Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/30/2009 6:55 am

4/29/09: Boston 6, Cleveland 5

If you are just a casual fan of the Red Sox (sort of like the way I am with the Patriots) you might not be too familiar with the 29-year-old rookie who delivered the game-winning HR with a 400+ foot blast in the 10th inning last night.  Chances are, there are some people who missed his cup of coffee last season and have never heard of Jonathan Van Every.

In a nutshell, Van Every is one of the reasons (along with Jeff Bailey and Chris Carter) why I was totally against the signings of Mark Kotsay and Brad Wilkerson.  I believe that all three of the aforementioned “AAAA” outfielders are more productive players than Kotsay and the now retired Wilkerson. Unfortunately, as soon as Kotsay is healthy, Van Every will be sent down the I-95 express until he is once again needed when J.D. Drew or Rocco Baldelli embark on one of their 15-day vacations.

A brief rundown on Jonathan Van Every:

He was drafted out of a Missouri community college back in the Clinton Administration, in the 29th round of the 2000 draft by the same Cleveland Indians franchise he stabbed in the heart last night.  He then spent 5 seasons toiling in Single-A ball before finally reaching Double-A at the ag of 25 and Triple-A at the age of 26.  After becoming a minor league free agent, the Red Sox signed him to patrol CF at McCoy stadium in 2008.

He began to get people’s attention with his play in Pawtucket last year, hitting .263/.360/.524 with 26 HRs in 380 at bats while playing good CF defense.  At age 28, he made his MLB debut in 2008.

Like Bailey and Carter, he’ll be a valuable guy to have in the swing position between Pawtucket in Boston, since we do have some outfielders up here who are notoriously frail.  He differentiates himself from the other two players with his glove; neither Bailey nor Carter can play CF.  I’m willing to bet my mortgage that he would outperform Mark Kotsay over the course of a full MLB season.

At the very lest, he is now on the map.

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/29/2009 6:52 am

4/28/09: Brad Penny/Javier Lopez 9, Red Sox 8

I find great humor in awkward situations.  I guess many people do, hence the popularity of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and other things of that nature.  Anyway, imagine my delight when relief pitcher Javier Lopez found a new and creative way to facilitate a heartbreaking loss at 11:30 PM last night.  I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a pitcher drop an underhanded egg toss while covering first, especially not with the winning run rounding third base.  So, Javier…thanks, I guess?

Lopez can’t really get the brunt of the blame for this (shades of the Bill Buckner situation), since the starting pitcher, Brad Penny, was once again terrible.

For two guys who are clearly the weak links on the Red Sox pitching staff, last night didn’t exactly contribute to their job security.  With Daniel Bard, Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and eventually John Smoltz waiting in the wings, to say these two are replaceable is an understatement.

My views are probably skewed by irrational fatigued anger right now, so I’ll go ahead and acknowledge that the 11 win streak was a terrific run against some tough teams, and it is comforting to see that streak-busting loss happened mostly due to mental lapses as opposed to being outplayed.  All in all, you have to like the makeup of this team thus far.

Comments (3)

By Jimmy, 4/28/2009 9:10 am

When Jason Bay was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the main question was: could he perform as well in the AL as he did in the NL?  Well, in his 294 plate appearances in a Red Sox uniform, Bay has hit .307/.408/.577.  Now, the high slugging percentage is probably unsustainable, but at the very least, Bay has proven that he can handle the superior level of play (if such a thing even exists) in the American League just fine.

You want consistency?  Bay hits just as well on the road as he does in his home parks (.909 OPS at Fenway vs. .907 career road OPS).  Bay hits righties nearly as well as lefties (.888 vs .931).

You want clutchness?  Bay’s career OPS in high leverage situations is .929.

You want durability?  In Bay’s 4 full seasons in the major leagues, he has averaged 155 games played.  The only Red Sox player to match this total last season was American League MVP Dustin Pedroia.

