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Manny Ramirez cleared waivers according to the Duke on ESPNRadio.

I have to go into work, so I won’t have access to a computer until about 7. More news later.

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Sometimes it’s tough coming up with things to write. Now is one of those times.

You see, the whole Manny Ramirez situation is not worth really talking about because there is only speculation at this point. We don’t really know the motives, or the behind the scenes crap that is going on, and to say otherwise is just kind of foolish.

I will say a few points about it though:

1. No one in baseball is irreplaceable
2. Manny Ramirez is one of the five best hitters in baseball
3. People who say this is a great move because Manny is a headcase and a detriment to the club house are idiots. These are the same people who think that Pedro should have pitched against the A’s when he was in the hospital, and think that Trot Nixon is baseball incarnate. I get it, you don’t like uppity Dominicans.
4. On Manny Ramirez’s end, this is not about money. For those out of Boston, or for those who have took their “Selfish Millionaire Manny” pills this morning, there was a column written by Dan La Batard after Ramirez signed with Boston. The following came out in the column

:

• Manny had a $30 fake diamond earring because he didn’t see the point in spending the money on more
• He was driving a Taurus when he signed with the Red Sox
• He didn’t think that he could afford to move to Boston full time
• When he traded in his Taurus, there was an uncashed paycheck in the glove compartment from five months ago

Now I think it proves that Manny doesn’t really care about the money, and that Manny is a space cadet. That’s all.

I still don’t know the motives of the Red Sox front office, nor do I know the involvement of Jeff Moorad, Manny’s agent.

As an aside, this is what is really wrong with baseball. The need to find a villian in every story rather then to cover it. I will say that most of the writers have been fair, at least the ones I read. The real problem standing in the way of the enjoyment of baseball is the fact that everything around Boston is a soap opera. Just let us watch the friggen games.

Also, Joe Morgan is hosting his regular baseball chat this morning on ESPN.com. This question got one of the stupidest answers I’ve ever seen:

Aaron (Cleveland): I can understand the Red Sox putting Manny on waivers, because they’d get his salary back to use on other players, but I’ve heard they’ll trade him for virtually nothing and pay half of his salary. Are they nuts??? Regardless of his issues, he’s still one of the top two or three hitters in the AL.

Joe Morgan: (11:08 AM ET ) I can’t answer what they will or won’t do. I don’t think they’ll trade him and pay half. I don’t know exactly what they are doing. Last year they used a bullpen by committee, I don’t know what they’re doing.

If you’ve read this site enough, you know how I feel about comments like the bullpen one, so I won’t rehash why he’s a jackass. I will tell you why Morgan completely misses the boat here. His Big Red Machine teams won baseball games using closer by committee. Someone should tell Little Joe that he is propagating a myth. I sent in a question about it, but I don’t expect it to be answered.

Sorry about the bitterness today. I got on a roll, and bang…vitriol. I’ll post a few more times this weekend I think, with a readjusted roster for you to look at.

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Manny Ramirez was placed on irrevocable waivers by the Red Sox last night, according to the New York Times, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal. The ESPN story is right here.

Essentially what that means is that any team can put in a claim for Ramirez, and the Red Sox can’t withdraw the waivers. The team that claims him gets Manny and his remaining contract. If Ramirez is claimed, then the Red Sox receive no compensation.

I’m not going to tell you what I think until he either clears waivers or is claimed.

Since the free agent and roster stuff is pretty contigent on Ramirez being on the roster, I’m going to wait on that too. I’ll have something on something later today.

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Free agency has replaced drinking as my favorite thing to do in the off season. ESPN has a list of free agents right here, with the guys bolded having filed already.

And here is a list of the top 16 Free Agents:
Mike Cameron cf SEA
Luis Castillo 2b FLA
Bartolo Colon sp ATL
Keith Foulke rp OAK
Eddie Guardado rp MIN
Vladimir Guerrero rf MON
Javy Lopez c ATL
Greg Maddux sp ATL
Kevin Millwood sp PHI
Rafael Palmiero 1b/dh TEX
Andy Pettitte sp NYY
Sidney Ponson sp SFG
Ivan Rodriguez c FLA
Gary Sheffield rf TAM
Shannon Stewart lf MIN
Miguel Tejada ss ANA

There will be some various non-tenders that might shove their way into the top 16, but that seems to be the creme of the free agent crop.

The biggest news of course would be where these 16 warriors of the diamond land. Part of figuring out this mess in the off season is figuring out who can buy. These are the teams that have said that they will add payroll this off season:
Anaheim, Baltimore, San Diego, and Tampa Bay

Add in the rich teams:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Seattle

This should get interesting, eh? I’ll probably take a day off tomorrow, but on Thursday, I’ll be back with a vengeance, with who I think will go where, and who the Red Sox should go after.

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ESPN is reporting that Grady Little will not be retained as the manager of the Boston Red Sox next season.

This might seem like semantics, but it isn’t. The Red Sox are not firing Grady Little. They are declining the club option for 2004. There is a major, yet subtle difference there. Think of it like this:

Jeff Suppan comes over from Pittsburgh. He pitches ok, nothing special, but nothing horrible (he was the 87th best AL pitcher with Boston, 55th best pitcher in baseball Boston and Pittsburgh combined, between Kyle Loshe and Syndey Ponson w/Baltimore). This is below expectation of the front office. Now instead of picking up Suppan’s option for 2004, they buy him out. They didn’t release him (fired), they just let him walk away.

That is what Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein are doing with Grady Little.

