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By Jimmy, 10/19/2011 9:08 am

2004:  ”Oh look, they were drinking Jack Daniels and eating KFC!  LOL!  What a bunch of blue collar dirt dogs!  Look at them taking shots together. What great chemistry! This really was a team of destiny!”

2011: “Oh my God, they were drinking beer and eating Popeye’s! How DARE they disrespect the game like that!  They clearly lost all of their desire to win! I want a full investigation into this!  WHY WON’T ANYBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!”

The point is: as always, it’s all about winning. Public opinion will be framed around the on-field result. Kevin Millar could have passed around a spoonful of black tar heroin during the 2004 ALCS, and the media would have found a positive spin on it.

Interestingly enough, in both 2004 and 2011, the team was one strike away from a very, very different media narrative.

Some other thoughts on BeerGate:

• I felt a little better about the situation when I heard that the Lester/Beckett/Lackey trio was drinking Bud Light. These guys weigh 250 lbs, they would have to drink a gallon of that swill to feel any sort of impairment. If anything, it quenched their thirst.
• A lot of people are more outraged over the rumor that the pitchers might have been drinking in the dugout, as opposed to the clubhouse. But really, why does it matter? The situation is the same: drinking during a game in which they were not scheduled to pitch. Is the dugout somehow more sacred than the clubhouse?  It certainly doesn’t look like it, with all of the sunflower seeds and tobacco spit on the floor.
• It appears that everyone is assuming Larry Lucchino leaked this story, but I don’t buy it. If there’s one thing Lucchino is not, it’s stupid. He wouldn’t create this sort of shitstorm over his own organization. My guess is that the source is much lower in paygrade, someone you’ve probably never heard of. A middle-management type, or perhaps even a clubhouse employee.
• The one thing that I am a tad outraged over is that it appears that (according to Jon Lester’s rundown on the situation) some of the team was treating Terry Francona like the blind substitute teacher in a 6th grade social studies class. Just walking all over him with little regard to authority. Francona has always had a laissez-faire style of leadership, but it seems as if some of the players were taking advantage of that.

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By Jimmy, 6/6/2011 10:41 pm

So, it looks like neither Bell nor Norris will be happening, as the Sox took a college outfielder with their final pick in Day One of the draft.  Jackie Bradley was one of the best outfielders in college baseball as a sophomore last season before hurting his wrist and having a mediocre junior year.  This sort of follows the strategy the Sox employed when drafting both Anthony Ranaudo and Bryce Brentz in 2010; taking polished college players whose stock dropped due to a recent injury.

He’s a quick, athletic left-handed hitting outfielder.  The Sox have gravitated towards this type of player several times in recent drafts, and it’s worked out fairly well for them.

On that note…good night.  More during Day Two tomorrow afternoon.

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By Jimmy, 6/2/2011 8:00 am

Work has been a little bonkers lately, so I haven’t been posting as frequently as I’d like. This is just as well, considering that Red Sox Nation has been stricken by a tornado of failure in recent days. (See what I did there? Not using “fail” as a noun?  Note to, well, everyone on the internet under the age of 40: feel free to emulate that.  I promise, it will be cool in a hip, retro sort of way.) It’s amazing how the confidence index can plummet so quickly. We were flying high on Memorial Day, were we not?

The bad news reached a crescendo last night when a report from Japan claimed that Daisuke Matsuzaka has opted for Tommy John surgery (this has yet to be confirmed by Daisuke himself).  Apparently, the second opinion on his shoulder from Dr. Lewis Yocum didn’t paint a very bright picture for the right-hander.

If Matsuzaka does indeed go under the knife, he will be sidelined for at least twelve months, and quite possibly more.  He could return for a few starts late in the 2012 season if his rehab goes as planned, but since his contract expires after next year and his relationship with team management doesn’t seem to be ironclad at this point, the main purpose behind this decision would be to prepare him for a career with another franchise.

I’ll save the post mortem writeup on Matsuzaka’s Red Sox career until that surgery report is actually confirmed. To summarize it in one sentence as best as I can: the team spent a boatload of money on a guy who was very inconsistent and injury prone, however, it could have been much, much worse.

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By Jimmy, 2/8/2011 10:20 am

Yes, today is the day that the Red Sox equipment truck leaves Fenway Park and embarks on the long journey down I-95 to Fort Myers. I have to ask: wouldn’t it be easier for the Sox to just keep a bunch of equipment in some warehouse in Florida year-round? Maybe send a couple of U-Haul vans down with player-specific items (bats, etc.), but keep everything else down there? Certainly this would be cheaper and easier. I guess that’s a question for John Henry.

