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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64549482831162075892014-10-15T09:52:51.049-04:00Sox vs. StripesA Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees Rivarlry Fan firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-47208110252592613192014-05-19T15:09:00.000-04:002014-05-19T15:09:32.820-04:00A Bumpy RideJust when it looked like the Red Sox had figured everything out, it turns out they haven't figured out much of anything. Losing four in a row and five of their last six has dropped them into fourth place once more, three games out of first.

Dropping a 10-inning game to the Twins followed by a 1-0 loss to Scherzer and the Tigers was tough but not inexplicable. Scherzer is 6-1 now and one of the best pitchers in the AL. Lester would have to have been at his absolute best to out-duel him and he simply wasn't. It happens.

It's the next two losses that were a bigger problem. Because in those two games the Sox looked borderline inept.

The starting pitching was atrocious, with both Lackey and Peavy giving up five earned runs while not getting past six innings. The Tigers got 26 hits in two games while the Sox only managed 13. Boston was only 1-9 with runners in scoring position over the two games. That is bad not only because they got only one hit but it means they couldn't even get people into scoring position to begin with.

It was a bad home series. And it continued a disturbing trend where the Sox do not play well against good teams. They are 0-6 against the Tigers and Brewers, both of whom lead their respective divisions. If you add the Yankees in the mix, that record becomes 2-11.

Do the math. Take those three teams out of the picture and Boston's record is 18-12. The fact that Boston is still in the AL East race has more to do with the mediocrity of the overall division than it does with the Sox being a solid team.

I said earlier that maybe 2014 will be the bridge year we all thought 2013 would be. A year where the Sox never hit great heights but never really plummet either. They are beating the teams they should beat, for the most part. But they struggle with the leaders like the Tigers. It feels more like a 84-78 season than a 96-66 one at this point.

Maybe the leadership knows it already. As much as I like Jackie Bradley, he is struggling at the plate right now to an extent that is almost uncomfortable to watch. His OPS is almost under .600 and he has a negative offensive WAR (-0.1) right now. To be fair, his defensive WAR of 0.4 is second on the team to only Pedroia. But it feels like the only reason he isn't in Pawtucket right now is because Boston can't risk starting Sizemore every game.

Inconsistency has been Boston's problem thus far. That is a problem that usually plagues a team in transition.

Now I am not going to start screaming for someone's head or rip John Farrell here. That seems to be well-covered by talk radio already, mainly by people who seem to have forgotten that Farrell and the Sox gave us a World Series title that no one saw coming. That buys a lot of patience in my book.

I'd just like to have some idea of what the thinking is on this team right now. Is Boston going to make another run or are they trying to blood some young players this year to prepare for the future? It's hard to do both; you can't compete for the pennant with a center-fielder batting at the Mendoza firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-66293801213691559942014-05-13T15:02:00.000-04:002014-05-13T15:02:33.806-04:00The Top Five Red Sox Players to Wear Number 10The '9' jersey was easy to write about. Out of circulation for some time and worn by one of the greatest players ever makes for an easy entry. Then you have the '10' jersey. No less than 30 players have worn this number since 1931. The '10' may have gotten around a lot (worn by Andre Dawson, Luis Alicea, Lee Tinsley and Scott Hatteberg in successive seasons) and doesn't have the most impressive pedigree (who can forget the immortal Mike Brumley?) but some fine players have worn this number.

5. Coco Crisp (2006-2008) - The starting center-fielder for most of 2007, what Crisp brought to the Sox more than anything else was stellar defense. He was flat-out robbed of a Gold Glove at the end of 2007, a season where he made insane catches look routine. 2007 was a good season overall for Crisp. He did rank in the Top 10 in the AL for doubles and triples, and was 9th in the AL in stolen bases with 28. Add that to his excellent glove (ninth in Defensive WAR in the AL | Led AL CF in range factor for 2007) and you can see why he was solid trade material at the end of 2008. It's just a shame that the player the Sox got back was Ramon Ramirez.

4. Gerald Moses (1968-70) - A lot of you are probably going "Who?" and no one could blame you. Moses was a back-up catcher for the Sox in 1968 and 1969 before becoming the starter in 1970. That year he went to the All-Star game, his sole achievement of note in the major leagues. That fall he was traded to the California Angels. I know some of you will say "Why isn't Coco fourth?" All-Star games matter, my friends. Moses went to one and Crisp didn't.

3. Rich Gedman (1981-1990) - Geds had the utterly unenviable task of taking over for Carlton Fisk after management completely fucked up his contract signing and split time with Gary Allenson for a couple of years before the Sox finally went with Gedman full-time in 1984. What people seem to forget about Rich is that he wasn't a bad catcher. He finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1981, losing out to Yankee pitcher and Sox torturer Dave Righetti (as if 8-4 is some big deal.) He did win The Sporting News Rookie of the Year honors, however. Gedman went to two All-Star games (1985-86) and finished in the Top 25 for AL MVP voting in 1985. Plus, he was a local kid from Worcester and that was always a cool thing to see. Unfortunately, after 1986 Gedman had a lot of injury problems and was never a full-time catcher again for the Sox. In 1990 he was dealt to the Houston Astros for the proverbial "player to be named later."

In a cool turn of events, Rich Gedman is a hitting coach with the Sox Double-A affiliate in Portland, ME. I got to meet him at a Sea Dogs function and basically act like a six-year-old, stammering about how I saw him play for Boston's AA affiliate in Bristol, CT in 1979. He was gracious and genuinely appreciative that I remembered something like that. Bottom line: Rich Gedman is awesome.

2. Billy Goodman (1948-57) Goodman was a two-time All-Star (1949, 53) for the Sox. Interestingly, he went for two different positions. Goodman played first base in 1949 but by 1953 was the Sox second baseman, having taken over for Bobby Doerr. Goodman finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1948. Some guy named Alvin Dark finished first (that's a joke.) Goodman would finish in the Top 25 for AL MVP voting five times (1950-54) and finished second in 1950. That year he hit .354, leading the AL. Despite that, Phil Rizutto won the MVP award even though he had a lower batting average and OPS than Goodman.

Goodman was Top 10 in batting average five times (1950, 52-55), in OBP four times (1948, 50-51, 55) and runs twice (1951, 55). He also finished Top 10 in hits three times (1951, 53, 55) and in singles and doubles five times (1951-55 for both). Goodman also had good plate discipline, finishing in the Top 10 for At Bats per Strikeout five times (1949, 52-55). In 1953 he struck out only every 46.7 at-bats. That led the AL and is the kind of number you never see these days. By comparison, Victor Martinez led the AL last year with a AB/K rate of 9.8. The last time any batter in the AL topped 40 was 1962 when Nellie Fox had an AB/K rate of 51.8. The last time anyone, in any league, had an AB/K rate that was even over 20 was 2001 when Juan Pierre had a rate of 21.3. That is how disciplined Goodman was at the plate.

During the 1957 season Goodman was traded to the Orioles for pitcher Mike Fornieles, who spent about 5 1/2 seasons in Boston and won a total of 39 games and saved 48. Interesting note; Goodman was traded from the Orioles after the 1957 season to the White Sox. Also sent to Chicago was a young outfielder named Tito Francona, to whom we all owe a huge debt for raising such a fine son. In 2004 Goodman was posthumously voted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame, having died at the age of 58 in 1984.

1. Lefty Grove (1934-41) - One of the all-time great pitchers, Robert Moses Grove came to the Sox in 1934 in one of the all-time great steals. The Sox sent the Athletics $125,000, Bob Kline and Rabbit Warstler. It's the kind of deal the Yankees always put over on the Sox in the 20s.

Grove went to five All-Star games while pitching for the Sox (1935-39). He finished in the Top 15 for AL MVP voting three times (1935-36, 39) and Top 25 once more (1938). In his eight seasons with the Sox, Grove went 105-62. He led the AL in ERA four times (1935-36, 38-39). He was Top 10 in wins four times (1935-37, 39). He was Top 10 in strikeouts three times (1935-37) and K/9IP four times (1935-38). Grove led the AL in shutouts in 1936 with 6 and was Top 10 four times (1935-37, 39). Grove was also Top 10 in complete games four times (1935-37, 39). He led pitchers in WAR for three years straight (1935-37) and was Top 5 in 1938 and 1939.

Not surprisingly, between his time in Philly and Boston Grove made the Hall of Fame without any trouble in 1947 (Sadly, he went in as an Athletic. I guess those two World Series titles and 195 wins had something to do with it). He is considered the second-best lefty of all-time after Warren Spahn and was also named to the MLB All-Century team in 1999. He is also in the Red Sox Hall of firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-34013357268531455242014-05-12T15:24:00.000-04:002014-05-12T15:24:10.659-04:00Starting to RollOn May 4, after losing a 3-2, 10 inning heartbreaker to the A's, the Red Sox were 15-17. They sat two games out of first in third place. They had two games at home against the Reds before going to Texas for three games, a place they tend to struggle.

Today they are 19-18. They are still in third place and still two games out of first. But the vibe around this team is quite different than it was only a week or two ago.

Boston has four of their last five games and six of their last eight. Two weeks ago you'd have seen Mike Napoli leading most every major batting category. Now we are seeing Big Papi and Pedroia starting to show up as leaders as well. Their on-base percentage as a team has shot up to third in the majors. Their team OPS is a more modest 12th, but that is far ahead of where they were in April.

Their pitching has remained relatively solid. The staff has 25 quality starts, fourth in the majors. Their team ERA is 14th in the majors but fifth in the AL. Boston's save percentage of 79% is best in the AL. But they have seen a dip in their staff WHIP and their staff OPS is starting to rise.

You could argue Lackey is Boston's best starter.

Now, you combine those two things and you get a team that can hold their ground but that's about it. I think the critical element to Boston's improvement has been in the field.

Two weeks ago they had the ninth-most errors in the majors. Today they are 14th in that metric. Two weeks ago their fielding-percentage was 21st; today is it 18th. That fielding percentage of .982 is also the AL league average; they were two points under that mark at the end of April.

If you add that to their improved hitting and their (relatively) consistent pitching, then their recent run of good results starts to come into focus.

But individuals matter as well. And it helps that of Boston's five starters, three are pitching pretty darn well. Lester, Peavy and Lackey are all top 25 in ERA in the AL right now. Lackey and Lester are top 20 in WHIP, with Peavy not too far behind at 34. All three are also top 25 in Pitcher WAR right now as well, and that includes relievers. Take them out and the three Red Sox starters are top 15.

That consistency has helped Boston through a very rough patch.* And it has been critical when you also consider the lack of consistency from Doubront and Buchholz. Now with the bats coming around and the defense seeming to tighten up, that should take some pressure off of the starters. And maybe that will spark an improvement from Doubront and Buchholz.

To simply glance at the standings would make you think that Boston hasn't done much of anything since the end of April. But don't be fooled by that. Boston is starting to roll a little bit. And that should give the rest of the AL East, and the majors, reason to pause.

