Bobby Valentine: "I hate the Yankees."

I didn't know a whole lot about Bobby V., so when I read on ESPN that he said, "I hate the Yankees," I thought that he's going to be media darling, but can he manage? So I checked in with a long-time Mets fan friend of mine, and this is what he had to say about Bobby V.:

I am not a Bobby Valentine fan.  He came up short with the under achieving Mets of the late 90s.  He has too big an ego, loves the spotlight as much as winning.  He knows the game well, but comes across as an entitled stuck up asshOle whose feces has no foul odor.  He was once a top prospect out of southern california who was ushered to the MLB with silver spoon as a future superstar, only to never achieve potential as a player.  He was a brat as a youngster, and now he is a 60 year old brat.  Expect some major ups and downs with Bobby V at the helm, and a rocky road in Boston.  

Hmmm... Not a rosy outlook from my friend Stew, but I'm not passing any judgement on him just yet. Remember, Tito didn't have a sparkling managerial track record before he came to Boston.

Box Score From the Past (09.10.99)

Pedro Martinez has just announced his retirement. He is arguably the best pitcher that ever donned red hose, and to honor him this week, BSFTP goes back to a great day in history (for more than 1 reason) to the day he fanned 17 Yankees and allowing only 1 hit, no walks, no balks, no WPs.

Red Sox 3 Yankees 1 BOX SCORE
September 10, 1999

Yankee Stadium would be an airport

I'm not so hard on Yankee fans these days. I mean, my father is one, and I'm in a couple of bands with another, so they all can't be bad. Besides, I just don't have the time or energy to be wastin' on hatin' Yankee fans. Yet, when I saw this photo on Facebook, I just had to chuckle a little. OK, a lot LOT.

Box Score From the Past (08.01.1962)

 

Bill Monboquette tossed a no-hiiter for the Red Sox on August 1, 1962 against the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox line-up in 1962 included Yaz LF (.291 BA, .844 OPS), Jim Pagliaroni C, (.292, .892), Pete Runnels 1B (.333, .903), and Lou Clinton RF (.295, .928) in the heart of the order. With a line-up like that, you would think that they might have scored more runs than that, but Early Winn had it goin' on himself that day, scattering 8 singles.

Red Sox 1 White Sox 0

August 1, 1962

As always, if there is a specific Red Sox game that you would like to see in BSFTP, let me know in the comments. If you don't know the exact date, write as much info as possible about the game and I will research it for you.

Box Score From The Past (07.27.65)

BSFTP goes back to 1965 when Jim 'Catfish' Hunter won his 1st MLB game at Fenway Park. Hunter was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1964 and made his MLB debut the next season. He spent 15 years in the bigs, winning 18+ games 6 seasons in a row. In 2 of those seasons, he pitched over 300 innings! He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1999, he died in his hometown of Hertford, NC at 53 years of age.

Jim Lonborg was the losing pitcher that day and entered the game with absolutley nothing in his tank. He faced 5 batters in the 1st inning, all 5 got hits, all 5 scored. Others in the Red Sox line-up that day included Yaz, Petrocelli, Conigliaro, and Radatz.

The manager for the A's that year was Haywood Sullivan who played 1 year for the Red Sox and later returned to the Red Sox front office eventually working his way to General Manager. Ken Harrelson, John Wyatt and Jose Tartabull all were playing for the A's that day and all were on the 1967 'Impossible Dream' team.

Box Score From The Past (09.28.11)

This off season's inaugural edition of BSFTP doesn't delve too far into the past. I'm going right to the heart of disappointment. I want to get this one out of the way ASAP- September 28, 2011. To describe this one as the 'heart of disappointment' might be a bit of an understatement. The Red Sox were supposed to go all the way in 2011, win >100 games and go 11-0 in the post-season. This is a reminder to players and media to cool it with the outrageous 2012 predictions lest ye be served up another bowlful yummy hubris.

Boston 3 Baltimore 4
September 28, 2011

Box Scores From The Past 2011-2012

"Box Scores From The Past" will be returning soon this off season. Due to equal parts shock, protesting Wall Street, old age, therapy, and conditioning; yeah, that's it- conditioning; I was totally unprepared to resume posting BSFTP this early. Be watching starting around the 1st Monday of November. If there is a particular game that you would like to have highlighted in BSFTP, even if you don't have the exact date, let me know in the comments of this post, and I will research and post it for you.

Besides BSFTP, I'll be writing book reviews, my take on Tito and the 2011 season, the 2nd Annual Benefit for The Jimmy Fund review, and my interview with Ed Achorn, author of "59 in '84" (all w-a-y overdue, yes, I know.)