Anyway, the Boston Globe has maintained a library of photos from each “Truck Day” since 2006. Let’s observe the evolution of this all-important day:

2006:

"People seem to be making a bigger deal out of this, so we'll go ahead and drape this neat little tarp over our tractor trailer. Weeee, 49 days until Opening Day, kids!

2007:

"Look, we didn't even make the playoffs last year, so we're not decorating the damn truck, OK? Why are you people even standing around here? Beat it. Losers."

2008:

"So, it turns out that those 'Japanese revenue streams' were just a bunch of bullshit, and we can no longer afford paint. It's just a truck, anyway. WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE HERE??!!"

2009:

"We need two trucks this year. One for the equipment, and the other for Brad Penny."

2010:

"It looks like more idiots are showing up for this thing every year, so let's paint half the truck and get Jet Blue to sponsor it".

2011:

"Okay, we spent a fortune on free agents, so let's paint the entire truck and put a message on it. Something that says 'Not a bridge year'. And get me Jet Blue on the phone again."

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By Jimmy, 1/7/2011 10:06 am

The State of Massachusetts gave John Henry and the Red Sox a Dikembe Mutombo style finger wagging yesterday, denying them the tax credits they planned on using to move the fences in by nine feet.  As a result of this, the renovation has been placed on hold indefinitely.

Not really the best PR move for the Sox, since they cited safety concerns as their primary reason for moving in the fences.

The whole idea seemed odd in the first place.  If anyone can find any records of an injury caused by the “narrow bullpen” in the 100 year history of Fenway Park, please let me know.

Other tidbits:

• The catcher picked up by Sox on waivers, Max Ramirez, is out of options and will need to pass through waivers (again) in order to be sent to the minors.  Note, this is the guy who came very close to being traded for Mike Lowell early in the 2010 season.
• From the same article liked above, the Sox currently have the 19th and 26th overall picks in this year’s Amateur Draft, in addition to two sandwich picks (three if a team signs Felipe Lopez).
• I’m a day late on this, but as you’ve heard, Boston Herald sportswriter Steve Buckley announced that he was gay yesterday.  Bold move, considering a large chunk of the Herald’s target community considers traits like “progressive” and “educated” to be bad things.  I can’t imagine it will be fun for him to work in the same building as Howie Carr and friends.  Best of luck to WEEI’s baseball trivia king.

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By Jimmy, 12/17/2010 11:38 am

Yesterday, we reported that the Red Sox have an agreement in place (pending a physical) with Bobby Jenks for $12 million dollars over two years.

We’re now hearing that the Yankees have signed reliever Pedro Feliciano to a slightly less expensive deal ($8 million over two years).

To summarize:

Note: Before we fall in love with the Jenks contract, let’s wait for the physical tomorrow morning.  Normally, the term “pending a physical” is no big deal.  However, in this case…

…we’ll go ahead and wait to hear from the man with the stethoscope.

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By Jimmy, 12/16/2010 10:36 am

Let’s take a quick look at a couple of more relievers having their tires kicked by the Red Sox front office.  Both of these names should be familiar:

Dan Wheeler, RHP: Wheeler is a local guy who was taken in the 35th round of the draft back in 1996, and has managed to put together a nice long career in middle relief.  He’s been very consistent over the last few seasons, and maintains a decent strikeout rate despite having a fastball that sits around 90 MPH.  He’s 33, and still effective.  He’d likely be the third best reliever on the team, if signed.

On a quick side note, I played a couple of high school basketball games against Dan back in the day, and I actually had to guard him (and vice versa).  As you might have guessed, that didn’t work out very well for me.

Lenny DiNardo, LHP: Lenny has a 2004 World Series ring.  Alas, like most of his World Champion teammates, he is not really a viable major league player in 2011.  It’s a cool little novelty, seeing the Red Sox sign him to a minor league deal seven years after he rode a duck boat down Boylston Street in front of 500,000 people.  However, I don’t see him being a more effective pitcher than, say, Felix Doubront.

He’s very good at getting a ground ball here and there, but he’s also very hittable and walks too many batters.  Expect him to spend most of 2011 in Pawtucket.

Other tidbits:

Bob Feller passed away.  A Hall of Fame pitcher who really morphed into a “get off my lawn” type of guy in his later years.  Meh.  That’s the natural order of things.  I’d like to think that in 50 years I’ll be the hip, fun-loving old man who enjoys live jazz and embraces America’s youth.  But, in reality, I’ll probably end up much more like Feller (as will you).

