The GYS Network

Papeldon throwing the HIGH cheese?!

2011-07-25T22:34:00.000-04:00

Then that happened.... Catching up

2011-07-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the lack of attention. So here is a quick catch up on what happened while we were out:

We had just started June with 10 straight wins. Entering the "easy" inter-league stretch of the month, we were 11-2 for the month and in first place. We took 2 out of 3 against the Brewers and then promptly fell apart, blaming it on the stupid "rules" of the game. Yes, that is right. We complained about the fact that Papi couldn't play DH in the national league parks. (This was not my proudest moment as a Sox fan). The embarrassment amounted to considerable egg on our face as we went 2 and 4 against the lowly Padres and Pirates. (The Pirates to their credit are 1 game out of first in the NL Central). We didn't do much better as we rolled through Philly. In the end, we made the NL road trip respectable by sweeping the H'astros and going 6 and 6.

For June we ended up 16 and 9 (.640 winning percentage). That still rocks, but we did lose our grip on first place.

We are now at the All-star break and we've have started July with a blazing 9 and 1 record. Once again we're back in first with an overall record of 55 and 35. Will we have another mid-month slump?

Our pitching situation is looking bleak. Beckett's knee is sore, Lester isn't 100%, Bucholz is working through a back strain, Lackey is working through a severe case of the SUCKS and DiceBB's arm has fallen off. Wakefield has regressed from previous years and while Andrew Miller has added some spark, I don't see him making a lasting contribution to the Red Sox second half. Through 2011, the Sox starting staff has been entirely mediocre netting 7.0 wins above replacement (WAR) value. In comparison the Yankees have netted 8.7. (The Phillies led the league with 15.4).

One ray of hope is the bullpen. It hasn't been as streaky as last year and overall the team is the second best in the league (WAR), netting 3.7. The Braves have the top spot in the majors with 4.9 WAR.

All said and done, I think we might be in the market for an arm as we approach the trade deadline. I think we will be fine in a 7 game series with Beckett, Lester and Bucholz, but to get there we will need some help.

Check that box! Boston is official the best sports town

2011-06-18T12:07:00.001-04:00

And the past 10 years were officially the BEST time to be a Boston sports fan. Here's to hoping that winning is contagious!

Five weeks later

2011-06-11T22:07:00.000-04:00

About 5 weeks ago, we had a bunch of dialogue on here about the Sox, the AL East, and particularly 95 wins. At the time they needed a .619 clip the rest of the season to win 95. And there was much consternation that this level of success could be achieved. Since that post they have gone 24-9 (a .727 clip).

So they are far exceeding that pace. Obviously they have played some great ball (the current 8 game winning streak, the two sweeps in NY, the 13- 2 stretch at one point), but this appears to be a streaky team. But now they have had three really long excellent stretches and only the bad start on the downside. And sure they will have one or more cold spells at some point. But, I'm saving my best for last......

As of right now, the Sox are 38-26, a .594 pace. Which over the full season works out to 96 wins. So even after the awful start they are on pace for 95, 96 wins. Right on pace.

So Good, So Good

2011-06-10T13:57:00.000-04:00

6-1 to start June.

Red Sox draft Matt Barnes with 19th pick overall

2011-06-07T11:22:00.000-04:00

The amateur draft started yesterday. Besides the exciting news of drafting a decent looking pitcher, Matt Barnes (see below) in the first round as well as a switch hitting catcher Blake Swihart, the first round and supplemental first round featured a couple of interesting notes. Specifically, Tampa had a total of 9 picks in the first 60 and New York had 1, Dante Bichette Jr.. No joke.

Swept and Sweep - Not sure how I feel about that

2011-06-05T21:22:00.000-04:00

So that was a little weird. I posted the other night that we needed 1 more win to exceed our expectations for May. Then we got swept by the Chi Sox. Only to make up for that by sweeping the A's in spectacular fashion. Although the series against the A's showed some holes in the Red Sox rotation as Bucholz finally came back to earth and PapelBOMB finally exploded.

Looking ahead, the rest of June consists of 9 games against our top AL East foes (NY, Blue Jays, and TB) and 12 games against random NL teams (Padres, Brewers, Pirates and Phillies). On top of that 15 out of 21 games remaining are on the road! On the surface June is going to continue to be a tricky month. Amazingly, we're 1 game out of first which is a huge improvement, but I really don't see us gaining any ground in June. Frankly, I would be happy to get out of this month 3-4 games back. My guess is that we'll go 4 and 5 against the AL East and we'll split the 12 games with the NL teams. Which means we'll end up 1 game under .500 for June.

Thoughts?

Lack of Posts

2011-05-31T16:21:00.001-04:00

Can't concentrate on Sox right now...B's are in the Cup Finals.

I am going out on a limb and talking about something other analysts haven't. This series won't come down to the featured match-ups. It won't be the top line of Vancouver against the top D line of Boston. That will be great to watch without a doubt.

I think that this comes down to the third lines of each team. Why? Both teams are stacked on the top two lines. Boston I think has a slight advantage on line 2, but it isn't worth mentioning as Vancouver's second D-line is better.

But those third lines...This is where I think the B's get the edge. Seguin, Kelly, and Peverley (or Ryder). If these guys perform, the B's take this series.

Well, this doesn't suck

2011-05-31T15:41:00.000-04:00

So it's May 31st and we have 1 more game to play before we head into June. A couple of weeks ago we had a thread about what the sox needed to do to get back on pace for 95 wins this year.

As it turns out, they got their 15th win on Sunday afternoon (which assures them a .614 or better winning percentage) and almost swept their second series in May with a 4-3 loss to the Tigers that evening. I was hoping last night was our night with Lester on the mound, but alas his game needs some tweaking. Perhaps Aceves will extend his winning streak tonight and we'll be a game ahead of plan heading into June.

Regardless, we've got a share of first place and our 2 for whatever start seems like a distant past.

Is it time to compare DJ Werd and Tort Noxin?

2011-05-29T20:30:00.000-04:00

Keeping up the Earl theme, besides having a more AWESOME backwords name than Trot Nixon, JD Drew may actually be a better RF for the Red Sox. Or not.

Trot obviously had a much longer career with the Sox and even the untrained eye can see that he put up more impressive offensive numbers during his time guarding pesky's pole. In contrast, we all waited an entire season for JD Drew to get a "hit". Fortunately, for him and for us that came in the form of a pretty clutch grand slam against Cleveland.

Obviously, there are a lot of ways to skin this cat and none is perfect. After doing some looking I finally settled on WAR (wins above replacement) for one simple reason, it combines offense and defense. The other aspect of WAR that was appealing is that it is a direct comparison in that it compares the value of each player over a "replacement".

Finally, how to adjust for the fact that Trot patrolled RF for the Sox for 10 years and Drew is just in his 5th? I think the only way to do this is to take the best 4 consecutive years of Trot's career and compare them to Drew. With that in mind and the simple fact that Drew was apart of the 2007 World Series Champions, we have to pick the best 4 years around 2004 for Trot, otherwise Drew will have the only stat that really matters: "winning," as Charlie Sheen would say.

So with that in mind here are the numbers:
Trot 2002-2005: 2.8, 4.9, 1.1 WS Champs, 3.7 (total 12.5)
Drew 2007-2010: 1.9 WS Champs, 4.1, 5.0. 2.5 (total 13.5)

Ok so that's settled. Or not. Drew was hurt in 2004, which pretty much makes up the difference between them. If you substitute 2001 (3.5 WAR) or 2006 (1.8) for Trot's 2004 season this would be a different story. They would either be the same value or Trot would be more valuable.

Of course we should consider the cost. One can argue that the lower costing Trot allowed the Sox to spend more on other players. However, by the time Drew was signed the Sox weren't exactly cutting corners on their budget. That being said the facts are that Drew cost $56 million over those 4 years while Trot a mere $18.7 million. Again this might have more to do with the fact that home grown talent is ALWAYS cheaper than free agent signing.

So there you have it, or not. Maybe it comes down to the fact that DJ Werd might just be one of the best backwards names ever to play for the Sox. but Tort Noxin does have a nice ring to it.

Millwood to join the Sox?

2011-05-23T10:25:00.000-04:00

Peter Gammons is reporting that Kevin Millwood has joined the Red Sox organization to help stem the tide as DiceBB and Lackey are sidelined on the DL.

Millwood is 36 and pitched 31 games last year for the Orioles with a 5.10 ERA.

Um... We honestly don't have anyone in AAA that is better?

Then THIS happened...

2011-05-22T12:36:00.000-04:00

(From Yahoo) Then Albers (0-2) relieved in the eighth and Boston’s chances of winning faded fast.

“I didn’t think he pitched as bad as the line’s going to show,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Darwin Barney(notes) and Starlin Castro(notes) singled and Ramirez walked, loading the bases. Carlos Pena then walked in a run before Johnson doubled to left, putting the Cubs ahead to stay. Alfonso Soriano(notes) followed with a popup to short left field where shortstop Jed Lowrie(notes) let it bounce off his glove for an error as Pena scored.

