Red Sox Nation

An enigma wrapped in a conundrum

2010-05-08T09:42:00.000-04:00

Six weeks into the 2010 season I can say it now: I don't get it. I just don't understand this Red Sox team.

I've been following the Sox all of my life and this is the first time I have absolutely no read on the team. "Enigma" doesn't even begin to cover it. It's not just that this team seems to lack personality (where's Kevin Millar when you need him?!?) ... it's that they have no identity. It almost feels like we've gone back to the "25 guys, 25 cabs" era where it was every player for themselves. They just don't feel like a team.

The Sox are currently sitting in next-to-last place in the AL-East with a 15 - 15 record, 7 1/2 games out of first (frankly, I think they're lucky to be at .500).

They're supposed to be better than this. During the Hot Stove season last year, we kept hearing about how this team was built for run prevention, how the pitching staff was going to keep the opposition off of the scoreboard and the offense would score just enough runs to win games.

Hmmmm, how's that working out so far?

Look, I'm not pushing the panic button here and I don't expect they're going to roll right over everyone and dominate night after night. What I'm saying is that this team's flashes of brilliance are too far and too few between to foster any sense that things are going to right themselves in time to compete consistently this season.

I mean, they got swept in Baltimore last weekend ... Baltimore! ... the worst team in the majors (well, Houston in the NL-Central is almost as bad ... as of this morning, they have one more win that the Birds).

Ye gods.

Red Sox Nation has been fed a steady diet of "In Theo We Trust" over the past few years but I'm not sure the Sox brass is firing on all cylinders lately. It still astounds me that they didn't try to get a bat for the lineup, especially when David Ortiz' last season and a half decline is so obviously not a fluke. As much as I want Big Papi to succeed, I think the team and fans need to acknowledge that, for whatever reason(s), he's done. Seems to me that he's either hurt and isn't telling anyone or he's just simply lost his ability to hit (it happens). And I don't buy the argument that he's not seeing good pitches anymore because he doesn't have Manny Ramirez in the line-up to protect him. Ortiz could find some place in the order to hit.

I'm beginning to think that Ortiz has been struggling for so long that he's now too far down the rabbit hole to crawl back out. I would love to be wrong about this, but I honestly don't think I am.

And then there's the pitching ... virtually the entire rotation is like a roller coaster right now, up and down (forget about Dice-K ... I think we all need to accept the fact that he is a major bust and will never live up to expectations).

I was at the game last night vs. the Yankees. Sox lost 9-3. Beckett was brilliant in the first three innings with six strikeouts and pinpoint control but he absolutely imploded over the next 2 2/3 innings and gave up nine earned runs. He was a completely different pitcher, like someone threw a switch in his head between the third and fourth innings.

And for me, that stat alone from last night's game perfectly sums up this team ... it just doesn't make sense.

# 5 comes home ... sort of.

2010-03-11T08:46:00.011-05:00

A one-day minor league contract later and Nomar Garciaparra is retiring as a member of the Red Sox.

It's a nice gesture but is it really that big of a deal?

I saw a lot of coverage of the story on the news yesterday and in one piece, a reporter was asking people on the street what their last impression of Nommie would be. Many said his consistent hitting, stellar SS playing, or his little dance when he stepped into the batter's box.

In case you're interested, here's how The Boston Globe covered the story. ESPN, where Nomar will work as a baseball analyst (how ironic given Nomar's dislike of the media as a player) had this take. And NESN covered the story from this angle.

While it's nice to reminisce, if I'm being honest, I have to say that what I remember first when I see his name or think about Nomar is how his attitude towards the team and town had plummeted during the 2004 season. Frankly, the guy was a malcontent, in my opinion.

A lot of players in the past have pointed out how difficult it is to play in Beantown because of the pressure from fans and (especially) the media. Red Sox fans are some of the most passionate in MLB and they have no hesitation in letting players know what they think, good or bad.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching Nomar patrol the sixth position of the field for the Sox. At his prime he was one of (if not the) best short stops in baseball (as the very least, he was part of the holy trinity of Nomar, Jeter and A-Rod).

He could hit for average or power and was one of the most dedicated players out there.

But the acrimony that developed between him and the team (for whatever reason) during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, I think, really left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans. Frankly, he just didn't handle himself very well and was even accused of faking an injury in '04.

So while I certainly appreciate and respect his desire to retire with the team that drafted him (technically, the Brewers drafted him first but he didn't sign) and with which he had the most success, I'm just not getting the warm and fuzzies from this.

But here's the real question: Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? He certainly has impressive stats, but his he a Hall of Famer?

Six All-Star appearances, 1997 MVP and AL Rookie of the Year, three batting titles ... it all looks good. But, is it HOF-worthy?

Or, at the very least, should the Red Sox retire his number?

General assessment

2010-02-21T17:06:00.003-05:00

Just a quick general assessment of the Sox going into spring training ...

Overall, Theo and co. seem to have built this team with the idea that the pitching and defense will keep them in games and the offense will produce just enough runs to win games.

The old saying "you can never have enough pitching" appears to be the heart of the club. The bullpen is stocked and when you have the potential to have a six-man starting rotation, that tells you a lot about the make-up of the 2010 Red Sox.

Let's take a look at who's going to helm the mound for the Red Sox:

Clay Buchholz - Reports are that he's put on muscle in the off-season and is poised to be a solid starter ... but will he be a starter or begin the season in the pen?
John Lakey - Great hot stove season signing. Solid #2 in the rotation. I really liked this signing and I think his passion is going to suit him well in the Fens.
Josh Beckett - Still the ace of the staff. Would love to see a vintage-type season from him. Here's hoping his contract issues aren't a distraction.
Jon Lester - Hands down, best lefty in the game right now. Glad he's on our team.
Tim Wakefield - Back surgery in the off-season should bode well for his durability this season. Because he's a knuckleball pitcher, his career's going to last longer than the flamethrowers in the league.
Daisuke Matsuzaka - The real question mark on this staff and the pitcher with the most to prove. He's already started spring training with back problems, even though he claims to be healthier than last year. While anything is better than last season, he really needs to step up this year.

Never a dull moment in Beantown, for sure.

And we're back!

2010-02-21T09:59:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's been a while, but I've decided to rev up the ol' Red Sox blog for the 2010 season for the few who read it in the past.

Will be posting more now that pitchers and catchers have officially reported and positional players aren't far behind.

Here's to the another great season in Red Sox Nation!

GO SOX!!

Manny's $100 million question

2008-08-14T15:29:00.004-04:00

More in case you missed it ...

Jayson Stark of espn.com writes an excellent column about the terrible and dangerous precedent that would be set if some team is stupid enough to give Manny the 4-year, $100 million contract he thinks he's worth. Here's a nugget from the piece:

He's absolutely right.

I'm so glad Manny isn't the Red Sox' problem anymore ... trouble is, he could become baseball's (if not sports in general) problem if he gets this ridiculous deal he wants because if he does get that kind of deal, it'll justify (in his and probably other's minds) all the BS he pulled this season in Beantown.

170 pounds of mouth

2008-08-14T11:40:00.002-04:00

In case you missed it ...

The online version of ESPN The Magazine ran a great feature on Dustin Pedroia. Well worth a few minutes of your time.

State of the RSN State

2008-08-14T08:26:00.006-04:00

So the Sox are crushing Texas so far and having a good August going 9 - 3, but things are a bit unstable (to say the least) in RSN.

Lowell is on the DL with an oblique injury, iron man Wakefield is missing at least two starts with an injury, Papi's been swinging the bat fairly well but isn't 100%, Coco Crisp can't buy a hit right now and 'Tek at the dish is ... well, you know.

And then there's Buchholz. I truly feel for this guy. He was blazing through the AL at the end of last season and the beginning of this season but to say he has no confidence right now is an understatement. He looks completely lost on the mound and is pitching his way back down south on Rt. I-95. Maybe that's for the best because he obviously needs to work through something, whether it's a physical problem or in his kitchen.

So what do the Sox do to try and plug the holes in their starting rotation? They sign Paul Byrd away from Cleveland ... hoo boy. If Byrd was the best available, then that speaks volumes about the talent pool out there (or lack of it). Byrd, 37, was 7-10 with the Indians this season, with a 4.53 ERA in 22 games. He has a career record of 104-91 and a career ERA of 4.37. Not bad, but not great, either, IMO. Still, he could be one of those guys who shines in a new venue with a new team. We'll see.

Meanwhile, there was a Q&A with noted baseball scribe Peter Gammons posted on boston.com recently and someone asked if it was an inevitability that Manny will end up with the Yankees next season. Gammons said, "I am told that as long as Brian Cashman is the GM and Hank Steinbrenner is owner, Manny will not be going to the Yankees. Their plan is to take the money they have stashed away and go after CC Sabathia."

Interesting. With "Steiney" (that's what I call him ... we're bro's) all but conceding the season recently (NY is 9 games out of first in the AL-East) and saying the Bronx Bombers will win the division next season, you would think that those plans would involve brining in Manny. But, where would they put him? They already have Matsui at DH and Damon and Christian patrolling LF. Stay tuned ...

Fun in Dodger-town

2008-08-06T08:47:00.004-04:00

Just realized I haven't checked in since the Sox pulled the trigger on the Manny trade.

Bottom line is that this was good for the team. As a Boston Globe scribe said, this trade didn't make the team stronger, but it did make them better. Since the trade, they swept Oakland (OK, not a great team, but three wins is three wins) and the improvement in the clubhouse atmosphere is reported to be tangible.

The fact that the Sox agreed to such a lopsided trade only emphasizes how badly they needed to get rid of Manny. Face it, the Sox got screwed because they gave up a lot and only received one player in return (that's not taking anything away from Jason Bay, he looks like a great addition to the team).

Manny forced the team's hand into making this trade. Now that he's in LA LA Land, he says he wants to retire a Dodger ... um, yeah ... good luck with that Manny. Unless the Dodgers pony up the coin, he's not re-signing after the season. Manny and his agent (Scott "The Anti-Christ" Boras) are all about the money now.

It's too bad, too, because Manny could have retired a Red Sox and been worshiped here in RSN. Instead, he leaves a legacy of acting like a child, giving up on his team and putting himself first.

Meanwhile back in the Fens, Bay looks like a good fit for the team so far. He's definitely not a replacement for Manny (who is?) but he's a good fielder and looks like a consistent hitter and at this point, that's all the Sox can ask for.

It will be interesting to see how Manny's absence in the lineup is going to affect Big Papi. Ortiz said he's noticed a lack of quality pitches and he's walking more already. Don't be surprised if the Sox pull the trigger on a trade for a power hitter by the end of the month. If they do, it'll likely be for someone whom they won't just "rent" for the rest of the season and a potential play-off run (*cough* like Manny in LA *cough*) ... they'll want someone who's going to stick around, especially if they give up enough talent to get the bat.

If they don't get a power hitter this season, I wouldn't be shocked to see some kind of hotstove season trade for such a player. Right now the Sox have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball and they could have the right players to get a big bat for their offense.

Finally, I think Lowrie is making Lugo's position at SS a thing of the past. More on that when I have more time ...

More Manny follow-up

2008-07-31T11:04:00.004-04:00

While Curt Schilling has yet to blog about the Manny fiasco, he did talk about it on WEEI radio, a transcript of which can be found here.

In essence, Schilling doesn't understand where Manny's coming from, thinks Manny's agent (Scott Boras) is behind Manny's recent outbursts and feels it's time for Manny to go because his attitude and recent actions are more of a detriment instead of an asset to the team.

Meanwhile, there's more details about the potential/rumored threw-way trade between the Sox, Marlins and Pirates, the highlights of which are:

Sox ship Manny and cash to pay his remaining salary and a prospect to the Marlins.
The Sox would then get a few prospects from the Marlins and send them to Pittsburgh.
In return, the Sox would get outfielder Jason Bay and reliever John Grabow. The Pirates would also get Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins.

This looks like a good trade for the Sox.

Grabow would provide some much-needed middle relief in the Sox pen and Bay sports a .282 lifetime average, was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2004 and a two-time All-Star selection. He also comes a lot cheaper than Manny when his contract is up at the end of the 2009 season ($7.5 million vs. $20 million).

Trade deadline is 4 p.m. today, so we'll see. Here's hoping Manny could very well have taken his last at-bat for the Sox. To paraphrase a friend on mine, what a way for Manny to leave his legacy in Boston ...

Angels sweep and the Sox continue to stumble

2008-07-31T07:33:00.008-04:00

Meanwhile, the Manny trade watch continues

There's been rumblings that, given their play-off past, the Angels aren't real AL contenders for the WS hardware (the Halos tend to lose in the first round of the post season) so their regular season play doesn't mean much.

Yeah, try telling that to the Red Sox who have one of the best home records in MLB but were swept by the Angels in three games this week at the Fens (a series that featured a near no-hitter for Angles pitcher John Lackey on Tuesday).

Let's face it folks, right now this Red Sox team just doesn't inspire that "Man, they really look good this season and are firing on all cylinders" feeling. They just can't seem to pull it all together at the same time and inspire confidence in RSN that they could repeat as WS champs. Sure, they'll beat bad teams (Seattle, Baltimore, et. al.) but they can't consistently beat good teams (NY, Tampa Bay, the Angels, etc.)

