Beefing up!
Well, the Hose are going on a Theo-like buying plunge! In the past few days, we have added three new players, at least one of whom was a major pain in the ass for the Sox over the last couple of years. That individual is the now-former Rangers catcher, Mike Napoli. He signed a 3 yr deal, subject to passing a physical, which should not be a problem. Sox also signed a three year deal with Shane Victorino, an outfielder previously with the Phillies and last season with the Dodgers. His time with the Phils showed some pretty decent numbers, but last year with the Bums was less than stellar. Hopefully, he returns to his Phillies form while patrolling beside Jake in the Sox outfield. The last guy the Hose picked upo was a cog in last season's surprise AL West Division championship winning A's team. Johnny Gomes is fairly young and this is his first free agent year. While he won't lead the team in any offensive stats, he is the type of solid player to support a good offensive lineup, shows some power and is a very good table setter for the heavier bats in the Hose lineup such as Papi and Napoli, not to mention Jake, if he comes back from last year's season destroying injury.
Welcome, guys! Looking forward to February!

Papi's Got A Deal!

Best of all, it's with the Sox! Although not yet confirmed by the team, the deal is reportedly a two year deal for a total of $26 million. With various incentives, it could reach as much as $30 Million for Papi. It keeps him and his bat here and likely means he'll retire as a Sox player. Expect an announcement over the weekend, definitely not later than Monday. Go SOX!

Farrell's Official!
Well, after just 16 days, it's official. Former Sox pitching coach John Farrell is the new Sox manager. The deal, which included compensation from the Sox to Toronto in the form of last year's shortstop, Aviles, is for a three year deal, with an option year for the 2016 season. In contrast to Bobby Vee, who never should have been hired by the Hose, Farrell is very familiar with all parts of the Sox organization, as well as most of the players, both in Boston and at the higher minor league levels. He is already close to the Sox GM, Cherrington, as well. Does this automatically mean the Sox will return to collecting post-season hardware? Nothing is automatic in the AL East, but one thing is certain. With Farrell at the helm, the team as a whole will perform much better and they'll be in the race all the way through the season. The post-season is not out of the question, although much will depend on who fills the lineup and how well the Sox fill out their deficiencies at the player level from last year.
John, welcome back and the best of luck!

Vee's GONE!
Well, the Sox didn't waste much time. News just flashed over the web--Valentine's been fired. It's only about five months too late.The first right move by the Sox in the off-season (should have been the post-season, but with the year the Hose had, off is the only thing they qualified for after the 162 games were done). No comments yet on who the successor might be, but the betting here is John Farrel, the Hose former pitching coach, who was excellent here and has good relationships with most of the veteran members of the team. If not him, I'd love to see Terry back, but realistically, that's so slim as to be non-existent. He's rumored to be going to Cleveland.

Mercifully Over!
well, the season ended like bookends. Lose at the start--lose at the end. In between, we've unfortunately seen the worst Sox baseball in over forty--that's NOT a typo--years! The last time the Sox lost this many games in a season was 1965--two years before the legendary 'Impossible Dream' pennant winning season. It was a combination of many things--the largest number of DL injuries in MLB history in the last 25 years; poor starting pitching, underperformance in other areas, and finally the glue that binds this unfortunate mess together--VEE. The injuries you can't help. The pitching you can trade or free agent toward improvement. But the manager....From the start, he got off on the wrong foot with his criticism of Youk. Maybe, as the season ultimately showed, Youk is on the downslope of his career, but a manager shouldn't take his beef to the media before the season's even really underway. As The Dustman observed at the time, "That's not the way we do things around here."  Then, we had the giveaway of the game in early season to the Stripes--after leading at one time nine zip! And so it continued from one game to the next, from one month to the next, to the merciful end of the season. Today we see that Vee apparently, so it's being reported on the web (and perhaps in a number of other locations), couldn't get along with his coaches.
There will always be next year, hopefully under someone else--John Farrell comes to mind. The team really isn't a last place team. Are they legitimate contenders, particularly now that in addition to Mr. Hankie's Yankees and the Rays, there are the reborn O's? Time will tell. But they have a good nucleus: Pedroia, Papi, Jake, Ciriaco, Ross, Podsednik and Salty (even with his sub-.230 BA--he does throw out a good number of base stealers and has good power). But, the guys in the front office--Cherrington and his new assistant, none other than Tek [WELCOME BACK, TEK~!]--have got to start by deciding they no longer want to have this Valentine. See you all in February. For now, I'm rooting for the 'other' Boston team--the Braves (check your history books!

