Dustin Pedroia

“Wake”ing Up The Red Sox

/ Sara / Leave a comment

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Wednesday, Tim Wakefield flirted with a perfect game, and might have restored the Red Sox confidence in themselves.

I feel like we need the Hitchiker’s Guide to Baseball with a big sign on the back that says “Don’t Panic” and we really shouldn’t. We’ve got, what, 152 games left or something like that?

It feels as though these first two weeks of baseball, the Red Sox have been trying to start a car. Sometimes the ignition
turns over, but it doesn’t last long. Maybe Wake’s start is the jump
they need to really get moving. It does not help, of course, that they
had to face first the Rays, and then the emotionally charged and always
difficult LA Angels.

Looking at the stats for the first two weeks of the season give me hope, however. They have allowed the second fewest runs in the AL East, the Rays have allowed two fewer, but the Red Sox are one of the three teams with more runs allowed than runs scored. So there is your problem. Well, Dice-K and Lowrie being injured doesn’t help either, but truly, the issue is offense.

The Red Sox have just 35 RBIs so far this year. That’s 27th in the league. Their on-base percentage is ranked considerably higher. Which leads me to one issue: they can’t hit with runners on. While more of the team has moved above .200, Varitek (who’s right at .200), Pedroia, Ellsbury, and Ortiz are all still below the .200 mark. Dustin is a traditionally slow starter, so his engine should start going soon, Papi had his first extra-base hit of the season, so maybe that will kick him into gear, and Ellsbury seems to be coming back, he’s hit much better in the A’s series than the others.

Maybe
Wake’s brush with history will rejuvinate the entire team. Right now,
Youkilis and Bay are on fire. Youk’s hitting .472 and Bay is hitting
.345, both with two homers. Varitek’s average might be a little low,
but of his five hits, two are doubles, and two are home runs. He’s
hitting for much more power than last year and is tied with the lowest
number of strike-outs on the team.

I’m
an eternal optimist. So maybe all of this is nothing, and they’re going
to continue to be below .500 for the first time in years, but somehow,
I doubt it. Maybe Tek is going to have another bad year, but what I’ve
seen so far says otherwise. Maybe Bay won’t hit 30 homers, but I think
he will. And maybe Kevin Youkilis will slump after the All-Star break,
but I have faith.

The
Sox return home tonight to take on the Orioles at 7:10. Penny takes on
Guthrie, who has looked pretty good in his two starts for the birds.
The Orioles are a game back of the AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays. Raise
your hand if you saw that one coming. If Penny can locate tonight, and
the bats can get moving, I think the Sox turn it around and get back above .500.

Favorite Red Sox Moments of 2007/2008

/ Sara / Leave a comment

First, check out these posters, made on the Despair, Inc. website:

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 (click images to see full-size)

And now on to my Top Red Sox Moments of 2007-2008
(these are my favorites so far, share yours in the comment section!)
10. Papelbon and Manny D’s Rain Delay video.(see #5)

9. Pedroia is the “Daddy” of Dancing (see #5)

8. Jacoby Ellsbury Stealing Bases (and a Taco!)

7. Jacoby Ellsbury Defense. He goes for it, 100%of the time. Here’s just one example:

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6. Grand Slams. From JD Drew’s 14-million dollar shot in 2007 to Youk and Pedroia’s firsts in 2008.

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5. Papelbon dancing. (no other description required)

4. Youk’s Wall-Ball Triple

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3. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis in the mix for AL MVP.

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2. Jon Lester throws a no-hitter

1. Winning the World Series

paps.jpgLike what you see? Have a different favorite? Let me know!

 

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!

Of Dice and Men and Perfect Pedroia

/ Sara / 1 Comment

Dice-K had an astounding outing yesterday against the visiting chiSox. Which, I have a temporary complaint: we live in southeastern VA. I realize and understand that WGN is Chicago-based, but it is unnerving and annoying to watch a home game from the visitor’s side and I HATE Harrelson. Rem-Dawg (NESN) is clearly biased, but no one, I mean NO ONE is as bad as the guys who do games for the White Sox. If I have to hear something repeated/hear “he gone” one more time, I will strangle someone.

(Sorry, I’m watching the game right now, and I am so tempted to mute the TV and pull up gameday audio with WRKO so I don’t have to listen to these guys!)

Dustin was fantastic, going 4 for 4, and Papi, Youk and Tek had great nights. Talk about Tek, he has brought his batting average up, like .010 in a week and a half. (Note, this stat may not be so surprising for everyone, but for Tek, especially this year, that is great!)

Okay, game is on and commercial is over, I’ll write again when the game is over (though, I have to say, I’m loving our bats tonight!)

PS – anyone see the beautiful bit of acting the Captain  tried after catching a crazy in-and-out of the crowd bouncing foul? LOVE him! LOVE him!