The soft-spoken slugger was one of the best corner outfielders in the game while playing in the sound-proof vacuum known as Pittsburgh.  Now that he is on the big stage, his offensive production will begin to draw the attention it deserves.  Sometime this season, perhaps around the All-Star break (unless Bay is taking part in the festivities, which looks like a distinct possibility), the Red Sox might want to sit down with the outfielder, and discuss his thoughts on patrolling the green monster for the next 4 years.

It’s the “bird in the hand” theory.  A sure thing is preferable to speculation on the open market or the farm system.  Given Bay’s consistency, he’s about as sure of a bet as there is.

Comments Off

By Jimmy,

4/27/09: Boston 3, Cleveland 1

Boston’s 11th straight victory was made possible by yet another Tim Wakefield gem.  This is now three starts in a row where the 42-year-old has been phenomenal…not just good, but great.  What is he doing differently this year?

As far as I can tell, his knuckleball has been slower that it has in the past couple of years.  Whether or not this reduced speed is the main determinant of Wakefield’s success of late has yet to be determined, but you can see the data for yourself:
.

More knuckleballs, slower knuckleballs.  The fastball is basically non-existent these days, which is one of the reasons I was so bearish on Wakefield to begin the year.  Is this success a small sample blip, or is he tougher to hit when his junk is even junkier than ever before?

Comments (1)

By Jimmy, 4/27/2009 6:44 am

4/26/09: New York 1, Boston 4

The last Red Sox player to manage a straight steal of home plate was the immortal Billy Hatcher, nearly 15 years ago to the day, on 4/22/94.

Admittedly, I sometimes get down on Jacoby Ellsbury for his lapses in plate discipline as his inability to drive the ball,  but he certainly makes the best out of the skills he has.  In two of these three weekend games, we saw him singlehandedly disrupt the flow of the game with his baserunning abilities.  If Ellsbury can continue to create value on the basepaths, his meager OPS+ will be at least palatable.

After 10 straight wins, what began as one of the worst Red Sox seasons in the past two decades has quickly become one of the most promising.  Promising not only in what the coming season holds for the team, but the long term prospects as well.  Aside from Ellsbury’s electric performance, we witnessed key contributions from two pitchers who could very well become mainstays in the Red Sox rotation of the future:  starter Justin Masterson, and “reliever” Michael Bowden, who was called up as an emergency arm and pitched two perfect innings against the Yankees, striking out two.

While the Sox are on fire right now, the next road trip will be a daunting test of their meddle: 3 games in Cleveland, 4 games in Tampa Bay, and ending with two games in The House That Joe Taxpayer Built.  Three tough teams, and not a whole lot of rest for a squad that has been running on full throttle.

Coming Up:
Power Rankings Update
Checking on the Prospects

Comments (3)

By Jimmy, 4/24/2009 9:36 am

…

…
…
…

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/23/2009 9:24 am

After three Brad Penny starts, I think we’re beginning to see what he is capable of, in terms of both good performances and disastrous ones.  He has a lively fastball, although one that is not very deceiving.  He has a decent (not tremendous) ground ball rate, and he’s not striking people out.  Therefore, he is someone who will need to hit his spots almost perfectly in order to succeed in the American League.

A brief glimpse of some PitchFX data from his three starts in a Red Sox uniform, courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net:
…

…
There’s not much of a difference between Good Brad and Evil Brad, other than his fastball being a little faster and less accurate in his disastrous start against Baltimore last week.  Let’s face it: even in his two quality starts, Penny straddled the fine line between efficient and hittable on numerous occasions.  He’s a pitcher who despite his decent stuff will need a little BABIP luck, some good defense, and some excellent control (something not always present for him).

In this sense, he reminds me a little of another Red Sox reclamation project: Wade Miller.  That’s not a good thing.

Comments Off

By Jimmy,

Shortstop and frequent fan pinata Julio Lugo played in a rehab game for the Pawtucket Red Sox, going 0-3 with a walk and three strikeouts.  Despite his box score from yesterday, it appears as if he’s just about ready to return to the Red Sox, and his playing time will come at the expense of Nick Green.