If This Had Only Happened Earlier!
The Sox won again last night, again beating the Rays, in Tampa no less! That's two in a row and four of five for the suddenly mighty Sox. Unfortunately, they were eliminated from the post-season on Sunday. However, playing for pride is a good way to finish out the season as a prep for next year. Last night, after Dubront got wild for an inning and walked the bases full with no outs, eventually allowing the Rays to open a three zip lead, he got his act together again and the pen was even better, the last two pitchers starting with Tazawa, going perfect for a pair of innings. Dubront ended up with his 11th W, backed by timely hitting by Cody Ross and Ellsbury and Ciriaco, as well as a sacfly from The Dustman.
A sweep today would be a great way to depart Tampa for the year.

Three of Four!
Well, with yesterday's win over the now fast fading Rays, the Sox are putting up numbers like they were supposed to all year! Unfortunately, these are just too late to do anything other than regain some lost pride and get some valuable experience for the new players who have come up over the season, as they will be the nucleus for next year's team. Could be a good one as well--just find some good pitching to add to Bucky and the pen.
Anyway. last night was Jake's night--three ribbies, including a 2 run shot, giving him seven RBI's in his last 9 games--not a bad pace if extended over a full season. It makes one wonder what it might have been had he not been out injured for over half of the season. Could have been a replay of his 2011 numbers. The Dustman also helped with his 16th swipe, and the Hose moundsmen looked pretty good, limiting the Rays to a couple of scattered runs and not much in the way of hitting.
The win also got the Hose a half game closer to overtaking the Jays for the next rung out of the division cellar. Mathematically, the Sox could finish at .500 in spite of the year's debacle, but realistically I don't see it as they'd have to run the table on the rest of the season. Well, I can hope. After all, I am a Red Sox fan.

Happy Birthday!
Well, the Sox so far this season have done almost everything they can to upset Red Sox Nation. It's clear that the post-season is not in this year's future, but they have definitely set the foundation to return to it in the very near future--possibly as early as 2013. In the meantime, the only thing they have left to short for is avoid the cellar, which they can do in part by achieving their other opportunity--torpedoing the Yankees' post season goals, the first of which in the Division title. Starting last night on Jake's birthday, they took a solid step in that direction. In what was a classic of Red Sox late inning rebound and counterattack on Mr. Hankie's Yankees, they came back from a pair of one run deficits and, on Jake's fourth hit of the evening, grabbed the W in a walk-off. Lester pitched marginally well as the starter, but gave up way too many freebies. As a result, the Stripes took the early lead and had far too many baserunners to make this Hose fan comfortable. Fortunately, the pen held them at bay, finished by Bailey's win at the end including a K of A-Fraud. Going into the 9th the Sox were knotted at 3, the tie coming thanks to Dusty's retort to a 2 run two bagger the half inning earlier by Jeter. Taking a solid swing, the Dustman drove the ball on a line into the first row of Monster seats. You could see him saying, "get up", as he rounded first, hoping that it would clear the wall and not just ricochet off of it. Prayer answered and his 15th of the year became a fan souvenir. After failing to score in the 8th where they started loading the bases on a couple of consecutive bunt singles and a blooper with just one out, they wasted no time in their half of the 9th. With Ciriaco on 2d, Jake wasted no time and sent a hard single into right field. Running on contact Ciricao headed for the plate and with a perfect slide, just beat an excellent throw from Ichiro. Sox score, Sox WIN. Game OVER!
In addition to Jake's birthday show, Pedey had three hits, the HR among them, to help move the Sox past the Stripes. Tazawa continued his season long show of quality from the pen.

