Up and Down

I’m not a huge fan of NASCAR by any stretch, but you have to admit this car with the Red Sox logo being used in the Nextel race in New Hampshire this weekend is pretty damn cool.

Boston came in to the month losing, and from what it looks like, they’ll go out on the same note. Even if they manage to win tonight and take the first two games from the Texas Rangers (the team with the worst record in the American League) they’ll finish the month of June with a 14-13 record. It’s a far cry from what the team was displaying in April (16-8) and May (20-8). At the pace the Sox were going at they would have finished 114-48. That is obviously a little unrealistic. Despite the fact that they will finish no less that .500 for the month, it’s more about Boston losing games that they should have won. I think they stranded about 472 runners this month. Also, losing a series to the Rockies? At home? Getting swept by Seattle? Thank God it was an interleague kind of month.

I was under the impression that June would have been another good month for the Sox. I’m not going to complain too much with the Yankees falling behind the Blue Jays by a half game. Boston still has a 10 and a half game lead in the East and looks like they’ll keep it that way until the All-Star Break. The Sox will finish out the weekend against the Rangers, play a series next week against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and finish the first half on the road against the Detroit Tigers.

Shuffling the batting order has been hit and miss. I’m a big subscriber to the idea of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” On the other hand, I do know that keeping things fresh keeps teams guessing. And a team that’s focused on preparing for you means they have less time to focus on themselves. I've always noticed over the years that teams that are winners are teams that have this belief. Of course, most desperate teams apply the same philosophy, so draw your own conclusions on that one.

Manny is on his way back to being over .300, Ortiz is consistent at .319 and 48 RBI’s, and Lowell and Youkillis are welcome surprises this season with their numbers. The pitching saw a lot of ups and downs this month, but that’s to be expected. Schilling was on his way to the DL at the end of May I thought, and I was right. Dice-K is still adjusting. I know he’s not a rookie, but he’s a rookie in the respect he’s never seen any hitter in the league, with the exception of last summer in the World Baseball Classic. Julian Tavarez is doing better than I expected this month and it looks like the early notion that Jon Lester was on his way back to claim the spot is on hold for the time being. Tavarez looks like he may hold it down until he takes a dive. Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 19^th save last night, and still looks pretty sharp.

Speaking of, the bullpen looked as hot as ever last night with Hideki Okajima pitching another perfect 8^th, and Papelbon facing down Michael Young striking him out to get the save. If they can keep it up, all Boston needs to do is get into the 7^th and 8^th innings with a lead, and the pen will take care of the rest.

Sammy Sosa went 0-4 for the Rangers last night, striking out three times and leaving four on base. If Sammy doesn’t get one hit the rest of the series, I’ll be a very happy camper this weekend. Fuck Sammy.

That's Better

The Sox jumped back into the drivers seat this past week by dominating National League foes in the form of the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. The only loss came last night 6-1 in San Diego. The Sox won this past weekend with a very National League style of play by manufacturing runs and not relying so much on straight power. Then again, the Sox have been doing that all year with their well rounded line up. If you take a gander at the league leaders in, well, anything about the only guy that shows up is Kevin Youkillis for his batting average. Neither Manny or Papi are making a strong case for leading the league in RBI's or home runs, which is far from what is expected at this point of the season across Red Sox Nation.

Josh Beckett picked up his 11th win today and is making last years doubters and naysayers into believers. He's not relying as much on his powerful fastball, and closing out pitch counts on batters with a great looking curve and serviceable splitter. Offspeed pitches is what he struggled with the most last year, and lineups around the league made him pay. This year, look for Beckett to possibly start for the American League in the All-Star game.

Minor injuries are sort of a bother these days in the Sox clubhouse. JD Drew continues to play almost every other day with a strained quad, and Mike Lowell returned last night after missing three straight starts with a sprained thumb. I'll take the little nit-picky injuries over the hits that teams like Toronto and the New York Yankees are absorbing. Curt Schilling is looking like a 40 year old pitcher. There is a lot of mileage in his arm, and it's starting to really show. You could see it after the two starts he had after his near no hitter in Oakland two and a half weeks ago. We'll see, my mantra is better now than August or September. So we all know what this means, it's time to raid Pawtucket. This could be Jon Lester's first look at the majors this season, and Kason Gabbard, who picked up his lone win against the Atlanta Braves last month, is slated to start Tuesday night in Seattle.