“Overran it, misjudged the wind,” Lowrie said. The conditions have “been tough all year. It’s no excuse, just got to play it. What can you do?”

Franklin Morales(notes), obtained Thursday from Colorado, relieved Albers and his first pitch went for an RBI double by pinch-hitter Jeff Baker(notes). Koyie Hill(notes) struck out and Barney flew to right, where J.D. Drew’s(notes) catch was only the beginning of a bizarre play.

He threw home and Soriano, who had tagged up, headed back to third. Catcher Jason Varitek’s(notes) throw ticked off third baseman Kevin Youkilis’ glove. Youkilis was charged with an error and left fielder Carl Crawford(notes), who backed him up, threw wildly to home for another error as Soriano and Baker scored.

Castro followed with an RBI double, making it 9-3.

Late to the Laser Show

2011-05-19T20:44:00.000-04:00

I am obviously late to the laser show, but I find it so amusing. Plus with my new found embedding skills I just like to link to random shiznit now.

I miss Coco

2011-05-15T22:45:00.001-04:00

Random thoughts on a Sunday night

2011-05-15T22:17:00.000-04:00

Last night was a great night for Red Sox baseball, but it was also an interesting night for a bunch of reasons.

Here is what was significant about Sunday night:

1. Beckett's birth day
2. The night in 1941 when Lou Gehrig started his consecutive hits streak
3. The evening in 2003 that Fenway was first sold out to set the longest consecutive sell out streak
4. Jon Lester's 66th win, giving him the highest winning percentage among pitchers with at least 50 games
5. The night that Bobby Valentine confessed to the world that he was Billy Buckner's roommate in college. (Ok, so this wasn't THAT interesting but I did enjoy the Buckner references when ARod botched the play at third).

Big Papi

2011-05-15T00:36:00.000-04:00

Okay, I cant do a fancy pants embedded video like Dino.

But this was funny.

(here you go X)

Meet Jose Iglesias

2011-05-11T09:26:00.000-04:00

Gregg Zaun... who would have thought it?

2011-05-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

With the Rem-dog fighting a "bit of pneumonia" we are treated to a virtual cornucopia of guest color commentators.

Last night, Gregg Zaun was in the booth with Don and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I had this impression from his playing days that he was just another meathead 'roider. That may in fact still be true, but last night he showed a completely different side. He was articulate, funny and insightful. It helps that he has played with and against a lot of the guys who were on the field. And it always seems that catchers have a keen perspective on the game. All in all, I'd like to start a campaign for MORE Gregg Zaun.

One man's perspective of the first month - the good, the bad and the ugly

2011-05-03T02:16:00.000-04:00

So a month in and, well, it wasn't the coronation that everyone was expecting.

Editor's note - May is off to a good start. Beating the defending CY Young pitcher and the pitcher who would win the one month 2011 Cy Young in their first two starts. But back to April.

Starters.

All along, I thought the starters would be about what they were last year. Refer to this post. And I'm sure it is elsewhere in comments, etc.

"Last year. Starters were 70-50 with a 4.17 ERA (6th in league). I think they will be pretty close to that this year. Maybe a tad better. We know they offense is going to score the most or second most runs in the league. So the difference from last year is the bullpen."

Granted its been a bit up and down. Actually down then up. Adn right now the starters are 10-10 3.75. Breaking it down Grieve style:

Lester is the stud he was last year.

Dice-BB has been pretty much Dice-BB. Two awesome outings. And then three outings w 11 IP total. Overall result 3.81 but I expect more of the 5IP Dice than the one hitter Dice.

Lackey overall has been the same 5+ Lackey as last year. But has shown promise in the last three starts.

And that leaves Beckett and Bucholz - who have essentially flip flopped. I also wrote somewhere that I expected either Lester or Bucholz to fade a bit, but Beckett or Lackey to step forward. All of which is kind of happening.

Bottom line - its still early. Some of this will sort itself out. Bucholz is probably hurt, thus the diminished results, but the starting pitching feels like last year.

In short, now that the first week of the rotation getting hammered appears to have been a blip (save Bucholz and the long ball), no need to panic about SP.

Bullpen

This was last year's Achilles. And I don't feel much better about this year's pen. Yet. The ERA of this group 5.02. Jenks and Wheeler were the $$ acquisitions. And they have sucked.

I never thought I would say this. And I shutter a bit as I type it. Thank goodness for Paps. What a shock, the contract year has lit a fire under his ass. Hope he keeps it up. Saves 40 games, including 8 in October. And then some dumbass team pays him $50. And we'll get to hear him trash Boston all winter. But I digress, nice to see him mix it up a bit and not pump all FB.

Bard - again a workhorse with an occasional blip. But clearly Tito trusts him. A lot. As he should.

Dubront (sent to AAA), Oki, Reyes (already cut) - not holding their own either.

Bottom line - they have too much invested in Jenks and Wheeler to not keep running them out there. the scary thing with Jenks is that he can look filthy for a stretch. And then boom lose it. Hopefully they all settle down. And the results will come. If not Theo will keep running new faces into the 1-2 spots he has flexibility with.

And Wake, bless him for that start yesterday, but long term, I don't know how they can keep justifying that roster spot. Especially if some guys are struggling.

Now..... the lineup.

I had visions of going through them all. But not really much point. They will score runs in bunches. Just like they did tonight. Sure they are susceptible to LHP. Particularly starters. But I think that will be fine in the long run. Crawford will be fine. Gonzalez should hit for a bit more power. We;d like Elsbury to get on base a bit more. Pedey and Youk have lower than expected AVG, but their OBP are okay and YOuk's power is there. Drew is Drew. Papi is Papi (Lite).

The only real problem that warrants watching. And I know its a real chorus. Catcher. As much as they talk about how they are being patient, etc. I have to wonder how long they can keep running Salty out there. And if they are really comfortable with Tek catching 3 times per week. He is old. And then if he breaks down, they are screwed. Salty looks lost back there at times. Adn he is in the lineup for his bat. But .204/.259/.259? A week and a half ago, Gammons was saying that it wouldn't surprise him if the Sox made a move back then. I imagine the pressure is only mounting.

Benji Molina is available although he'd cost $$$. Or bring up one of the AA guys. Apparently the Federowicz guy is for real. We'll see.

All told. My bottom line. No need to panic. It was a bad month, but they are starting to show some encouraging signs.

Now if they can just solve C and stay away from LH starters. And apparently it would be nice to play 162 games vs the Angels.

Crazy

2011-04-26T16:13:00.000-04:00

As usual!

But man was he great that first half of the season in 2000.

.329/.403./.647 (a whopping 1.050 OPS) 24 HR and 69 RBI in 79 games at the ASB!!

WTF is happening in Dodger land?

2011-04-24T16:43:00.000-04:00

This is copied from www.dodgerdugout.com. Yes, I am too lazy to write anything original, but I certainly wanted to get everyone's reaction. Is it possible that Frank McCourt is more of a disaster than Manny?!

Official Press Release
This is all Frank could come up with:

"Major League Baseball sets strict financial guidelines which all 30 teams must follow. The Dodgers are in compliance with these guidelines. On this basis, it is hard to understand the Commissioner's action today."
MLB To Oversee the Dodgers
It's the beginning of the end for Frank McCourt. Bud Selig, per the LA Times, has decided that enough is enough:

"Pursuant to my authority as Commissioner, I informed Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt today that I will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Club. I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the Club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball. My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt's ownership. I will announce the name of my representative in the next several days. The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future."

The NY Times adds:

But two people with knowledge of the situation said that he was also strongly considering forcing the sale of the team by invoking his “bests interests of baseball” powers to wrest the team from Frank McCourt, the owner since 2004, who he believes has mismanaged the franchise while enriching himself.

And TMZ chips in with this:

IRS agents are interested in the fact that the McCourts took $145 million from the team and paid no taxes (certain court documents place the figure at around $105 million, but we’re told it’s actually $145 mil).  The IRS is also interested in the fact that the McCourt children have drawn a salary from the team but performed no apparent services to justify the payout.

Dice-BB and the return of the Sox?

2011-04-24T16:33:00.000-04:00

Is it me, or is this a little unusual? The Sox are in a slump and head to the west coast for a series of games. My memory tells me that we'd limp through the west coast trip happy to be .500. Here we are on the verge of sweeping the LAAAAAAAAAs and taking 5 out of 6 games.

And who do we have to thank? Well, it doesn't suck the BecKKKKKKKet is lighting it up. Nor does it suck that Dice-BB is finally throwing strikes! What a concept. I liked ispost at baseball musings. In short, "He went with what worked and de-emphasized what didn’t."

I like the sound of that! We'll see how long it lasts, but I have to believe Dice-BB is hungry for a "break-out" season.

Dino, Dino, GYS, GYS

2011-04-22T02:01:00.000-04:00

So from Dino in the last post:

""Owned" by a Montrealer."

I can only say you now that the roles are reversed you better be laying it pretty hard to said Montrealer.

Go B's. Love the Habs givng up 3 leads on their home ice.