From all accounts, Grady is a nice guy. The players love him, and the press likes him. However, the only public support of him have been two guys that aren’t Red Sox right now (John Burkett, and Todd Walker, who are free agents), and Manny Ramirez, who reportedly cried when Shea Hillenbrand was traded. Grady’s faults are archived on this site and many others. He was clueless when it came to the bullpen, and something that annoyed me was that when he made a decision, he never took blame for it not working out. Even when the death knell was released upon him from Aaron Boone, Grady said that leaving in Pedro, and throwing Wakefield to the lions was the right call.

Don’t cry for Grady Little, folks. He’s a folk hero among baseball people now. Those evil statheads, run by Grand Poobah stathead Bill James have dispatched another Good Baseball Man. Little will get a job soon enough. There are rumors swirling around Baltimore saying he will be down in Charm City soon enough. Grady Little will fall on his feet, and will soon get a job in baseball. Maybe then he can be another ghost that can haunt the Red Sox. Or maybe he won’t learn or change, as Good Baseball Men are, and he can be happily staring into space as his starting pitcher dies on the mound, and there is no one up in the bullpen.

That will always be Grady Little’s baseball legacy in Boston. Grinning like an idiot, while the world collapses.

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Here is what the Red Sox have, already, going into next year.

c - Jason Varitek r/r 32 $6.7 m
1b - Kevin Millar r/r 32 $3.3 m
2b -
3b - Bill Mueller b/r 33 $2.1 m
ss - Nomar Garciaparra r/r 30 $11.5 m
lf - Manny Ramirez r/r 32 $20.5 m
cf - Johnny Damon l/l 30 $8.0 m
rf -
dh -
bench -
bench -
bench -
bench -

sp - Pedro Martinez rhp 32 $17.5 m
sp - Tim Wakefield rhp 37 $4.35 m
sp -
sp -
sp -
rp - Ramiro Mendoza rhp 32 $3.6 m
rp - Alan Embree lhp 34 $2.75 m
rp -
rp -
rp -
rp -

25th man (bench/rp) -

options held - Derek Lowe rhp 31 $5.0 m ($0.5 m buy out)
Bobby Howry rhp 30 $2.5 m ($0.2 m buy out)

Total players - 10
2004 Salary - $80.3 m
Sunk costs -$1.2 m (minimum paid to Lowe and Howry, and $0.5 m paid to Suppan for buyout)
Total Expendatures - $81.5 m

Players who are arbitration ellegible:
Adrian Brown - 3rd year
Jeremy Giambi - 5th year
Damian Jackson - 5th year
Gabe Kapler - 5th year
Byung-hyun Kim - 4th year
Lou Merloni - 5th year
Doug Mirabelli - 5th year
Trot Nixon - 5th year
David Ortiz - 5th year
Ryan Rupe - 4th year
Scott Sauerbeck - 4th year
Scott Williamson - 5th year

Not yet eligible, but on the 40 man:
Bronson Arroyo
Caser Crespo
Jorge de la Rosa
Casey Fossum
Brandon Lyon
Anastacio Martinez
Jason Sheill

Free Agents:
John Burkett
Bill Haselman
Todd Jones
Dave McCarty
Robert Person
Jeff Suppan (option declined)
Mike Timlin
Todd Walker

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Just a quick hit today, because I’m working on what I want the Boston Red Sox to look like next year. That should be up either tomorrow night or Sunday morning.

*Joe Torre finally decided that Alfonso Soriano needs a wake up call. Of course, he’s played like shit since July, so Torre was a little slow on the up take on that one.

*Same for Jason Giambi. The only difference is Giambi will be playing Saturday in the Bronx. Soriano probably won’t, unless its a pinch hitting appearence.

*Grady Little doesn’t think he wants to come back. That’s like getting fired, only yelled “You can’t fire me, I quit!” at your boss.

*I have the rankings done for all the pitchers in baseball done. I don’t know how I’m going to post that here yet, because it’ll be tough to abbriviate all the names into 6 letters. I might just put another page on the side. As a taste, the best starters by league were Livan Hernandez and Roy Halladay, the best relievers were Billy Wagner and Damaso Marte. The top Red Sox were Pedro Martinez (#2 AL) and Mike Timlin (#14 AL).

*Outkast’s Hey Ya is catchy as hell.

*In the “Who Will We Hate Next?” contest, the following names have been submitted:
-Larry Dierker
-Bobby Valentine
-Bud Black
-Carlton Fisk
-Jerry Remy

One more week to go.

I’ll be back this weekend with the thing I’m working on. I actually think I’m going to break it into two parts, what they have and what they should do.

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In Roger Clemens Final Start, he got knocked around a little bit early. After throwing a pitch high and tight to IRod (think the same kind of pitch that he threw to Manny Ramirez in ALCS Game 3), Rodriguez singled to right. Then he worked a full count to wunderkind Miguel Cabrera, mixing in some fastballs, sliders, and a brush back pitch (think Pedro to Karim Garcia, only in the front instead of the back, and head high rather then shoulder high). Cabrera roped a homer to right. Clemens then gave up three straight singles to Jeff Conine, Mike Lowell, and Derek Lee, the last scoring Conine. Clemens settled down after then and tossed 6 shutout innings.

Yankees’ first run was scored on a Aaron Boone sacrifice fly in the second. Then Carl Pavano shut down the Bombers for the remainder of the game. The Marlins celebrated the 3-1 Game 4 victory with booze and women.

Actually, those skanky ho’s Mystique and Aura showed up, and after a Ruben Sierra (!) two run triple (!!), the score was 3-3 and the folks in Miami were treated to Free Baseball by Ugueth Urbina. Long story short, the Marlins held the Yankees for 3 more innings, and in the bottom of the 12th, Jeff “Spicoli” Weaver surrendered a home run to Alex “Sucks less the other one” Gonzalez. There was much rejoicing in South Beach.