Consider this:

Varitek is a liability at the plate. It's gotten so bad that fans are cheering when he gets a single ... a single!
Bartolo Colon showed flashes of his old self, then got hurt and is now rehabbing ... again. No word on when he may be back with the team.
Curt Schilling, a solid workhorse (especially in the post season) hasn't taken the mound this season and has likely pitched his last game not just for the Sox, but for his career.
Josh Beckett seems to be suffering from Dice-K-itis ... he has great outings, but lately makes one or two mistakes at the worst time and the Sox can't come back, thus leading to another loss.
Unless Masterson is the answer or the Sox find someone else in a trade, the bullpen's set-up situation is dire at best. Timlin is near the end of his career and the years are starting to show, look up "hot and cold pitcher" in the encyclopedia and Manny Delcarmen's picture is there and, finally, it appears that Okajima's brilliant performance last year may have been a fluke. Not good.
Wonderkid Ellsbury is currently mired in the worst slump of his career (he's fallen all the way down to ninth in the batting order) and while he leads the AL in stolen bases, he can't steal a base if he can't get on.

And then there's Manny ...

I am absolutely astounded that any true Red Sox fan would still support this guy. Thus far I've been able to overlook the fact that his production has slipped consistently over the past two years, but his whinny, child-like behaviour over the past week as made it impossible for me to support him. It's a cliché but it's one that Manny needs to be reminded of: There's no "i" in team.

He was actually quoted the other day as saying, "The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me" and then compared the way the Sox are treating him (well, his perception of such) to the way Pedro Martinez and Nomar were treated. What?!? You mean Pedro, who elected not to re-sign with the team after the '04 season and Nomar, who's had one good season (2006) since Boston traded him in '04? Seriously, Manny?

Meanwhile, for all of Manny's BS, principal owner John Henry keeps saying to anyone that will listen that he feels Manny gives the team the best chance to repeat as WS champs. Maybe it's me because I'm not a pro ball player, but how is that being mis-treated, Manny? I'd love to hear his answer to that.

Now word around the league is that the Sox are close to pulling off a three-way trade between the Pirates and Marlins that would send Manny to the Sunshine State. Yeah, have fun winning a championship with the Marlins, Manny. No doubt that he'd play out the rest of the season with the Fish and then sign with a contender over the winter, but does Florida really want to give up talent to rent a player for a couple of months?

As recently as a couple of days ago I would have predicted that the Sox wouldn't trade Manny and then just not pick up his option for next year, thus letting him go. Now I'm not so sure. Manny's making it difficult at best to keep him around. And even if the Sox do, who's to say Manny won't suddenly have issues with his knees and need a day off ... or two ... or a week? Better yet, will he start keeping his bat on his shoulder to "send a message" to Sox brass?

Also, does anyone else find it interesting that aside from Julio Lugo (now there's an endorsement!) no Sox player is being quoted on the Manny situation? Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't even seen the "No comment" or "Well, it's Manny's situation, so I don't have anything to say" or the "We need Manny on this team, we support him, blah blah blah" quotes from other guys ... not even anonymously. Even Schilling, who has plenty of time on his hands, hasn't blogged about it. As they say around here, way wicked bizzah.

Again, there's no denying what Manny has done for this team, but you can't laugh off the 'Manny being Manny" shenanigans anymore ... And I don't want to hear the "boy, talk about 'what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?' attitude" comments. I appreciate and respect Manny's contributions to this team for the past eight years, but he's becoming a cancer in the clubhouse. I can't imagine it's a lot of fun there right now.

Bottom line is that Manny's got to go and this team desperately needs a jump start if they're going to make it to the post season, let alone repeat as champs.

Enough of Manny being Manny

2008-07-29T09:21:00.003-04:00

So what to make of the latest flap with Manny vs. the Sox brass?

He says it's not about the money yet all he talks about is getting paid somewhere else.

And he freely admits that no other team could make a potential trade worth it to the Red Sox and yet he's all but demanding a trade by saying it's highly unlikely he'd ever veto a trade (he's a 10-5 player, which means he's been in MLB for 10 years, five with the same team and therefore can veto any trade).

So, knowing the Sox can't trade him because they can't get fair market value for him and that the team has two option years on his contract after the season, the $20 million question is ... why doesn't Manny just shut his pie hole and play?!?

Poor poor Manny ... it must be tough getting paid $20 million a year to play baseball in a city that practically worships him in which he's been a part of two World Series championship teams in the last four years.

Now, I know that if the Sox lose Manny, there's no way to replace his bat but after eight years of Manny's BS, I'm done. Sooooo done listening to his bitching and moaning about the Sox, about his perception that the organization isn't showing him respect, about being too open that he would play for another team in a heartbeat.

Enough is enough.

If Manny wants out of Beantown that badly, the Sox should grant his wish and trade him. IMO, it's better to get some player and/or prospects for him than nothing at all by just not picking up the 2009 option on his contract.

Again, the Sox (and Red Sox Nation, for that matter) already know it's not going to be a matter of replacing Manny's bat (because you can't), so will it be more painful to (possibly) concede the post season this year (assuming the Sox make it past Sept. 28) and trade Manny now or put up with his BS for the rest of the season and not pick up the '09 option and hope there's a free agent power hitter/LF ... ?

And I can't help wonder if anti-Christ/super agent Scott Boras has anything to do with this. You can picture too easily Boars telling Manny that he'd be better off somewhere else.

Noted baseball scribe Peter Gammons writes about this whole mess for espn.com's Insider, which is offering a free look at their content (you usually have to pay for it) ... check out Gammons' Manny column here while you can ... it's worth the read.

Bottom line is that as a fan, I'm tired of the distraction that Manny has become. It's time for RSN to imagine life without Manny because I think it's coming sooner rather than later. It was a great ride and the Sox and their fans have a lot to thank Manny for, but enough is enough.

It's time for Manny and the Sox to part ways and let him be a whiner somewhere else.

I hear New York is nice this time of year ...

Sox 4, Seattle 2

2008-07-23T09:50:00.003-04:00

Two down, one to go in Starbucks country as Dice-K pitched a beauty last night to give the Sox their second win over the Mariners in as many games.

Bidding for a complete game, Dice-K fell a bit short but still looked sharp (7.1 5 2 2 3 6 0 99-61), not giving up a run until the eighth.

Offensively, it was all about the fifth inning: Drew had a sac fly (after smashing a single-run HR in the first), Lowell had a RBI double and then Lowrie had a sac fly, scoring Manny.

Meanwhile, Pedroia continues to tear the cover off of the horsehide as he now has hit in 23 straight road games, and has a hit in 24 of his last 25 games overall. Wowzers.

Matinée game at 4:40 p.m. today and then the Sox open a three-game set with the Bronx Bombers at the Fens on Friday night.

Did I mention I'm going to be there Friday night?

Sox 4, Seattle 0

2008-07-22T10:47:00.002-04:00

Jon Lester was just what the Sox needed as the young hurler continued to shine with seven-plus innings (7.1 8 0 0 0 6 0, 103-75) in last night's win.

With last night's win, The Washington native improved to 5-0 with a 2.79 ERA in his last nine starts.

As for the offense, it was a combination of the old and the new. 'Tek showed he still has some pop in his bat when he hit a two-run homer in the fifth. Later, Jed Lowrie tacked on two more runs in the eighth frame with a bases loaded single.

Nice.

Meanwhile, Ortiz continues his rehab march through the minors and is still on schedule to make his return to the bigs at home on Friday against the Evil Empire ... a game your humble blogger will be attending ... sweet!

Here's looking at second place

2008-07-21T11:07:00.009-04:00

And not for nothing, but ... could the commentators on ESPN and Fox get any worse?!?

Three up and three down in the house the Mouse built in Anaheim as the Sox get swept by the Halos.

Let's take a look at the carnage:

Buchholz looked lost Friday night and the Sox were crushed
11-3.
On Saturday, Josh Beckett was pitching a great game until the wheels fell off in the seventh and he gave up four runs.
Sox lose 4-2.
Yesterday featured more follies as the Sox imploded and allowed the Angels to rally in the eighth, thus putting together a five-game win streak. Sox lose 5-3 with Wake giving up four ERs.

While we're on the subject of all things awful, my previous post today reminded me of something that I've been meaning to blog about for a while. It is getting to the point that I can't watch a game on Fox or ESPN because of their commentators.

Fox has always been obnoxious with their sounds and graphics, but I've come around on Joe Buck's play-by-play calling. He's not his old man, but he's not bad. The same can't be said for his sidekick, Tim McCarver, however, who is perfectly dreadful. As a former player, he adds absolutely nothing to the telecast.

The worst, though, is Ken Rosenthal, who appears to be reading straight from copy he just wrote every time they go to the sidelines for his input. He has no charisma, no personality and it's gotten to the point that I literally mute the TV whenever he's on screen. Awful ... just ... awful.

Which leads me to ESPN. The only think I like about ESPN's telecasts are the seemingly infinite number of cameras they use for the game. They get a lot of great shots that no one else does.

That being said, play-by-play announcer John Miller and commentator (and former Big Red Machine member) Joe Morgan are beyond horrendous. Half the time these guys don't know who they're talking about and when he's talking about anything but hitting, Morgan makes the most consistently insipid comments. A recent example (that he's used more than once) ... he was talking about a pitcher's control and said, "Once the ball leaves his hand, he has no control over where it goes." Really, Joe? You mean the pitcher can't control the ball with his mind once he throws it? Seriously?!? Wow, I never would have thought of that! Thank god you're here to tell us these things.

Finally, ESPN has this incredibly annoying habit of showing plays over and over over and over over and over again. Perfect example from yesterday ... Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero made an error trying to catch a ball while battling the sun which led to a run scoring. The play was shown eight times and Morgan and Miller kept saying the same thing every time. It added nothing to the broadcast. I sat there watching and said, "No, they're not going to show this again ... they can't." I was wrong ... five times over.

Unfortunately, I can't turn down the sound and listen to the local radio broadcast because we have DirecTV and there's too much of a delay between the radio and satellite feeds.

And don't get me started on Fox's Jeanne Zelasko ... I have to switch the channel when they go back to the studio during a game and she opens her mouth.

/soapbox

The Eck to Manny: Shut up and play

2008-07-21T10:32:00.007-04:00

How much longer will Sox brass and RSN put up with Manny? And is the slugger smart enough to keep his yap shut and just play?

Hall of Famer and former Sox slinger Dennis Eckersley sounded off on Manny and the outfielder's recent antics in an article on boston.com ... to which:

The article continues with a revelation from respected baseball scribe Peter Gammons:

"During last night's broadcast, ESPN analyst Peter Gammons chimed in on the recent Ramirez talk and a new twist: that Manny agreed to some anger management training after his recent altercation with traveling secretary Jack McCormick. Gammons also dismissed the report that Manny may have intentionally sat on three pitches from Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera on July 6."And, of course, once the media sharks smell blood, everyone starts piling on:

As much as I hate to agree with Rosenthal (the worst baseball writer/commentator ever (god, he's awful on Fox games ... don't get me started) ... he's right. No one is irreplaceable on this team and as difficult as it would be to replace Manny's bat, it's not impossible.

So, the question is - Has Manny worn out his welcome in Boston? He says he wants to remain in Boston, but I think that's a load of crap. IMO, he's saying that because he thinks he has to given that the Sox are holding options on his contract for '09 and '10. It also doesn't hurt to look like a team player as much as possible to potential future employers.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it here: If the Sox don't pick up Manny's option for 2009, he ends up in a Yankees uniform because Hank Steinbrenner as shown he has just as much desire to say "F-you" to the Red Sox as his old man did. That, and if Manny is on bad terms with the Sox brass, what better way to rub salt in the wounds than sign with the Evil Empire? And let's not forget that Manny is a NY native and did say it was his dream as a kid to play for the NYY.

Manny vs. Management?

2008-07-17T11:31:00.003-04:00

Just because there were a few days off at the All-Star break doesn't mean all's quiet in RSN.

No no ... heaven forbid.

An article on espn.com (culled from the Boston Herald, so take it for what it's worth) indicates that Manny is unhappy with Sox brass and they way they've been treating him lately when it comes to deciding if they're going to pick up his options for '09 and '10. According to Manny, the Sox brass have been telling him one thing and saying something else to others.

I found this from the article to be a bit troublesome:

"I find remarks that we have been anything other than completely straightforward to be personally offensive," Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in an e-mail, according to the Herald.Hmmm ... I'm not even close to pushing the panic button here, but when you call out ownership so much so that ownership responds and says they find your remarks "offensive", well ... that doesn't exactly bode well for the relationship, does it?

I don't really think this is going to affect contract talks with Manny when they do start, but you gotta believe that this event will be in the back of Henry's mind when those options come up.

Here's hoping someone in the Red Sox organization isn't stupid enough to be quoted as saying that they feel Manny's in the "twilight of his career" ...

NL 3, AL 4

2008-07-16T06:26:00.005-04:00

It took 15 innings, but the AL's best beat the NL's best in Gotham last night and assured that the AL will once again have home field advantage for the Fall Classic in October.

