OMG! Two Sox offseason posts in a week! Actually, today's could have been two by itself, but I decided to combine. I mentioned the presence of a Sox player in this year's World Series: Ramon Ramirez. He made an appearance in Game 1 in relief. Didn't show much other than a mid-90's heater and one K in his brief appearance--very hittable otherwise, but the Giants won.
The other item is the fact that before yesterday's Game 2, the annual awarding of the Roberto Clemente Award was made. This goes to the MLB player making the most significant contribution off the field to some charitable endeavor. Presented by Clemente's widow, it is an honor because it recognizes the recipient's charitable work and also ties it to the well known such activities by the late Clemente, who died in a plane crash trying to get aid to victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. This year's winner: Wakefield! Way to go, Wake!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
If You Can't Be IN the Playoffs, Next Best Things:Peter
Well fellow Sox fans, as any of you who are long time followers of the site know, from time to time, we cover items of off-season Sox interest. This weekend, we had a pair of them, one particularly sweet. The sweet one is: THE YANKEES ARE OUT OF THE POST-SEASON! NO WORLD SERIES FOR THEM! In fact, to put a cherry on top, so to speak, the final out of their ALSC loss to the Rangers was A-Rod striking out to end the series and give the Rangers the ticket to the World Series.
The second item is the answer to the question: which start of the 2010 season Sox player is in the Series? No guesses? Well, I'll tell you. It's Ramon Ramirez, who was traded to the Giants by the Sox in August.
The second item is the answer to the question: which start of the 2010 season Sox player is in the Series? No guesses? Well, I'll tell you. It's Ramon Ramirez, who was traded to the Giants by the Sox in August.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Final Game--A Perfect Bookend: Peter
Jenn:
It's been an interesting season, sometimes good interesting and sometimes like witnessing a train wreck interesting. Yesterday's final game of the 2010 season was like that. The Sox won, making it a perfect bookend to match the season's starting win, also against the Hankiemen. However, it also raised or emphasized several questions for the Sox over the winter, some of which I discussed this morning at length with your uncle, Phillip.
First, the game. Sox were never in any real danger on this one, eventually doubling up the New Yorkers, 8-4. Lackey gave us another of his recent very good outings, going almost eight innings and allowing only a pair of earned runs, while striking out ten pinstriped batters. One thing I didn't realize until it was mentioned on NESN, was that Lackey, whom I have often lampooned here, had six games in which he left with the lead and the relief crew blew the save for him. So, yesterday COULD have been his 20th rather than his 14th win, and had we won those six games, we (the Sox) would be in the postseason with no Stripes visible anywhere! Bard picked up another Hold, his 32d and Papelbon finished up, although it wasn't a save situation. He allowed a lone unearned run and got another K in the process. Offensively, the day belonged to Jed Lowrie, who had his second two homer day of the year, went 2-3 and drove in three ribbies. Close behind him in offensive importance were Big Papi and JD. The former went 3-3 including a bunt single on his final at bat that saw him laughing so hard as he ran to first that he almost couldn't run--wasn't even close either. JD's contribution led off the Sox scoring, a two run homer over the Sox pen into the seats behind it, his 22d of the year. Sox also had four steals in the game led by Kalish with a pair, his ninth and tenth of the year. The guy has good speed--nothing Jakian, mind you, but better than average, and over a full year likely would collect something on the order of thirty swipes.
In this one, the Hose never trailed and by the time six innings were finished, so were the Stripes. Very enjoyable--even more so when the guys from the Fens were denying the Yanks any chance at the division crown and/or home field advantage in the postseason. Also, after a poor year against the Bronxmen, the Hose ended up even on the year, nine and nine, by winning four of the final six games they played against these guys. Even a less than fully enjoyable season has its pleasures, Jenn.
So, next year: well, right off the bat, no pun intended, the Sox have two major free agents as well as another in the option year of a contract to deal with. Who? Correctamundo!Papi, Victor and Beltre. Theo: if you're listening, sign ALL OF THEM! OK, Papi you can have by just picking up his option. He has shown a remarkable return to a semblance (Read pre-2008) of himself. Is he worth $12.5 mill? Depends on your point of view and how you want to deal with it. Phillip says take the option and wait to see how he does next year before making any longer commitment. It's a reasonable approach. Me? I'd use that as a fallback and try to get a three year deal in the neighborhood of eight or nine per for him--maybe layer that with performance enhancement clauses as well.Beltre took just a one year deal hoping he could have a year like this year and then get a windfall. I don't have objections to him cashing in, and would try for three or four years in the ten to twelve per range. Victor is an interesting situation. The guy, when healthy, had good numbers, plus he can throw out base runners, and he can not only play behind the plate, but also at first or DH. In spite of a broken foot, he got his fifth twenty homer year and plated 79 runs. I'd also make him a reasonable offer for at least three years, especially given that Tek is likely at career's end. Mentioning that, it was very emotional seeing him get a final bow and salute on coming out to his position beginning the 9th before Terry pulled him. The tears were understandable, given all that he has meant to this team over the past decade. I still have his Time Mag cover pic on my office wall leaping into Keith Foulke's arms at Curse's End in 2004. He'll be missed if he does retire, but, if he does, the guys at Yawkey Way would be insane if they didn't keep him as a coach. His knowledge of handling pitchers would be invaluable!
