Dice-K

The Boston Red Six?

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On Friday, the Boston Red Sox
take on the Toronto Blue Jays to kick off the second half of the
season. On the hill for the Red Sox will be Clay Buchholz.

Many will remember Buchholz from his no-hitter in September 2007.
Others remember how bad his 2008 season was, as he was shipped off to
the minors.

In 2009, Buchholz has been dominating while playing for Triple-A
Pawtucket. But with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Brad
Penny, and Dice-K, there was no room on the rotation.

When Dice-K went down, John Smoltz stepped up. So what do you do with the sixth man on the pitching roster?

If you’re Terry Francona, you should put him in the rotation. Does this mean that the Red Sox could have a six-man rotation?

It’s possible. If Buchholz proves that he has what it takes to pitch
at the major league level again, it will be difficult to take him out
of the rotation.

Early in the season, there was talk by the fans/media about Tim
Wakefield eventually landing in the bullpen, but he’s tied for the lead
league in wins (with Josh Beckett).

How about John Smoltz? If he’s locating his pitches, he’s great, which means he will stay on the roster.

How about Penny? There was the thought he might be traded, but
that’s not going to happen anymore. Lester and Beckett are certainly
not going anywhere. Maybe if Dice-K goes to rehab, they can throw him
in the ‘pen.

Then you look towards August and September. By then, Dice-K will hopefully be back in good form, leaving the Red Sox with seven quality starters. That is if everyone stays healthy.

As usual, the Red Sox have approached the season with their eyes on
October. Slipping in April and May and late-slump before the All-Star
break mean absolutely nothing at this point.

A few days rest will do the bullpen some good, and they should
bounce back from the issues they’ve had the past two weeks or so. Bay
and Youkilis are seemingly heating up again, and Papi seems to be
rejuvenated.

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester have improved their starts lately. They
seem to be the aces we expected at the beginning of the year.

Smoltz is looking good. Penny is looking good. Clay Buchholz can only add to the rotation.

As far as Wakefield is concerned, his first ever All-Star game
should only serve to motivate and inspire him to keep pitching well.

Would this six man rotation work for the Red Sox? It cuts down on
the number of starts, and thus, the number of possible wins. On the
other hand, would the extra rest make the starters more likely to win?

We might actually get to see the answer to that question.

The Red Sox don’t care if Josh Beckett only has the opportunity to win 15 more games instead of 20, and he doesn’t either.

No one will care if this method helps win a World Series. In fact,
if that happens, six-man rotations might become the new rule in
baseball.

Or maybe not.

The big question facing the Red Sox in the second half is a good
one; what do we do with our extra pitching? They basically have great
bargaining chips that won’t hurt the team if they go.

This would not be a bad move on the Red Sox part. This could put
them in prime position to make a great run in October, whether they use
five or six pitchers in their rotation.

Red Sox Spring Training Analysis (Part 3)

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This is the third and final stats-drive spring training analysis, mostly
because spring training is now over. If you haven’t read the first two
articles, check them out: Part 1 and Part 2.

Today we’re going to look at J.D. Drew and Jason Bay, then take a quick look at the Red Sox pitching staff. 

We’ll
start with the oft-injured J.D. Drew. I think he’s going to have a
great year, because he’s under no pressure to carry the team like he
did last June. He’ll bat 5th, in between Youkilis and Bay, which is a
great place for him. J.D. Drew has come up with some of the most clutch
hits in the history of baseball, no pitcher is going to walk Youkilis
to get to Drew, and similarly, no pitcher would willingly walk Drew to
get to Bay.

Drew’s back will be the
main concern this season, but with capable back-ups, Francona will have
an easy time giving Drew the rest he needs. Think about it, when Drew
came back from his back issues for the playoffs, he hit some seriously
clutch hits and helped the Red Sox reach game 7 of the ALCS.

In
2007, Drew hit .321 with 13 hits, 1 home run, and 7 RBI in spring
training, then hit .270 with 126 hits, 11 homers, and 64 RBI. Of
course, Drew’s biggest contribution in 2007 was the 14 million dollar
two out Grand Slam in the ALCS , which we all remember fondly as the
day Boston fans officially forgave J.D. Drew. 