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*Compare this to the Yankees, who only have one name consistently in that same range. That would be, of course, Masahiro Tanaka. He has been lights-out solid for the Yankees so far. But you cannot ride one great arm to any kind of success when the other four arms aren't doing much of anything. The Yankees are 23rd in quality starts; that should concern their firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-75263961843200935692014-05-06T16:00:00.001-04:002014-05-06T16:00:02.460-04:00Surviving the GrindStarting April 18, the Red Sox played 13 games against AL East opponents and another three against the Oakland A's, a team they could potentially be fighting with for a wild-card spot come October.

Over those 16 games, the Sox went 8-7. And yet somehow they went from last place and three games out of first to third place and 1.5 games out of first. Though since they are tied with Tampa and Toronto at 15-17 you could say they are still in last. But let's say third instead.

And while the Yankees are in first you could argue that the cracks are starting to show. 4-6 over their last 10 games. Their -19 run differential is tied for second-worst in the AL. And their pitching is starting to lag. Only 15 quality starts and a staff ERA of 4.31 is not the foundation for a playoff run.

But enough about the Yankees. Let's focus on Boston for a moment.

Last Saturday, Jon Lester reminded everyone that he has a hell of a lot of talent in that left arm of his. He put on a straight-up pitching clinic. Eight innings, one hit, 15 strikeouts.

I have said here before that Lester is a #2, that the Sox don't have a true ace. And I still believe that - Lester can be a little inconsistent. But being able to do what he did against the A's...maybe he is more like a 1.5. A very good pitcher who can reach great heights but not with consistency.

Lester was outstanding against Oakland

Which is frustrating. Especially when you look at his post-season numbers. 6-4 with a 2.11 ERA and a 1.043 WHIP. Never mind the World Series where he becomes Pedro-esque: 3-0, 0.43 ERA, 0.762 WHIP. If Lester could be that pitcher in the regular-season, we wouldn't even be wondering if Boston would sign him to an extension because it'd have been done a long time ago.

Lester is the best lefty the Sox have had since Bruce Hurst. You could argue that he is the best left-handed starter for the Sox since Lefty Grove, although I think Mel Parnell fans may dispute that idea. And good left-handers are a rare commodity. Which is why at the end of the day I think Boston pays up to keep Jon around. He's the best pitcher with a 3-4 record in the game today, because he should be 6-1.

Another reason the Sox are surviving their April/May doldrums is Dustin Pedroia returning to form. On April 18 Pedroia had a .554 OPS and an OBP of just .264. Numbers that are wildly out-of-form for the Laser Show.

Now, going into today's game with Cincy, Pedroia has boosted his OPS to .722 and has a .340 OBP. For the month of May those numbers are .967 and .417. Pedroia getting his bat in order has helped to keep the Sox afloat as their try to find their feet and move forward.

And this dovetails nicely into a story I read today. Former Yankee closer and certain Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera just wrote a new book. And in it he declares that Dustin Pedroia is the second baseman he'd want over any other. And that includes one-time teammate Robinson Cano.

No word on how Brian Roberts feels about all this.

Now I am not mentioning this to start an argument. But this is illustrative of how important Pedroia is to the Sox. Even opponents recognize what he does and what he brings to the field and the plate. And when he is on fire, that helps the Red Sox get going.

Xander Bogaerts is another reason the Sox have kept afloat. Yes, he has committed a couple of bad errors. But he has shown a surprising level of maturity at the plate. His .768 OPS is fifth on the team. His Offensive WAR so far in 2014 is 0.9, second on the team to only Mike Napoli's 1.1 oWAR. And his fielding isn't atrocious...but it is what you would expect from a rookie. That will only get better with time.

Jackie Bradley, Jr. has the exact opposite problem. He is the best fielding center-fielder in the AL right now. No errors, three assists, two double plays and a range factor of 3.30, best in the AL for center fielders. And his defensive WAR of 0.4 is third-best in the AL behind Mike Trout and Adam Eaton. And I am saying that Bradley is a better fielder than Trout, not all-around player.

All told, it almost feels like 2014 is the bridge year we were all expecting in 2013. But slightly better. Because if veterans like Lester and Pedroia play to their talent level, it will balance out any shortcomings from the rookie players. And with the AL East apparently as wide-open as it has ever been, the Sox don't have to be great to make it to the post-season this year.

They just have to grind it out and be good enough. firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-45310372024167151982014-04-29T15:47:00.000-04:002014-04-29T15:47:40.812-04:00Slowly Gaining GroundIf you are a fan of the Red Sox, the 2014 season thus far has been a work in progress. One that demands almost a zen-like patience as Boston finds their footing and tries to move up the AL East standings.

But they are slowly getting there. After their series with Toronto Boston is now in fourth, 3.5 games back of the Yankees. Coming off of the series with Baltimore last week, this was how they ranked in major team hitting categories:
OPS: 21st
Runs: 20th
Extra-base hits: 23rd
And here is where they stand going into tonight's game against the Rays:
OPS: 16th
Runs: 17th
Extra-base hits: 10th
More importantly, over the past week they have been in the top 10 in all of these categories. And that can get lost in the overall picture. It may be hard to see the improvement, but it is there.

That patience is also necessary when looking at the pitching for Boston. There was a semi-major freakout in the wake of Jon Lester losing 7-1 at Toronto and going to 2-4 on the season. At this point talk-radio became a swamp of people talking about Jon Lester not even deserving a contract extension at all, let alone a big one.

Regarding this guy: Everyone chill the Hell out

But look at this:
Jon Lester: April 2013 (six starts)
ERA: 3.11
IP: 37.2
Earned Runs: 13
K: 33
BB: 12

Jon Lester: April 2014 (six starts)
ERA: 3.10
IP: 40.2
Earned Runs: 14
K: 43
BB: 8

He is the same pitcher. Heck, you could argue Lester is pitching better at this point in 2014 with his much-improved K/BB ratio (2.75 in 2013, 5.375 in 2014)

Oh wait, I forgot about run support. In 2013 the Sox scored 42 runs in Lester's first six starts. In 2014? 13 runs.

And there is your problem. Unless the expectation is that Lester should be throwing shutouts every time he takes the mound (and I am pretty sure it isn't), his record would look more like 5-1 as opposed to 2-4 if he was receiving a similar level of run support.

Deep breaths, everyone.

As hard as it is to see the Yankees in first, keep in mind that they also spent $500M in the off-season to be 15-10 so far. That they have a lineup that is slightly younger than the group at your local VFW hall. That they are sitting on contracts that will burn them in a year or two. And the odds of this lineup being able to stay healthy as the season marches on is questionable.

I believe this is the youngest man in the Yankees' starting lineup

The Yankees are not finishing the season atop the AL East. Mark it now. And relax.

Now, if there is one area to be concerned with, it is Boston's defense. They are ninth in the majors with 20 errors (they lead the AL East in that category). Boston is 21st in fielding percentage (worst in the AL East). Those are bad numbers by any measure and it has been Boston's weakness so far in 2014. If they were playing AL average defense, they'd be two points better on on fielding percentage and have two less errors. That could easily be one or two wins right there. The Sox have to tighten up their defense if they want to be competitive through the rest of 2014.

So Boston fans, we all need to take a collective step back from the edge and relax. It's not even May 1st. If July comes around and the Sox are in last, then we can freak out while forgetting we won a World Series last year when no one expected it. Our third in 10 years which makes us the dominant team of the 21st Century thus far. Yep, we can totally forget about that if we are still in fourth or worse come firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-21614285507252220402014-04-24T08:35:00.002-04:002014-04-24T08:35:46.268-04:00Putting the Pine in PinedaWhat we should really be talking about this morning is the awesome pitching performance of John Lackey. Last night against the Yankees he went eight innings and gave up just one run on seven hits. He struck out eleven batters and walked none. Of his 111 pitches, he threw over 75% of them for strikes. A dominant outing for Lackey, and one that propelled the Sox to a 5-1 victory.

We should be talking about the rock-star season Mike Napoli has delivered so far. The only hitter to be consistently good for Boston in 2014, he went 3-4 with an RBI last night. He has a .947 OPS and leads Boston in pretty much every meaningful batting statistic except for OBP, where he's second.

Instead, we're all talking about Michael Pineda and his terminal stupidity.

In case you forgot or missed it, there was a pine-tar issue the last time Pineda faced the Sox. Remy and Orsillo treated an image of something on Pineda's hand like the baseball version of the Zapruder film. And it allowed Boston fans to ignore the fact that Boston lost that game not because of Pineda's hand, but because Boston's hitting was pathetic in general at that point.

This time was different, in so many ways. Pineda came out clean to start the game. But after getting tagged for two runs in the first, he came out in the second looking like he smeared motor oil across his neck.

Seriously? You could at least try to hide it.

In the first game, John Farrell didn't call it to the ump's attention. This time, he made sure to do so.

And this time, it happened with Boston in the lead and hitting well. Which made it look even worse.

The upshot was that Pineda was ejected (which was the right call) and will likely face a suspension. To me it should be 10 games. That is two starts and it's valid based on the first instance, the talking to he got from MLB after that first instance and the blatant application of the tar this time. Pineda was either throwing caution to the wind or being amazingly dumb. Either way, he needs to learn a lesson.

It also puts the Yanks in a hole. Losing Pineda that early forced them to use their pen early. And that will have an impact tonight. If Sabathia doesn't come out strong, they're in trouble.

But let's also put this in perspective. Pineda wasn't doctoring the ball, like Don Sutton with his sandpaper or Joe Niekro with his nail file. Pine tar is all about grip.

Nevertheless, it is still cheating and still illegal. Perhaps if he wasn't as blatant about it this wouldn't have happened. But he was and it did.

A good win for Boston, though. And now we can all look forward to every Sox-Yanks game going 5+ hours as every pitcher is checked for illegal substances on the mound.

Thanks, email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-42224476812469049262014-04-22T16:37:00.003-04:002014-04-22T16:37:50.431-04:00Standing Still Not much changed for Boston after their four games at Fenway with the Orioles. They started out two games back from first and ended it 2.5 games back. They are in last but at this stage that (dis)honor means little. It's all about the GB right now and the only two teams in the AL that look like they could start playing golf in June are the Mariners and Astros.

That said, it is frustrating because the Sox could be at 10-10 right now if not for one bad inning from Clay Buchholz. The Sox played an all-around better game on Patriots Day but when your starting pitcher gives up six runs in one inning...you are making your team climb a tall hill from that point on. The fact that Boston almost won yesterday's game says something about how, finally, their hitting seems to be coming around a little bit.

The Sox outhit Baltimore in two of the four games, something they have had trouble doing this year. They hit .243 with runners in scoring position over the four games, much better than the .185 they averaged against Chicago. They left 30 men on base over the series, an average of 7.5 a game, compared with 9.3 a game with Chicago. They have gone from 24th in team OPS to 21st, 20th in runs (from 22nd) and 23rd in extra-base hits (from 26th). That still isn't great. Heck, it isn't even good. But it is an improvement and that is what has to happen for Boston to start moving up the standings. Every journey starts with a single step, right?

