You Got Your Offense In My Defense! Sox Bats Defy 'Bridge Year' BS

The Red Sox are leading THE MAJORS or are right behind the leader in plethora of offensive categories  right now. Yeh, you heard me right: The entire major league.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the numbahs:

• #1 in Hits with 689 (Number 2? The Kansas City Royals; I know, it's totally crazy)
• #1 in Doubles with 174
• #1 in RBI with 373
• #1 in Runs with 390
• #1 in Total Bases with 1158
• #2 in Average at .278 (Number 1? The Kansas City Royals at .279)
• #2 in Home runs with 93 (Number 1 is still the Blue Jays)
• #2 in On-Base Percentage at .353 (A tie with the Braves of Hotlanta; That team from the Bronx leads at .359)
• #3 in Walks with 277 (behind that team from the Bronx and the Braves of Hotlanta)

The team who plays on Yawkey Way are middle of the pack in one category: Strike Outs. They currently rank 17th which is fairly decent. At the bottom of that list are the Chicago White Sox and, once again, the Kansas City Royals.

If only the Royals had a few more decent starters... Speaking of Kansas City, they could be a team the Red Sox try to bargain with for a trade. Gordon Edes of ESPN started dropping some names recently and he mentioned Scot Podsednik as a target for Theo. He hits, he steals bases and he runs the bases well... I have some other ideas on potential targets, but more on that later.

Despite all this offense, the Red Sox have to be on the market for an impact outfielder with the injuries to Ellsbury, Cameron, Hermida and now, Drew. Drew is supposed to play tonight in Colorado, but I will not be surprised if Tito gives him more time off to let that hamstring calm down. Luckily, he did not land on the DL, but you'd be foolish to rule that out with Stephen's older, richer brother.

While the team-offensive numbers have been solid, the overall offensive contributions from outfielders are tenuous aside from Drew. Sure, there have been great rookie moments from McDonald and Nava, and some nice lefty at bats from Hermida (who is hurt), but let's be clear: We cannot expect these triple-a guys (and an inconsistent Bill Hall, who is really a back-up infielder) to go the rest of the season. In an effort to reach the playoffs, the Red Sox need another Ellsbury-type player who can get on base consistently, be a real base-stealing threat and generally be a nuisance to pitchers.

Looking at the outfield, Edes recently examined the offensive state of these players:

Relying on patchwork combinations that have featured McDonald, Jeremy Hermida and Bill Hall, with a cameo appearance by rookie Josh Reddick and now the latest import from Pawtucket, Nava, the Sox outfield collectively ranks next to last in the league in hitting (.257), 12th in OBP (.329), seventh in slugging (.421) and fifth in home runs (22).

And now I digress on Mike Cameron... I was doing a little research on contracts and still cannot believe Theo gave him over $7 million dollars. Yeh, he can play the outfield, but you had to know his age was a bit of a liability. Considering the abdominal injury and his lack of everyday status at present, perhaps now is the time to package him up with someone from the minor leagues and let him and his lousy batting average, lack of power and ZERO stolen bases go elsewhere.

[Image by therob006 via Flickr CC 3.0]

Another Expected Win Squandered by the Pen

Can you control chaos in baseball pitching? My gut tells me you can, but what the hell do I know from my teak-veneer, living-room table for an office desk.

The baseball cliche "you are only as good as the team you put out there" is in direct conflict with the idea that you can manage bad pitching when it's happening in front of your face. Francona puts faith in his players and doesn't like to overreact. But with this bullpen, I think past performance does not always translate in to present success.

Last night was one of those games when a guy who had been running well in the pen for the last 6 appearances suddenly stunk up the joint. This time: Hideki Okajima and it was pretty obvious that he didn't have much there.

It was 6-4 in the 8th and Oki couldn't get outs giving up hits, a walk and 2 runs to the first 4 batters he faced to tie the game up at 6-6. A shorter leash might have been in order here, Tito. Instead, it became an extra-innings game. Instead, Ramon Ramirez ends up walking in the winning run for the Tigers in the 12th (he threw 4 straight balls nowhere near the zone). 


These are the kind of games that separate the teams at the top from the teams that flounder in the middle to the bottom of the standings. Emotionally, you feel like every step forward with this team to get over .500 baseball is let down by late-inning inadequacies and situational failures. You know how talented this team is supposed to be, but it simply doesn't matter. The Yankees and Rays are playing hot baseball and win close games regularly.

The Sox are not in the same class as these teams in mid-May 2010 and it comes down to the bullpen.

In a night when the starting pitching and offense are clicking, when a hot Lester, Drew and Ortiz stay hot, when a utility guy like Bill Hall hits another home run, when Papelbon goes 2 innings and a third, the morning after hangover of disappointment and disgust is glacial.

The Red Sox bullpen--despite Papelbon and Bard--is a steaming heap of crap.

Lester pitched quite well despite the 4 runs he gave up. He was dominate for most of the outing striking out 10 and throwing a cut fastball to righties that dropped out of the zone. He looked great again.

It may not be completely fair to pin the game on one person last night... You could make the argument that Lester let the Tigers back in, that he was left in too long, and that the offense wasn't able to muster any extra inning magic. You could also say the Tigers pen is that much better than the Red Sox. Ok, sure. Go ahead and make your reasoned thinking.

