Jonathan Papelbon

It was a rough series. I was in San Francisco, missed most of it. Jonathan Papelbon is a turkey, Daniel Bard is the second coming of Rod Beck (‘90s Rod Beck, minus the mullet and a metric ton, give or take). Lets can Pap, keep Bard and save everyone from another year of Pap’s guido shenanigans…. The Celtics won a pre-season game against Toronto the other night and Tommy Heinsohn almost invited an unknown rookie named Lester Hudson to the altar. Should be another interesting season for the C’s, provided Tommy is allowed to pursue his increasingly befuddling tangents, wherever they may take him… I’m mildly afraid for the Patriots this week. The Titans are not a 0-5 team, regardless of what their record might indicate. This is the exact same team (minus Albert “Stomp-On-Your-Face” Haynesworth) that went 10-0 to begin the season last year. And they have Jeff Fisher patrolling the sidelines, who, aside from looking like a 70’s highway cop, also happens to be a damn fine coach.   

Continue reading "Late Night Rant"

One of the most exciting games I’ve seen all year.  If I could compare it to any other game this season, it would have to be one of the two Red Sox-Yankee games back in April.  You can’t beat a walk off homer, but you gotta love pitchers duels that erupt in the late innings, only to have the Sox come back and win it in the 8th. 

Continue reading "“Go Crazy Folks, The Red Sox Win This One!”"

bad if I say so myself. 

And what better way to end than with the closer himself – Jonathan Papelbon.  He’s gone a perfect 11 for 11 in save opportunities this season with a stunning 0.95 ERA.  I’m sure this guy would have made quite the starting pitcher if that’s what the team had decided back in 2007, but right now I like him in the pen!

Continue reading "Sox Thoughts - Some Positives About Our Pitching"

Seriously, I got into my car at 9:45pm last night expecting to catch the end of the Sox game as I got out of rehearsal.  But instead I hear John Rish, and he’s not giving the game highlights – he’s giving the out of town scores.  My first thought was maybe one of the pitchers threw a no hitter (I would have been frustrated to find out that I had missed another one).  But that wasn’t the case. 

Continue reading "Well That was a Fast One"

Before I go into my “woe is me” mode for yesterday, let me just say that there was some incredible defense on both sides of the Sox-Angels game.  Although I was furious as the game concluded, I can’t say it wasn’t a fun game to watch.  Whether it was Nick Green cleanly fielding a bunted ball, or Jason Bay diving for a fly in left, the Sox made it clear (at least defensively) that they wanted to win yesterday’s ballgame.    And how about that play by JD Drew to keep the game scoreless in the 8th?  What a play. 

Continue reading "Boston, you're still my home"

“Good evening folks, hope you’ve had a wonderful Mother’s Day.  It’s Sunday evening and we’re playing baseball at Fenway Park.  Get ready folks – this is gonna be a fun one.”

Continue reading "Beckett, the Bullpen, and Bay make us Believe"

As I watched Jacoby Ellsbury steal home against the Yankees Sunday night, I thought to myself: "This pretty much sums it up." An aging Andy Pettitte forgets to deliver from the stretch, letting a youthful Ellsbury elude another future Bingo regular, Jorge Posada's, tag at the plate. Would Justin Masterson have made the same error? The two ballclubs could not be headed in more opposite directions. Every year, the Red Sox seem to call up another hyped prospect, while the Yanks continue to overpay for limited talent, and shun their farm system.

Continue reading "Red Sox continue to steal away Yanks' future"

Tim Wakefield – I owe you an apology.  I was very concerned when I heard you were returning to the Red Sox rotation.  You are the nicest guy in baseball, no doubts there.  But I doubted you during the off season.  Boy do you know how to prove others wrong.

Continue reading "It's hot...and so are the Sox!"

I tried writing this before yesterday's game but had some computer troubles. I'm going to do my best to combine both games. Let's start off by saying that I know I'm not the only fan who knows the Angels deserved a win Friday night.

Continue reading "Sox and Angels Both Get Wins Despite Some Anxiety"

n Red Sox: Justin Masterson (or Manny Delcarmen), Ramon Ramirez, Takashi Saito, Hideki Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon.

and Kansas City Royals: Robinson Tejeda, Ron Mahay, Juan Cruz, Kyle Farnsworth, and Joakim Soria.