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By Jimmy, 12/5/2010 8:56 pm

Per Jon Heyman (who is generally a decent source, despite everything) Adrian Gonzalez is now a member of the Boston Red Sox.

I’m officially burnt to a crisp by the “Hot Stove” for today.   More details tomorrow.

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By Jimmy, 12/4/2010 4:14 pm

Superstar first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a 28-year-old who had a .573 slugging percentage outside of Petco Park last season, will be wearing a Red Sox uniform in 2011 (and likely for the next several seasons after that).

In exchange for the heavy hitter, the Sox give up three prospects: 1B Anthony Rizzo, SP Casey Kelly, and OF Reymond Fuentes.  While most consider Kelly to be the best prospect in this group, the guy I consider most valuable is Rizzo.  Back in September, I ranked these guys #3, #5, and #17 in the organization, respectively.

The Sox actually gave up less than I thought they would, and I’m pleasantly surprised they were able to hang on to shortstop Jose Iglesias.

My initial reaction to this deal is extreme optimism and exuberance.  They did give up some quality prospects that could have great careers in San Diego, but Gonzalez is one of the top hitters in the game.  The last time I was this excited over an acquisition was in the winter of 2000, when the team signed a certain free agent left fielder.  Gonzalez has the potential to put up similar numbers in Fenway Park.

We’ll take a closer look at Gonzalez on Monday morning.

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By Jimmy, 12/3/2010 10:23 am

I’ll start off by saying that I think it would help the Red Sox immensely if they were to sign Carl Crawford, thus allowing them to perhaps package one of Ryan Kalish or Jacoby Ellsbury in a prospect-laden deal for another offensive weapon in the near future.  However, I feel the need to point something out.

I’ve heard some folks (most recently, John Wallach on 98.5) claim that Crawford’s power numbers should increase in Fenway Park.  I don’t really think this is the case.

When Crawford, a lefty, hits the ball in the air, he is a dead-pull hitter.  He’s Johnny Damon with slightly less power.  Let’s take a look at this home run chart from last season, courtesy of HitTrackerOnline.com:

The vast majority of Crawford’s home runs were hit to right field, which in Fenway in deep (with the exception of the area near the foul pole).   Even when the fences are moved in 8 feet this season, it will still be one of the more difficult straight away RF areas to hit a home run.

If you need more evidence, check out Crawford’s home run rate at Fenway compared to everywhere else:

Crawford would bring a lot to the table were he to come to Boston.  A dynamic presence at the top of the order.  Elite baserunning.  Excellent defense in LF.  Just don’t assume that he will morph into a 25-30 HR guy in a Red Sox uniform.  It probably won’t happen.

Other tidbits:

• Ron Santo, a guy on the top of the list of those snubbed by the HoF, has died.  If only he had some sort of aquatic creature nickname, like “Sturgeon”, “Pickerel”, or “Zebra Mussel”, he’d be enshrined by now.
• In an odd turn of events, the Red Sox have non-tendered Taylor Buchholz and Andrew Miller (yes, the two pitchers they acquired last month).  My guess is that the team may have some sort of verbal agreement worked out with one or both guys.

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By Jimmy, 12/2/2010 4:49 pm

The Twitterverse is exploding with the news that Jason Varitek will return to the Red Sox on a 1-year, $2 million deal.

Here is why I’m OK with it:

Expect Varitek to regress a bit and Saltalamacchia (turning 26 in May) to improve a bit, and you have a catching tandem that will give you some offense. Not “Victor Martinez in his prime” caliber offense, but enough to not make you cringe when these guys face favorable R/L pitching match-ups.

Saltalamacchia is the wild card here. No one really knows knows what to expect from him. He could continue to circle the drain, or he could break out and become one of the better hitting catchers in the American League.

I must say, I was thinking about the possibility that Varitek would go to Los Angeles or somewhere like that, and the image of him wearing another uniform seemed bizarre, and wrong.  I realize I sound like 22-year-old superfan Shawn McFauxhawk after 8 Bud Lights in the bleachers here, but that’s the honest truth.

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By Jimmy,

Peace Out, Brah (Photo from bostonherald.com)

Pete Abraham reports that the Red Sox have decided to non-tender reliever Hideki Okajima, likely ending his four year run with the Red Sox.

Theo Epstein signed Okajima in the 2006 offseason on the heels of the widely-publicized signing of fellow countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka.  At that time, it was suspected by many that Okajima’s purpose was to serve as Matsuazka’s buddy in between garbage relief innings.  However, Okajima was shockingly one of the best relief pitchers in the game in 2007, and while he was very good over the next two years, he slowly became less and less reliable.