But a 6-5 lead in the 8th inning and one of the best closers in the game waiting to get the save, you end up keying on that one guy who could not get it done. If Oki isn't throwing well by allowing base hits and a walk, bring in Delcarmen or someone else (Bard was not available last night). Don't rely on your faith in a guy when he simply isn't getting the job done. Slow the game down. Make V-Mart walk out and talk to Oki. Send Farrell out there. Get guys ready. Okajima would be the first one to tell you he did not have it and he's not going to be hurt if you have to take him out.

A little more tough love for the pen to protect a lead and win a game is in order here as is proactive bullpen management. Take them out if you have to, please!

On the Oddity of Home Run Trots

Joe Posnanski had a post - a few weeks ago now, but I only got around to reading it today - about how the home run trot is the only celebratory moment in sports that's an actual part of the game. To wit:

As far as I know, it’s the only individual celebration that is actually a function of the game. What I mean is: Someone scores scores a goal in soccer, he or she can rip off the shirt, do cartwheels show off the sports bra, run around while shaking both fists — which seems like the official “Yay me!” celebration in European and South American soccer. It doesn’t matter. It’s not part of the game. Touchdown dances, of course, come in all varieties. They’re not part of the game either. Someone scores in hockey, and the game’s structure quite liberal about giving the goal scorer a little freedom to hug teammates and some time to celebrate self. The clock does not run in any of these. There is no direct contact with the action.*

*There are other examples. One in-game celebration is the breakaway dunk.

But in baseball, the celebration is part of the action … you hit a ball over the fence and you are still required, by the rule of the game, to run around the bases to complete the play.

The subconscious understanding of this requirement seems like it could be the source of traditional baseball antipathy to drawn-out home run trots, watching the ball when it leaves the bat, and all of the other things that Manny Ramirez used to do - and probably still does, to be honest - whenever he hit a home run. Those who respect the game, it seems, make sure the ball is on its way out and then go into a trot that's fast enough to demonstrate that they remember that jogging out a dinger is as much a function of the structure of the game (to crib on Joe's phrase) as it is a celebration of achievement. In other words, a properly-placed home run trot is as much a part of good baseball etiquette as hustling down to first.

I bring this up because I just watched J. D. Drew's 5th home run of the season. It was more of a line drive than a fly ball and it had a low enough angle to the field that Adam Jones in center had a shot to catch it. In fact, he almost made the catch: the ball sailed just out of reach, over the wall in left center. On the replay, you could see Drew watching the ball as he ran down to first. Drew isn't much for displays of emotion, as we know, and once he knew the ball was gone he tucked his head down and completed his circuit without giving Jones or the wall a second glance. But for a moment, as he watched the ball sail towards the wall, it almost seemed like he'd put aside wondering whether or not he'd have to go a higher gear to stretch out a double and enjoyed the circumstances that allowed him to celebrate his home run by requiring him to watch it.

Report Card for the Red Sox : D+ to C- With Upside

It hasn't exactly been a full month of Red Sox baseball, nor is my grade of the team exactly scientific, but screw it. If there is anything that drives a baseball fan to blog it's the love of examining the micro, tossing it with everyday observations and then making macro assertions.

The guys who get paid to do this are making lists about the Sox woes, so let's throw our tiny opinions in the till and see where we end up...

It's not a great revelation to say the Red Sox are a well-below average team right now with traces of stinking failure. The concerns are real.

ESPN's Gordon Edes has it right when he lists the Sox woes including: how the team is struggling mightily at DH, how the run differential numbers are quite scary, how throwing-out base runners is horrid, how enigmatic the pitching of Josh Beckett is and the struggles of a taxed bullpen. And those insanely high-performing Rays are smacking the ball around like they are playing slow-pitch softball. They are a ridiculous team. You want to see differentials? The Rays, as Edes pointed out, are outscoring the opposition 120-42.

Despite all these issues, the Red Sox are saved by one thing and one thing alone: The potential talent of proven players. The emphasis is on proven. It's very easy to wallow in the disappointment of expectations in April, but there is so much more that will happen [insert marathon vs. sprint cliche here].

That water coming out of your eyes is not only from the pollen, but from the panic. Get a tissue. Blow your negative nose and take a deep drag off your inhaler. Despite every issue we can pinpoint over a month for this team, patience may still show reward. So breathe.

Let's get a little perspective: An rib-injured Ellsbury hurts a whole lot. But next month, a Ben Zobrist could dive for a ball at The Trop and end up on the DL. A Matt Garza could get hit by a line drive up the middle. CC Fatsackia could rip something other than a bag of pork rinds.While I don't wish injury on anyone, they happen and they happen to every team.

Victor Martinez will heat up. Josh Beckett will turn it around. The bullpen will get more rest. The left side of the infield will improve its defense. Navajo Jewish Lawyer (Ellsbury) will return, and he will eventually swipe bases (though it could be slow going since it's a rib injury).

We will likely be surprised with offense from Beltre, Drew and Ortiz.

Clay Buchholz has been solid. Lester, by evidence of his last outing, could be making a run. There have been some key contributions from Hermida, McDonald and Scutaro. Youk and Lil Shit are money in the bank. Papelbon has saved games. Lackey is a fighter and should get that ERA down and go deeper in games.