I was going to write “It was a good game, blah blah blah,” but in reality I think I would be insulting your intelligence to say otherwise. It was a World Series game decided in the 12th inning with a home run by a light hitting shortstop off someone who hasn’t pitched in three months.

Now something that pisses me off. I will say right here and now that I am jealous of Tim McCarver, Joe Morgan, Steve Lyons and their ilk. Not only did they play professional baseball, but they get to stay around it and analyze it for a living. What pisses me off is that they make the game less enjoyable.

They are very good about technical baseball. However, when it comes to baseball theory, quite frankly, there are many, many people who could do it better then them. I really think that Morgan, McCarver et al. really don’t know what wins ballgame. They talk about bunting, moving the runner over, productive outs, hustle, leadership and character. In other words, things that can’t be measured. Intangibles. And they have their poster boy, Derek Jeter.

I like Jeter as a player. He is a very good hitter, and he is an excellent baserunner. However listening to the analysts, he turned into a demagogue once the calendar turns to October. These analysts turn into hero-worshiping sycophants whenever he does anything in the playoffs. Here seem to be the arguments:

Myth 1: He raises his game in October

Regular season: .317/.389/.462/.851
Postseason: .314/.381/.469/.840

Im convinced.

Myth 2: His leadership has helped carry the Yankees to four World Series titles

The definition of something that is intangible is that you can’t measure it. However, I find that argument dubious when such players as Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Wade Boggs, Tim Raines, Chili Davis, Jorge Posada, and David Justice have been his teammates. All are known as outstanding ballplayers. I think their skills combined had much more to do with the Yankees successes then the leadership of a shortstop.

Myth 3: Jeter is an outstanding shortstop

This is most the infuriating myth, because there is a lot of intellectual dishonesty involved in it. The most common thing I’ve heard this post season is “Bouncing ball right by a diving Jeter”. The numbers have said that he is a below average defender for a long time, but now they say he’s the worst in baseball. If you watch him play, you see slow rollers go under his glove all the time. Either the analysts see this and still feed the monster, or they don’t notice it. If they do, then they are purposefully misleading their audience. If they don’t see it, then they should lose their jobs, due to severe incompetence.

Myth 4: Jeter is Mr. Clutch/has outstanding character.

There is no such thing as a clutch hitter, only clutch hits. Look in the BaseballProspectus archives for opinions that are more cognizant then mine. They already said it better.

I do not know Derek Jeter. I’ve never met him, but from what I hear from his teammates, he is a good guy. Something has been nagging me all year though. The first game of the year, he slid hands-first into third base and separated his shoulder on Ken Huckaby’s kneepad. I read a article from the Toronto Sun at the time about Huckaby wanting to apologize to Jeter. He wasn’t allowed in the locker room. He called and then Jeter blew him off. Personally, I think that’s a pretty asshole thing to do, considering the injury was Jeter’s fault. When I read that, my opinion on Capt. Intangibles changed.

Myth 5: Jeter is a heads up baseball player.

He slid shoulder first into the catcher, separating it and losing 6 weeks. He watched from home plate last night as Luis Castillo and Alex Gonzalez spun a pretty double play on him. This whole reputation is built on the fact that he is a great baserunner, and that play he made on Jeremy Giambi in 2001. He’s done some stupid things on a diamond that players have been bashed for. Not Jeter though.

It might seem like I’m picking on Capt. Intangibles, but I don’t think I am. Analysts should let his play speak for itself rather then elevate Jeter to a God-like status because they like him better then Luis Gonzalez.

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Nice pitching job last night by Dontrelle Willis, Chad Fox and Braden Looper, ruining another terrific start by Josh Beckett. Beckett of course was saddled with the loss, dropping him to 1-2 in the playoffs. Man, this kid sure can’t win the big game.

Last night’s rain-delayed hypeduel ended up a cluncker as the inability of the Marlin relievers to keep Yankees off the bases made a tight 1-1 contest a 6-1 laugher.

The Yankees had 14 base runners (6 h, 6 bb, 2 hbp), the Marlins had nine (8 h, 1 bb). The Yankees collected 16 bases (2 singles, 2 doubles, 2 homers), the Marlins tallied 10 (5 singles, 3 doubles, 1 passed ball minus 1 sacrifice and 1 caught stealing). The Marlins’ only walk was an intentional free pass to Juan Pierre. Speed, energy and enthusiasm might help in Gammoball, but in real baseball, the Yankees won last night by getting guys on base, not making unnecessary outs, and getting extra base hits. But at least the Marlins have energy.

That rant wasn’t the point of posting today. The point today was that I am actively campaigning for Grady Little to be fired. I’ve never been a big Little fan, but last Thursday night was the straw that broke the camel’s back. His complete inability to manage a bullpen has cost the Red Sox all season, and it finally broke the team. For the record, Little made three bad mistakes in Game 7. He left gassed Pedro in, he left Embree in for one hitter, and then he used Wakefield rather then his best available pitcher in a tie game (Williamson). In reality, some friends and I are thinking about filing a class action malpractice suit on behalf of the Red Sox Nation. Grady needs to go.

So right here, I’m conducting a little manager search. I’m calling it the Who Will We Hate Next? Search. Here’s what we have to do. I’m going to compile all the names I hear around the campfire, and post them, with a little bio, either today or tomorrow. Then I need all the residents of The House that Dewey Built to e-mail me at House of Dewey with your thoughts. I will be printing people’s reactions and choices as we look at who the next manager of the Boston Red Sox should be.