And the Sox own JD Drew took home the crystal hardware for All-Star MVP when he smacked a two-run dinger in the seventh to tie the game.

Nice. He joins an elite list of Red Sox players to ever be named All-Star MVP: Pedro in 1999, Clemens in 1986 and Yaz in 1970.

As y'all are aware, the Sox were well represented at the game with Manny starting in left field, Pedroia, Drew, Pap, 'Tek, and Youk.

Meanwhile, the flap over Pap's comments that he wanted to close the All-Star game were blown way out of proportion by the NY media (surprise) ... so much so that Pap says he and his pregnant wife were threatened during the All-Star parade.

Yup, gotta love those classy fans in New York.

Orioles 1, Sox 2

2008-07-14T11:57:00.002-04:00

With a win over the Birds yesterday, our Sox find themselves back on top of the AL-East ... if only by a 1/2 game ... still, a 1/2-game lead is a lead, right?

Dice-K ran his record to 10-1 (6-1 at home) with a good outing (6.0 4 0 0 5 7 0, 115-68) and he only walked five! < rolls eyes >

With Sunday's win, the Sox seven of their last eight games at home overall. Boston is now 36-11 at home (best home record in AL).

Pap came in for the ninth and with is 28th save of the season, he now has 100 for his career.

If there was a sour note to yesterday it was Youkilis leaving the game with a triceps contusion in the fifth inning after being hit by a pitch. Thankfully, x-rays were negative, although there's no word on how the injury could affect his start in the All-Star game tomorrow.

Meanwhile in the AL-East, Tampa Bay is on a seven-game skid going into the All-Star break, but I don't expect that to last. I get the feeling that the AL-East is going to be a tight race this season and the Rays will be in the thick of it.

Twins 5, Sox 18

2008-07-10T10:53:00.006-04:00

Three games at home against the Twins apparently is just what the Sox needed as the boys in red stockings clobbered the Twinkies yesterday, belting out 23 hits.

Wowzers.

According to espn.com, the Sox 18 runs were a season-high and of their 23 hits, 10 were for extra bases, which tied for the second-most hits in a home game in the last 50 years.

Speaking of season highs, Jacoby Ellsbury had a career-high four hits while Kevin Youkilis tied a season-high with four RBIs. Manny and Casey also contributed with three hits each while Pedroia tacked on a three-run double in the seventh.

Nice.

On the mound, Beckett had one of his shorter outings (5.0 8 5 5 2 2 2, 104-67) and wasn't quite as sharp as he can be. But the bullpen, in the form of Lopez, Hansen, Delcarmen and Timlin shut the door on the Twins' bats, not allowing a run between the four of them.

Whatever happened to ...

2008-07-08T11:41:00.007-04:00

... Brian Daubach.

A while ago I said I would post these types things when I had the time or inkling and I have both now, so here goes.

I work in Nashua, NH, and every day I drive by Holman Stadium, home of the Nashua Pride of the CanAm League. The other day Daubach's name appeared on the marquee, touting him as the just-hired batting coach for the team.

"The Daubber" was a great player when he was with the Red Sox (1999 - 2002) who was released and then signed with the White Sox for the 2003 season. He returned to Boston for the '04 season (a fortuitous move, it turns out) and played his last year of pro ball with Mets, retiring after the 2005 season.

Daubach was one of those utility players who didn't exactly light it up at the dish (.259 BA, 23 HRs, 82 RBIs lifetime) but he was a fan favorite and a "dirt dog" with the Sox, going all out every game he was in. Many times he would be covered in infield dirt and grass stains by the end of the game.

Twins 0, Sox 1

2008-07-08T11:27:00.001-04:00

A tight game at the Fens last night, but the Sox came out on top thanks to great pitching from Dice-K and a timely RBI by Manny.

Seems like a little home cooking is what the Old Towne Team needed as Matsuzaka looked sharp over 7 1/3 innings (7.1 6 0 0 3 5 0, 108-71) with the bullpen (in the form of Okajima and Papelbon) closing the door on the Twinkies who had been riding a five-game winning streak into Beantown.

Nice.

This is the Matsuzaka we should be seeing more often ... pounding the strike zone, using all of his pitches and issuing few free passes (only three last night). I'm no where near ready to pass final judgment on Dice-K, but I don't think anyone can truly say he's lived up to the hype and was worth $51 million just to negotiate a contract.

More fun with the Twins tonight and a matinée tomorrow before hosting a weekend series with the O's and then the mid summer classic.

A road trip to nowhere and the All-Star roster

2008-07-07T09:14:00.010-04:00

The Sox went 3 for 10 on this latest road trip culminating in a very frustrating 10-inning loss last night to the Yankees in the Bronx (their sixth straight one-run loss).

They took one of three in Houston, were swept by the Rays then split the series in Gotham and are now five games out of first place in the AL-East.

< shakes head >

It has been a long time since I actually yelled at the TV while watching a Sox game, but watching Saturday's matinée, I couldn't help myself. Sox are down, 2-0, in the ninth and finally pushed a run across and had the bases loaded with no outs against Rivera who, let's face it, isn't the lights-out pitcher he once was (but is still one of the best closers in the game). Coco Crisp strikes out swinging at a pitch that was beyond outside, 'Tek pops up for the second out (no surprise) and Lugo fans for the third out.

Ye gods.

That right there sums up this team. They're incredibly frustrating to watch and just can't seem to play good small ball right now ... they can't do the little things to get the win or make something happen. It's so aggravating to watch because this team "should" be better than this ... right? Maybe they aren't as good as they appear on paper.

It just astounds me at how the team seems to slump at the same time. JD Drew was tearing the cover off of the horsehide as soon as Ortiz went down and while you couldn't expect him to keep up that pace, he's done a 180 and completely cooled. Pitchers are blowing fastballs by Manny and 'Tek is an absolute disaster at the plate. When he's hot (which is less and less frequent) he's a great hitter, but when his bat is cold ... forget it.

And don't get me started on the bullpen. Will the real Manny Delcarmen please stand up? The guy was lights out for most of the season thus far but lately can't seem to close the door on opposing hitters. Okajima is flailing badly and Hansen and Aardsma have been inconsistent at best.

About the only consistent right now is Pedroia who is hitting out of his mind and playing All-Star defense. Coming into last night's game, he was hitting at a .472 clip (21 for 44).

Moving on ...

The All-Star rosters have been posted and the Sox are well-represented with seven players going to the mid-summer Classic: Pedroia, Youkilis, Manny, and Ortiz were voted as starters and Papelbon, 'Tek, and Drew were selected as reserves (reserves are selected by their peers).

Nice.

And not for nothing but ... this list of Sox starters shows how selections are more of a popularity contest than based on talent. Yes, Pedroia, Youk and Manny are having good seasons (for the most part), but Papi has been on the DL for a month now and wasn't hitting well prior to his injury. And 'Tek was named probably because of his veteran status (it sure as hell wasn't because of his .218 BA).

Still, it's nice to see so many Sox going to the game.

Sox 6, Yankees 4

2008-07-05T11:02:00.005-04:00

A wild one in the Bronx yesterday that featured a wall-teetering triple, a hockey-check type of crash into the outfield wall and a long rain delay as the Sox prevailed over the Evil Empire for the second time in as many days.

Mike Lowell had a career day with 4 RBIs, and Youk made the highlight reel with a outfield wall tipping triple. After Johnny Damon crashed into the wall trying to flag down the towering shot by Youk (and sustaining a shoulder injury in the process), the ball popped out his glove and landed square on the padding lining the top of the wall and hung there for a second before dropping back onto the warning track. There's something you don't see every day.

Meanwhile, Beckett looked good on the mound (6.0 4 3 3 2 4 0, 102-69) but wasn't exactly dominating. He seems to have fallen into the pattern where he pitches well enough to get the win, but the decision is in doubt until the very end of the game. Lately he's making just enough mistakes to look vulnerable.

The bullpen did well, giving up only one run (by Papelbon in the 9th and even that was questionable as a diving catch by Coco Crisp on what would have been the third out was called a trap catch, thus allowing the run to score). So it was nice to see Okajima, Delcarmen and Lopez come in a combined two innings and get the job done before Pap took over in the last frame.

Two more games in Gotham and then the Sox return home to host the Twinkies.

Sox 7, Yankees 0

2008-07-04T10:04:00.003-04:00

Now that's more like it ...

Giving the Sox battered bullpen and much needed rest, Jon Lester came to the rescue pitching a CG shutout to help the Sox break their five-game losing streak in the Bronx last night.

Sweet.

Lester once again looked strong (9.0 5 0 0 2 8 0, 105-72) and only allowed one baserunner to reach second base.

With 8 K's last night, espn.com notes that Lester is only one of four Red Sox pitchers to toss a CG shut out of the Bronx Bombers in Gotham. The others? Pedro Martinez (9 K's in 2000), Roger Clemens (13 K's in 1987) and Gary Peters (8 K's in 1970).

On the offensive side, Lowell had 2 RBIs and Ellsbury went 1-5 but made the most of his one hit by driving in 2 runs.

One more tidbit ... according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Sox and the NYY played after Memorial Day with neither team in first place was September 1997.

Three and out in the Sunshine state

2008-07-03T09:27:00.004-04:00

Needless to say the Trop has not been kind to the Sox ... 3 games, 3 losses ... ouch.

Tampa Bay sweeps the Sox for the second time this season and now are 3 and 1/2 games up in the AL-East.

And if there were any doubts about the Sox bullpen, they were erased last night. Last night's meltdown by Delcarmen and Hansen (3 earned runs each) shows how weak the Sox are in the pen.

About the only bright spot in last night's game was Pedroia, who went 4 for 5 with a tater, 2 RBIs and 3 runs.

Now the Sox stumble into the Bronx for a four-game weekend series ... oy vey.

Dropping in the standings deep in the heart of Texas

2008-06-30T09:39:00.007-04:00

Sox lose two of three in the Lone Star State and yesterday's loss drops them down in the AL-East standings as well. They're now a half-game behind the (I've-been-saying-all-along-that-they're-for-real-this-season) TB Rays.

After beating the 'Stros 6-1 behind a good outing by Dice-K on Friday, they lost a close game slug-fest 11-10 Saturday courtesy of a rare mistake by Delcarmen, which cost them the game.

Sunday was more of the same as Josh Beckett (7.0 8 2 2 1 4 1, 111-76) once again pitched a good game but when you walk the opposing team's pitcher (who eventually scored), well ... one gets the feeling a win may not be in the offing for for those donning the red stockings.

Beckett certainly pitched well enough to get the win (he allowed only two runs in seven innings while throwing 111 pitches ... the fourth time in his last six starts he's thrown 110-plus pitches). But the bats were quieted by Astros pitching and once gain the Sox bullpen wasn't up to the task as Okajima coughed up the winning run in the eighth by allowing an inherited runner to score (Okajima has now allowed 12-of-15 inherited runners to score this season).

After he walked the Astros' starting pitcher, Brian Moehler, in the fifth and eventually got out of the inning, Beckett took his frustrations out with a bat in his hand. Unfortunately he wasn't standing at the plate and a bat stand in the dugout took the beating. Beckett must be getting lessons from Youkilis.

The Sox are playing some inconsistent ball right now and they need to get their game together as they prepare for a tough stretch this week. They're in Tampa Bay tonight to open a three-game series against the (for now) division leaders and then head to Gotham for four games against the Spankees. Frankly, these two series could really make or break the standings. Yeah, there's a lot of ball left to play in the season, but if the Sox can take both series, that could set them up nicely for the rest of the schedule.

Going to be interesting to see if the holes in the Sox line up are going to be filled by any trade deadline moves. Schill is out for the season and wasn't a factor this year anyway, but Buchholz is still in the minors rehabbing (is he ever coming back?!?), Youk is nursing a bad back but still playing (I'm concerned that's going to come back to haunt him later this season), JD Drew's bat has cooled off (you knew it was coming, but it still stinks), Okajima is not nearly the pitcher he was last year, Timlin's in the minors rehabbing (altho he hasn't been much of a factor anyway) and Manny seems to be really hot and cold this season. He's arguing with umpires more often (and with Sox personnel) and just doesn't seem uncomfortable at the plate. Finally, Big Papi's just started to swing a bat.

And one wonders what's going to happen to SS Julio Lugo ... the guy is getting to be a liability at #6 (he's committed 16 errors in 71 games) and his bat is nothing to forgo a trip to the beer stand when he's up to the dish.

Just some musings from your humble blogger.

Live Out Loud

2008-06-26T06:09:00.000-04:00

A non-Red Sox item here, but an important one because there a things in life much bigger than baseball.

My sister, Beckie, and her husband are riding in the Pan Mass Challenge in August and sent this email. They're riding to raise money to fight cancer and in memory of our cousin Liz, whom I've blogged about.

Please check it out ...

www.pmc.org

Rem Dog Night at Fenway

2008-06-25T11:58:00.001-04:00

Went to the game last night which featured a pre-game ceremony honoring former Red Sox second baseman Jerry Remy, who celebrates 20 years in the Sox broadcasting booth this season.

I shot this video of part of the ceremony ... as usual, a great job done by the Sox brass.