Boston has really turned around from the beginning of the month. I was pulling what's left of my hair out for awhile there when the Yankees went on a torrid nine game winning streak. They chopped their deficit to the Sox almost in half, all the way down to seven and a half games. Since that time, they've now fallen back to 11 down. Like I said, much better second half in June. Against New York, Oakland, Arizona and Colorado the Sox went 5-8. Since then against San Francisco, Atlanta and San Diego they have posted a winning record of 7-2. Here is to hoping they can close out the season on a high note out in Seattle before returning home to face the Texas Rangers this next weekend.

On a sad note, former Boston Red Sox closer Rod Beck passed away at the age of 38 when he was found dead on Saturday. He only played for the Sox for three seasons, but those were the seasons where I started being 100% into Red Sox baseball. He played roughly half of his 13 year career in a San Francisco Giants uniform and finished his career with 286 saves. I sort of liken current closer Jonathon Papelbon's fire and emotion displayed on the field to that of Beck. Each time he saved a game he looked and acted like a guy from my old slow pitch softball team celebrating when someone brought Old Milwaukee to the game. I couldn't help but think, "how did this trucker get into the major leagues?" Sadly, he succumbed to his battle to drug and alcohol addiction. This guy was loved by his teammates, coaches, and media. It's sad a guy like this had to go.

Long Way To Fenway

First, welcome back Mike.

The Red Sox struggled to find their way through the first two weeks in the month of June. They seem to have found their stride again, albeit against the National League, but found it none the less. The Sox have won 5 of their last 6, the team is batting better, and with the exception of the broken down Curt Schilling, the pitching staff is returning to form. That final element is what I believe will separate Boston from the rest of the AL East. Boston has a strong and experienced starting rotation and bullpen which will come in handy down the stretch. The series with Atlanta was capped off with Julian Tavarez pitching seven shutout innings and the bats producing 11 runs.

Boston gets a day off in the form of a travel day when they’ll open up a weekend series in their last inter-league match up this season against the NL West leading San Diego Padres. The Padres are fighting for their position however with the Arizona Diamondbacks leading by only a half game. The Sox will get all three of the Padres best and most experienced starters this weekend with Chris Young (6-3), Greg Maddox (6-3) and Jake Peavy (9-1) in that order. The Sox will counter with Dice-K (8-5), Tim Wakefield (7-7) and Josh Beckett (10-1).

As long as the lineup continues to produce like they have against the Giants and Braves, all should be fairly well out west this weekend. However, I know as well as most fans that Boston generally sucks on the road out west. After the series this weekend, they’ll travel up the coast to face the Seattle Mariners who generally play very well at home, but have slipped a bit this year and are only four games above .500 at Safeco Field this year.

Sox Rout Giants, Honor Roberts and Whiteside

Last night Boston finally got a number in the win column. I know my continuing complaining about Boston not winning is falling on deaf ears for those of you that aren’t a fan of my team. When losing every year to the Yankees for the division crown is as sure as spring training, you’re just waiting for that turning point when the Yankees overtake the Sox and don’t look back.

Fortunately for my sanity (at least for one day) the Sox took a game back from the Yanks and increased their lead in the AL East to eight and a half games. Dustin Pedroia and JD Drew came up big for the Sox last night. Placing them 1-2 in the lineup paid huge dividends as the Sox rolled to a 10-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Drew went off for three runs and three RBIs and finished the night batting 3-for-4. Pedroia was 5-for-5 with two runs, a homer and five RBI’s. Julian Tavarez is making his case to hold down his starting job with his performance last night. After the seventh inning was completed he received a huge ovation from the Fenway faithful. He out dueled Giant’s ace Barry Zito for his fourth win of the year.

