubhouse, had a new opinion as to who should close the game.

"I don't really give a (hoot) any more," he said. "If I don't even (actually) pitch, I don't care."

Papelbon always finds ways to add fuel to the fire. Should make for an interesting night if he gets the call to pitch....I for one will be wearing my Papelbon jersey as I watch.

Red Sox Second Half Contest

Enter to win the Fenway West Second Half Contest

Add the number of stolen bases Ellsbury will have + the number of RBI's Manny will hit + the number of home runs Ortiz will hit. This is in the second half of the season after the All-Star break only (not including the post-season)

As a tiebreaker guess the number of wins Lester will have after the All-Star Break (not including the post season)

Email your guess to matt(at)fenwaywest.com I will not send you any emails (except to get an address from the winner) or spam you in any way. Entries must be received by August 4, 2008. Copy and paste the following into your email

screen name:

your answer:

tiebreaker answer:

The winner will receive 2 etched pint glasses (1 Fenway West glass and 1 collector's item glass with Yankees Suck on the front and "Hank is a Dumbass" on the back. I will post a list of guesses after the deadline.

While you're at it, please take the time to vote for me for California Governor of Red Sox Nation by following the link at the top of the page.

Good Luck

It Was Bound To Happen

It was a stretch to think the Yankee fans could make the All-Star Game a tasteful celebration of Yankee Stadium history and a memorable moment for all baseball fans. Over the last few days we have seen them boo the Futures Game MVP, boo Chase Utley (watch his great response below), and take Papelbon to task because he said he wanted to close the game. This is the All-Star weekend not Yankee weekend. The Yankees will get to honor some of their past greats but the game is about today's All-Stars. Francona has shown class in the way he has set the lineup and said he will let Rivera close. (I just hope he doesn't blow home field advantage for the Sox in the World Series) I understand the rivalry requires some booing of oposite team players but it should not be the only thing you care about. The Yankee fans will show how classless they are tonight and care more about booing Sox players than rooting for the American League to win because they know deep down they have no shot at getting to the World Series, so the game does not matter to them.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Why Ortiz Is The Face Of MLB

What is not to like about Big Papi? He has the great comeback story; from being released by the Twins to being the hero of the '04 playoff run. David Ortiz is always smiling and always has fun while still being a good competitor. He has some of the things that make people love Manny but without the baggage. Tonight he displayed all of this in New York during the Home Run Derby; he cheered on players even though he was not participating an joked with fans and competitors from around the league. Compare this to Manny who did not show up for the press conference. Don't get me wrong, I love the fun Manny can bring to the game but he could learn a great deal from Ortiz. The Sox are not a complete team without Big Papi and luckily he will be back for the second half. He even took BP at the Stadium today and hit a few homers.

West Coast Red Sox

Since this is the Western Home of Red Sox Nation, I thought I would take a moment to salute some of the Red Sox who are from the West Coast:

Jon Lester~ Tacoma, WA

Jed Lowrie~ Salem, OR

Jacoby Ellsbury~ Madras, OR

Dustin Pedroia~ Woodland, CA

Coco Crisp~ Los Angeles, CA

Curt Schilling~ born in Anchorage, AK, college at YJC, AZ

Justin Masterson~ born in Kingston, Jamaica, college at San Diego State U.

Chris Carter~ Fremont, CA, college at Stanford U.

Chris Smith~ Apple Valley, CA

Jeff Bailey~ Longview, WA

The Sox Are Not Going To Trade Youk For Teixeria

Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe said that Theo was throwing around the idea of a deal with the Braves sending Youk and Hansen for Teixeria. Here's why it won't happen:

Teixeria is a free agent next year and the Sox would have to spend big money to keep him while Youk is a relative bargain.

Youk's numbers are just as good as Teixeria's, so why would the Sox even have to throw in Hansen?

SPLITS Teixeria	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Season	93	347	54	94	23	0	17	69	55	64	0	0	.271	.373	.484	.858
Career	840	3187	518	906	205	13	187	624	400	665	11	3	.284	.371	.533	.904

Youk Season	88	328	56	103	25	4	15	63	32	61	3	4	.314	.381	.552	.933
Career	496	1712	290	490	120	8	52	262	247	350	12	10	.286	.383	.457	.840

Youk is a much better fielder and can play 1st and 3rd. This is just one of those silly rumors that comes up when beat writers need to fill some space during the All-Star Break

Starting Lineups for the All-Star Game

American League

Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners)
Derek Jeter (Yankees)
Josh Hamilton (Rangers)
Alex Rodriguez (Yankees)
Manny Ramirez (Red Sox)
Milton Bradley (Rangers)
Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox)
Joe Mauer (Twins)
Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox)

National League

Hanley Ramirez (Marlins)
Chase Utley (Phillies)
Lance Berkman (Astros)
Albert Pujols (Cardinals)
Chipper Jones (Braves)
Matt Holliday (Rockies)
Ryan Braun (Brewers)
Kosuke Fukudome (Cubs)
Geovany Soto (Cubs)

Jerry Remy on Coco

I asked Jerry Remy what he thought about the Sox longterm plans for Coco, here is his response:

"I have no inside knowledge, but my guess is that eventually Coco will be traded. Whether or not it happens this season is the question.

