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With the trade deadline three hours or so in the books, the Boston Red Sox took one more stab at trying to bolster their bullpen. The Sox are very deep for their starting rotation and one of the surplus was jettisoned today in favor of getting out of the game earlier, rather than push the starters longer.

Starter of late Kason Gabbard and minor league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre were dealt to the Texas Rangers in exchange for one Eric Gagne. How did I feel about this? I like the trade the more I thought about it. Gagne isn’t going to be a star in a bullpen of nobody’s and underachievers, he’s going to be joining an already top notch pen that won’t have to rely on him quite as much as the Rangers or the Los Angeles Dodgers did while he was in his prime. This will help the fact that he hasn't seen a game in September since 2004 because of elbow and back injuries. With Gabbard more than likely on his way back down with Curt Schilling on his way back up, he was an obvious choice and more than likely would have been anyway even if he didn’t pitch well in his last five starts.

It also helps in the fact that word was recently received after acquiring Gagne that reliever Brenden Donnelly will undergo season ending surgery on his throwing elbow. And with the meltdowns of reliever Manny Delcarmen (who was rumored to be apart of a trade with the White Sox for Jermaine Dye) and All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon over the weekend, it seems like the front office in Boston did not want to take any more chances and are serious about protecting their eight game lead in the AL East and not just willing to ride it out as they have in the past.

Gagne has been having a solid season with the Rangers and making a better comeback than most people expected him to have. I thought when he signed with the Rangers that would be the end of it. The Rangers are usually a graveyard for aging players and players on their way out. If you want to possibly kill your career, just go to Texas. Is he the end all be all of answers and the key to finishing out the season on top? I don't think so, but having him as an option on top of other great options isn't a bad thing by any stretch.

All previous sentiments aside, the idea of being able to have Josh Beckett or Daisuke Matsuzaka turn the game over to All- Star Hideki Okajima, Papelbon or Gagne is almost too much to not be thoroughly excited over. Gagne’s numbers for the season breakdown as follows. In 34 appearances and 33 1/3 innings pitched he has a 2-0 record, thrown 29 strike outs with 12 walks and has an ERA 2.16 with a 1.05 WHIP and batters only hitting .192 against him. Not another bad arm to be thrown in with the rest. From the sounds of it he’ll be primarily used as a set up man for Papelbon, but don’t be surprised if Francona gives him a crack at closing a few contests out this season. That is if Boston gets to an abundance of save situations which they have been avoiding like the plaque so far in 2007.

Boston is going to get labeled a winner today, and that’s fine with me. I’d rather sit back and watch how Francona decides to utilize his new pitcher and see how the rest of the season unfolds. This is obviously the biggest trade outside of Mark Texieria being sent to Atlanta just because of the name. We’ll have to wait and see if the impact Gagne may or may not bring on the rest of the season is as big a story as the headline grabbing trade itself. Is it going to be enough? Is this finally going to be the year that the Sox can grab the division title? More importantly, will this be a season that they can make a deep run into the playoffs and possibly the World Series again?

Today the Sox also traded already designated pitcher Joel Pinero to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash and a player to be named later.

Tonight, the Sox are back at home in Fenway Park for a three game series and Josh Beckett will get the nod for the start against Erik Bedard and the Baltimore Orioles. Beckett will be going for his 14th win on the year.

Off the Beaten Path

It’s not often that you’ll find a piece on another team on this site. You’d maybe be even more hard pressed to find anything written about a specific figure in sports not having anything to do with the Sox or baseball in general. With this site being dedicated to the Boston Red Sox and the baseball world that surrounds them, it has been my primary focus and intent to write solely on that facet of the sports world. However, today is a little different in the respect that one of two of my favorite football coaches of all time has passed away.

This morning Bill Walsh, former coach of the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford Cardinals, passed away at the age of 75 after his extensive battle with leukemia. Walsh led the 49ers to three Super Bowl Championships and six NFC West division titles during his 10-year career in San Francisco. Walsh was 102-63 with one tie as a head coach in the NFL.