In
2008, Drew’s Spring Training posted frighteningly similar numbers: .321
average, 9 hits, 1 home run, and 5 RBI. for the 2008 season, where he
was absolutely on fire the month of June and then kind of…fizzled,
Drew hit .280 with 103 hits, 19 dingers, and 64 RBI.

I’m
beginning to wonder if a good spring is bad for Drew’s regular season,
which fills me with hope, because his 2009 spring training numbers are
down. He hit .265 with 9 hits and 1 RBI. 

So
what’s the projection for Drew this season? It’s difficult to say,
honestly, because we never know how many at-bats he’ll get or how much
his back will bother him.

My
projection is he’ll hit somewhere in the .270-.290 range with maybe 15
home runs, it could go higher if he is rested when he starts slumping.

Next we’ll look at Jason Bay.

Jason had a monster season last year, coming off an injury-dampened 2007. How will he look in his first full year as a Red Sox?

In
2008 spring training, Bay hit .231 with 9 hits and 5 RBI. He hit .286
with 165 hits, 31 homers, and 101 RBI during the regular season.

This spring, including his brief stint at the World Baseball Classic, Bay hit .285 with 12 hits, 4 home runs, and 11 RBI.

So
what’s the projection for 2009? Can Jason Bay replace Manny’s bat in
the line-up? No. But he can get pretty close. I’d look for Bay to have
another 30+ home run season, and bat around .280-.300. That could be
overly optimistic, but I have faith in him

.

The pitching staff
might be the strength of this Red Sox team, despite a talented line-up.
With three aces, four if Smoltz or Penny come back with a good bit of
their past form, and one of the best bull pens in the league, the Sox
are looking to make another run at the post-season.

In
this I’m going to look at the (current) starting five: Beckett, Lester,
Dice-K, Wakefield, and Penny. Then, in honor of the stellar ‘pen, we’ll
look at Papelbon to close things out.

Beckett is slated to
start opening day at Fenway against the Rays, so what should we expect
from him? Will he be good but not great like last year, or lights out
like he was in 2007? I’m banking on 2007, since he was never really
healthy in 2008.

My projection for
the 2009 season is that Beckett will be on form again, pitch about 200
innings, with 70-75 earned runs, 40-45 walks, and 185-190 strikeouts.
I’d look for him to post an ERA around 3.15-3.25.

Next
we have Jon Lester, who emerged as one of the game’s elite southpaws
last season, and should continue to build on that in 2009.

The
only concern facing Lester this year is the number of innings he threw
last year. He pitched 210 innings, and was clearly gassed by game 7 of
the ALCS.

While
I don’t expect him to pitch that many innings again, I project he will
throw about 190-200, with 70-75 earned runs, 60 walks, and 155-160
strike outs. I’d look for him to post an ERA of about 3.18-3.28.

Then
we have Daisuke Matsuzaka, the heart attack-inducing MVP of the World
Baseball Classic. Dice-K has looked good this spring, at the WBC and
with the Sox. While you should never count on him to eat innings, or
have a low number of walks, he’s just looking to have a break-out year.
I’d look for him to go about 176 innings, with 73 earned runs, 85-90
free passes, and 165-170 strike-outs. I’d look for him to post an ERA
around 3.45-3.65, but don’t discount him, it’s just as likely for that
ERA to settle out around 2.90-3.10.

Then
we have Tim Wakefield, the longest tenured Red Sox, and still pitching
strong. That’s mostly due to the fact he’s a knuckleballer, and thus
the pitching motion doesn’t wear on his shoulder like the normal
pitching motion.

So
will Wake look good again this year? Sure. He’s consistent. He should
eat about 186 innings, with 90-95 earned runs, 65-70 walks, and 115
strike outs. He should post an ERA of 3.85-4.00, but this won’t matter
as much if he can get the run support.

Tim Wakefield is going to give up two or three runs a game. His season record depends on how much run-support he gets.