Heading Home, Post-Stripes:
Well, after winning only a single game against the Evil Empire, in spite of the first decent showing by JB in several months, the Hose head to the Hub. Lester had his second consecutive good outing and got the win in the middle game, and JB gave a respectable performance yesterday, but let just enough balls get away from him to end up on the short end of a 4-1 loss just the same. However, he did get more K's than innings and keep the game in reach, something that ultimately had little meaning with the Stripes' pitcher throwing as well as he did. Only bright spot yesterday was Gonzo's HR, producing his 85th ribbie for the year and leaving him in the top five both in ribbies and hits in the AL.
On top of all of this (not to mention the season), it was rumored yesterday and just confirmed today that Crawford, who has been showing snatches of what Theo signed him for last year, will be lost immediately for the next 6-9 months for Tommy John surgery. At least it appears Papi will be back soon.

Been A Long Ten Days!
Well, as the header says, it's been ten days since the last commentary. In that time, the Hose have dropped four games below breakeven, only reclaiming one of those games tonight against the no longer surprising O's. We're now 3 under with 43 to play. Vee keeps saying he thinks the team will get hot and be in the playoffs, but what else can he say? I hope he's right, but have no good feeling about it. It seems that under his stewardship the individual players, with the exception of our two leading starters, are doing reasonably well--maybe even playoffs well. The Sox are among the leaders in runs scored, have a number of regular players above .300, and had, until Papi's achilles went south, the possibility of at least a pair of 100 ribbie players. The pen,, post-April, has looked better than average most of the time, and Aceves has, as a throwin for the closer, had a season that pretty much matches that of his predecessor from last year (Papelbon if you've already erased your memory bank), albeit with a substantially higher ERA.
Yet every time it looks as if the Sox are about to do something--anything, someone blows a play that turns a game (last night's throwing error by our starter on what would have been an inning-ending DP and instead was the start of a five run O's inning, for example), or someone gets injured and is on the DL. I thought the injury list from 2010 was bad, and it DID cost the team the post-season. But the number of guys on the DL this year so far is the highest in several decades of Hose History and by far the worst in MLB this year. Papi does well, injures his achilles. Dice starts on the DL, finally gets well, has a bad outing and is immediately back on the DL. The Dustman has been on it, and when he goes to the DL you know it's bad because this is a guy you almost have to shoot and then put in a strait jacket to get off the field. He's the top competitor you can find anywhere! No question! Crawford starts on the DL, finally comes back and is a leading candidate to either go back on it or have surgery after the season. Bailey is supposed to be the new closer back in April and tears a thumb ligament and just a couple of days ago got back into uniform. Ellsbury, one of the top players in the MVP race last year blows out his shoulder the first week of the season and only gets back in late July. All very frustrating. Could the Sox yet contend for October? Yes, at least mathematically, but with every passing day, I feel more and more like I'm following the Sox of 1965 or '66. Of course, they finally got moving in '67 with the "Impossible Dream" season that ended in a seven game Series against the Cards.
Day before yesterday a group of the players apparently went to Larry and the Owner to complain and, according to management, a lot of things were discussed, everyone supports Vee (hard to believe from where I'm sitting), and they're hopeful things will turn around to save the season.
It's true that Lester finally pitched like the guy we expected him to be, K'ing a dozen in his last outing and getting the win, and Bucky looked good after a shaky start tonight, keying the Sox win over the O's. But time's getting short. It's mid-August--time to move or forget about it.
Speaking of tonight, the Hose had 13 hits, of which five were two-baggers. Gonzo continued his recent surge, adding on a pair of ribbies, which, at 82, keeps him among the league leaders. Imagine if he'd been healthy all year! Ciriaco got another hit and stole his seventh base, while Crawford continues to look more and more like he's worth at least some of that money he extracted from Theo's wallet last year. Two for five tonight with a double, a swipe and a couple of runs scored. Dusty was two for five and Ross got three of his five at bats, each including a double. I don't know. Can they do it? It's possible, but they can't continue the way this season has gone so far. They need to win five or six in a row, then if they lose one, do another half dozen--a few times in a row. Starting tomorrow against the Stripes. Can't think of a better team to get going against if they're going to at all.

