Pink Hats, The Youk Fu, Picture Day and a Changeup

February 27, 2009June 21, 2015 / Sara / 2 Comments

There’s a lot to cover today, and since Spring training has officially started, we finally have news! On a funny note, Manny rejected another massively huge offer from the Dodgers. That’s his fourth offer he’s declined due to either: not enough money or not enough years. Really, at this point, Boras should be telling him to take anything because no one is going to pay as much as he wants for as many years as he wants because we know that Manny doesn’t play unless its a contract year. Enough said.

Next on the list, the now-infamous and controversial pink hats. I’ve actually had several emails/comments/etc about the pink hats, either for or against. So here’s the new plan: a poll. Its at the end of the article, so select your answer and we will get a clear picture of how Red Sox Nation (or any baseball fans, really) feel about the pink hats.

Moving on.

A few days ago was Red Sox Photo Day. Probably one of the most ridiculous things in all of baseball, photo day never ceases to produce a few funny pictures.While we haven’t seen all the pictures yet, here’s the first few. We get a glimpse at the “Youk Fu” (to be explained later), we realize that the team as a whole is not particularly photogenic, and we see that Terry Francona looks a little like Ben Kinglsley. Click on the photos to seem them larger.

Here they are, from left to right, top to bottom:
Row 1: OF Jacoby Ellsbury, RHP Michael Bowden, 1B/DH David Ortiz, OF Jason Bay, RHP
           Josh Beckett
Row 2: U Mark Kotsay, OF J.D. Drew, LHP Jon Lester, 3B Mike Lowell, SS Julio Lugo
Row 3: 2B Dustin Pedroia, RHP John Smoltz, RHP Brad Penny, RHP Jonathan Papelbon,
           LHP Hideki Okajima
Row 4: RHP Junichi Tazawa, C Jason Varitek, RHP Tim Wakefield, 1B Kevin Youkilis,
           Skipper Terry Francona

Along with being picture day, it also seemed to be father’s day, with Little Papi and Little Lugo hanging out. Here are some super cute pics that made me go “awwwwwww”

Aren’t they just too cute?

A few final things to address: The Youk Fu. I would try to explain, but I’ll just let Kevin Youkilis do it for me.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x8hxiv
The Youk Fu
by beisbolct

Guess the goatee is out…

Finally, lets take a look at the pitching staff. While Wake was a little rusty in his start, Beckett, Saito, Lester…they’ve all be sharp. Lester has even worked on his changeup a little more and if he continues to progress it through Spring training, he’ll have a very dangerous pitch added to his already ace-like repertiore.

One thing you can’t argue is that the Red Sox have massive depth with pitching. They have several guys who could start but will likely be in the bull pen because they don’t need to start. So that makes the good bull pen even better. Then we have the consistent capstone himself in Papelbon, and I think with a pen this strong, he won’t have to come in for any 5-out saves or even 4-out saves, which will keep him full of gas just a little bit longer.

What can I say, I’m excited about this season. I think they have great chemistry in the clubhouse with guys like Papi, Pedroia, Papelbon, Tek, Lowell, and Youk. They all relax and goof off in the clubhouse, but when the game is on, so are they. And I don’t think we’ve seen the last of “Large Father” and “Pedroia Productions”. I’m sure Pap’s mom has a lot more embarrassing movies of her son that will make their way into the clubhouse this year.

A few final questions facing the Sox this year:
1. Will Jacoby steal his way back into America’s heart by winning another free taco?
2. How much Double Bubble will Tito go through on average a game?
3. Will Pedroia attack the next person who calls him a “little guy” “jockey”, etc?
4. Will the Youk Fu catch on as a national craze?

Finally, and, most importantly:

5. Will Pedroia ever beat Tito at Cribbage?

Here’s the poll:

Your Pink Hat Opinion

I have no opinion. I’m neutral.
They aren’t called the “Pink Sox” so why wear a pink hat
Real fans wear pink hats!
Only for special events, like cancer awareness days
They’re okay if your a girl
Other opinion.


	View Results
Free Myspace Poll

Back In The Backstop: The Case For Tek

January 23, 2009May 13, 2011 / Sara / Leave a comment

Of the Red Sox active roster, the average age of the pitching staff
is 28. Take out the highest and lowest two ages to avoid any one larger
or smaller number significantly affecting the stats, and the age you
get is 26.7.