Why Joe Thornton Sucks. And always will

2011-04-15T17:21:00.001-04:00

So a buddy of mine out here asked my why I can't stand Big Joe. This is about as good as I could come up with. And it still feels like I'm missing something.

Imagine you see this girl every day and she is smoking hot. But you have to get laughed at every day for a year (have the worst record) to get a chance to go out with her. And finally you do. The first date (season) goes okay, you act like a gentleman and don’t want to rush things. The second date is starting to look really good, there is some promise you make out a bit and get to second base (second round). The third and fourth dates go okay. They aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible. You don’t go home with her, but you think there is enough progress being made. She laughs at your jokes (scores a lot), she teases you with her physique, but there is definitely a little alloofness there. By the fifth date you are confident. The starts are aligning. You have a great date (number one seed), she is wearing a smoking outfit (100 points) . You finally get her naked and she says, not tonight, it just doesn’t feel right (first round exit). You have another date. You’re starting to worry. Same crap. Then what would be your last date. Again, showing hope. Again she’s smoking (another high seed). You get her home. You get her naked. You’re bangin her but she just lies there. She even asks if you’re done yet. So that’s it. You know it will never be. You break up with her.

But in the end, you do have a bit of the last laugh. As she dates someone new, yes she still looks hot. In fact in the first year after you break up she wins a beauty contest (mvp), but you still get to laugh cause you know they are only going to second base. And she just lays there.

Feel free to discuss.

Fun with numbers

2011-04-11T12:20:00.000-04:00

2010 Giants - August 13-15 7 game losing streak
2009 Yankees From April 24 - May 7 they were 4-9 and lost 5 straight (and they won 103 games)
2008 Phillies - June 12-14 6 game losing streak
2007 Sox - June 12-14 5 game losing streak
2006 Cardinals - they had 3 months w a losing record and lost 8 in a row at one point
2005 White Sox August 12-16 7 game losing streak

So or those ready to write the season off.....

Yankees lose to the worst team in baseball

2011-04-09T08:06:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the Pinstripes rolled into Boston to face off against the lowly Boston Red Sox. Having won an infinite more number of games this year (the Sox haven't won ANY!!!). Let's face it, the Sox were the worst team in baseball. Their pitching was abysmal, and their lineup was far from a powerhouse. Yet, the little engine of the Sox was able to take down the mighty Yankees. The Bombers must have come in a little over-confident. Why else could such a dominant team of All-Stars fall to David? Truly a Cinderella story.

Will the Sox win again this year? Maybe. They do play the Yankees 18 more times.

2011 Predictions continued: AL West

2011-04-07T19:40:00.000-04:00

It's a sad day when the GYSNetwork has more momentum then the Red Sox. Here's to hoping the 0-6 start ends soon and that we can keep up the banter.

Continuing the conversation re: 2011 prediction, here are my thoughts on the AL West. Again, this is based on absolutely minimal research, beer (Sam's Boston Ale), and how I felt the 2010 season went based on my fantasy baseball team. (If nothing else, I am honest).

Texas 88 wins
Oakland 82 wins
LAAAAAAA .500
Ichiro 40 SB

This might be over estimating the A's ability to manufacturer wins. Their pitching will be competitive especially if they can keep up the defense, but I am just not scared of their line up. Am I missing something? I think it's more likely that the team will move to San Jose than they win the AL West (and I mean this beyond 2011). Texas went all the way last year (heh) and they look good again this year. They have arms and bats, oh my!

Manny being Manny Circa 2011

2011-04-06T20:13:00.001-04:00

Ramirez was originally listed in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels, but he has since been scratched, the St. Petersburg Times reports.

Yahoo! sports reports: There doesn't appear to be an injury here, as the Rays seem to simply be giving Ramirez a rest day to regroup after his 1-for-16 start to the season. It's unfortunate because it seems like a good matchup for him; he's 18-for-35 (.514) with three homers and four doubles in his career against Angels starter Dan Haren.

DH Manny Ramirez, off to a 1-for-16 start and booed by the Tropicana Field crowd Tuesday, was not in the lineup Wednesday.

"I want the fans to know he works, this man really works, this man really cares... It's not working for him right now, but he's going to be just fine. We need to let him be himself and let Manny be Manny and go up there and not try to carry us. The last thing I want him to do is feel like he has to carry us."

Impressive, even if Maddon played Manny and he went 0-5, he'd still be batting .450 on Dan Haren. Talk about OWNED.

2011 Predictions continued: AL Central

2011-04-03T21:11:00.000-04:00

Not exactly daily, but I am back! Moving east to west, it's time for the AL Central 2011 predictions. This is based on about 2 minutes of research, a pint of Rogue Chocolate Stout, and a healthy fantasy baseball habit.

While the Tigers have the most pop on paper, I am signing up for the Twins to take it again. Morneau ought to be healthy and as long as Mauer's knees don't explode the Twins have the best all around team (in my opinion). The Sox are going to benefit from Adam Dunn in the line up, and no I am not just saying that because I drafted him for my fantasy team. In the end I see the following:

Twins 85 wins
Tigers 83 wins
Sox .500
Indians may get 70 wins
Royals may not get 70 wins

Is it me or is it a little sad that the Twins will win out with 85 wins and have the benefit of 36+ games against the Indians and Royals?

2011 AL East Predictions

2011-03-31T11:11:00.000-04:00

80 minutes and counting until 2011 kicks off! So I thought it was only fitting that we start the 2011 predictions. I have elected to break it up by league and Division and will try to post 1 new division a day for the next week or so. (In the end it will be a good test to my motivation, especially when we have to look at the NL).

Now for our own backyard. AL East standings at the end of this year (drum roll)

Red Sox 97 wins
Yankees 95 wins
Rays 88 wins
Toronto ~.500
Baltimore ~.500

Essentially, I have to go with the fact that the Red Sox had, on paper, the best off-season. It was a lot of fun to watch the line up last night (last preseason game). Jacoby, Pedroia, Crawford, Gonzalez.... HOLY COW! Per the previous post, if the starters can improve slightly, the offense holds or improves, and the bullpen improves a lot we should be in good shape to take the East. Of course, this is barring the injury bug that crushed us last year.

Per X's point, the Yankees are too rich and have too much talent to discount. That being said, I do think they are vulnerable. They haven't had the injury bug in a while and they have some aging players. In the end, if they stay healthy I think they are a lock for the wildcard.

Tampa Bay will give it a good run, but will fade. Especially, after Manny hits 20 HR in the first half and checks out mentally. Their pitching is good, but young and that might work the first time around. But as hitters in the AL East get more looks they will start to lock in. So I see a pretty significant second half fade.

Toronto will be above average as will Baltimore. I think Baltimore has some up and coming pitchers that will make it interesting. But neither team has the depth to last deep into the season. I can't wait for the huge slump the O's will experience at some point in the second half. Showalter will blow his cool in some completely crazy way.

Sox Starters Unpredictable at Best

2011-03-26T07:59:00.000-04:00

When I look through the Sox starting rotation, I know that I should feel pretty good about the guys they have. Look at the names: Beckett, Lackey, Lester, Buchholz, Matsuzaka. Throw into the equation that spring training starts literally mean nothing, and what are you left with? Gut feeling and that is all.

Having Matsuzaka as your number 5 guy is impressive. Was he good last year? For a number 5, he was fine. You'd like to see more innings from him, but 9-6 with a mid-4's ERA is not terrible. Again...for a number 5. And does last year's performance mean anything this year? Not really. The Sox have made some tweaks in his regimen. Now it is wait and see.

Lester has developed into one of the premiere left-handers in the game. He's the one guy the Sox can hang their hat on.

Buchholz emerged last year as the clear number two in the Sox rotation. But, like Dice-K, he is still an unknown.

The clearest part of this puzzle is that the Sox need more from Beckett. Lackey, despite local criticism, had a typical Lackey year. I think, with his associated price tag and previous playoff hype, Sox fans expected a number 1 when he arrived. But, Beckett's season last year was abysmal by Beckett standards. He hasn't had a great spring training, either. But, as stated above, spring training means nothing. The Sox can't have another year of 6-6 with an ERA near 6 if they expect to make a series run. The need a healthy Beckett.

This rotation could go either way. It has the potential to be the deepest in the majors. It also has the potential to be middle of the pack.

Down the Line - Sox Dcoumentary

2011-03-17T02:01:00.000-04:00

I had read some good stuff about this documentary (now airing in mlb network) about the behind the scenes work of the Fenway Park workers. I was pretty happy to sit down and watch given that baseball season can't come soon enough.

Some pretty good stuff, mostly about how the clubhouse kids work silly hours to basically clean the spikes of the players and unpack their bags when returning from a road trip.

My real problem with the show was the complete fictional timeline the producers create. Granted, I am nitpicking here. The real story is about the dedicated employees who are probably underpaid, overworked,etc. But if the producers are going to pretend that this is a "real" timeline, then make it a real timeline.

The documentary starts with rain coming down and the tagline "2:32:Red Sox due home from West Coast trip any minute."