Brad
Penny is the newest addition to the pitching staff, and like many of
the Red Sox additions, he’s coming off of an injury. Assuming he
recovers and gets back to some of his form, I’d look for Penny to go
between 170-190 innings, 75-80 earned runs, and post an ERA of
3.20-3.50. I have a wide range here because I’m not sure how Penny will
perform. It’s a sort of waiting game with him.

And now we’ll close this series off with one of the game’s elite closers, Jonathan Papelbon.

Paps
has posted great stats the past three years, with more than 30 saves in
2006, 2007, and 2008. I wouldn’t look for that to change at all. Last
year, Papelbon had 41 saves, I’d look for him to have between 40-45
saves this season and post an ERA of 2.60-2.80.

Papelbon
is the capstone of a stellar bull pen, and should have fewer four,
five, and six out saves this year because the road from the starter to
Papelbon is paved with pitchers like Takashi Saito, Justin Masterson,
lefty-specialist Javier Lopez, and many others.

With
that, I end my stats freak predictions. What’s my prediction for the
season? I think the Red Sox win the AL East, but it’s a tough road with
the Yankees and the Rays, so I think we’re in for a very exciting season.

So You Wanna Be A Red Sox Fan? Part 2

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Here’s part two of your guide to being a Red Sox Fan.

As one of my lovely commentators pointed out, there are a few aspects of Fenway that I forgot to mention. So here’s a brief guide to Fenway:

 -It was built for the 1912 season, and the Red Sox owner at that time, John I. Taylor, decided to call it “Fenway
Park” because it was located in a section of Boston called “the Fens”.
(If you were wondering, Taylor was also the guy who changed the club’s
name to the Red Sox in 1907)

 -Duffy’s Cliff: Around from 1912-1933, Duffy’s Cliff was a 10′ high mound that ran from the left-field foul pole to center field, and because of this, any left-fielder playing at Fenway
had to play the entire game running uphill. Duffy Lewis, a star left
fielder for Boston, had playing this way so down pat, they named it
after him.

 -The Red Seat:
There’s a seat in the right field bleachers painted red. It marks the
spot of the longest measurable homer hit inside Fenway.
Ted Williams hit it on June 9, 1946, and it was measured at 502 feet.
According to legend, the ball crashed through the straw hat of a man
sitting in that seat, Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21.

 -The
Pesky Pole: The right field foul pole is named after Johnny Pesky. He’s
been a virtual fixture at Fenway since 1942. While he moved around a
bit, Pesky has been nicknamed “Mr. Red Sox” and his number, number 6,
was retired last year. The pole was officially named “Pesky’s Pole” on
September 27, 2006, Pesky’s 87th birthday.

 -Did you know that Fenway Park cost $650,000 to build in 1912?

 -The largest crowd ever at Fenway was 47,627, for a doubleheader against, you guessed it, the Yankees in 1935.

 -Behind the manual scoreboard (one of the last remaining) in left field is a room where the walls are covered with signatures of players who have played left field over the years. Maybe that’s where Manny always disappeared to…

 -No one has ever hit a ball over the right field roof.

 -The screen behind home plate that protects spectators from wild pitches/fouls/etc was the first of its kind in the majors

 -9 Red Sox players have pitched no-hitters at Fenway: George Foster (6/21/1916), Dutch Leonard (08/30/1916), Ernie Shore (06/23/1917), Mel Parnell (07/14/1956), Dave Morehead (09/16/1965), Derek Lowe (04/27/2002), Clay Buchholz (09/01/2007) and Jon Lester (05/19/2008)

 -The
Sox have currently sold out 469 consecutive games, and with the team as
talented as it is this year, look for it to increase.

Now a few more clarifications/rules/tips:

 -There is no curse of the Babe, we were not cursed and we don’t believe in it. Some people did/do but its best, if you want to hide your  newbie status, not to mention the “Curse of the Bambino“.

 -Before you go to a game, familiarize yourself with the roster and the starter’s numbers. This will help you, trust me.

 -The
“Yankees Suck” chant. I know I already mentioned it, but I think I need
to clarify. If you are a new fan, its best to avoid starting these
chants simply because of your in-experience. Some fans believe it is
applicable any time, any where. Others think there is a time and place.
Save yourself the trouble and join in, but don’t start.

