Just read that free-agent-to-be Jason Varitek is getting a divorce. (http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/08/14/varitek_files_for_divorce/) I guess there goes any chance for a hometown discount.
]]>As the suspense built in the days leading up to the trade deadline, and then culminating with arguably the biggest trade in Red Sox history, this fan blog remained silent. It certainly wasn't for lack of interest. Unfortunately for my brother and I, life got a little too real at the end of July, as our mother unexpectedly fell ill and passed away at the much-too-young age of 59.
In the moments leading up to the trade deadline, as deals were rumored to be done, then dead, then done again, we were at my mother's wake. Wake's are surreal things, with moments of terrible sadness mixed with moments of actual happiness seeing long-lost friends, albeit under terrible circumstances. And, on the afternoon of July 31, we'd be weeping one minute, and checking on if a Manny deal had happened yet the next.
That might seem deeply inappropriate to some people. However, it isn't. I'm not going to tell you that my Mom knew Alex Cora's batting average, or even who Cora was. She didn't own a pink hat, blue hat, or even a sunhat as far as I know. But growing up in a large extended family in which almost nobody followed baseball, there are two people directly responsible for our baseball passion: My grandfather -- a lifelong fan who was 10-years-old in 1918, owned old gloves that looked like they came straight out of The Natural, and loved to play catch with his grandkids -- and my mom.
I remember being six years old when my mom turned on the 1978 playoff game between the Sox and Yanks and explaining to us this was an important game (ultimately introducing us to Sox heartbreak at a young age). It's because of her I got my first baseball card (Rick Burleson), and then many, many more over the years. She owned a record album chronicling the 1967 Impossible Dream season which we listened to constantly. Because of her we knew about Tony C, who Carl Yastremski was, and why Jim Rice was so good. Because of her we knew it was a big deal when Carlton Fisk left town, and why we were sad when Fred Lynn left too. She'd put on the games for us to watch while she cleaned, and bought us plenty of Red Sox clothes (including, get this, Carl Yastremski Underoos). And she brought us down to the fairgrounds to get autographs from the likes of Glenn Hoffman and Dave Stapleton.
There were years I cursed her for introducing me to the Red Sox. Of course, those years of anguish only amplified our joy in 2004 (and beyond). It's just one of many things I'm grateful to her for.
]]>Just recently, a friend and I were talking about what to do about Manny Ramirez. He's entering the first of his two club option years; he's getting old; and his production is on the decline. On the surface, for $20 million a year, he isn't worth it. But, how can you replace him in that lineup? One of the only ways, I said, was to get Matt Holliday.
So, it was kind of exciting to read today that the Sox are considering letting Manny walk and going after Holliday. The problem, though, is my friend disagreed with me, saying Holliday's stats away from Colorado don't hold up. And we don't want another ex-Rockie bust. (Remember Dante Bichette?) Given how good Holliday has been in recent years, I didn't believe it. So I decided to take a look at his numbers.
Now, first let's just state the obvious: There is no replacing Manny Ramirez. Manny is one of the greatest right-handed hitters in baseball history. And he and Papi make up the best 3-4 combo since Gehrig and Ruth. (For those gasping, the stats back it up. But that's for another blog.) The problem is, at this point even keeping Manny for the next two years isn't replacing Manny. His production is on the decline, and what you'll get out of him the next two seasons - while it might be good - won't be Manny-Ramirez-good. And, for $20 million a season, it is worth looking around, especially with a guy like Matt Holliday possibly available.
However, as it turns out -- to my shock and dismay -- my friend was right and I was wrr . . . wro . . . .I was misinformed. Last season, Holliday hit .376 at home, but just .301 away. He stroked 25 homers at Coors, but just 11 elsewhere. And his slugging dropped from .722 at home to just .485 away.
None of this bodes well for him joining the Red Sox. First, he'll be replacing an elite Hall-of-Famer. That's never a good start. Second, how will fans (and the organization) stomach it if he is putting up numbers like .299-23-108 year after year?