I know, I know…Here’s the thing.  I realize Nick Green is playing off his ass right now.  He’s hitting .313/.371/.563.  Defensively, he’s been incredible at SS, with a UZR/150 of 55.9.  But, guess what?  Lugo’s the better ballplayer.  He just is.  Bear with me for a second.  Which scenario is more likely:

1) The 30-year-old Green, a journeyman replacement-level second baseman with a career .668 OPS, a guy who spent all of 2008 in the minor leagues and hit poorly there, suddenly just “gets it” and is now one of the top shortstops in the American League.

or

2) Green is experiencing a torrid hot streak in the 11 games he’s played for the Red Sox, but will probably revert to the mean as the sample size of his plate appearances and fielding chances increases with each game.

On the bright side, Nick Green is certainly making us forget about Alex Cora, and should fit nicely into that utility role until Jed Lowrie returns in a couple of months.

Comments (3)

By Jimmy, 4/21/2009 2:15 pm

When I heard of the passing of young Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but think about other major leaguers who died while in the midst of their career.  If you’re at all familiar with pre-WWII baseball, you know that this type of thing happened a lot more often back then (tuberculosis was a real bitch). Would Adenhart make a 25-man roster of ballplayers who passed away while in the middle of their playing careers?  Let’s take a look:

STARTING LINEUP:

C: Thurman Munson – Munson might have been a Hall of Famer were it not for the 1979 plane crash that took his life.  With a career OPS+ of 116 in his ten plus seasons with the Yankees, an argument can be made that he should be in.  He was a perfect representative for Yankee Universe: an big obnoxious guy with a mustache.

1B: Harry Agganis – There is a life-sized statue of this guy not 200 feet from where I currently sit.  A local guy through and through, Harry was born in Lynn and attended Boston University, where he was a legendary football quarterback.  He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns to replace Hall of Fame QB Otto Graham, but the Browns were outbid by Tom Yawkey.  Agganis was hitting .313/.383/.458 when he died of a pulmonary embolism at age 26.

2B: Ken Hubbs – At age 20, Ken was maybe one of the worst Rookie of the Year winners in the history of the award (a .646 OPS with mediocre defense apparently was enough).  Hubbs had a fear of flying, which he tried to overcome by actually becoming a pilot.  That took some guts, regardless of the result.  I have a fear of scorpions, and I couldn’t imagine trying to become a scorpion rancher.

3B: Tony Boeckel – Third base is sort of weak in this category.  Boeckel was an average third baseman for the Boston Braves (basically the Joe Crede of his day) who died in a car accident in 1924.  Since it was 1924, you know the car had to look something like the flying Model-T in The Absent Minded Professor.  They did look like fun, but apparently were not entirely safe.

SS: Ray Chapman – As you may or may not know, Chapman was the only guy ever to be killed by a HBP.  The pitcher was hard-throwing Carl Mays of the Yankees. Some believe this incident is an impenetrable barrier standing between Mays and Cooperstown.

LF: Ed Delahanty – Ed was a Hall of Famer and maybe the best hitter on this entire team (era adjusted).  He was the Manny Ramirez of 19th century baseball, in that he was a feared hitter and something of an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in some sort of crazy gift wrapping.  Ed died after jumping (falling?) into Niagara Falls.

CF: Chick Stahl – The Red Sox player-manager took his own life by chugging some carbolic acid during spring training in Indiana.  I suppose if I had to endure spring training in Indiana, I might bat around the idea of offing myself in the most painful way possible.

RF: Roberto Clemente – If you are ever looking some evidence for the whole “There Is No God” argument, just reference the story of a superstar athlete who dies in a plane crash on his way to do charity work in a third-world country.

DH: Lyman Bostock – Lyman was shot and killed in Gary, Indiana (see my Chick Stahl comment above).  Bostock’s killer served all of 21 months in prison.  I think the South Carolina DA was seeking a longer sentence for Michael Phelps in his pot possession case.

Bench:

OF: Len Koenecke – A year after hitting .320/.411/.509 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Koenecke was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher by a flight attendant, reportedly after flipping out mid-flight.

CIF: Dan McGann – A dead-ball era 1B who had a lengthy career with over 400 stolen bases and an OPS+ of 117, McGann shot himself in a Lousisville hotel.