We've already seen that this team can beat up on lesser-talented teams. The challenge will be to beat the really good ones. After getting smacked around by the Yanks and Rays, it will serve this team well to wear that smackdown on their shoulders and grind out games.

I truly believe this team will be competitive. Now how about a sweep in Baltimore this weekend?

Would You Want to be Called an Injury in Waiting?

The first part of Nick Cafardo's notes column from yesterday discusses the odd circumstances of Jason Bay's departure, tying his decision to leave to Boston's insistence on a contract with protection clauses against injury. Cafardo points out that Lackey and Drew both agreed to take pay cuts or lose options if they become injured, suspects that Boston will require the same stipulations of Beckett and Papelbon, and noted that Dr. Thomas Gill, the team physician who questioned the strength of Bay's shoulder, made the prescient call on the future of Pedro. As you might expect, all of these points lead up to coup de grace indictment of Bay's decision:

What’s puzzling is that if he felt so confident about his physical condition, and understood how good Fenway and Boston were to him, why wouldn’t he go along with the medical provisions, just as some prominent teammates had? If the Sox - according to Bay’s version - were willing to go three guaranteed years and a fourth year with medical protection at $15 million per year, what was so offensive about that?

I expect the answer is little simpler than Cafardo expects: even though four years at Fenway would likely make Bay's numbers far more attractive than four years at Citi Field, choosing to accept a medical provision brands Bay as a player with suspect boy body parts, even if he makes it all four years without injury. At the end of his contract, Bay would be in his mid-30s, already looking at less money as his career declines, and wouldn't want to carry the value-lowering label of potential injury in the bargain. He may be screwed either way: by declining a medical provision while insisting he's healthy, he gives power to the argument that he's an injury waiting to happen, but I can understand why he might have chosen the contract with the Mets as the lesser of two evils.

J.D. Drew and His Back 'O Stiffness

Look, we all know that J.D. Drew has back problems. So maybe the plan of sending him back to Boston to get an injection for stiffness in his back is just as precautionary as Francona says it is...but I'm a little freaked out by the news. For better or for worse - and I'll admit, for the most part it's really been better - Drew is one of the lynchpins of Boston's offense. There are already a few question marks where offense is concerned for 2009 and adding more unknowns into the equation makes the Sox that much less competitive in the wild world of the AL Beast. I'm not throwing in the season by any means, but the scrunity on Drew will get that much more intense when he comes back on Friday.

Princes of the Universe

Presenting! Terry Francona's The Highlander! Watch, as one man from Georgia, supported by a cast with such dashing and daring characters as Youk, Pedey, Big Papi, Bay State (does anyone actually call him Bay State?), Coco, and Rat Boy, fights to keep his dreams of a 2008 World Series berth alive - or at least give the Rays a run for their money - in the face of Terrible Aggression, Rayhawks, female Rayhawks, and B. J. Upton!

With:

• J.D. Drew as Connor McLeod of the Clan McLeod, the Scottish warrior with the bat and excitement response of steel!
  
• David Ortiz as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, the Spanish swordsman who looks Scottish but is actually, in fact, Dominican.
• Evan Longoria as The Kurgan, the bad guy so bad ass he needs no introduction - nor pitch high in the zone.

Holy crap, what a way to end a game. I will admit without shame that while I headed into tonight with at least some hope of a good showing to brighten what had been an otherwise abysmal stretch of baseball, by the seventh inning I was reduced to praying for a run, making and burning small sacrifices of peanuts and crackerjack on my living room floor in the hopes that the baseball gods might let us live without the indignity of a skunking.

Then came the bottom of the seventh inning. Remember the feeling you had before Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, where you basically declared "$#&% it" and decided to watch just to see how things turned out? That's how I felt when I wrested control of the TV at the start of the bottom of the seventh. Then things started happening. Pedroia comes up with two outs and a man in scoring position and does what almost no other Red Sox has done this series: he knocks him in. Papi comes up: we're all thinking "big spot, big spot, 2004, Mr. Clutch Hit," but we're all thinking about that wrist, too, about that sub-.200 batting average and the deadfish way his hits seem to have these days. And maybe we're thinking about that triple from last night, too, because somehow hard-cursing Grant "Lord" Balfour decides right now would be a perfect time to challenge Big Papi with a fastball in the heart of his ball-crushing zone. And like J. D. Drew last year, the totally improbable happened: easy as pie, Ortiz dropped that ball right into the grandstand and cut the Rays' lead in half.

Bottom of the eighth: we have our runs now. Now I'm starting to get greedy. I want that tie game, I want that win. I want to go back to Tampa and show these Rays why this decade belongs to the Boston Red Sox. I want J. D. Drew to hit a two-run homer. Surprisingly, so does Dan Wheeler, because he gives Drew a pitch about as fat as the one hit by Ortiz and suddenly, we're a run shy of the biggest comeback the Rays have allowed all year. Kotsay doubles on another fat offering and now it's up to Coco: two outs, momentum on the line. His battle with Wheeler is the stuff of legend and hitting instructional videos - ten pitches, fouling fastball after fastball after fastball until he finally got the perfect offering - but his result is what truly mattered: a smash down the right field line that was enough to score Kotsay and tie the game.