And yet, I think the Sox should grab him.
Since 2003, we've been rather spoiled, enjoying a couple of bad dudes in the middle of our lineup who could regularly put up .310-35-120 (or better) year after year. Those guys are hard to come by, and finding two guys like that is even harder. But even without those kind of guys, a team (especially a team run like the Red Sox) can still find ways win.
Chances are we'll never find an adequate replacement for Manny Ramirez. But even without the crazy power numbers, Holliday can still hit. And just take a look at Mike Lowell if you want to see how a good right-handed hitter can use the wall in Fenway. (And Holliday is a much better hitter than Lowell.) Holliday won't consistently put up Manny Ramirez numbers. Nobody will. But Matt Holliday will still give us a very productive and potent bat for years to come.
]]>The 2008
The guilty team is the
They weren't supposed to be in it this year. Yet, when the deal was made, the A's where only five games back of the division leading Angles. They were also three and a half games behind in the wild card race.
Were the A's acting irresponsibly? Did they really have a shot this year? The clear answers are yes and yes. As close as the A's were in the standings, they had actually underperformed. That's right. According to the baseball Pythagorean theorem, which predicts a team's winning percentage by the formula RS^2/ (RS^2 + RA^2), the A's had underperformed by four games while the Angles had over performed by six games. The A's predicted winning percentage (.587) was the fourth best in the
Now clearly what matters is actual achieved winning percentage and not the predicted one. However, the predicted one helps to demonstrate that the A's with Harden were a truly competitive team with a legitimate chance to either win their division or the wild card.
Would I have put money on them to win the division with Harden? Probably not. However, they should have at least given it to the trade deadline to see if they could have closed with in a couple of games before giving up on the season -- especially as they didn't get a whole lot of quality back in the deal. At the very least, the Angles deserve to have a contested division race. No one really wins by the A's giving up.
If it was the Devil Rays or Twins or Marlins making the deal, I'd like to think that more of a stink would have been made about the timing of the deal. For what ever reason, it seems that everyone has accepted the deal. It's too bad.
In the end, the integrity of the 2008 season has been compromised and the commissioner's office didn't even care. The cynic can't help but think that it's because the A's need to appear helpless in order for MLB to gain fan support for moving the team and extorting millions of dollars that could go into infrastructure improvements of education from a new community. Could the cynic be wrong?
]]>So, I have not posted in a while. Truth be told, it has been hard to get excited during the first half of the baseball season the past few years. To this baseball fan, the first half has become the most boring part of the calendar year. Even when there is no baseball, it is still more exciting to be a baseball fan than during the first half. From Halloween through just after New Year's, you have the Hot Stove, which, let's face it, if your team is a player is the most exciting time of year outside of September and October. Then, after New Year's, you have the excitement of pondering your team's offseason moves, comparing them with the rest of the league, making predictions, and -- most exciting of all -- scouting for your fantasy team. But the first half? Like a straight-to-video Shannon Tweed flick, I just want to fast forward to the good parts.
I haven't always viewed the first half like this; it is more the product of the Red Sox recent success. Back before the Sox started winning championships, a successful first half was reason to celebrate. In 1999, I was actually dancing with glee by Memorial Day. And who could forget First Half MVP Carl Everett's Sox of 2000?
But nowadays, the Sox are supposed to be playoff contenders. You know they'll be in the thick of it come September, so we often spend the rest of the season now thinking "just get there already." I almost envy fans in Milwaukee, St. Louis, or Florida (if they had fans), who must be amped at where their team is right now. (Notice I didn't mention Tampa in that last sentence? F them.)
But here we are finally at the midway point of the season. And now it gets good. Despite an unsensational performance over the first half, the Sox are right where they should be: In the thick of it. They have a ton of young talent to play with come the trade deadline, and are poised to make The Run in the second half. So, while I wait for that to happen, here are some thoughts about recent events:
I think that it says a lot about the strength of the league and the balance of the Red Sox that that don't have a clear top player at any position, outside the injured DH of course. Now the fan voting is going to go elsewhere. As a Red Sox fan, I'm going to greatly enjoy having all those Sox sitting in the home dugout at Yankee Stadium. But, when it came to my ballot, I couldn't put any Sox on it -- not even via the hanging chad.