And let's hear it for Brock Holt, who actually stabilized third base and brought a functioning bat into the lineup. His OPS right now is 1.009. Yes, that is only over four games. But when you consider Ryan Roberts had just a .333 OPS over eight games (and .200 after four), I say we give a round of applause to Brock and encourage him to keep his bat moving.

Hallelujah, someone who can play third and hit

So for all that, it was a letdown to then see the pitching slip. We had Buchholz implode the other day. Someone on Boston.com said that Buchholz isn't an ace, but a wild card. And I think that is the perfect description for him. You never quite know what Clay is going to give you when he takes the mound. He has all the talent in the world. But some days you get a crap-bomb like yesterday and others you get a work of art like that game in April 2013 against the Rays when Clay went eight innings and struck out 11. The inconsistency is maddening.

And while Doubront led the Sox to a 4-2 win with a solid outing, that followed Lackey giving his worst outing of the year. He allowed six runs on 10 hits in just 5.1 innings of work. And while Boston won the next night 6-5, Jake Peavy put Boston in the position to have to make that comeback with a similar line (five runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings). The only constant on the mound (thus far) has been Boston's bullpen. They continue to pitch well overall and keep Boston in a lot of games. Now that the bats look to be slowly coming back around, the pitching staff has to reach down and keep pitching like they have to start the season.

But the overall picture for Boston has changed very little. But that isn't likely to continue. They have New York in town for three games. The Yankees are surprisingly in first place at 11-8. It goes without saying that the Sox cannot afford to get swept and stand 5.5 games back of New York by the weekend. They have to at least take two of three. That won't be easy as they get to face New York's two best pitchers right now, Tanaka and Pineda.

Lester goes up against Tanaka tonight, so it should be a real pitcher's duel. I have to admit that, so far, Tanaka has pitched very well. Boston's strategy of working counts won't work well against Tanaka. He comes from the Japanese majors so high pitch counts don't faze him. And his control has been very impressive, so waiting on balls isn't going to work either. Boston will have to be defensive at the plate, fouling off pitches and getting him to throw strikes every time. Then Boston's hitters will just have to get those strikes into play. If Boston can win tonight, they have a good chance of getting those two wins and gaining a little ground on the firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-59037784170730458812014-04-18T10:19:00.001-04:002014-04-18T10:19:44.755-04:00Sox Steal Two of Three in ChicagoBoston took two games in three from the White Sox this week. And I am not exactly sure how they did it.

Across all three games, the Sox totaled just 14 hits. That includes a 14-inning marathon Wednesday night. They left 28 men on base over all three games and went 5-27 with runners in scoring position for a whopping .185 average.

And yet somehow, they won two of three games.

Truth is, they probably should have won all three games despite their continuing hitting problems. But Game One got away from them on a bad throw from Xander Bogaerts. That is his second error of the year. He's still a rookie so it is not all that surprising to see a bad throw here and there. It was just really bad timing. And it wasted a solid outing from Jake Peavy, who went six innings and only gave up one run on three hits. He has a 1.93 ERA so far in 2014 and is looking pretty solid.

Then Wednesday night we had the 14-inning spectacular that saw Boston score only three runs over the first nine innings despite nine walks, four hits, a hit batter and a wild pitch. Both teams then added a run in the 11th before Jackie Bradley uncorked a two-run double in the 14th inning to get Boston ahead for good. That was Boston's sixth hit of the entire night.

Last night was Boston's best game of the series. Despite being outhit again (Chicago had more hits in all three games) they won 2-1 on the back of a lights-out performance from Jon Lester. Eight innings of one-run ball. Seven hits, nine strikeouts and no walks. He threw 67% of his pitches for strikes and threw a first-pitch strike to 70% of the batters he faced.

Even awesome pitchers need run support

But you can't allow yourself to look at these two wins and pretend that the Red Sox have gotten things straightened out. As I said before, their pitching is the only thing keeping them going right now.

For example, look at Chris Capuano. Here's a guy I was very skeptical about joining the team. All he's done so far is throw nine innings of relief, strikeout eight, allow no runs and earn two holds. Capuano has a 0.67 WHIP right now. And his 2.2 innings of scoreless, walk-free relief Wednesday night earned him his first win of the season. I was wrong about him. But Capuano is indicative of the overall quality of the Sox pitching staff. Sure, there have been hiccups here and there. But overall, a very solid start to 2014.

The danger here is that this pitching will mask Boston's atrocious hitting. And it is atrocious.

Overall in the majors, Boston is 22nd in runs, 24th in OPS, 26th in extra-base hits and ninth in strikeouts. The only thing keeping them afloat right now is walks; they are fourth in the majors in drawing walks. But that is a very thin, very weak thread to hang a season upon.

Every time I write here it seems like Daniel Nava is in the crosshairs. But when your OPS is .501 then that is going to happen. Having Roberts at third is no help either with his .332 OPS (I actually had to double-check that to make sure I saw it right).

Jonny Gomes? A .624 OPS so far.

David Ortiz? Hitting .222 with a .655 OPS ... which is still sixth-best on the team right now.

The only starter producing with some regularity is still Mike Napoli, with a .900 OPS and nine RBI. He leads the Sox in every meaningful batting category. Runs, hits, RBI, OPS...it's all Napoli, all the time.

It's getting to a point where I could just write this each time. Change the numbers but the overall story is the same. Napoli hits, nobody else does it with any regularity. Hopefully the return of Shane Victorino will shake the Sox out of this malaise.

Sending Nava down to Pawtucket when that happens would also be a good idea. Something is wrong with him. This isn't a "return to form" as some sports pundits have said. Nava's career OPS coming into this year is .782, which is very solid. To be almost 300 points below that...I think going to Pawtucket to figure it out would be a very good thing for both the Sox and Nava. He is a player you want to do well; believe me, I don't like pointing out how he is hurting the team. But he can't be a starter in the lineup if Boston wants to get moving up the AL East standings.

Tonight Boston starts a very important stretch of games. The next 13 games are all against AL East teams and 10 of them are at home. And with the AL East so tight (Boston is in fourth but just three games out of first) getting wins over the next two weeks is critical.

It starts tonight at Fenway with the Sox facing Baltimore and Chris Tillman. Tillman is historically good against the Sox but in the season opener the Sox were able to get him off the mound after just five innings. They'll have to do that again if they want a chance of winning tonight. firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-61346215938368310012014-04-14T11:43:00.000-04:002014-04-14T11:43:46.246-04:00Boston's Bats Are the ProblemAt 5-8, the Red Sox find themselves on the bottom of the AL East. To be fair, that is only two games out of first. Nevertheless, that is not a place we expected to find Boston in the latter-half of April.

When this happens, the impulse is to initially look for excuses. Especially when you drop three of four to the Yankees in the Bronx.

Sometimes, that impulse is just misplaced. As with Pineda and his dirty hand; that wasn't why Boston dropped the first game.

Sometimes, that impulse has a legitimate genesis. The umpires blew two reviews that went against Boston over the weekend. And while the one on Saturday didn't affect the end of that game, the inexplicable reversal on Sunday provided the difference in New York's 3-2 win.

Replay doesn't help if the umpire is still blind

Replay is useless if the umpires can't actually see what is - or isn't - on the screen. Last night, they overturned a 5-4-3 double play when no conclusive angle existed to do so. That gave New York a 3-1 lead. Without that screwup, it's 2-2 going into the ninth and who knows what happens.

But I digress. Because while that call was costly, the real reason for Boston's poor standing right now has to do with their lineup.

Boston is 8th in the AL with an OPS of .695, compared to their AL-leading .795 OPS last year. They are fourth in the AL with 110 strikeouts but ninth in walks. They have grounded into 17 double plays, leading the AL.

It's not their pitching. The staff has a respectable 3.76 ERA. Their nine quality starts is second-best in the AL. They are sixth in strikeouts with 104 and their 27 walks allowed is second-best behind Detroit. While the Boston staff has allowed the third-most hits in the AL (126), that hasn't translated into a lot of runs (seventh in the AL in earned runs allowed and overall runs allowed). As a whole, the Boston rotation and bullpen haven't been spectacular, but they have been solid.

It's the bats that are letting Boston down.

Right now there are three guys who are pulling their weight. Mike Napoli has been the standout with a .906 OPS offsetting his 16 strikeouts and leading the Sox with 9 RBI and 15 hits. David Ortiz has a .755 OPS, which is quite low for him in his overall career but is second-best on the team for anyone with 40 or more at-bats. His 8 RBI are also second-best.

The pleasant surprise is Xander Bogaerts with a .703 OPS. For his first full-year that is not a bad place for him to be. His seven walks leads the Sox. He is showing good plate discipline and is getting on base.

If you expand further to batters with fewer that 40 at-bats, Grady Sizemore has been solid for Boston. His .996 OPS leads the team overall, he has four RBI and has collected 12 hits. But that is also indicative of a problem. When your part-time center fielder is your best hitter, that means you are struggling on a nightly basis.

I hate to pick on him again, but Daniel Nava is Exhibit A when it comes to Boston's problems at the plate. He is a regular starter and has an OPS of .462 which is abysmal. The best thing he did last night was draw a walk, only his third so far this year. He has only two RBI this year. Last year, 14% of runners on-base scored when Nava came to the plate. So far this year it is only four percent. If he is going to be a regular starter he has to get this figured out.

That said, an unforeseen problem has been Dustin Pedroia. He is hitting just .236 with a .527 OPS. That may be due to his wrist, which got him pulled from last night's lineup and sent back to Boston. But his OPS went down every game since April 2 until it rebounded slightly on Saturday. That's not good.

Overall, Boston's lineup simply isn't generating the production needed to go along with the solid pitching they have received. While there are random events that may be out of their control (such as last night's call) which impact a game, that is not the major factor in Boston's poor start.

Until Boston figures out their hitting problems, all the pitching in the world won't get them out of last in the AL East. It's that email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-62245493239946959132014-04-11T09:33:00.000-04:002014-04-11T09:33:20.143-04:00Pineda, Pine Tar And Why The Red Sox LostLet's get something out of the way right now. The Sox lost to the Yankees 4-1 because Michael Pineda pitched a very solid game. They lost because they went 0-5 with runners in scoring position.

They most certainly did not lose because Pineda had something on his hand.

Last night's broadcast on NESN turned into a late-night Alex Jones radio show, with Remy and Orsillo ruminating about a brown substance on Pineda's pitching hand. Was it pine tar? Was it dirt? It really doesn't matter, because unless Pineda has been pitching every game in every series in 2014 then Boston's problems go beyond last night's loss.

The hand that somehow makes Daniel Nava keep striking out.

They went 0-5 with runners in scoring position. On the season they are .202 with runners in scoring position. Boston has scored 36 runs so far, 12th out of 15 teams in the AL. Their 82 strikeouts are fourth highest in the AL. The Sox have grounded into 17 double plays so far, the worst in the AL.

Add to the above the fact that their fielding has been below league average so far in 2014. The AL team average is a .984 fielding percentage with five errors. Boston has a .979 FP with eight errors.

A number of those factors came together last night. 0-5 RISP. Six strikeouts and no walks. One run scored. And a critical error that led to two New York runs. That is why Boston lost last night. It wasn't a brown stain on Pineda's hand.