Francona, in a move that walks the line between genius and idiocy (and seems like genius because they won), had brought in Papelbon in the seventh and eighth, so he turned to Masterson for the ninth. Masterson, being the fine, upstanding citizen that he is, decides a collective heart attack is what's best for all and proceeds to put men on first and second before finally inducing a double play to escape. The heart of the order is up for the Sox now, but I'm pretty close to panic, with visions of Javier Lopez or - saints preserve us - Mike Timlin coming in to protect the lead in the ninth. All around the country, Red Sox fans jacked up on adrenaline are pleading for the same thing: no extra innings.

We almost got 'em. Watching Longoria make that grab on the third base line was like watching a ninja eviscerate a kitten: you admire the form, but you don't feel too good about the result. A long night looms...and then the throw sailed wide. Just like that. Youkilis goes to second and we're seeing the third example in as many innings of the type of breaks grabbing we've enjoyed so much in the past four years. Bay walks, Joe Maddon decides to play the odds of a lefty/lefty matchup with Drew despite the history and once again, a battle ensues. Howell can't throw anything but junk and Drew's seeing the ball so well he'll keep fouling off pitch after pitch until he finds the one he wants...until he hits the ball to right field. Until we win. Pandemonium. Dancing in the streets. Princes of the Universe. Go Sox.

Halo

Continuing Robin's angels and metal themes from Wednesday's game...

ALDS Game 2: Boston Red Sox 7, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5

I think we should make it a rule that J.D. Drew should hit one really dramatic home run per playoffs, because it seems to do really good things for the team. Tonight's contribution might not have been as surprising as the $70 million home run (you know: given that home run and all he did for the team in June and the home run tonight, maybe it's time to retire that nickname), because I had high expectations for Drew as soon as he came to the plate, but that long bomb off of K-Rod (note to baseball writers: if you vote for K-Rod for MVP because of that save record, you are a fool. And tonight is a small demonstration of why.) was definitely Papi-like in its clutchness.

Speaking of long bombs, was there something in the air tonight that kept balls in the yard? If I remember correctly, there were four near-misses (three of them by Red Sox) to go with the two home runs and all four of them looked like sure things when they left the bat. Maybe it was the camera angle playing tricks with the mind. Or maybe there are air demons in Anaheim we don't know about. If there are, they probably come from Disneyland.

A few other thoughts:

• Once again, I take back all of the bad things I said about Jon Lester in my preview on Wednesday. It was just the numbers talking, I swear. I do not take back what I said about Matsuzaka, who made tonight's outing the closest three (and then two) run game I've ever seen.
  
• Jason Bay is amazing. Pure, bottled awesomeness who gets the hits we need. My friend Don and I were talking about him before Game 1, wondering whether or not the pressure of his first time would get to him. Clearly, we needn't have worried: he's 5 for 9 with two home runs, a double, and five RBI.
  
• Dustin Pedroia...well, I refuse to speak ill of Dustin Pedroia. Snapping an 0 for 8 is nothing for the Horse.
• Terry Francona made up for his tactical error in the eighth (sending Masterson back out to start the inning, leading to a need for a comeback and a six out save) by pinch-running for Ortiz in the ninth. It's a good thing, too because for a second he looked like he'd been out-managed by Mike Scioscia.

Josh Beckett. Fenway Park. Sunday night. Going for the sweep. If we don't send the Halos home with a broom after taking two from them in LA, we won't be able to hold our heads up when we walk down the street. Time to extend that baseball-best streak of 11 straight post-season wins against a team to twelve and get that ALCS ticket stamped. GO SOX!!!

"Mantle-Like"?

Chip Caray just called J.D. Drew's power "Mantle-like." I love J.D. Drew (especially right now), but I have no idea what this statement means. Especially since Mickey Mantle's career isolated power total is about 40 points higher than J.D. Drew's. And that's a big difference.

Fun fact: when Mickey Mantle was 36 (his final year, in 1968), he had a .237 batting average, but still managed to get on base about 39 percent of the time, which means a ridiculous number of walks. '68 was Mantle's worst season after his rookie year and he still managed to be 42 percent better than the average player.

Send Me An Angel

ALDS Game 1: Boston Red Sox 4, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 1

Ahhh feel that? That’s October baseball. Playoff baseball. The leaves are turning and the dirtdogs are barking. It’s my favorite time of the year.

Before I get into the meat of the game log and not to rub it in, but that’s 10 postseason wins in a row against the Angels of wherever they claim to be from. The Red Sox just have their number. I know they have the best record in the AL, but I LOVE to seeing them in the first round.

Tonight was almost all about Jon Lester. I know everyone has gushed like pink hat wearing tweens about the guy… but he deserves it. He is a freak of nature. He can’t be beaten by base runners, pitch counts or cancer. I am pretty sure he is the government’s answer for Chuck Norris if Chuck ever goes “bad”. I mean it! Norris goes rogue and the president presses a big red button and deploys Jon Lester.

He pitched 7 innings of guts and glory with no earned runs and a belly full of bees. It would have been a SCORELESS 7 if not for Jed Lowrie and his awful Tony Graffanino imitation. That dumb error led to the only Angel run and almost got me calling Jed “Rat Boy” for the rest of the playoffs. He looks like his last job was teaching 4 turtles ninja skills. The only blunder that topped that was the bad running by Vlad in the 8th. Only a dummy tries to take 3rd on Youks arm.

