As a die hard Red Sox fan, the off day on Thursday was just as exciting as any other day where the Red Sox would be playing.  The news about Manny Ramirez was everywhere, regardless of whether or not you were actually in Boston.  That being said, those that were actually in the Boston area were well aware what was going on Thursday afternoon: Manny Ramirez is gone and Jason Bay is here. 

This was the start of a new beginning for the Red Sox.  And for that reason, I threw all my other obligations out the window and made it a priority to attend Friday night’s ballgame.  Not only was this the first game without Manny Ramirez, but it was the Red Sox debut of Jason Bay.  It was the first “drama free” game the Red Sox would be able to play.  And it was the first time that Red Sox Nation would get to react to their new left fielder.  Why would any Red Sox fan want to miss this?  They wouldn’t.  That’s why I went all out to add this to my “Red Sox Resume.” 

Continue reading "Welcome to Massachusetts: The Jason Bay State"

After getting swept by the Angels, the Red Sox sure are getting back on track to their winning ways.  On Saturday night, the sox dominated the As, beating them 12-2.  In the first inning alone, the Red Sox did what they could not do the night before: start a rally at the beginning of the inning, and NOT after two outs were already made.  With the help of Kevin Youkilis and (you guessed it) Jason Bay, the Red Sox came back from two runs down in the first to score five runs.  After the five runs were scored, there were still no outs.  

The Red Sox continued with their steady offense as the game went on.  Youk hit another home run and Jed Lowrie contributed by hitting a bases clearing double.  It’s great to see that the Red Sox finally had a big game like this, especially after that frustrating series against the Angels. 

Continue reading "Quick update during the rain delay"

I figured I’d turn on Sunday night baseball to see who was playing, and I was very excited to see that the Phillies were playing the Cardinals.  I enjoy watching the Phils play.  I’ve been to many Phillies games, and although I can’t call myself a real Phillies fan because I don’t follow them enough, I’d rank the Phillies second among my favorite baseball teams. 

So even though Tek struck out to start off the “post rain delay” portion of the game, the sox were able to drive in an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.  And who else to score but Jason Bay?  I mentioned in my “postgame notes” section of my last post that I am aware that Bay is not going to stay hot through the rest of the season, but that he does seem to be doing well in his transition into the American League thus far. 

Continue reading "This time, we're the ones sweeping"

About  a week or so ago, ESPN had a poll that asked "who you were most sick of hearing on the news."  Choices included Brett Farve and Roger Clemens.  Right now (at least for baseball fans) I'm pretty sure Manny Ramirez trumps both those names.  Or maybe that's just for us who live in or around Boston.  I'll admit that I found it interesting that Manny had asked to stay with Boston right before the trade was made.  But even Jared Carrabis, Massachusetts Governor of RSN said that this was "pretty much irrelevant."  It's true.  Manny's gone and now we're moving on.

Granted, we’re moving on very slowly because people like me are still talking about him now.  Even yesterday, I was listening to WEEI and callers were saying how we need to stop talking about him.  Well, I think he’s right, but the way to stop talking about something is not by bringing the subject up. 

Continue reading "Questions from the fans"

With Mike Lowell out of the lineup tonight, Red Sox try a new lineup.  Have a look at this:

1) Drew RF

2) Pedroia 2B

3) Ortiz DH

4) Youkilis 3B

5) Bay LF

6) Casey 1B

7) Lowrie SS

8) Varitek C

9) Crisp CF

Post game notes:

-Mike Lowell: Lowell stayed in Boston to recieve a shot in the hip that will hopefully ease some of his pain.  He will rejoin the team later tonight.

-Jacoby Ellsbury: Well it looks like Ellsbury is getting another night off.  Can't say I blame Francona for this.  Don Orsillo said during a broadcast that Francona is hoping that Ellsbury will eventually be able to lead off again.  This of course is pending that Ellsbury can't get back on track with his hitting.  

