Last month the NY Daily Times alleged that Roger Clemens* started an improper relationship with country singer Mindy McCready when he was 28 and married and she was a mere 15 years old.
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Ramirez LF
Lowell 3B
Youkilis 1B
Varitek C
Lugo SS
Lester SP
If not, do it! Now!
Vote Varitek! Vote Youkilis! Vote Pedroia! Vote Papi!
Voting for the 2008 All Star Game ends on July 2, 11:59 pm.
You may vote up to 25 times.
As of June 23rd, Minnesota's Joe Mauer has overtaken Jason Varitek by 44,775 votes. At first base, Kevin Youkilis' edge over Mauer's teammate, Justin Morneau, is now less than 270,000 votes. At second base, Texas' Ian Kinsler made up more than 50,000 votes on Dustin Pedroia to come within 166,000 votes. And Derek Jeter zipped past David Ortiz to grab the lead in overall votes.
Jacoby Ellsbury! Vote for him in the write-in ballot!
Wouldn't it be SWEET to see 5 Sox starting at Yankee Stadium?!!!
As reported in the Marin Independent Journal today:
In today's Houston Chronicle they have a feature on how a local rapper name Paul Wall, whoever that is, gives his support to Roger Clemens*. Seriously, is this the best the Rocket* can do for quasi -celebrity props? That guy isn't even famous enough to be on a Fox reality show. To make the story even more ridiculous, the rapper will participate in a guitar hero contest competition after the game wearing a Clemens* jersey, that should pack in the fans. From the Chronicle:
I don't know which is scarier; that this guy paid for a billboard to support Roger* or that the Chronicle published this story. Read more..."That's why I had to wear it on my back," Wall said. "I had to represent. It may be a little added pressure to win on the Guitar Hero. I'm representing Clemens."
Wall has been one of Clemens' biggest supporters in Houston since the seven-time Cy Young Award winner was mentioned in the Mitchell Report on Dec. 13. At one point, he paid for a billboard in town that read, "Houston Supports Roger Clemens." The owner of Paul Wall's Grills also vows to write a rap song in honor of Clemens, whom he has mentioned in a few of his songs.
"Yeah, I've put him in a couple verses here and there, especially when he started getting a lot of coverage and everybody started coming down on (Clemens') back just saying, 'This is how the world is, man,' " Wall said.
Dice-K is back and in a big way. Matsuzaka went 5 scoreless innings allowing just 2 hits while striking out 4. Hansen and Delcarmen faced the minimum in the 6th and 7th before Okajima came in for the 8th. Oki was less than sharp again giving up 2 hitsincluding a home run in 2/3 of an inning. Papelbon came in for a 4 out save as the Sox staff shut down the Astros on 4 hits. Offensively the Sox looked good; Drew broke out of him mini slump with a 3 run tater in the third inning and Youk went 4-5. Not a bad way to start the second half.
Sox Win 6-1 BOX SCORE
MLB reduced Coco Crisp's 7 game suspension by 2 games. Coco was happy with the new but Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays was not. From the Boston Herald:
“First of all, the fact that after the appeal that we made the other day that Aki’s suspension was not reduced, I’m kind of baffled by it,” Maddon told Tampa Bay reporters prior to tonight’s game in Pittsburgh. “I don’t agree with it at all. I thought it should have been reduced. I thought it was way too severe, because of the fact that we were reacting to a situation. And then furthermore, the guy that pretty much created the entire moment gets his reduced by two [games]. Honestly, none of that makes any sense to me whatsoever. There’s no way for me to take all the information that I’ve heard over the last couple of days and indicate that I’m in agreement. Regardless that I’m a Ray or not, I would think that an independent person would also agree that how this has all come down, you would say that I disagree with this.”Coco will play tonight and miss the remainder of the Houston series and the Tampa series. This could lighten up the tension between the two teams but Papelbon may get things heated back up if he has his say. Read more...
Crisp CF
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Ramirez LF
Lowell 3B
Youkilis 1B
Varitek C
Lugo SS
Matsuzaka SP
I read the above headline in a bathroom stall in Alaska several years ago and it seems appropriate today. The Sox are headed to Houston; home of Enron, George H.W. Bush Airport, and Roger Clemens*. Interleague play can sometimes make sense and be interesting but it is hard to get excited about playing the Astros. I wonder how many Sox blogs or newspaper stories are going to go with the "Houston, We Have A Problem" headline if Boston loses a game there? Houston is so caught up in the Shaun Chacon incident the city hardly notices the World Champs are coming to town, or maybe they are not the brightest of baseball fans. Take a look at what some typical Astros fans are like as they talk about Chacon. Oh those silly Texans, they make me laugh, especially the Barbara Bush look-a-like about 30 seconds into the video. FYI -Ed Wade is the GM that fired Tito in Philly.