Last year, “Oki” was a below-average pitcher, and wasn’t used in many high-leverage situations.  Rather than go to arbitration and grant him a significant raise on the $2.75 million he earned in 2010, the Sox have decided to cut him loose and go in a different direction.  Since they don’t really have much in the way of bullpen talent and still have several holes to fill, this move really speaks to just how pessimistic they were on Okajima’s future performances.

Other tidbits:

Not surprisingly, the Sox are officially “talking” to Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, and Adrian Beltre.  I’d say there is very little chance that the Sox bring back Beltre given reports that he has already turned down a $64 million deal, but I’d wager that one of those two outfielders will be plying his trade in Boston next season.

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By Jimmy, 11/24/2010 10:22 am

The decision to let Victor Martinez sign elsewhere for $50 million over 4 years has understandably been a point of contention among fans and media alike.  Let’s take a quick look at the track record of the Theo Epstein regime under similar circumstances.

Note: this analysis doesn’t include Billy Wagner, due to the fact that he wanted to return to closing duties in 2010, which pretty much disqualified the Sox from retaining his services.

Red fields indicate years in which the player outperformed his salary, and blue fields indicate years where the player fell short of expectations.  Let’s take a look:

• Jason Bay still has three years remaining on his contract, but it certainly looks like the Sox made the right decision here.
• Letting Pedro sign with the Mets was also the right move, all sentimentality aside.
• With Johnny Damon, it looks like things are about neutral, but remember that he was mostly a LF/DH after leaving the Red Sox, and the Sox enjoyed superstar-quality production from both of those positions during much of Damon’s tenure with the Yankees.  The Sox knew that Damon’s future was as a left-fielder, and thus there was no reason to open the vault for him.
• Letting Derek Lowe go was a mistake.  Starting pitching has never been much of a weakness, but if you replace the likes of Brad Penny / John Smoltz / Wade Miller / insert #5 starter here with Lowe, the Red Sox probably win a few more games in 2005-2009.  Here’s a funny thought: if Lowe wasn’t used as a reliever from 1998 through 2001, he probably would have had a legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame.  Crazy, but true.
• Last but not least is the biggest mistake of Theo Esptein’s career, letting Orlando Cabera go for relatively small dollars.  This one really hurt, not because Orlando is necessarily a great player, but because the SS position turned into a giant sinkhole where Epstein dumped tens of millions of dollars for players who turned out to be massive disappointments (aside from small exceptions – Alex Gonzalez and Marco Scutaro).  Sure, there were rumors of some off the field nonsense with Cabrera, but looking at this with 20/20 hindsight, he would have to pull an O.J. Simpson to justify not bringing him back.

I’m somewhat comforted by the fact that Victor Martiez is more similar to Bay and Damon than he is to Lowe and Cabrera, and maybe the front office is more astute at evaluating DH types than they are infielders and pitchers.  As always, we’ll have to let this one play out a year or two before we begin to determine whether or not it was a mistake.

I guess my conclusion is: the Mets suck.

Update 2:00 pm – a reader brings up a great point that the value of draft picks should also be considered when discussing Type A and B free agents.  It makes the Lowe and Cabrera decisions a bit more palatable, especially since a few of those picks have turned out quite well.

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By Jimmy, 6/18/2010 1:51 pm

A lot of the media buzz today is centered around the mystery of what type of reception Manny will receive from the fans, and what type of reception he should receive.

Here are my thoughts on the matter:

Look, I’m not saying there’s a right or wrong answer. Actually, screw that.  That’s exactly what I’m saying.

If you are at the stadium, or in your living room, or in an automobile with the radio on, and you boo Manny during his first at-bat tonight…you are wrong. It really is that simple.  Your opinion is incorrect.  This is what President Obama might call “a teaching moment”.  Grab a chair and pay attention.

You have to ask yourself, as a fan, what brings you more happiness: the events that happen on the field, or those that happen off it?  Now, if for some odd reason, your answer is the latter, then fine, go ahead and throw Duracel batteries at Manny from the bleachers tonight.  However, my guess is that 99.999% of Red Sox fans (even those primed to shower Manny with boos) are more interested in the win-loss column than anything that happens in the clubhouse.  If this is the case, then you would be dishonest to yourself by booing.  Your boos would be nothing more than a cartoon sound effect, something that you don’t really believe, but what the hell, it’s fun to feign outrage at something we know or care very little about.