In the meantime, I'm posting for your amusement a jpeg that I found while working on another project.

"Moneyball" the movie

“Moneyball” the book is one of the greatest baseball books out there and is now a movie starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane. Beane must figure a way to put together a championship team in 2002 after winning 102 games in 2001 and losing 3 key players to free agency. Beane embraces Jamesian computer-generated analysis over old school scouting to selecting players, whether by drafting, trading or signing through free agency. After a dreadful start to the 2002 season, the A’s turn things around and eventually win the AL West, winning 20 games in a row along the way.

Movies frequently don’t do justice to books, but director Bennett Miller does a great job of telling Beane’s back stories in addition to the amazing story of how the Oakland A’s almost took down the Evil Empire of the New York Yankees not once, but twice, on a shoestring budget as compared to the money fountains the Yankees use to cash whip their players.

The whole cast put forth best efforts in this movie. Pitt stars as Beane, and Jonah Hill is his dorky, economics degree holding Assistant GM. Brent Jennings as Ron Washington is but one of several scouts who appear in the film capturing the essence of the methods of crusty, road weary scouts.

There is another big reason why Red Sox fans will be interested in this movie. Before there was Theo, there was Dan Duquette. Beane was courted as Duquette’s successor. Arliss Howard does a great job of portraying John Henry, and there are familiar scenes of Yawkey Way and Fenway Park, (including the press box from which this humble scribe has had the pleasure of covering a game.) Find out why Beane turned down Henry’s lucrative offer.

The Fenway and Henry scenes were unexpected but quite satisfying to this Sox fan, but there was one reason in particular why I made it out to see this movie on its opening weekend. I had the opportunity to be an extra in this movie during filming of the scenes in game 20 (of the win streak) and just had to see if I made it to the final cut. I’m the guy wearing the A’s hat.

Click here for the trailer.

Book Review: "Knuckler" by Tim Wakefield (with Tony Massarotti)

“Knuckler” is the biography of Tim Wakefield, longtime Boston Red Sox knuckleball pitcher, written by Wakefield with Tony Massarotti. It tells a great story of his progression from his backyard in Melbourne, FL, fiddling with the pitch in high school and college, and through the 2010 season. Wakefield has experienced a number of highs and lows throughout his career. Highs include his dominating rookie year in 1992 with the Pirates, his outstanding 1^st year with the Sox in 1995 in which he won 16 games, lost 8 and sported a 2.95 ERA, and being named to the 2009 AL All Star Team by Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon. Lows include the disappointing end to his rookie season in which he may have won the Rookie of the Year award if not for his last pitch of the season, his sophomore slump, and the Boone pitch.

I don’t need to know what a celebrity eats for breakfast, or if he wears boxers or briefs, and thankfully Massarotti stays away from most of Wakefield’s personal life. He includes stories about and from other great knuckleballers including Tom Candiotti, Charlie Hough, Hoyt Wilhelm, Wilbur Wood, Joe Niekro and his brother Phil, who wrote the Foreword. He tells of his relationships with the Niekros, and how they mentored him, and were there for him during his slumps. Read about his endless humanitarian work with the Franciscan Hospital for Children and The Jimmy Fund, and his winning of the Roberto Clemente Award.

A knuckleball pitcher is a completely different breed of animal from other pitchers, and Massarotti gets it. A knuckleballer is not defined by ERA and WHIP statistics. They may have pedestrian statistics, but are priceless in their other contributions. A knuckleballer can start, close, short or long relieve, or perform in the most dreaded of pitching roles- the mop-up man. Wake has done ‘em all and lived to tell about ‘em all. Two of the most telling of all Wakefield’s statistics are his 3222.1 innings pitched and his 2152 strikeouts. I’m sure Billy Beane would drool over Wake’s ratios of IP/$ and K/$.  Although he performs best in a starting role pitching every 4 or 5 days, he has taken many hits for the team including shuttling between the bullpen and the starting 5, starting on short rest in emergencies, sacrificing his post-season starts for emergency relief, and the aforementioned ‘mop-up man’ role. On more than one occasion, Wake has been ‘left in the barrel’ on days his pitch wasn’t working, soaking up innings to give the bullpen a much needed rest. Days like those don’t help out a knuckleballer’s bottom line, but Wakefield time and time again puts the team interests above those of his own. Despite his on field charity work, and the many games of little run support from the offense, Wakefield has been able to amass a tidy 200-179 won-loss record, giving him a quite respectable .528 winning percentage.