Our endorsement of course will mean nothing, but I think it is a good way to see how the fans and management group think in regards to team management.

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Today the World Series returns to Miami for the first time since Craig Counsell scored on Edgar Renteria’s single to center. In 1997. Just to take you back, here was the line up for the Fish on that day, and where they are now:

Devon White - cf (retired/Milwaukee 2001)
Edgar Renteria - ss (St Louis)
Gary Sheffield - rf (Atlanta)
Darren Dalton - 1b (retired/Florida 1997)
Moises Alou - lf (Cubs)
Bobby Bonilla - 3b (retired/St Louis 2001)
Charles Johnson - c (Colorado)
Craig Counsell - 2b (Arizona)
Al Lieter - sp (Mets)

Other Marlins in that game:
Jeff Conine - Florida
John Cangelosi - retired/Colorado (1999)
Jay Powell - Texas
Greg Zaun - Houston
Dennis Cook - Didn’t play in 2003 due to injury/Anaheim
Cliff Floyd - Mets
Kurt Abbott - retired/Atlanta (2001)
Antonio Alfonseca - Cubs
Felix Heredia - Yankees
Jim Eisnereich - Los Angeles (1998)

Other fun Marlins facts…They’ve never lost a playoff series. They have won the World Series every time they’ve finished over .500. And the year their manager was born, the team that won the Series was the Philadelphia Athletics.

That whole exercise was fun, no? In the span of 11 years, the Marlins have been Devil Rays south, and every once in a while, finding themselves in a World Series. And considering their brief history, the Marlins have evoked some pretty crazy emotion. They were loved as a Cinderella story when they won, hated when the sold off their team to the highest bidder. Of their three owners, two of them have been pretty terrible guys in Wayne Huizenga and Jeffrey Loria. All and all, the Marlins have had a pretty interesting history, all things considered.

And tonight they face off the team with the history in Major League baseball, with the World Series tied at 1-1. This has the makings of the best game of the series so far, with a Josh Beckett/Mike Mussina match up. Beckett has never pitched against the Yankees, and Mussina has amassed a statistically insignificant 0-1 36.00 in 2.0 innings in the last four years. Beckett has been pitching excellently in this offseason, maybe the best stretch in his career. Mussina has been pitching well also, but he’s been struck by gopheritis.

Actually the case of Mussina, because of the city he plays in, has been deemed soft, and not a “big game pitcher,” whatever that means. If you look at balls in play, Mussina’s era this postseason would be: 1.61. That’s his ERA when he keeps the ball in play. The two ways to look at this is that Mussina was right that he only controls the 60′6″ he has to work with. The other is that in the playoffs, he chokes and gives up more homers.

I think honestly that Mussina doesn’t get scared under the bright lights of New York Postseason play. The dingers surrendered were to Manny Ramirez (no shame), David Ortiz (no shame), Trot Nixon (one of the best hitters against righties in baseball), and 2 by Todd Walker (see: Ricardo Rincon). There is no one on Florida’s team that has Ortiz or Ramirez’s power, save Mike Lowell, and the Fish have problems with righties anyway, never mind one of the best in the game.

All and all, Florida’s chances lay in Beckett’s effectiveness and Pierre/Castillo’s ability to get on base in front of Rodriguez and Lee. New York just needs to give Mussina runs and the Stanford Kid needs to keep the ball in the ball park.

Josh Beckett is fast becoming the Official Marlins Pitcher of Dewey’s House. The Yankees are the Official Team of pissing me off. Unfortunately I’m gonna go home pissed tonight, as Mussina keeps the ball out of the dark Florida sky, and Beckett wonders why he keeps getting the best pitcher on the other team. New York 3, Florida 1.

On to less pressing matters, this was in the Boston Globe today:

“As much as I love some of the Marlins’ players and root for them to win, I have no interest in watching this series,” Henry said in an e-mail statement last night. “The only interest I currently have in baseball is to prepare for next season. The supportive communications I have received from fans has been shocking and has stirred me greatly — emotionally.

“Initially, I thought New Englanders would just finally throw up their hands. But their level of commitment and resolve is astonishing and deserves our full attention to moving this franchise forward without a break. It shows you how little I know about the toughness of this region. And it shows me how tough I need to be in making sure that we accomplish our goals. So I’m riding their `wave,’ so to speak. They’ve given me the energy to move forward without having to get away from it all. I thought I would have to get away from it all to recharge and start again. But they have refocused me. And I can tell you that Theo [Epstein] and Larry [Lucchino] did not take a one-day or even a half-day break this week. I don’t think they needed an external force to recharge themselves. This franchise is in very good shape with these two leading it.

“How amazing is it, that even the angriest/saddest/most broken-hearted fans offer thanks and remain determined to see this team prevail? It’s astonishing. I’m not listening to the radio, so maybe things are different there. I just know what comes directly to me.

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for these people. You know, there isn’t anything these people wouldn’t do for the Red Sox. We owe them.”

Only time will tell if John Henry will live up to that e-mail, but at least he’s saying the right things so far.

I was going to use the remaining space here to review Skin, but this entry is running long. I’ll just post five quick notes I took on the show:

I liked it enough to watch again next Monday.
Some notes:
1. Kids are whiny little bitches
2. The DA is a douche
3. Ron Silver plays the part of “sympathetic pornographer” well.
4. The acting is pretty wooden, save Silver, but the writing is pretty good.
5. The camera work is cinema quality. The closest comp I can think of is Stigmata. Its actually distracting at times.
6. Actually might have a longer shelf life then I thought originally.

Enjoy the game tonight.

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I am back, my brothers.