Continue reading "Red Sox try a different lineup"

I forgot to mention in one of my earlier blogs that Jerry Remy mentioned in his pregame report that the Royals were not going to be an easy team to beat.  This is the opposite of what I said at the end of my post after we swept the A's.  It looks like the Remdawg was right (as he usually is).  Meche really shut us down for 6 innings, allowing only  4 hits and two runs.  He didn't look too good in the first inning, as the Sox scraped up a pair of runs, but he got down to buisness after that. 

Buccholz....I really don't know what to say.  He really seem to have any confidence when he's on the mound and has yet to get a win since coming back from Pawtuckett.  I personally would love to see Masterson back in the rotation, but that would leave a hole in the bullpen that would be difficult to fill.  I suppose we can wait for Colon to come up, but I don't know how close he is to being ready, not to mention the Sox aren't going to rush him (nor should they).  

Continue reading "Why can't we win on the road?!"

On the NESN pregame show, an interview was shown of Francona saying that Ortiz's wrist clicking is very "normal" and will not lead to further injury.  This has to be a huge sigh of relief for RSN.  Ortiz will bat his usual third spot in the line up.

Remy just talked to the pregame show as well.  He said that he is concerned about the wrist.  Talked to Ortiz who said he was scared to swing at the next pitch.  It's something that Ortiz will probably have to get used to.   

Here's tonight's lineup: 

1) Drew RF

2) Pedroia 2B

3) Ortiz DH

4)Youkilis 1B 

5) Lowell 3B

6) Bay LF

7) Lowrie SS

8) Varitek C

9) Ellsbury CF

Post game notes: 

-Mike Lowell:  Lowell is back in tonight's lineup after getting a shot in his hip yesterday.  Lowell said he woke this morning with no pain.  The NESN pregame folks (Tappyn, Macha) said that the shot is supposed to take a few days to work, so let's not expect a 4-4 night from Lowell.  

Continue reading "Ortiz's wrist "clicking" - nothing serious"

The title says it all. 

What a great game for the Sox!  Last night was another one of those nights where I couldn’t wait to fall asleep (not until after the game ended, of course) but I can honestly say that I went to bed happy. 

Where to start….

Well the Sox missed a couple of early opportunities, but that didn’t stop them from breaking out later in the game.  They took the lead after getting a double by none other than Jason Bay (don’t worry, he didn’t stop there) driving in a limping Mike Lowell all the way from first base.  The next inning the Sox picked up another run after Jacoby Ellsbury scored on a Dustin Pedroia single.  Ellbury had previously stolen second base, getting his first steal in over a month.  The Red Sox recorded another pair of runs in the 6th, and then had a three-run 7th inning. 

Continue reading "Now THAT'S the road game we've been waiting for!"

Once again, Francona surprises RSN with another lineup change: 

1) Drew RF

2) Lowrie SS

3) Ortiz DH

4) Youkilis 1B

5) Lowell  3B

6) Jason Bay LF

7) Ellsbury CF

8) Cash C

9) Cora 2B

On the NESN pregame show, they said that Francona was considerin placing Ellsbury second in the line up, but that would make it three lefties in a row.  Instead, as you can see, he's batting seventh behind Bay.  The last 24 hours has to be a huge confidence boost for Ellsbury.  

Post game notes:

-Bay's crazy double: Remy just said that there was a new scoreboard placed in left-center field which is why the outfield fence is so wide.  If it weren't for that, Bay's double probably would have been a homer.  Crazy.   

Continue reading "Pedroia gets the night off - Lowrie bats 2nd"

To start off with - yes, he is.  But let's not jinx him.  I've written time and time again that Jason Bay is not going to stay this hot and I'm worried that there are some fans out there who think he's superman and will go 2-4 every game until the season ends.  While that's not going to happen, I'm as happy as anyone that this guy has gotten a hit every single game he's played for the Sox.