I wish I could give you a more solid answer, but I honestly don't know how they will play this."

It seems that whenever the Sox seem like they have an expendable outfielder someone gets hurt and Coco and Jacoby are both needed to start. My take is that the Sox are going to keep Coco for the season since it seems to be working out, and then trade him for a starter or catcher in the off-season. How nice would it be to have a guy like Coco on the bench to come in as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement in the playoffs?

Dumbass Hank Hides From The Yankees

When asked why he hasn't been to Yankee Stadium since opening day, Hank Steinbrenner told USA Today the following:

"I keep that top secret," he says, "I sneak in and sneak out. I'd like to be there more often, but I just have so much going on here. To go up there, and stay at a hotel, you can't get much done."

Why would the owner of a team have to sneak in and out of his own stadium?

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Manny Sets Up An Office In the Green Monster

The Green Monster is now Manny's personal bathroom, office, and locker. For the second time in a week Manny entered the Monster during a pitching change. Earlier in the week he chatted on a cellphone, today he drank a Gatorade before returning to the field.

Manny later told Sports Xtra what he had been doing in the wall:

"I wasn't a big deal. I go there all the time to say hi to the guys, they always got some Gatorade for me, and I was talking to Gomez in the other dugout and I saw the phone and I was messing around with him... It was all good, I'm glad that everybody thought it was funny."

Sox Regain Division Lead Heading Into the All-Star Break

With the 7th straight loss by the Rays and another home victory for the Sox today, Boston sits atop the A.L. East. Dice-K earned the win going 6 scoreless innings and allowing just 4 hits. He did walk 6 batters and pitched himself out of a few jams in the game. The pen kept it a shutout until Papelbon came in for the 9th where he gave up 3 hits, a run, and allowed the go ahead run to come to the plate before recording his 100th career save. The Sox offense was fairly quiet scoring just 2 runs on 7 hits but once again J.D. had an extra-base hit.

Sox Win 2-1 BOX SCORE

Yankee Fans Boo Sox Prospect After He Wins Futures Game MVP

Another example of classless Yankee fans was evident today after Red Sox prospect Che-Hsuan Lin helped the World Minor League All-Star team defeat the U.S. Minor League All-Star team. Lin hit a 2 run homer and was declared the game's MVP after the World team won 3-0. Yankee fans booed Lin as he was being interviewed after the game.

Today's Lineup 7/13 vs. the Birds

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
J.D Drew, RF
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Sean Casey, 1B
Jason Varitek, C
Alex Cora, SS Dice-K SP

Wake and Youk Help Sox Crush the O's

Tim Wakefield is emerging as the ace of the staff after another great start. Last night he went 7 innings allowing just 2 hits. The offense helped him early with back to back jacks by Drew and Manny in the first. The Sox than plated 7 more runs in a the third which included Kevin Youkilis' first career grand slam. Youk had 6 RBI's on the night and his parents were at the Fens to witness it. The Sox play their last game of the series today before the All-Star break.

Sox Win 12-1 BOX SCORE

Saturday, July 12, 2008

So Long, Bobby Kielty

Bobby Kielty has been released by the Red Sox. I posted earlier about the long road for him to get back with the big club and now that road has come to an end. Kielty asked the Sox to release him and they granted his request. He only appeared in 20 games for the Sox but did make the post-season roster. At game four of last year's World Series I turned to a fellow Sox fan at Coors Field as he was coming in to pinch hit and told him, "Kielty was crushing balls over the left field wall in BP, let's hope he can do it in the game." Sure enough he hit the biggest homer of his career.

Big Papi Will Rejoin the Team For the Yankees Series

David Oritz will rejoin the Red Sox on July 25 to start the series against the Yankees. He will make a few starts with the PawSox and if everything works out he will be in the Boston lineup by the end of the month.

Tonight's Lineup 7/12 vs. the Orioles

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. J.D. Drew, RF
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
7. Sean Casey, DH
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Kevin Cash, C

Tim Wakefield, SP

Lowrie Called Up

In a sign that Lugo is headed to the DL, Jed Lowrie has been called up to the big club. You won't have Julio to kick around anymore, lets home Lowrie can be a consistent hitter and fielder at short. I would expect Cora to start today though, lineups coming soon.