More than the numbers, which were impressive enough to induct him into the NFL Hall of Fame, is his mark on today’s NFL. That impression is as profound as the coach whose name resides on the Super Bowl trophy itself. His legacy spans from his assistant coaches George Seifert and Mike Holmgren who went on to win Super Bowls of their own, to coaches like John Gruden and Mike Shanahan who won Super Bowls with their own teams as products of an assistant to an assistant to Bill Walsh. Many more notable head coaches and assistant coaches came from the house that Walsh built including Andy Reid, Steve Mariucci, Marty Mornhinweg, Dennis Green and Dick Juron. This list goes on and on. The coaching tree is endless and now spans nearly two decades and nearly 30 current or former NFL head coaches. That number includes active head coaches in the NFL in Brad Childress, John Fox, Mike McCarthy, Jeff Fisher, Gary Kubiak, Brian Billick, Jack Del Rio, Scott Linehan, Tony Dungy, Rod Marinelli and Mike Tomlin. That’s 12 (not including Holmgren and Shanahan) coaches and over one third of all the coaches in the NFL that are decedents of the success that Walsh produced. Walsh was also a major proponent of having African-American coaches in not only his ranks, but as head coaches across the NFL and college football. The historic moment at Super Bowl XLI this past February where both head coaches were the first African-American’s to be head coaches of Super Bowl teams are in the Walsh coaching tree. Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy was the first African-American to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Both Dungy and Chicago Bears head Coach Lovie Smith, while not directly coach under Walsh, were pushed by the fact that Walsh assistant Dennis Green became one of the first prominent black head coaches in the NFL.

Even more indelible of a mark is the proliferation of the West Coast offense that is not only littered across the NFL, but college football as well. Walsh didn’t initially create the scheme known as the West Coast offense, but it will be forever tied to him from his glory days in San Francisco and the dynasty he created while coaching the 49ers and his days as offensive coordinator in Cincinnati under head coach Paul Brown. The term wasn’t even coined by Walsh himself, but by Sports Illustrated writer Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman in 1993. Whatever the circumstances of the phrase that is commonly used to describe the offense he made successful, it has been copied and redone to much success since the early 1980’s and is still used in many offensive schemes today.

Bill Walsh will be missed by the San Francisco community, the 49er and Cardinal fan base and by NFL fans across the world.

Doin' Damage

Boston waited until the middle of the contest with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before going to work. The Sox didn’t even come up with a hit until the top of the 4^th inning when DH David Ortiz lined a two out single to right field. Starting pitcher Jason Hammel for the Rays retired the first 11 Sox he faced. Veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield surrendered his only run of the night in the bottom of the 2^nd inning on a single by C Dioner Navarro that scored Ty Wigginton. Boston eventually won the game 7-1, taking their time with the Devil Rays.

Once the Boston lineup shook off their jet lag from flying in from Cleveland early Friday morning, the runs came in abundance. 1B Kevin Youkilis got the party started in the top of the 6^th with a three run shot off Hammel, ending Youk’s 0-for-12 slump. Ray’s reliever Casey Fossum surrendered a single RBI to RF JD Drew in the 8^th, who pulled out of a slump of his own, scoring Ortiz. CF Coco Crisp would earn two more RBI’s that same inning and C Doug Mirabelli would drive him in to make the contest a six run game.

After Wake threw for six solid innings giving up six hits, walking three and fanning seven the Sox turned to the JV squad in the bullpen. I hate to say it because most of the 25 players that comprise a major league roster are all very important, but to say that Manny Delcarmen is as valuable as All-Star Hideki Okajima is a little off, to say the least. Normal long reliever Kyle Snyder came in and closed out the 9^th as manager Terry Francona will have him do when the Sox have a sizeable lead.

I’m sure that this series with the Rays is not on too many fans’ radars, however, these are the games that the Sox are expected to win. If they give up this series in the next two days they run the risk of losing the momentum they gained from the Cleveland series. Monday will be a much needed day off so if the Sox win tonight with Jon Lester on the mound, expect a lot of normal day starters to get some rest. Boston will go home to Fenway and open a three game mid-week series with the Baltimore Orioles before heading out on the road again for another nine game road trip. The Sox will face Seattle, Los Angeles and Baltimore before going back to Fenway on August 13^th.

News of Note

Manager Terry Francona told reporters in a pre-game interview last night that starter Curt Schilling should join the rotation on August 5^th or 6^th which would put him on the mound for the first time in the majors since mid-June. That start would come against either Seattle or LA on the road. No word as to who will be sent down to make room for Schil.

SS Julio Lugo went 0-for-4 last night in Tampa, ending his 15 game hitting streak. After being in a slump for most of June, Lugo has been batting at the top of the lineup and is currently hitting .222.

Last night’s victory marked Boston’s seventh win in eight games, their best stretch of games this season. The win was also Tampa’s seventh straight loss and the Rays have lost 19 of 24 since June 25^th.

Other than bringing up starter Jon Lester and designating Joel Pinero for assignment, the Sox have been relatively quiet on the transaction front.