Well in the time since my last frustrated bleat, not much has changed. The Hose got a bit over .500, had another losing streak, again got over .500 ( a 4 game win streak) and then lost four in a row--one to Detroit and three to the very sub-500 Twinkies. Results: next to last and two below breakeven. They then avoided a Twinkie sweep at Fenway by finally winning the last game of the series (beginning to wonder there as the previous Twins games all had the Sox up, sometimes deep into the game, only to lose at the end), and then opening the series tonight against the Rangers with, believe it or don't, a win against Texas. Quite a win too--thy started in a one zip hole and then steadily opened up their offense. Final was 9-2, Sox and we're back at .500. Tonight's game, like a number of the recent ones featured a new angle to the offense. many of the regulars are back in the lineup--except Papi--and they're hitting like they were expected to last year and this year. Crawford got another pair of two-baggers, drove in three ribbies and is now hitting at .292. Of their 14 hits, the Sox had eight doubles. Jake and Crawford had a pair apiece, the Dustman had three doubles and, Gonzo had one as well as part of his three hit, three ribbie night. If this could only continue. Gonzo is on a tear, with an average above .300 finally, Crawford has been looking real for the past week or so, and Jake & Petey are doing their thing now that the injuries are apparently history.There's time enough. Is there some consistency hiding in the Sox dugout that can rescue this season?
Even the cobbled together staff looked good tonight. Cook started, threw seven innings of one run ball and was picked up by Tazawa, who, except for a 9th inning shot by Beltre, looked stunning in his two innings.
Stay tuned.

The Misery Continues:
Well, now it's 5 of the last 6 we've lost! After a brief surge that falsely raised our hopes for the Sox in the second half, reality appears to have set in. Papi's out with a strained achilles. The starters on the whole are doing nothing; the hitting is spotty. Bulletin to Cherrington: Greinke's available before the deadline. Tonight's game was just another exercise in Hose futility. Too bad all this had to happen in the Fenway centenary. The Sox get a two zip lead, in large part due to the Dustman's bat work, supported by Middlebrook's homer, drop behind, 3-2, in the 4th and manage to pull even in the 6th on Dust's own HR, at 3. So what does Beckett do? An inning later, with one gone, he hits a batter, then after getting the second out, gives up a hit to former Sox third sacker Beltre, and puts the proverbial frosting on the cake by wild pitching the eventual winning run home. The Texans later added an insurance run on Cruz's homer to welcome Albers to the mound in the 8th.
And just think-- Friday the Hose get to travel to the House of the Devil (Yankee Stadium to you) for a series. They're now 10 1/2 games out (thank God for the Stripes' four game loss sweep by the A's or the season would be over already), and if things don't turn around soon, they'll be looking at next year's team for the latter part of this year.
I'm quoting odds on when Vee will no longer be wearing a Sox uniform. Any takers?

Youk's Involvement
Hmm, let's see now--yesterday, Yoouukk's 3/4 and today, through seven, he's 1/3 with a homer, 2 runs scored and three ribbies. Hey, Vee, still think he's "not involved"? Maybe next time you should think before you talk. Better yet, you should be uninvolved--with the Sox!