The book is a great story and an easy read, I was able to blast through it, twice. Massarotti does have a couple of annoying habits- including inserting phrases with questionable grammar in awkward places separated by dashes- and an inconsistent use of italics. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book for any Red Sox, knuckleball, or baseball fan to read.

 Wake and Fenway West's own Matt O'Donnell

WEEI Telethon San Francisco area game watching parties

August 30th and 31st are the dates of this year's WEEI Annual Telethon:

Each year, Boston Red Sox and Jimmy Fund fans across the country team up to help us strike out cancer! By hosting viewing parties at bars and homes all over America, these dedicated supporters are helping to spread the word about the Radio-Telethon state by state. Click on the map below to see where you can go to watch the Radio-Telethon and cheer on the Sox in your home state.

There will be 2 Game Watching Parties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Karen Doherty, Red Sox Nation/CA governor, will be hosting a party at 4 pm on Tuesday, August 30th in San Mateo. Details can be found on the Facebook page, and on MLB Blogs Network.

As previously posted, The 2nd Annual Rock & Sox Benefit for The Jimmy Fund and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with The Cancer Sucks Band and Planet Waves~ A Tribute to Bob Dylan will take place at The Connecticut Yankee on Wednesday, August 31st. Benefit info is also posted on MLB Blogs Network. Game time is 4 pm (PDT) with the music scheduled to start about 9-9:30 pm. (Ya just never know how long a good ol' Sox-Yankees game will last!)

In addition to The Cancer Sucks Band and Planet Waves, MA native and Sox fan Chris Rowan (Rowan Brothers), Ozzie Ahlers (Jerry Garcia Band, Craig Chaquico), and Tim Flannery (3B coach of the SF Giants and a fine musician in his own right) are on the bill for this very special show.

Curses! Foiled again! (Sox win)

Tim Wakefield was thwarted yet again in his quest for his 200th MLB win tonight in Minnesota despite allowing only 3 earned runs in 7 innings pitched. He struck out 4 Twins and did not walk any. Alfredo picked up a BS, but also earned the win. Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3- 9th inning.

Offensively, the Red Sox mashed 17 hits, count 'em, 17 hits. Ortiz led the attack with a 4/5 performance, including a go-ahead single in the top of the 9th inning. One night after going 4/4, Marco Scutaro notched 3 more hits in 4 at-bats. Jed Lowrie will have his work cut out for him.

Red Sox 8 Twins 6 BOX SCORE

More A-Rod Shenanigans

Strippers, steroids, and now stuff for your nose and stogies at a poker game. Well, he's not being accused of snorting cocaine or smoking cigars, but in a story from according to ESPN, he was in attendance at an illegal poker game in Miami in which he lost a large sum of money, and in which cocaine was used and violence broke out.

MLB is not amused, and is considering suspension.

The 2nd Annual Rock & Sox Benefit for The Jimmy Fund and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Fenway West and The Connecticut Yankee present the The 2nd Annual Rock & Sox Benefit for The Jimmy Fund and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on Wednesday, August 31st. The Yankees descend upon Fenway Park at 4 pm (PDT.) Come on down to watch the game, and then stick around for dinner and a show!

Last year, we raised over $1200 for these 2 fine organizations. Let's try and beat that this year!

You don’t have to be a Red Sox or baseball fan to enjoy The Cancer Sucks Band and Planet Waves as they raise funds for The Jimmy Fund and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. These 2 organizations have been closely affiliated with the Boston Red Sox for many years. This year’s Benefit is part of DFCI’s ’50 State Game Watching Parties’ which coincides with WEEI’s Annual Telethon. CSB will perform a short set of Red Sox, baseball and classic rock covers by Neil Young, John Fogerty and others. Planet Waves will take the stage to finish off the night with their Jam Band Tribute to Bob Dylan. Planet Waves was the house band at Pat Nevins’ recent Bob Dylan 70^th Birthday Celebration, ‘Doing Dylan’, at the sold out Ashkenaz in Berkeley.

Cancer Sucks Band 2011 and Planet Waves SPECIAL GUESTS:

Tim Flannery, 3^rd base coach of the SF GIANTS

Chris Rowan, (Rowan Brothers)

Pat Nevins, (Workingman’s Ed, Ragged Glory)

Dave Stein

Ozzie Ahlers, (Jerry Garcia Band, Craig Chaquico)
Mitch Stein, (CRYPTICAL)
and spoken word poet Sam Flot

The Cancer Sucks Band 2010 performs 'Dirty Water' by The Standells:

No, this can't be! No way! PITTSBURGH?!

I went to take a look at the MLB standings and had to clean the screen after the spittake when I saw this:

PITTSBURGH IS IN 1ST PLACE!