It wasted a good performance from Buchholz. He did surrender a home run. But six innings, seven hits , six strikeouts and no walks is not a bad outing. But when your teams only musters four hits...you aren't going to win.

There is also the issue with Daniel Nava. Yes, he did hit the home run last night. But he also struck out three times. Those 82 strikeouts Boston has so far? Nava owns 10 of them by himself. He has a .139 batting average and a .455 OPS. I hate saying things like this, but Nava is dragging down a lineup that doesn't need any more problems.

One bright spot yesterday was the continuing improvement of Jackie Bradley. After a very rough start to 2014, he is hitting .364 with a .917 OPS. Of course, that is likely not where he will stay. But in his first five games he didn't walk at all and struck out five times. In his last four games he has struck out three times and walked four times. That is a strong turnaround and hopefully it will continue.

Admittedly, all this angst has to be put in some perspective. We are just 10 games into the 2014 season and Boston is one game out of first...and three teams are tied for first at 5-5. But we as fans, or announcers, don't do ourselves any favors by trying to find external factors for internal issues. Boston just isn't hitting well right now. When we start trying to find excuses for that, we look no better than the Toronto fans who thought Buchholz was doctoring his pitches in 2013. Do we really want to be the same as Blue Jays fans?

I sure as hell email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-30747840452366316132014-04-07T18:44:00.001-04:002014-04-07T18:44:17.934-04:00Disappointing Home Series for BostonI am thankful I was so busy this weekend that I didn't have time to type about Boston's series with the Brewers until today. Because had I done it in the moment it likely would have been a ton of cursing briefly interrupted with sobs.

Dropping the home opener was something I actually expected. Coming off the emotion of the ring ceremony and raising the title banner, you can see that being a possibility. What I didn't expect was it to happen via the bullpen imploding in the ninth inning.

Edward Mujica simply didn't have the stuff he needed to get three outs. Only one batter went to four pitches, when Carlos Gomez hit a 2-1 pitch to drive in Overbay and increase Milwaukee's lead to 5-2. By the time the Sox brought Andrew Miller in, it was 6-2 and the game was effectively over.

It also didn't help that the Sox lineup only scratched four hits and two runs off of Estrada despite getting him to throw 102 pitches in 5.2 innings. It was a waste of a solid performance from Jake Peavy, who went six innings and gave up two runs on six hits. But the Sox went 0-6 with runners in scoring position.

They may as well have held their bats like this the entire series. Jared Wickerham | Getty Images

Game Two was a runfest that Boston had no business winning. Buchholz was bad, going 4.1 innings and gave up six runs on 13 hits. The Brewers' Wily Peralta was little better, with Boston scoring five runs in five innings.

But that parity disguised how much better Milwaukee was hitting. Boston had seven hits all game while the Brewers had 19. The Sox went 2-6 with runners in scoring position while Milwaukee was 6-23. If the Brewers had been a little more efficient this game would have been a wipeout.

Boston's bats were quiet; only Napoli and Bogaerts had more than one hit. One-third of the lineup never even got on base. You can't win games like that.

And then came the series finale, a 4-0 shutout where Yovani Gallardo showed a remarkable amount of control, going 6.2 innings allowing seven hits and no walks. And even though the Sox got him off the mound in the seventh inning, they couldn't even scratch a single run off of Milwaukee's pen.

One bright spot was that every Boston starting batter got a hit. Literally, one hit a piece. I can't remember the last time I saw that. The problem is that they couldn't string any of them together. The only guy to get a hit with a runner in scoring position was David Ross in the seventh with a two-out hit that got Jackie Bradley to third base. But then Nava flied out and that was that.

It was a waste of another solid outing from Jon Lester. He went 7.1 innings and gave up seven hits. He was also only responsible for two of the four runs thanks to two errors. He struck out six and walked one. I hope this lack of run support doesn't become a regular event for Lester.

In looking across this series you see a couple of problems, those being two batters. Daniel Nava and AJ Pierzynski aren't hitting a damn thing. Nava has an OPS of .302; that would be the worst on most teams.

Pierzynski has a .250 OPS.

It's not like other people aren't struggling (Gomes and Bradley are low as well) but Nava and Pierzynski are standing out. Nava especially as he has been the leadoff batter. When your leadoff batter goes 0-5 or 1-4 and isn't even drawing walks to get on base, you are going to have trouble. When your catcher sees less than 20 pitches across two games and swings at everything within a mile radius of home plate, you are going to have trouble.

Granted, it is still very early in the season. But this is something that Farrell needs to start monitoring (though he is likely well aware already). You can't have a leadoff batter never getting on base and you can't have one guy ignoring the team concept of working the count.

This isn't going to get any easier. Boston starts a home series with the Rangers tonight. A bright spot is that Boston will miss Yu Darvish. But Texas can hit the ball and if Boston doesn't start getting runs on the board, it will be another long firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-90462726032207483742014-04-04T10:27:00.002-04:002014-04-04T10:27:39.152-04:00Red Sox Trending Positive To Start 2014The Baltimore Orioles were the only AL East team to have a winning record against Boston last year. The Sox were 8-11 against the Orioles with a .421 winning percentage. That was their third lowest win percentage against any team last year.*

One series, especially the first of the year, cannot be a barometer for the season as a whole. Just as one game doesn't define a series or a trend. But with Boston's 4-3 win last night, they start the season 2-1 against a team that gave them fits in 2013. And across those three games, you could see some commonalities.

Let's look at last night's starter first. Felix Doubront picked up the win with a performance that, although it wasn't a quality start, nevertheless got Felix his first win of 2014. He went 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked one.

And now here's a look at our first commonality with Boston's starters:
Starting Pitcher | Pitches Thrown | Strikes | % of Pitches Thrown for Strikes

Doubront | 76 | 51 | 67%

Lackey | 90 | 68 | 75.5%

Lester | 104 | 73 | 70.1%

All three starters were pounding the strike zone in this series, Lackey in particular. That is how you help your team wins games as a pitcher.

This control also reflects itself in the number of walks issued. Each starter walked only one batter. If you extend this to all the pitchers Boston used, the Orioles got only four walks in the entire series. That is a phenomenal job by the Boston staff.

Doubront gave up three runs, the most of any Boston starter. But against a powerful lineup like the Orioles, that is a great job. Across the series, Boston held the Orioles to only seven runs. And their bullpen allowed no runs at all.

Someone else who impressed last night was rookie Xander Bogaerts. He went 3-4 last night with two runs scored. Across all three games he was 5-9 with one strikeout and three walks. He showed a lot of patience at the plate, not chasing balls and making the pitcher work. Which brings us to our second commonality.
Total Number of Pitches seen by Boston batters

Game One: 169

Game Two: 147

Game Three: 148
Boston's batters made Baltimore's pitchers work. Especially against Tillman in the season opener. But even in Game Two, Baltimore was averaging almost 17 pitches thrown per inning. Their game average was 155 pitches per game. The Orioles, on the other hand, made Boston's pitchers throw an average of 126 pitches per game. That is a difference of 29 pitches, almost two innings worth of work. That's a big deal.

It was also good to see Middlebrooks get going after an 0-7 start in the first two games. 2-4 with a walk and a run scored. Hopefully he can carry that forward. And Jackie Bradley joined him with a near identical line, 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

It's important to not let yourself get caught up in one game as somehow defining a season. If you did that in the opener, you thought Big Papi was going to be a massive disappointment. By the end of last night's game, he has a 1.082 OPS with three RBI and a home run. Which also isn't likely going to be where he ends up.

But looking across a few games you can start to see a trend or two. And right now Boston is doing two things they need to do to win: making opposing pitchers work and having their pitchers pound the strike zone. You do both of those things, you're going to win.

And now it's on to Opening Day at Fenway against the Brewers. 2:05 this afternoon with Jake Peavy taking the mound. But there may be some other stuff happening first. I think rings are involved and there's a banner of some kind being unveiled. I think it has something to do with this:

This never gets old.

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* The only teams Boston did worse against were the Rangers and, surprisingly, the email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-86071582498368592922014-04-01T09:29:00.001-04:002014-04-01T09:31:20.570-04:00Red Sox Drop Their OpenerGoing into yesterday's game against the Orioles, I said the Red Sox had to do two things: limit Baltimore's power and not waste their scoring opportunities. A brief lapse in the former and doing the opposite of the latter is why the Sox lost 2-1 yesterday afternoon to the Orioles.

Let's talk about the good first, because that is always more enjoyable. Even with the surrendered home run to Nelson Cruz in the seventh and getting the loss, Jon Lester pitched a solid game. It was a quality start, going seven innings and giving up just two runs on six hits. He struck out eight and walked just one. It was the kind of performance that will almost always get you a win. Except when you have no run support. The relief pitching was solid as well. Junichi Tazawa threw a solid inning with no hits and one strikeout. Overall Boston had a pretty good day on the mound.

Lester was solid on the mound - (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The fielding was solid as well. No errors and two turned double plays. And Grady Sizemore continued the feel-good story of the season by going 2-4 with a home run.

Now to the not-so great stuff.

Boston's batters did one thing well; they worked Chris Tillman and knocked him out of the game early. Tillman threw 104 pitches in just five innings, giving up seven hits and one run. Considering all the trouble he gave Boston last year, getting Tillman off the mound was the perfect set-up for a Boston win.

The reason they lost can be summed up in three words: zero for ten. The Red Sox went 0-10 with runners in scoring position, which is wasteful on a grand scale. Even converting just two of those runners would have given Boston the win. It was a waste of runs and of a solid pitching performance from Lester. A.J. Pierzynski was the worst in this area, stranding three runners in scoring position.

There was also a critical period where Boston batters stopped working the count. Zac Britton threw just 21 pitches in the sixth and seventh inning combined in relief of Tillman. In every other inning of the game Boston was averaging 20 pitches an inning or over. Will Middlebrooks, with two outs and a runner on third in the sixth, grounded out on the first pitch he saw to end the inning. But the worst was in the seventh when Nava, Pedroia and Ortiz went down on just eight pitches. All three grounded out when they were ahead in the count.

It was a frustrating loss because in most aspects of the game, Boston played well enough to win. Especially Lester; he pitched really well against a team that caused him no small amount of trouble last year. Watching that kind of outing being wasted with silent bats is maddening. The good thing is that this power outage is unlikely to be a season-long problem. If the pitching keeps up like this then this loss will be quickly forgotten.

The Sox have the day off, which they will spend visiting the White House to get their official congratulations for winning the 2013 title. And then it's back to work tomorrow, with John Lackey facing off against Ubaldo Jimenez. Boston saw Jimenez once last year and beat him silly, scoring seven runs on seven hits and chasing him off after 1.2 innings in a 7-2 win over the Indians. Here's hoping that continues on firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-57538448039656651522014-03-31T14:09:00.001-04:002014-03-31T14:09:57.151-04:00Red Sox Start Their Title DefenseFinally, the 2014 season is upon us. The real 2014 season, because who cares about the Dodgers.