UPDATE: Lugo has been placed on the 15-Day DL GoldBlog reports the following about the Lugo injury:

Lugo will miss at least a month with the injury to his left quad. The team is calling it a severe left quad strain, with a timetable of 4-6 weeks. But Lugo, speaking to reporters today, said the quad is torn, and was awaiting the full results of an MRI. But Lugo concurred with the 4-6 week timetable for a return.

Dumbass Hank Rips the Sox Again

Hank Steinbrenner keeps the quotes coming with this one from yesterday's USA Today interview:

"People in baseball know it, whether they want to admit it or not," Steinbrenner said. "It helps everyone when the Yankees are good. The Red Sox, whether they're good or not doesn't necessarily matter, nationally. ... Let's face it: The Yankees are baseball history. You're talking about 26 championships."

Note to Hank: The Sox outdraw the Yanks on the road. The only reason people are even talking about the Yankees now is because of the All-Star Game. Baseball attendance and ratings are up over the last few years...what team was on top during this period? That's right it was the Sox. Nice job by the Yanks on getting 2 hits last night BTW, maybe you should let blockhead Hal do the talking.

Buchholz Does Not Impress

After rehabbing with the PawSox since May, Clay Buchholz made his return to Boston last night. There was the hype that was there before the season started but once again he struggled and took another loss. Clay went 5 innings giving up 4 earned runs with 5 walks. This is a troubling senario for Boston because he did not really show any improvement and he was facing the O's. Theo had purposely held him back from starting against the Yanks last week to ensure a confidence building start against the O's but that plan has now backfired. The Sox bullpen woes showed up again in the 8th when Delcarmen gave up 2 more followed by Timlin being Timlin allowing a run in the 9th. The offense was not great last night even when aided by an error in the 9th. Pedroia's hit streak ended and the good/bad news of the night was that Lugo hurt his leg and may be headed to the DL.

Sox Lose 7-3 BOX SCORE

Friday, July 11, 2008

Tonight's Lineup 7/11 vs. the O's

J.D. is still out with the back issue and Coco has a bruised forearm.

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 1B
Ramirez LF
Lowell 3B
Casey DH
Varitek C
Moss RF
Lugo SS

Buchholz SP

Please Vote For Me For Red Sox Governor of California

I am running for Governor of Red Sox Nation for California and I would really appreciate your support. If you can take a minute and endorse my application here. You need to put Matt O'Donnell in the name field and odmatt@yahoo.com in the email field. You can vote up to 10 times so please vote as many times as possible. I appreciate your support. (You do not have to live in California to vote for me.)

Masterson Shows He Can Be A Reliever Too

Justin Masterson pitched well as a relief pitcher for the PawSox yesterday retiring the Norfolk batters in order on 16 pitches including one strikeout. Pawtucket is planning on using Masterson again tonight. If Masterson can continue to do well in relief I would expect him to join the Red Sox pen by the end of the month.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Buchholz Explains Why Things Will Be Different This Time

Clay Buchholz will take the hill tomorrow night against the O's in his first start since returning from the PawSox. He told the Patriot Ledger about his struggles and how he has adapted:

“It was all mechanical, and sort of mental, too,” he said, “because I fell in love with throwing all my off-speed stuff for strikes and nobody hitting it. Then it got to a point where (hitters said), ‘All right, we’re just not going to swing at his fastball and wait for the off-speed stuff,’ and that’s when they started hitting me.”

He feels that returning to Boston will be different this time “because if somebody hits my fastball I’m not going to be afraid to throw it again. That’s what I did. I sort of veered away from it. I was on the 60 percent mark of throwing off-speed stuff. That’s not a good thing when you’re up there and everybody knows you can throw a fastball but you’re not doing it. I think I got it all sorted out now.”

If Buchholz can stay with the club and have an ERA under 4, the Sox will run away with the division.

Beckett Bowl Video

You Can Be Wally

The Sox are looking for someone to be Wally. Here is the job description:

Represent the Boston Red Sox as Wally at select community and corporate events; always conducting him or herself in a professional manner during appearances. Must be available in a part time hourly role on weekdays, weeknights, weekends and holidays. Must have reliable transportation.

Minimum of one year experience as a sports mascot, theme park character or actor. Must have general knowledge of baseball and the Boston Red Sox. Ability to interact with and entertain a crowd. Must be able to withstand high heat in costume and be able to lift 50 pounds.

If you thing you have what it takes to be the big green guy, apply here.