Diamondbacks 4, Sox 5

2008-06-25T09:29:00.005-04:00

A good old fashioned come-from-behind win last night at the Fens and your humble blogger was there to see it.

Rookie Justin Masterson looked pretty good on the mound again (6.0 7 4 4 4 4 1, 101-57) but made just enough mistakes to keep him out of the Win column.

And as usual, Pedroia was in the middle of things, homering in the first to put the Sox on the board early.

The real story, though, was seeing 'Tek work his way out of his most recent slump (he was 1 for 30 coming into the game) by driving in Lowell in the eighth, capping off a four-run inning for the Old Towne Team.

Pap comes in and notches his 22nd save on the season. Done and done.

The night started out with a tribute to former Sox second baseman Jerry Remy, who has been a Sox broadcaster for 20 years this season. Lots of former players at the park, including Rick "Rooster" Burleson, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, and Carlton Fisk. A nice pre-game ceremony for a classy guy.

It was really cool seeing Burleson in person ... he was one of my fave players as a kid (I played SS in Little League and I used to pretend I was Rooster when I played).

Diamondbacks 2, Sox 1

2008-06-24T10:00:00.006-04:00

So close ... so close ...

Frankly, Josh Beckett deserved this win because he pitched his ass off ... but, alas, Arizona's Dan Haren just pitched that much better and got the win.

On a day when the Sox bullpen really needed a day off because of the 13-inning marathon the day before, Beckett delivered (8.0 5 2 2 2 8 0, 115-75). Unfortunately, he made a mistake in the seventh when he gave up two runs.

You have to hand it to Haren ... the guy knew he was facing the Sox ace and he stepped up, going seven innings and allowing just two hits, striking out five and walking one by feeding Sox hitters a steady diet of fastballs.

A classic battle of two great pitchers.

Meanwhile, Youk left the game before the top of the fifth after getting hit under the right eye by Mike Lowell's one-hop throw during infield warmups. CT scans came back negative so here's hoping he won't be out for long, if at all.

I don't heart Budweiser

2008-06-24T08:20:00.003-04:00

Went to the game Friday night (vs. St. Louis) and sat (well, stood because they were SRO tickets) in the Right Field Roof section under that huge Budweiser sign. Interesting way to see a game but it’ll probably be the last time I ever get SRO tickets at the Fens. A few observations:

It doesn’t take long to start feeling it in your back when you’re standing for a game (especially if you played 18 holes of golf that day).
If you sit down at one of the “public” tables in the section, you can’t see the field.
Drunk, obnoxious people are everywhere at Fenway.
That being said, there’s lots of cool people there, too.
The fact that it’s the Budweiser “pavilion” should’ve clued me in to the beer choices in that section … yeah, you can only get Bud. Problem is, I can’t drink Bud or any of their related products … they literally make me nauseous.
So if you want something other than Bud, you have to head all the way down to the ground floor because any beer stand in the area of the roof seats only sells Bud. $15.50 later I have two “premium” beers in my hand. Yeah, I was good for the game.

One of the best parts of the game was when I snagged a souvenir menu from the Bud section … well, they weren’t exactly giving them away … they were kinda lying there and it seemed like a shame not to walk away with some kind of souvey.

Anyway, the prices are unreal … $11.75 for Nachos Grande, $10 for chicken wings, $7.25 for a Bud, $3.50 for bottled water, $4 for Cracker Jack, $6 for “gourmet popcorn”, $17 for a lobster roll, $14 for a grilled steak sandwich and $22 for a whole Papa Gino’s pizza. Ye gods.

Kell and I went with another couple and Bill and I looked at each other and said, “We’re going to be broke before the game even starts!”

Cardinals 3, Sox 5

2008-06-23T09:55:00.003-04:00

It took 13 innings but the Sox got the win yesterday courtesy of a walk-off homer by Youk. Nice.

The story this game was the pitching .. Lester looked good again (7.1 9 2 2 1 3 0, 101-66) but Pap coughed up a save in the 9th. He was one strike away from getting the save but Adam Kennedy doubled, driving in the tieing run. It was Pap's 4th blown save of the season.

For Lester, yesterday was his 11th straight start in which he has held an opponent to three earned runs or fewer.

Speaking of pitching, one has to wonder if Dice-K's injury is worse than thought or if he came back too soon. The shellacking he took Saturday was painful (no pun intended).

Cardinals 5, Sox 4

2008-06-21T09:16:00.001-04:00

Sox lost last night to the Cards, but there was a rain delay at the beginning of the game, which gave us this ...

Nice!

2008-06-19T09:26:00.002-04:00

From the BostonGlobe.com ...

The Boston Red Sox plan to honor their basketball brethren before Friday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park.

While no specifics were mentioned, a media advisory sent by the Sox indicated there would be a pregame ceremony to "recognize and honor the achievements of the 2008 NBA World Champion Boston Celtics."

While no specific players are listed, the release indicated that the 2008 Celtics will be joined by team owners and alumni.

The Celtics and Red Sox have mingled many times over the past year, including when Kevin Garnett (above, with David Ortiz) and Ray Allen threw out ceremonial first pitches last season after being acquired by the Celtics via trades.

Red Sox players and owners have been spotted at Celtics games throughout the season, including much of the Celtics' run through the playoffs.

Sox 7, Phillies 4

2008-06-19T08:58:00.004-04:00

OK, this is just insane ...

JD Drew went 4 for 5 yesterday against the Phillies in the Sox win, coming within a triple of the cycle. He hit a three-run bomb in the first, doubled in the third, had an RBI single in the fourth and singled in the sixth, finishing with 4 RBIs.

Wow ... it's just amazing how locked in he is right now. The swing is textbook, he's spraying the ball all over the field and pitchers just can't get anything by him. According to espn.com, his four hits are a season high, and the eighth time in his career he's had four or more hits in a game.

Mike Lowell also contributed to the offense with a solo tater.

Meanwhile, Justin Masterson (5.0 4 2 2 2 1 0, 92-53) went five innings to get the win, his first on the road.

On the injury front, the list keeps getting longer for the Sox. Papi is on the DL, Manny has a bad hammy, Youkilis was out with a sore back and Crisp is out with a wrist injury. When it rains ...

Sox 3, Phillies 0

2008-06-18T10:30:00.003-04:00

Hmm ... let's see ...

in the Win column

Lester was simply dominating again, having command of all his pitches and keeping the Phillies bats quiet, in particular slugger Ryan Howard,who fanned 4 times.

"I think his confidence is growing," Francona was quoted as saying about Lester. "It looks like he's trying to grow up as a major league pitcher."Um, yeah ... ya think?

Time for the NL to adopt the DH

2008-06-17T10:10:00.005-04:00

Bartolo Colon left last night's game with a stiff back, an injury he said after the game he may have sustained during an at-bat.

If he did hurt his back while batting, chalk this one up to yet another reason why the NL should adopt the DH. Josh Beckett has said he doesn't even try to get a hit, adding that he goes to the plate and tries to get the at-bat over with as fast possible.

And now word comes that the Yankees' ace Chein-Ming Wang is out until at least September with a partially torn tendon and sprain in his right foot which he hurt rounding the bases Sunday night in New York's game in Houston. Needless to say, new King on the Block Hank Steinbrenner isn't happy and was quoted as saying:

"My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century," Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. "They need to grow up and join the 21st century. Am I [mad] about it? Yes. I've got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He's going to be out. I don't like that, and it's about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s."(Hate the Spankees all you want, you gotta love the fact that HS is good for a quote on just about anything). I can't believe I'm going to type this but I agree with Steinbrenner. Interleague play unnecessarily exposes AL pitches to injury.

< soapbox >
Personally, I've never liked interleague games ... it nullifies what made the All-Star game special and takes some of the shine off of the World Series. I mean, god forbid MLB doesn't make more money, but it's a lame idea and needs to go away. Yes, it's cool to see teams at Fenway that you wouldn't normally see but again, it takes away from the mid-season classic and the October series.
< /soapbox >

Still, Bud Selig and his band of idiots will never get rid of interleague play because of the coin it generates, so we're likely stuck with it ... for now.

Sox 2, Phillies 8

2008-06-17T09:46:00.005-04:00

Wow. The Phillies' first baseman Ryan Howard single-handedly killed the Sox last night, going 3 for 5 with two HRs, and 4 RBIs.

Meanwhile, Phillies starter Cole Hamels put on a clinic allowing only two runs and seven hits in just over seven innings of work.

In the other dugout, Bartolo Colon did not look good, (4.0 6 4 4 2 4 3, 70-46) leaving with back soreness after four frames. Here's hoping it's nothing serious because the Sox could really use him in the rotation. Colon said after the game that he thinks he hurt his back when he swung during an at-bat.

The Sox two runs were accounted for by single-run homers by JD Drew (who else?) and Pedroia. Otherwise, the Sox offense was handcuffed all night.

Reds 0, Sox 9

2008-06-16T14:56:00.002-04:00

A nice Father's Day present as the Sox rolled over the Reds.

A lot of kudos to hand out, including:

JD Drew (who else?) going yard for his fifth homer in eight games. Get this ... it's only June 16 and already he's batting .447 with seven homers and 16 RBIs. Wowzers.
Josh Beckett gives a strong seven innings (7.0 6 0 0 2 6 0, 98-67).
Ellsbury hits a dinger and steals two bases. (He got a single in the first, then stole second and third, and then scored on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly.) D'oh!
Coco Crisp hits a two-run tater.

Sox are now off to Philly for three before coming home to host St. Louis and then Arizona for three.

Orioles 2, Sox 9

2008-06-13T11:17:00.006-04:00

Sox head into a six-games interleague series on the road with some serious momentum after feasting on Baltimore pitching last night.

Man, where to begin? Lowell hits a grannie, Youk hits a two-run dinger, Drew adds to his insane hitting with his own tater and Lester pitched out of his mind (7.0 7 2 2 1 3 0,
101-70).

How well is Drew hitting the horsehide right now? Get this ... according to espn.com, he's 18-for-36 with six homers and 15 RBIs since Big Papi went on the DL, raising his batting average from .282 to .324. He also has five doubles, a triple, 15 runs and 10 walks in that span ...
< in his best Harry Carey voice, "Check out the kid with the hitting stats!" > ...

Sox now head to Cincinnati then Philly for six games then host St. Louis and Arizona for six.

Orioles 3, Sox 5

2008-06-12T10:38:00.004-04:00

Sox were firing on all cylinders last night at the friendly confines as Bartolo Colon (6.0 5 1 1 1 7 1, 93-59) had another solid outing and got his 150th career win.

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that the Sox got quite a bargain signing this guy.

Meanwhile, the offense continues to do well, to which:

Manny now has a 15-game hitting streak
JD Drew continues his torrid hitting with a RBI double in the first
Despite feeling ill, 'Tek had a 3-run opposite field blast, which put the Sox up 5-0 after a single frame.
Lowell had a solo HR in the 6th

While there's a lot of good things to look at here, one can't ignore the fact that the bullpen imploded a bit, giving up three runs (Aardsma for one, Timlin for two) after taking the pill for Colon. Zoikes.

Mariners 1, Sox 3

2008-06-08T17:37:00.003-04:00

Sox rookie pitcher Justin Masterson (3-0) spun another gem this afternoon at the sweltering Fenway going six innings (6.0 3 1 1 3 4 0, 88-57) for the win.

By taking the series 2-1, the Sox handed Seattle its 13th loss today in the Mariners' last 17 games. Zoikes!

Meanwhile, JD Drew has an 8-game hitting streak with today's 1-3 performance with 2 RBIs.

After a well-deserved day off tomorrow, the Old Towne Team hosts Baltimore for three and then travels to Cincinnati and then Philly for some inter-league action.

Mariners 3, Sox 11

2008-06-08T12:47:00.003-04:00

Now that's more like it.

After getting shut out Friday night by the worst team in MLB, the Sox bats showed up at the Fens on Saturday and teed off on Mariners' pitching behind yet another great start by Wakefield.

Wake certainly had his knuckleball going (7.0 5 2 2 2 6 0, 106-71) and at one point retired 12 batters in a row, even using his 74+ mph fastball. Nice.

Meanwhile, JD Drew continued his torrid hitting pace, going 3 for 5 (homer, triple and single) with 3 RBIs and scoring 3 runs.

Speaking of hitting, Manny logged #504 with a gigantic blast in the first that sent the ball into the upper deck of the parking garage across the street from the friendly confines of Fenway. Daaaaaamn ...

The only real lowlight for the Sox was Youkilis dropping a throw in the ninth which ended his major league-record 238-game errorless streak at first. Bummer.

Youk/Manny dugout scrap

2008-06-08T12:40:00.003-04:00

No doubt you've heard by now about the dugout scrap between Youkilis and Manny the other day.

Without actually being there and if you can believe what you read and hear, apparently the altercation was the result of Youkilis throwing his equipment around after flying out and Manny calling him on it, telling Youk to cut the crap.

The ultra competitor that he is, Youk didn't take kindly to this and the two had to be separated.

Look, I get it that Youk is a very intense player and if these reports are true, then good for Manny for standing up to him and saying enough is enough. Be as competitive as you want but for god's sakes don't be yelling and screaming and throwing stuff every time you make an out.

Give it a rest, Youk. Certainly you can be competitive without being a jerk in the dugout.