IF: Elmer Gedeon
C: Harry O’Neill
Gedeon and O’Neill hold the honor of being the only two MLB players killed in World War II.

ROTATION:

1) Addie Joss – A dominant turn-of-the-century Hall of Fame pitcher. Joss only pitched 8+ seasons in his career before dying of meningitis at age 30.  The Hall of Fame broke their “10 year rule” and in 1978 allowed Joss in as a rare exception.

2) Urban Shocker – Urban is one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball history.  With a career 124 ERA+ in nearly 3,000 innings, there is a salient Hall of Fame argument to be made for the guy with perhaps the coolest name in baseball history.  Were it not for pneumonia, the argument would be much easier to make.

3) Darryl Kile – As someone who is close to the same age and the same size as Kile was when his heart stopped, I wish I knew the cause of his death.  Whatever it was, I’d like to avoid it.

4) Don Wilson – Wilson died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1975 (car running in the garage). At the age of 29, he had amassed 104 wins and a 3.15 ERA.

5) Nick Adenhart – Nick cracks the rotation based almost entirely on his potential.  I believe he was rushed to the major leagues (and even to the hitter-friendly AAA Pacific Coast League), but if cultivated properly, Nick might have been an outstanding starting pitcher.  In 2006 he combined for a 15-4 season with a 2.56 ERA in the low minors, and in 2007 he was 10-8 with a 3.65 ERA in AA.

BULLPEN

Closer: Steve Olin – Steve was a shut-down closer for the Cleveland Indians before dying in a boating accident at the age of 27.

Set-up: Donnie Moore – In 1985, Donnie pitched 103 innings out of the bullpen while only yielding a 1.92 ERA.  A year later, it began to fall apart.

Set-up: Danny Frisella – Frisella was killed in a dube buggy accident in 1977.  HE was a decent set-up man for a number of years (career 3.32 ERA).

Middle: Tim Crews – A solid releiver who was on the boat with Olin.

Middle: Cory Lidle – My one enduring memory of the ill-fated pilot was his role in that wild Tampa Bay-Boston game where just about everyone was ejected and/or suspended and Pedro pitched a near-perfect game.  Lidle was the guy who came in, tried to hit Brian Daubach twice, missed both times, and was promptly ejected.

Long: Tiny Bonham – A career 3.06 ERA in over 1,500 innings before dying of appendicitis.

Long: Bob Moose – The elevated pitcher’s mound in 1969 did not affect Bob Moose, as he went 14-3 with a 2.91 ERA and an impressive 8.7 K/9 as a swingman.  Moose died in a car wreck on his 29th birthday.

Comments (4)

By TRic, 4/20/2009 5:15 pm

We were promised the Battlestar Galactica of Baseball Stadiums, a tasteful remake that would  be a vast improvement of already legendary entity.  Instead we got Psycho (1998) where Gus Van Sant singlehandedly showed us the extent of Hitchcock’s genius and forced us to endure the worst performances of half a dozen actors’ lives.  Psycho may have actually scarred the very act of making films for years to come.  The movie was so terrible Gus Van Sant went from Oscar nominated genius to directing Music Videos again.  Isn’t it weird. Isn’t it strange.  Even though we’re just two strangers on this runaway train, we’re both trying to find a place in the sun. – The Immortal Hanson
The new Yankee Stadium is an unmitigated disaster that can only bring joy to heart of any Mets or Red Sox fans.  I don’t think I could have even fathomed a day where there would huge blocks of empty seats on a nationally televised game at Yankee Stadium.  It is the kind of thing you see in Kansas City or NatsTown, not opening weekend in the Bronx.  By unrealistically pricing of seats the Yankees are making themselves look like a joke.  All you can see when watching a game on TV is the blue seats surround the field of play. Pinstripes and Pride indeed, filling your stadium less than ¾ up on a weekend game, that’s the kind of thing you see in such great baseball towns as San Diego and Washington DC.  Pricing out your fans to make yourself look like a joke on National TV, classy.