Not In Our Town

A group of citizens from Sarasota have started an online petition to try to block the public financing of a new spring training facility for the Red Sox. So far there are only 12 signatures on the petition. The city's proposal calls for an increase in the tourist tax to help pay for the ballpark so it would be Sox fans picking up the tab, not the local residents.

Announcing the Fenway West Message Board

A message board has been created for this site, you can visit it here and let everyone know your thoughts on the Sox and baseball in general.

Peter Gammons Talks About Sox at the Deadline

Gammons talks about what the Sox may do at the deadline. Topics include Bonds, Ortiz, Masterson, and potential deals. Watch Below:

Manny Being Manny in the Monster

During a pitching change in the 6th inning Manny went into the Green Monster to make a cell phone call. This is the type of Manny being Manny thing that is fine with Sox fans, especially when he produces like he did in that series.

Beckett Bowl Tonight

With an off day, many Sox players will be participating in Josh Beckett's charity bowling fundraiser including, Wake, Lester, Big Papi, Lopez, and Lowell. It all gets underway at 6pm Eastern for more info go to the Becketbowl website.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

23 Hits!

And not one of 'em by Big Papi! Can you imagine, can you just imagine for a moment if he was in the line up today?!

BTW, 23 is not the team record for most hits in one game. On June 27, 2003, they hit 28 of 'em.

Tiger Stadium Is Dismantled

Today is a sad day for baseball as the heavy equipment came in to destroy Tiger Stadium. The park opened on the same year as Fenway. While the ballpark was cramped and rundown in the last few years the Tigers played there, it had great history and could have been renovated. I was lucky enough to go to a game there in 1999 before the Tigers moved to their new home. Fenway and Wrigley are going to be all that are left of the historic stadiums.

We Bad, We Nationwide (Sox on Tube in July)

In the wake of a great sweep of a very respectable Twins club, here is the Sox nationwide TV schedule (from redsox.com) for the remainder of July:

Sun 13th v. BAL, TBS, 10:30 am
Sat 19th @ LAA, Fox, 12:55 pm
Sun 20th @ LAA, ESPN, 3:00 pm
Sat 26th v. NYY, Fox, 12:55 pm
Sun 27th v. NYY, ESPN, 5:00 pm
Mon 28th v. LAA, ESPN, 4:00 pm

There's one other Red Sox game in July, the All Star Game at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, July 15th.

All times PDT.

I'll be back east for the yankees series and will get to watch NESN and Jerry Remy for a change! Yay! No Joe Morgan that weekend for me!

A-Rod Flakes on Kid For Madonna

After A-Rod passed out in the delivery room for his newborn daughter he only saw her one more time according to US Magazine. He is said to have left to see Madonna right after the birth and he told a friend, "She's (Madonna) my fucking soulmate, dude."

Sox Crush Twins To Sweep Series

The Red Sox Offense came alive in a big way today at the Fens with 23 hits and 18 runs to sweep the three game series with the Twins. Ellsbury had a 4 hit day, Pedroia kept his hitting streak alive and Youk had 4 RBI's. Manny stayed hot and every Sox starter had at least one hit. Beckett did not pitch well giving up 5 earned runs in 5 innings but the offense provided enough firepower to weather a Julian Tavarez style meltdown and the pen was solid. The Rays lost to the Yankees in 10 so the Sox are just 2 games back and could have the division lead by the break.

Sox Win 18-5 BOX SCORE

Setback for Bartolo Colon

El Gordo was still feeling pain when he was throwing on flat ground and was told to take two days off. His return to the rotation will be delayed until a few weeks after the All-Star break at best.

Today's Lineup 7/9 vs. the Twins

J.D. is having back trouble again so Casey will DH and Manny will play left.

CF-Ellsbury
2B-Pedroia
1B-Youkilis
LH-Ramirez
3B-Lowell
DH-Casey
C-Varitek
RF-Moss
SS-Lugo

SP-Beckett

Theo Talks About Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Masterson, Buchholz and Tek

Theo gives some insight into the current state of the club. Watch below:

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Manny Leads the Sox to Victory Again

For the second straight night Manny Ramirez has provided the winning hit in the 8th inning, tonight it was a 2-run homer. Lester did not have his best stuff and had some control problems; he gave up 5 runs in 7 and 1/3 innings. The Sox trailed by 3 runs in the 8th but rallied back scoring 4 and giving Papelbon a one run lead for the top of the 9th. He picked up the save and the Sox now have a 2-game win streak and Manny has broken out of the slump. Boston plays a day game tomorrow but Manny should be in there as DH.

Sox Win 6-5 BOX SCORE

Julian Tavarez Has Another New Home

And it's not in San Fernando Valley near LA, the porn capital of the country either.

The Atlanta Braves just signed him.

