During the recap of the A's rout by the Sox tonight on Baseball Tonight, one of the replays was of a great Lowrie-Pedroia-Youkilis double play. Berthiaume then declares "You may never see Lugo again!"
One could only wish.
Manny says he wants to finish his career in LA. In classic "Manny-Being-Manny" unintelligible-speak he said:
"The Dodgers brought me here to end my career in this city -- at least that's what I'm thinking. However, we haven't even discussed the future. I'm simply starting to know this team," Ramirez said.
Maybe they understand that down in La-La Land.
Taters heal all wounds. Isn't that how the saying goes? Jason Bay treated Red Sox fans to his first home run as a Red Sox outfielder, driving in 3 runs earlier tonight against Oakland.
Who was that guy who used to play in left? I think I like this Bay character.
In today's Globe Gordon Edes reveals an interesting development in the Manny trade:
"Within an hour after Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein informed Manny Ramírez he had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday, Ramírez's agent, Scott Boras, called the Sox back, according to a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations. If the Sox dropped the option years on his contract - which they had agreed to do if they traded him - Boras said Ramírez would not be a problem the rest of the season. For the Sox, the source said, Ramírez's pledge of good behavior only served as a tacit admission that his disruptive conduct of the last couple of weeks had been calculated, and they had had good cause to suspect more was in the offing if they did not trade him."
Jason Bay hit a huge triple off The Green Monster in the bottom of the 12th inning with two outs. After an intentional walk to Drew, Lowrie knocked in Bay to score the winning run over Oakland tonight. (Had Manny hit that ball in the bottom of the 12th, he most likely would have watched it for 5.7 seconds before realizing it was still in the park!)
Jason Bay has scored the 1st run of the Sox-A's game today which is currently in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Bay drew a walk in his 1st plate appearance in a Sox uniform and moved to 3rd on Drew's double. Lowrie hit a deep fly to left, scoring Bay. He received standing O's during the line up announcements and another when he came to the plate.
Not a bad start at all, not bad.
UPDATE: Bay is aboard for the 2nd time tonight in the bottom of the 4th, this time due to a HBP. He then went to 3rd on a single by Lowrie.
UPDATE #2: The A's Crosby hit a double off the Monster and Bay played it perfectly. He then followed that with a web gem nomination to end the inning! In the top of the 6th, he played a ball off the wall and was able to hold Suzuki to a single.
After you look at these quotes from Clubhouse Insider I think there can be no doubt that the Sox made the right move. If Big Papi likes the trade then it was the right thing to do.
Read more...David Ortiz: “Things got to the point where they had to do something - and they did. They’re happy, Manny’s happy. I’m going to miss my man, I’m not going to lie to you, but we’re looking forward. The team needed it.”
Jason Varitek: “Things escalated to degrees where something had to be done either way. …Either way, I think it’s a relief that there’s closure to something that’s been going on for the last week or 10 days. I’m just relieved there’s an actual solution, which there was going to be, regardless, on this day.”
Jonathan Papelbon: “From the front-office standpoint, I feel like this did have to happen. Sometimes you make decisions, regardless of whether you got a worse player or better player out of that deal - it makes your team as a whole better. I think that’s what their decisions was based on, that feeling of camaraderie and 25 guys playing for the same goal.”
Mike Lowell: “I think (Ramirez’ constant griping) had a big impact on people in upper management because there are important decisions to be made in the next couple of years.”
The Packers are rumored to be offering $25 million to Brett Favre to stay home.
So what's the big deal over the pittance the Sox are paying for chemotherapy?
Here's Jason Bay talking about being the newest member of the Red Sox. Watch below:
| Dustin Pedroia, 2B | |
| Kevin Youkilis, 1B | |
| David Ortiz, DH | |
| Mike Lowell, 3B | |
| Jason Bay, LF | |
| J.D. Drew, RF | |
| Jed Lowrie, SS | |
| Kevin Cash, C | |
| Jacoby Ellsbury, CF Tim Wakefield, SP |
In the press conference today Jason Bay said it was slim pickins for numbers with the Sox and Eric Davis was a childhood idol of his so he has chosen #44.