Mike Timlin pitched the 8th inning for the PawSox tonight and retired the side in order. He threw 10 pitches, 7 for strikes. While this is a good sign, he will not be pitching at Fenway any time soon. If he can have 3-4 more outings like this it may hasten his arrival, a few more Oki or Hansen meltdowns might help him too.
Read more...
yahoo reports on the real names of pop stars. Madonna is Madonna Ciccone, Tiger Woods is Eldrick Woods, Larry the Cable Guy is Daniel Lawrence Whitney along with 17 others on their list. Number 5 on the list: Covelli (aka 'Coco') Crisp.
The Sox are halfway done with the regular season and on a pace to win 98 games. Here is how I grade the team so far.
Starting Pitching: B+ Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, and Wake all have ERA's under 4. Masterson has pitched well in spot starts, Colon has shown he can be a good member of the rotation. Outlook for the second half: Buchholz looks like he is ready to rejoin the club, Lester has become an ace and other arms are recovering; look for even better pitching from the rotation.
Relief Pitching: C- The pen has lost a few games this season and cannot get any consistency. Okajima is not the pitcher he was last year and Timlin looks like he is ready for the retirement home. Aardsma has been pitching well and Lopez, Hansen, or Delcarmen look good occasionally. Papelbon had a few blown saves in the first half but he is still the best closer in baseball. Outlook for the second half: Look for Theo to try to get some bullpen help before the deadline (just hope it's not somebody like Gagne) The pen will continue to be the weak point on the team.
Offense: B The numbers are not there in the first half and you have to blame this on injuries. Only Drew and Youk are batting over .300 and nobody is on pace for 100 RBI's (Manny will get there if he stays healthy). The team has great speed and can manufacture runs and the lineup can produce top to bottom. Outlook for the second half: If Big Papi can return at full strength this team is going to get better at the plate. The average and power numbers will rise as the team sees pitchers for the second or third time.
Defense: A- The team has been very good defensively other than Julio Lugo. The platooning of Ellsbury and Crisp allows for late defensive replacements in the outfield. Cora has also been coming in late at short. Outlook for the second half: More of the same solid defense and Lugo will not be as bad; he is not a great defensive shortstop but he should not be leading the league in errors.
Bench: A+ The Red Sox have the best bench in baseball and have been able to overcome injuries to Ortiz, Manny, Youk, Coco, Drew, and the sickness that went through the team earlier in the season. Casey and Cora have both filled in well. Cash is a great backup catcher and the Sox usually have Coco or Ellsbury in reserve for the outfield. Outlook for the second half: there is still a chance that Coco gets traded but the Sox will be ok on the bench with Moss and possibly Kielty. The bench is going to keep the Sox at the top of the division and be the ace in the hole for the playoffs.
Coaching and Management: A Francona and Theo have done a tremendous job handling all of the injuries and egos. They had a good backup plan when Schilling went down, they made the right moves with Buchholz and Masterson and have made the Coco/Ellsbury thing a non issue. Outlook for the second half: Who else would you want steering the ship than a guy who has won 2 of the last 4 World Series. Tito will have the team ready and rested for the post season and Theo will make sure he has the players to get there.
Sox Win 5-0 BOX SCORE
| Jacoby Ellsbury, LF | |
| Dustin Pedroia, 2B | |
| Kevin Youkilis, 1B | |
| Manny Ramirez, DH | |
| Mike Lowell, 3B | |
| Coco Crisp, CF | |
| Kevin Cash, C | |
| Brandon Moss, RF | |
| Julio Lugo, SS Tim Wakefield SP |
Big Papi did take some swings today but it was not the best case senario according to Ortiz and the ProJo:
"There's a little bit of pain, but it's better than when I hurt it. Then I couldn't even hold onto the bat. I didn't take a full swing. It was very light. I was trying not to miss it, We're pretty much where they expected," said Ortiz of his medical staff. "I was a little disappointed. I want to be playing. There's not too much I can do about it but wait. It's a healing process. It's better than what it was."
David Ortiz: With the cast removed Ortiz will take some swings today and be checked out by doctors before heading with the Sox to Houston. If all goes well he could be in there for the series with the Yankees.
Bartolo Colon: El Gordo has been put on the "slow road" to get back to the rotation to ensure he has totally healed (and to avoid any chance of him swinging a bat in an NL game.) From the ProJo: “We’re going to slow (his rehab process) down for another week,” said Francona, “just to make sure we don’t have a problem like last time.”