Tonight's Lineup 7/8 vs. the Twinkies

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
J.D. Drew, RF
Manny Ramirez, DH
Mike Lowell, 3B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Brandon Moss, LF
Julio Lugo, SS
Kevin Cash, C

Jon Lester, SP

Red Sox Want a Replica of Fenway for Spring Training

News from Florida is that the Sox want to build "Fenway South" for spring training so players can get used to the dimensions of the field before the seasons starts, the stadium will include an exact replica of the Green Monster. There is competition between Ft. Myers and Sarasota for the location of the new spring facilities but either way the Sox should have a new stadium in Florida by 2012.

Is Masterson Going to Save the Pen?

Justin Masterson is returning to Pawtucket to become a reliever for the Red Sox. This could be a sign that the price for the mediocre relievers that will be available before the deadline are not worth the asking price and Theo is going to try to get it done in house. Masterson has shown he can get big league hitters out so it will be a great move if he can effectively make the transition.

In other Sox news, Jeff Bailey was called back up, this is the second time the power hitting first baseman has been with Boston this season.

Good News on Ortiz

Big Papi took live BP yesterday and everything went well. Here's what he told the ProJo:

“I feel good,” Ortiz said following the BP session. “My first day swinging out there and it was feeling good. I feel like I’m getting back to normal. I want to go back and play. When you don’t play it kills you. Injuries are better when you take your time because if you rush sometimes it’s not worth it.... “I was trying to swing the bat normally,” he said. “I wanted to swing hard to make sure I don’t feel anything. It was fine.”

There have been rumors about the Sox trying to get Teixeira or even Millar in case Ortiz did not make a recovery but now it looks like he will be able to rejoin the team after the break.

Buchholz is Back With the Big Club

Clay Buchholz pitched well with the PawSox lately and was rewarded by being brought up to rejoin Boston's rotation. The Red Sox were patient with him and believe he is ready to be an impact pitcher again. The good news for Clay was bad news for Justin Masterson who was sent down to the PawSox. In his last few starts Masterson pitched well enough but showed signs of inexperience and the need for more development.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Boston Bats Still A Bit Quiet, But Come Away With a Win

After 7 innings, the game was still scoreless. The Twins’ Baker went 7 IP, scattering 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7. Dice-K was almost as frugal, allowing 6 hits, only walking 3, and striking out 5. Both pitchers at one point loaded the bases earlier in the game, but managed to get out of those jams unscathed.

Enter the bottom of the 7th frame. Red hot Pedroia doubles again (#26), and Manny knocked him in for the only run of the game.

Okajima walked one while notching the win. Pap finished the 9th for his 26th save.

Red Sox win 1-0. BOX SCORE

Red Sox Fans Must Not Lower Their Selves

Earlier this year, a drunken Yankee fan ran down two Sox fans in New Hampshire. Whether this was an act of revenge or not, Robert Correia, 20 of Cape Cod, MA, was held without bail after attacking a man with a baseball bat simply because he had NY license plates on his car. The victim is not even a baseball fan, nor did he even know that the Yankees were playing against Boston this weekend.

The victim was struck in traffic when Correia and others started yelling at him when they saw his plates. He got out of the car and asked them to stop, as there were children in the car. Correia went back to his nearby apartment and came back with a bat.

There’s always a few rotten apples at the bottom of the barrel, but Red Sox Nation does not need such acts from anyone claiming to be a Sox fan. Robert Correia is no Red Sox fan. We can’t lower ourselves to that abysmal level of disgusting, appalling acts. Good natured jeering is one thing. Violence against fans of other teams has no place anywhere near our favorite team, or any team for that matter.

BarryBondsBarryBondsBarryBondsBarryBondsBarryBonds*

Ain’t gonna happen.

Papi took batting practice before the game with the Twins today and promptly deposited 6 balls out of the park and sprayed line drives all over the place. He pushed himself, as he wanted to know definitively how his wrist was working.

“It feels good,” Ortiz said. “I was trying to swing hard and make sure I don’t feel anything. It was fine, and I’m going to keep doing what the trainers tell me to do and keep working hard.”

While he did mention something about being sore, that will happen to an athlete the first time he uses certain muscles that have been inactive for a period of time. The fact that he had huge smiles on his face is a good sign that he will be back soon, although rest assured that Tito and Theo won’t be rushing him back before he’s ready. Granted, it was batting practice, but this was just his first BP session since the injury occurred. He’ll be back soon.

As for Mr. Bonds*, yes, there had been much speculation a month ago about that alleged call that might have happened, or as of today, most likely will not happen, now that we’ve seen Papi back at the plate. Let’s suppose for just a moment, just one, that Papi was out for the season, or even another month or two. Taking it straight down to the playing field, Bonds would have been a good fit in the line-up as a temporary stand-in. (I won’t say replacement.)