Beyond the empty seats, the new Yankee Stadium is playing like a joke.  In the old stadium during day games you would get a slight breeze going to Left Center field coming off the river.  However the New Yankee Stadium is 90 degree counter clockwise turn from old stadium.  Add the fact that you lengthened out stadium to add concourse room making a far less steep incline and that the New Yankee Stadium stands unimpeded to the Harlem River, suddenly the nice left center breeze becomes a jet stream to RF.  A wind tunnel that kills balls going into LF dragging them further into center and helping balls hit to an already smaller RF (it was a near joke before) fly out of the park.  The expression on Johnny Damon’s face after he hit his first HR in the New Yankee Stadium says it all.  Damon stared almost shocked as his ball sailed over the wall.  Even rounding second, he paused for a moment and looked out to right as if he was checking if it actually made over the wall for sure.  You could tell he thought there was no way it was going out off his bat.  I have never seen a player so confused by own home run. 

The new Yankee Stadium is going to play like a bandbox during the day.  It should dampen a bit was NYC becomes more humid but the wind whipping down the Harlem is going to drag those balls towards right field.  The stadium already built to assist left handed sluggers has become even more lefty friendly.  Ian Kennedy is probably already having nightmares about coming back up to the majors. 

You would think the only embarrassing thing about the stadium would have been the corrupt dealings to get the stadium.  However after a construction delay to find a Ortiz jersey, inability to sell luxury boxes, the delays to rebuild the parks taken away by the new stadium, the illegal devaluing the land to get bonds, and having to ask for even more money to waste in the construction you figure, hell they probably got the stadium right now.  But instead you get Coors Park East with a matching attendance record.  Sunday during the YES broadcast, Michael Kay announced the Yankee Stadium was going to have cap day.  Cap day.  No sponsor, instead the Yankees were having pretty much the most desperate ploy to get people into a stadium on a weekend game, against the Angels.  It sounded like Michael Kay had been kicked in the balls when he was reading the promo.  It was probably the most gut wrenching moment of Michael Kay’s life since Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS or the first time heard the tapes from Joba’s DUI arrest.  Somehow I don’t think Cap Day is going to lure in people to buy the $500+ seats you aren’t going to get filled.  The new Yankee Stadium:  About as hot a Vince Vaughn in drag.

Comments (3)

By Jimmy, 4/16/2009 6:04 pm

I’m not going to wax poetic on the importance of Tim Wakefield’s complete game victory yesterday afternoon, as it’s already been said just about everywhere else in the blogosphere.

I was curious, however, where that game ranked among the best starts of Wakefield’s career.  As any long-time Sox fan will tell you, we’ve seen him do this before on numerous occasions.  He’ll have those nights were he pitches like a Hall of Fame caliber legend, completely shutting the opposition down.  Unfortunately, the flip side of this coin can be rather ugly, and the aggregate result is a slightly above-average starting pitcher.

When ranking Tim Wakefield’s career starts by Bill James’ Game Score, yesterday’s ballsy outing against Oakland is the 33rd best start of his career.  Think about that.  He’s had 32 starts in his career where he was even better than yesterday.

Here’s some trivia for you: in what year was Wakefield’s best career start (again, using Game Score as the ranking metric)?  If you’re anything like me, you would have answered “1995″, Wakefield’s Cy Young contention year. 14 years ago. And if you did guess ’95, you’d be wrong.

Wakefield’s best career start occurred just last year, on May 6th, 2008.  8 scoreless innings at Detroit.  2 hits.  No walks.  6 strikeouts.

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/15/2009 9:07 am

4/14/09: BOS 5 OAK 6

One of the things I try to do is admit when I am wrong.  Apparently, I was wrong about Daisuke Matsuzaka and the WBC’s impact on his arm.

Per Terry Francona:

“We had a talk with him the other day about this. We knew that he was just, I don’t know if fatigued or what, but came out of the WBC and felt probably like he had ramped up too quick,” … “All the things we were worried about. And then he threw his bullpen and assured us he was fine.”