Then they proceed to tell how the guys work all night to get ready for the game the next day. Cut to Fenway park "the next day." And they show pregame coverage of the game. Batting practice, fans mulling about the Stadium. In the footage, the CF scoreboard clearly shows the date as July 15, 2010 (more on that later). The "game" proceeds. Wake takes his warm ups, their is a rain delay, and the Sox win in the 11th.

All good, except

Returning from a West Coast trip? July 15 was the first game after the All Star break.

July 15 was started by Wake. But the Sox lost.

The Sox did win a game vs TEX on the play they showed (a Youk walk off Sac Fly), but that was July 17. There was even a fan in the pregame coverage carrying a Cliff Lee sign, which makes since as Lee was the pitcher in the Saturday the 17th game.

So why did the producers have to take liberties with the facts? Did they not think people could check this stuff? Silly.

Other than that? Decent stuff.

Oh and why is mlb2K11 showing Longoria as this big time HR hitter? I mean, you had, what 22 HR. Same as JD Drew.

Excited?

2011-03-07T16:21:00.001-05:00

Wow...despite the new additions to the Sox, I just can't seem to muster any excitement, yet, for the upcoming season. I guess one might attribute it to the excitement around the Bruins, or maybe just the success of the Sox in general.

Could it be that rooting for a team like the Bruins reminds one of the 86-year struggle Sox fans went through? Is there more excitement in a team struggling to win rather than one that's recently won?

Or...

Is it the professional demeanor of the Sox?

Or...

Is it the band wagoners that are just enjoying the winning and buying all the tickets making it next to impossible for others to go?

I'll tell you what a big portion of it is for me (and LISTEN up Sox Front Office and NESN). It's the incessant advertising. In between almost every pitch the camera pans Fenway (or other ball park) and a burn appears on the screen. Orsillo or Remy's voice reads the copy. Or...Friday night games...Not only do you get the countless commercials, but you get the booth guests.

It is NOT the speed of the game. If allowed, Remy and Orsillo could lay out strategies and options for the next pitch. The director would not cut 10-12 times in between each pitch (except to maybe show player positioning and pitch calling).

Nope...the Sox have commercialized the game to death. I understand that they need revenue to compete. I guess. I do make the trips to the New York area (family down there), and I'll watch the Yankees or Mets games. Aside from the fact that their announcers aren't very good, you at least don't get killed with non-stop product placement. One can't enjoy the game when one feels they are watching 3 hours of commercials. It isn't cohesive. The game has a flow that NESN and the Sox don't want to get across on television. They are too busy trying to suck pennies from their viewers.

The Bruins games have very little of this. The games keep moving. The announcers provide great play-by-play and thorough analysis. The Sox brass have made big moves to bring back TV viewers by acquiring players. They should look, however, at their over-advertising as the next move. Maybe then, we can start to enjoy the televised games.

Question Marks

2011-02-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of people picking the Sox to do great things this year. Articles spray the net...Do they have the best pitching staff? Is their lineup better than the Yankees? Let's slow it down, boys. Spring training has just started.

Not to sound jaded, but...

Ellsbury is coming of a full year of injuries.
Pedroia's foot is NOT 100 percent, and he will likely miss time this year.
Drew is already hurt and the Boston Globe had an article about him speaking of retirement DURING SPRING TRAINING!
Gonzalez, one of the big studs in the lineup, is coming off shoulder surgery.

Those are four big question marks for the lineup.

For the pitching...
Lackey is basically what we saw last year. Do not expect major improvements. He won't be the top guy in the rotation, AND he might be your number four starter.

Beckett is coming off a terrible year.

Daisuke is Daisuke.

That leaves the non-question marks as Lester and Buchholz.

Don't get me wrong. This team is stacked IF healthy. To me, though, it is too early to be crowning them the AL East champs.

Is Boston Ready To Go?

2010-12-09T11:48:00.000-05:00

Wow...as soon as the money is off the books, the Sox spent it. Good for them. Let's face it, the Yankees (despite losing to Texas in the playoffs) still have a hell of a team. Add to it the fact that the Rays are stacked, and the Sox had to do something to remain relevant in the AL East.

The offensive side of the ball is pretty much set for the Sox. Projected lineup:

Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Crawford LF
Youk 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Ortiz DH
Drew RF
Scutaro SS
Saltalamacchia C

Despite being HEAVILY left-handed, this is a very potent and YOUNG lineup. You have two guys with 50+ stolen base capability, and three legit sluggers.

Now to the pitching. The starting rotation was supposed to be a strength for this team last year, but basically failed on most accounts. I am still wary of this rotation despite the names.

Beckett
Lackey
Lester
Buchholz
Matsuzaka

Beckett and Lackey last year were not dependable. Beckett started 21 games going 6-6 with a 5.78 ERA and gave up 151 hits in 127 and 2/3 innings. Lackey was durable throwing the most innings by any starter. He was 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA. Maybe the expectations were too high for him going into last season. But he was considered the 1 or 2 in the rotation originally. He was number 3 at best. At $17MM, is it not fair to expect more?

Lester and Buchholz were brilliant. Lester threw 208 innings, posted a 19-9 record with 225Ks, and a 3.25 ERA. Buchholz was 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA in just over 175 innings. Similar years are expected from both.

Matsuzaka was not great, but he is a number 5 starter that would be a 3 or 4 on most other teams, so it is difficult to complain about him in the larger picture.

Your rotation should lineup:

Lester
Buchholz
Lackey
Beckett
Matsuzaka

However, there is no way that Francona makes Beckett the number 4. Not that it matters much once you get past that first part of the season.

There is no bullpen to speak of at the moment. Bard should only improve over his very good year as a setup man. Papelbon better come in prepared this year or he'll lose that coveted closer spot to Bard. He blew 8 saves last year, and the clean innings were few if any. Maybe the competition will be good for him. Maybe not. Another proven setup man would be the way to go for the Sox making Wakefield and a Michael Bowden type the long men in the pen.

The lineup? Great
Starting Pitching? Good
Bullpen? Problematic

It Ain't Over Til...wait, it is over

2010-08-30T16:26:00.000-04:00

Last night's loss to the Rays pretty much ended the run for the 2010 Boston Red Sox. What is left to say except that they fared better than I initially thought?

This is a team that truly was not built for the playoffs. Unfortunately, many got caught up in chasing an expensive, yet underbuilt team. I know I'll take some criticism for this, but it is true. Don't think so?

How many thought Beltre would have this year? Not many. If you thought the front office did, you're crazy. They were looking for a one year guy to get them through.

How many thought Bill Hall would have the numbers? Not many.

Granted injuries have played a major role, but I still contend that this team was not a contender. Here's the early lineup:

Ellsbury
Pedroia
V-Mart
Youk
Ortiz
Beltre
Drew
Scutaro
Cameron

Bounce the last two all over the lineup if you like. The fact of the matter is that Beltre was predicted to be this good. Ortiz has far exceeded expectations. They got LUCKY.

The bullpen has been a mess since day one.

The strength was to be starting pitching.

Beckett
Lester
Lackey
Daisuke
Buchholz

That IS a hell of a rotation. But let's consider that NO ONE was sure about Daisuke and Buchholz and the strength was in the top three. Lester is the only one worthy out of three of any praise.

Still, no one will argue (even when the Sox team is fully healthy) that the Yankees lineup is not far superior. Then go through the rotations. Then go through the bullpens.

Then take the Rays. Go through their lineup. Go through their rotation. Go through their pen.

This Sox team just isn't good enough. Even healthy, I would put forth that they would be in a similar position. Take the paper and pen away for a second and LOOK at the games against the "upper crust". The Sox look outclassed.

So what is the plan going forward....Let's discuss.

Happy New Year

2010-01-20T14:40:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year GYS! I couldn't help but share this AWESOME painting by Veron Wells Jr. Yes, he is related to Veron Wells III who plays CF for the Toronto BJs. Thanks to Jeff Passan's informative summary of Toronto's off-season moves, I am a much happier man.

Not Just a Lackey, but no Halladay

2009-12-15T08:38:00.000-05:00

Maybe Roy wasn't available to the Sox. Maybe Bay said privately to Theo that there was no way he would come back to Boston. Maybe we'll never know exactly the reasoning behind all these things. But what we should know as Sox fans is that with these types of moves, you are getting less than you are led to believe.

I've heard the Boston spin that Lackey has post-season experience and that he has 500-less innings on his arm than Halladay. Let's face it, though. He ain't Halladay. I don't even think he's Sabathia or Beckett.

The Sox will reportedly be paying $17MM/year for a guy who will fit into the top 3 in your rotation, but isn't an ace. Will the Sox be formidable with Beckett, Lester, and Lackey? Absolutely. There will probably not be many extended losing streaks. And the Sox might be banking on the "just get to the playoffs" where pitching wins scenario. Would those three in the playoffs be difficult? Again, absolutely.