Here's my AL ballot
C J Mauer
1B J Morneau
2B I Kinsler
3B Arod
SS Michael Young
OF J Hamoltion
OF Sizemore
OF Carlos Quentin
DH None
My philosophy for the All-Star game is that the current year should matter most. However, the previous year should get some consideration. I don't have a hard-and-fast equation, but in my mind, it's about 80% this year.
Pedroia is having great years, but Texas's Kinsler is playing better than even Chase Utely right now. Youk also deserves some consideration, but he's a bit behind Morneau in my eyes. Nowhere else are any of the Sox regulars even close.
In the NL, I went with:
C B. McCann
1b Berkman
2b C Utley
3b A Ramirez,
ss H Ramirez
OF Beltran
OF Lee
OF Bay
The catcher race is close between McCann and Martin. Soto, will having a good rookie year, shouldn't be even close. Shortstop is another close call with Reyes finishing second in my eyes. Second is a run away. In the OF, Jason Bay is having a heck of a comeback year, which put him over for me.
]]>It's a good match though. Trot is a big time player with a lot of grit. He could help to fire up the Mets, who have been nothing if not lethargic all year. Trot won't be able to carry this team, but he could be the spark that lights the fire under the rears of players that could (read Beltran, Reyes, etc).
The problem, for me anyway, is that I'm now conflicted about the Mets. With Pedro pitching only, at best, every fifth night, it was possible to cheer for him and still relish in the short coming of the Mets. With Trot possibly getting more playing time, my calculus is challenged.
I'd like to see Trot to well and prove that he should get a shot at a job next year. I'd also like to see the Mets continue to wallow near the bottom of the NL East. Thus my conflict. So, here's to Trot doing well and getting the Mets good enough to just miss the post-season.
]]>Check out this list of the Top 10 athletes to keep your girl away from. Surprising, no Kobe reference. But Manny made the list, and Big Papi got an honorable mention (with 'they don't call him Big Papi for nothing').
]]>I'm still not terribly rational about what went down last night and how to respond. So instead of ranting and saying things that are at the very least offensive and at the most could get me monitored by Homeland Security, I'll give you this exclusive footage I found: video of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ultimate fighting workout. Enjoy.
]]> ]]>The Sox and Rays just had their fight . . .
This week, we found out the Red Sox are losing a popular figure of Red Sox Nation, someone who certainly excites the fanbase. No, I'm not talking about Big Papi's injury. NESN announced Hazel Mae will be leaving the station at the end of this month.
Like many hetero male Sox fans, I've enjoyed Hazel's . . . reporting. And she will be missed. I don't know who they'll replace her with, but I think it's a pretty safe bet it will be an attractive female. NESN has brought on all female reporters over the last few years in an effort to bring more female fans into Red Sox Nation. Us guys could charge sexism; after all, why not hire guys and gals at least 50-50? Instead, we have a steady stream of these attractive young female reporters -- Mae, Katherine Tappet, Heidi Whatley, and others. Now, NESN at times seems less like a sports network and more like a club I want to hang out in. Don't get me wrong, their reporting skills are excellent and they all seem to have very solid baseball knowledge. I do respect them. I don't want to be seen as a sexist pig . . . even if the snout fits. Anyway, I'm not going to complain.
Of course, we also lost Big Papi to the DL this week, and who knows for sure when he'll be back and close to 100 percent. Obviously, losing one of the game's most imposing hitters will hurt tremendously. But it shouldn't sink the Sox. This is a deep lineup. Heck, even Drew has shown signs of using the wall. He does that, and this team should be fine.
]]>My favorite chant of all time is back . . . I hope. C's fans need to be screaming this at least one-hour prior to game time tomorrow night. If not, we need to yank those fans out of the Ga'den early on and put our bench fans in there.