 -Don’t
ask stupid questions. What is a stupid question? Here’s one: “I thought
Manny Ramirez played left…who is that Jason Bay guy?” or “Why does
that guy have the ‘C’ on his chest?” These will get you glares/looks of shock and will guarantee that everyone thinks you are a bandwagon jumper.

 -if
someone calls you a “bandwagon jumper” don’t get defensive and start
spouting off this whole sob story about how you’ve been a Sox fan since
the ’86 season (I’ll give you a hint, ball rolling through Bill
Buckner’s legs…). Just say “you’re crazy” or “okay” and brush it off.
Unless you have asked one of the above questions, then just admit to it
and say something nice about the fans/team/etc and all will be
forgiven. Most of the time.

 –Fenway is old.
It has lots of bad seats, but lots of character as well. Just don’t ask
why they built it like that, because its been that way since 1912, as
you’ve just learned, and its just the way it is.

Now, for a few pronunciations.This isn’t all-inclusive, so if you run into a problem, go with their first name or just point.

David Ortiz = (or-teez)

Jason Varitek = (Ver-a-tech)

Jacoby Ellsubury = (ju–cO-bee)

Dustin Pedroia = (Pedroy-ya)

Kevin Youkilis = (You-kill-is) just call him “Youk“

Daisuke Matsuzaka = (Dice-K Mat-sue-za-ka) just call him “Dice-K”

Hideki Okajima = (Hide-e-key O-ka-G-ma) just call him “Oki“

That’s
it for part 2. If I hear of anything else, there will be a part three,
if not, look forward to my next article which actually will be on the
MLB’s best fans.

All Good Things…

/ Sara / 3 Comments

…must come to an end. I have to say, in the bright (and cold) light of morning, I am almost glad its over. I would have liked it to be over after another four games and a ring…but my stress level goes down and my number of hours sleeping goes up.

I will watch some of the fall classic, but only when they play in Philly, because if I ever hear another cowbell, it will be too soon. Maybe the Rays should have Christopher Walken throw out the first pitch?

Anywho, the Red Sox are gassed. Last night everyone just looked tired. So I think in a small way, they’re glad its over. Now its time to marvel at the fact that they never should have made it as far as they did, take a few days off to rest, and start figuring out how we can get CC or some other pitcher without giving up anyone we like. I really like our line-up next year. For the first time in my memory, the Red Sox are young. Pedroia, Lowrie, Coco, Ellsbury, Masterson, Lester, Bay, Papelbon, and Youk have many years left in them. If you look back on the Sox, this rarely happens. And these kids are battle tested. There are only two things the Sox must do this off-season: get Tek back, and get another starting pitcher, whether we take one from somewhere else or develop them.

I’m going to take a few days off of hard-core baseball following to catch up on that all-important school work which has fallen by the wayside. I continue my campaign for the Captain, because you can’t just get rid of a captain, even one who has struggled so much at the plate, you have to phase him out, into retirement. Just the reactions from his homer in game 6 proved one thing: they need him. He is the soul of the team, and if we get rid of our soul we’ll turn into the Yankees.

One final note before I head off to get lunch (yum!) Our playing season may be over, but the Nation still has work to do! The 2008 This Year In Baseball Award has several Red Sox on the ballot!

Vote Pedroia for Hitter, Dice-K for Starter, Jacoby for Rookie, Tito for Manager, Paps for Closer, Dustin for Defense, Lester’s No-No for Performance, and Youk’s on-the-wall triple for Oddity (this one is under Damon’s name).

And the best part is you can vote as many times as you want and it’s really very easy! So go vote HERE

Red Sox Roll The Dice-K

/ Sara / 1 Comment

The lineups are out, and here’s how  the Red Sox pitching will break down:

1. Dice-K
    He’s a heart-attack inducing pitcher, and with the Ray’s tendency to run, that may cause a little trouble for the Sox. However, Dice-K has shut it down on the road, so giving him the first start in the Trop is probably the best call Tito can make.

2. Beckett
    He looked rusty, but not injured in his last start. And the game still went 12 innings, so even the high-powered, fast moving offense of the Angels couldn’t take that much advantage of the ace. This time he’ll be pitching on normal rest, so expect October Beckett (the 2007 version) to return.