However, (and I am not falling back into the pre-2004 mind frame here, just reality), there is a team in the Bronx through which other teams must go. I hate to say it but Sabathia is better than any of the Sox top pitchers (Lackey included). Burnett proved he is a strong post-season guy. And Pettitte is ridiculous (and mostly untouchable) in the post-season. Add to this the Yankees lineup, and the Sox are up against it before they start.

This is compounded by their current roster. They've agreed to a contract with Cameron, which pretty much rules out Bay. In Cameron, they've acquired a veteran who is on the wrong side of 35. So here's the projected lineup:

Ellsbury
Pedroia
Papi
Youk
Martinez
Drew
Cameron
Lowell
Scutaro

While on paper it isn't bad, there are lots of questions marks and an astounding lack of run producers (especially for the last 4 names in the lineup). It is clear the Sox are focusing on strong pitching and defense, a philosophy that did not work out well for them in the past. In the AL you need pitching, defense, AND offense.

They, of course, might be moving Lowell (if he passes his physical). They aren't getting a guy that will help this year. My overall feeling is that they signed Lackey for beyond this year, not necessarily to make the big splash. By losing Bay and signing Lackey, I feel like the Sox will be as competitive as last year. They will be competitive against good pitching as they'll be able to matchup well up and down the rotation. However, they won't score (much like last year) against good pitching.

Most writers are saying "maybe this isn't a bridge year after all". I disagree.

Granderson to Yanks

2009-12-09T12:19:00.000-05:00

It might be just me, but this one just makes me yawn? If Granderson takes Damon's place, frankly, that is a downgrade. Not to mention that Granderson can't hit lefties and has been in a steep two year decline. Okay, so he *might* bounce back playing in that tiny ball park. But he might not. We know what Damon could/did do. so for now, they have downgraded.

That being said, my gut tells me they aren't done. Melky, well, he kind of sucks. So they probably will sign Bay or Holliday and dump Melky for some middle reliever. And they will do it after one of Bay or Holliday has signed somewhere else, leaving the Sox no option and fueling the end of the world discussions in Boston, WEEI, etc.

Put another log on the hot stove Theo. Its about to get real chilly in Boston.

Scutaro. Done deal.

2009-12-04T00:46:00.000-05:00

So it looks like I was dead wrong on this one. MLB.com is reporting its official. A two year deal, no financial terms reported yet. It will probably be out there by the time you East Coast guys are up, but nothing now. Two years is better than three. And they supposedly are really high on this 19 year old Dominican kid they signed (Iglesias) and think he could be ready in two years. So I guess it fits. Plus, he can play some other positions in case of injury or the emergence of Lowrie as a stud, Scutaro could then be a super sub. I'm surprised that this one happened so quickly.

I don't love signing a guy off a career year. That said, I don't think the difference between the Sox being good and the Sox being great next year, will come down to who is playing SS and batting 8th or 9th. They need offensive consistency. And need better production in the 3-4 spot in the rotation, whether its Dice-K, Bucholz or getting Halladay or maybe even a guy like Randy Wolf (if they move Clay to get a bat.)

Bay Rejects Offer

2009-11-19T13:52:00.001-05:00

As could be expected, with the free agency market about to open, Bay rejected the first offer from the Sox. After the numbers he put up this year, how could he accept the first offer? This is his pay day.

The NY Mets, according to numerous web sites and reports, are ready to make Bay their number one off-season priority. It would be easy to say that this interest in agent driven (a la Boras) to get the Sox to up their offer. However, Bay may be the biggest bat available this off-season.

I know it sounds crazy, but I don't see the Sox getting into a bidding war with anyone over Bay. They will set a price for him and then see if he will accept. If not, then on to plan B.

In this case, I believe plan B will actually be plan A (which is getting Gonzalez from San Diego). Since missing on Texeira, and seeing his value (even at over what the Sox offered him), it would seem this is on player for whom the Sox would readily "overpay".

Either way, the free agency door opens at midnight tonight.

What Next for the Sox?

2009-11-06T10:23:00.001-05:00

The very rich Yankees have won the World Series. A friend of mine, a Yankees fan, wrote "I wonder what Theo Epstein is thinking?". This, in turn, got me thinking. Theo is probably thinking that if he had $75-$80MM dollars more that he could have had Sabathia and Texeira...and another rolling rally through Boston.

However, he doesn't. What he does have is a team with aged veterans and lots of questions.

Let's get the easiest area out of the way first:

Many will feel comfortable entering the season with Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, Matsuzaka and Wakefield as the 1-5. They have depth at Pawtucket. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing them add John Lackey (who is available). Their inconsistent offense would be carried by a front three of Beckett, Lester, and Lackey. I don't care about an overload of pitching. The Sox should not be comfortable rounding out their rotation with Buchholz (who may or may not develop), Wakefield (who misses longer periods of time each year), and Daisuke (no one can say for sure that he is going back to 18 wins).

The pen should good enough to start the season with Bard getting a full season's shot as the eighth-inning guy and Papelbon still closing games. The Sox should pick up the option on Wagner. He was very effective as a power lefty out of the pen, and can be used in many save opportunities giving Papelbon some rest.

At the catching position you have Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek. Tek did not play at all in the playoffs which means that the Sox are looking to Martinez as the primary catcher. But Martinez is not going to catch every game next year. Will Tek be happy with this as a backup? He'll get his time behind the plate, but probably 60 games at the most. However, behind the plate appearances for Varitek would increase if Lowell continues to be hampered by his injuries. Youk slides to third, Martinez plays first, Tek catches.

Bay entered the free agent pool today. That's a problem. Damon is probably not getting re-upped by the Yankees, and Bay could be wearing pinstripes in a month or two. Bay is probably the best bat available on the free agent market. The Yankees proved beyond a doubt last year that they will throw tons of money around (amounts with which no one could compete...by the way, the Yankees spent $97MM more than the Phillies on payroll this year. In their 2008 championship season, the Phillies spent just under $98MM. To demonstrate the gap in the two WS teams this year, that would be like the Rays spending $1.5MM for their total salary last year against the Phillies).

If Damon doesn't resign with the Yankees, is there a chance he returns to Fenway in LF? A two-year contract might get it done.

Gonzales is gone. The Sox love Lowrie, but he might be damaged goods at this point. He is too injury prone to count on as the everyday guy as SS. Marco Scutaro is available, and the Sox should target him.

Youk and Pedroia are fine at first and second. Drew and Ellsbury in RF and CF, respectively, should be ok. There lineup still lacks punch and consistency with Tek, Lowell, and Lowrie.

Ellsbury
Pedroia
Martinez
Youkilis
Ortiz
Drew
Lowell
Lowrie

These are your everyday guys. Matt Holliday is available. If they aren't going after Bay, they better get Holliday. Abreu resigned today, so he is off the market.

Chone Figgins is also a free agent, and a multi-position guy. Primarily a 3b, but flexible. You start to get a NL feel to this team with Figgins and Ellsbury at the top. Is that a bad thing?

What I am hoping the Sox do NOT do is follow their current trend of retreads (see Penny, Smoltz, Baldelli). Texeira to the Yankees is a division changer for years to come. Without Bay, there isn't a difference maker on the Sox. And despite Bay's numbers, he didn't "feel" like a difference maker.

All the other teams in the East have holes. Tampa couldn't hold on to Kazmir, they have to try to get a deal done with Crawford (which means they probably won't be huge players in the FA market this offseason). Toronto isn't getting better. Baltimore is a mess. But this doesn't guarantee a post-season birth for the Sox. Out west, the Rangers will be very good again this year, and the Angels are poised for another strong season. The Sox cannot expect that 95 wins gets them in. Too many other teams will be in the Wild Card running. They need to change enough where they can make a run at the division.

So, what do they do? That is the question...

Finally a player whose name I won't mess up

2009-11-06T09:20:00.000-05:00

Jeremy Hermedia joins the Sox.

Out classed

2009-06-29T09:23:00.001-04:00

If I may indulge a brief tangent. Ok, I don't even need to ask, who am I kidding.

So Team USA almost completed the Cinderella story. A light touch from Dempsey on a great serve from Proctor put the world cup giants on their heals. Then, about 20 minutes later a wonderful orchestrated counter-attack was deftly and coolly finished off by Landon. It appeared for a moment that Team US was about to pull off the most unbelievable comeback in international tournament play.

But that is when the Brazilian gods woke up, disgusted by the potential embarrassment of losing to the filthy Americans, asked their lovely assistant (pictured here) to step aside and put on a soccer clinic in the second half. There is a word from the 80's that describes what happened to Team USA, "SCHOOLED".

In a way, I prefer these results. Let's hope this loss smarts enough to create a real fire in the belly for Team USA. Then we might stand a chance to get to the quarter finals of 2010 world cup.

The Simpsons!

2009-06-24T09:11:00.001-04:00

WTF?!

O Raul, Raul, wherefore art thou Raul?

2009-06-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

Interesting blogpost on former GYS star Raul Ibanez. I miss his quiet production. Even in an AL-only-no-Yankees league Raul always seemed to be easy to over look. Yet, he has been incredibly consistent for the past 3 years and is currently bursting into flames. Which led to speculation he is on 'roids.