I know what you’re thinking.  “It’s not black and white”.  Yes, it is black and white.  It’s as black as the ink used to print Manny’s league leading 43 HRs in the 2004 baseball almanac.  It’s as white as the gleam off of two World Series trophies.

The line is drawn.   Are you a fan, or a poseur?  Your actions tonight will determine this.

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By Jimmy, 6/9/2010 9:22 am

6/08/10: Red Sox 3, Indians 2

I’ve always thought that Tim Wakefield was slightly overrated in some circles, due to the fact that he’s a charter member of what I call the Goatee Mafia (or, if you prefer, the blue-collar team chemistry guys who play the game the way it was meant to be played).

Still, I’m going to give some well deserved props to our resident knuckleballer on the heels of his newly achieved milestone.

In an era where starting pitchers are coddled like deformed infants,  and players change teams as often as they change their socks, this is pretty goddamn impressive:

Wake tops a list containing three of the best pitchers in baseball history, and another guy who should be in the Hall of Fame.  Most of the names on the list pitched in an era where starters would routinely throw 300+ innings in a season, with the exception of the hormone-laced mule at #2.

Wakefield’s ERA+ during this his time with the Red Sox was 109, comfortably above average.  While pitching relatively well for long periods, he’s taken a lot of the onus off of the bullpen and other less durable starters during the past 14 seasons.  At the risk of sounding like a tool here, these are things that don’t really show up in a box score.  Well, they do actually show up in box scores, but not in a way that can be easily attributed to Wakefield.

Notes & Takeaways:

• While people have a visceral reaction to any news involving Scott Boras, keep in mind that his interests are pretty closely aligned with Boston’s interests in the case of Jacoby Ellsbury, seeing as though the outfielder isn’t close to becoming a free agent and will need to play well to make a decent arbitration case.
• I’ll have more on the draft in my next post.

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By Jimmy, 5/5/2010 12:34 pm

In a way, being manager of the Boston Red Sox is sort of like being the head of a crime syndicate or the president of Honduras; you don’t really expect to enjoy a long tenure before being forcibly removed.  So, let’s take a minute to recognize the magnitude of Terry Francona’s accomplishment tonight: managing his 1,000th game for the most heavily scrutinized sports franchise in the country.

Only three other managers have sat in his seat for longer.  Two of them (Rough Carrigan and Joe Cronin) were player-managers for the majority of their tenure, and thus had some extra job security that modern day managers can only dream of.  The third, Pinky Higgins, was the BFF of team owner Tom Yawkey and was therefore able to manage 1,119 games despite never finishing above third place.

In all honestly, I consider it a goddamn miracle that Francona has managed the Sox for this long without bludgeoning a media member to death with a fungo bat.  I suppose he really does love the job.  It can’t be just for the money.  He makes a few million dollars a year, which is great, but when his heart finally explodes in his chest cavity like a hot dog in a microwave, a wad of $100 bills won’t really gauze the wound.

At this point, I think we can say without much hesitation that Terry Francona is the greatest manager we’ve ever had in Boston.

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By Jimmy, 9/30/2009 6:53 am

I was at the game last night, and wanted nothing more to see a champagne-soaked Heidi Watney awkwardly holding a microphone while asking extraordinarily inane questions (“How does this moment feel?”) to a bunch of screaming men wearing goggles.

Sadly, the party didn’t begin until after I left.  However, due to the utter disintegration of our competition in Texas over the past two weeks (thanks, fellas), the Boston Red Sox are heading to the playoffs yet again.  This will be the seventh Wild Card berth for the Sox, by far more than any other team in the history of this current playoff structure.

Hey guys, I love this strategy you have going on!  You know, making absolutely no effort to win these games, focusing 100% on avoiding injuries and conserving energy for the playoffs.  It’s just a brilliant, brilliant strategy.  Right?  RIGHT?!

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By Jimmy, 9/10/2009 3:15 pm

Obviously, the 2009 Red Sox have an excellent bullpen.  You could make an argument that Jonathan Papelbon, he of the career 253 ERA+,  is the third-best reliever on the team right now.   That’s pretty freaking impressive.

So, where does this bullpen rank among teams in the modern era?  First, let’s define “modern era”, relative to bullpen usage.  I chose the period in between 1977 and today, and I’ll admit right now that I pulled this year out of my ass, generally speaking.  It was right around the late 70′s/early 80′s where you started to see a general decrease in innings pitched by starters, and the emergence of guys like Bruce Sutter and Jeff Reardon.

Let’s take a look at some of the more memorable bullpens in history, in chronological order.