Suspensions announced

2008-06-06T18:05:00.001-04:00

From the AP:

Three Red Sox players have been suspended by Major League Baseball for their roles in last night's brawl against the Tampa Bay Rays. Coco Crisp has been suspended for 7 games, Jon Lester for 5 games, and Sean Casey for 3 games.

Rays 1, Sox 7

2008-06-06T15:02:00.004-04:00

Damn, what did they put in the Poland Springs water bottles last night at Fenway?!?

As always seems to be the case when these two teams meet, there were more fireworks last night as the hard feelings about Coco Crisp's slide into second the previous night carried over into last night's game.

Crisp stands in the batter's box for the first time in the game in the second inning and *PLUNK* is greeted by a fastball at the legs.

One bench-clearing brawl and three ejections later and the game resumed.

But we're not done folks, no no no ... at end of the fourth, Manny and Youkilis scuffled in the dugout and had to be separated. No word on what the words were about but it was strange to see because the two are known to be good friends and even work out together in the off season.

Ye gods.

Terry Francona, always the diplomat, was quoted by the AP as saying about the incident:

"I think they were just exchanging some views on things," he said. "It was kind of a hectic night. Sometimes those things happen. It wasn't really a big deal; it won't be a big deal."Meanwhile, Tampa Bay's starter, Shields, only lasted an inning, giving up four runs in a single frame, Manny went yard and Lester pitched a good game (6.1 8 1 1 0 5 0, 109-68).

Interesting note ... Tampa Bay has only been swept twice this season ... both times by the Sox.

Rays 1, Sox 5

2008-06-05T09:52:00.003-04:00

Sox are back on top in the AL-East with a win over Tampa Bay last night and that's the good news.

The bad news (well, the less-than-gooder news, anyway) is that starter Josh Beckett (6.0 7 1 1 0 5 0, 92-57) was lifted after just six innings. While the Sox are not saying there's anything wrong with their ace, you have to wonder. Beckett slipped while pitching in the sixth and ended up finishing the inning. Hmmm ...

Meanwhile, there's no love lost between these teams as Coco started jawing with Rays manager Joe Maddon. Crisp made a hard slide into second base in the eighth and Maddon made it clear he wasn't happy. And not for nothing but Maddon appeared to be the only person upset by the play because even Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura, into whom Crisp slid, shrugged off the play and said it wasn't a big deal.

Be interesting to see if this spills into tonight's game and these teams have had a history of not being so nice to each other.

Rays 4, Sox 7

2008-06-04T16:35:00.002-04:00

No time to blog today ... Sox won, Masterson looked great again (6.0 6 4 4 2 5 2, 91-61) and Drew and Lowell homered.

Giddy up.

Sox 3, Orioles 6

2008-06-03T07:58:00.004-04:00

The Sox were cruising last night behind Manny's third homer in as many games and keeping the game tied behind another solid outing by Wake (7.0 5 2 2 4 3 0, 109-69 ) ... and then Okie Dokie showed up in the eighth.

Four hits and four earned runs in 2/3 of an inning later, the O's prevented the sweep at the hands of the Old Towne Team. To say Okajima was terrible is an understatement. He couldn't locate a pitch to save his life and it looked like the Birds were teeing off on batting practice. Ye gods.

And the news just keeps getting better as Papi has been placed on the DL for the wrist injury he suffered the other night. Word is that the Sox hope the rest will take care of the problem. If it doesn't, then the big man could be facing season-ending surgery.

On the brighter side, with his tater last night, Manny became the first player in MLB history to hit his 500th, 501st and 502nd homer in consecutive games ... so at least the Sox have that going for them.

Sox are in Beantown for some home cooking for the next couple of weeks as they host AL-East leading(!!) Tampa Bay for three, then Seattle for three and end the homestand with the Orioles for three.

Sox 6, Orioles 3

2008-06-01T09:10:00.005-04:00

Whoaaaaa Nelley!

The Sox bats suddenly woke up last night as they drilled three long balls off of Baltimore pitching ... Pedroia and Papi went back-to-back in the third and then Manny entered a very exclusive club in the fifth when he went deep for #500 in the Sox win.

Manny is now only one of 24 players in the history of the game to hit 500 HRs in his career. The coolest thing is that the guy who caught the ball, a Sox fan, didn't hesitate at all to give Manny the ball. Nice.

And check this out from the Boston Globe about last night's game:

"The baseballs all were stamped with an "M" over the MLB logo, marked by a number, and touched with a special dye that would show green when held under a light to help MLB authenticators verify the ball that Ramírez would launch into history."And, of course, Manny was being Manny when he was asked after the game about hitting 600 homers. He looked at the camera and said, "I just want to hit #501."

Meanwhile, Lester (5.0 7 3 3 3 4 1, 103-62) pitched fairly well, but he could have been stronger. Still, he pitched himself out of a couple of self-made jams, so it was nice to see him keep his composure.

It's worth noting that Cap'n 'Tek had himself a good night on the other side of the dish, going 3 for 4 with a RBI.

Sox 5, Orioles 2

2008-05-31T10:49:00.003-04:00

It took 13 innings and three Baltimore errors in the final frame, but the Sox pulled out a win last night despite an anemic offense.

Beckett (6.0 4 2 2 3 10 1, 118-70) for the most part was pretty effective. He struck out 10 but only lasted six innings. Would be nice to see him go deeper into starts.

No worries, though, as the bullpen came through giving up only four hits and no runs over seven innings after the Sox threw the proverbial bullpen sink at the O's in the form of Okie Dokie, Delcarmen, Lopez, Hansen, Timlin (who got the win) and Pap. Geez, was there anyone left?!?

Meanwhile, Manny still sits on 499 home runs.

Sox 0, Seattle 1

2008-05-29T08:36:00.002-04:00

Ugh ... this is getting annoying.

Sox lose again, wasting yet another great pitching performance by Tim Wakefield (8.0 5 1 1 0 8 1, 96-63). This is just ridiculous that the Sox bats couldn't even produce two runs to support Wake ... typical.

Meanwhile, Dice-K is back in Boston getting an MRI on his shoulder as he is suffering from "shoulder fatigue" ... not good. Here's hoping it's nothing serious.

I don't want to alarm you but ... have y'all looked at the standings lately? Tampa Bay is now first in the AL-East by 1.5 games over the Sox. True, the season isn't even half over, but I've said this before and I'll say it again ... the Rays are for real and I think (barring an unexpected collapse) we'll see them vying for the top spot in the AL-East all season.

Sox 3, Oakland 6

2008-05-26T20:38:00.003-04:00

Three games in Oaktown, three losses ... yeesh.

Sox lose again , this time behind Lester (5.0 7 4 3 2 3 0, 94-57) who allowed 4 runs over five innings.

'Nuff said.

Sox 0, Oakland 3

2008-05-25T08:26:00.004-04:00

Maybe the Sox should stay on the East coast.

After riding a seven-game win streak into Oaktown, the Sox suddenly seem to have lost their wining ways as they went down again yesterday, and were almost no-hit in the process.

A's starter Justin Duchscherer a had perfect game going into the sixth inning (broken up by plunking 'Tek) and then Papi got a clean single in the seventh.

Meanwhile, Josh Beckett actually pitched well (7.0 7 2 2 0 9 1, 107-76) but it was giving up the long ball at just the wrong time that came back to bite him again.

And Manny Delcarmen didn't help things by issuing a free pass and giving up a run in an inning of work.

Here's hoping Lester can right the ship this afternoon.

Sox 3, Oakland 8

2008-05-24T08:45:00.003-04:00

Once again, the Sox live and die by the knuckleball and unfortunately for Tim Wakefield, his bread-and-butter pitch just wasn't working last night as the A's snapped the Sox' seven-game win streak last night.

Wake's line, 5.0 8 8 8 4 4 2, 99-58, pretty much says it all ... eight earned runs in five innings does not a victory make. That being said, it was nice to see the bullpen (in the form of Aardsma and Timlin) pitch a combined three innings of no-hit baseball ... so at least the Sox have that going for them.

The only real highlight for the Sox' bats was in Pedroia's HR in the fourth, his third of the season.

Man, I forget how much I dislike West Coast swings ... only get to see a couple innings of a game at most.

Royals 8, Sox 11

2008-05-23T08:20:00.003-04:00

OK, yes there were two Red Sox grannies yesterday courtesy of Drew and Lowell as the Sox are now on their longest winning streak (seven games) in two years with a sweep of the Royals at the Fens.

But the real story, I think, is Dice-K's performance. Let's call this for what it is, folks, Dice-K is one lucky pitcher. Yes, he's the first eight-game winner in the AL, but his record is deceiving and yesterday is a great example.

For the day, he was 5.2 6 3 3 6 7 0, 118-67. Look at that line ... yeah, he struck out seven but he walked six(!) and gave up three earned runs. If the Sox defense isn't better, his ERA balloons because you can't keep walking that many guys and not see some cross the plate more often without good defense. If you look solely at his record, (8-0, 2.40 ERA) he looks great, but dig a little deeper and his record hides his real numbers.

For the season so far, his line is: 10 G, 10 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 60.0 IP, 41 H, 18 R, 16 ER, 4 HR, 38 BB, and 53 SO. Frankly, that's not a very good BB/SO ratio and all of these free passes he's giving up are going to catch up to him ... quickly. If he doesn't do something to correct this (and do it soon) he could very easily be at .500 by the All-Star break.

One of the most telling stats is his WHIP (Walks + Hits Allowed per Innings Pitched) which this season is 1.317, which means he gives up 1.3 hits and/or walks per inning. Hmmmm ...

Anyway, still a great offensive game from the Sox, altho it shouldn't have been as close as it was since the Sox were up 11-3 after six innings, only to have the bullpen implode once again. Ye gods.

Here's some interesting stats from boston.com about the Sox' two grannie game (well, interesting to me because if my wife is reading this, she's rolling her eyes right now):

The two grand slams in a game was the 72d time that's happened in the big leagues.
The Red Sox have done it 10 times, more than any other team.
The last time the Sox did it was July 29,2003, when switch-hitting Billy Mueller did it by himself in Texas, hitting a slam from both sides of the plate.
The last time two Sox players did it in the same game was May 2, 1995, when John Valentin and Mo Vaughn did it in Yankee Stadium.
The last time two Sox players did it at home was Aug. 7, 1984, when Tony Armas Jr. and Bill Buckner both hit slams in the first game of a double-header against Detroit.
It is the second time this season it's been done, the White Sox did it April 13 vs. the Tigers.
Mike Lowell's slam was the seventh of his career. J.D. Drew's was his fourth, second this season, and doesn't count the slam he hit in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Indians last season.

Next up are the A's on the road.

Royals 3, Sox 6

2008-05-22T09:56:00.005-04:00

What we've got here is a six-game winning streak, folks, courtesy of a solid return to the hill by Bartolo Colon last night. Sweet.

Colon looked great (5.0 6 2 2 2 4 0, 74-46) and was hitting 95 on the gun in the fifth. That's very good news for the Sox and their starting rotation as it appears there's no real timetable to get Schill back.

Meanwhile at the plate ... the Sox bats took care of things with taters from Ellsbury and 'Tek and RBIs from Pedroia (3 hits), Papi and Lugo. Nice.

And the bullpen was solid as well with Hansen, Lopez and Delcarmen no-hitting KC for three innings. Timlin (remember him?) gave up a single run in the ninth.

A solid performance all around.

Up next is a rare mid-week matinée with a 1:35 p.m. start today. Sox then travel to the Left Coast for a 3-game weekend set with Oakland (3 and 7 in their last 10) and then up to Seattle (4 and 6 in their last 10) for three. Could be a good way to pad the lead in the AL-East. We'll see ...

Royals 1, Sox 2

2008-05-21T14:51:00.004-04:00

Two days, two good games.

Sox win again behind another great pitching performance, this time from Justin Masterson, who definitely showed he can pitch in the bigs (6.1 3 1 1 3 5 0, 91-55).

Even with two great performances this season, Masterson was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket after the game to make room for Bartolo Colon, who will make his first start of the year in his 12th major league season tonight.

Meanwhile, Big Papi continues to climb the BA ladder, going 2 for 4 and now has a .253 for the season.

And once again Pap came in to save the day, mopping up the mess left by Okie Dokie who loaded the bases after giving up a double and two walks with one out in the eighth.

Royals 0, Sox 7

2008-05-20T08:19:00.008-04:00

Let's see ...

Survive cancer? Check.
Win Game 4 of the World Series for the Series win? Check.
Pitch a no hitter in your career? Check.

Yup, I think Jon Lester has it covered now ... and at just 24 years old, no less.

Needless to say Lester has a firm foothold in Sox lore now that he's added a no-no to his resume as he blanked the Kansas City Royals last night.

So many things to consider from last night's game:

Lester's line for the night: 9.0 0 0 0 2 9 0, 130-86. Here's hoping throwing 130 pitches doesn't effect him in his next start.
He only faced two batters over the minimum last night.
With last night's no-hitter, Jason Varitek becomes the only catcher to be behind the dish for four no hitters (Nomo in 2001, Lowe in 2002, Buchholz last year, and now Lester).
Lester should be buying Jacoby Ellsbury a steak dinner after the diving catch he made in CF in the fourth ... wow!
Consider how many pitchers have come close to pitching a no-hitter but not quite, including: Roger Clemens, Don Sutton, Curt Schilling, Bob Feller and Pedro Martinez, among others. Again ... wow.