Giant’s veteran centerfielder Dave Roberts received a hero’s welcome during his first at bat last night in the top of the first inning. The night’s first ovation lasted nearly a minute. Roberts was responsible for the stolen base and the spark that put him in position to turn in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees. This was no doubt the turning point before the popular turning point of the series when David Ortiz hit the game winning walk off two run home run in the bottom of the 12^th in Game 4. If Roberts doesn’t pinch run for Kevin Millar and doesn’t score in the ninth, I’d still be bitching about an 88 year drought and the Curse of the Bambino would live on. I’d say the guy deserves it, even though he only played half the season coming over with Mark Belhorn to the Sox in the Garciaparra trade and was only really a bit player. That just went to show that all 25 guys played key roles that year. From Damon and Schilling down to guys like Roberts mattered on that ’04 team.

The Sox also took a moment of silence before the game to honor former Boston Globe writer and African American journalist pioneer Larry Whiteside. “Sides” got his start in Kansas City (the city in which I reside) at the Kansas City Kansan and was a trailblazer for black journalists across the nation. He created the “blacklist” to help sports editors across the country hire quality black writers. Aside from helping his peers and his distinguished career covering the Red Sox at the Globe for thirty years, he wrote for the Milwaukee Journal and covered Henry Aaron for ten years starting in 1963 and covered the civil rights movement of the late Sixties. The man earned the respect of everyone he covered in Boston, and I know he’ll be missed greatly by the city of Boston and Red Sox Nation in general. Ever since I’ve been reading local articles from the World-Herald and the Globe, I’ve been reading not only his more recent work but his work from his considerable great past. Just like Joe Castiglione is a staple on WRKO, and the fact that it would be hard to imagine anyone else calling the game on the radio, so was Whiteside to the Globe. A part of the Red Sox died this week, but his spirit will no doubt carry on.

That Sinking Feeling

So here we are three series into inter-league play this year and Boston is 5-4 against National League opponents. This is a big break from trend of the Sox dominating the NL for the past three seasons. I’m not saying they won’t pull out of their funk, they just have to do it mostly on the road against Atlanta and San Diego next week. All I can say right now is Boston either needs to shape up or they’ll be feeling the pressure of the Yankees even more than they are now. The Yanks crept up into the rear view mirror coming back from as many as 13 down to 7 and a half now. In two weeks. The Yankees can’t win all of them, but it won’t take much for them to catch Boston if the losing trend for the Sox continues. Boston is 5-8 in the month of June. They only lost 8 games each in the month of April and May. I hope they didn’t just prematurely blow their wad.

The biggest problem right now, even more so than the staring pitching going in the tank, is the inability for the Sox to bat in any runs. It’s pretty frustrating to see 10 hits in the box score with only one damn run. The Red Sox bats have only batted in 19 runs against 26 by opponents in the last week. Only two regular day players, Ortiz and Manny, are hitting above .300. Between Papi and Manny for ribbies? Two by Manny, none for Pa

The Sox have to prove that their phenomenal start wasn’t a Breweresque type start. The rest of the AL East are still double digits back, but those teams suck. The Yankees are for real and they have been all year. The only difference now is that their potent line up is getting in a grove and the pitching is settling down and the injuries have basically stopped. All the things that went wrong for the Yanks are now going right, and they’re showing how good they can be.

So what do the Sox have to do? Get back to winning against teams they should be beating. Losing two of three to the Rockies? What the fuck? Losing the series by a combined 20-5? That’s unacceptable. What happened to when they were beating the cream of the crop in teams like Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Atlanta, and LA? Sure, I knew they’d come back down to Earth eventually, but not this bad. Not against Colorado. This was supposed to be the part of the year where they pad their stats, not go in the opposite direction. Hopefully the can get their shit together this weekend against Barry and Barry (some SF people who remember old Terry Shulte ads will get that).

I’m not watching the game against the Giants tonight, at least not live anyway, as I’ll be enjoying buck night at Kauffman Stadium when I watch the Royals face off against the Florida Marlins. It will be my first viewing of Gil “If I Were On Any Other Team I’d Be A 3^rd Starter At Best” Mesche. Hopefully I don’t gain 10 pounds tonight from eating 17 hot dogs, then again, I’m not sure that’s ever stopped me before.