After the Break:
Well, finally catching up after the All-Star break. I'm sure all of you are aware of the Yankee debacle that followed the Oakland sweep of our Sox--3 of 4 for the Stripes in the Fens. Coming out of the break, however, signs of hope I (always hope if you follow the Hose). Sox callup, Ciriaco, has been nothing short of incandescent! Even after a couple of games for the collar, he was still well over .400 entering tonite's game at Fenway. He merely improved on this position going 3/4, w/a two-bagger to raise his average again. The Sox, meanwhile took the series against the Rays in Florida, topping it off yesterday with a solid performance after JB had given up three in the 1st. Result finally? Sox won, 7-3 with JB K'ing 7 and giving a strong performance after all. After the 1st, he was very Beckett-like.
So, tonight back at Fenway, the Pale Hose came into town, the first time Yoouukk has faced the Sox since he was traded away. He acquitted himself well, going 3/4 with a pair of doubles and scored the Chisox' only run. However, fortunately for the Bosox, the team didn't wait long to even the score, picking up a run in the 1st on Gonzo's base hit. It took a bit longer for the Hose to put it away, but, after a really good effort by their starter, Cook (one unearned run in 7 innings on five hits and no freebies), the Sox bats came to life en masse.
Crawford (newly off the DL--finally) and Papi both worked freebies to start the inning and then Gonzo took a 2-1 offering and drove it over the Monster to make it 4-1. A little later in the inning, Aviles singled, driving in Cody Ross, who'd followed Gonzo with a single of his own--5-1 Hose. Padilla got the W and Aceves closed things out in the 9th, though no save.
The only sour note at all, in fact, was Bobby Vee's continued BS over Yoouukk. Yesterday, he said that he thought Yoouukk never wanted to get over the early season slur by Vee. What Valentine doesn't understand is that Yoouuk has too much class for that kind of crap--and further proved it by refusing to reply to Valentine's ill-tempered comments. Tito--where are you when we need you?
Ciriaco--what are the Sox going to do when the Dustman returns? He's really proving to be too valuable to get splinters sitting. My guess, he goes into play at short, occasionally giving Middlebrooks a rest at 3d. Could be good trade bait, but I'd hate to see him go elsewhere. He's just too good. Also, when you watch him play, you can see, he's not just playing--he's having FUN! Nothing better!

A Bad Sweep!:
Well, after the Seattle split, the Hose came into Oakland, hoping to show off their prowess over this lower rung Western Div team. Instead, the Hose got swept, staring with a 6-1 thrashing on Friday nite and ending today in a 3-2 nailbiter. The only common element, other than the losses in each game was the fact that the A's doing the most damage were almost all former Sox players. Reddick, Crisp and Moss all had their way with the Sox hurlers, starting with homers off Dice-K in game 1 by Reddick & Moss, and finishing up with a triple by Crisp, who later scored in today's game. You know it's bad when your personal highlight is Jenn's sister, Sara catching a foul ball in Game 1 (a family first since I caught one at age 8--60 yrs ago--myself at Fenway).
Speaking of the Diceman, he lasted an inning plus and left behind 5-1, ending up back on the DL for a neck issue. Game 2: the Dustman re-tweaked his thumb and was held out of today's contest. About the only positives were Papi's 400th career shot today (22 on the year) and Gonzo's extending of the now 15 game hit streak today. Papi is now 49th on the career list and just seven behind HOF'er Duke Snider.