On the offensive side of things, the injuries really took their toll on the Sox lineup. J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell were both too injured to play in this game. That didn’t stop them from STARTING… but they were sure as hell hurt. Lowell can barely run. Papi is also a shell of himself and if it wasn’t for the insurance RBI in the 9th he would have been another 0-fer.

The GOOD news was coming from Bay and Jacoby. The Sox got on the board thanks to a MAMMOTH 2 run blast from our Canadian friend. He almost looked excited about it too. As for Jacoby, this kid is another type of player in the postseason. He was on base all night. Stealing bases, hitting doubles and taking 3 bases on missed catches… there was nothing he didn’t do tonight… and that includes making amazing catches in center (he FLEW out there). He is like Apache Chief and when the playoffs roll around, you know he is screaming INYUK-CHUK!

With the 3 run lead, the ball went to Papelbon and the Paps delivered. He struck out the side to end any drama. He used his fastball (overpowering) and even found his splitter to get a big K. Soooooooo tasty! This was just a fantastic win that would be even sweeter if it wasn’t after 2 in the morning. So let’s wrap this up and let me get some shut eye so I can dream of the Angels and the rally monkey they can’t get off their back.

Taking Stock: Beating the Angels?

Last year, I weighed the odds, considered the statistics, and made what turned out to be a conservative prediction: Red Sox over the Angels in four games. This year, it is Boston's lot to play the Angels in the first round once again, with an eye towards continuing a streak of nine straight playoff victories and advancing to the next round (although, as Hart Brachen so rightly put it, all of these games are pure gravy to those fans smart enough to enjoy the good times while they last), and my lot (enjoyable, to be sure) to make another prediction.

Because he is a clever person, Soxlosophy's Jonah Goldwater rounded up the major statistics involved in this upcoming series in a post yesterday, but here's some additional factors to consider:

• The Power of Teh SuXX0r: In 13 post-season games (going back to that infamous ALCS in 1986), the Sox have a collective ERA of 2.82 and collective splits of .281/.366/.451, while the Angels have a collective ERA of 5.59 and collective splits of .232/.299/.341. In other words, the Angels have been pretty terrible in the post-season (particularly last year, when the broken and beaten remains of the offense cowered under a rock before the might of everyone not named Matsuzaka or Gagne), generally falling far short of their regular season production. This trend is great news for the Sox, who beat the Angels once in nine regular season games in 2008...and that one win was back in April, in Boston.
• The Dice-K Factor: Speaking of Matsuzaka, we'd better hope that Friday's starter doesn't repeat past results when he faces the Angels in Game 2: in 9.2 innings (including the start in Game 2 of the ALDS last year), he's given up nine runs and hasn't gone any deeper than five innings.
• Seeking the Better Lester: I have a two-part excuse for why Jon Lester has been the opposite of filthy awesome against the Angels in his career: first, 14.2 of his 19.2 total innings were from before 2008, when he was the inconsistent Houdini who danced on the edge of disaster start after start. Second, his only start against LAA came in late April, when he was still in this blog's doghouse for having a (in retrospect) Matsuzaka-level lack of efficiency. Since then, of course, he's become the savior of this rotation and his more recent performance gives me hope that tonight will not be a blowout.
• Injuries: Drew, Lowell, and Beckett all sound like they're healthier now than they were at the end of September. Having Drew and Lowell back could raise the lineup out of their September doldrums (yes, that's right: the team's splits dropped 30 points in all three categories in one month) and give Boston a fighting chance to beat some potentially devastating pitching, while Beckett remains the standard bearer for playoff excellence who could be in a position to keep the post-season alive come early next week.
• Lackey and Santana: The outcome of the first two games probably depends more on which versions of Lackey and Santana show up to the first two games. Lackey's already broken from his poor past against the Sox with two strong wins in 2008, but if he reverts to form, Boston has a chance to take a crucial first game. Santana is having an excellent year, but he's never been particularly effective against Boston. Games 1 and 2 could very well be high scoring affairs that eat through bullpens and make Game 3 that much more important.
  

Prediction: There are too many what-if factors for me to feel comfortable calling this one for Boston. We'll see what happens tonight, but right now I'm calling it for the Angels in four.

And that’s the Ballgame

So I return to blogging (as the season ends) with the wondrous report that the Yankees limp back home, losers of the last game of the season thanks to the bases loaded extra inning single by rising star (nah) Jonathan Van Every. The walkoff was an exciting end for an arduous regular season… but I fear that is the ONLY good news this evening.

Latest reports from the Boston Herald (so grain of salt warnings are in place) state that Josh “I own the Postseason” Beckett will be unavailable in the ALDS due to an oblique strain. Like beating the Angels wasn’t already going to be hard enough, now the Sox don’t even have the big gun himself to roll out Wednesday night.

So the 2008 Postseason will start without Lowell (potentially for the whole thing), J.D Drew (maybe for pinch hitting), Lugo (thankfully for the whole thing) and now possibly Beckett. This situation sucks so hard I swear it was accidentally created by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

But HEY…the bright side is the right side. The playoffs are finally here (unless you are in the AL Central) and we might even see the musical posts make a comeback. Everyone likes music… unless it’s the Sound of Silence coming from the Red Sox World Series chances…

Crap in a hat…

UPDATE: Francona spoke about Beckett tonight and it looks like he will pitch game 3 against the Angels if he is well enough... hold on to your butts.