Kevin Youkilis: Youk had a CT scan which came up negative and he saw an eye specialist about the injury. He did not start yesterday but did come in for the 9th. Tito talks about the injury below:
Sox Win 5-4 BOX SCORE
Today is Jerry Remy Day at Fenway, the Red Sox are honoring Remy to mark his 20th anniversary as NESN’s Red Sox analyst. Students from the RemDawg's hometown of Somerset, Mass will be part of the pregame ceremony. Check out a classic Remy moment below:
Youk will miss tonight's game with swelling under his eye, Moss will have to try to play first again tonight since Casey is still suspended.
Ellsbury LF
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Ramirez DH
Lowell 3B
Varitek C
Moss 1B
Crisp CF
Lugo SS
Masterson SP
What was that thing on Eric Byrnes' face last night? He has apparently been trying to grow a mustache since last April.(without much success) He is giving Jeff Kent a run for his money for the 1970's porn star look.
There is a new reason why Nomar is always hurt, which he is again if you haven't noticed, he says its due to genetics. The Dodgers were going to have Nomar move back to short until he got reinjured this week. From Scout.com:"Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra said a genetic predisposition, one he didn't know he had until it was identified by a Boston physical therapist with whom he voluntarily consulted last week, is the reason his left-calf strain has been so long in healing."
You can say what you want about Theo signing Lugo but he abosultely made the right move in shipping off Nomar. I'm sure roids had nothing to do with the bulking up followed by the breakdown of ligaments.
Dan Haren won a pitchers duel against Josh Beckett at Fenway as the Sox offense managed just 4 hits. Beckett had a shutout going in the 7th before he gave up 2 runs. One of the runs may not have scored but Moss (who was in for the injured Youk) bobbled the ball and had no play at the plate. The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the inning and had bases loaded with one out. J.D. hit a sac-fly to put the Sox on the board. Manny came to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. He hit a hard liner but it was right at the third baseman for the third out. Lyon came in for the 9th and the Sox went in order. Beckett and Aardsma both pitched very well for Boston but they did not have any run support.
Youk was hurt in the game during a warm-up between innings. He tried to catch a bouncing throw that came up on him and hit him below his eye. He was replaced my Moss at first because Casey was out serving the suspension from the Rays incident. No word on how much time Youk will miss.
Sox Lose 2-1 BOX SCORE
On the other team, that's where!
Last week, two former Red Sox teammates faced each other. Today the Drew brothers find themselves on opposing teams: JD for the Sox and Stephen for the D-backs. Stephen just flied out to his bro' in the first inning as the game delay is over and the game is on!
This just in~ Julio Lugo throws to 1st and does not make an error to end the top of the 1st.
The Herald is reporting that Curt Schilling sugery went better than expected, making it possible for him to possibly pitch next season. Not that it matters much to the Sox unless he is going to take a major discount.
Read more...Ellsbury LF
Pedroia 2B
JD Drew RF
Ramirez DH
Lowell 3B
Youkilis 1B
Varitek C
Crisp CF
Lugo SS
Beckett SP
The tarp is on the field and rain is in the forecast along with some lightning. This may be a tough one to get started on time.
Jason Varitek is now behind Joe Mauer of the Twins for the starting catcher spot on the AL roster in the All-Star Game. There is still time for Tek to regain the lead, you can vote for him here.
Read more...
Bill Lee won a minor league game in Alaska over the weekend. From the Fairbanks News Miner:
Lee gave up 4 runs and had 3 K's in the game. I will always be a fan of Bill Lee because he got me tickets to my first Red Sox game. Bill Lee played for the Alaska Goldpanners earlier in his career. For a history of the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic look here. Read more...Bill “Spaceman” Lee walked off the field with a cigar in his mouth, a grin on his face and another win on his record after the Midnight Sun Game this morning.
The 62-year old former Goldpanners and Boston Red Sox hurler, who hadn’t pitched in a Midnight Sun Game since losing to the Japanese national team in 1967, threw six-plus innings for the Alaska Goldpanners in their 10-6 win over the Southern California Running Birds.
There are some trade rumors that former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo may get traded to the Yankees. It would be a shame to see him in pinstripes, he has always been very loyal to the Sox, even after they screwed him over.
Read more...
Sox Win 5-3 in 13 Innings BOX SCORE
The Rays are only 1/2 game back but Jon Lester has proven to be a solid starter this season and should get the win today, keeping the Sox in first. Here is what he told ESPN about his recent pitching.
"It seems like every start, things are getting better," said Lester, who has walked just two batters over his last 20 1-3 innings. "Walks are going down, I'm more around the zone with better command of my stuff. I have the confidence to throw any pitch, any time."Read more...
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