Split in Seattle
Well, for third time in the 4 games with the Mariners, everything came down to a final inning sac fly. However, the good news is that this time it was the Sox who got the sac fly and resulting winning run. After stranding another 9 runners as the game progressed, a trend that is a bit dusturbing  based on this series, Papi, the newly anointed Sox starter at DH in the upcoming All-Star Game, stepped to the plate and drove a ball deep enough into the Seattle park's outfield to get the winning run home--Sox 2-1. Aceves, the guy who took the loss yesterday when the M's did the same thing in the 11th, pitched a perfect inning today and got the Save.
During the game Gonzo's recent hitting streak continued as he picked up a hit midway through the game. Better yet, The Dustman went 2-5, both hits figuring in the Sox scoring. In the 6th, Hose trailing one zip, Petey drove a ball deep into the cheaps to tie the game. This was at that point the best evidence to date that he's pretty much recovered from the problems that his injured thumb was causing at the plate. Then, in the deciding 9th after Kalish had hit a pinch two bagger, Dusty singled, moving Kalish over to third where he was able to score on Papi's fly.
So where are we as the Hose come to the Bay Area (Sara & I to go to the game tomorrow nite)? Well, Baltimore, Tampa and Toronto all lost, so we picked up a game on all of them, and are now still in 3d in the Div, but just a half game behind the O's if my math is correct, and still 6.5 astern of the Stripes, who won today. Assuming the Hose continue to win, the coming weekend's series against Mr. Hankie's Yankees could be perfectly timed to put a real move on the Evil Empire.

Sox Move Up!
Well, now that the Rays-KC game is over and the Royals Have won, the Hose have reached a tie for third in the division--a high so far for the season. Go Sox!

We're Back!
Sorry for no commentary for nearly a month, but lots of non-Sox stuff happening, the most important of which is Jenn had another future Sox fan. Little boy and mom & child all fine! Can't wait to get him to a Sox game in a few years.
Now for the Sox! Since we last were together, the Hose have dropped briefly below .500 and subsequently recovered nicely, sitting at their season high five games over as of today's win over the Jays, 10-4. We also lost Yooouuukk in a trade to the Pale Hose, or, as a headline writer noted, Youk has changed his Sox. Too bad; will really miss him. The guy bleeds Red Sox red and was a vital part ofthe team for the past nine years, including having a major role in both 21st century Series wins.
As for today's win, this is 9 of the last 12 games for the Sox. The win today was pitched by Lester, who gave up all Jays runs on a couple of homers and a double. His game WHIP was, however, very nice at an even 1.00, with no walks.
On the Hose side of the ledger, it started to look as if Toronto's pitchers were going to do nothing with Papi but give him freebies on the theory that putting Papi on 1st and letting the rest of the Sox try to get something from it was better than pitching to him and risk having him seriously damage the Jays by himself. When they finally pitched to him, he did what comes naturally--he quickly dropped it into the cheaps, his 21st of the season, and his 53d ribbie. Also his third shot in three games. As for the rest of the lineup, Gonzo is continuing to look like the Gonzo that we had last year, his recent tear yielding three rbi's today, upping the season's total to 43, which at this pace, should just get him over 100 for the year if he continues. We may yet see the Gozo we liked last year and hope to have now. Today'[s offense was spread around the roster. Of ten hits, five were for extra bases. In addition to the aforementioned blast by Papi, the Dustman, Ross, Shoppach and Aviles each had a two-bagger.
This puts us two full games up on the Jays in the standings, keeps pace with Mr. Hankie's Yankees, and, depending on the final of the Rays game, may get us one game closer to them as well--it's tied at the moment, 4-4 in the bottom of the 8th in KC.
Separate item other than today's game: one of the other items that has happened in the past month with the Hose is the return to the rotation of the Diceman. Although his ERA is well into the high 4's or worse, most of that was the first inning of his initial start on his return. Since then, he's been looking pretty good, and may yet have a positive effect on the Hose' chances for the year. Yesterday, although not getting the W, he held the Jays to a single run in 5.2 innings, gave up only one freebie, and is looking better each outing.
Separate separate item: Sox DL casualties: like the last two years, the Hose have started and continued the season with an inordinate number of guys on the various DL's. The latest is their winningest starter, Bucky, who had some windpipe bleeding that was draining into his stomach. He was hospitalized, but was released today, and may be able to return to the rotation in a week or so. Speaking of returns from the DL, latest work on the health status of Jake iks that his rehab program may begin in the next week or so. If this is accurate and if there are no bumps in the road, he could be back in center by the All-Star game. Let's cross our collective fingers.