The Red Sox are getting no favors to kick their title defense off this year. Baltimore gave them fits last year. They were the only AL East side to have a winning record against Boston, going 11-8. The Orioles have some solid pitching and a lineup that can mash the ball. To beat the Orioles you have to limit their power and not waste scoring chances. This isn't like playing Houston; leaving men on base against the Orioles is hard to overcome.

Let's make this happen again.

This is especially true considering whom the Sox face this afternoon. Chris Tillman came into his own last year, going 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA, a 4.4 WAR and his first All-Star appearance. He also flat-out owned Boston in 2013. He pitched six games against the Sox last year and went 3-1 with a 2.65 ERA, a 1.179 WHIP and a 3.08 K/BB ratio.

Yeah, this game isn't going to be easy.

The Sox are putting Jon Lester on the mound. The default "ace"* of the rotation, he saw a return to form last year going 15-8 with a 3.75 ERA. But against Baltimore he, like the Sox, struggled. In four starts against the Orioles Lester was 1-2 with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.478 WHIP. As well as Lester pitches against Toronto, that is how much trouble he has with Baltimore.

Both teams will likely be missing a major bat as well. Shane Victorino is on the DL with a bad hamstring, which gives right field and the leadoff spot to Daniel Nava. Baltimore may be missing Nick Markakis, whose neck has been giving him trouble.

Grady Sizemore, playing in his first competitive game in over two years, will be starting in center and batting sixth. All eyes will be on him to see how he performs. Those eyes will also be watching the young duo of Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks, batting seventh and ninth respectively. If they can swing the bat with any consistency this year, Boston's lineup will be downright deadly.

Last year the Sox kicked off 2013 with an 8-2 thumping of the Yankees. That is unlikely to happen this afternoon. The Sox have the ability to win, but playing a Baltimore team that had their number last year and facing the pitcher that helped that happen will make getting that win a challenge.

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* I love Lester, but he is a strong #2 pitcher based on his past record. Never has had 20 wins, a sub-3 ERA or a 6.5+ WAR. Those are levels you expect a true #1 to hit at least once at some point in their firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-3396674068099142032014-03-28T15:33:00.000-04:002014-03-28T15:40:46.100-04:00Sizemore Starting in Center For Red SoxGoing into Spring Training for the Red Sox, most people were watching the left side of the infield as the place where we could see position battles. Instead, with Middlebrooks stroking the ball and Stephen Drew foolishly turning down his one-year qualifying offer the positions settled in. Boston may be a bit thin over there but Middlebrooks and Bogaerts are going to be the starters.

Where there wasn't expected to be a lot of competition was in center field. With the departure of Jacoby Ellsbury to the money-laden (if victory-bereft) confines of the Bronx, most people expected Jackie Bradley, Jr. to step in. What no one saw coming was a reclamation project by the name of Grady Sizemore making a solid case to be the starter. While Sizemore played solidly all spring, Bradley struggled at the plate.

Photo: Matt Stone, Boston Herald

Just 10 days ago when looking at this battle for center, I said the following:

The most logical choice (and as a Bradley fan, I can't believe I am saying this) is to start Sizemore. Provided that his production continues over the rest of Spring Training and he can handle the physical demands. The simple truth is that Bradley has two options remaining and the Sox can send him down to start 2014 with no risk. If Sizemore gets hurt or wears down (which is likely) Bradley can come right back up. If someone else falters, Bradley will be called right back up.

....

Releasing Sizemore or trading him away when he is playing this well wouldn't make any sense from an organizational standpoint. If he gets hurt or tired, that is when Bradley can come back and slot into center. It's all about depth in Boston, and starting Sizemore preserves that depth in the outfield. And at a very reasonable price.
 Well, guess what happened today?

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell announced Friday morning that Grady Sizemore will be the team's Opening Day center fielder, a prospect that seemed almost unimaginable when camp opened six weeks ago.

But Sizemore, who has undergone seven surgeries since 2009 and had not played in a game at any level the last two seasons, has passed all physical tests this spring and showed few ill effects from his long layoff, batting .333 with a home run.

Rookie outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. will open the season with Triple-A Pawtucket.

Sizemore was simply the better player all spring training. It wasn't even a close call at the end. Forget the batting average and the home runs since those stats are way over-rated. All you need to know is at the plate Sizemore had an .843 OPS and Bradley posted a .476 OPS. Any difference in their glovework or defense was never going to bridge that gap.

Frankly, this is probably the best scenario for Boston. Bradley need reps to regain his 2013 form and he'll get those in Pawtucket. And with Sizemore looking solid, there won't be a lot of pressure on Bradley to hurry back to Boston so he can work in relative peace.

And in Boston, the feel-good story of the season so far continues. Sizemore could be the deal of the season if he can continue to play like this. Oh, and Ellsbury's OPS so far? A mediocre .712, to go along with a right calf injury that has kept him out for two weeks. How much did he cost the Steinbrenner clan again? email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-29373036310970974652014-03-25T10:08:00.002-04:002014-03-25T10:52:24.382-04:00David Ortiz Is Back In The FoldSome dashingly handsome and clever blogger wrote about Ortiz's contract issues back in January. Said blogger was yours truly. At the time, I thought that no team would pay Ortiz over $15M a year to DH at age 38. My guess was that he would sign a two-year extension between $12-$15M:

So should Boston resign Ortiz to a multi-year deal? Yes. Will Boston resign Ortiz to a multi-year deal? Yes. But both Ortiz and the Sox will do their little dance before they get to where we all know they're going. My guess? Another two year deal between $12M-15M a year that brings him to age 40 in his last season. That would give him 20 years in the big leagues, the time to rack up over 1500 RBI and an outside shot at 500 HR and 2500 hits.

My guess wasn't too far off. He actually got $16M for 2015, which I will admit is a little surprising. That is a lot of money to invest in a 39-year-old DH. But with the intelligent management of Boston's finances by Cherington and company, it's doable. And it isn't a huge increase in the bottom line year-over-year.

It's the rest of the contract that is interesting. He actually gets two more years after 2015, but they are club option years that are built in a very clever fashion.

The new deal also created a structure designed to keep Ortiz in a Sox uniform for an additional two years, through the 2017 season. The deal calls for a club option for a $10 million base in 2016 that has escalating clauses that will automatically vest if Ortiz reaches a certain number of plate appearances.

So, for example, if Ortiz has a minimum of 475 plate appearances he'll make $12M that year. If he gets to 550, he'll make $14M. 600 plate appearances and over will net him $16M in 2016.

It's actually very clever, basing it on plate appearances. It rewards being on the field, but is also not tied to production directly. It is a reward for service that is also team-friendly. For those of you who are curious, Ortiz has made 600 or more plate appearances in eight of his last ten seasons. So $16M is a very achievable level for him to reach in 2016.

The 2017 option has a similar structure but there is no automatic vesting. So while plate appearances will determine salary, the club can choose to bring Ortiz back at that number or not. Again, a smart deal that places more emphasis on performance since Ortiz will 41 in 2017. That will be a tough call to make for the team.

This is a fair deal for both sides, one that rewards what Ortiz has done in Boston without being onerous to the team's financials. And it also encourages him to continue to play at a high level and stay in shape.

And, like I said in January, it gives Ortiz an outside shot at reaching 500+ HR, 1500+ RBI and 2500+ hits for his career. And then you have to start talking about email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-6572789533554389312014-03-21T14:38:00.000-04:002014-03-21T14:39:05.715-04:00The Top Five Red Sox Players to Wear Number NineLet's be honest...there's only one name that is going to appear here. Trying to pick four other guys to share this space with the greatest hitter ever is a waste of time. I will only note one interesting thing. The '9' was also worn by Bobby Doerr in his rookie year of 1937, which means two Hall of Famers wore the '9' and both had the numbers they were best known for retired by the Sox. I believe this is the only number to hold that distinction.

5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Ted Williams (1939-60) - If baseball had given out the Rookie of the Year award in 1939, Williams would've had that honor as well. It's not every player that hits .327 with an OPS of 1.045, 31HRs and 145 RBI at the age of 20. So he just had to settle for fourth-place in the MVP voting (ahead of him were Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx and Bob Feller.) I don't think too many players had more nicknames than Williams. Teddy Ballgame. The Kid. The Splendid Splinter. The Thumper. But maybe a hitter as great as Williams simply can't be summed up with just one moniker.

Greatest. Hitter. Ever.

If I tried to break out every award and Top 10 finish Williams had in his career, this entry would be 10,000 words long. So let's just hit the highlights:

17-time All-Star: And to note something else I didn't know, they actually played two All-Star games in 1959 and 1960. So Williams actually played in 19 All-Star games.

Five-time Major League Player of the Year (1941-42, 47, 49, 57): No other player in MLB history has won this award as many times as Williams. Only three players (Barry Bonds, A-Rod and Pujols) have won it three times. And check out that last date; Williams was 38 years old in 1957. He hit .388 with 38 HRs and 87 RBI. That is an amazing performance by a man just shy of 40 years old. And he did it clean.

Two-time Triple Crown winner: Williams accomplished the feat in both 1942 and 1947. The only other player to equal that record is Roger Hornsby, who did it in 1922 and 1925.

Two-time AL MVP: Williams won it in 1946 and 1949. The truth is that he should've won it in 1941 (the year he hit .406), 1942 and 1947. But his prickly relationship with the press cost him the votes in those years. And if anyone wants to argue the the three guys who won those years (DiMaggio, Joe Gordon and DiMaggio) were actually better than Williams, you're welcome to try. You'll be wrong, but you're welcome to try. All told, Williams was in the Top 10 for MVP a whopping twelve times.

Led the AL six times in batting average. The last player to hit over .400. Currently seventh all-time with a career .344 average (tied with Billy Hamilton), he is the only player in the Top 10 to have played after 1937, making Williams the greatest hitter of the modern era.

Is the all-time leader in OBP with a lifetime mark of .482. He led the AL twelve times in OBP, including a ridiculous .553 mark in 1941 that should be considered the all-time single-season record, since the only player to exceed that mark is Barry "Big Head" Bonds, who broke it in 2002 and 2004. Since he juiced his way to those totals, I say they don't count.

Williams is second all-time in OPS with a career mark of 1.116, trailing only Babe Ruth. Williams led the AL 10 times in this category.

Williams has a lifetime WAR of 123.2, which is 14th all-time among all players and 11th all-time among position players

His JAWS score of 96.2 is second all-time for left-fielders. Again, he is exceeded only by Barry Bonds...so Williams' score is the highest all-time for left-fielders in my book.

And it goes on and on. Home runs, walks, RBI, total bases...you name any category outside of steals and Williams will likely rank amongst the best ever. There was no better hitter to play the game. And let's not also forget that he served his country in two wars, flying for the Marines in both WW2 and the Korean War. He even won the Air Medal after a mission attacking a tank and infantry training school and flying his damaged aircraft home. Those five years in the military were five of his prime playing years. Who knows what numbers Williams could've posted?