Knee Deep in the NL

Over the weekend the Sox took two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Am I shocked? No, not really. Despite the fact that the D-Backs are shaping up to be a solid team, the Sox have one of the best records against the National League over the past few seasons. I’m a little more concerned about something else, that of course is the New York Yankees.

They swept the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend and will host the same Diamondbacks and probably will show no signs of stopping their current six game winning streak. Roger Clemens is back in the rotation and looked pretty sharp Saturday even though he gave up three earned in six innings. Are the Yankees back? The pitching looks good and the bats are hot. Then again it did come against two teams that are pretty God awful.

Boston has the day off today in Boston but will tune up for another long road trip next week traveling to Atlanta, San Diego, then finally Seattle. Until then they will host the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants. Two teams that are struggling in the National League, let alone playing superior American League opponents. I’m expecting the Sox to go 5-1 and I'll live with 4-2. Anything less will certainly be a disappointment.

Once again, I have to apologize because work is kicking my ass. I don’t have time to dig up, remember, or write down stats. It sucks because I really enjoy writing here and updating on the season and how well the players are doing. Hopefully work calms down in the next week or two.

Major League Raceball

Racial Ignorance StFU Award - Torii Hunter and Gary Sheffield

Minnesota Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter decided to hop on the Gary Sheffield race train yesterday by saying there will be no black players in Major League Baseball in the next 10 years.

Miss Cleo didn’t stop there. He also said that when you get a prospect out of Compton you have to pay him $2 million, and if you go to the Dominican Republic you only have to pay him $2,000. What? Latino players are easier to control, say Shef and Hunter. Could you imagine if A-Rod said that black players are out of control, inconsiderate assholes, and are ruining the game? Jesus, I would hate to be A-Rod right now, let alone if he made that claim. Nothing like a little minority on minority hatin’ to get the excitement for baseball flowing. I agree with them though, Latin players are ruining the game. Players like Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Adrian Beltre are like a noose around the neck of baseball.

I’ve got news for players like Hunter and Sheffield, maybe it’s because there is no interest in your sport. Did you ever stop to think that kids would rather be like Mike than be like Torii? Or maybe they’d rather be like Dwight Howard rather than Ryan Howard? No one contests the fact that football is king in the States these days, and in the black community ( I know I’m going out on a limb here) basketball is a close second or maybe even first. I’m sorry, there is just not enough interest in baseball these days, deal with it. People in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela play fucking baseball. That’s all they play. Well, besides futbol, and soccer sucks.

Hey, I’m all for equality in sports and other aspects of life, but making an issue out of it won’t make it go away. Yes, there are fewer black players in the bigs than 20 years ago, but not because of the reasons Sheffield and Hunter are cooking up. I don’t think general managers around the league are avoiding black players to make their teams easier to control, or not inflate their payrolls. It’s all about winning, not the man keeping you down. Maybe Sheffield should ask himself why he’s played for 24 teams in his career. Maybe Hunter should be more concerned and focused on the game with his team playing .500 ball while the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers run away with the AL Central. So, Torii Hunter and Gary Sheffield, shut the fuck up.

Near Perfect

Fat chicks love Curt Schilling, it’s a scientific fact.

Boston avoided a sweep in Oakland yesterday with 40 year-old Curt Schilling coming within one out of the first no hitter of his career. I was glued to my computer at work listening to the game on MLB.com until Shannon Steward spoiled it with a hit to right field in the bottom of the ninth. A little disappointing yet still cool to see Schil’ still has the stuff to go wire to wire, which is rare for him anyway.

Josh Beckett is going for his ninth win tonight in three tries, he hasn’t had a win in exactly a month. That last win came against Toronto. The Sox are going to open up the weekend against the Arizona Diamondbacks who have won eight of their last ten and are only one game back of NL West leading San Diego. It won’t be an easy series on the road against a hot young team (mildly suggestive) like the D-Backs, but Boston is throwing Beckett, Tavarez (who’s been pitching a lot better), and Dice-K so it may not be all that bad. Dice-K gets a great match up against the aging yet still affective Randy Johnson on Sunday.