However.

Problem #1? His salary. Since no MLB team has made a pitch for the aging slugger, who by the way has reportedly been working out every day at UCLA, he could probably be had for a song. The Sox are among leading candidates to make it to the World Series this year and were needing a left handed power hitter, but Barry wants a ring more. Supply and demand.

Other problems would also be off the playing field. The media circus that surrounds him would only intensify in a city that has one of the most rabid baseball fan following in the nation, if not the most. Would he be bringing his La-Z-Boy lounger and his entourage to the clubhouse? There’s no love lost between Bonds and Schilling. What kind of tension would that relationship have brought to the clubhouse? Fans have already expressed disgust and even hatred towards Bonds over the lies and cheating, (but such sentiments don’t exist for that coach down the road in Foxboro.) I wonder what Boston fans would think of Bonds had he been hitting all those home runs as the DH for the Sox for all those years.

Whatever. A month ago, this was all fodder for the rumour mill. After Papi’s BP today, it’s all a moot point.

Dice-K Locked in a Pitcher's Duel

Dice-K might actually get a complete game today. Through 6 innings, he's only thrown 83 pitches, 56 of them for strikes, struck out 5, allowed 3 hits, and has only walked 3 so far. The Twins' Baker is having a good day today, too, silencing the Sox's bats for most of his 5+ innings: 3 hits, 2BB's, 7 K's.

Sox bats need to wake up now, hello!

Kieth Law! ESPN! WTF?!

Kieth Law of ESPN calls to task the players who voted in their poll for reserves and compares Jason Varitek to "various multicellular [sic] organisms capable of wearing a catcher's mitt."

What he fails to mention in his (article) is that while yes, Tek is in the worst slump of his career, his BA on May 24th was sitting at a very healthy .295. Millions of votes had been cast at that point, placing 'Tek 2nd in the catcher balloting. Law mentions nothing, absolutely nothing, of Tek's knowledge of batters, pitches, and his game calling abilities or defense. (Let's not discount his A-Rod smackdown talents, too.)

The All Star Game is not only about the best hitters at each position. One could make a case that Omar Vizquel, whose BA is somewhere below the Mendoza Line, could be an All Star with his glove alone. Picture the NL with a short lead in the 9th and no chance for him to come to the plate. Would you rather have Vizquel (1 error this year so far, .994 fielding pct.) or someone comaparable to say Jeter with 7 errors (.976) come in at that point?

I believe all the MLB players who voted know that Jason is much, much, MUCH more than just his bat. (Witnesss the Red Sox implosion of '06 the instant he hurt his knee.) They know, and rewarded him with what could be his last All Star game.

Law, as a baseball writer for ESPN, you should know that there is much more to this game we love than just hitting.

Kieth Law, you owe Jason Varitek an apology.

The other big snub is the one Mike Lowell got. His numbers are as good as they get, on the field or at the plate, and I would much rather have him on my team than A-Rod (who needs that freak show circus?) Knowing that Big Papi would not be able to represent the Sox in the game, I would have thought that at least one of the two L's, Lester and Lowell, should have been named to the team. (And I would have picked Lester over Pap, too.)

That being said, I have to agree with Law in regards to Jon Lester getting snubbed. No Beckett? No Dice-K? Understandable, but not Lester.

Time To Get Back Home

Once again the Sox proved they can't win on the road. Boston will be back at home until the All-Star game and hopefully can put a good streak together because this road trip made them look like a team with several holes. Here's how Bob Ryan put it in today's Globe:

The Red Sox went 3-7 on the trip. The Rays are feeling absolutely fantastic about themselves, and even the Yankees are in much better spirits than they were 48 hours ago. Welcome to 2008. We'd better table the Duck Boat talk for a little while, don't you think?

The Sox need to build some consistency at nearly every position and this home stand could be an indicator of how they are going to be for the second half.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Sox Disappoint in Bronx Finale

Another great start by Tim Wakefield was wasted as the BoSox fell short to the Yankees in extra frames. Manny didn't deliver in the 9th watching a called third strike as the Sox offense failed to deliver late once again. The Yankees did not look much better until Girardi got tossed for arguing balls and strikes and sparked a fire under the offense of the Yanks. All was not lost on the evening, Extra Bases reported the following:

With Alex Rodriguez standing in the on-deck circle in the last half inning, a group of fans started singing the Madonna song "Like a Virgin" in his general direction.

Rodriguez, who is having an affair with Madonna according to reports, didn't seem to flinch a bit.