I had to check the calendar, yes this is July, not January 19th, there were no white lines around me when I woke up, and my name wasn't in the obituaries. I am not making this up! Click on the graphic and it will bring you to MLB.com Standings for July 19, 2011.

Wow. The 1st ball game I ever went to was at old Forbes Field, so I've had a soft spot for the Pirates ever since. Them and the Giants, too. That makes both of my favorite NL teams in 1st place, and of course my favorite AL and MLB team is in 1st place.

But Pittsburgh? Really?!

Anyone still up? 16 innings later...

30 ZEROs went up on the scoreboard before a run scored. Both starting pitchers, Beckett for the Red Sox and Niemann for the Rays pitched 8 brilliant innings. Josh Beckett gave up a single in the 2nd inning and the proceeded to sit down the next 20-something batters. The bullpen was equally as impressive giving up only 2 hits and 1 walk in the next 8 innings.

In the top of the 16th inning, Dustin Pedroia rang up his 3rd hit of the game (in a game with only 8 hits total) and knocked in Josh Reddick for the 1st and only run of the game.

Aceves pitched 3 scoreless and got the win. Iron Man Award goes to Jason Varitek for catching all 16 innings. 

Red Sox 1 Rays 0 BOX SCORE

"This used to be a family show!"

A big shout of thanks to Ian at Sox & Dawgs for posting this video of a man getting a handful of something that should ought not be seen on a family show. DO and Jerry lose it mid-game laughing uncontrollably like a couple of boobs over the next few minutes. They finally had to send it to Heidi after blurting out, "This used to be a family show!"

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic


Not quite NSFW, but may depending upon where you work.

Be careful when reaching for that foul ball

A Texas Rangers fan plunged 20' yesterday after reaching for a ball that was thrown into the stands by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton after a foul ball hit by Oakland A Conor Jackson in the 2nd inning of that game had ricocheted into left field. Hamilton picked up the ball and tossed it into the stands. Local firefighter Shannon Stone, who was sitting in the front row of his section, reached over the railing and caught the ball before losing his balance and falling 20' to the concrete floor behind the scoreboard. After he landed, he repeatedly asked those around him to check on his young son, who had witnessed the fall. He died less than an hour later. Be warned that the following videos may be difficult for some to watch.

Additional video, click here.

I have been questioning for some time now how many balls are used in a ball game and the cost of all those balls. I believe that all MLB baseballs should remain property of MLB as long as they deem it, including any high profile or record breaking home run balls hit out of the stadium. (This would alleviate ugly litigation that frequently occurs over ownership of such balls.) Routine home runs and foul balls could remain property of the fan who catches it once MLB releases their ownership.

I remember when the player who caught the inning ending ball would drop it on the mound for the next pitcher. Any balls remaining on the playing field should remain property of MLB and used for batting practice, rather than having players toss them into the stands. This would also reduce the chances of such critical and fatal fan falls, and also reduce team's operating costs (albeit a small percentage of those costs.) I also understand that this practice adds to fans in attendance enjoyment of that game, but at what cost? I imagine that Stone's family might file a wrongful death suit against the Texas Rangers, Oakland A's, MLB, and quite possibly the manufacturer of the ball. Had that ball not been thrown into the stands by a player, as opposed to a ball being hit into the stands, Stone would not have fallen to his death.

Red Sox go ballistic on Astros

The Red Sox sent the Astros to the moon tonight behind a 13 hit, 10 run fireworks display just in time for the holiday. They started strong behind a 3 run 1st inning on 3 singles and 2 walks before registering their 1st out. Salty hit into a fielder's choice driving in the 3rd run of the inning. Miller pitched a strong 6 innings allowing only 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 Astros. His record now stands at 2-0, with a 3.06 ERA. At the end of 6 innings, the score stood at 4-2, favor Red Sox. They opened it up big time with a 4 run 8th inning when Darnell McDonald bought some time for himself when he sent a rocket into deep left field and over the wall. He's still way below the Mendoza line however (.125), lower than even Mike Cameron. We'll see what fate holds in store for him.

Gonzo continued on his holy reign of terror hitting his AL leading 27th double, 1 of his 3 hits on the night, raising his batting average to .353, also leading the AL. His 74 RBIs also leads the league. His HR total is lacking, though. His 16 HRs trails Toronto's Bautista by 10 HRs. He'll have to start flexing those muscles if he wants to be the 1st Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski won it in 1967. That is no complaint, however. The Sox are getting a most excellent return on their investment.