3. Lester
    Jon Lester is a beast. He will get the ball at home, where he is absolutely stellar.

4. Wake
    His record doesn’t reflect how well he has really pitched this year. He’s going to give up a run or two, but in the regular season, the Sox had a hard time getting him the bats to back him up.

5. Dice-K (if necessary)
6. Beckett (if necessary)
7. Lester (if necessary)

I’m going to be honest, here. If I could split myself in two and have the neutral sports mind talk to the Boston sports fan, here’s how the conversation would have been:

Neutral: The Red Sox are in the postseason, which should be an accomplishment in and of itself considering the division they play in and the injuries they have sustained.

Fan: They’re going all the way!

Neutral: It is unlikely that they beat the Angels, but that would be a huge accomplishment for a team as banged up as they have been. Top that off with several inexperienced starters and the loss of Manny, it isn’t likely.

Fan: I just don’t want them to be out in the first round.

So that’s my internal conversation with myself. The Boston fan in me just refuses to give up and believes the Red Sox are going to repeat, but the rational part of my brain realizes that the Red Sox are the underdogs.

Who ever thought  that the Red Sox playing the (Devil) Rays would be the underdogs of the series?

That Dirty Water Never Tasted So Good, So Good, So Good

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Watch Jed Lowrie’s Walk-Off Single!

Sox win. Yay!

Lets talk some post-season baseball. First off, what a start for Jon Lester. The Angels were a tough team, and, as Tito said, “we had our hands full [with them]”. So now the best team (record wise) in the AL and the best team (record wise) in the NL are both gone.

Good, good things happened last night:
–Dustin snapped his October slump by hitting a rocket RBI double off the Monster (or “Monstah” depending on where you live)
–Tek chased down a young guy like a Teddy Bruschi or Rodney Harrison going after a quarterback, getting the out on a suicide squeeze that didn’t quite work.
–Lester finishes the ALDS going 14 innings, scattering 10 hits with 11 Ks and 3 BBs and a 0.00 ERA (that’s right, ZERO point ZERO ZERO. As in goose-egg) Can we just say beast?
–Bay leads the team in  post-season BA (.412), OBP (.474) and SLG (.882) with 7 hits, 5 RBIs and scoring 3 runs. He hit what could have been an inside-the-park home run, had it not bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double.
–Lowrie got quite possibly the most clutch single of his career (more to come, I hope!) scoring Bay for the walk-off single with 2 outs in the 9th.

As with all things, we will take the day to celebrate, then look to the future and the extremely tough Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. After battling the Angels, I feel like the Sox are up for any battle that gets thrown at them. Dice-K is pretty good against the Rays and excellent on the road. Beckett looked rusty in game 3, but I think he’ll be much better when he faces the Rays. Then we have Lester, who is probably the best pitcher in baseball right now. Throw in Masterson and Oki who are tough, and Manny D and Paps, both with 0.00 ERAs this post-season, and the Sox are looking pretty good, if we can just get that offense going a little more. Now that Dustin got his first hit, I think we’re going to be just fine.

Just for a little fun, here are some post-season pics for your enjoyment! (from http://www.boston.com, click to make them larger!)

cinco ocho.jpgjbay tek.jpg

youk leap.jpgjumping joy.jpg

Finally, because life wouldn’t be complete without some Papelbon antics:

Those shirts, by the way, say “Cinco Ocho: He don’t know how he do…” and on the back it says “He just do”.

Hopefully, Cinco Ocho (Papelbon for those of you who don’t know) will be doing what he do and hopefully we’ll be singing Dirty Water again soon! Go Sox!

Red Sox Edge Doc and Go Bop to the Trop

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Okay, I am a High School Musical fiend. I mean, I love it and I freely admit to it. So when the Red Sox had their annual Rookie initiation yesterday, imagine my joy when I saw they made the rookies (most of them in drag) dress as characters from High School Musical. (See video here)

Hence the title. With a Sox win against Doc Halladay (masterfully out-dueled by Lester) and alesterpitch.png Rays loss to the Yankees, we are back within 1 of the AL East and heading to face the East leaders themselves at home. I think its only fair, having beat us two games at home, that we go back and sweep them at home (note, this is doubtful due to the fact that Kazmir is starting tonight).