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Bullpens"

Dear Readers (all five of you):

I've been active on my other blog at www.fannation.com, under the username JFro, but I continually forget to publish those posts here. That said, the next five posts should be considered my belated MLB preseason predictions -- a preview, of sorts. There's the top five infields, outfields, bullpens, and starting rotations, and of course The Big Kahuna:

Continue reading "Note about forthcoming posts"

I don't know if it's just me, but the playoffs never seem to officially start until the Sox play a game at Friendly Fenway. I mean, I watched the games in LA - or LA of Anaheim, or Anaheim in LA, or Anaheim in LA of California, United States - and came away psyched that the Sox were up 2-0, but it didn't have that playoff feel. It just felt like a road trip to the west coast. Maybe it was the fact that the glamorous LA fans were eating sushi off of asian-influenced rectangle plates instead of toting a steamed dog in one hand and a $7 Coors Light in the other. I don't know.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

on through a jam in the eighth and shut the Angels out in the ninth behind the smoking fastballs of Jonathan Papelbon.  It seemed as though every pitch call was the right one, and the Angels hitters that weren’t simply overpowered were often downright fooled (good show, chap!). 

Continue reading "Same as it Ever Was"

Hideki Okajima threw a shutout inning from the bullpen, as did Jonathan Papelbon for the save, his 40th, already a career high. Daisuke moved to 18-2 on the season, with a 2.80 ERA, as well as moving to 9-0 on the road.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/21 (2nd time's the ..."

ason Bay from 3rd on an RBI fielders choice by The Captain Jason Varitek, giving the Sox the 4-3.

Jonathan Papelbon came into the 9th to save the game. Papelbon has been great this year once again, but he has hit a rough patch this month, blowing a save against Tampa and nearly blowing another 3 run lead against the Jays earlier this month. He looked shaky again and the tying run, Brad Wilkerson, got to within 90 feet of home at 3rd base, but Papelbon was able to shut the door by striking out rookie phenom Travis Snider and earning his 39th save. The strikeout was his 73rd in 65 innings this season.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/19"

Lost in the shuffle of Matt Cassel beating Brett Favre in the most hyped Week 2 game in years around these parts on Sunday afternoon, Jon Lester continued his march toward becoming a truly elite pitcher by outdueling a man largely respected as perhaps the best hurler in the AL, in a game the Sox needed to have. Any question marks that surrounded Lester at the All-Star break have been officially converted into exclamation points. In fact, pencil him in for Game 2 right now - it doesn't matter who we are playing or what Daisuke's record ends up being ... Lester's earned the spot right behind Beckett in the playoff rotation.

Continue reading "Q & A ... well, at least some Qs"

Leading by less than 3 with an inning to go, the Sox handed to ball to their closer, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon blew a save earlier this week against Tampa, but also had a perfect 3 out save yesterday against the Jays. This time, the job was shaky, but he had room for error. He did surrender 2 runs to the Jays in the 9th, bringing his ERA up to 2.11, but he got the job done as he got the save for Jon Lester, and the Red Sox won their 88th game on the season.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/14"

That 3 run inning allowed them to take a 7-5 lead in the game which they would not give up, as Jonathan Papelbon nailed the door shut for the 37th time this season. Bartolo Colon was good in his first start since June, because of injury, giving up 2 earned in 6 innings, but the bullpen was what won it for the Sox. They pitched 3 scoreless innings, a combination of Javy Lopez, Justin Masterson, and Papelbon, to keep the Sox in the game and give them a chance to win.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/13"

I was unable to write yesterday because the Red Sox extra inning game went too long into the night, but today was an off day so i'll kind of combine today's and yesterday's. The Red Sox lost two days ago, but yesterday, with a win, still had a chance to put the pressure on the Rays by moving a half a game behind them for first in the AL East. If the Red Sox lose the game, they'd be 2.5 back have the momentum drained as the Rays would have won a series in Fenway. For those of you who don't see the importance of winning the division, while they are going to the playoffs anyway. The winner of the division gets either the Twins or White Sox in the first round. The loser of the division has to go to Anahiem to play the league leading Angels.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/11"

ed Sox are in good position heading into the 9th with the momentum, the lead, the homefield and the Jonathan Papelbon.

Papelbon came into the night with a 1.61 ERA and having not blown a save since June 22nd and he picked a bad night to change that. 9th inning, first batter is Dan Johnson, who is a great story, woke up today in Philadelphia, was called up, and arrived at Fenway just minutes before the first pitch. He is inserted into the game as a pinch hitter and promptly puts one into the stands in his first bat this season, as Papelbon blows the save. Papelbon, now just trying not to lose the game, gives up 2 doubles to Dioner Navarro and Fernando Perez, and the Sox trail 5-4.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/9"