It was great to see Sox Skipper Terry Francona and Lester share a heart-felt hug on the field last night ... you could see how emotional Francona was getting. Lester said later that Francona is like a second dad to him.

Perhaps the funniest thing I heard was a post-game interview with 'Tek and he was asked when he became aware that a no-hitter was happening. He said he was sitting in the dugout during the seventh inning and was thinking that Lester was doing well and was probably done for the night. He then looked towards the bullpen and thought it was odd that was no one was warming up. That's when he looked at the scoreboard and saw all the zeroes and said, "Oh!"

In the cellar

2008-05-19T08:41:00.003-04:00

Um, not for nothing and I know the season isn't even close to being half over, but check out who's in last place in the AL East standings on the right ... giddy.

Clean sweep at the Fens

2008-05-19T08:23:00.004-04:00

The Milwaukee Brewers came into Fenway last weekend and were promptly swept in three games, culminating in a slug fest yesterday afternoon.

Man, they were handing out home runs like Cracker Jack yesterday. The Sox had four taters (Ortiz, Youkilis, and Pedroia) while the Brewers went yard four times as well.

Altho he got the win, Beckett struggled at times (7.0 6 6 6 1 9 4, 107-75) and he's now 5 - 3 on the season. He had great command of his fastball, but seemed to make a mistake at just the wrong time, giving up all four Brewers HRs.

Meanwhile, Big Papi put on a clinic yesterday, going 3 for 5 with 2 HR, 4 RBIs, and scoring 2 runs. According to espn.com, it was Ortiz's 31st career multihomer game, 29th with the Red Sox, third most behind Ted Williams and Jim Rice.

With all the pitches being hit out of the yard, you'd think Manny would be in on the fun seeing as he's only two away from 500 for his career. You'd be wrong ... he went 1 for 5 for the day.

Finally, Bartolo Colon has been shutting down AAA teams and is poised to return to the majors. Word around the campfire is that he could make his debut for the Sox during the upcoming four-game, at-home series with the Royals. Giddy up!

Sox 3, Baltimore 6

2008-05-15T10:00:00.004-04:00

Sigh ... it's getting a little tiresome writing about the Sox losing, but here they go again, going 4 and 6 on this latest road trip with a loss yesterday. Yeesh.

Lester actually did pretty well (6.0 5 2 2 2 4 0, 86-54) but the bullpen let him down, highlighted by Okie Dokie giving up a grannie to old friend Jay Payton (of all people) in the seventh.

That being said, the highlight of the game was by Manny who made a double play from deep left to first base and even had time to high-five a fan in the stands during the play. Click here to see it.

The Old Towne Team has today off and then hosts Milwaukee for three followed by KC for four at the Fens.

Sox 4, Baltimore 5

2008-05-14T08:59:00.003-04:00

It's official folks, the Sox are in a slump.

With last night's loss to the O's, they have now lost four of their last five.

Despite the result being only one run, this wasn't a good game for the Sox. Beckett didn't look sharp (5.2 11 5 5 2 5 1, 97-65) ... five ERs and 11 hits?!? Ye gods.

Couple that with Papi getting tossed in the ninth after striking out (he maintained he didn't go around on the third strike, plate ump Laz Diaz disagreed and umps usually win that argument). Well, at least Papi waited until the ninth to get argumentative ... from the dug out.

Today's a rare mid-week 3:05 p.m. start at Camden ... here's hoping Lester can turn things around for himself and the team.

This is cool, but ...

2008-05-13T11:16:00.002-04:00

I don't usually click on ads on webpages, but this one caught my attention.

M&Ms is now offering MLB team-themed M&Ms. I'll save you the time ... here's what the Red Sox ones look like:

Now, this is cool, but ... when you look at the order info, you have to order a minimum of three, 7 ounce bags at $12.99 a pop ... which comes to $38.97 before shipping. Seriously?!? Really?!?

I just went to the vending machine in the breakroom here at the office and I see that a 1.69-ounce bag of M&Ms is $0.80. So, rough math tells me that you'd have to buy about 4.5 bags from the vending machine to get seven ounces which is $3.60.

Look, I love the Sox and baseball as much as the next person, but not enough to spend that kind of coin on M&Ms. Wow ...

Sox 3, Twins 7

2008-05-13T10:01:00.003-04:00

About the only bright spot in last night's game is that Manny went yard, moving one HR closer to the 500-career mark.

Other than that, it was a long night for the local nine, especially Buchholz (4.1 8 7 7 5 4 0, 89-49) who couldn't locate his fastball to save his life.

It was actually fascinating to watch, but ultimately frustrating and I had to change the channel because I couldn't take it anymore. Buchholz has this devastating 12-6 curve ball that just kills the batters and buckles their knees ... but throw his 94+ mph fastball where he wants it? Forget it.

Literally, his fastball was all over the place, forcing 'Tek to snap his glove everywhere to prevent a passed ball.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, Lester and Buchholz have got to be giving the training staff fits with their inconsistency. One game they're lights out, the next they get lit up. I understand they're young, but someone's got to figure this out because they've been entrusted with two of the starting slots in the rotation and have to be dependable.

Speaking of pitching, it looks like Julian Tavarez has thrown his last pitch for the Sox as the team designated him for assignment last night, which basically means he's being released in 10 days. It's too bad because he was good for eating innings and could be really good ... but when he was off, wow was he off. Still, he would start or come out of the bullpen when needed. With pitching being a premium for many teams, I'm sure someone will pick him up.

Sox 8, Twins 9

2008-05-12T16:06:00.002-04:00

As the knuckleball goes, so go the Sox.

Wake's knuckler just wasn't working last night and despite a good effort to come back, they fell just short last night.

The game was pretty much over once Wake was pulled in the in the third inning (2.2 7 7 6 2 2 2, 74-42).

'Nuff said.

Sox 5, Twins 2

2008-05-11T09:22:00.004-04:00

If the Red Sox had hit any more HRs last night, people in the outfield stands might have gone home with a bag of Tater Tots.

Think about it ...

Sox pounded Twins pitching last night, belting out four home runs as Dice-K ran his record to 6-0 on the season on another solid performance (7.0 6 2 2 3 7 0, 96-63).

Meanwhile, the Sox offense continues to be lead by Youkilis who is on a major t-e-a-r, TEAR, right now. The 1B went 2-5 with a run scored, a RBI and a HR.

Speaking of the long ball, CF Coco Crisp, SS Jed Lowrie, and 3B Mike Lowell also went yard in solo shots. For Lowrie, it was his first MLB HR and he had an impressive game going 3-4 with two runs scored and a RBI. He's with the club until Alex Cora comes back, a move expected soon, so Lowrie shouldn't get too used to being at the major league level. Still, it's nice to know he's more than ready for prime time.

Was also good to see Pap come back from his back-to-back blown saves and get the S last night (his 11th of the season).

Also from the pitching department, Bartolo Colon (remember him?) had a solid outing for Pawtucket allowing only one run and four hits in three innings with two strikeouts.

Sox 6, Twins 7

2008-05-10T09:00:00.004-04:00

Uh oh ...

For the second straight outing, Pap has blown a lead, handing the Twins a win last night when he gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Lester took the hill for the Old Town Team and once again was frustratingly inconsistent (5.1 8 5 3 1 2 0, 94-58) ... oy vey.

And what can you say about the SS, Lugo, other than he really needs to work on his defense. The Sox have committed 21 errors on the season and Lugo accounts for 11 of those. Not good.

Meanwhile, Ellsbury stole his 14th straight base ... so at least the Sox have that going for them.

Sox 5, Detroit 1

2008-05-09T13:36:00.003-04:00

Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis won a Golden Glove for his position last year and the way he's playing this season, he seems to be bidding for a MVP trophy to add to his collection.

Starter Josh Becket absolutely dominated the Paper Tigers last night (7.0 6 1 1 0 8 0, 102-73) getting his 1,000th career SO and Youk lead the offense with 2 RBIs off of a home run in the fifth inning.

For those of you playing along at home, Youk for the series had three HRs and seven RBIs. Yes, I think it's safe to say he's on a tear ... wow.

With last night's win, the Sox have won six of their last seven. They're in Minnesota for four games then to Baltimore for a pair of games mid-week before returning to Fenway's friendly confines. Of course, Tiger Stadium proved pretty friendly, too.

Detroit 10, Sox 9

2008-05-08T10:40:00.003-04:00

It had to happen eventually ... still, it stinks that Pap finally blew a lead, especially in a game like last night's in which the Sox came back from being down 8 to 5, only to lose in the ninth.

Buchholz continues to frustrate Red Sox Nation with his inconsistency (4.0 10 5 5 1 6 0, 82-51). Just amazing how he can be so dominant in one start and then get pounded in the next. I'm not sure what he has to do to fix this, but he needs to figure it out quickly ... this is getting ridiculous. He's got four excellent pitches that he can throw for a strike at any time in any count and yet he can look as though he's never faced major league hitters before.

Ye gods.

Sox 5, Detroit 0

2008-05-07T06:26:00.004-04:00

At this point in the season you can start calling them the Paper Tigers because once again Detroit had no answer for Wake's knuckler while Sox batters weren't fooled by the Tigers' pitching.

The result? Another win against the supposed faves in the AL-Central.

You knew Wake's knuckler was doing well when it was the seventh inning at it wasn't even 9 p.m. yet. And check out Wake's line: 8.0 2 0 0 0 6 0, 98-65 ... a very economical 98 pitches over eight complete innings. Not bad for an old man!

And then there's Papi and Manny going yard back-to-back. It looks like Papi has found his stroke again because he absolutely crushed his pitch in the seventh. Wowzers. And Manny's tater pulls him within three of 500 lifetime.

Meanwhile, the rest of the line-up contributed as well with Wake's personal catcher Kevin Cash going 3 for 4 with 1 RBI and Youk going 2 for 3 and scoring a run.

Sweet.

Sox 6, Detroit 3

2008-05-06T18:20:00.003-04:00

So, if your starting pitcher gives up a career-high eight walks, you're probably going to lose the game, right?

Um, not so if you're Dice-K who notched his fifth win of the season last night.

Weird.

Dice-K's line is one for the ages: 5.0 2 1 1 8 1 0, 109-60. I still can't figure out how he got the win. Keeping the Tigers to two hits certainly helps.

As they say in these parts, "Way wicked bizz-ah."

Tampa Bay 3, Sox 7

2008-05-04T17:31:00.004-04:00

So what happens when Big Papi get scratched from the line-up at game time because of a cranky right knee and Youkilis gets dropped in his spot in the batting order?

Youk puts on a clinic and goes 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs as he powers the Sox to a win (and three-game sweep) over the Rays.

SP Lester looked good, too, going six innings (6.0 4 1 1 3 5 1, 112-72) for his second win. He's pitched 14 innings of one-run baseball.

The Sox are now headed out for a 10-game road trip that will take them first to Detroit for four games then Minnesota for four and ending in Baltimore for two.

Tampa Bay 4, Sox 12

2008-05-04T09:23:00.003-04:00

This game was over in the first inning when Manny ended his RBI drought and drove in two for the home town team.

Add the fact that Beckett (8.0 7 4 4 1 5 2, 100-68) put in another strong performance and you have the Sox winning four of their last five games.

Papi's lumber came alive last night, too, as the DH went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, raising his average (slowly but surely) to .216. Best of all, he was hitting to the opposite field, thus negating that obnoxious overshift.

Today's match up features Lester going against Tampa Bay ace Scott Kazmir, who has been on the DL this season.

Tampa Bay 3, Sox 7

2008-05-03T16:05:00.003-04:00

It was the Dustin Pedroia show at the home ballpark last night as the diminutive 2B tallied 3 RBIs in the win over the Rays.

Starter Buchholz only lasted 5 1/3 innings (5.1 5 1 1 4 6 0, 96-60) but it was enough to get the win. Much like Lester, I'm hoping Buchholz settles into a grove and becomes more consistent as the year goes on because I'll tell you what, this kid has got some nasty with-a-capital-N, nasty stuff and can really give batters fits if he's on his game with his four pitches.

Speaking of fits, Bib Papi continues to struggle a bit, going 1 - 4, but his average is up to .198 now ... man, I never thought I'd type a sentence like that. Saying Papi's below-.200 average is "getting better"?!? Zoikes.

Mike Lowell and Jacoby Ellsbury were also back in the line-up, so at least the Sox have that going for them.

Toronto 3, Sox 0

2008-05-02T08:06:00.003-04:00

I'm beginning to get the feeling that this is the kind of season we could be in for, folks ... the Sox W - L tallies could feel like a roller coaster at times.

Once again the offense was shut down, as the Old Towne Team was shut out at the Fens last night.

And once again Wake pitched well (7.0 6 3 3 4 0 1, 97-56) ... good enough, in fact, that any other pitcher with that line could very well have gotten the win.

Oh but no for the knuckleballer whose offensive support seems to dry up when he's on the hill.