In other news, Justin Masterson was excellent in long relief last night, throwing 4 scoreless innings and striking out 6.  I think this should serve as a bit of a hint to Red Sox management: this guy should probably be a starting pitcher.

Tonight, Tim Wakefield is all that stands between the red-hot Oakland A’s and a sweep of the floundering Red Sox.
…

The A’s are countering with 21-year-old Brett Anderson. Anderson is a lefty and the Red Sox have never seen him, so…I wouldn’t bet against a 3-hit shutout.

Comments (2)

By Jimmy, 4/14/2009 2:49 pm

Josh Beckett has been suspended for 6 games (essentially 1 start) by Major League Baseball for “throwing at” Angels batter Bobby Abreu.

Just in case you didn’t see the game, here is what happened: Bobby Abreu called for a time-out just as Beckett was entering his motion to throw a pitch.  As pitchers often do to avoid awkward arm movements and possible injuries in this type of situation, Beckett continued his pitching motion and uncorked the ball.  This is typically done without aiming at anything, and in this case the ball sailed near Abreu’s head.  Abreu took exception and gave Beckett the international symbol for “WTF?” (double extended arms, palms facing outward) and mayhem ensued.

Some facts:

• The count at the time was a pitcher’s count (1 ball, 2 strikes)
• Beckett has faced Bobby Abreu 84 times (more than any other batter), and has held him to .215/.393/.354 over his career.
• Home plate umpire Paul Schrieber did not eject Beckett.
• Four people were ejected from this game, none of whom have received a suspension by Major League Baseball.

This team is struggling just fine on their own accord.  They don’t need any help from MLB in this department.

Bullshit.

Comments Off

By Jimmy,

4/13/09: BOS 2 OAK 8

What we have here is 25-man roster of players, 3 of whom are playing well.  One outfielder, one first baseman, and an 8th inning reliever.  That’s it.  Every other player on the roster is having some sort of “rough patch” in one way or another.  Hitters, starters, relievers.  They are all basically sucking.  Poor pitch command, poor plate discipline, hitters missing absolute meatballs.  Nothing is clicking.

It’s a cold streak, and a highly visible one, since it’s occurring at the very beginning of the regular season.  It will pass, but damn if this team isn’t excruciating to watch right now. They say deaths usually happen in threes.  Well, someone might want to check the pulse of several guys on this team.

Up next, the Sox face Dana Eveland.  This could be a spark plug for the team, since Dana has occasional trouble throwing strikes, and the Sox are prone to take advantage of that (although they haven’t been doing a good job of it lately).  Hopefully Dana’s wildness will make the Sox hitters’ plate discipline come back to them.

It’s just like riding a bike, fellas.

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/13/2009 7:56 pm

Shortstop Jed Lowrie has injured his wrist and will be placed on the 15-day DL.  He apparently was trying to play through it, rather unsuccessfully.

Nick Green now becomes the Red Sox starting shortstop for the time being (Gil Velazquez has been summoned from AAA Pawtucket) and will serve as the utility infielder).  Defensively, Green is an average second baseman (0.4 UZR/150 for his career), and doesn’t have a whole lot of MLB experience at SS (although he was average at SS in the minor leagues).

The problem isn’t his glove; it’s his bat.  To put it bluntly, Nick Green makes Julio Lugo look like Arky Vaughan.  However, for some reason, I have a feeling he’ll be labeled as a “scrappy gamer” by the local pundits.  Just a hunch.