Yamaico Navarro entered the game when Youk got lost in the NL's pitcher's pinch hitter shuffle. He proceeded to hit his 1st Major League home run in his 1st at bat of this season in the 7th inning. His line now stands at an AL leading 1.000/1.000/4.000/5.000.

A few interesting Red Sox AL's top lines:

Player's name      BA        OBP          SLG       OPS
Navarro               1.000     1.000        4.000      5.000
Reddick                .452       .490          .714      1.204
Gonzalez              .353       .407          .593      1.000
Lackey                  .333      .333           .667     1.000
Ortiz                    .302      .383           .565       .948        

(Gonzo and Papi are the only 2 with enough ABs, but you knew that.)

Red Sox 10, Astros 4 BOX SCORE

All in the family

Outfielder Darnell McDonald, who did not start Sunday's game but entered the game in the 2nd inning, is the cousin of Pirate's Sunday starting pitcher James McDonald. The two had never faced each other before today.

So who won today's familial face-off? It was a draw. James struck out Darnell swinging to end the 3rd inning with 2 men on. In the 6th inning Darnell reached on a throwing error by James, (but was caught stealing 3 batters later to end the inning.)

Boston Dirt Dogs- J. D. Booooo

I saw this post on Boston Dirt Dogs today, and not that I'm a Drew hater, but the content below the photo is classic.

Click on the photo or the link above to view post in normal size.

What to do with The Big Papi in NL parks

It's interleague time again folks, and this time the Sox head out on the road to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Houston. When the AL teams play in NL parks, there is no DH, and pitchers will step into the batters box in these games.

In the past 2 years, when David Ortiz had miserable Aprils and Mays, it wasn't hard to sit him for those 9 games. This year, he's experiencing a renaissance of sorts just mashing the snot out of the ball right out of the gate. With Crawford and Gonzalez in the line-up, he's lower in the batting order, and the pressure has been off him. He has responded with a season that will rank right up there with his best ones. Last time I checked, he projected to hit 42 home runs and drive in 109 runs.

So what will Tito do with him in those 9 games? The likely scenario is that Ortiz will play 1B and Gonzalez will move to right field. RF? Yes, RF. He has played 1 game there in his time in the big leagues when he was with Texas in 2005 during his rookie season. In that game, he made 3 catches and 1 error. Once Mark Teixeira left the game, he moved back to 1B, (That he surpassed Tex in the ASG voting this year makes 2 times he's replaced him.)

Tito does not want to sit Ortiz and his hot lumber for 9 games: "I don't want David to sit nine straight games. That bothers me." Ortiz has hit in 70 of the first 72 games of the 2011 campaign. That is someone you don't want sitting on your bench.

And what does Gonzo have to say about this? He told Boston reporters that he is game for the change—on a temporary basis, of course—but that Francona hasn't approached him about it yet. He likely will soon.

Tornado at College WS

The Midwest tornadoes have been in the weather news quite often this year. Monday night the twisters stormed across the plains, and in Omaha, baseball fans had to scramble out of the stadium during the College World Series. At the 1:08 mark in this video, you can see them hot-footin’ it out of there.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/fierce-tornados-caught-on-tape-in-midwest-25695965

Wake in the driver's seat, Sox hammer Brewers 12-3

There would be no hard luck losses or no-decisions for Wake today, as the Sox poured it on the Brewers hard, pounding out 14 hits for 12 runs. Chasing Wake's knuckleball, it looked as if the Brewers had been sampling Milwaukee suds a little too much today, as they could manage only 3 hits off of the ageless pitcher. Wake walked only 1 batter, and there are no wild pitches or passed balls to speak of. He needed only 99 pitches to get through the 8 innings. He walked only 1 batter and notched 6 strikeouts on the day. His W-L record now stands at 4-2 for the season to date, with a dropping 4.26 ERA.  Dan Wheeler pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

The win gives him 197 career victories, and 183 victories in a Sox uni. Reaching 200 career wins this season is looking like a lock. 10 more victories in the Sox will leave him alone at the top of that list, higher than Clemens* and Cy Young, and is on his 2011 season radar.

Offensively- another fireworks display! The Sox jumped all over starter Yovani Gallardo tagging him for 6 runs in the 1st inning. Every Red Sox starter had a hit, while Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez and Drew all had a multi-hit game. Youk, Pedy and Scutaro hit home runs, while the not-so-fleet-of-foot Gonzalez banged hit 3rd triple of the season. (Not as slow as he claims?) Adding 4 doubles to the mix gives the Sox a total of 8 extra-base hits for the day.

The win gives the Sox a 43-28 W-L record, .606 pct., 41-18 since 2-10, .694 pct. The 2nd place Yankees (oh how I love writing that!) play the Cubs in Chicago tonight.