Now, you may not remember this, but once upon a time, there was an era when the Red Sox couldn't beat the Yankees. What's that you say? You can't imagine that? We've won two World Series in four years, and the Yanks . . . ? But, trust me, it is true. Prior to Big Papi's historic Game 4 home run in the 2004 ALCS (oh, did I mention I was there and you can see me in those highlights???), the Sox always found a way to lose to the Yankees. We felt oppressed. We got made fun of by Yankee fans. Some even believed we were cursed. Really.
As a sign of rebellion, some Sox fans started what became a popular chant -- "Yankees Suck." I never liked this chant. Sure, I had my moments of weakness, and there were times I chanted it when the Sox played the Yanks . . . or the Royals . . . or the Mariners. But, still, the chant stunk. That's because it wasn't true. The Yankees were winning four World Series in five years. (Honestly. They did that once.) Four rings in five years is not sucking . . . unfortunately. I tried to advocate a "Beat New York" chant. Same syllables as the "Beat L.A." chant, and equally encouraging and energetic. Alas, it never stuck.
Maybe I should have made T-shirts for it and sold it outside the park . . . like that other chant.
Anyway, I can't wait for that to ring through the Ga'den tomorrow night. I am so pumped for this series. Although, I am a little apprehensive. Not about the fate of the series. I just . . . . I just hope the Massachusetts State Police make Kobe where a GPS tracking device. We don't need any trouble.
BTW, one last thing about the Pistons series: I couldn't believe Pistons fans were lame enough to have all those Thunder Sticks in Game 6. I thought Detroit fans were better than that. But, just when I thought they couldn't get any lamer . . . . with the Pistons down by just 6 points with little over a minute left to go in a playoff elimination game, fans started streaming for the doors. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Since when did the Detroit fanbase become Atlanta?
]]>Each April, as the baseball season is still in its infancy, we watch as favorites struggle out of the gate, and hopeless underdogs tantalize fans as they hover near first. And each year I say the same thing: Talk to me on Memorial Day.
During those early weeks of the season, we don't have enough material to work with in judging what teams are for real and which ones aren't. To me, it seems you can't really take stock of the contenders and pretenders until you reach Memorial Day.
Now, here we are a few days past the holiday weekend, and, as I look at the Major League Baseball standings, I just don't know what to think. With so many pre-season favorites struggling, and so many pre-season clunkers hanging tough, this to date just may be the most topsy-turvy baseball season in recent memory.
As fans oohed and aahed at the early struggles of the Tigers, Indians and Yankees, I patiently waited for them to spend May rising toward the top of the heap. Meanwhile, I've been waiting for the Devil Rays, Athletics, Marlins and Cardinals of the world to plummet back down to their rightful places near the basement. And now that we've passed Memorial Day, I'm still waiting.
Entering June, what are the Rays still doing hanging around? They're good, but not this good, are they? Can you really see this team hanging around til September, or even making a push for October? At this point, I'm hesitant to make a guess either way. Given my Memorial Day theory, they should have started to fade by now. Maybe they'll hang til August . . . but that's got to be it. It's just got to be.
The Yankees? I thought they'd have pitching problems . . . but while I'd like to say I saw this coming, I didn't. This team is not good, and there may be too many holes for them to plug this year.
Still waiting for the Tigers and Indians to play like they are supposed to. Maybe they haven't received the memo that we've reached Memorial Day. And someone please tell Ozzie's Sox they are overdue to start fading. Not too long ago I said they weren't for real, and that the Royals were real. Brilliant.
And what is more surprising: That the Athletics are still contending (and just swept your Sox), or that the Mariners added another ace this year and are absolutely, positively terrible?
I thought the Marlins would be good . . . . good enough to challenge for third place. And the Cardinals should have been making their golf plans for October by now, not thinking about playing baseball in the fall. And remember when we thought the Giants would be so much worse -- SO MUCH WORSE -- than the Padres. Ah, yes. Those were the days.
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