In my opinion, even if Raul started using Steroids in the off-season (which would help explain his current production), I really doubt that he would have had enough time to allow for such significant changes to his physicality. In other words, answering the question, how do steroids help you hit homers is vital to any speculative argument about a player using 'roids. In this case, I would argue that the only benefit that Raul might gain from 'roiding is the healing affect. It would allow him to recover more quickly than his 37 year old body would otherwise permit. Sure this would allow him to feel better and to react better to fastballs, but it's not going to mean he can hit the ball further. I think more evidence is coming to light that steroids actually don't benefit a player's performance all that much. So when does all the speculation end?

Manny less Dodgers slip from MLB lead

2009-05-13T13:05:00.001-04:00

With or without Manny in the line up, I don't think anyone predicted that May 12th would mark the day that the Dodgers finally slipped from the MLB lead for best record. On top of that, no one would have predicted that the Toronto Blue Jays would be the team to take over the lead. This must be Bizzaro world.

The Sox are keeping pace with the hot team from up North, despite having both Youkalis and now Pedroia out of the line up. Captain Tek came through last night in the clutch with a big double. I admire the fact that the Sox are built to win, regardless of who is in or out. It's a thing of beauty!

That was closer than it looked

2009-05-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

It appears that the Rays have our number. In 7 games this year the Red Sox are 2-5 against the Rays. Yesterday's game was well within reach. Penny did as well as we could ask for and yet the stars did not align. Hopefully, we can turn things around next weekend and at least take the series. That would leave us at 4-6 or 5-5 with a sweep. Regardless, the best news is that we're more than half over with the Rays and it's only the first full week of May.

This of course, is ignoring the big news on everyone's calendar: Red Sox in the new Yankee Stadium. Did you hear that Terry had to pony up the $2,000+ to get his family seats. (Ok, I am just trying to spread a nasty rumor). It should make for good Monday night tv.

Finally, a word about Jerry. Buck Martinez was a pleasure to listen to all weekend. I am sure he makes as many mistakes as other announcers, but quite frankly I enjoyed his more serious approach when compared to Remy and his air-guitar (although that was frickin' hilarious). No news on Remy's return, yet. I am wondering what his illness was that took him out in Spring Training and this past weekend. Could it be, showing up drunk to the booth?! (Ok, more nasty rumors)

Javier Lopez is not good in RF

2009-05-01T09:38:00.000-04:00

That's right. Things got so bad for the Sox last night that after giving up 2 2-run doubles, Lopez was moved to RF so Van Every could close out the 8th.

Enough said.

Van Every Day!

2009-04-30T08:30:00.000-04:00

Well, that was fun. Nice to see another prospect contribute, albeit a little randomly. I was not thrilled to see Baily and Van Every in the line up so soon. But I do understand that we got to get the boys some rest now and again. All in all, it was still a pretty good game to watch and of course it doesn't hurt that we won the rubber match. Lester's performance wasn't stellar, but he seemed to settled down after the 4th (5 of the 7 hits were in the first 2 innings). Another good sign was 4 more scoreless innings from the bullpen. Our guys might not be as dominate as before (seem to walk a lot more guys) but we're not giving up runs.

Tonight should be interesting: Beckett v. Garza in the Tropicana Dome. It's a 4 game set against Garza, Sonnanstine (v. Masterson), Niemann (v. Wake), and Shields (v. Penny). Naturally, I'd love to kick the Rays while they're down, but we just don't seem to match up against them like we used to. I'll be happy splitting the series.

Lugo's Revenge?

2009-04-29T10:08:00.000-04:00

Last night, I couldn't help but think to myself the guys on WEEI are going to chew up Lugo tomorrow for dropping that play at second. They actually went pretty easy on him, but I think it is safe to say there is a small pit in RSN's stomach this morning ("This is our everyday SS?!")

In other news, how about Hunter Jones! I know it's only 4 IP, but 1 hit and no BBs against the mashing Orioles, Yankees and Indians.

That's more like it!

2009-04-20T15:30:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a good dose of Orioles baseball to turn that frown upside down. It appears Grieves is still alive and well (still no word from the other GYSers).

Looking ahead, this week we have the Twins and Yankees. After the Yankees had to pull their Wang out early, I doubt they'll serve him up to the Sox on Friday. Still they have a pretty potent line up.

(Man this was a lame post), but I am committed to getting this blog back on track!

Slow start to the season

2009-04-13T10:24:00.000-04:00

I am not talking about the Red Sox. I am talking about GYS chatter. Is it over? The guilded-age of blog-dome?

Post a comment if you're even checking the blog. I don't mind carrying some of the weight if you guys don't mind reading my crap.

Notables from the first week in 2009 baseball:

Jair Jurjens is 2-0!!!
J.D. Drew looks silly against lefties (oh wait that's old news)
Sabathia found his stride against the Royals (can you really say that?)
Blue Jays are cruising!
And finally, who the hell is Nick Green?!

Awakened from my slumber...

2009-01-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

...by the newest member of the Red Sox organization, named "Randor Bierd". Randor! Man, his name sounds like a typo. Or one of our backwards-pronounced names. In any case, 12eight seems to be sadly out of commission, but I think our new friend Randor (dude's name is Randor!) is an immediate contender for the next Arquimedez Pozo Award.

...P.S. Randor!

Is this thing on?

2009-01-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

I fear that my colleagues-de-blog have all become distracted by such lowly priorities as family!

Left here by the hot stove all alone I carry on the torch. What I would do for a crazy comment from Peter or maybe an insightful comment from Andrew.

Now that I am done feeling sorry for myself, let's get to business. A lot has happened since my last post.

1. Eliza Dushku is coming to Boston... I mean Brad Penny is coming to Boston and hopefully Faith will attend some of her beau's games (seeing that it is her home town)
2. The return of the Bard, Josh Bard
3. Rocco is coming home - what a great way to cap a troubled career especially if his mitochondria are fully functioning
4. John Smoltz?! Now we're talking!!!

Is it hot stove season already?!

2008-11-06T08:35:00.000-05:00

Is it me, or do the hot stove conversations keep moving up each year? MLBrumors.com has all the action of the AIG bailout retreat, I mean GM retreat at Dana Point.

It sounds hot and heavy.

It really looks like the Yankees will be a new team next year and the only news the Sox have managed is to sign boy-genius.

Phillies on a roll and my new favorite name in sports

2008-10-27T09:56:00.001-04:00

The Phillies are sort of my NL team, so I have to admit I am a little happy to see them winning. The unfortunate thing is that it isn't so much that the Phillies are winning as the Rays are losing. That being said, the first 5 innings last night were masterful for Blanton. It seemed fitting for him to go yard.

It's not over. If the Rays can get hot tonight they might pull a Red Sox roll.

Also, from the Pat's game this weekend. Who is this man? Nobody knows!!! He is always incognito.

Congrats to the Rays

2008-10-19T23:41:00.000-04:00

Well, that elimination record's now 16-4. Sucks. But: it was fun while it lasted. Games 5-6 reminded us what a good team the Sox are, and therefore what a good team the Rays are. I'll be rooting for them in the Series.

F.... TBS

2008-10-18T20:28:00.001-04:00

Wow...technical difficulties from TBS have made me miss almost the whole first inning. I hope that they never get to carry a game again. Ridiculous.

Upton already with a home run. Crap...

holy...

2008-10-17T05:03:00.000-04:00

Since 1999, Sox are 15-3 when facing elimination in the postseason. Pretty exciting team.

1999: won 3 from the Indians (3-1)
2003: won 3 from from A's, 1 from the Yankees (7-2)
2004: won 4 from the Yankees (11-2)
2005: *cough* (11-3)
2007: won 3 from the Indians (14-3)
2008: beat the Devil Rays (15-3)

Let's make it 17-3.

Game 2

2008-10-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

Anyone online? I'm in China, "watching" it on Yahoo Gamechannel. (Last year at this time I was watching the ALCS from Finland.)

Holy crap, Pedroia with a HR. 4-5 Rays. Not quite the pitcher's duel of yesterday...

I Like Baseball

2008-10-07T12:04:00.000-04:00

Seriously, Earl, were you at the game last night? The sign "I Like Baseball" just smacked of something you would bring to a game. Kind of like when you yell "Hey!" way off-time...

That being said, my comment in our last post was "almost" spot on...Last night had me greatly worried. Lester was way better than I thought he'd be, and he is clearly an ace. Lackey was great, too. When it went to the bullpens and I saw how Shields was throwing, I thought it was going to Game 5.

Now it is on to Tampa. The Sox haven't played well all year, but that doesn't count now. The Angels owned the Sox this year. How'd that work out? However, the Rays went with 4 starters in a 5-game series, and they all pitched well. Kazmir, Garza, Sonnanstine (sp?), and Shields. The Sox had two great starts from Lester, one decent start from Daisuke, one not so great start from Beckett. I am guessing that Wake is the fourth starter with the series having a minimum of two dome games.