It took a few days, but I think I’m finally over the Very Bad Thing from Thursday night. Actually, the lack of baseball on my end was refreshing, and I think I’m ready to tackle the minimum 15 days until the Hot Stove season kicks off.

First the World Series. Judging by a couple of e-mails, some people think I’m showing an anti-Yankee bias, and severe sour grapes by not covering the World Series in depth. First off, I know that everyone has an anti-Yankee bias, so I can’t comment really. Secondly, there are some sour grapes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to watching two games at Yankee Stadium that should be at Fenway Park. Starting with game 3, I will be watching again, and giving you the same great fast food analysis you have grown to love.

Ok, now on to the Red Sox. Right now, I’m working on my off season preview, which include my “Recipe for a Perfect World.” These are moves I would like to see done to make this team the best it can be. I hope that I will have the majors part all in place by Friday.

Right now, I will be talking about two things that aren’t related to baseball at all. In fact, they are basketball items.

If you like college basketball and you live in New England keep your eye out this year. There is a mini-renaissance happening on the hardcourt. UConn is a favorite to win the national title. Boston College and Providence College are solid teams. Brown might steal the Ivy title. And for the first time since 1998-1999, URI has expectations. The Rams return all but two from the 20-11 squad from last year, and are adding some pretty good looking recruits. The New England hoops scene looks pretty entertaining this year if you like college hoop.

If you like the guys that are paid (Pro Hoops), today is a pretty shitty day to be a Celtics fan. Antonie Walker (who I love) and Tony Delk (who I don’t) were traded to Dallas for Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch and a 1st round pick.

Let that sink in for a second.

Danny Angie just made his first trade as the bossman of the C’s. The trade he wanted to make was to take his second best player, one of the top 40 guys in the league, and trade him for flotsam and a guy who hasn’t been good since he was at Kansas. All dreams I had of the Celtics sneaking into the Finals this year are all but gone.

I can understand why people don’t like Cyber ‘Toine. He chucks, he styles, and he gets taken out of his game sometimes. But he works his ass off on the court, and he is the only thing that keeps Paul Pierce alive during games.

By the way, Pierce will now be quadruple teamed this season.

Last year the Celtics needed a third scorer. Now they need a second. Thanks Danny. Don’t you have to resign to spend more time with your family now?

Now that all that is out of my system, tomorrow, I will be previewing game 3, as well as diving into a little bit of pop culture by giving you a review of Skin. I figured I would do that since the commercials are run every half inning during the Series.

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As I’m sure you guys can understand, I don’t have the heart to post a full series preview.

My pick is Yankees 4-2, DeweVision picks Yankees 4-1.

I’ll be building my perfect world this weekend, and I hope to post it either Monday or Tuesday.

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First off, I would like to offer congratulations to the New York Yankees and their fans for winning the ALCS.

The Yankees won this game, and by extension the series, by taking advantage of perhaps the most heinous mistake of the year by the soon to be ex-manager of the Boston Red Sox, Grady Little.

Going into the bottom of the eight inning, Pedro was gassed. I knew it after Johnson popped out. I knew it after Jeter doubled. There is no way to defend sending Pedro out for the eighth. There is no way to defend him facing Williams, or Matsui, or Posada.

Grady managed this game like he managed the regular season. Unfortunately, it was game seven of the ALCS against the best team in the American League (talent wise). You need a healthy amount of guile, and luck to beat them in their park. Tonight, the Yankees took advantage of that huge hole that Grady Little gave them.

As a message to Red Sox fans: We are winning in 2004.

To Grady Little: You can kiss the fattest part of my ass.

To readers who stumble upon me in cyberspace accidentally looking for porn: I will be writing all offseason, going from the World Series, to the Hot Stove Season, to Spring Training. I’ll probably write 4-5 times a week.

The Yankees deserved to win this game. They won because they don’t do stupid things like leave their gassed ace on the mound because he doesn’t want to come out. The Yankees won because their manager was more willing to win a ball game then make a friend.

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That is more like it. The offense is back, and the fans were treated to a pretty intense game, before a Nixon home run took the drama away. I think I might have misstated my point yesterday about offense. The biggest thing I like about offense is the “comeback factor.” If both teams are hitting, then anything can happen. That is preferred to a team putting up a four spot in the second and then having a “who’s offense is more anemic” contest the rest of the game.

People (those Classy Yankee Fans, who were leaving in droves before the Yankees hit in the bottom of the ninth) will tell you the Red Sox won because of the wind, because of Angel Hernandez’s Wacky Zone, or because of Fox bias. This is crap. The Red Sox won because they scored more runs then the Yankees. Both teams were helped by the wind, both teams were helped/hurt by Hernandez’s strike “zone”, and although Fox may be desirous to see a black quarterback be a star, I doubt Fox is competent enough to actually pull off the fix. Remember, the best ratings would have come from Cubs/Red Sox. More on that in a few.

The Yankees lost this game because they were beat. They were beat because of some bizarre managerial decisions (not having anyone warming after Contreras, intentionally walking Varitek), some bizarre plays (Matsui throwing somewhere before looking/Ortiz’s grounder hitting the base and then popping straight up), and some craptacular pitching by Pettitte, Contreras, Heredia, Nelson, and White. Ironically enough, the only pitcher that didn’t surrender an earned run, Felix Heredia, did as much to help the Yankees lose as any of them. If you have been a regular reader of The House that Dewey Built, then you know that I hate the intentional walk unless it is absolutely necessary. Felix Heredia’s inability to throw a strike is another example in the “I told you so” file.