The Red Sox have been gaining major ground on the Rays in the recent week or so, but there is one thing that they haven't done in around 3 months and that is actually win a game against the team they were chasing, the Tampa Bay Rays. After being swept in the Trop in Tampa in early July, the Sox have had to wait 2 months to get revenge, but their meeting with the Rays, who have lead the division almost every day since their last meeting, couldn't have come at a better time or in a better place. The Red Sox have the momentum coming into the series, having gained 4 games in the standings over the last 6 games, setting them in a position where they could overtake the Rays with a sweep, and the have the homefield. The Red Sox have won all 6 of the meetings between them and the Rays in Fenway, which is where this game would be played in front of their new Major League record 456th straight sellout crowd.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/8"

I noticed that whenever a relief pitcher goes a long time without pitching, their next start isn’t so good.  Because of this, I think it’s a good idea to do what Francona did today, allowing Papelbon to come in when it was clearly not a save situation.  Now he’s gotten that shaky outing out of the way and he’ll be ready to pitch again this series so we can get back in first place.

Continue reading "Sox take ANOTHER series!...Oh, and ..."

nd not "purchased" by the Red Sox - Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester (and you could throw in Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson) - a list, by the way, that includes two MVP candidates (Youk and Pedroia), the best closer in baseball (sorry Mariano "Skeleton Face" Rivera) and a potential future Cy Young winner (Lester).

Continue reading "The Tables Have Turned"

Last night's ninth inning was almost an afterthought, what with the ejection of both Dustin Pedroia and an irate Orioles fan within about 10 minutes of each other. In fact, the eighth featured the home plate umpire barking into the Sox dugout, Pedroia chirping at both the first base and home umpire, Pedroia getting tossed and the Orioles fan jabbing back and forth with Coco Crisp before battles with two ushers and a pair of Red Sox fans on the way out of the stadium.

Continue reading "The Manny we still have"

Well, basketball is over and Major League Baseball is heading into the All Star break, which means that the real baseball season is about to begin.  I know, I am waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy overdue for this year's first rabid Red Sox post, but honestly I've been a little bit preoccupied with the WORLD CHAMPION BOSTON CELTICS and basketball in general (it has overtaken baseball as my favorite sport, though the Red Sox are and always will be my first love) to really dive into the first three meaningless months of the grueling and arduous MLB season.

Continue reading "Just Hit"

So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

Continue reading "Now playing first base for the New ..."

erson’s future is as a reliever.

The Red Sox need help badly in a bullpen which, outside of Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, has been shaky at best and putrid at its worst. Manny Delcarmen, who was expected to step into Mike Timlin’s role as the top right handed set up man, has been awful, especially when it comes to inherited baserunners. Opposing hitters boast a .385 batting average against with runners in scoring position when facing Delcarmen. Javier Lopez has given up 6 walks already in only 9 and 1/3 innings pitchers, 5 of those to the lefties who he is usually brought on specifically to get out. Mike Timlin is doing better after a shaky return from the disabled list but still sports and ERA of 13.50. In fact, after Papelbon and Okajima, the only other reliever with an ERA under 4.00 is David Aardsma.

Continue reading "Get Masterson in the Bullpen, Now!"

h;a $55,00 raise from last year–comes on the heels of Prince Fielder slamming the Brewers and Jonathan Papelbon claiming the Red Sox need to pay him more. Granted these are all star players who are certainly worth more than they are getting paid, they’ve hardly paid their dues in the Majors and with only two years under their respective belts, haven’t earned the right to start telling their front offices how to conduct business. They will all get their chance to cash in next year when they are eligible for arbitration (players are eligible for arbitration after three full seasons of Major League service time and can file for free agency after six). While it would behoove teams to lock up their young stars, they are under no obligation to and certainly shouldn’t be told how to run the organization by 24 and 25 year olds. Besides, these guys aren’t exactly hurting for money at $400-500,000 per year. Forty years ago, most players made so little they often had to get part time jobs in the off season.

Continue reading "Looking Forward to the Hank Steinbrenner ..."

The recent induction of "The Spaceman" Bill Lee to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame brought on a flood of memories, which, in addition to putting a smile on my face, brought to mind a rather cogent fact of Red Sox Nation life: We have always LOVED our characters; the stranger the better, it would seem, and Lee would have to rank up there among the strangest.

Continue reading "The Spaceman, Manny being Manny and ..."

nt part in the Red Sox title run last year led by Dustin Pedroia winning the Rookie of the Year and Jonathan Papelbon definitively closing out games. Clay Buchholz pitched a no hitter in his second major league start, Jacoby Ellsbury stepped in when he was needed and became a vital part of the offense, and Jon Lester got the win in the World Series clincher. All are expected to be key contributors to the team this season. However, this influx of talent from the minors has not left this cupboard bare as Boston’s farm system still ranks in Baseball America’s top 5. Here are some of the next big prospects to keep an eye on in camp this spring and follow their progress this summer.

Continue reading "Boston Farm System Still Flush With Prospects"