Greatest hitter ever, hands-down and no contest.
email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-57191755140277306622014-03-18T10:51:00.000-04:002014-03-18T10:51:10.120-04:00Grady Sizemore is Making Things InterestingIn the wake of Jacoby Ellsbury leaving for a massively over-sized contract with the Yankees, the general consensus was that Jackie Bradley, Jr. would be stepping into the starting role. Even with a weaker bat, his sterling defense would mitigate his hitting. And it would be in step with Boston's organizational philosophy of building from within.

But then Cherington made an interesting move, signing Grady Sizemore to a one-year, $750,000 deal that could climb as high as $6M with incentives. Out of the game for two years, in his heyday Sizemore was a perennial All-Star with a great glove and strong bat. But surely, this was just to provide Bradley with competition, right? There is no way Sizemore could actually challenge to start in center.

Guess again, kids. Sizemore is playing like it's 2007. In seven games he has struck out only once and has an .838 OPS, which shows he is being patient at the plate and getting on base with regularity. He is also running into outfield walls making catches and diving for balls. His two years away from baseball to get healthy seems to have done wonders.

Photo: Matt Stone, Boston Herald

Bradley, conversely, is struggling. After his electric pre-season in 2013, he has an OPS of just .573 so far, and nine strikeouts against three walks. His glove is fine. But whether it is the pressure of being the incumbent starter or just the usual sophomore adjustment, his bat is not where it was last year.

And that creates a problem. There are expected to be five outfield slots on the roster. Three are locked down by Victorino, Gomes and Nava. Which leaves Bradley, Sizemore and Mike Carp for the last two.

Now, some people may say "Trade Carp". But can you really do that? In the prime of his career, he came off the bench in 2013 with a .885 OPS and a 1.3 WAR. That WAR is solid for someone who played in just 86 games. He is also versatile, playing across the outfield and first base. He is a key part of the depth that helped Boston to its third title in 10 years. At the end of the day, trading Carp really isn't an option.

And that leaves us with two choices, neither of which is great. Either Bradley goes back down to Pawtucket to start 2013, or Sizemore gets traded out.

The one big question mark surrounding Sizemore is his durability. He has played back-to-back days just once so far in Spring Training. Can he hold up in the regular season as a starter? The Sox play 29 games in 31 days to start the season. Can he sustain this level of production over that period of time?

We know Bradley can handle that physical grind. But if he gets sent down, after being talked up as the future center fielder, what will that do to him mentally? Will that inspire him to work even harder or will he start to doubt himself. Will another stint in AAA cause him to regress?

The most logical choice (and as a Bradley fan, I can't believe I am saying this) is to start Sizemore. Provided that his production continues over the rest of Spring Training and he can handle the physical demands. The simple truth is that Bradley has two options remaining and the Sox can send him down to start 2014 with no risk. If Sizemore gets hurt or wears down (which is likely) Bradley can come right back up. If someone else falters, Bradley will be called right back up.

And to be utterly fair to Bradley, if anyone could handle the mental issue with being sent down it's him. Bradley is a consummate professional and no one works harder than he does. He is the future starter in center field and whether it happens 3/31 this year or later, it will happen at some point.

Releasing Sizemore or trading him away when he is playing this well wouldn't make any sense from an organizational standpoint. If he gets hurt or tired, that is when Bradley can come back and slot into center. It's all about depth in Boston, and starting Sizemore preserves that depth in the outfield. And at a very reasonable price. firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-14099514476657174802014-03-14T17:46:00.001-04:002014-03-14T17:46:52.822-04:00Red Sox Bring Dynamic Ticket Pricing to the Monster. Money Saver or Money Gouger?Red Sox fans are an opinionated bunch. We have differing opinions on all sorts of things. Should the Sox extend Ortiz? Should Jackie Bradley, Jr. start in center? Was Bobby Valentine the worst manager the Sox ever had?

Okay, that last question doesn't have a lot of people arguing in Bobby's favor. But you get the point.

One thing Boston fans have agreed upon, though, is that ticket prices have become too expensive for the average family, let alone the full Fenway experience. The total cost can easily run into the hundreds of dollars.

To address one part of this, the Sox introduced variable ticket pricing this past November. Simply put, they arranged the tickets into five tiers based on expected demand and then priced accordingly. This way, Yankee tickets were still high-end full-price tickets, while the Astros would be on the low end. I should say "low" end because it costs $28 for a bleacher seat against the Astros. Better than the $40 you'd pay now to see, say, the Yankees. But still much more than the $5 I paid back in 1995*. But I digress...

Now to add to that we have dynamic pricing for Monster seats. What is this new-fangled idea, you ask?

With this new pricing model, Green Monster tickets will increase or decrease in price based on demand and market factors such as the date of the game, opponent, and even weather conditions. Demand-based analysis will be provided by two companies, Qcue and tixtrack.

This could be...interesting. It sounds like something that could save money. If you decide to go to a Tuesday night game when it is expected to be 45 degrees and you are watching the Astros...the dynamic pricing model should noticeably lower the ticket price. To be honest, the dynamic model should be paying you money to watch that game. As opposed to the Yankees or Cubs, where I would assume the dynamic model will demand your first-born child.

But like the variable model above, it all depends on where the pricing starts. Lost in the news about the variable model is the fact that ticket prices increased overall for 2014 to the tune of 4.8%. So while there are a number of games where the prices went down, there are more games overall where the prices went up. Going to see the Yankees now is a wallet-busting experience, with four nosebleed bleacher seats going for $160.

Where variable pricing is weaker than dynamic is that those costs are locked in. So say the Orioles and Sox are locked in a pennant race in September. Right now three games with Baltimore in September are locked into the lowest tier for pricing. In that scenario, a critical game is essentially under-priced by the Sox.

But with dynamic pricing, the cost for those tickets would spike. The Sox could start them at the same low price, hold them back until later in the season, and then let the various market forces drive the cost up. And let's be honest...as long as the Sox are playing well, there will always be a high demand for the tickets.

I wouldn't be surprised if Boston is using the Monster seats as a trial run for expanding the dynamic pricing model to even more seats. They will pitch it as a way to save fans money when, overall, it will bring more money into the team. As long as they set the starting price at the right level, the Sox will make more than a few bucks.

---------------

* I bought a season at one seat in Section 36, front row, for $410 that year. It was amazing. And a very, very long time ago. Nowadays that could possibly by you 20 games in Section 46 all the way at the email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-66656352266066698252014-03-10T11:36:00.001-04:002014-03-10T11:36:17.123-04:00The Top Five Red Sox Players to Wear Number EightI think we all know who is going to top this list. But a surprising number of good players have worn the '8' for the Sox, including one player I had never heard of and has a decent case for a HoF bid.

5. Hal Wagner (1946-47) - Hal was a catcher for the Sox. He originally came to the team in 1944 but then had to suit up for the war in 1945. Upon his return he took the '8' and went back behind the plate. He went to the All-Star game in 1946 and was in the Top 30 for MVP voting that same year. He was also in the Top 10 for walks in 1946, which is surprising considering he only hit .230 that season. It probably didn't help him much that during the '46 Series he went hitless in 13 at-bats. So early in the 1947 season, Wagner was traded to the Detroit Tigers.

4. Birdie Tebbetts (1947-50) - And here is the guy Wagner was traded for. Born in Burlington, VT, raised in Nashua, NH and a graduate of Providence College (a philosophy major to boot), Tebbetts played 3 1/2 seasons with the Sox after being traded from Detroit, all at catcher and all wearing the '8'. While with the Tigers Tebbetts went to two All-Star Games. He went to two more with the Sox, in 1948 and 1949. Tebbetts also was in the Top 20 for MVP voting in both of those years. But Tebbetts was getting old by then; in 1950 he was the oldest player in the AL at the age of 37. He also slagged some of his teammates, calling them "moronic malcontents." So in the off-season the Sox sold Tebbetts to the Indians, replacing him behind the plate for one season with the immortal Les Moss before Sammy White took over for the next eight seasons. Tebbetts said of the sale that "I was sold for a dollar by one drunk owner to another." Tebbetts went on to gain more fame as a manager, even being named the NL Manager of the Year by the AP for getting the Reds into third-place in 1956.

3. Robert "Indian Bob" Johnson (1944-45) - Boston was the last stop for "Indian Bob" (which is now my new favorite nickname). After spending 10 years with the Athletics and one with the Senators, the Red Sox bought the rights for the now 38-year old outfielder. All he did was go to the All-Star Game in both years. He was Top 10 in MVP voting in 1944 and Top 20 in 1945 at the age of 39. (Maybe Clemens should've added this guy to his report.) He was 3rd in batting average in 1944 at .324 and led the AL that year with a .431 OBP and. He was 2nd in slugging in 1944 (.528) and 6th in 1945 (.425). Johnson was 2nd in the AL in 1944 with 106 runs scored and 106 runs batted in, a remarkable piece of symmetry. He was Top 10 in hits in 1944, Top 10 in total bases twice (1944-45), Top 10 in doubles in 1944 and triples twice (1944-45). He was also Top 10 in RBIs for both 1944 and 1945. After the 1945 season Johnson retired at the age of 39.

Now, I had never heard of "Indian Bob" before I researched for this post. In 13 seasons, Johnson had a lifetime .296 batting average. He had 2,051 hits, scored 1,239 runs, drove in 1,283 runs and hit 288 homeruns. He recorded over 4,000 putouts and had a lifetime .968 fielding percentage in the outfield. Even today, Johnson is 147th all-time in home runs, 249th all-time in hits (more than Johnny Bench or Bill Mazeroski), 151st all-time in runs scored (more than Brooks Robinson, Willie McCovey or Willie Stargell) and is 118th all-time in RBI (ahead of Hank Greenberg or Pie Traynor). His OPS of .899 ranks 65th all-time. He is the all-time leader for assists by a left fielder with 184. So why isn't he even in the conversation for the Hall of Fame?

I can guess at the primary reason; he played during WWII when the talent level dropped. But last I checked, they don't discount stats from this era when compiling records, so it shouldn't count against him. His numbers are good enough to warrant at least a discussion about the Hall. If you use Bill James' HoF Monitor metric, "Indian Bob" scores a 92 where a 100 represents a good chance to make the Hall. His JAWS score of 57.1 WAR is 19th all-time for left fielders. The exact same score as Ralph Kiner...who is in the Hall of Fame. So why have I never heard of this guy before now? It makes me want to start an "Indian Bob for the Hall" movement even though he'd wear an A's hat if he went in.

2. Doc Cramer (1936-40) - Also nicknamed "Flit", Doc Cramer came to the Sox from the Athletics in early 1936. An outfield fixture for the next five years, Doc made the All-Star squad four times (1937-40) and was Top 30 in the MVP voting in 1938. He was Top 10 in runs scored twice (1938-39) and Top 10 in hits three times (1938-40), leading the AL in 1940 with 200 hits. He was Top 10 in singles all five seasons he played in Boston and led the AL in 1939 and 1940. Doc was an excellent lead-off hitter, batting over .300 all five seasons he was with the Sox. After the 1940 season he was traded to the Senators for Gee Walker, who was traded that same day to the Cleveland Indians.