I Sure Was Saying "Drew!"

Our offensive nightmare is over.

Actually, that's too hasty: our offensive nightmare is mitigated, because J.D. Drew's back in the lineup tonight after five weeks on the sidelines full of enough legal drugs to stave off whatever messed up thing the discs in his back are doing. Good to have ya back (so to speak).

Time To Play Host Again

Hart Brachen says Zen...I say statistics. Either way, everyone wins (except the Jays).

Since Friday's predictions went so swimmingly, let's see if I can predict the course of the series against the Indians, too:

• In 2008 (which amounts to two games, but Baseball Reference sums this up as 20 games because there were 20 batters involved. In retrospect, that's a pretty odd way to do the calculation.), the Sox offense has splits of .347/.415/.556/ against the Indians. Those two games were in Cleveland, so their relevance is a little questionable, but hey: at one point in the year (mid-April, to be precise), we could hit the Tribe's pitching. We'll just ignore the fact that one of the pitchers was Paul Byrd, mkay?
  
• At Fenway, the Red Sox offense boasts splits of .293/.374/.470, which are fine and dandy numbers, except that they include the entirety of the year when, you know, we had a full lineup and not middle-lineup guys with balky tendons and spasming muscles. In September, the tape and glue job we've got running to power us into the playoffs is hitting a much more pedestrian .263/.348/.447.
• Our leadoff hitter just woke up and realized it was September. Actually, that's not fair: as befitting a fancy-pants college boy, he did an intellectual analysis of his swing and discovered (and fixed) the holes causing his extended slump. The results are the same no matter what, though: he's got a 12 game hitting streak where he has six multi-hit games and splits of .345/.368/.545. Heating up for a repetition of the 2007 post-season extravaganza? I'm all for it.
• Of the four pitchers going this week, only the former Indian has anything approaching respectable career numbers against Cleveland: Paul Byrd has a 1.60 ERA and a 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio in 45 innings against the Tribe, dating back to the early part of this decade. Lester and Wakefield have middling numbers, while Josh Beckett has surrendered 18 earned runs in 24.2 innings. Of course, he's also got almost 4 strikeouts for every walk and it's September, a mystical time when, like Sir Gawaine and his tripled strength at the zenith of the sun, Beckett waxes most powerful. I'd say a split with a good possibility of a series victory seems is the most likely result.
  

Kotsay Goodbye, Sox Say Hello?

Yeah a bad pun on a Beatles song… but I really didn’t have much else and it’s late.

Anyway, the Sox may have landed (or are still in talks depending on who you ask) Mark Kotsay from the Braves for an (as of yet) un-named minor league pitcher.

No bad news here. With Drew now on the DL, Kotsay is a MUCH better option that Joe Thurston as long as his much maligned back holds up. Also, if they ever need to give Bay the day off, Kotsay, Coco and Jacoby could be the fastest outfield ever. Bottom line is that the Sox just got an outfield band-aid that can hit a bit and field a bit. Not bad for a steal after the trading deadline.

Damn… maybe I should have gone with “Kotsay Up in the Moment”.

Can I Get a Witness: All-Star Game

As promised, Yankee Mike's extensive All-Star Game recap, giving the blow by blow of the live experience. Enjoy.

I was lucky enough to be at the All-Star Game two nights ago, and since it was basically a farewell to Yankee stadium, I was really excited to go. The festivities at the start of the game were really cool to watch and I took the attitude going in that while it would be a wonderful experience, it's an All-Star Game, and I've never really cared about the outcome.
Bud Selig's status: Happy - things are off to a great start.
Boy was I wrong. The first couple of innings went quickly, with the pitchers really dominating, and although the AL managed a few base runners, neither team really threatened to score. In the top of the fourth, Ichiro reminded everyone why he wins the Gold Gloves every year, throwing an absolute strike from the right field corner to nail Albert Pujols, but Holliday homered to make it one to nothing in the fifth and AL ERA leader Justin Duchscherer gave up a sac fly in the sixth to update deficit to two.
Bud Selig's status: Embarrassed - he was on the field for a cancer charity event and they mispronounced his name, and he got booed because New York crowds are fun.
The AL is now building an all too common Yankee Stadium theme: the home team is not scoring any freakin runs. The NL is rolling, looking ready to end their stretch of 12 winless years in the Midsummer Classic, with the NL ERA Leader Edinson Volquez on the mound. JD Drew has other ideas, though: he pulls off the impossible. Not the home run: a standing ovation for a Red Sox player tying a game at Yankee Stadium. The place went nuts when the ball cleared the wall in right and now the crowd is really into the game.
Bud Selig's status: Smiling - the game is good, and the crowd is finally into it.
Papelbon promptly gives the run back in the top of the eighth - every Red Sox used in middle relief or a setup role has struggled this year, why stop now? - (Ed note: Dioner Navarro and a cascade of boos from the "home" crowd helped), but fortunately for the AL, Clint Hurdle called on Billy Wagner to pitch the bottom of the inning. Now, to Hurdle's credit, he let Brian Wilson get the first 2 outs, bringing Wagner in the lowest pressure situation possible. Like clockwork, the bigger game, the more important the stage, the more likely Wagner is to fold like a cheap house of cards. Single, stolen base, double, and seven pitches later we're tied again.
Bud Selig's status: Elated: The game is exciting and Mariano Rivera will probably get to pitch a meaningful inning.
Not only meaningful, but stressful, too: Rivera comes in to the loudest ovation of the night, and promptly picks up a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play. In the tenth, he made things a little more interesting but picks up a 6-4-3 double play, compliments of the Texas middle infield.