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1977 Phillies

Tug McGraw, for those of you who don’t know, is the father of some country music star, and quite possibly Hannah Montana’s grandaddy or some shit.  Anyway, he was primarily known for throwing a screwball, a pitch teetering on extinction due to the emergence of the more efficient and easier to throw split-fingered fastball.

Note that those K rates, while low by modern standards, were actually quite good back in 1977.

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1979 Pirates

Man, do I miss those old painter-style Pirates caps.  Uniforms today look like the collective diarrhea of a politically-correct focus group, charged with the impossible task of pleasing everyone and offending no one.  In a society where everything is child-proof and MLB team officials can’t sneeze in public without the approval of an army of lawyers, union reps, and PR staff, we’ll never again see anything as bold as the uniforms of the late 70′s/early 80′s.

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1985 Toronto Blue Jays

Tom “The Terminator” Henke isn’t a name that’s thrown around too often these days, but at one time he was the best reliever in the game.  Here he is in his first full-season, the third or fourth option in perhaps the deepest bullpen of the Reagan Era.

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1990 Athletics

I wonder how many young Red Sox fans don’t realize that the nutty long-haired guy in the booth during road games had such an insanely good year as a reliever in 1990.  Eckersley only walked 4 guys in his 70+ innings of work, perhaps the most impressive yet overlooked stat from his historic season.

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1990 Reds

I felt obligated to add “The Nasty Boys” since they actually beat Oakland in the World Series and are probably regarded by the casual fan to be one of the best bullpens in recent history.  However, as you can see after a cursory glance at the above two squads, the Nasties weren’t even the best bullpen in 1990.

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1994 Expos

Oh, what could have been.  Had the 1994 season been played out and the Montreal Expos made noise in the playoffs, we would have seen the 60,000+ seats in Olympic Stadium packed to the gills on national television.  Perhaps then, we would still have baseball in Quebec.  I was in Montreal a few weeks ago (on a “fact finding” trip…cough, cough), and the sight of Olympic Stadium in its current dormant state gives me the chills.  Call me un-patriotic, but the “Nationals” belong up north.

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1995 Indians

Not many players have gone from “horrible” to “terrific” in as short of a span as the closer of this Indians team, the hot-tempered Jose Mesa.  If you look at his career numbers, he was remarkably inconsistent; great one year and shitty the next.  1995 was by far his best season.

Speaking of hot-tempered pitchers, note the 22-year old who threw 85 innings in his first full year for the Tribe in 1995.

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1996 Yankees

This bullpen wasn’t very deep, but they deserve a mention here, considering the best reliever of all time was essentially a middle-reliever backing up John Wetteland, who was pretty good in his own right.  The bullpen was the main reason for the championship in 1996; both the rotation and offense were rather pedestrian that year.

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1997 Orioles

This Orioles bullpen is a classic example of the bridging of generations.  Armando Benitez, currently in the minor leagues, pitched with Jesse Orosco.  Jesse Orosco was a teammate of Jose Cardinal, who was a teammate of Billy Pierce, who was a teammate of Doc Cramer, who was a teammate of Eddie Collins, who was a teammate of Monte Cross, who was a teammate of Harry Stovey.  And Harry Stovey began his professional career by playing for the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1880.

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2001 Mariners

This team is known for winning 116 games, yet losing the ALCS in 5 games to the Yankees (who, at the time, was anointed the “team of destiny”…for a week or two, anyway).

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2002 Braves

You might not recognize a few of the names above (aside from the closer, who I’m sure you’re familiar with a this point).  This is an interesting bunch of guys, several of whom happened to have a career year in 2002, resulting in one of the best bullpens in baseball history as measured by ERA+.

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2003 Dodgers

If you happen to be residing in any of those old-fashioned Boston brownstone buildings, try something for me.  Try going to the bathroom, staring at the mirror, and uttering the word “Gagne” three times.  After you begin to bleed out of your eye sockets and the skin on your face begins to melt like queso dip, make note of how ironic it is that Gagne was the best pitcher in the game for a three year span.

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2003 Angels

2003 was the Year of the Bullpen in Los Angeles, as both teams from the sprawling metropolis boasted a terrific relief corps.  This was the year before the torch was passed from Percival to K-Rod in Anaheim.