Comments Off

By TRic, 4/11/2009 2:59 pm

Last fall the house that held so many echos of champions past closed. The field that legends played on was summarily retired. It was called the House that Ruth Built because the stadium was built on the back of the popularity of a slugger that brought the game the forefront of America’s mind. The first true sports superstar, Ruth made records and was remembered as being one of the best. Ruth’s house is being tore down ironically enough at a time when the people who tore down his historical numbers en masse are being exposed as frauds.
In a couple days, Yankee stadium will have its opening day. This is a new Yankee stadium. A Yankee stadium built on the backs of such artificial giants as ARod, Giambi, Clemens, and Pettitte. A stadium built off the dying memory of a dynasty that ruled baseball as the practitioners of the needle brought America back to its summer pasttime. A pasttime that abandoned America over quibbles about money. A stadium built in part through a corrupt bargain made by a used car sales man turned Commissioner who allowed baseball’s greatest villain back then willfully turned a blind to the obvious. The villain rose and threatened to take the Yankees to Northern Jersey. An act that is so un-American it nearly screams for invite to Gitmo.
It was stadium built on the promise that it would see a changing of the guard as the records were to be taken back from the unclean by an unpopular yet godlike talent who represented America’s hope to walk away from this tainted era. A man who turned out to be as guilty as the people he was supposed to cleanse from the record books. Now the stadium will act as home as the man goes through the motions of creating records America will root to be broken by another. Almost as if America will stand by to see villainous acts committed in the hopes a new hero will emerge and stand even taller because he toppled the villainous acts of a National joke. For what is Superman without a Lex Luthor to fight.
The new Yankee stadium replaces the House that Ruth Built and will stand as a reminder of an era of tarnished reputations and heroes fallen. A monument to how pantheon of baseball gods can be as mortal if not more so than the people who look up to them. This Yankee Stadium stands as a monument to the modern era of baseball which is sullied by whispers of syringes and asterisks. This Yankee Stadium is The House that Roids Built.

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/10/2009 9:30 am

4/8/09: TB 4 BOS 3

Yes, the MVP of the World Baseball Classic, Daisuke Matsuzaka, was hammered for 9 hits (including 3 home runs) in 5 innings of work yesterday afternoon.  He didn’t have his usual velocity, and his command was off. Red flag alert…red flag alert!!  The WBC has destroyed the career of our $70 million dollar pitcher!  Quick, grab your torches and pitchforks…next stop: Milwaukee!  Bud Selig must be punished for eviscerating the arm of our prized Japanese import!  In yesterday’s game, his first April start of 2009, the average 4-seamer velocity was 89.6 MPH (maximum 91.9).  This is a far cry from his usual 92 MPH average (95 MPH max).  It’s all downhill from here, baby! Obviously, he should retire at once to spare himself the embarrassment of a slow and painful decline.  Stick a fork in him, he is toast.

No, seriously, this isn’t a phenomenon you can really blame on the WBC.  Matsuzaka needed a couple of starts to build up his velocity in 2008 as well.  Last season, in Dice-K’s first April start, the average velocity on his 4-seam fastball was 89.0 MPH (maximum 91.6)…slower than it was in yesterday’s start.  By late April, his 4-seamer was averaging 92 MPH again, and by mid May, he was touching 96.

On a side note: there aren’t many pitchers who can claim to dominate Dustin Pedroia, but Matt Garza is certainly one of them.  Garza has held the future MVP to a .166 batting average in his career, with an OBP and SLG% both well under .250.  I guess this would make Garza a “giant killer”?

Tonight

Late night west coast baseball begins.  Always a good excuse to close out a bar on Friday night.  And believe me, you might need some liquid coping mechanisms after watching this game.  I’ve already expressed some concern over Tim Wakefield’s upcoming performances, and Jered Weaver is one of those guys I dislike intensely.

Tim Wakefield (2008 vs ANA: 7 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 5.14 ERA)
vs.
Jered Weaver (2008 vs BOS: 10.2 IP, 16 H, 3 BB, 8 K, 6.75 ERA)

Big performers vs Weaver:
David Ortiz: 18 PA, .467/.556/.933, 2 HR
Kevin Youkilis: 19 PA, .294/.368/.647, 2 HR
J.D. Drew: 13 PA, .455/.500/.455

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/9/2009 12:41 pm

Happy minor league opening day.  The four full-season Red Sox minor league affiliates begin their seasons today.  Here’s a peak at the rosters (info courtesy of soxprospects.com):

The guys I consider “prospects” (a term which tends to mean different things to different people) are highlighted in yellow.