Alright let’s talk about last night’s action:  They say Wakefield’s knuckleball moves better in humidity, and boy did that happen last night.  Through 6 innings of work, Wakefield gave up only 2 runs (1 earned), 4 hits, zero walks, and 6 strikeouts.  After Wakefield gave up three walks last Friday, I mentioned that this is something that Wakefield rarely does.  And we saw that last night, as he didn’t walk a single batter.  Granted he may have give up a walk had Francona allowed him to pitch in the 7th – speaking of which, why didn’t Francona let him pitch in the 7th?  He had only thrown 81 pitches, 68 of which were strikes.  I saw the clip of Francona talking to Wakefield in the dugout after the 6th inning ended, but I have not yet heard what it was about.  Perhaps he just didn’t want his 42 year old pitcher to over work himself, considering it was so hot and humid. 

Continue reading "Is Jason Bay ever going to cool down?- A recap of last night's game"

You know, I was just thinking about how the White Sox are going to be a lot tougher to play than the Royals.  They're a first place team who are fighting to keep their spot.  They have hitters like Orlando Cabreara, Jim Thome, and the All Star Carlos Quentin.  Oh yeah, they also picked up Ken Griffey Jr. 

I was also worried because although the Sox are on a hot streak,  we just played a below average team.  Like I said before, the White Sox are in first place

But then I went to look at the preview posted on MLB.com about tonights game, which made me feel a little better...not a lot, but a litte:

"Starting third baseman Joe Crede (back) and primary setup man Scott Linebrink (right shoulder) remain on the 15-day disabled list with nagging injuries, and no timeline on their return is set in stone." - MLB.com reporter, David Just

Continue reading "Sox against the Sox - Game 1 preview"

As I sit here watching the Futures at Fenway game on NESN, it’s nice to see the minor leaguers get a taste of the big leagues – especially after our own big leaguers lost 5-3 last night.

It was one of those losses where you really couldn’t do much.  I think we were all mad that we couldn’t come back, especially after Pedroia got that three-run homer in the 8th.  But at the same time, there was only one or two situations when the Red Sox really could have done more.  One of those was in the 5th when we had runners on first and second, but still, neither of them made it to third base.  As a matter of fact, most of their situations last night where they had runners on second were when there were already two outs.  This also happened in the 3rd and 9th inning.  Life is going to be a hell of a lot easier for the Red Sox if they can start their rallies with less than two outs. 

Continue reading "Frustrating loss for (Red) Sox in series opener"

Below is the original blog I wrote about last night's game.  Upon finishing the blog, I learned some disturbing news about Tim Wakefield.  I thought I'd share that first:

“Tim Wakefield has been scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday with tightness in the back of his shoulder, the same injury that kept him off the World Series roster. Wakefield has already been sent back to Boston, where he'll be examined by Dr. Thomas Gill.

Wakefield will be placed on the disabled list. His replacement as the starter for Tuesday has not yet been announced.” – Amalie Benjamin, Boston Globe

I'm not doing any post game notes for this post because the news about Wakefield has caught all my attention.   Keep the faith guys, this next week might be a rough one.  Here's my post about last night:

Continue reading "Dice-K dominates, but Wakefield goes to the DL..."

Wakefield's not the only one hurt:  Apparently Youk's shoulder has been in some pain as well:

"Though Kevin Youkilis was in the original lineup for today's game, he was scratched about 20 minutes ago with soreness in his left shoulder. Apparently it's been bothering him for a few days." - Amalie Benjamin, Boston Globe. 

This isn't something I'm as concerned about.  Sean Casey has a very good bat, and I'm very glad that he's finally going to get another start.  If Youk goes on the DL, then we can start worrying.   

Continue reading "More bad news"

According to the beauiful Heidi Watney, Youkilis tweaked his shoulder lifting weights.  Francona wanted to give Youkilis the day off so that he can be back in the line up tomorrow.