The bottom half of the tenth rolls around, and courtesy of a brace of errors by Dan Uggla, resulting in "Hit it to Uggla"and " Uggla MVP" chants, the AL loads the bases with no outs, and the crowd figures ballgame is over...but continuing yet another all too common trend at the stadium this year, the AL fails to get the clutch hit and score the run. Aaron Cook pulls a Houdini act, gets three straight ground balls and escapes, leaving the bases loaded. AL count for runners left on in extra innings: three.

Top of the eleventh goes quick, and the AL puts Kinsler on first, but he's promptly caught stealing. Kinsler thought he was safe, and actually stood on second looking really pissed off; it was nice to see the players getting into it. Navarro walks, Drew singles, Young singles, and the game looks over again, but wait for it: McClouth guns down Navarro at the plate, Christian Guzman makes a great play on a chopper, and the inning is over. AL count for runners left on in extra innings: five. Francona and Hurdle are taking years away from their lives as they stare down into their bullpens, seeing fewer and fewer options.
Bud Selig's status: Smug - his plan of "This one counts" is working beautifully, the players actually look the care and so do the fans.
Now the crowd is really buzzing, this has turned into one hell of a baseball game. The NL loads the bases in the bottom of the twelfth with one out, brings up Dan Uggla with a chance to win it, and he whiffs as a part of his super awesome excellent day. George Sherrill comes in, gets Adrian Gonzalez swinging at strikes three, and...inning over. Sherrill is pumped, the crowd is on its feet going nuts and we are headed for the bottom of the thirteenth.
Bud Selig's status: Slight Concern - it's getting really late on the east coast and both teams are starting to run low on pitchers.
Marmol leaves a guy stranded at second (AL count for runners left on in extra innings is now six), Sherrill racks up another quick inning and we head to the fourteenth inning stretch. Brandon Webb isn't supposed to pitch in this game because he tossed 110 pitches Sunday, but in the fourteenth inning, the rules get tossed out. He makes quick work of the three AL hitters. Sherrill comes out for another inning, goes 3 up 3 down, and goes back to the dugout having pitched 2 1/3 innings. For you Orioles fans, that's the first time he's gone two innings all year. I'm sure the O's front office is thrilled.
Bud Selig's status: About to Light Himself on Fire - the AL has only Kazmir (who pitched on Sunday); the NL has only Lidge (a closer). This game needs to end now or A) he will have to call another tie, or B) managers will have to accept the position players' offer to pitch. Rumor has it that Drew offered to toe the rubber, and Hurdle was looking towards David Wright.
Top of the fifteenth: Kazmir comes in, and the word from the radio guys is he can go 30 pitches tops. He gets the NL to go quietly, and now Lidge comes in. At this point, he's warmed up 6 times. I'm sure the Phillies are thrilled right now, too. After McCann makes an appearance, meaning every available guy on both rosters has appeared in the game. Finally, something happens. Morneau singles, Kinsler gets robbed by Ludwick in left (great diving play), Navarro singles, Drew walks (getting another cheer, and yes, it was weird for me too), followed by a pop up to right field. Hart catches it and comes up firing.

Morneau's foot and the ball gets to the plate at the same time. Umpire calls him safe, the fans still there go nuts, the AL players mob Morneau at home and Michael Young at first, and the AL walks off what was one of the most exciting games I have ever seen.
Bud Selig's status: Almost Catatonic - he almost had another All-Star Game farce, which would have A) destroyed the All-Star Game, and B) put the post-season into a bit of chaos. In the end Bud got lucky, this may go down as the best All-Star Game ever.

MLB: Pouring MORE Salt in the Wound, One MVP at a Time

Ah, the All Star Game. A celebration of baseball unity, when members of competing teams get together to defend the honor of their respective leagues, celebrate the best in baseball, obtain homefield advantage for a series they may not play in, try not to end up in a tie (or get hurt), and (most importantly) keep the National League in its place for yet another year.

The fans, of course, will have none of that: Red Sox players in Yankee Stadium will get booed (though I can't fault them there), people will yell threats at Jonathan Papelbon's pregnant wife (that's a little messed up - threaten the idiot, not the idiot's wife), David Ortiz will make hillarious jokes at A-Rod's expense, and Yankee Stadium will shake with the mass cat call: "Overrated," repaying a stray comment in spades. It bothered me a bit, but that was from sheer homerism, and not a rational, logical argument.

However, all wounds found salve in this morning's headline: "Drew snares MVP honors as AL edges NL." In some ways, awarding Drew - Drew the rejuvenated, the player of the month for June, the mid-season MVP, the guy providing a bit over 4 wins over a replacement player in 2008 - the MVP for the All Star Game seemed a logical conclusion to an extended pitcher's duel where no one could knock in a run until two in the morning; he did hit the two run homer that kept the American League from shaming itself with a loss. But there might have other options: Justin Morneau for getting on base and eventually scoring the winning run, or Michael Young for finally ending the damn thing with a sacrifice fly, for example. But the MLB picked Drew, a member of the Red Sox, to walk away with the trophy and the hybrid SUV in Yankee Stadium, to win the crown on rival ground. Conspiracy to rejevenate the rivalry when the two teams meet in Fenway next week? Maybe not, but it's not the only poke in the ribs of Yankees fans I've seen lately...