Red Sox 12 Brewers 3 BOX SCORE 

 

What a difference 58 days makes

The Red Sox have scored 83 runs in the past 9 games! That's the type of offense that was written about during Spring Training, but that's not how things started out. We all know those dubious numbers: 2-10 W-L record on April 15. 58 days later, the W-L record stands at 39-26, which gives them a W-L record of 37-16  in those 58 days. (That's a .698 winning percentage for those of you keeping track at home.)

As for individual offensive changes of the 12 players with the most plate time in that time span, take a look at this table:

 Click on graphic to make larger

As you can see, 10/12 of these players have numbers heading north. Although Pedroia's numbers have dropped, he is having a monster June and is seeing his numbers back on the rise.

Mr. Cameron, you're still on the Interstate! What is up with that?! Off to the cages with you!

And you, Mr. Jed... you're offensive numbers are, well, quite offensive. On April 18, the Red Sox had just finished a 4 game set with the Blue Jays, a set in which Lowrie went 9/15, leaving him with a line of .516/.545/.588/1.133. We knew he wouldn't hit at that rate for the season, but who saw this drop-off coming? Jed, warm thee up thy bat lest ye be saddled with a moniker of 'trade-bait.'

The most pleasant set of numbers have to belong to The Big Papi. 2009 and 2010 saw slow starts for Papi. Naysayers tagged him with an all-washed-up label, only to have him come back and have respectable numbers at year's end. This year, he started warm, but has gone completely off the hook! He projects to having 43 HRs and 109 RBIs.

No complaints here! Just lovin' every minute of it!

Wakefield Wins, Red Sox ALONE in 1st Place!

What a blast of good news after coming in from working outside all day!

My main man, Tim Wakefield, notched his career victory #196, and his Red Sox victory #182, only 10 short of the franchise record. Wake pitched 5.1 innings, and while not overpowering- he allowed 5 runs- he left sitting on a 7-4 lead. A little shaky at first, Aceves came in with 2 men on in the bottom of the 6th and gave up 2 singles, allowing 1 of Wake's runners to score, leaving himself with a full boat and only 1 out. He rose to the challenge and induced Jeter to hit into an inning ending twin killing. Aceves walked away from the game with his 1st save of the season.

Big Papi hit his 15th HR of the season, (no bat flip), and is the proud owner of a .323 batting average. Every man on the Red Sox line-up had at least 1 R or 1 H or 1 RBI. Seven of nine had at least 2 Hs or 2 Rs or 2 RBIs. Drew and Crawford homered in addition to the Papi.

The Sox hammered AJ Burnout for 8 runs in 5.2 innings. He has not earned a win against the Red Sox in his 8 starts as a Yankee, and to think that's exactly why the Yankees went out and dropped bank on him.

The Red Sox are all alone at the top of the AL EAST!

Red Sox 11 Yankees 6 BOX SCORE

The Papi Flip

Last night in the top of the 5th inning, Big Papi David Ortiz got brushed off in what some speculated might have been retaliation for Lester drilling Teixeira and Martin in the 1st inning. He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and then drilled the next inside pitch for a classic Ortiz home run. He knew it the instant he hit it, as probably much of the 48k fans in the house did at the time. He air-ailed his maple stick back towards the Sox dugout as he spun towards 1st to take his HR trot.

You can see the video here.

After the game Joe Girardi said he didn't really care for it. He said something about protecting his young kid on the mound (who didn't see the flip), and then said something about if one of his guys did it... yadda, yadda, yadda. Oh come on Joe! It wasn't like he was blowing kisses at the pitcher as he rounded the bases. It wasn't like he was standing at the plate for 10 minutes with his arms in the air as Manny did against the Angels.Yeesh. Joe's comments can be heard at the 4:45 mark in this video.

Anyhow, the major media are all jumping on this story: Boston Herald, Gordon Edes/ESPN, Sean McAdam/NECN, Nick Cafardo/Boston.com, NY Daily News, CBS New York, and seem to care more about this story than the Yankees do.

Wake Shines Again!

Tim Wakefield pitched into the 7th inning allowing 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 3 Cubs. The win gives him 194 lifetime and 180 in his Red Sox career. That leaves him 6 shy of the 200 mark and is 12 short of the Red Sox's team record of 192 -- the total shared by Cy Young and Roger Clemens. 

The Red Sox pounded out 12 hits tonight, including a 4/4 performance from Adrian Gonzalez. Kevin Youkilis drove in 2 runs with a triple and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 3rd HR of the season. Daniel Bard went 1.1 innings giving up nothing to the Cubs. The Yankees and The Rays both won today. The Red Sox remain 0.5 GB them, but at 25-21, they have gone 23-11 since their dubious 2-10 start.