Secondary for the Yankees, but probably much more annoying is the fact that their guys can not hit right now. The Yankees had five runs, seven hits, and one strikeout against John Burkett. After Grady sent Burkett to his room to think about the pain he wrought, the Yankees spent 5.1 innings scattering five hits, scoring one run (Posada’s homer), and striking out six times. Biggest subject of Yankee ire is Jason Giambi. Against the Boston bullpen, he was 0-3 with three strikeouts, brought to you by Bronson Arroyo, Alan Embree, and Scott Williamson. Giambi will take a lot of guff because of his performance this season and during the playoffs because he is being paid $120 million. There is plenty of blame to go around as Karim Garcia, Hideki Matsui, Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, Nick Johnson, and Jorge Posada are the only Yankees to reach base off of the Red Sox bully.

Tonight, there is Pedro Martinez against Roger Clemens. I really don’t think I’ll be able to concentrate on anything else all day.

And now for something completely different.

Simply put, the Cubs are not in the World Series right now because of Dusty Baker. Baker seems like a nice enough guy, but he has as much business managing a baseball team as I do. His abuse of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood all season has been well documented, but people are still surprised to see that they weren’t sharp this series. His decisions on the offensive side of the ledger seems built on making outs quickly and efficiently, rather then scoring runs. Case in point, the presence of Tom Goodwin and Doug Glanville on the playoff rosters. They have the exact same skill set on offense, so why carry them both?

Dusty Baker was out managed by Jack McKeon this series. McKeon has a deep team that had the ability to put some runs on the board, despite having a shaky bullpen, and a fascination with Brad Penny. And if Juan Pierre got on to lead off a game/inning, McKeon didn’t have Castillo bunt him over. In the first inning. Like Dusty did with Kenny Lofton and Mark Grudzielanek. It’s wasteful baseball, and completely contrary to winning.

The end result was the Marlins beat the Cubs. The Marlins won with pitching, defense, and big ball (getting on base, hitting them around, not bunting or stolen bases. The Marlins are really too fast to not make every single to right a de facto hit and run. For what its worth, the Marlins were 4-7 in stolen base attempts). Ivan Rodriguez might be an overrated defensive player, but he’s earning his keep this offseason. Some Cubs fans will blame goats, or that dude that stuck his hand out, but the blame lays with Dusty Baker and the Marlins.

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I’ve been writing a lot about things that bug me lately, the main recipient of this bile being Tim McCarver and Don Zimmer. I would assume that many people share my opinion on McCarver, as 2/3 of all Google searches that bring people to this site have some variation of McCarver and suck (or asshole, as some people say). This is less true for Zimmer, even though he is the more harmful entity in my opinion.

Before I get to the meat of this post, McCarver didn’t annoy me yesterday, because I played a lot of NHL 2004 hockey, while looking at the TV for the pitches. Not only did this allow me to mute the TV, but it kept me distracted from the crapfest that the Red Sox and Yankees collectively put on. In fact, McCarver gave me the most entertainment of the night last night. When Mariano Rivera came into the game, McCarver was giving him the usual backrub, and then he said that “Rivera’s elegant and easy gait is one of the reasons for his success.” If you don’t find humor in that, then you don’t have a soul. There was the usually McCarver bluster of course, but nothing to get up in arms about. Derek Jeter made some pretty good plays and got the McCarver seal of approval. McCarver said the only way the Red Sox can get hits is broken bat singles right after Walker tripled to deep right. You know, the usual. Him admiring Rivera’s gait made me stop hating him, and realize he is just an old fool trying to keep his job. While admiring men’s gaits.

Anyway, the reason I’m posting wasn’t to tell you that. I’m posting because I got an e-mail that asked me why I’m not doing game summaries anymore on this site. Why is everything during the ALCS a bitchfest. Well Mike, the answer is that this series has been terrible. There has been absolutely no excitement from this series, save the Saturday showdown. The runs scored have come in bunches. There have been no rallies so far. Offenses have been terrible. In other words, we’re playing baseball in 2003, by guys who think its 1968.

I’m a big fan of offense, which surprises my friends because I was a pitcher. Offense makes for good baseball, because the game is in doubt with offense. With pitching, because runs are so scarce, if a handful are scored early, then you have guys trading zeroes, like yesterday. Offense makes the game better to watch. Now I don’t mean I like Coors Field offense, 14-11 games just drag. I’m talking offense like the Cubs/Marlins series so far, which has been great.

The Red Sox/Yankees series has been horrible so far. If I was Fox, I wouldn’t show the games in primetime either. They have two games left to catch my interest, before I can anoint this series watchable, let alone good.

And just for frame of reference, here are the rates for the Red Sox and Yankees:
Boston vs. New York .250/.309/.409/.718 vs. Oakland .211/.290/.378/.668
New York vs. Boston .196/.285/.291/.576 vs. Minnesota .275/.344/.384/.728

Here is the best player comps for those four offenses:
Bos (Nyy) Pat Burrell PHI .209/.309/.404/.713
Bos (Oak) Vance Wilson NYM .243/.293/.373/.666
Nyy (Bos) Brent Butler COL .211/.276/.300/.576
Nyy (Min) Mark Kotsay SDP .266/.343/.384/.726

Those aren’t offenses. Those are two guys struggling to hold jobs, a guy who had one of the most disappointing years ever, and a centerfielder who is playing in an extreme pitchers park.

No one ever says “I can’t wait to see Mark Kotsay play.” The reason is he just isn’t very good. I’m sure as hell not excited to see a Pat Burrell and Brent Butler battle either. That is why this series has been terrible.

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What is clutch? Is there such thing?

I don’t know. No one can define it for me, and I haven’t seen anyone with an clutch skill set. I’m not going to rehash the clutch hitting argument here, I will say that it is my opinion that there at clutch hits, but no clutch hitters.