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2007 Red Sox

It’s tough to argue that a squad boasting names such as Kyle Snyder and Javier Lopez will hold a candle to a bunch of the other teams on this list.  The 2007 Sox get a mention due to the final result (championship) and due to Papelbon’s level of dominance that hasn’t really been present in the current team.  Which brings us to…

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2009 Red Sox (still in progress)

Without even mentioning Billy Wagner or Justin Masterson, it’s clear that this team will at least be in the discussion for best bullpen in modern history.  This is a group that exhibits an impressive blend of power and finesse, experience and youth.  It remains to be seen if the Sox will make the post-season, but if they do, it will be thanks in part to some historically great relief performances.

From this group, I’ll rank the Top 5 once the 2009 season is done.

Coming up: an end-of-year prospect ranking.

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By Jimmy, 3/23/2009 11:28 am

According to a pretty good source, former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has decided to retire from baseball.

You had to figure it was a strong possibility given how the past year has gone for #38, but the news still creates a stir of emotions and memories.  For brief period between 2004 and 2005, Schilling was easily the most worshiped figure in New England (even more so than that 2,000-year-old bearded dude).  Although he’s become more of a polarizing figure of late, he’s still a revered icon for the most part.  Rightfully so, I’d say.

So, the big question we now ask ourselves is: does Curt belong in the Hall of Fame?

Let’s first leave the post-season heroics out of the equation, and judge him solely on his cold, hard, regular season numbers.  Curt was a late bloomer, pitching out of the bullpen until age 25, having some inconsistent success in his mid-20′s, but not really making the leap into stardom until age 29.  Thus, his counting stats leave a little to be desired.

The top 10 most comparable pitchers, per Baseball Reference, are:

1. Kevin Brown
2. Bob Welch
3. Orel Hershiser
4. Freddie Fitzsimmons
5. John Smoltz
6. Milt Pappas
7. Don Drysdale
8. Dazzy Vance
9. Jim Perry
10. Catfish Hunter

Of this list, 3 guys are currently Hall of Famers (2 of whom are deserving of the honor), 1 active pitcher will be in Cooperstown, and 1 guy should eventually be in Cooperstown (but won’t make it, primarily due to his caustic personality).  In other words, Curt isn’t really a slam dunk in either direction.

However, some points in his favor:

- Curt’s ERA+ is better than that of the 3 Hall of Famers on the above list.
- Curt’s K/BB ratio (4.38) is the best of all time among qualified pitchers.  Read that again: Curt Schilling has the best strikeout to walk ratio in baseball history.  For reference, his ratio is slightly higher than the likes of Pedro Martinez and Mariano Rivera, two of the greatest pitchers ever to toe the rubber.

So, let’s say we’ll be conservative and call it a tie based on these quantitative factors.  If we can agree that it’s a tie, what would be the tie breaker?  You start moving into post-season records, intangibles, anecdotes.

In other words: I think he’s in.

Comments (1)

By Jimmy, 5/19/2007 10:22 am

Pretty self explanatory, no?

Here is the criteria…

*One at every position, five starters and one reliever.
*They must have played 50% of their games at that position.
*One player’s season is used.
*In the season in question, he must be 38 by June 30th.

Enjoy…

Catcher – Elston Howard, 1968 39 years old (.241/.317/.335)

When I started thinking about my own parameters for this little exercise, I thought that the lower limit for at bats should be around 300 or something, just to ensure that the “best player over 38” actually unleashed some positive benefit to the team. Finding no backstops, I lowered it to 200 and ran with it. Grover Hartley in 1927, and Elston Howard in 1968.

I went with Ellie for a few reasons…he hit .241/.317/.335 in 68, which is terrible. But Hartley hit .275/.337/.332 in 1927 which is substantially worse when you realize that ‘68 is the year of the pitcher and ’27 was in one of the best hitters eras of all time. Howard actually averaged more at bats per game over the season, which leads me to believe that Ellie started more games. Finally, it’s a nice little shout to the 1967 team, which revitalized baseball in Boston.

First base – Mickey Vernon, 1956 38 years old (.310/.403/.467)

Vernon had a pretty good year by anyone’s age standards, not just the grey beards. Again, first doesn’t have a whole lot of longevity in Boston, as only three guys combined for five seasons (Tony Perez in ‘80-81 and Dolph Camilli in ‘45 as the war ended).

Vernon was an All-Star in ’56 and was the best mortal hitter on the team. Perez hit more homers than Vernon did in his 1980 season, but did so under the loving support of a more favorable lineup.

Second base – Tom Carey, 1946 39 years old (.200/.200/.200)

Carey is the only player to play second in Red Sox history in more than 50% of his games in his age 38 year or later. He made the list on the “strength” of five plate appearances.

In case there is a family member reading this, congratulations, Carey Clan. Apparently, his nickname was Scoops.