Sox lose 5-4 BOX SCORE

Tonight's Lineup in the Bronx

Manny has the night off, Casey will DH

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. J.D. Drew, RF
4. Mike Lowell, 3B
5. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
6. Sean Casey, DH
7. Coco Crisp, CF
8. Julio Lugo, SS
9. Kevin Cash, C

Tim Wakefield, SP

All Stars Named

TBS just finished naming the rosters for this year's mid-summer's classic.

I was 9 for 12 (.750) on my pitcher's choices. I forgot about the Kansas City factor. KC fans must not vote, so in order to make sure all teams are represented, a (usually marginal) pitcher from KC is selected. No one voted in Baltimore, either. George Sherrill, BAL and Joakim Soria, KCR were selected since no Royals nor O's were voted in by fans.

Realistically, I did not expect Wake would be named, but Lester without a doubt, should have.

American League

C Joe Mauer, MIN
1B Kevin Youkilis, BOS
2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS
SS Derek Jeter, NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
OF Josh Hamilton, TEX
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
DH David Ortiz, BOSº

Pitchers

P Justin Duchscherer, OAK
P Roy Halladay, TOR
P Scott Kazmir, TBY
P Cliff Lee, CLE
P Joe Nathan, MIN
P Jonathan Papelbon, BOS
P Mariano Rivera, NYY
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
P Ervin Santana, LAA
P Joe Saunders, LAA
P George Sherrill, BAL
P Joakim Soria, KCR

Reserves

C Dioner Navarro, TBY
C Jason Varitek, BOS
1B Justin Morneau, MIN
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX
SS Michael Young, TEX
3B Joe Crede, CWS
3B Carlos Guillen, DET
OF J.D. Drew, BOS
OF Carlos Quentin, CWS
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE
DH Milton Bradley, TEX
--------------------------------------------------------------------

National League
C Geovany Soto, CHC
1B Lance Berkman, HOU
2B Chase Utley, PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA
3B Chipper Jones, ATL
OF Ryan Braun, MIL
OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC
OF Alfonso Soriano, CHC

Pitchers
P Aaron Cook, COL
P Ryan Dempster, CHC
P Dan Haren, ARZ
P Brad Lidge, PHI
P Tim Lincecum, SFG
P Ben Sheets, MIL
P Edinson Volquez, CIN
P Billy Wagner, NYM
P Brandon Webb, ARZ
P Brian Wilson, SFG
P Kerry Wood, CHC
P Carlos Zambrano, CHC

Reserves
C Russell Martin, LAD
1B Brian McCann, ATL
1B Adrian Gonzalez, SDP
1B Albert Pujols, STL
2B Dan Uggla, FLA
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS
SS Miguel Tejada, HOU
OF Matt Holliday, COL
OF Ryan Ludwick, STL
OF Nate McLouth, PIT

Notes:
# Final Vote Selection
º Injured, will not participate
ª Named as replacement

Al All Star Team Arms Race

My picks for the AL pitching crew:

Tim Wakefield
Jon Lester
Joe Nathan, MIN, 1.26 ERA, 23/23 SVS/SVO, 44 K
Justin Duchscherer, OAK, 1.96, W9-L5, 59K
Jonathan Papelbon, BOS, 2.19, 25/29, 47K
Francisco Rodriguez, LAA, 1.93, 34/36, 35K
Rich Harden, OAK, 2.25, 5-0, 88K
Cliff Lee, CLE, 2.26, 11-1, 93K
Scott Kazmir, TBY, 2.63, 7-3, 75K
Roy Halladay, TOR, 2.88, 10-6, 113K
Ervin Santana, LAA, 3.28, 9-3, 106K
Mariano Rivera, NYY, 1.17, 23/23, 44K

and as an alternate pick:
John Lackey, LAA, 1.93, 6-2, 61K

Now that the error prone A-Rod and Jeter have been named to the starting team left side of the diamond, I should have looked closer at pitchers who induce ground balls to the right side (Pedroia and Youk.) Pedroia will have his work cut out for him trying to catch DP play balls from those two.

While Jon Lester is my sentimental pick for starter, I think Justin Duchscherer will start.

Picks coming up on TBS soon. We'll see how I do.

A Sox Win Tonight Will Make the Yankees Implode

If Wakefield can have another solid start and the offense can get some timely hits, the Yankees will face a loss that will have a devastating impact on their team. The Evil Empire is trotting out their "savior" Joba Chamberlain tonight and if the Sox can get to him, it could spell big trouble in the Bronx. The Yankees will fall farther behind the Sox and Rays and the first half will be declared a disaster. Hank will start blaming Cashman in the media while the media in turn will blame Girardi. The press will continue to hound A-Rod as the baseball world focuses on New York for the All-Star Game. A win by Boston would show how much trouble New York is in and that they have no quick fix; there is no player available at the deadline that would be able to save the sinking Yankees. Don't be surprised if there are some extracurricular activities in tonight's game after all of the bean balls yesterday. Girardi may try to get some spark in his team by having them mix it up with the Sox and there is still the Youk/Joba history. Should be a good one on ESPN tonight even with Joe Morgan announcing.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

I forgot to mention Dice-K in my Lester for All Star Team post! Doh!