However,  that's not it. Apparently Lowrie is out of the lineup after he fouled a ball off his foot last Friday night.  It looks like these are bot really small injuries, but with the addition of the Wakefield news, this is all a bit overwhelming to me.  A win today will sure make this stress go away (at least for the time being)

Here's the starting line up:

1) Ellsbury CF

2) Pedroia 2B

3) Ortiz DH

4) Drew RF

5) Lowell 3B

6) Bay LF

7) Casey 1B

8) Varitek C

9) Cora SS 

Keep the faith guys.  

Continue reading "Update on Youk injury/ Lowrie has a day off to nurse his foot"

You know, I’ve been reading so much about Buchholz lately that I feel bad just bringing his name up right now.  He’s pitching bad, and he knows he’s pitching bad.  So I’m going to go down a different road here:  How about moving Buchholz from the rotation into the bullpen?

I mean, if you think about it, Buchholz usually can make it a couple of innings without running into trouble.  But with all this talk about bringing Masterson back into the rotation (which I am in full agreement of), why not simply switch him and Buchholz?  I’m sure there are other things that I haven’t even though that could present a problem.  Please leave your thoughts and ideas here if you can think of any.  But I think it would be a good idea. 

Continue reading "Why not move Buchholz to the pen? - A look back on yesterday's game"

Last month after Pedroia broke up Lackey’s no-hitter in the 9th, a buddy of mine called me.  I told him that I felt spoiled as a Red Sox fan.  There have been four no hitters in our life time, while most people go years and years and years and are lucky to see just one.  So maybe it’s a little pompous for me to start off with that title.  (But in my defense, I have yet to see ANY of these no-hitters, which drives me crazy every time I miss another one). 

Last night, not only did John Danks have a no hitter going, but the guy had a perfect game going.  I can’t say I’ve ever watched a perfect game go that long in a ball game.  If he had made it to the 9th, I probably would have cheered him on, seeing as no-hitters are a rare accomplishment for pitchers (unless your name is Nolan Ryan.)  But last night we needed a win – and we got one.

Continue reading "Just give up already – you’re not going to no-hit us!"

That was my first reaction when I got a score update from rehearsal.  I was sitting down in the theatre when fellow Red Sox fan, Stu, came down to tell me that the Red Sox scored 10 runs in the first.  I waited for him to start laughing and then say “no just kidding, here’s the real score.”  But he didn’t.  Ten runs in the first?! I hurried home to turn the game on, and sure enough, it’s 12-2 Boston in the bottom of the 4th.  “Wow this is awesome!” I thought.  “This game is in the books already!”  Leaving the game on, I went on the internet for a little bit, turning my head to see what was going on.  When the 5th inning came around, I didn’t really realize what was going on.  “Okay, so the Rangers are getting a few runs…oh wow, they’re starting to come back….wait, are they actually back in this game?!” Soon enough, Texas had the lead.  I couldn’t believe it.  I turned the computer off and sat in front of the TV. 

Continue reading ""You kiddin me?!""

Jon Lester, I have two words to say to you: Thank you.  Despite Buchholz's struggle and Tim Wakefield's injury, you give our starting rotation hope.  Yes, Dice-K and Beckett are great too, and it would be rude for us to forget that.  What makes you stand out from the two of them is that you do not have as much pitching experience, and yet you continue to dominate on the mound.

So even though the 8th inning didn’t go the way Lester had planned, he gave us another great outing (7.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K).  With the way the Red Sox offense has dominated Texas pitching (same as the rest of the league has been doing), it was more than enough.  Unfortunately, the Red Sox bullpen struggled once again last night.  Before I go into details, I need to say that Mike Timlin has to be one of the nicest guys in baseball.  He’s a great family man who even brought his kid out with him on the field for BP during the final regular season game last year.  It kills me to say this, but I think Timlin might want to call it a career.  He just hasn’t been the same since his injury.  But on that note, don’t boo him! I understand that the fans are upset, as the Red Sox seemed to be blowing another huge lead.  But really now, stop the booing!  I don’t care if Mike Timlin looses the World Series for us.  He might need to retire, but he does not deserve to be booed. 