The Sox need to get their bats going. It's a secret to no one in Red Sox Nation that they haven't hit well for most of the year. Sure players step up, but nothing too terribly consistent, and this week it showed. They scored a paltry seven runs while in Oakland. It was pretty damn frustrating to watch the Sox bats get jet lag for four damn days against the same A’s team that the fucking Royals beat repeatedly in Oakland. Speaking of the Royals, I'll be heading out to "The K" tonight to watch a rematch of the 1980 World Series as the Philadelphia Phillies come to town for a weekend interleague series. The first 20,000 fans get a commemorative pin celebrating the series and reminding Royals fans of the fact that yes, Kansas City did have a good baseball team at one time.

Anyway, maybe this weekend I can finally get back into the swing of things with my team since I've been living at work the past two weeks, or dealing with coma inducing migraine headaches.

Note: I'd be remised if i didn't mention the draft at all. I know Boston doesn't focus on the farm as much as other teams on a major league level, but their system is very good, surprisingly competitive and worth examining. I'm working on a comprehensive draft entry as soon as the draft is completed. Don't miss it, it will be the most exciting entry ever.

I'll Have My Tea With Three Lumps, Please

So I know it’s been my longest lapse in posting this season, and it has happened to come in the middle of Boston’s first real losing skid on the year. No, I’m not losing my willingness or vigor to post about my team. I’ve been swamped at work with my hours approaching 60 hours each week. I haven’t been able to watch much baseball, which really sucks when I paid $160 to watch as much baseball as humanly possible. I know I’m about to complain a bit about my team, and bitching about Boston’s current situation is like a guy with a bucket of KFC under his arm complaining about being hungry, but I’m going to anyway. Why? Glad you asked…

It’s because Boston has lost three in a row, five out of their last six and are 5-5 in their last 10. Folks, it pains me to say it too. I guess this is where having a double digit lead in your division comes in handy. Each game has been a little frustrating all around. The starting pitching is looking shaky, the bullpen, which looked indestructible in the first two months, is looking more human, and the lineup isn’t bringing in any runs. Last night was particularly troubling with the Sox leaving two or three guys stranded on base in what seemed like every damn inning. I about threw my TV out of my window.

Look, I realize that most teams take their lumps on the west coast on the road. AL East teams historically suffer when they travel to LA or Oakland, even Seattle. After this four game series Boston has to play a weekend series against surprisingly hot Arizona. National League teams have a bad history against the Sox since the dawn of interleague play and I’m hoping that trend continues, because the Sox need a pick-me-up in the worst way. Getting complacent about your large lead isn’t the way to play in June and head in to the All-Star Break in about a month. It’s way too early for that.

I sort of like what Francona has done with the lineup, placing the red hot Dustin Pedroia behind leadoff man Julio Lugo. The equally effective Kevin Youkillis batting behind clean up Manny Ramirez is also an interesting way to stimulate the bottom half of the lineup. So far, however, it hasn’t really panned out. Hence my lukewarm reaction. It doesn’t matter if you get hitters on base when your big bats aren’t producing shit. I just keep going back to the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” something Francona should maybe keep in mind a few hours before each game.

Because of injuries and illness the rotation is all jacked up as well. I liked Dice-K pitching right behind Josh Beckett and it worked out pretty damn well for the both of them during the first two months. When Beckett went out on the DL for 2 weeks or so, it cause a lot more upheaval than most people saw. Sure they still won, but when you disrupt rhythm on a team, especially in baseball, it takes awhile to correct it. Even injecting Beckett back in to the ‘ro sort of fucked things up a bit. Call me crazy, but the prospect of plugging Julian Tavarez between Beckett and Dice-K doesn’t exactly give you the best one-two punch after Schilling.

It’s hard to question a guy [Francona] who’s made a lot of right moves over the past few seasons, but I’m going to be disappointed if their lead in the East gets slashed in half (or more) because of poor management rather than the Sox just coming back down to Earth, which was bound to happen sooner or later. In my opinion, the Sox are too good and deep of a team to not pull out of this minor hiccup and go back to their winning ways. Fingers crossed of course. Maybe I can go back to wearing my Sox hat I wore from 2000 until they won the Series in ’04? Then again, because of "Reversing The Curse" I'm supposed to be over that stuff.