For videos of Wakefield, Youkilis and Saltalamcchia, click here.

Red Sox 5 Cubs 1 BOX SCORE

Best Fan Sign Ever?

Masshole Sports has posted a photo of the Best Fan Sign Ever down in the giant yurt known as Tropicana Field. It's borderline NSFW, otherwise I would have posted it here. It's definitely in questionable taste, but with a name like Masshole, I suppose that is to be expected.

UPDATE: That was the Fenway West post, but I can post it here, though.

 

Carl Crawford has arrived

With his 2nd walk-off hit this week, Carl Crawford has removed the monkey from his back. He started the season with a horrendous .155/.204/.227/.431 line for the month of April. In the 1st 10 games in the month of May, his line reads .361/.378/.500/.878, quite the difference. 

As for the rest of the crew, McDonald, Varitek, and Cameron are all on the interstate, while Salty and Crawford have both risen above the Mendoza Line. Scutaro and Drew both have BAs in the low .200's. Pedroia is in a rare slump dragging his BA down to .237. Youk started slow, but has since risen his BA to .250. That leaves Lowrie, Gonzalez, Ellsbury and Ortiz all with very satisfactory numbers so far.

Fenway Security Takedown Update

Yesterday Matt posted a youtube video of a drunk guy running on to right field and getting slam dunked by Fenway Security. Today, MyFoxBoston interviewed the guy. (I hesitate to use the word 'fan'.)

Crawford gets the walk off hit, Sox win

Carl Crawford is no longer useless. He had 2 hits today, including a game winning walk off single in the bottom of the 9th inning scoring Jed Lowrie who had just hit a triple.

Now, back to Bobby Jenks. Tim Wakefield had pitched 5.2 innings and had allowed only 3 hits, 1 run and 1 walk while striking out 3 Mariners. Wake left the game in the 6th inning with a man on 1st and the Red Sox holding 2-out 2-0 lead. Jenks. Jenks' 6th inning: single, wild pitch, walk, walk, walk, before finally getting the final out. 

Salty and Wake combined to catch Chone Figgins trying to steal 2nd base, not an easy thing to do.

Jenks leaves the game tied 2-2. Albers and Papelbon pitched 3 scoreless innings, before Crawford earned a tiny bit of of redemption.

Sox 3 Mariners 2 BOX SCORE

Red Sox drop another one

Despite John Lackey pitching 6 innings and allowing only 2 runs, Doug Fister of the Mariners went better- 5.2 IP and didn't allow any runs. Salty had 2 hits and in scoreless relief Oki went 1.2 IP and Wheeler went 1.1 IP.

Red Sox 0 Mariners 2 BOX SCORE

Sox starting lineup vs. Mariners 04.30.11

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jed Lowrie, SS
8. Carl Crawford, LF
9. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C

SP -- John Lackey

Saturday night at 7:10 ET at Fenway Park

Jenks- This year's Gagne?

In 2007, the Eric Gagne Experiment went terribly awry. That was the experiment in which Gagne, an elite closer with the Dodgers and Rangers, came to Boston and nearly cost the Red Sox 2007 playoff hopes when he blew 3 save opportunities before being relegated to mop up duty. Needless to say, he did not make the post season roster.

Fast forward to 2011, and it appears that Bobby Jenks is taking Gagne's place in the current version. 

Dice-K pitched to 1 batter in the 5th inning before leaving the game with tightness in his elbow. He had allowed only 1 ER up to that point. Matt Albers pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief. Jenks came in to pitch the 7th with a 1 run lead. He gave up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs, which garnered him a BS and a L for his efforts. Okajima and Bard each pitched a scoreless inning.

Jenks' line for this season is pretty ugly so far. In 10 games, he has 8.1 IP, 1-2 W-L, 8.64 ERA, 1 BS, 2.16 WHIP, .324 BAA, 405 SLG, and .419 OBA.

Mike Cameron hit 2 HR's.

Red Sox 4 Mariners 5 BOX SCORE

Jason Bay hits a 'Little League Home Run'

Former Red Sox Jason Bay hit a 'Little League Home Run last night against the Houston Astros in New York yesterday. Bay hit a pop up to shallow right field. Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence dropped the ball and it took off for the right field corner. Bay was already bolting right out of the box and when he saw Pence drop the ball, he then put it into overdrive and made it all the way home standing up. Pence gets the dubious 4 base error added to his sheet.