Beyond this, the execs have to make some serious decisions on the bull pen and on adding another bat or two to the lineup. Jayson Werth of the Phils looks promising and, looking to 2012, Albert Pujols will be a free agent--probably have to get a special line from the Federal Reserve to get him, but well worth it when the time comes for a guaranteed first ballot HOFer still in his very productive years.
Another concern is starting pitching with both Beckett and the Diceman coming off very up and down years (Phillip says down and dump them). Tough decisions to make here. Otherwise the starters have two good ace type studs, Lester and Bucky, the latter of which came into his own this year.
Happy ending to what might have been but for injuries and it's only 129 days to February 10, 2011.
AS Sox stuff happens over the winter, we'll comment. See you all soon!
It's been an interesting season, sometimes good interesting and sometimes like witnessing a train wreck interesting. Yesterday's final game of the 2010 season was like that. The Sox won, making it a perfect bookend to match the season's starting win, also against the Hankiemen. However, it also raised or emphasized several questions for the Sox over the winter, some of which I discussed this morning at length with your uncle, Phillip.
First, the game. Sox were never in any real danger on this one, eventually doubling up the New Yorkers, 8-4. Lackey gave us another of his recent very good outings, going almost eight innings and allowing only a pair of earned runs, while striking out ten pinstriped batters. One thing I didn't realize until it was mentioned on NESN, was that Lackey, whom I have often lampooned here, had six games in which he left with the lead and the relief crew blew the save for him. So, yesterday COULD have been his 20th rather than his 14th win, and had we won those six games, we (the Sox) would be in the postseason with no Stripes visible anywhere! Bard picked up another Hold, his 32d and Papelbon finished up, although it wasn't a save situation. He allowed a lone unearned run and got another K in the process. Offensively, the day belonged to Jed Lowrie, who had his second two homer day of the year, went 2-3 and drove in three ribbies. Close behind him in offensive importance were Big Papi and JD. The former went 3-3 including a bunt single on his final at bat that saw him laughing so hard as he ran to first that he almost couldn't run--wasn't even close either. JD's contribution led off the Sox scoring, a two run homer over the Sox pen into the seats behind it, his 22d of the year. Sox also had four steals in the game led by Kalish with a pair, his ninth and tenth of the year. The guy has good speed--nothing Jakian, mind you, but better than average, and over a full year likely would collect something on the order of thirty swipes.
In this one, the Hose never trailed and by the time six innings were finished, so were the Stripes. Very enjoyable--even more so when the guys from the Fens were denying the Yanks any chance at the division crown and/or home field advantage in the postseason. Also, after a poor year against the Bronxmen, the Hose ended up even on the year, nine and nine, by winning four of the final six games they played against these guys. Even a less than fully enjoyable season has its pleasures, Jenn.
So, next year: well, right off the bat, no pun intended, the Sox have two major free agents as well as another in the option year of a contract to deal with. Who? Correctamundo!Papi, Victor and Beltre. Theo: if you're listening, sign ALL OF THEM! OK, Papi you can have by just picking up his option. He has shown a remarkable return to a semblance (Read pre-2008) of himself. Is he worth $12.5 mill? Depends on your point of view and how you want to deal with it. Phillip says take the option and wait to see how he does next year before making any longer commitment. It's a reasonable approach. Me? I'd use that as a fallback and try to get a three year deal in the neighborhood of eight or nine per for him--maybe layer that with performance enhancement clauses as well.Beltre took just a one year deal hoping he could have a year like this year and then get a windfall. I don't have objections to him cashing in, and would try for three or four years in the ten to twelve per range. Victor is an interesting situation. The guy, when healthy, had good numbers, plus he can throw out base runners, and he can not only play behind the plate, but also at first or DH. In spite of a broken foot, he got his fifth twenty homer year and plated 79 runs. I'd also make him a reasonable offer for at least three years, especially given that Tek is likely at career's end. Mentioning that, it was very emotional seeing him get a final bow and salute on coming out to his position beginning the 9th before Terry pulled him. The tears were understandable, given all that he has meant to this team over the past decade. I still have his Time Mag cover pic on my office wall leaping into Keith Foulke's arms at Curse's End in 2004. He'll be missed if he does retire, but, if he does, the guys at Yawkey Way would be insane if they didn't keep him as a coach. His knowledge of handling pitchers would be invaluable!