The Sox faced very good starting pitching in the Angels series, and didn't produce a lot of runs. That was to be expected. They ground out at-bats, and took advantage of opportunities (capitalized on mistakes). They also coughed up two leads, and clearly stayed away from members of their pen as much as possible. Francona's managing was outstanding.

The Rays looked fantastic against the White Sox. They didn't show jitters. Solid starting pitching, solid pen. An aggressive offense, and athletic defense. When they beat the White Sox, they weren't jubilant, young players. They looked like they had no doubt that they belonged.

I can't help but think Rays in 6. The Sox are the underdog. At least in my mind.

Booo

2008-09-29T11:55:00.000-04:00

Man, we all suck. An incredible last month and we've barely logged on to this site. Some random thoughts on the last few days, in no order:

- That trade for CC looks pretty good now, I guess.

- And he's the favorite for the Cy. I'm sure it'll be over all the papers (maybe it is already), but how often has a Cy Young/MVP winner switched leagues midseason?

- I just can't get worked up about coming in second to the Rays. It's a pretty exciting turnaround for the franchise. If the Sox lose in the playoffs, I'm going to have no trouble rooting for the Rays the rest of the way.

- On that topic, I cannot believe that changing their name actually worked. Stuff like that never works.

- Also: I love that they have no idea who should throw out the first pitch. I think I speak for all of us when I say: Ben Grieve!

- There's plenty of stuff not to like about the Mets (their hoarding of Big Free Agents; their firing of Randolph; 1986), but they've grown on me the last few years, given their fanbase - plenty of them stayed loyal throughout the entire Yankee dynasty. So this second collapse in a row has to hurt - my heart's out to Mets fans.

- Go Tigers.

Random items in the news today

2008-09-02T14:26:00.000-04:00

Lee is the first 20 game winner Did anybody see that coming?

Koby Clemens arrested Did anybody see that coming?!

Drew and Beltre each hit for the cycle! Which is more statistically relevant: Beltre hit for the cycle or the Mariners won a game?

Frenchy

2008-09-01T17:00:00.000-04:00

Gagne strikes again.

ROY Part II

2008-08-28T09:19:00.001-04:00

*The three runs Pedroia scored gave him 101 for the season, leaving him two shy of matching Bobby Doerr's 103 in 1950 for the most by a Sox second baseman.

This kid is amazing....

Best Manny article ever written

2008-08-14T13:29:00.001-04:00

Over here, of course.

It's about time

2008-08-13T08:47:00.001-04:00

We haven't gotten any headline-friendly free agents or trades for a long time. Finally...

Paul Byrd Flies in at right time - Boston Herald
Byrd flies from Cleveland to Boston - MLB.com
Byrd is the Word - Masslive.com
Byrd is the Word - Surviving Grady
Byrd lands at Fenway - South Coast Today (MA)
Boston is Byrdland now - MVN
Bye, bye Byrdie - Chronicle-Telegram (OH)
Byrd in hand worth player to be named - Tucson Citizen
Byrd's In Hand - YFSF

(See similar lists after signing J. T. Snow, Coco Crisp, and Hee Sop Choi.)

Jeff Passan - clearly the second team now

2008-08-04T01:54:00.000-04:00

I guess this is kind of like in the winter of 2005-6 when the Yankees kept saying all off season how they were happy to have Bubba Crosby as their CF. And then the Yankess swept in and signed Damon.

Well Passan must feel like Bubba right now. Gordon Edes is headint to Yahoo! as their national baseball writer. A huge step up if you ask me.

Bay

2008-07-31T17:04:00.001-04:00

I saw him hit two homers a couple weeks ago.

Besides that, wow. No more Manny. Tons of mixed feelings, but: thanks for 2004 and 2007. Good luck in LA...

A-Rod and I-Rod

2008-07-30T22:01:00.000-04:00

Have to say I never saw this coming. Looks like he didn't either.

Things to keep in mind when booing him: (1) he won the 1999 MVP instead of Pedro, (2) several former Rangers (Canseco, Palmeiro, JuanGone) have accused him of steroid use.

Holy crap, who'd have thought Boston may finish the season in third?)

Let's see if my no hitter jinx still works

2008-07-29T20:21:00.001-04:00

lackey through five.

Manny Being Manny Part 33 and 1/2

2008-07-28T09:43:00.000-04:00

It is a beautiful day in Boston. We survived the monsoon season and avoided a sweep by our AL East rivals.

Also, Manny has officially gotten out of his system. We all know he needs to have his temper tantrum every other year. Now that it's done, he's ready to go back to playing.

Money quote

2008-07-24T19:31:00.000-04:00

Rob Neyer on George Brett:

"Most baseball players get married young, then likely spend most (all?) of their careers fooling around on the road. Not George Brett. He fooled around on the road for most of his career … but he was a bachelor. He didn't marry until late in his career, and he married a beautiful woman quite a few years younger than him; they're still together."

GYSN's favorite Royals fan

2008-07-23T06:37:00.001-04:00

Something Jeff Passan recently wrote got torn to shreds (deservedly) by Fire Joe Morgan. Basically he (accidentally) said the Royals or Indians would win the AL Central. When confronted with his error, he didn't get defensive, and instead immediately fessed up and issued a correction. Well done Jeff.

We are worth $5,000 (see below)

2008-07-20T23:57:00.001-04:00

Sweet.

On the topic of stadia...

2008-07-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

...apparently Yankee Stadium stinks.

Remembering Shea: A Sunday evening with Baseball Tonight

2008-07-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

I felt like storing up on some real baseball before the circus comes to town. So I lowered my standards and decided to listen to Joe Morgan for the evening. This week's feature game is the Rockies vs. the Mets. So naturally, the subject of a new Shea stadium came up. This is the second time I've heard the news today. I had not know previously that they were building a new Shea. I started to wonder and it turns out the Mets are entirely local news. According to google the new Shea story didn't get much reach, especially when compared to the mega-story of the New Yankee Stadium.

Anyway, here are some notable Shea Stadium moments, courtesy of the Baseball Tonight crew on ESPN. Oh, by the way that's the New stadium as seen from the current Shea.

Beatles Perform in 1965 &1966

Jets beat Raiders in AFL Championship 1968

Mets win World Series 1969 & 1986

Pope John Paul II 1979

Burgh

2008-07-13T12:45:00.000-04:00

So I'm in Pittsburgh for a couple weeks, and last night I made it to PNC Park. Upper deck, behind home plate. Basically, everything I've heard about this park is true - it's a fantastic place to catch a baseball game, and the view is probably the best in baseball.

The game itself was...pretty good too. Starting pitcher was a AA callup, and was giving up runs pretty much constantly. By the 7th the Pirates were down by six. But then they tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, scoring 3 off Isringhausen. The crowd quickly shut up as Glaus got a go-ahead HR it the top on the 10th, but Jason Michaels (weren't the Sox looking at him some years ago?) got a two-run HR in the bottom of the 10th to win it. Pretty wild - I've never been so excited about a game I couldn't care less about.

It's official: the Pirates are now my NL team. Fifteen years of losing seasons gives you som,ething to root for.

Random notes:
- Both the Cards and the Bucs bat their pitchers eighth. Someone explained to me that La Russa does it because Pujols gets a tiny bit more at-bats (2.84 vs 2.83) by having three real hitters in front of him. That makes no sense to me since La Russa hates numbers; but also, why not just bat Pujols fourth?
- La Russa had his pitcher bat in the top of the 10th rather than use a PH. But then in the bottom of the 10th he took out the same pitcher after one batter. Now, I know nothing about NL baseball, but that seems completely, utterly stupid to me.

What a dushbag

2008-07-05T11:36:00.000-04:00

Okay, so the A-Rod/Madonna/Lenny Kravitz thing is pretty awesome. But this is way, way, WAY awesomer. (Baseball sideshows sure are fun when they involve non-Boston teams!!!)

Update on CC

2008-07-03T20:59:00.001-04:00

Revisiting a previous post. Apparently, my prediction of C.C. coming to Boston was just WRONG.

Imagine that... IBID's prediction wrong?! Like that ever happens.

Desperate for pitching

2008-06-28T17:35:00.000-04:00

The Yanks should sign Chacon. Lord knows they need the help. And A-Rod could use the company of another known choker.

Schilling end of an era?

2008-06-20T22:38:00.000-04:00

Curtis Montague wasted no time announcing his end-game for his career. But in my mind, we ever there is loss there is opportunity.

how soon do we start talking about C.C. coming to Boston?

Celtics

2008-06-18T04:25:00.000-04:00

So as you know I'm of two minds about Boston's ridiculous sports dominance as of late, but this is pretty damn funny:

Boston: our sports teams are so good that 18-1 football teams are considered historic failures.

A question, which I'm sure will be in tomorrow's papers: has a city ever done so well in sports in a single year? (The Revs made the finals as well.) Pittsburgh had a nice run in the late 70's, but that was "only" in 2 sports...