1. Carl Yastrzemski (1961-1983) - Oh, like there was any doubt about who was going to top this list...

Where do you begin when trying to talk about one of the all-time greats, the man they retired the '8' for in 1989? Yaz played all 23 years of his career in Boston. He was the key part of the 1967 "Impossible Dream" Season that resurrected the Red Sox as a franchise. That same year he won the Triple Crown. He went to 18 All-Star Games. He was ML Player of the Year in 1967 and won the MVP as well. Yaz won seven Gold Gloves in left field (1963, 65, 67-69, 71, 77) and was Top 30 in MVP voting a remarkable 14 times. He was Top 10 in batting average nine times and led the AL three times (1963, 67-68). He was Top 10 in OBP 10 times and led the AL five times (1963, 65, 67-68, 70). He was Top 10 in runs scored nine times and led the AL three times (1967, 70, 74). He was Top 10 in hits seven times and led the AL two times (1963, 67). And it goes on and on; he was Top 10 in doubles nine times and led the AL three times (1963, 65-66). He was Top 10 in HRs six times and led the AL in 1967. He was Top 10 in RBIs seven times and led the AL in 1967. Yaz was a walk machine; he was Top 10 a whopping 12 times and led the AL twice (1963, 68). Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1989, his career totals are still impressive. Eighth all-time in hits, doubles and total bases, sixth in walks, second all-time in games played, 13th in RBI, 18th in runs scored and 35th in home runs. In the field his 195 assits as an outfielder are 57th all-time. His JAWS score of 75.7 is fourth-best for left fielders. His lifetime WAR of 96.0 is 23rd all-time for position players.

Yaz is truly one of the living legends of the sport. And the cherry on the top was when he got those well-deserved WS rings from the Sox as a staff member. He may not have gotten them as a player, but he sure as Hell earned firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-90493566437852371342014-03-06T22:20:00.000-05:002014-03-06T22:20:18.554-05:00Tanaka The Real Deal? Maybe

I sat in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium on July 10, 1997, as George Steinbrenner unveiled his newest, shiniest imported phenom.

Hideki Irabu was set to make his Major League debut in front of an electrified crowd exceeding 50,000. The Japanese Nolan Ryan proceeded to to induce a grounder before striking out the next two in the first inning. He struck out two more in the second and with each succeeding K, the crowd grew louder and more intense.

The Yankees would go on to be the Detroit Tigers that night 10-3 as Irabu allowed two runs on five hits and four walks over 6-2/3 innings.

He also struck out nine and anyone who was there that night would have sworn that the Yankees had landed the real deal, a bonafide superstar ready to take the Major Leagues by storm and lead the Bombers to another World Series title.

The only thing is that's not quite how the story played out.

Irabu turned out to be nothing more than a mediocre pitcher, going 34-35 over six seasons.

And the lesson learned from that experience was to never judge a player based on a small sample size. Any player can have a great game. Heck, even Kei Igawa won a couple of games.

Yet here we are, 17 years later over-analyzing everything Masahiro Tanaka does, drooling over every strike thrown.

Masahiro Tanaka is looking good, but it's only spring training.

Of course, when a team spends $175 million on a player who has never pitched in the Majors and whose every moved will be watched by a nation on the other side of the planet, expectations just might be a tad high.

Through the first few weeks of spring training, Tanaka has drawn raves during his workouts, while delivering two solid outings, including allowing a run on two hits in three innings against the Phillies on Thursday.

Still, it's spring training, and as Dave correctly pointed out, this is time for getting ready for the season, evaluating rookies and figuring out who will win the last few spots on the roster.

Tanaka can be brilliant through the remainder of March and it would mean absolutely nothing. Careers aren't made in spring training.

They're also not made on the basis of a single start or even a strong year or two (see Dontrelle Willis and Daisuke Matsuzaka).

Look, I'm not saying Tanaka can't or won't become an All-Star caliber player. So far we've seen a live fastball with terrific command, an outstanding splitter and a strong slider, so he certainly has some tools and a lot of potential, and I will be rooting for him to fulfill every ounce of that potential.

It's just way, way, way to early to be making any proclamations about the guy.

Will Tanaka be the real deal? Let's just say maybe ... for now.
Aviv Blasbalghttps://firstname.lastname@example.com, CT 06483, USA41.3813413 -73.09955279999996941.2860323 -73.260914299999968 41.4766503 -72.938191299999971tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-61405627134702283902014-03-06T11:15:00.000-05:002014-03-06T11:15:15.037-05:00The Top Five Red Sox Players to Wear Number SevenThe number '7' has been seen on the back of quite a few players, 31 to be exact. Some of those players were excellent, some were good and some…well, Easy Ed Romero wore it in 1986. Nevertheless, some damn fine players for the Sox have worn the '7', including one of the most beloved Sox players of all time.

Honorable Mention. Trot Nixon (1996, 1998-2006) - I really considered leaving him off the list. He is a beloved player to be sure, but stat-wise he didn't overwhelm me. He never led in a single category and never made the MVP voting list. But Nixon was here for a long time. Nixon was 9th in Rookie of the Year voting in 1999. In 2003 he was Top 10 in the AL in OBP (7th - .396), Slugging (5th - .578) and OPS (4th - .975). Nixon was a gritty player, always leaving everything he had on the field.

5. Dick Stuart (1963-64) - Stuart came to Sox in a trade with Pittsburgh in November of 1962. He left almost exactly two years later in a trade with the Phillies. But in between, he was a monster at the plate for Boston. His two-year average:
608 AB | 164 H | 38 HR | 116 RBI | .822 OPS | 122 OPS+ |
His glove? Not so much. He led the AL in both seasons in errors committed at first. But his bat propelled him to being in the Top 30 for MVP voting in the AL both seasons. He also led the AL in total bases (319) and RBI (118) in 1963.

Stuart also had some of the best nicknames in the game. His poor fielding at first earned him the legendary nickname "Dr. Strangeglove" even before he came to Boston. Once there, his struggles in the field earned him another name; "The Boston Strangler". Had the DH position existed in the 60s, Stuart could have possibly been a legend.

4. J.D. Drew (2007-2011) - Would that Drew had played with half the fire of Nixon. I don't like putting him here. I was never a big fan of Drew's. I think paying him $14M a year was way too much considering his production. Nevertheless, his numbers warrant his inclusion.

In his five seasons with Boston, Drew was a .264 hitter with an OPS of .824. That's an OPS+ of 114. He averaged 16 HR and 57 RBI per season, and averaged 2.3 WAR per season. He was named to the 2008 All-Star game. He had a pretty good glove, leading AL right-fielders in fielding percentage in 2009 and 2010. But his range factor in right was always below the league average. Which means he caught the balls he reached...but he wasn't reaching as many balls as he should.

The simple truth is that Drew's numbers never matched up to his talent or his paycheck.

3. Rick Burleson (1974-80) - The Rooster was a first-round pick for the Sox in 1970. During his stint in Boston, he was one of the best shortstops in the AL. He was a three-time All-Star with Boston (1977-79). He won the Gold Glove for shortstop in 1979. He was Top 30 in MVP voting three times. Burleson was Top 10 in hits twice (1977, 1980) as well as doubles (1977-78). He was Top 10 in singles three times (1977-79). After the 1980 season Burleson was traded with Butch Hobson to the Angels for Carney Lansford, Rick Miller and Mark Clear.

The interesting thing about Burleson is that his glove disguised his deficiencies at the plate. His average OPS was just .688 in his seven years in Boston, but he averaged a 2.6 WAR. That is because in four of his seven seasons his defensive WAR exceeded his offensive WAR.

2. Reggie Smith (1967-73) - Reggie was actually signed by the Twins in 1963 but then somehow swiped by Boston late that year in the draft. He was a powerful switch-hitter with a cannon for an arm. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1967 to Rod Carew. He was a two-time All-Star (1969, 1972). He finished in the Top 30 for MVP voting four times (1969-72). He won a Gold Glove in 1968. In Boston, Smith never hit less than 15 homers in a single season. He was Top 10 in home runs twice (1971-72) and in RBI twice (1969, 71). He was Top 10 in batting average three times (1969, 70, 73) and Top 10 in slugging percentage five times (1969-73). Smith was Top 10 in runs four times (1968, 70-72) and in hits three times (1969-71). He led the AL in total bases in 1971 with 302 and in extra-base hits with 65. Smith was Top 10 in doubles four times (1968-71) and led the AL in doubles twice (1968, 71). He was traded to the Cardinals with Ken Tatum in 1973 for Rick Wise and Bernie Carbo.

Not that it has anything to do with his time in Boston, but Reggie Smith is likely best known to you for two incidents in the NL. When he was with the Dodgers in 1978, Don Sutton said he was more important to the team than Steve Garvey. That led to the famous wrestling match between the two. Then in 1981, a fan in Candlestick Park hucked a batting helmet at him after some back-and-forth jawing. Smith, standing at six feet and almost 200 pounds, leaped into the stands and pummeled the poor bastard. Suffice it to say, he was ejected.

1. Dom DiMaggio (1940-42, 1946-53) -  "Who hits the ball and makes it go?/ Who runs the bases fast, not slow?/ Who's better than his brother Joe? / Dominic DiMaggio...

"The Little Professor", always over-shadowed by his brother nationally, was a great player in his own right. He spent his entire career with the Sox, batting leadoff and patrolling center-field. Dom was a seven-time All-Star (1941-42, 46, 49-52). He finished in the Top 30 for MVP voting six times (1941, 46, 48-51). Dom was in the Top 10 three times for batting average and on-base percentage (1946, 49, 50). He was in the Top 10 for runs scored seven times (1941-42, 46, 48-51) and led the AL in 1950 and 1951. Dom was in the Top 10 for hits seven times (1941-42, 46, 48-51). He was in the Top 10 for doubles six times (1941-42, 48-51) and stolen bases seven times (1941-42, 46-50), leading the AL in stolen bases in 1950.

If there was a list of the all-time under-rated baseball players, Dom would have to be on the list. You look at his numbers and you cannot deny his talent. Yet how often is he ever in the modern-day conversation of great Sox players? And as I stated in the last installment, why has there been no movement to retire Dom's number? If the Sox were willing to bend the rules for Pesky, then Dom is worthy of the same consideration. And don't get me started on Dwight firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-72105900677302667242014-03-03T09:58:00.001-05:002014-03-03T09:58:59.585-05:00What Have We Learned So Far in Spring Training?Well, the Sox have played three games so far in spring training against fellow MLB teams. So, as usual, it is time to completely over-react about pre-season performances. Because as we all know, the pre-season is a strong predictor of the regular season. Which is why Kansas City won the 2013 World Series and Houston played close to .500 for the season.

Oh, neither of those things happened? Of course they didn't. Because using Spring Training to predict anything in the regular season is a fool's task.

Spring Training is about getting in shape, working on your swing or your out pitch and getting your mind in the right spot. And if your team goes .500 in the process, who cares?

Nevertheless, we got some time to kill before Opening Day...about 27 days worth of time. So is there anything worth talking about with the Sox?