Here are the top players this post season in the magical world of clutch.

		ab	h	hr	abrisp	hrisp	abmob	hrmob	clutchMatsui	NYY	28	3	1	11	4	18	1	3.179IRod	FLA	37	13	3	13	7	20	2	2.811Sosa	CHC	35	8	2	11	4	16	2	2.571AGon	CHC	33	10	4	7	4	12	2	2.424Lofton	CHC	43	15	0	8	5	12	0	2.209Bernie	NYY	27	6	0	7	3	12	0	1.444Damon	Bos	27	9	1	4	2	7	1	1.407Ortiz	Bos	33	3	1	5	1	11	1	1.212Simon	CHC	21	8	1	6	3	11	1	1.190Sori	NYY	34	8	0	8	3	12	0	1.118

I define clutch as hits with runners in scoring position and home runs with men on base above what is expected by neutral performance. That’s why you have David Ortiz on there who has done essentially nothing this post season. Of his three hits since the end of the year, one was with a runner in scoring postion (the double off Foulke), and his only home run had a guy on base (off Mussina).

Sorry about the nicknames in the table, but that’s the only way I can get it to format right. If you know how to do it better, drop me an e-mail.

Anyway, for the sake of bitterness, here are the 10 worst this postseason:

Alou	CHC	41	16	1	11	3	23	1	-0.854Nomar	Bos	37	8	0	4	0	13	0	-0.865Sierra	NYY	4	1	1	2	0	2	0	-1.000JTek	Bos	22	6	3	2	0	7	0	-1.500Cab’ra	FLA	34	12	2	10	3	18	0	-1.588Luis C	FLA	37	9	0	7	0	12	0	-1.703Lee	FLA	38	7	1	12	1	23	0	-1.816E’cion	FLA	27	5	2	6	0	10	0	-1.852Walker	Bos	28	11	5	6	1	10	1	-2.143Karros	CHC	25	8	2	11	2	11	0	-2.400

Small samples aside, I think this is the best way you can accurately determine who is hitting well “in the clutch”.

I tossed some stats up, because the numbers are a world where I don’t get agita over idiots from Memphis, and jackass writers from New York.

It’s mathamatical therepy.

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I have to give a lot of credit to Yankee fans.

I’m dead serious about this. They have acted well, and even tempered in the last few days about the ugliness that existed between the Yankees and Red Sox. After Game 1, I received some e-mails from Yankee fans saying how the Sox would blow it and other various Yankee fan noise that confirmed their reputation.

However, to their credit, they seem to be putting Game 3 behind them. Red Sox fans are basking in the afterglow of Game 4, so all those bad things that happened on Saturday afternoon probably won’t be rehashed amongst the Hatfields and the McCoys until Game 7.

That’s what I thought until I went on Bruce Allen’s Boston Media Watch website and found this column in the New York Times: Hoping to avoid a negative charge by Dave Anderson.

I’ve never read Anderson before, so I’m not sure what his shtick is, but this is a column that would normally be reserved for the fan boy papers in New York, not the Times (which ironically enough is a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox.)

Although the column is poorly written, Anderson did say one thing that really turned my stomach.

Names or even nicknames will never hurt Martinez, but in the absence of sticks and stones, a battery might. When he’s on the mound or when he warms up in the bullpen, he would be within range of any Yankees loyalist with a good arm. But if there’s no Game 7, Pedro the Perpetrator will be safe.

Until next season.

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but did a columnist for the national paper of record just encourage people to throw batteries at an opposing player?

I think Anderson is suffering from Rush Limbaugh disease here. It’s an affliction which only strikes the mediocre professional opinionists. People get paid for their opinion, and in an effort to stay relevant, they need to spark controversy. Dan Shaughnessy has made a career on this very principle. Anderson is saying something completely outrageous to try to get people to notice him/talk about him (Mission accomplished, jackass.)

Names that I call him here will not hurt Anderson. However, a battery might. When he’s in the press box, he’s in range of any Red Sox loyalist with a good arm.

See, its fun to threaten people on paper. I just hope the Yankee fans realize that Anderson is a talentless yutz, and Duracels go unsold in the Bronx.

It’s funny that the fans are the ones who are seeming to rise above that game, and the players and coaches are on the way. Good thing the media is still beating the story drum. Otherwise, we might forget.

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Sox won…that is good.

Tim McCarver showed his McCarverness…that is bad.

Because I actually get e-mails saying that the McCarver bashing is good, here are my favorite Special Timmy quotes from tonight:

When Matsui misplays the ball off the wall, and Nixon and Millar advance to second and third: “What a great play by Matsui, keeping Millar at third. He played that extremely well deking out Millar.” The replay then shows the ball bouncing over his head and rolling towards the infield.

Johnny Damon catches a flyball a few feet in from the warning track: “Bernie really can’t hit a ball any better then that.”

Jason Varitek pinch hits for Mirabelli: “Well, if you bat Varitek for Mirabelli then you have to take Wakefield out of the game.”

Someone should tell Special Timmy that just because he caught Steve Carlton when all his skills dissolved, doesn’t mean that the personal catcher thing is a hard and fast rule.

Anyway, my look at the game will come tomorrow morning. I needed to be bitter, since McCarver really takes away my enjoyment of the game.

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Paul Williams is 24 years old. He is a 2002 graduate of River College, where he played on the basketball team. He is also Red Sox fan.

George Noucas is the assistant basketball coach, and according to the Boston Globe (link doesn’t work as of now), “Williams wasn’t the most talented player in the world, but he played as hard as you could play and gave you everything he had every night.” Noucas is a Yankees fan.