Game 96: Gods For a Day

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 12, Baltimore Orioles 1

That's a little more like it! .300 team hiding in the corpse of a .400 team indeed.

Look over the headlines today and Kevin Youkilis' first grand slam is at the top of every story, which put me in a contemplative mode about the nature of grand slams. Statistically, knocking in four runs with one swing gets different results depending on your metric: batting average goes up two points, on-base percentage not at all, slugging percentage - the measurement of hits expanded to include total bases per hit - up a more appreciable eight points. If in the unlikely chance that the next ten years or so sees Youkilis hit a large number of grand slams - enough to catch up Manny, for example - history will mark this first fully-loaded moonshot as the start of a rare accomplishment whose category leaders stand in the middle twenties.

But some percentage increases and membership in a club of fortunate home run hitters just about sets the limit on the scope of the statistical value of a grand slam, and there's only so much value we can assign to a hit that we couldn't even tease out of a stat line in fifty years. To take the argument one step further, the grand slam didn't even score Boston's winning run: Manny's two-run homer in the first took the honors by striking what eventually became the fatal blow.

Psychologically, however, a grand slam is huge; a multi-faceted event that can momentum in an instant. Remember the grand slam Vlad Guerrero hit in the last game of the 2004 ALDS? That one hit recharted the course of the game, knocked the Sox off of their cruise control to series victory and gave the Legend of David Ortiz a huge boost. Another example: last fall's $14 millon grand slam, the most memorable moment of the American League playoffs. 50 years from now, mention the 2007 post-season and J.D. Drew's untimely hit will come to mind - and that hit was only a contributor to a non-clinching win. We love our grand slams: they encapsulate moments of sometimes surpreme tension, validating the risk of loading the bases without scoring runs, granting the sublime pleasure of big gifts in big packages. We hate it when the opposing team hits a grand slam: those same moments of tension reversed, hoping and praying that our pitcher can escape the jam with little or no damage. When the big hit comes and the runs score, it's a gut punch, creating what feels like an insurmountable lead out of nothing in course of a couple of seconds.

But most of all we love our grand slams for the instant hero status they grant the men who hit them. Legendary batsman or journeyman stick handler, these men not only accomplished the difficult feat of hitting a baseball several hundred feet out of the confines of a field, but did so with the added pressure of potential runs waiting for the chance to come home. Achieving the mental focus to ignore that pressure, focus on their task, and find the right mistake to drive up and away gifts these men with the halo of clutch hitting, makes them gods for a day. Not too bad for a guy who happened to be at the right place at the right time.

Julio Lugo: out four to six weeks with a torn quadriceps. Note to Jed Lowrie: many a ballplayer has jumpstarted a career out of opportunities like this one.

Game 88: A Chance to Refuel

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 7, New York Yankees 0

I never thought I’d say this: Thank God for the break the Sox got here playing the Yankees. Going head to head against bruisers like the Astros and Rays really can take it out of you. It takes a team like the Yankees to sure up your bullpen and let some energy drain. Goodness knows there isn’t much drama in the Bronx…

Look I’m taking the high ground here. I’m not doing any Madonna jokes, no Lenny Kravitz comments and nothing at all on awful mustaches. I’m not even bashing the Yanks for blowing it in the last season in their historic park. But please excuse me while I give them one in the ribs for not showing up to the rivalry.

Pettitte vs Lester looked like a mismatch, but I guessed the wrong way. While the Yankee ace got tagged fro 6 runs, Lester held fast for the duration. He remained low on the pitch count, only walked 2 (both in the first) and blanked the Yankees in his first start in New York with an amazing 9 inning performance.

On the other side of the scoreboard, Pettitte looked very hittable and the Sox jumped on him early and often. Lugo was the only Boston starter without a hit and big nights from Jacoby, Drew and Crisp allowed the Sox to coast into victory lane.

Am I a little disappointed that the vitriol and fury has diminished a bit from this rivalry? I guess. But honestly, with the way the Red Sox have been playing and the position they are in right now, I am just relieved they have a chance to get a little break.

Game 79: Losing the Duel

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 1, Arizona Diamondbacks 2

What can you say about this one? When two gunslingers of this caliber face each other down, you know the result is going to be heart wrenching for one of them. Tonight, it was Beckett and the Sox that got the wrong end of the Dan Haren. You can’t blame Beckett. He went 8 strong with just two earned (both in the 7th) and had 8K to fill out his quality start.

But the Sox bats could not muster any offense against the combined might of Haren and his pen. The best shot came in the bottom of the 8th with the bases loaded… and all we got was a sac fly from the hot hitting J.D. Drew. All together the Red Sox only got 4 hits, 2 walks and one lousy run on the evening. A disappointing waste of a powerful performance from the Boston Ace.

The other loss on the night was Youk, who took a weird bounce to the face during toss before the 5th inning. His eye swelled up like a balloon and he was quickly pulled for Moss. We need ya Youk. Rub some steak on it.