                                        (photo at mlb.com)

After losing two to the Rays (one on a questionable “out” at first in the 9th that would have turned the game around) the Red Sox look to regain the series and win a few in the Trop. Both teams are sending strong pitchers to the mound in Dice-K and Kazmir. Dice was a little shaky in his last start, but if he gets it under control, we could be looking at another pitchers duel. (Two nights in a row, wow!)

Now, on to my campaign section:

pedey smile.pngDustin Pedroia for MVP: I don’t care how tall he really is or that he’s cooled off a little lately, this man should be MVP. He trains hard, plays harder and steps up to the plate and does whatever is needed to help the team. He gets into that batters box knowing he’s going to get a hit and thinking that no one, not Doc Halladay, not Kazmir, should be able to get him out. He leads the league in hits (200), doubles (50) and is 2nd in runs scored (113).  He’s 17-18 on stolen bases and is a great 2nd basemen. Someone like that deserves to be AL MVP! (Or Youk, but my pick is Pedroia)

2008 Roberto Clemente Award
Kevin Youkilis is nominated for the Clemente award, the nominees were chosen for their sportsmanship, community involvement and the positive things they bring to the team. Vote HERE

That’s all the campaigning I have for now. I’ll leave you with the video “Bop to the Top” just to get you in a cheerful mood before the Sox take on Kazmir and the Rays at the Trop.

Red Sox Blank Rays, Close In On AL East

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jles.pngRed Sox 3 Rays 0. Lester pitched into the 8th, allowing 0 runs on 6 hits, striking out 9 and walking 3. Paps came in and got a 4 out save allowing 1 hit and striking out 3. With this win, the Red Sox pull into within a half game of the AL East-leading Rays and move up to 7 games in front of the idle Twins for the Wild Card.

Not really the best night for the bats, considering the Sox had 9 hits and only 3 runs, all of those coming in the bottom of the 1st.  Lester  pitched 7+ innings of shut-out baseball, and Jackson pitched  6 shut-out innings. Fortunately for the Sox, that early jump proved to be enough to win the game.

Tonight the Red Sox made baseball history, breaking the streak for most consecutive home sell-outs with 456, beating the Cleveland Indian’s streak of 455. In honor of that, we will look at the 15 greatest moments at Fenway since May 15th, 2003 (when the sell-outs started).

Why 15? Well, 456 is reasons is way too many to cover in one blog, but 4+5+6=15, which is a much more manageable (not to mention readable!) amount.

15. April 22, 2007: Home Run Bonananza The Sox tie a major league record high 4 HR’s   back to back to back to back home runs in the third to help the Sox onto their first sweep     of the Yankees in Fenway since 1990. Hitting HRs were Manny, JD Drew, Lowell and     Varitek.

14. August 1 2008: A Brand New Bay Jason Bay makes his debut after the down-to-the-wire trade which sent Manny to LA and a few prospects to Pittsburgh. He has a great night,    
hitting well and making a spectacular catch, even scoring the winning run on Jed Lowrie’s
single in the 12th. This is not so great because of the game itself, but the fact that energy     returned to the Red Sox as they played like a completely different team after ridding    
themselves of Manny being Manny and his dramatic unhappiness.

13. October 25, 2007: Schill’s Last Game: In the last home appearance of the Red Sox in    
the 07 World Series, Schil and crew hang on to win a 2-1 pitcher’s duel with the Rockies.
 
12. July 2, 2007 Ellsbury Scores from Second on a Wild Pitch: Three days into his major league tenure, Jacoby Ellsbury did the nearly
impossible. He scored on a wild pitch from    
second base. Texas reliever
Willie Eyre hit catcher Gerald Laird in the leg with a pitch,
and Ellsbury was gone. He never
stopped, never thought twice as third base coach waved     him
home.

11. October 5, 2007 Manny’s First Walk-Off Home Run: Manny knocks a three-run shot out of the park to give the Boston Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League
    Division Series, beating the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) 6-3.

