Commander In Chief

Starting pitcher Josh Beckett is off to one of the best starts in Boston Red Sox history. Sure, he's got the 2nd best run support in all of Major League Baseball (9.35 per start, wow), however this minor nugget of info should not diminish the fact he came into tonight's game with a 2.51 ERA with an equally strong 1.03 WHIP. Beckett turns 27 next Tuesday and I'm hoping that he turns into a long term type ace and provides the Sox with strong starting pitching for years. Something Boston has missed with the departure of Pedro Martinez after the 2004 World Series Victory. For all of his issues and Jheri curl problems, I still missed him in '05.

Fact: look up "Jheri Curl" on Wikipedia and scroll down to the bottom section of famous people that sported the 'do. He's last on the list.

Despite Beckett's success and in my humble opinion, he is still the second best starting pitcher on the team behind veteran knuckleball king Tim Wakefield. He's only 3-3 on the year but is sporting an ERA of 2.11 and batters only hitting .197 off of the 40 year old. Now if he had the same run support as Beckett, we'd have two six or seven game winners. The Sox are only averaging a little over 3 runs each time Wake takes the mound.

The game I was bitching about in my last entry where the Seattle Mariners were up 5-0 in the top of the 1st inning ended in a 8-7 Sox win. Reliever Mike Timlin, after getting the save against Oakland the night before, was placed on the 15-day DL last week making way for AAA pitcher Devern Hansack. This is the same dude who pitched a five inning gem against the Baltimore Orioles last year to close out the disappointing 2006 campaign.

This weekend saw the Sox go out on the road for the first leg of their six game road trip taking two of three from the perennial American League Central Champion Minnesota Twins. The Metrodome in Minneapolis has not been kind to the Sox over the years since the Twins finally decided to put together a real team and avoid contraction earlier this decade. The games were very low scoring yet very exciting. I'll never get over when people complain about a 2-0 or 4-3 game being "boring." I missed most of them since I was in Sarasota/Long Boat Key, Florida this weekend. My Fiance' said watching baseball while in Florida on a beach while she was on it wearing a bikini was "unacceptable." Anyway, my favorite pariah Julian Tavarez was the pitcher that gave up the only loss, however he still pitched well striking out 7, walking 3 and only giving up 2 runs. The problem was Twins Cy Young winner Johan Santana was on the mound and the Twinkies only ended up giving up one run on Saturday.

Tonight Beckett took the mound in an attempt to capture his 7th win of the year. He did so by only giving up one run in the 1st inning and striking out five. Surprisingly, he struck out three of the five on off speed pitches. Credit this to veteran catcher and team captain Jason Varitek. After giving up a home run in the 1st and surrendering a double immediately after, Varitek took over the calls and ordered up a blend of Beckett's 12-6 curve, controlled change up, and award winning fastball to get out of the inning. God bless you Tek.

The game also saw 2B Dustin Pedroia hit his first home run of the season, a three run shot in the top of the 2nd with two out. Toronto Blue Jay's starter Victor Zambrano, one year off of Tommy John Surgery, gave up two 3 run two out home runs in the ballgame. Both coming when the bases were empty after getting the second out each time, and the second coming to slumping 3B Mike Lowell. Timlin's replacement Devern Hansack pitched 2/3rds of an inning giving up one run and putting too many runners in position to make the game respectable than I'd care to remember. Looks like he needed one to shake out the rust. Better tonight than if the Sox were actually in a situation that called for an experienced reliever to get them into the 9th. JC Romero came in with one out to go in the 8th and stopped the mild bleeding. Usual long reliever Kyle Snyder, who was picked up on waivers from my hometown Kansas City Royals last offseason, finished out the game to give the Sox a 21-10 record overall and 12-6 record on the road. If they keep playing like this they may be a playoff contender. However, I've been a fan long enough to know that the second I get ahead of myself, they go on a huge skid. For now they enjoy a six game lead over the New York Yankees who are working their way back to what we are used to winning seven of their last ten.

Speaking of the most hated team in my life, the weekend's biggest news was that the Yankees picked up the soon to be 45-year old Roger Clemens. I just have a few things to say about this in no particular order of importance. I wasn't a big Sox fan when Clemens pitched for them, so I have no warm gushy feelings about the old days of The Rocket pitching in a Red Sox uniform again. He hasn't pitched for the Sox in almost 10 years so if you do care, get over it. He's still good, but nowhere near as good as what the Yankee's need to help their starting pitching problems. With Carl Pavano likely pussing out for the rest of the season and Mike Mussina not getting any younger, they have a lot of gaps to fill. Even $20+ million pitcher Kei Igawa didn't pan out like they'd hoped and is now on assignment in Steinbrennerville, better known as Tampa Bay, Florida. So is Clemens enough to correct the damage? I'm not sure. I'm expecting the Yankees to come around, I just wouldn't credit Clemens with this happening. As far as the special treatment? I could really care less other than the fact that it sets a precedent. Hopefully most GM's, agents, and players will realize that it's sort of anomaly and shouldn't expect to see it get out of control in the future. Then again, this is baseball we're talking about. For all the people that bitch about it, you just saw the crack team of Yankee negotiators in action led by GM Brian Cashman. Is there any more coinsidental name in all of baseball? Imagine the conversation with Roger's agent, Randy Hendricks and one of Cashman's staff.

Randy Hendricks: "I want my client to get a prorated salary of $28 million over four months, no questions asked."
Special Yankees Road Secretary George Costanza: "You got it, no problem. We've got plenty of over the hill money to burn now that Randy Johnson is gone."
RH: "Oh yeah, and he only has to show up on days he pitches. And he gets a plane, no questions asked."
GC: "Super, this deal is as good as done. When can your client start?"
RH: "I'm thinking around the end of the month or sometime after June 1st. My client is all about helping your team win a championship."
GC: "I can assure you and your client that we only have the same thing in mind. You know if we don't win a World Series it's not a success in our organization? You're aware of that right?"
RH: "Well, my client did pitch for you in the 2000 World Series, remember? He threw a pitch and almost killed the other teams catcher."
GC: "That's our Rocket! How does he feel about cotton by the way?"

So yeah, something like that. I'm not upset he's not pitching for my team because my team doesn't need him. Sure any team could use him, but not every team needs him. Especially a team with a record of 18-9 coming from their starting rotation already. The Yankees showed their desperation over the weekend and total disregard for team chemistry. Of course with starter Andy Pettite back in the fold starting this year if you didn't see Clemens going back to the Yanks you either don't pay attention, or you're an idiot, or both. As far as Padres sumo wrestler/starter David "Boomer" Wells slamming a former teammate I say good for you Boom. I'd also like to see them square off in some celebrity boxing match. I'd take Clemens if it goes past two rounds by way of technical knock out,with Wells dying of heart attack 2 minutes into round 3.

Dice-K is on the mound tomorrow night and the Jays are tinkering around with the idea of moving up Tomo Okha's start to tomorrow so they can get ace Roy Halladay on the mound for Thursday's game on short rest. Halladay suffered his first loss of the year against the Texas Rangers giving up 9 earned in 5 and 1/3 innings last Saturday. Damn it, Boston better take this series against the Jays, I'm sick of losing to them.