Continue reading "Sox offense continues to heat up!"

It’s been busy trying to find times to update lately, but I’m still trying to stick to my “once a day” posts.  Right now I’m updating from the commuter rail to Boston – and no, I don’t have tickets to the game tonight, but judging by the weather right now, that might be a good thing.  Anyway, let’s talk some baseball:

As the Red Sox offense continued to dominate – again – Jerry Remy used the perfect word to describe the Texas Rangers – demoralizing.  This whole series, the Rangers kept finding themselves down by a ridiculous amount of runs.  I’m not a baseball player by any means, but it wasn’t too too long ago when I played Little League baseball.  When you’re in the field, watching runner after runner cross the plate, you get bored.  Well I can’t say that the Rangers were bored, with all the “work” they had to do in the field.  But I can say that it couldn’t have been very fun at all for the Texas defense, for two reasons:  1) Two innings where 9 runs or more were scored in the same series, and 2) The errors that were committed allowed the innings to continue and more runs to cross the plate.  I would disagree that the errors lost Texas the series, but it certainly would have been a different ball game had the errors not occurred. 

Continue reading "Sox sweep the Texas Rangers, who are now in...second place?!"

Last night was one of those games that you wished you weren’t watching.  When it’s all said and done, you wish that last night was one of those nights where you just wished you were out to dinner, or hanging out with some buddies. Unfortunately, last night was not one of those nights (for me at least) and I watched the Sox get absolutely dominated by Roy Halladay. 

You gotta give this guy all the credit in the world.  He pitched great (9 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1BB, 1K), and the Sox didn’t even get a man to third until Pedroia’s solo shot in the 9th.  There were very few missed opportunities for the Sox, and we can “blame” Halladay for that. 

Byrd made a very decent debut, but the lack of run support gave him the “L” last night.  Although I was a little worried in the 1st inning, when the first three batters sit safely, one of them for a shot over the monster.  I thought to myself, “Why did we trade a guy who does the same as Buchholz?”  Well fortunately, Byrd settled down and pitched very well for the rest of the game.  There were several long fly balls that looked like they had a shot to leave the ballpark, but fortunately they did not. 

Continue reading "No Holiday for the Sox"

Did anyone else get déjà vu today?  Well I sure did after seeing run after run after run – this time against our beloved Sox.  Toronto scored in every inning except for the 2nd and 9th innings.  The 9th was a 1-2-3 inning pitched by closer Jonathan Papelbon, who really was one of the only ones left in the bullpen at that point.  It was the first 1-2-3 inning for the Sox. 

When the score was 8-0 in the 3rd, I asked myself, “Why am I still watching this?  We’re getting killed and it’s only the 3rd inning!”  Admittedly, I was not paying full attention towards the later innings, but I kept the game on regardless.  It was nice to see Pedroia hit a solo shot in the 9th for his 25th birthday (although it’s likely a birthday that he’d rather put in the back of his head).  But other than that it wasn’t too much fun watching the Sox get beat.  When most of the starters got pulled in the 5th inning, it was almost like Francona was telling us it was okay not to watch anymore.  Now I’m all for giving the utility men some more playing time, but wasn’t Texas able to come back from 10 runs down?  Why can’t we do that?  Okay well today was not going to be one of those days, regardless of what Terry did with the lineup.  But it’s not much fun watching when the manager knows that they’re going loose, and it’s only the 5th inning. 

Continue reading "Boston being Texas - Sox loose 15-4"

So who was the hero last night?  Was it Jason Bay and his two homers?  Was it Jon Lester, who pitched through seven innings (giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and striking out five)?  Or maybe it was David Ortiz who doubled twice, driving in a run while scoring two. 

Needless to say last night was a great team effort by the Sox.  It’s victories like these that make us look playoff ready.  I wouldn’t say we are, considering how many injuries we have going for us, but it sure gives us some breathing room when we play better baseball. 