10. September 21, 2006 David Ortiz hits Red Sox Record Home Runs: David Ortiz    
cemented himself in the Boston record books by hitting 54 home runs in a single season in
2006. It was his 51st, on this date, that put him past Jimmie Foxx’s single-season record,
and made him (officially) Boston’s Home Run King.

9. April 5, 2007 Dice-K’s Debut: Dike K strikes out ten in his major league debut and gives Sox fans a preview of all the Ks that are to come.
 
arodtek fight.jpg8. July 24, 2004 The Fight: A-Rod is hit
by a Bronson Arroyo pitch and proceeds to jaw about it all the way down the first base line. He and Varitek have words, and bam! A-Rod gets a face full of angry catcher’s mit. A bench-clearing brawl later, Tek, A-Rod, Kenny Lofton, Gabe Kapler and Tito were all ejected.

7. September 28, 2007 Red Sox vs.    Twins: A Red Sox win and a Yankee’s     loss gives Boston’s its first division title     in 12 years. Dice-K racks up the K’s     and bows to the fans, while Papelbon    
dances barefoot and thousands of fans hang around for almost an hour to see     the results of the Yankee’s game.
 
6. May 13, 2007 The Mother’s Day Miracle: Bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox are down 5-0 to  the Baltimore Orioles, Julio grounds out, then Coco singles on a throwing error by Ramon     Hernandez and Papi scores him. Mo Pena somehow manages a single that moves David     to third. After both JD Drew and Youk manage a walk, scoring Papi,  Tek comes up and     doubles, scoring both Drew and Mo. Hinske walks, and Youk is out at home (its very close, though).  Back up to bat is Lugo, who made the first out of the inning. He reaches on a throwing error and Hinske and Tek score to win the game.

5. October 20, 2007 JD Drew’s clutch Grand Slam in game 6 of the ALCS: the Sox down to the Indians 3 games to 2, proved to be the straw that broke the Indians’ back and    propelled the Sox to their second World Series win in four years. It was the shot that was heard ’round Boston and will probably always be known as the 14
million dollar grand-slam,     simply because with the bases loaded and
no out, Fausto Carmona had struck out Manny     and gotten Lowell to
pop out, very few people had faith in the then-struggling outfielder.

4. September 1, 2007 Clay Buchholz’s No-Hitter: In his second Major League start, rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz tossed the 17th no-hitter in Red Sox history, striking out 9, walking     three and hitting one batter in the 10-0 defeat of the Baltimore Orioles. Why is this ranked     behind Lester’s? Keep reading.

3. May 19, 2008 Jon Lester’s No-Hitter: The reason behind this being ahead of Buchholz’s no-no is because not only was it the first Red Sox lefty no-no since 1956, it was also a     record for Jason Varitek, who has now caught 4 no-hitters, more than any other catching.     Aided by a spectacular catch by Ellsbury and some heads-up infield plays, the Sox beat     the Royals 7-0.

2. October 18, 2004 ALCS Game 5: After going 12 innings the night before, the epic game 5
outdid it by going 14, ending when Big Papi’s single brought in Damon for the win. The Sox     would go on to Yankee stadium for the Bloody Sock game, and as the 26th team in playoff history to
face a 3-0 series deficit, become the first to force a Game Seven.

1. October 17 2004  ALCS Game 4:  The Sox go 12 innings, with a walk-off homer in the 12th. But they never would have gotten there if Dave Roberts hadn’t stolen 2nd and scored     on Bill Mueller’s single, tying the game 4-4 in the 9th. This sparked the Sox comeback,     down 3 games to none, to win it in seven take their first World Series in 86 years.

So there you go, 15 great moments from the sell-out period of Fenway park. Next up: A big time pitching show-down as Rays ace Kazmir takes on Sox stud Dice-K. Should be a great game, with the AL East being given to the winner. (If only for a day) So put on your best Papelbon glare and watch the game!

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Take A Deep Breath…And Let It Out

/ Sara / 1 Comment

I have some staggering stats for you following last night’s down-to-the-wire game.

455. Fenway has sold out 455 consecutive times. Tying the Indians record for most consecutive sell-outs. When they return home after the brief trip to Texas, they will break the record.