The two men used to kid eachother about their various affilations. They kept contact after Williams graduated college. Now Williams is a special education teacher at the 8th grade level at West Running Brook Middle School (Derry, NH).

By night, he is a groundskeeper who works at Fenway Park.

As you might know by now, he was the groundskeeper assigned to the Yankees’ bullpen.

The end of the story has Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia using cleates, feet, teeth, and fists to subdue what they said was a combative belligerent. The Boston police say that Nelson and Garcia were the aggressors. As of now, no charges have been filed, but the rumor is that it will happen tomorrow morning.

It’ll be interesting to see if Fox mentions that tonight. If not, at least we’ll know that Pedro and Manny really are bad guys.

Fine for throwing at someone: $50,000
Fine for yelling at someone: $25,000
Fine for yelling at someone and spiking someone else: $10,000
Fine for a coach running at someone, and assulting them: $5,000

Guess which ones are the Yankees, and which one are the Red Sox.

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I was going to write a whole recap of the game yesterday, but my heart just isn’t in it. The reason is the wind in my sails was stolen by a few people who still trumpet the myth that the Yankees are a classy organization.

When tensions run high, it is impossible to remain objective. But partisanism is no excuse not to at least think about what happend at Fenway yesterday critically, rather then be a goofy fan-boy. In my estimation these are what I think about actions of yesterday:

• Pedro Martinez threw a shoulder high fastball at Karim Garcia. Garcia was grazed on the back of the left shoulder and hit the bat. I think it was Pedro’s intent to hit Garcia, I don’t think that it was his intent to throw behind Garcia.
• Garcia yelled at Pedro
• Garcia cheapshotted Todd Walker, spiking him about thigh high
• Pedro exchanged words with Jorge Posada, and Don Zimmer. During the altercation, Pedro and Posada both screamed at each other and pointed to their heads.
• The pitch to Manny Ramirez was eye high, and on the inside part of the plate. He overreacted, but it’s easy to realize how he could get upset.
• Don Zimmer saught out Pedro Martinez with the intent to confront him. Pedro backed away a step, but pushed Zimmer. Zimmer fell because of the combination of the push and his forward momentum. This is confirmed by this video on Boston.com. Seen with RealPlayer.
• Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia fought with a groundskeeper who was supposed to be in the Yankee bullpen. I don’t have an opinion on this, simply because I didn’t see it. The Boston Police are currently considering filing assault charges against Nelson and Garcia
• Tim McCarver still having a job is the biggest disgrace of this game, not the actions of the players

Everything that happend on the field is a part of baseball, except for the Zimmer/Martinez physicality. There is no reason why a coach on a team should go to a player on another team and confront him verbally, never mind physically. Alot has been made of the fact that Pedro should have taken more evasive action to keep from dumping Zimmer on the ground. Afterall, Zimmer is 72, he’s had medical problems, and has a metal plate in his head. After this display, I think the plate might be the only thing in there.

I’m not going to mince words here, because I think this is the only way I can truely express what I’m thinking. Don Zimmer is a disgrace to baseball. His reputation as a cuddly statesman of baseball is total bullshit. This is a guy that took the most talented Red Sox team in the last 40 years and drove them into the ground. The people that Zimmer had run-ins with on the Boston Red Sox were Jim Rice, Bernie Carbo, Butch Hobson, Dwight Evens (yes, the namesake), Fergeson Jenkins, Rick Wise, and of course, Bill Lee. Spaceman has actually gone to the extreme that Zimmer was an “anti-intellectual menace”

The best example of Zimmer’s High Crimes against Baseball came in 1978. Butch Hobson, Red Sox third baseman led the majors in errors. He had bone chips in his elbow, and he winced when he threw across the diamond. Hobson’s manhood was questioned by his manager, Don Zimmer. To this day, Hobson has still expressed bitterness when it comes to 1978. Seeing that the Red Sox finished the year one game out of first, you would think that either DHing Hobson, or replacing him would have made up that game. Remember, because the difference in the standings was because of the one game playoff. It’s not out of the relm of posibility to assume that one of the 43 errors committed by Hobson could have cost the Red Sox a game.

So why the love of Zimmer? I think it’s because he’s old and people tend to like the old people that stick around for a while at their craft. He should have been pushed out of the game years ago, but he’s what the old time baseball people love.

I don’t know enough about the Nelson/groundskeeper situation to comment on it. I will say that Paul Williams, the keeper, had spike marks on his back and arm. Seems a little excessive when trying to subdue someone.

I can’t get started on Tim McCarver, except that he is a hazard in the booth. He was convinced of Pedro’s evilness, especially when it came to Zimmer, before he saw the whole story. It also bears mentioning that McCarver was a Yankee employee, and was released by the Red Sox in 1975, costing him a World Series visit. I never thought he had a bias until yesterday. I honestly feel that Tim McCarver’s continued career in broadcasting is all I need to know to prove that there is a God, and he has a sick sense of humor.

Where is the class folks? The Yankees get credit for it but they sure don’t exhibit it. They win because of their talent, and their payroll advantage, not because they have clean uniforms, and carry themselves well. I suppose it is all Pedro’s fault, but Martinez didn’t spike Walker, and Martinez didn’t force a 72 year old bench coach to actively instigate a fight. The MLB fined Martinez, Ramirez, Zimmer, and Garcia. The mayor of New York is calling for Pedro to face assault charges. Yankee fans on NYYFans.com have numerous threads calling for the head of Pedro Martinez, including one calling for a new nickname for him, calling him subhuman.

Where is the class? It isn’t there. It’s foolish to think that the New York Yankees are any better or worse people then any other baseball players. Calling a team classy is just another way to make something boring likable.