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... it's too early in the season to push the panic button, but the Sox bats need to wake up and be consistent. They left seven men on base last night, the Jays 15 ... 15! Toronto leaves 15 ducks on the pond and still gets the win. Ye gods.

Manny's quest

2008-05-01T13:56:00.003-04:00

As Manny closes in on home run #500, the good folks at the Boston Globe have released a neato Manny HR tracker, which you can check out here.

Toronto 1, Sox 2

2008-05-01T08:14:00.005-04:00

Another day, another walk-off single for a Sox win at the Fens.

Looked like another great pitcher's duel, too ... this time staffed by our own Dice-K (7.0 2 0 0 2 4 0, 111-69) and the Jays' Dustin McGowan.

Last night's hero was 'Tek, driving in Manny from second to break the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the ninth.

Speaking of Manny, he' still sitting on 496 career taters.

And speaking of taters, Big Papi finally went yard, smacking a 1-run bomb to left field on the seventh to break up the scoreless game.

Toronto 0, Sox 1

2008-04-29T21:55:00.004-04:00

Youuuuuuuuk!

Usually it's a walk-off home run that will win a game. But every once in a while, it's small ball that makes the difference and a walk off single will get the job done.

It was a classic pitchers' duel at the Fens tonight and the Sox came out on top as Youk singled in Big Papi for the win.

Jon Lester pitched a brilliant game (8.0 1 0 0 4 6 0, 97-58) and Pap came in for the ninth and got the win. Now, all Lester needs to do is string together a few more consistent starts like this and RSN will feel a bit better about his place in the rotation.

More about the small ball play on the part of the Sox tonight ... Papi had gone 0-3 as he came to the dish in the ninth. He drew a walk and was followed by Manny who singled. Runners on first and second, one out. Up comes Youk and one single into shallow center and an uncharacteristic bobble by Vernon Wells and the Sox break their five-game losing streak.

Let's not forget Jay's starter Halladay ... the guy pitched a complete game, striking out six and only allowing five hits. But it wasn't quite enough ... not tonight.

And all is right in Red Sox Nation ...

4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

2008-04-29T12:14:00.003-04:00

Manny's 500-career home runs watch continues and today the Boston Globe ran an article on the history of the feat. Here's some highlights (I'm a stats junkie, afterall!):

Last season, three players - Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, and Jim Thome - all hit No. 500, joining Ken Griffey Jr., who is within three home runs of 600, all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa, No. 5 on the all-time list, as active players with 500 or more home runs. That was the first time in history that six members of the 500 club were active at the same time.
Ramírez went homerless over the weekend in Tropicana Field, where he has hit 25 home runs, a total he has exceeded in just two other visiting parks, Yankee Stadium (28) and Rogers Centre (27). In all, Ramírez has homered in 30 parks, one fewer than Rafael Palmeiro, who had the advantage of playing in both leagues.
Manny also is just one of four players to hit 200 or more home runs with two different teams, joining Foxx (Athletics and Red Sox), Palmeiro (Rangers and Orioles), and Mark McGwire (Athletics and Cardinals). Griffey begins this week needing just one home run to become the fifth (Mariners and Reds).

So needless to say Manny will be in elite company. Here's hoping he hits #600 in a Sox uni.

Lost weekend in Florida

2008-04-28T10:00:00.006-04:00

Wow ... The Trop was not kind to the Sox last weekend.

On Saturday, Clay Buchholz made one mistake and was tagged with the loss even though he pitched an amazing game (8.0 3 2 2 2 9 1, 113-76). Here's hoping he'll focus on his performance and not on the fact that his offense let him down ... again. Sox 1, Rays 2.

Speaking of an anemic offense, the Sox bats were silenced again on Sunday when the Sox were shut out again (Sox 0, Rays 3) for a three-game sweep.

Even though he started the game by striking out the first five batters he faced, you knew yesterday wasn't going to go well when an errant pick-off throwing error by Beckett (7.0 4 2 1 1 13 1, 107-70) in the third lead to a Rays run when Rays' SS Jason Bartlett scored from first on two errors by the Sox (Beckett and JD Drew) in the same play.

The Sox are now the proud owners of a five-game losing streak.

Ye gods.

They limp home to the Fens to face the Blue Jays ... who swept them earlier in the month in Toronto.

The Sox have now dropped to third in the AL-East standings (well, they're tied for first, but third in that three-way tie). Now, it's still early in the season, but is anyone still scoffing at the idea that the Rays are for real this season? They played a solid three-games against the Sox and showed they could be a force in the AL this season.

Sox 4, Tampa Bay 5

2008-04-26T07:42:00.005-04:00

Ugh ... 11 innings later, Sox lose and now are on a three-game losing streak.

Yeesh.

Here's the final equation for the game:

Papi goes 0-6 + the Sox left 24 men on base = a loss.

Here's hoping Buchholz can turn this around tonight.

C'mon, Trot!

2008-04-25T09:16:00.003-04:00

A quick Trot Nixon update ... was at Fenway over the weekend and someone asked about Trot Nixon. He had played last year for Cleveland but wasn't re-signed and hit the free agent market.

I heart Google.

According to espn.com, he signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in February.

Here's hoping that when he does finally hang up the cleats he makes it back to Boston's organization in some fashion. He's one of the original "dirt dogs" and I still think it's wrong that J.D. Drew is wearing #7 ... Sox should have set that number aside at least for a few seasons before re-issuing it.

Finding a gem

2008-04-25T08:13:00.005-04:00

As I was trying to file papers in my office recently, I discovered that it had been years since I had gone through my files and cleaned out things I didn't really need anymore.

So over the past few days I made several trips to the recycling bin in the mailroom and deposited literally 50 to 60 pounds of paper. I found stuff that I hadn't looked at since I started at my present job eight years ago. Zoikes.

But, in pawing through my files, I found some cool stuff, most notably some stories from the Boston Globe and espn.com that I had printed out from 2000 and, even better, old Sox schedules on which I kept track of the team's W's and L's for the season.

It appears that I was a bit stat obsessed in 2000 because the schedule is covered in ink and reveals some cool stuff (well, I think it's cool):

The Sox finished 85 - 77, second in the AL-East behind the Evil Empire.
The Sox best month of the season that year was April when they went 12-9 (with four rain-outs). Their worst month was June when they went 9-18 (their only losing month that season).
Pedro Martinez had a career year for the Sox: 18 - 6, 7 complete games, 217 innings pitched, 284 strikeouts and finished with a 1.74 ERA. He also took home the AL Cy Young that year (his second of three he would win in his career).
Speaking of Pedro, he came within three batters of a no-no on Aug. 29 at Tampa Bay. His line for the game: 9 1 0 0 0 13 0. According to my notes, the first batter he faced in the ninth got a single and then Petey got the last two outs of the game on strike outs.
Also noted is that Nomar Garciaparra won his second batting title with a .372 BA, thus becoming only the second right-handed batter to win two titles since Joe DiMaggio.

Speaking of Nomar, was channel surfing last night and came across a new Gatorade commercial featuring Nomar and Mia Hamm. Kell and I both looked at each other and said, "Poor Nomar." He's been hurt again lately and has only appeared in eight games for the LA Dodgers this season.

Angels 7, Sox 5

2008-04-25T07:51:00.003-04:00

A "coulda, woulda, shoulda" game for the Sox ... they "should" have won this one behind emergency starter Justin Masterson's strong debut at Fenway (6.0 2 1 1 4 4 1 95-58), but the bullpen (in particular, Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen) let him down and blew a 3-1 lead.

When the Sox bullpen can't hold a lead but the opposing bullpen comes on strong, you have what happened yesterday. Lopez and Delcarmen gave up 4 runs between then in the seventh and the game was all but over. To cap it off, Aardsma and Tavarez allowed another earned run each. Big Papi's two-run HR in the ninth was too little, too late.

Given Masterson's performance and the spate of injuries and the flu bug going around the clubhouse, one might have thought the Sox would keep Masterson around. Nope. Immediately after the game, he was optioned back to Portland. Have fun, kid ... don't let the door hit you on the way out!

At least Masterson showed he's got what it takes to pitch in the majors and why he's one of the Sox' top prospects. It'll be interesting to see if he stays in Portland much this season or passes by Pawtucket on his way to Boston again.

Angels 6, Sox 4

2008-04-24T08:14:00.003-04:00

I had just posted on Wednesday that the Sox were a team that could plug holes when starters went down ... and then this game happens.

The injury and flu bug has hit the Local Nine hard over the past week as 'Tek and Dice-K have been scratched because of the flu and Beckett missed his last start because of a sore neck.

Pitching on three days rest for the first time, Jon Lester (5.0 9 4 4 2 1 2 80-48) got the emergency start in place of Dice-K last night and showed why three days rest doesn't cut it.

Both teams needed four pitchers for this contest and neither starter was all that impressive (the Angels' Jon Garland gave up 4 ERs as well). So it came down to the bullpens and the Angels had the better arms last night.

For the Sox, Casey and Lugo were the only hitters to garner more than one hit (2 each), but Papi did make the most of his 1 for 2 (with two BBs) when he hit a HR in the fifth, collecting two RBIs since Pedroia was standing on #3.

Meanwhile, Justin Masterson is making the trip south from Double A Portland to start today (1:35 p.m. game time) because Lester was supposed to start today. He's going up against the Angels' Joe Saunders, who sports a 3-0 record with a 2.15 ERA thus far this season. Like, holy intimidating match-ups, Batman!

Angels 6, Sox 7

2008-04-23T09:43:00.005-04:00

Don't call it a come back ...

When you hear that Josh Beckett has been scrapped because of a sore neck and David Pauley (who?!?) is starting, even the most hardened Sox fan would think that the local nine wouldn't stand much of a chance against an offense like that of the Angels.

You'd be wrong.

Altho he wasn't in the game long enough to get the win (4.1 7 5 5 2 3 1 89-56), Pauley (he who was recently throwing the pill for Pawtucket) kept the team in the game juuuuust enough so that the bullpen could keep the Angels at bay for the rest of the game and the Sox could get the win courtesy of an offense that just doesn't give up.

And what a show the Sox put on for the post-WWII record crowd of 37,982 (104% capacity). Simply put, Jacoby Ellsbury made a good case for being named the permanent starting CF, going 3 for 5 with 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, scoring 3 runs, one from first on a Dustin Pedroia double in the eighth. Yes, one game doesn't seal the deal, but it sure does help. Ellsbury is playing the field at least as well as Coco Crisp and he certainly is swinging a more consistent bat than Crisp right now. That and his insane speed on the basepaths has to make him the favorite to get the starting job.

But I digress ...

Meanwhile, Pedroia was playing out of his mind again last night going 4 for 5 with a RBI, scored a run and even stole a base. He's been one of the most consistent hitters for the Sox this season.

Speaking of consistency, from Ellsbury in the lead off position to Lugo batting in the 9 hole, every Sox batter had at least one hit last night. When you're hitting like that, there's just no where in the line up that an opposing pitcher can pitch to.

And you have to believe that the rest of MLB says a collective "Oh, crap!" when Papelbon comes into a game in the ninth. He struck two of the three Angels he faced using only 11 pitches (9 for strikes!) to preserve the win.

A good old fashioned come-from-behind win for the Sox. This is the kind of game that really shows what kind of team we have this year. Your ace goes down and the opposing team hangs five runs in less than five innings on you? No problem, the bullpen can shut the opposition down. Your team has to dig out of a five-run deficit? No problem, the offense can chip away at that lead and do the small things (bunt) and big things (hit home runs) to get the win.

Good times at the Fens ... good times.

BTW, the Sox have now won six in a row, seven of their last eight, and have a three-game lead for first place in the AL-East over Baltimore.

Red Sox batting stances

2008-04-21T15:36:00.003-04:00

This is a classic example of someone with too much time on their hands but damn it's funny:

Rangers 3, Sox 8

2008-04-21T15:03:00.008-04:00

Break out the brooms, folks, the Sox have swept the Texas Rangers in four straight with a Patriots Day win in the Hub.

Nice.

Clay Buchholz took the mound for the Sox today, and looked pretty good: 6.0 5 0 0 2 6 0, 103-68.

Texas' starter, old friend Kason Gabbard, only lasted two innings before leaving with a hip injury. Once gone, the woeful Rangers' bullpen took over and the Sox lineup teed of on three different hurlers.

Papi looked good again as he went 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs (raising his BA to .177) and Julio Lugo was en fuego, going 4 for 4 with a walk and a RBI.

This was kind of a weird lineup for the Sox ... Kevin Cash was behind the dish because 'Tek has the flu, Youk bat in the clean up spot behind Ortiz because Manny had a day off and Joe Thurston (who came over from the Nationals and was filling in for Manny) was at the bottom of the order.

This was Thurston's second game in LF in as many days for the Sox and he did a good job in the field, making great catches yesterday and today (although he made a major gaffe on reading the ball when it hit the third base seats jut-out because of his inexperience in playing the position at Fenway). Now, if he could just contribute with the stick ...

Speaking of Manny, with his second-inning ejection Sunday and his scheduled day off today, he should be plenty rested for the three-game, at-home series against the Angels that starts tomorrow.

Whatever happened to ...