Yesterday, I stumped for Lester for All Star Team. (I had already made my case for Wakefield.)

In my Lester post I mentioned Aardsma, Lopez, and Delcarmen all having good years, but not quite ready for the game. I wrote of Beckett and Pap, but somewhere along the way, my Dice-K review got lost. (Damn modern technology!)

Dice-K is having a great year, no doubt. However, I am just a little concerned about his high pitch counts, free passes, and that disastrous 1st game back from the DL.

Those negatives combined with Lester's positives are why I am picking Lester before Dice-K.

Soon come my picks for the rest of the AL arms.

Sox Rally Falls Short In 9th

The Red Sox almost stole one in the Bronx today but the slumping bottom of the order could not get a bases loaded hit. Masterson had another solid outing where he worked out of some jams. He was wild at times but overall he kept the Sox in a position to win. In the 9th Boston loaded the bases after scoring a run but Coco stuck out with a weak swing, quickly followed by a popup by the captain. Lugo came in to pinch hit in a chance to be the hero but once again he was the goat when he failed to make contact on any pitch from the Yankee closer. The offense was not in it today, but it was still one the Sox could have won. On a side note, Manny was hit by a pitch in three at bats today, I wonder if McCormick knows the Yankee pitching coach. The Sox will try to take 3-4 from the Yanks tomorrow night on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

Sox Lose 2-1 BOX SCORE

Close, But No Cigar

Mussina had his game on today, allowing only 4 hits, 1 walk, and no runs through 6 innings. The yankee bullpen for once did their job~ getting to the 9th inning and Mo with a lead intact. One of these days though, Mo's performances are going to land him in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. The Sox almost pulled off a nice come from behind victory. Down 2-0 in the 9th, he hits 2 batters, and allowed 2 hits and a run before wiggling out of a bases loaded jam. I love seeing him come in against the Sox. Close game, but no cigar.

Masterson was just a little wild today, allowing 6 hits, issuing 2 walks, a wild pitch, and 3 HBP's, but he did get through 6 innings with only 2 yanks making it to home plate.

Speaking of hit batsmen, there were 7 of them today, Manny taking 3 of them.

Random thoughts and observations of this game~ Joe Buck said 'Devil Rays.' I thought the Steinbrenner's had a strict dress code that didn't allow facial hair. No matter, some guys just don't look good with a moustache, and neither do his fans. Are golden thongs allowed by the Steinbrenner's? Molina took a nice hit to the head by a foul tip that knocked him down for a minute or so. He's OK. He took a dinger to the cup last week. Not sure how many more he can take, though. When Manny did swing, he was looking a little awkward. I thought Tek had broken out of his slump after going 3 for 7 in the previous 2 games, but he had another 0-4 today. Timlin had a nice 1-2-3 inning with one K. He wasn't wearing his usual knickers, but opted for the ankle length trousers instead.

Today's Lineup at the Bronx

Ellsbury, lf
Pedroia, 2b
Drew, rf
Ramirez, dh
Lowell, 3b
Youkilis, 1b
Crisp, cf
Varitek, c
Cora, ss

Masterson, sp

Yanks Get Beat Up By Sox, Then NY Media

For me there is nothing more fun than reading the New York media after the Sox beat the Yankees. Today proved to have some more entertaining reading, below are a few highlights.

From NY Post:Of course, the Yankees now have to win both games just to get back to the same unfavorable position in which they started the series. Not an exciting prospect.or this from the Daily News:

As for the games, Girardi seems to overthink things at times, whether it was not starting Ian Kennedy because of a bad weather report early in the season, or not bunting Melky Cabrera
earlier this week in a late-inning sacrifice situation, leaving himself open to second-guessing.

He seems to have plenty of respect in the clubhouse, but you wonder if his style creates tension among his players at times. Torre's style never failed to produce a playoff berth. Fairly or unfairly, Girardi's style is now officially on trial.
Or this that Dumbass Hank told to the NJ Star Ledger:
"We're looking into different things," Yankees co-chairperson Hank Steinbrenner said yesterday by phone. "I think we all had more confidence in what we could do with what we have than what we've shown lately.
"I don't think there's going to be any -- for most teams in baseball, 90 percent of the teams in baseball -- there's not going to be anything major that's going to happen."

The Yanks had better do something quick because Ponson is not going to get them into the playoffs.

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