That’s a young staff, and with such a young staff,
we need, and everyone say it with me, a VETERAN catcher. I really think
Schilling said it best. The Sox need Tek so they can wean our lovely young pitching staff off the Captain and acclimate them to the “catcher of the future”.

This may take some time. In the big leagues, Bowden, Buchholz, Masterson,
Lester, Delcarmen, and Paps have never had a different catcher. It has
always been Varitek. You are talking about a potential ace, several
potential starters, and a firecracker of a closer who have developed a
really close relationship with the Captain. Schilling also went on to
say that Varitek “knows some of us better than we know ourselves.”

Strong words. Now, we know the Sox have a standing offer on the table for Tek,
and we know it is not the $10-$12 million he would have gotten earlier,
however, I have to believe that for his pride’s sake alone (a Captain
needs a bit of pride to be a good leader!) they’re going to offer $2-$5
million over a year or two. I’d say two with an option for a third
year, because though he doesn’t need to be starting, you could have the
“catcher of the future” training under one of the greatest catchers of
all time.

Now what several people have suggested (and while I believe its none of our business, I think it might be true) is that Tek is waiting for his divorce to be finalized before agreeing to any deal. It makes logical sense from a financial stand-point.

You
know what else makes logical sense? A collective firing of the Prince
of Darkness (Boras) by all the Free Agents his greed has royally
screwed over this off season. Or the baseball owners pool their money
and have him “taken care of”.

Regardless, I think Tek will be
back in the backstop come spring training, with some new young guy
watching his every move, trying to learn. And who knows, maybe he’ll
have a comeback year. Call me crazy, but it could happen.

MVP! MVP! MVP! (And Welcome, Michael Bowden)

August 30, 2008May 13, 2011 / Sara / 1 Comment

I can’t help myself. Everyone is catching MVP fever. Especially Sox fans, because we have Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. I will suspend a recap of tonight’s game momentarily because I feel like pushing DP and Youk as the MVPs for the AL.

Let’s discuss.

Youkilis. He is a beastly hitter (the average is down, but he still scares pitchers. Actually, he kind of scares everybody.) He plays third, he plays first, and the play is SOLID. He loves the game and would rather have his team win a world series than win any special honors for himself. Yay!

Pedroia. Aside from lying about his height (5’9″? I don’t think so. He can’t be taller than 5’7″. Not that we mind.) he’s a solid second base-man and he is 8-8 in the past two games, hits on the road well, hits at home well, and leads the majors in batting average since June (with at least 220 at-bats).

Okay, so this pic is horrible, but it was taken while the loveable Mr. Pedroia was making one of his many great catches for the night. (Note, the ChiSox easy “falling” catch is on replay for top play, but Pedroia’s crazy good grabs? Nowhere. Travesty!) He played out of his mind. And hey, Pedroia has gone two games in a row hitting perfectly.

Now seems to be the perfect time to transition to a game recap. Welcome to the majors, Michael Bowden. He pitched a solid 5, and the bull pen looked decent. I feel like I’m writing that phrase more and more these days…as opposed to “I hate our bull pen” or blogging about my fears of Lopez and Delcarmen (note, these feelings have not vanished, but they have decreased significantly)

Yay for a great rookie outing, backed by awesome offense. And how ’bout when they intentionally walked Tek???? I have never seen anyone throw the ball like that for an intentional walk. And our pitchers got the chiSox to ground into 3 double plays. Then Ellsbury (or Wheels, as we so fondly call him) went 5-3, and our young guys looked good on a night where most of the older vets were not playing (Youk sick, Lowell on the DL, brand new pitcher, etc.) It was a good night overall. Next week (barring rain-outs) the Red Sox will break the consecutive sell-out mark. That, to me, is almost sweeter than this night could have been had the Rays not pulled a win out of their butts against the Orioles (if that comeback doesn’t highlight bullpen trouble, I don’t know what will.) Oh well. At least the Yankees lost.

In other news:
Cincinnatti WR Chad Jackson changed his name (officially) to Ocho Cinco. (His last name, anyway) Wack-a-doodle.

Goodnight, Sox Fans, see you tomorrow!

(Transplanted) Nation

Just a New England girl living in a Southern world

Bowden

Pink Hats, The Youk Fu, Picture Day and a Changeup

Back In The Backstop: The Case For Tek

MVP! MVP! MVP! (And Welcome, Michael Bowden)