Read more...Extra Bases is reporting that Mike Lowell with be the clean-up hitter for the Sox with Jason Bay batting 5th. Full lineup and Jason Bay's number coming soon.
Read more...
Jason Bay was number 38 in Pittsburgh and there is no word yet on what number he is going to have for the Sox, I wonder if Curt will give up number 38 if Bay asks for it. Since Curt's blog is 38pitches.com I would find it doubtful that Bay will get the number especially since Curt has a small chance of coming back next season. FYI Manny is said to be taking number 99 in LA since 24 has been retired.
Peter Gammons has a new blog post up where he shows that Red Sox executives believed Manny was done for the season and would not put much effort into playing for the Sox. For one, they truly believed he faked his knee injury:
Ramirez tried to sit, citing his knee. Problem is, after Felix Hernandez and Joba Chamberlain had come and gone, the Red Sox ownership and medical staff ordered him to take an MRI. If Ramirez hadn't forgotten which knee was bothering him, he would have been more convincing, but he got mixed up.Gammons responds to some people in the media that say the Sox are much worse off today:
But the way the past month had gone, there was no chance -- none, zilch, nada -- that Boston could make the playoffs with Ramirez on the team. In his mind, he had completed his obligation for the guaranteed $168 million the Red Sox paid him.....But as soon as the deadline passed, if Ramirez were still with the Red Sox, there would have been one incident after another with Ramirez secure in knowing that he didn't have to play, hustle or give any regard to winning to collect his remaining $7 million. Anyone who was watching John Lackey's run at a no-hitter continue in the seventh inning Wednesday when Ramirez jogged to first in 5.7 seconds, realizes that he is one of those rare, gifted athletes who cares nothing about winning, about the integrity of the game or about his teammates.It will be interesting to see if Manny has any knee or hamstring problems with LA in the next few weeks. I think that will show if he really was quiting on the Sox to get more money. Getting over the Nomar trade was pretty easy because the Sox won their first World Series in 86 years, what will it take to get over the Manny trade? Even hearing about him quiting on the team I love by one of baseball's most respected reporters doesn't make this one easy to deal with. Read more...
Looks like ESPN has to call Manny back to change into a Dodger uniform for the commercial they made last month.
Baseball does not stop in mid-season, even for Manny so it is time to look at the road ahead for the Sox. If you really get all misty eyed over the loss of ManRam throw in a W.S. DVD or watch a Manny tribute on YouTube but now it's time to get back on the horse and win some games. The Oakland A's come to Fenway on Friday and the Sox need a win bad. The Sox opened the season against the A's in Japan many months ago and they were swept by them in May (I had the displeasure of being at 2 of those games.) But this is not the same team the Sox faced on Memorial Day weekend; the team is coming off a sweep by the Royals and is just 2-10 since the All-Star break, going below .500 for the first time this season. The A's will have Frank Thomas back for the first time since going on the DL on May 28. Thomas always seems to get to Sox pitching and he hurt them with Toronto and Oakland earlier this season. Unfortunetly the Red Sox will be facing the A's best pitcher Justin Duchscherer on Friday and will have their work cut out for them. The Nation is in need of a win and a walk-off homer by Bay could make everyone say Manny who?
Not a whole lot of Sox on national TV this month:
Fri, 1 Aug v. OAK, KICU, 4:05 pm
Sat, 2 Aug v. OAK, CSN-BA, 4:05 pm
Sun, 3 Aug v. OAK, KICU, 10:35 am
Sun, 10 Aug @ CWS, TBS, 11:05 am
No Sox and Yankees on national TV, Aug 26-27-28.
And that is it until Sept 26.
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