Jake Peavy should stay away from fishing knives during the season.
Allan Webster did not look sharp while Anthony Ranaudo did in the two games with Minnesota. And that is something to watch as Spring Training progresses. I said last month that Ranaudo was a wild card to make the roster in the wake of Dempster taking the year off. Signing Capuano makes that less likely. But if Ranaudo keeps this up, it will make it hard for Boston to ignore him.
Felix Doubront looked good in his game against the Orioles. He went two innings and struck out three against the Orioles the other day. Now, that isn't a big deal in the context of Spring Training. But if the sports media is going to gush over Masahiro Tanaka doing the same damn thing, then Felix deserves a little love as well.

Oh wait, Felix was even better because he only allowed one hit.

Better than Tanaka. Cheaper as well.

Will Middlebrooks is still hitless. Yeah, I am being ridiculous. He will undoubtedly get a hit or two before April comes around. But third base is the big question mark with the Sox right now. And Middlebrooks is under a lot of pressure to show that he has it under control. Getting a few hits and showing that power of his would be a good way to do just that.
And...that's about it so far. But just remember:

The record never matters in Spring Training. Never.
Pay attention to the deeper stats. For pitchers, how many strikes are they throwing? How deep into the count are they going? For hitters, are they working the count? Are they getting on base? Don't concern yourself with wins and losses or home runs and RBI right now.
At some point, some reporter will try to create some controversy because there isn't enough news otherwise to report. There is a 99% chance this reporter will be Dan Shaughnessy.

firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-73601897655386191432014-02-26T12:15:00.000-05:002014-02-26T12:15:30.228-05:00The Top Five Red Sox Players to Wear Number SixThe Number 6 went out of circulation since 2000, when Gary Gaetti wore it. It was retired in 2008, and rightly so, for a man who may have made the Hall if World War Two had taken three prime years away from him.

5. Vic Wertz (1959-61) - Vic Wertz is best known for "The Catch", the famous play by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series. Wertz hit the deep fly in Game One that Mays caught on a dead run over his shoulder. Long after that, Wertz came to Boston via a trade with the Cleveland Indians in December of 1958. The Sox sent Jimmy Piersall to Cleveland for Wertz and center-fielder Gary Geiger. He played first base all three years, splitting time each season with one or two other players. But in 1960 he was the primary first baseman and turned in his best season in Boston. That year he hit 19 homeruns with 103 RBI while putting up a .796 OPS. Those 103 RBI were third best in the AL that year. And his HR total and OPS placed him just outside the top 10 in the AL for both stats. That earned him 14th place in the MVP voting that year. He was pushed out at first during the '61 season by Pete Runnels. The Sox placed Wertz on waivers late in the season and he was taken by the Tigers.

After he retired, Wertz raised millions for charitable causes like the Special Olympics and the Boys and Girls Clubs. He passed away in 1983.

4. Bill Buckner (1985-87) - We've all agreed to forget about the '86 Series, right? Three titles in 10 years have a way of healing old wounds. Plus, you can just get lost in those eyebrows... So let's look back at Buckner's career with a less jaundiced eye.

Buckner came to Boston in May of 1984 in a trade that sent Mike Brumley and Dennis Eckersley to the Cubs*. This was to solidify first base, which at that time was being manned primarily by Eddie Jurak**. And what got lost in the all the drama after the 1986 season is that Buckner helped put the team in a position to make it to the Series in the first place.

It was 1985 that was his best year in Boston, though. He played all 162 games. His .299 batting average was 8th best in the AL. His 201 hits were third best. His 46 doubles put him behind only Don Mattingly in that category. He knocked in 110 runs for 6th place in the AL. And his glove was solid too. His Range Factor per game at first was 9.68, 4th best in the AL. And yet he didn't make it to the All-Star game that year.

After the 1986 season, Buckner came back in 1987 but the mood had gotten ugly. He was constantly heckled, both by the hometown fans and on the road. In the end it was too much and the Sox released him that July. Thankfully, Boston fans got a chance to make things right in 2008 when Buckner threw out the first pitch at the home opener. They gave him a four-minute standing ovation. All's well that ends well.

3. Mickey Vernon (1956-57) - Vernon came to the Sox on the tail-end of a 20-season career through a trade with the Washington Senators. But he delivered two solid seasons for Boston while covering first base. In 1956, at the age of 38, he batted .310 with an OPS of .914 and made the All-Star game. In 1956 he was Top 10 in the AL in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS and doubles. At the end of the 1957 season the Sox placed Vernon on waivers.

He went on to play three more years. In 1960, his last season, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the first base coach but was activated during the September call-ups. That year he got the World Series title that had eluded him his entire career.

2. Rico Petrocelli (1966-76) - Americo Peter "Rico" Petrocelli was a lifetime Red Sox, manning shortstop and third while wearing the '6'. He was a two-time All-Star in 1967 and 1969. He finished Top 20 in MVP voting three times (1967, 1969, 1972). He played two positions for the Sox; shortstop from 1966-1970 and, after the signing of Luis Aparicio, third base from 1971-76. The only time his fielding average ever dropped below .960 for either position was in 1966. In 1969 he was Top 5 in the AL in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, doubles and home runs. He was Top 10 in home runs three times (1969-71), in doubles two times (1969-70), in RBIs four times (1969-72) and in walks three times (1969, 1971-72). If you're my age, you may remember Rico hosting Candlepins for Cash in the early 1980s.

1. Johnny Pesky (1942, 1946-52) - One of the most popular players to ever wear the uniform, Pesky played in Boston for seven-and-a-half seasons before being traded in 1952 to the Detroit Tigers as part of a nine-player deal. Like Petrocelli, Pesky split his time between shortstop (1942, 46-47, 1951) and third base (1948-50, 52) after Vern Stephens joined the team. He made the All-Star team in 1946 and finished Top 5 in the MVP voting for 1942 and 1946. Pesky led the AL in hits and singles three times (1942, 46-47). He was Top 10 in batting average five times (1942, 46-47, 49, 1951), in on-base percentage six times (1946-51), in runs scored seven times (1942, 1946-51), in doubles twice (1946, 49) and triples three times (1942, 47, 49). He also managed the Sox for two years (1963-64) and held various official and unofficial positions with the Sox after that time. It was a great day when the Sox officially retired his number, even if they bent their "official" rules on how a number gets retired. Pesky deserved to be on the wall with Doerr and Williams.***

Pesky passed at age 93 on August 13, 2012.

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* Younger fans may not understand the logic of this deal, knowing Eck as the Hall of Fame reliever and great color commentator that his is today. But at this point in his career, he had a major problem with alcohol. He wouldn't go into rehab until 1986.

** Ed Jurak didn't do much of anything in the pros. But he was a monster in the minor leagues. I saw him during his minor league days in the early 80s when the Sox AA affiliate was in Bristol, CT. In 1981 he won the Eastern League batting title with a .340 average. And that was pretty much the highlight of his time in the Boston system.****

*** With three of the Teammates on the Wall, that begs the question: Should DiMaggio get his number retired as well? It would be bending the rules again, but he spent 10+ years with Boston (11) and unlike Pesky he spent his entire career with Boston. You could also argue his numbers are better. This isn't me saying Pesky doesn't belong on the Wall - he does. I just think that if Pesky is up there, then Dom should be there as well.

****Jurak was drafted in 1975 in the third round. That draft was one of Boston's worst ever. The standout player from that draft? Dave firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454948283116207589.post-7723852312779001122014-02-24T11:07:00.000-05:002014-02-24T11:07:27.536-05:00Larry Lucchino Gets the Better of Randy LevineWell, I guess Spring Training was a little too quiet. So Larry Lucchino decided to stir things up a little bit by taking a couple of verbal shots at the Yankees

"We're very different animals,'' the Red Sox CEO said of the Sox and Yanks. "I'm proud of that difference. I always cringe when people lump us together."

....

The Yankees, said Lucchino, "are still, this year at least, relying heavily on their inimitable old-fashioned Yankees style of high-priced, long-term free agents. And I can't say that I wish them well, but I think that we've taken a different approach."

Heh heh heh.

It should be noted here that Lucchino, for once, is 100% right. The Red Sox and the Yankees have become two very different animals. With the changes to the CBA, how the draft now works with regards to bonuses, the enhanced value of draft picks and even the rules extending to international free agents, the Red Sox have adapted and the Yankees have not.

The Red Sox have been judicious in the free agent signings, making sure not to lock in for too many years. They have drafted smartly and used draft picks to restock the system. The Yankees have done the opposite. They have signed expensive free-agents to long-term deals and given up draft picks for the privilege of doing so. The smartest thing the Yankees have done in months is sign Gardner to that four-year, $52M deal. And that's about it. Even the signing of Masahiro Tanaka is a gamble thanks to the fat contract he was handed.

The result is that the Red Sox have won three World Series in the past 10 years to one for the Yankees. And it looks a lot more likely that the Sox will win a fourth before the Yankees win their second. That's just the truth of it.

So after Lucchino's broadside, Levine responded in kind:

"I feel bad for Larry; he constantly sees ghosts and is spooked by the Yankees," Levine said. "But I can understand why, because under his and Bobby Valentine's plan two years ago, the Red Sox were in last place."

....

"[Boston general manager] Ben Cherington and the Red Sox did a great job last year winning the World Series," continued Levine, "but I'm confident [Yankee GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi] and our players will compete with a great Red Sox team to win a world championship this year."

Now, I will give Levine credit for the Valentine dig at Lucchino. Lucchino was the one who insisted on and got Bobby V here, and then ludicrously defended him the whole season. He went so far as to say that Valentine had done "a good job" in August of 2012. At that point the Sox were 55-57. So Levine isn't off-base on that statement.

The problem is that it occurred two years ago. And the year after the Sox immediately righted the ship and won a title. Which makes that dig a lot less effective. That would be like teasing someone for being out of shape two years ago right after they won a marathon. It just looks bad.

The rest of Levine's comeback was just sad. The Sox are "spooked" by the Yankees? Yeah, they're really scared of a team that gets younger when they sign 31-year-old players. The only thing that is frightening about New York is the quality of their infield.

Part of the starting lineup for the 2014 Yankees

And Levine is confident in Cashman and Girardi?? Look, Girardi actually did a damn good job last year. The Yankees won a few more games than they should have with that lineup and all credit to Girardi for making that happen.

But Cashman?? Really? What has he done to earn that? I mean, if there is a championship for throwing away draft picks and anchoring the Yankees to long-term deals that will go bad after two years, then I guess he's been awesome. And as a Boston fan I encourage him to keep on doing the same thing. But if you are a Yankee fan the idea that Cashman will continue to stick around with the support of the front office should fill you with dread. He has shown no ability to adapt to the new fiscal landscape in MLB.

It's weird to see the historical balance of the Boston / NY rivalry inverted after all these years. Boston is now the dominant team and New York is floundering about with mediocre leadership. It is interesting to see how hard it has been for New York to function lately now that their single-largest advantage (ungodly heaps of money) has been neutralized to some extent.

And Yankee fans? You should be horrified. Horrified that Levine and the Steinbrenner Boys have put the Yankees in a position where someone like Larry Lucchino can score points off them in a newspaper. Even Boston fans don't like Larry all that much. And he made Levine look pathetic.

How far the once-mighty have fallen... email@example.com