.621: That’s Dustin Pedroia’s batting average over the past 7 days.

3.79: that’s the ERA for the starting pitchers. Not bad when your team has average 5.3 runs a game. Look for the ERA to get lower as we roll into September and October. (Especially if Beckett returns to his dominance, and Lester gets his power under control.)

97. That’s how fast Lester threw one pitch against the Orioles. He claims to have never gone higher than 96 in his career. If he can get a fastball that fast under control, he will be the ace of the AL.
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44: Stolen bases for Jacoby Ellsbury, who has struggled to get on base all year. Imagine how much larger that number would be if he could get on base more often…

110 and 191. That’s how many times Dustin Pedroia has scored and how many hits he has this season. Those are both Major Leage Leading Stats.

2. That’s how many players the Red Sox have who are in the running for MVP, some might even say that they are the front-runners.

and finally…

3. That’s the games back we are on Tampa Bay, who still have one more
night with the Yankees, who have now won 6 straight road games. We still lead the Wild Card, but I would love to retake the East just in time for the playoffs.

Now, back to the game.

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Dice-K did well, not one of his stronger outings, but not bad either. We just could not get any offense going.

Except for Dustin, who looks like he could get a hit in his sleep.  The bottom half of the order produced too, at least, a little.

Youk was again out, and Jason Bay had the day off, so already the bats are just a little bit weaker.

The Sox started to come back, then stalled, leaving the score at 4-2 Orioles.

Then Papi got a free pass. Dustin got a double, and Kotsay hit a wall-bouncing triple to score them both, tying the game in the bottom of the 8th.

yaypedey.jpgThe Sox held the Orioles, who threatened with two men on in the 9th, but could not deliver, and then the bottom of the order came up. Cora singled, then Crisp singled on a wack-a-doodle bunt that 99% of the time rolls foul, but didn’t, then Jacoby, who popped out in the 7th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, stepped up and bunted. Cora dived into third, the ball was overthrown, so he got up and scored, meeting his teammates at home, ecstatic to have come back and finished the sweep, something that had been unable to do against the White Sox and against the Yankees.

Yay. And Crisp was running his heart out, not realizing that Cora was the winning run and the game was over.

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That might be the weirdest walk-off win I have ever seen, on a sac-bunt and a throwing error.

We have the night off. Good. I’m tired and I need to watch the season opener for FOOTBALL!!!! Yay.

Disregard this. Minor webmaster testing nonsense.

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Holy Dying Birds, Bat-Men!

/ Sara / 2 Comments

14-2 is just depressing. If you’re the Orioles, that is. Clearly, the Sox have Liz’s number. They killed him last time, and they really killed him this time. The Red Sox brought the bats to bear again, and again, and again, finishing the game with 20 hits, even with the “JV” team in and Cash pinch-hitting to basically bring up his average in a game that was over in the 4th, pretty much.

Lester made a strong start for the month of September, allowing only 1 run on 6 hits in 5 innings. While he usually goes longer, with the Sox ahead 11-1, no reason to tire him out.

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The only dark side of the night was I almost had to cheer for the Yankees. As much as it pains me to say that…nope. screw it. I won’t cheer for the Evil Empire, I will cheer for a Tampa Bay Rays loss. Which actually happened, so yay for the Sox!

One more game for the Sox-Os series, at 135 tomorrow. Dice-K vs. ? (no, seriously, it says TBD)

Hopefully Youk won’t have to scratch this game (please let the back spasms be something small and fleeting!) but does he get the number 4 spot back from Dustin? That is, of course, up to Tito, but Dustin hits well no matter where he is in the line-up. The offense looked much tighter tonight as opposed to last night, as the Sox battered Liz for 9 runs, then went to work on the bull pen for 5 more.

In other news, Youk has been nominated to receive the Roberto Clemente Award, which awards players who are great sports, with great community involvement, where their individual accomplishments are geared towards aiding the team, and who best exemplifies the game of
baseball. Youk’s charity, Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids, as well as his constant work for the Jimmy Fund, have already earned him awards from the organization itself.

See you tomorrow, Sox fans!