Watch the video here

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And another road victory!

After starting off the 2011 campaign with a downright fugly 2-10 W-L record, the Red Sox have seemed to turn things around winning the next 5 of 6 games, giving them a 7-16 W-L record, leaving them 4 games out of 1st place. 

Josh Beckett turned in his 3rd outstanding performance in a row, hurling 8 innings of 3 hit, 2 run ball. He left the game with the 2 teams tied a 2 runs apiece. The Red Sox bullpen shined the way they had been expected to with Bard, Jenks and Papelbon tossing 3 shutout innings. 

Jed Lowrie got another hit tonight, while scoring 1 and knocking in 1 RBI. Pedroia got 3 hits, but the biggest hit of the night came from Adrian Gonzalez who knocked in the go ahead run in the 11th inning. 

Red Sox 4 Angels 2 BOX SCORE

Finally a road victory

The Red Sox notched their 1st road victory in Oakland today. The victory came on their 8th road game of the year and the 17th game of the 2011 campaign. Clay Buchholz was rattled from the start after Coco Crisp hit his 1st pitch of the game for a home run. Although he put up zeros into the 6th inning, 9 other A's made it onto the base paths, 5 coming from hits and 4 coming from walks. You can tell when Buchholz lets base runners get to him when he spends as much time throwing to the bases as he does to the batter. No matter, he did his job and left the game allowing only 1 Athletic cross home plate. In the 6th inning he gave up a double and 2 walks before leaving the game visibly upset with his performance. Enter Daniel Bard with the bases loaded. Cliff Pennington proceeded to smack Bard's 1st pitch, a 96 mph 4-seam fastball deep into the left field corner and out of view from where my brother and I were sitting. A's fans voiced their displeasure at the foul ball ruling. Pennington swung at 2 more 96 mph heaters and he sits down. Bard gets his 3rd Hold of the season after pitching 1.2 innings. Bobby Jenks didn't fare so well. He gave up another run in 0.2 IP. Pap earned his 3rd Save allowing the final A run.

The Sox faced yet another left handed pitcher leaving David Ortiz as the odd man out. Smokin' hot Jed Lowrie, who attended Stanford University, not far from here, hit his 3rd HR of the season,  which was his 2nd hit of the game. Drew and Youk also homered today.

The remarkably relatively well attended game (29+k) actually had a fair amount of A's fans in attendance at 'Fenway West.' Most games that I have been here for usually have well more Sox fans then A's fans. Nevertheless, there was a sizable Red Sox fan contingent in the house. 

The 'Emperor of Red Sox Nation,' a fixture on Sawxheads, was not seen today. But there was an adorable young family sitting directly in front of me and my brother (this one lives here, not the one who lives back east.)  The 6th inning rain sent them scurrying for cover with their 2 daughters. One good thing about the rain- it sent a good chunk of fans home early, leaving plenty of room on the train for the rest of us.

The 'Emperor'

Red Sox 5 Athletics 3 BOX SCORE

No Lost Game Streak

Thanks and a tip of the cap to Edward Achorn and artist Macleod

Alfred E. Neuman said it best

Quote of the day?

Ellsbury in the funny papers

Has anyone told the Red Sox that Spring Training is over?

Just sayin', ykwim? I mean, I'm not ready to pounce on a panic button just yet, jeez, guys, c'mon already! The Rangers are tough, but the Indians? Please, you guys can do better than that.

OK, 2011 season, take 2.

Where are they now?

"Where are they now? " is one of my occasional series of posts when I find a former Red Sox player in the news and post about them here.Brian Daubach is the manager of a the Washington Nationals farm team. Shea Hillenbrand has an interesting story to tell. Scott Hatteberg is scheduled to play himself in the "Moneyball" movie about Oakland A's GM Billy Beane. Freddy Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez and Javier Lopez are playing for the Giants and wearing World Series rings. The list goes on.

Over The Monster takes a trip around the majors and lists former Red Sox players on other MLB teams on Opening Day, 2011.

Red Sox cap sighting (04.01.11)

Jeff Miller of New Monsoon was seen sportin' a Red Sox cap in 2007 and was captured for all eternity by noted San Francisco Bay Area concert photographer Susan J. Weiand, who is a Red Sox fan originally from Massachusetts. Miller sat in with New Monsoon last night on this smokin' hot rendition of "Catfish John."

Quote of the day (03.31.11)

Print quote from Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe after Buck Showalter, manager of the Orioles, made questionable remarks about Theo Epstein and the budget he has to work with:

Anonymously order 100 pizzas from Sarasota House of Pizza, charge to Buck Showalter. That'll teach him.