O Raul, Raul, wherefore art thou Raul?

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

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

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

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!

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?

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!

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

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...

...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?

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!!!