2008-04-21T10:42:00.003-04:00

And now for the next installment in an occasional series (a.k.a "whenever-I-think-of-it") ... whatever happened to ...

Red Sox starter John Dopson?

Well, he's started his own pitching instruction company.

Today being Patriots' Day in eastern Massachusetts, the game today has an 11 a.m. start time due to the annual Boston Marathon.

So the Marathon got me thinking about going to games on this day and I remembered going once when I was in college and saw Dopson pitch a complete game shut out against the Chicago White Sox (a 1-0 final). Sure Boston was even more insane to traverse than usual because of the Marathon and it took forever to get out of the Fens, but c'mon, it was the Sox, right?!?

Dopson pitched for the Sox from 1989 - 1993. He came up through the Expos and pitched for their big league club for two years prior to donning #40 for the Old Towne Team. He signed with the Angels as a free agent in 1994 and appeared in 21 games before retiring at the end of the season.

His career stats: 144 games, 119 games started, 8 games finished, 30 wins, 47 losses, 4.27 ERA, 4 complete games, 725.1 innings pitched, 752 hits, 344 earned runs, 74 homers, and 386 strike outs.

When looking at his stats, there's one that really jumps out - he only issued 20 free passes. Wow.

Rangers 5, Sox 6

2008-04-21T08:23:00.007-04:00

The scoreboard tells the story:

Sox trailed from the first batter of the game when Texas 2B Ian Kinsler homered off of Wakefield to start the game.

Then Manny gets thrown out in the second inning for arguing a call (something he rarely ever does, so you have to believe it was a really bad call if he was arguing enough to get thrown out).

I was lucky enough to be at the game ... had amazing seats in the Pavilion section on the First Base side ... excellent. And it was great to see the Sox come back and score four runs in the eighth to get the W.

Best of all, too, is that Wake got the win after pitching out of his mind for eight innings: 8.0 7 5 5 0 5 2 86-68. Seriously, look at his line ... he averaged just under 11 pitches per inning ... that's insane. And yet it was a typical Wake outing in that he made just enough mistakes to hide the fact that he was actually pitching very well.

Speaking of pitching well, Papelbon came in and was lights out ... threw seven(!) pitches (5 for strikes) and was done. Nice.

Meanwhile, Manny's still sitting on 496 homers.

Big Papi continues to get better, going 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs, and now has a .160 BA.

Finally, Youkilis had an excellent game going 3 for 4 with a walk, so he reached base in every at-bat. He's such a solid and consistent hitter and it was a lot of fun to watch him spray the ball all over the field. He seems to be able to dump the ball right where the fielders aren't standing.

Rangers 3, Sox 5

2008-04-20T07:54:00.003-04:00

That's 496 down, four to go.

Manny's now within four hits of going yard for 500 career HRs as he and Big Papi powered the Sox past Texas again yesterday.

Papi (now standing on a .141 BA) had tied the game when he knocked in a run in the eighth. Next up? Mr. Ramirez .. Mr. Ramirez, meet Texas reliever Joaquin Benoit ... Mr. Benoit, Mr. Ramirez. It wasn't a pleasant meeting, at least for Benoit.

Looking at Manny's swing, you can really see he's completely locked in right now and when you see that, you know the opposing pitcher is in trouble. I was really surprised that Benoit threw something even remotely close to Manny's wheel house so he either made a mistake or just tried to dare Manny to hit it.

Yeah, either way it was mistake.

Meanwhile, on the pitching side of the game, Lester looked pretty good (6.1 10 3 3 2 5 1 106-72) even though he gave up 3 ERs, he did strike out 5 and only walked one ... so he's got that going for him.

Game 3 of the series today (me and the Mrs. will be there) and the series capper tomorrow with an 11 a.m. game time because it's Patriots' Day here in the Hub ... and no, it has nothing to do with our beloved football team, it's about Concord, Lexington and all that. And if you still have no idea what I'm talking about, crack a history book (as Mr. Mclinden would no doubt tell you).

Rangers 3, Sox 11

2008-04-19T09:33:00.002-04:00

One grand slam isn't going to erase the biggest slump of Bib Papi's career, but it's got to help, right?

Sox rolled over Texas last night and your humble blogger was there to see it. For the night, Papi went 2 for 4 with 5 RBIs and Manny's still sitting on 495 career HRs.

It was great to be back at the Fens last night. Friends of mine, Keith and Kelly, have four season tickets in the bleachers and invited Kell and I, but Kell couldn't go, so my friend Kevin came. Good times, good times.

As Kelly said when we first saw the field, "There's nothing like walking up the ramp and the park opens up for the first time in a season." It really is a near religious experience. I couldn't stop saying, "Man, I love this place" during the night.

And as usual with the Sox under new management, there are many improvements, most notably new seats in the bleacher section. Also in the bleachers, the entire floor has been repainted with "grippy" rubber-like paint (like what you might see on a new gym floor) ... it just looks nice and clean. Speaking of clean, people now walking through the aisles during the game collecting plastic beer cups for recycling ... we had a few to hand over during the night.

Oh yeah, there was a game, too. Dice-K wasn't bad (5.1 5 3 3 2 4 1 101-62) but he wasn't exactly dominating, either. Still, with the offense doing its job, Sox pitching can have an average night and still get the win.

Heading to Fenway again tomorrow for the last game in the series with Texas. Two games in three days ... giddy up!

Sox 7, Yankees 5

2008-04-18T09:59:00.005-04:00

Back, back, back ... waaaaay back ... GONE!

It was the Manny show in Gotham last night as the Sox slugger moved two taters closer to 500 career HRs and Sox ace Josh Beckett virtually dominated the Bronx bombers last night.

Damn Manny looked good last night, crushing two pitches from NYY starter Moose Mussina, who, frankly, should've hung up the cleats after last season. In his heyday, Mussina was one of the most consistent and dominating pitchers in the game, but watching him last night it was obvious he's got little left in the tank. I was nodding in agreement with Jerry Remy when he said Moose had nothing on his fastball, slider and that the only thing really working for him was his curve.

On the other side of the diamond, Beckett rocked: 8.0 6 3 3 1 5 0, 105 pitches, 69 for strikes. Remy made the point that so far this season, Beckett is lights out for the first three innings of his starts (a 0.00 ERA) but gives up more runs as the game goes on. Remy attributed this to Beckett's lack of a spring training, so he's now where he would have been late in spring training.

Given this, it was great to see Beckett go eight innings. I think that in the next couple of starts he's going to have more stamina and will be even more dominating.

I love watching this kid pitch. Last night I kept thinking about how watching Beckett and anticipating his starts is like watching Pedro in his heyday again. You just know you're going to get something special and it's just a matter of how dominating he's going to be. Very cool.

Also, I love Beckett's demeanor on the mound. He looks like he's playing catch with Varitek and few things seem to faze him. Again, very early-in-his-career Pedro-like.

Update on the Big Papi bat watch: 0 - 5 last night with a walk and a run scored ... his BA now stands at .111. I get the feeling this is going to be an uphill climb for Papi. Maybe as the weather heats up, he will too.

Not for nothing but ... your humble blogger is going to have a Sox-filled weekend this weekend. I'm headed to the game tonight and then the game on Sunday (both vs. Texas). Couldn't get tickets to save my life in the past few months and then in the past week I've had two games fall into my lap. Nice!

Sox 9, Yankees 15

2008-04-17T08:28:00.003-04:00

Hoo boy, this was an U-G-L-Y, ugly game for the local nine.

A few stats:

The 15 runs were the most by the Yankees against the Sox in the Gotham since they hung 17 runs on the Sox on July 7, 1954.
The second most number of run scored by NYY vs. Boston in Yankee Stadium was 14 on April 21, 1956. (Both games were losses for the Sox.)
Last night's game lasted 4 hours, 8 minutes.
Both starters (Wang for the NYY and Buchholz for the Sox) gave up career-high ERs (8 for Wang, 7 for Bucky).

Speaking of all things Buchholz, this is a game he'd probably like to forget: 3.2 8 7 7 1 2 2, 85 pitches, 53 for strikes. With last nights shellacking, he now sports a 6.75 ERA ... not good.

And the Old Town Team continues to get beat up. Youkilis left the game late with a bruised toe and is day-to-day (aren't we all?) ... like the Sox need any more injuries to their infield.

Updating the Big Papi watch, he went 1 for 5 with 1 RBI and 1 SO ... his season average is now a robust .121 ... zoikes!

Sox-Yankees "rivalry"

2008-04-16T16:04:00.005-04:00

With three of the 19(!) games between the Sox and Yankees behind us and two in the Bronx tonight, I thought it a good time to comment on this "rivalry".

First of all, it's not a rivalry ... 26 WS titles to 2 does not a rivalry make. It's more of a jealousy on the part of Red Sox Nation. At least until 2004 and then 2007 and the fact that NY hasn't appeared in the October Classic since 2001, let alone win one since then.

Besides the obvious reason, I'm so glad the Sox won the WS hardware twice in the past four years because it's really taken the edge off of this rivalry talk. You can see the difference in the media already, like Fox when they cover these games. Don't get me wrong, Fox is completely obnoxious, but not quite as bad with the events of the past few years.

(Speaking of Fox and all things obnoxious, is there anyone more annoying than Jeanne Zelasko? Good lord ... every time I see her on TV and hear that grating voice, I want to shove hot pokers in my eyes. She knows absolutely nothing about baseball. But I digress ...)

I still think it's ridiculous that the MLB schedule makers pit Boston and NY against each other 19 times a season. That is, until you consider the fact it's all about the money and god forbid MLB doesn't get even more revenue, right? Yeesh.

I haven't been to a Sox-Yankees game in years and the last one I went to, Kell and I swore we'd never go another one because of how obnoxious the fans were ... especially, I'm sad to say, the Boston fans. There was noting worse than seeing pre-teens and teenage girls wearing t-shirts that said "Jeter Swallows" ... disgusting.

Anyway, here's hoping this toning down of the "rivalry" continues ... we'd all be better off for it.

Sox 5, Indians 3

2008-04-16T08:16:00.003-04:00

Another late comeback in Cleveland, this time the heroics provided by the captain, Jason Varitek, as he lifts the Sox past the Tribe with a pitch-hit HR in the ninth.

And Jed Lowrie, making his MLB debut and playing 3B for the injured Mike Lowell, drove in three runs.

Wakefield got the start and had a decent night: 6.0 7 2 2 4 4 0, 106 pitches, 66 for strikes.

After the two-game sweep of the Tribe on the road, the Old Towne Team is headed to the Bronx for another two-game series tonight and tomorrow.

Sox 6, Indians 4

2008-04-15T08:09:00.006-04:00

Yup, it was Manny being Manny when he crushed an offering from Indians closer Joe Borowski in the ninth and gave the Sox the win last night, despite a mediocre effort from Sox starter Jon Lester: 4.1 5 4 4 5 3 0, 97 pitches, 55 for strikes.

Lester continues to underwhelm opponents as shown in the 5.31 ERA he's sporting for the young season. The frustrating thing is that Lester cruised through the first three innings and then fell apart in the fourth. Yeesh.

Meanwhile, Youk had a great game, going 3 for 4 with a HR, 2 RBIs, and scored a run.

Manny's now 7 taters away from 500 career HRs.

And what about Big Papi? He went 2-5 (raising his average to .104) but he struck out twice, actually fanning on three straight pitches in the fifth. Hoo boy.

Sox are now on a three-game winning streak.

Yankees 5, Sox 8

2008-04-14T11:17:00.005-04:00

Sox win to take the weekend series, 3-1, but man was this an ugly way to win.

I think Dice-K's new nickname should be "The Cardiac Kid" ... I swear he's got to be giving Francona fits with the way he's pitching. He's 3-0 on the season, but he sure doesn't make it easy on himself and he really trudged through the five innings he pitched last night: 5.0 5 4 4 6 2 0, 116 pitches, 62 for strikes. Again, not bad, but not exactly dominating with six(!) walks.

Still, Jacoby and Youk looked great getting a couple of RBIs each and 1B Sean Casey had a good night at the dish going two for three, scoring a run and getting a RBI.

Two other regular updates ... Manny is still standing on 492 career HRs, and Big Papi was benched last night. Here's hoping the night off gave him a chance to find his inner hitting instructor.

Yankees 3, Sox 4

2008-04-13T09:46:00.005-04:00

Josh Beckett proved to the stopper and went 6-plus innings to beat the Yankees, a game that featured Manny getting one HR closer to the 500 career mark and a 2-hour game delay because of rain. Nice.

Beckett's line: 6.2 5 3 3 1 5 0, 88 pitches, 55 for strikes. Looking like the Josh Beckett of last year, he cruised through the first five innings yesterday and totally dominated the Bronx Bombers. But he ran into so trouble in the sixth when he gave up two runs.

No worries, the bullpen came in a did their job (for the most part) and Pap got the win for Beckett, his first of the season.

It was kind of strange the way Beckett seemingly lost his touch for the strike zone in the sixth and I wonder if his back isn't 100% yet. Seemed like suddenly he started to wear out or something.

Meanwhile, Papi continues to mire in his slump, going 0 - 4 with a strike out and leaving four men on base. His batting average now stands at .070 ... wow.