I’d like to point out that Bay’s homerun total has been brought up to 25.  That’s higher than any other Red Sox player!  I realize he’s only hit a few of these for the Sox, but this is the reason why I hate seeing his “Red Sox stats” whenever he’s up to bat.  It’s not like he’s starting a new season, he’s just playing for a different team.  And right now he’s leading this team in home runs.  Let’s give this guy the credit he deserves here!

Continue reading "Game 1 - Sox win"

I realize we’re playing the Batimore Orioles here, but you still gotta give these guys credit.  During a time like this where we are scared to look at our pitching rotation because of injuries, our offense has sure helped us out. 

For starters, Jason Varitek is showing us that he’s still the Captain we all know and love.  Of course we love these guys no matter what.  But there’s nothing that makes us happier knowing that our boys are happy and playing well.  Although he’s only gotten a total of three hits this series, they have all been for extra bases (two of them homers). 

Then we have Kevin Youkilis, who not only has been red hot, but has given the Red Sox another good reason to get rid of our former cleanup man.  He made up for his 0-4 night on Monday with a 3-5 night yesterday.  Youk scored a run while driving in three, two of which scored on a two-run shot in the 5th. 

Continue reading "Supporting the Team"

I can’t say that I’m happy about what’s been going on with the Sox lately, but I will say this – it’s going to be a very exciting September. 

Okay, well September is usually an exciting month for baseball.  But last year we weren’t so injury ridden as we are now.  This year we are.  But that doesn’t mean we’re not a great team.  We have Justin Masterson and Chris Smith as new additions to the bullpen.  We have Jeff Bailey as a recent call up, who has helped out Sean Casey and Alex Cora with the utility work.  As for our regulars, the Captain seems to be hitting to usual ways, and Ellsbury is over 40 steals. 

This is still a great team.  Although our team would be even greater without all these injuries, it’ll make it even more exciting when we start winning.  Because if we can win without our star players, we’ll be unstoppable when we get them back. 

Continue reading "Despite all our injuries, Red Sox Nation believes"

Obviously this is not the way you should play baseball, but I thought of this during the 9th inning this afternoon.  These fans are watching their beloved Yanks play the Sox for the last time in Yankee Stadium.  Wouldn’t it be special if the Yanks won it in the 9th, just for the fans?  We still would take 2 out of 3 for the series, and the Yanks still might not make the playoffs.

As soon as I thought of that, I started paying attention to the game, and immediately changed my mind.  Then, of course, Giambi hit a walk-off single.  Not as good as I had imagined it to be.

Well we had a good series and I have to say I’m very happy with how we played.  But what I really wanna talk about is Tuesday night.  I got an email from Red Sox Nation saying to go to the new Bleacher Bar to watch the game.  They said that Red Sox Nation governor Jared Carrabis would be there and it would be a great chance to watch the game and ask him any questions.  I thought this sounded fun, so a buddy of mine and I took the train to Boston and arrived at the bar right in time for the game.  Unfortunately, before we went in, there was a guy checking IDs (Did I mention I’m not 21 yet?)

Continue reading "Some post game thoughts and my first time at the Bleacher Bar"

Does anyone remember that commercial where two teams are playing a game in the pouring rain?  As it continues, a player goes over to a pay phone, says something (that I can’t remember) and then decides he’s going to play all out?  The song “take me out to the ball game” comes on, with electric guitars and all that jazz (I guess it’s not really jazz…you get the picture) and the show the player sliding into the mud and having a blast.  As the song concludes, you hear an announcer saying “What a game!”

Tonight, as the Red Sox blanked the White Sox 8-0, those words are currently ringing in my head.  Not only was it a big (and important) win for the Sox, but it was so much fun to watch.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury to just sit back and watch the entire game.  I’m currently moving out of my apartment and decided to save packing for the last minute.  But I have to say, this game almost made packing fun.  Here’s why I thought this game was so good:

Continue reading "“What a game!”"