Third base – Joe Cronin, 1945 38 years old (.375/.545/.375)

Much like second, I needed to sink to the depths of very few plate appearances. Cronin is a Hall of Famer, of course, but made his career as a shortstop. In ’45, he had 11 PA’s as a war-year fill in.

Shortstop – Luis Aparicio, 1973 39 years old (.271/.324/.309)

Louie ended his Hall of Fame career vacuuming up both outs and ground balls for the Red Sox in the early 70’s. When he came over from the White Sox, he actually got better each of the three years he was a Red Sox…or at the very least, less harmful with the bat.

His Red Sox career is of course most remembered for tripping around third base twice on a Carl Yastrzemski triple and was passed by Yaz on the baseline in September, 1972. This cost the Sox a run and effectively ended their season.

Outfield – Ted Williams, 1957 38 years old (.388/.526/.731)

This is probably the best season by a 38-year-old in major league history, with only Barry Bonds’ ’03 close. Only Bonds’ 2004 is better for guys over 38 years old, and Williams in ‘57 could be called a top 10 season by any over 35 player in MLB history, without hyperbole.

Among the qualified, he’s still the only guy to hit over .365 while being over 38, and one of two guys to hit over .380 (Tris Speaker) while being over 36.

Outfield – Bob Johnson, 1944 38 years old (.324/.431/.528)

It was against war-time competition, but Johnson really did hit well when hitting wasn’t easy (run scoring was depressed, mostly due to shoddy equipment…it’s tough to justify leather for a baseball cover when it could be used for boots).

Johnson niched out a nice career with the A’s, and went to Boston to end his career during the Second World War. Of all the outfielders, Johnson and Ted Williams dominate the over 38 list for the Red Sox.

Outfield – Ken Johnson, 1928 38 years old (.303/.356/.413)

The well dries up once you get past Indian Bob and the Kid. Conspicuous by his absence is Carl Yastrzemski, but he generally split time between the outfield, first base, and designated hitter when they had Jim Rice in the lineup, so there is only one place for him to go…

Utility Player – Carl Yastrzemski, 1978 38 years old (.277/.367/.423)

This was Yaz’s last season as an outfielder, and he actually played centerfield when Fred Lynn was dinged up. Yaz probably held on too long, but he played until he was 43, and really only had one bad year (1981), and that’s a feet that not many players can claim.

After their 40th birthday, only Pete Rose, Sam Rice, Carlton Fisk, and Dave Winfield were better hitters.

Pitcher – Cy Young, 1908 41 years old (21-11, 1.26 ERA)

Young had 30 complete games in 1908. If there was any other measure of the change between olde tyme base-ball and today is that there are very few 41 year olds today who could start 30 games in a season, let alone finish them. I’m not sure that it’s a bad thing that hitters can’t be dominated by 40 year old pitchers anymore.
Pitcher – Lefty Grove, 1939 39 years old (15-4, 2.54 ERA)

Groves’ last great season sits at the end of the Great Era of Offense that ran from the death of the dead ball era and the war. In 1925 with the A’s, he actually lead the American League in k/9 with 5.30. Today, he would have trouble getting out of the minors that rate. He pitched two more years for the Red Sox before fading into that good night.

Pitcher – Jack Quinn, 1922 38 years old (13-16, 3.48 ERA)

He had a losing record, but his ERA was a full 18% better than league average in ’22. Quinn was the best player the Sox ended up getting in the trade that bolstered the Yankees rotation in the mid-20’s (Sam Jones and Joe Bush). Shockingly, even though he was 38 in 1922, he was still essentially mid-career. He pitched 200 innings as late as 1928 when he was 44, and pitched 16 innings for the Reds in 1933 as a 49 year old.

Pitcher – Curt Schilling, 2006 39 years old (15-7, 3.97 ERA)

Just starting to slow down now.

Pitcher – Tim Wakefield, 2005 38 years old (16-12, 4.15 ERA)

Best pitcher on the first post-Pedro staff, and the historic link between Roger Clemens and Daisuke Matsuzaka. He might be the last of a dying breed, as the only two minor leaguers actively throwing knuckleballs now are Charlie’s Haeger and Zink.

Pitcher – Ellis Kinder, 1953 (10-6, 1.85 ERA)

Another knuckleballer, only this one was a heavy drinker, of which there are probably 100s of stories about that would either never come to light today, or be all over the news. Sixty-nine appearances, 107 innings pitched, all in relief…and he finished 11th in the AL MVP race for a team that finished fourth.