End of an era, part II

2008-06-17T08:37:00.000-04:00

Mets finally fired Willie Randolph. It's wild that a year ago they were the best team in baseball, and essentially suck now. Even wilder that he lasted three years. Check out our post (and comments) from Pedro's first Spring Training Start in 2005: Mets = Disaster Waiting To Happen. (The followup post is pretty good too.)

[Dudes: this website is dying.]

End of an era

2008-06-03T02:15:00.001-04:00

Sad to report Hazel Mae is leaving NESN. This could single handily result in traffic to this site dropping 50% or more.

So for old times sake (or maybe new times sake when she shows up in a new city and users want to see more of Hazel Mae..... "Hazel Mae Naked"

At one time Earl had the links for all the Hazel Mae Boobs search results, including one that I will always remember "Boobs of Hazel Mae." I think we still do well enough on Google to be on the first page for these searches.

Sorry to anyone late to the party.

Oh yeah, and "Jeff Passan sucks". Still.

Great rant

2008-05-27T21:36:00.001-04:00

"But … this is Derek Jeter. And so, well, you know what’s coming. The Yankees radio crew — and these are good folk, hard workers, they’re just lost in the Jeter flood like so many — basically sang Hosanas to Derek Jeter for getting caught in a rundown. I’m not kidding here. They went on for five minutes about how the Captain willed those runners to second and third. They kept talking about how not only did Jeter stay in the rundown but he WAVED THOSE OTHER RUNNERS to the bag while he was doing it. Imagine. I was sitting there in the car absolutely stunned. This was Jeterating on a whole new level."

The whole thing is worth a read.

It's streaky...it's streaky streaky streaky streaky

2008-05-26T15:11:00.000-04:00

April 12-15: 4 wins in row
April 17-21: 6 wins in a row
April 23-27: 5 losses in a row
May 2-6: 5 wins in a row
May 11-14: 4 losses in a row
May 17-22: 7 wins in a row
May 23-present: 3 losses in a row

This team gives me a headache. Four days ago I was psyched they were the best team in baseball, today I'm worried about losing the division to the freaking Rays.

Also, where is everyone?

This is too weird

2008-05-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

On a whim I googled "Nartleb Solrac". Not sure why - I guess "I'm a soul man" has been stuck in my head all day. Anyway, the first hit was us. But the second was this. I can't for the life of me think of why anyone would make such a Google feature. But damn: they've thought of everything.

Play of the year

2008-05-14T19:45:00.000-04:00

HOLYCRAPTHISISTHEBESTTHINGIHAVEEVERSEEN

Asdrubal!

2008-05-13T10:38:00.000-04:00

Last night Asdrubal Cabrera turned an unassisted triple play, the 14th in (modern) baseball history. The list of all 14 can be found here. I know almost nothing about unassisted triple plays, except that my friend Mike was at Fenway when John Valentin turned his...but missed it (he was getting beer). A couple notes:

- 13 of them are the same - caught line drive, tagged runner from 1st, and touched 2nd (with the last two in either order). But in 1920 George Burns (a 1B) tagged the runner just of 1st, and then ran to second base for the third out. I guess the runner fell, or didn't realize the ball was caught?

- Six UTPs were turned in the 1920's...and then there was a 55-year span in which only one was turned (1968). But then two were turned in the 90's, and so far there have been four in the current decade. Any idea what caused this? Are double steals getting more popular? Are players getting worse at baserunning/hit-and-running?

- the previous Indian to turn a UTP was someone named Bill Wambsganss. That's a lot of consonants.

Sad headline of the day

2008-05-12T08:15:00.000-04:00

Related to our ongoing discussion of "Tampa Bay's best season yet":

Win puts Rays five games over .500 for 1st time in team history

Um...congratulations?

Tim Wakefield, Carl Everett, Bob Tewksbury, Mike Lowell, and...

2008-05-06T09:34:00.000-04:00

So there's usually no point in linking to Deadspin, since everyone goes there anyway, but just in case, this Freddie Lynn interview is pretty much a must-read.

(Also: am I missing anyone from the title of this post?)

Slumpbusters

2008-05-05T08:10:00.001-04:00

Sox scored 26 runs in three games against the Rays. Compare that to their previous five games, where they scored...four.

JoS lists the MLB stadiums (stadia?) he's been to. I'm not sure I've ever counted mine. In order, they are Memorial Stadium (1982), Arlington Stadium (1984?), Veterans Stadium (1986), Fenway (1993), Yankee Stadium (1998), Dodger Stadium (1997), Wrigley (1997), New Comiskey Park (1999), Camden Yards (2001), Safeco Field (2002), Shea Stadium (2003), the Big A (2003). Only 12, which is pretty pathetic - given where I've lived, not sure how I've missed Toronto, or the SF/SD parks. Of those 12, only 9 are still in use - and soon that number will be down to 7.

It took this to get me back....

2008-05-04T16:49:00.000-04:00

During the Sox-Rays broadcast Friday night, the trivia question was "What four Rookie of the Years have played for the Rays franchise?"

Well, I did not stick around for the answer, but I knew without hesitation that Ben Grieve was one of them. Canseco and now Hinske are the two others, but how great for Grieve. I wonder how his wedding was?

On another notes - Dino you (of all people!!!!) totally missed on the whole being out of the batters box - that is what sent Carl Everett to the moon (figuratively, not literally since we know thanks to Carl that man has never been to the moon) on his Ron Kulpa head butt rant. Dino, Dino, Dino.

Mike Lowell: Thinking Outside of the Box

2008-05-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

Daisy and I had seats in the State Street Pavillion Thursday night. We got there early to catch some of batting practice and to treat ourselves to $17 hamburgers on top of Yawkey way. All said and done we both felt that it was a good experience but that we would prefer sitting amongst the true fans. Not sure why, but the vibe just wasn't happening up top. The fans weren't that into the game. To their defense it was a lame game. Still the energy that we've become accustomed to wasn't present and it took away from the enjoyment of the game. That being said, it was an interesting angle to watch the batters box. Clearly, Lowell is thinking outside of the box when he read the rule, your foot must be touching the line of the batters box. Way to go Lowell! Earl, can you run a quick calculation to determine how much extra time this gives a batter assuming a 90 mph fastball?

Please to hit the ball

2008-05-01T08:03:00.000-04:00

Sox pitchers have given up just 6 runs in the last 4 games, which is amazing. Problem is, Sox hitters have scored only 4 in that same stretch. So it's actually pretty lucky they're 2-2. I can't remember a time pitching has been this hot and hitting has been this cold, for so long. Starters have gone 30 IP, with an ERA of 0.9 and and WHIP of 0.633...and have zero wins. It's a bit ridiculous.

Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk!

2008-04-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

I think this line from yahoo says it all:

It’s all they needed against the Blue Jays, thanks to Jon Lester’s pitching and Dustin Pedroia’s fielding.

Pedroia's play on Wells in the 9th was sick. That ball was scorched up the middle.

I would also tip my cap to the heart of our order. Ortiz worked a good at bat to get on base in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs. Manny with 2 strikes against him hits a nice little bloop into center field. Then Youk gets up and smacks a line drive to center, with the help of Wells bobbling the ball allowed Ortiz to score.

Lucky for me, I was at the game. It was the fastest game I've ever attended. It had a slight delay, due to rain and was over by 9:40! It was the first time in 17 years or so that my brother had been to Fenway. So it was cool to watch his reaction to the crowd. After all it is not everyday that you see 36,000 plus people sing a Neil Diamond song.

Note: It was great to Lowell back in the line up. He got a standing ovation for his first at bat.

WTF?

2008-04-28T09:34:00.000-04:00

I have to say, this was a great weekend for me and Daisy to go without TV. For earth day we decided to give up non-essential electricity for a week. Anyway, it looks like we saved ourselves a ton of headache!

Swept by the Rays?! WTF!

Still Manny being Manny steals second for some unknown reason... first in 2 years!

Plus - Where is everyone? THis is pathetic. I can't do this by myself!

Two down 16 more to go

2008-04-13T10:28:00.000-04:00

Fox's coverage yesterday was pretty miserable. In fact, at one point Daisy was moved to scream, "why don't you go into the dug-out and suck on his balls?!", in reaction to Buck's and McCarver's typical ass-kissing. I love that girl! Naturally, the 131-minute rain delay made things interesting. It was good to see Pap shut down Arod with 3 pitches and go onto to a smooth 9th. Manny is the man and I can't wait for Ortiz to get out of his slump.

So today is the rubber match: Dice-K vs. Phil Hughes. It's actually quite fitting. The Yankees have finally stopped their annual binge and purge of dead-arm veteran pitchers and over-the-hill sluggers. Phil Hughes is the face of the "Next Generation" Yankees, along with Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain. On the other side, Dice-K is the Sox's 100 Million dollar man.

Advantage, Dice-K: With a BB/K ration of 9/22 and an ERA of 1.47. Hughes struggled against the new look Royals, but rebounded against the Blue Jays (5/6 BB/K and 5.00 ERA). Of course, this could come down to bullpens. As we all know, Dice-K can take an inning or two to find the strike zone. If the Sox can build an early lead, that might help motivate Dice-K to challenge hitters out of the gate.