Comments (3)

By Jimmy,

4/8/09: TB 7 BOS 2

I somehow missed this during Spring Training, and I’m actually pretty shocked.  Sure, things like this aren’t really a big deal in terms of intrinsic value, but the last guy to wear #24 for the Red Sox was a future first ballot Hall of Famer.  10 years before that, the number was worn by a Red Sox legend, one of the most criminally underrated outfielders of all time (i.e. this site’s namesake).  I guess the reason I’m surprised is they just retired #6, they will retire #14, they apparently have stashed away #21 and #26, and they haven’t been in any great rush to hand out #38.  Surely, a number once held by two iconic players deserves similar treatment.  To give it to a set-up reliever who will probably not throw more than 50 innings for the Red Sox…Theo, dude, that’s cold.

Anyway, on to the more important issue: the Red Sox bubble-bursting loss at the hands of Scott Kazmir.  The Sox tried to beat him with a patient approach once again, but it seemed to backfire, since he apparently was working with a wide strike zone.  Take this chart, for instance (courtesy of the great brooksbaseball.net pitchFX tool):

The red squares represent called strikes for Tampa Bay pitchers, while the red triangles (not nearly as many of those outside the box) represent called strikes for Boston pitchers.  Kazmir was working with a wide strike zone, and it seemed to help him tremendously.  Still, it didn’t really matter, as Jon Lester’s meatball to Carlos Pena was essentially the nail in the coffin.

Today, 1:35 PM
Daisuke Matsuzaka (2008 vs TB: 15 IP, 13 H, 17 K, 3 BB, 3.00 ERA)
vs
Matt Garza (2008 vs BOS: 22 IP, 21 H, 10 K, 7 BB, 4.50 ERA)

Big performers vs. Garza:
J.D. Drew: 5 PA, .400/.500/1.200
Jacoby Ellsbury: 14 PA, .462/.500/.462

Poor performers vs. Garza:
Dustin Pedroia: 15 PA, .214/.267/.286
Kevin Youkilis: 14 PA, .083/.214/.083

Comments Off

By Jimmy, 4/8/2009 9:13 am

4/7/09: TB 3 BOS 5

Maybe the Red Sox brass should think about starting every season by parading the team through the grandstands like XFL players against their will.  Judging by the facial expressions on some of these guys, you’d think they were recreating the Bataan Death March.  Even considering the whole Opening Day dog and pony show (the introduction, the fighter jets, Ted Kennedy, Jim Rice, ect…), the story of this game was still Josh Beckett.

Beckett is the first Red Sox Opening Day pitcher to strike out at least 10 hitters since Pedro Martinez did it in 2000 (the midst of the Immortal Pedro Era).  Aside from a shaky third inning, Josh was just about perfect.  I mentioned yesterday that Beckett is at his best when at least 1/4 of his pitches are curveballs.  Well, the deuce was called in nearly 1/3 of his pitches yesterday afternoon.  As Beckett himself put it:

“Tek and I really did a good job today of mixing pitches. I don’t think we were ever in a situation where we were scared to throw anything. I think that worked the whole time.”

However, even though he utilized the breaking ball more than he usually does, the most impressive pitch was his four-seam fastball:

Average speed, 4-seamer: 95.1 MPH
Top speed, 4 seamer: 96.7 MPH

To put it in better context, Beckett’s 50 fastballs, on average, were faster than Jonathon Papelbon’s by about 1 MPH.  Given the temperature in Boston yesterday (mid 40′s and windy), Tampa Bay hitters didn’t have much of a chance.

Boston’s prize for defeating “Big Game James” Shields: a chance to extend the streak against nemesis Scott Kazmir.  While hard-throwing lefties like Kazmir tend to make Red Sox fans repeatedly slam their heads into a nearby wall, check out the head-to-head splits from last season posted below.

Tonight, 7:10 PM
Jon Lester (2008 vs Tampa Bay: 20 innings, 18 hits, 19/6 K/BB, 0.90 ERA)
vs.
Scott Kazmir (2008 vs Boston: 18 innings, 24 hits, 14/14 K/BB, 9.00 ERA)

It would seem as if the Sox “had his number” last season, so to speak.  Let’s see if that will continue.