Beyond this, the execs have to make some serious decisions on the bull pen and on adding another bat or two to the lineup. Jayson Werth of the Phils looks promising and, looking to 2012, Albert Pujols will be a free agent--probably have to get a special line from the Federal Reserve to get him, but well worth it when the time comes for a guaranteed first ballot HOFer still in his very productive years.
Another concern is starting pitching with both Beckett and the Diceman coming off very up and down years (Phillip says down and dump them). Tough decisions to make here. Otherwise the starters have two good ace type studs, Lester and Bucky, the latter of which came into his own this year.
Happy ending to what might have been but for injuries and it's only 129 days to February 10, 2011.
AS Sox stuff happens over the winter, we'll comment. See you all soon!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Thank You Mike!: Peter
Well, yesterday was Lowell's final game in MLB as a player. So the Sox had a ceremony pregame to recognize the man and his meaning to the team and Red Sox Nation in the years since coming to the Hub (actually, even for the year before coming to Fenway as he was part of the 2003 Marlins team that beat the Stripes for the Series).Once that ceremony was finished, the Sox went out and beat the Yankees! While the Sox only have pride to play for, the Yankees still have yet to nail down playoff home field advantage and the Sox win in yesterday's Game 2 made it that much more difficult for them to do.Things started ominously with the Hankiemen going up a quick three , followed by 4-1. Then, the Sox dug deep and no matter the obstacle, kept coming back, much as they had in the first game of the year at Fenway against these same Yankees, to get the 'W'. One of the best moments for me, Jenn, aside from the win on Patterson's 10th inning hit, was in the 4th when Nava led off the inning with a hard hit double. Next up was Reddick. He hit a hard grounder to Berkman's right, but, proving he's no Youk with a glove, the guy bobbled it and tried a quick throw to the pitcher, Burnett, covering. Burnett just assumed he'd gotten the out, and you know, Jenn, what happens when you assume. EXACTLY! He found out that he'd failed to get the out and then started having a "conversation" with the umpire3 about the play. OK--an argument. Any way, time hadn't been called ans Nava, who'd obviously been paying attention to events on the other side of the field, noted Burnett was still holding the ball while having his "discussion" with the ump. So, what to do? He did what he should have--took off for home and scored the run to get the Hose within a run. The folks at the Fens went wild, and, although the Yankees still held the lead at that point, and later took another at 6-4, the wide awake play by Nava in this instance seemed like a charge to the entire team, and they were not to be denied. After they dropped back to the aforementioned 6-4, they came back again with a pair of runs in the 8th to tie and then the winner in the 10th, a perfect end to a long day at the park! Even the finish was sweet. Hall led off with a long double that just missed HR by a foot off the deepest part of the center field wall. Cash then laid down a perfect sac bunt to third, forcing A-Rod to come in for the ball and opening up the base for Hall's unchallenged advance. From there, in another show of team pride, Patterson, 0-4 so far, took aim on a pitch and laced into the Fenway outfield to plate the winning run. The perfect end to a long day at the park! Let's hope for one more 'W' today as a good way to end the year and point to better things in 2011!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
More of What Could Have Been: Peter
Jenn: As you know, I've been visiting you for the past few days and so haven't had the time to update about the series loss to the Pale Hose in finality. But, even during and after that we still had an opportunity to get to 90 wins on the season. Not any more! First Lester, trying to become the first Sox pitcher in a few years to get 20 wins, the first lefty in a Bosox uni to get 20 in over fifty years, pitched, not really the right word for it, one of his worst efforts all year and was gone by the early 5th inning with eight earned runs. Then, we host the Hankiemen for the final series, one that back when the schedule had been announced was likely expected to have major bearing on the season's outcome for both clubs. Dice to start and we get the remnants of a tropical storm and major downpour with a postponement to today where it becomes game one of a doubleheader. So all game long it's Sox up, Sox down, finally, Sox done, 6-5 in ten. Many will only note that Pap gave up the winning run and shrug, "again.", but the fact is this one was aided in the extreme by an error that set up the run. Pap took the loss, but on an unearned run. Maybe we can take the final two of the year--a season bookend, since we took the opener of the year from Hankie's Yankees.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