Bouncing Back Again:

Well, after losing the finale of the Rays series yesterday, and again failing to get over .500, the Hose showed some more of their recent resiliency, beating the Tigers today, 7-4. They built up a 7-2 lead as the game proceeded, chipping away at the Bengals' starter and the reliever, with the ammunition coming across the board. Papi had a pair of hits, including his 16th double and drove in his 31st ribbie. Sweeney, in his first game back from the concussion 7 day DL, went 3-4, including his 15th two-bagger and scored a pair of runs. Salty picked up his ninth homer. Hose starter Dubront gave a solid 6 innings, allowing a pair of runs, but K'ing a half dozen and allowing just four hits and a lone freebie, a game WHIP of 0.833. The middle relief also did its job and improved even more on its recent success/stinginess, accounting for two shutout innings. The Hose closer, Aceves, finished up, and though he allowed a 2 run shot to finish the scoring, was, overall, OK. Hope these late inning HR's don't get to be a habit though.

The Importance of a Little Salt:
There used to be a joke that the way you improved the taste of salt was add it to a steak. Well, the Hose of late have reversed the adage. The way you improve the Sox is add a little Salt--as in Saltamacchia. The Hose overall did a good job today, getting nine hits in a very well pitched duel between JB and the Rays' Price, but when it came down to finishing, the offense came down to a walkoff shot by Salty that all at once produced the tying and winning runs. Facing the Rays' closer, a guy who'd converted his first 15 save attempts this season, Salty didn't waste a lot of time. On the second pitch he saw as a pinch hitter, he drove the ball into the right center stands , a no doubter almost from when it left the bat. Game over and the Sox again return to .500. Continuing their recent run of better play, this was their eleventh win in the last fifteen games.
The pitching was also outstanding. JB went seven, allowing just a lone single through six, before giving up a pair of runs in the 7th. The ace K'd just five, but the last of these was probably the biggest of them all. It came after he'd already given up the Rays' two runs in that 7th inning, and closed off the Tampa hopes of extending the rally any further. After JB's exit, the pen continued its recent run of quality work, allowing no runs for the last two innings, and, better yet only a single base runner, that on a freebie.
Outside the game, the word is that Sweeney may come off the DL from his concussion, and was seen doing well pre-game shagging flies in the outfield. Dice, recently extended on the DL, is just beginning his rehab assignment, and, likely will return in July, barring any further setbacks.
As part of the ongoing commemorative history of things Fenway to continue the season-long Centenary for the Park, Pudge Fisk threw out the first ball today. The honor was in commemoration of his 12th inning memorable shot that won the World Series game against the Reds in 1975, an event that still is celebrated throughout baseball.

The New Streak Continues!
Well, as I mentioned a couple of days ago against the Phils, the Sox have quickly recovered from the first game loss to the Phils that ended their 5 game streak and begun a new one--exactly how you want your team to react to a streak ending loss. Now, the new streak has reached 3 games with last night's come back win against the O's, 8-6. While definitely a team effort, the singular event in the win was Papi's homer, his 10th of the year. To call it a monster shot fails to adequately describe the blast. Back in my youth, blows like this were called 'towering fly balls'. Even that doesn't do justice to this. The O's outfielder looked up briefly and, the ball's destination being so obvious, didn't bother to even watch it's flight, much less follow it to the wall. The minute this ball left the bat, the only question was whether it would go into orbit and endanger the space station. It finally ended up in Eutaw Street outside the huge warehouse wall that forms the backdrop barrier to the field in that direction, a destination that only a very few balls have reached since the stadium was constructed. It keyed the Sox comeback, with them trailing 5-2 when Papi stepped to the plate. By the inning's end, the game was tied at five. The Hose later added to that and took an 8-5 lead into the 8th, which the O's cut by one run before finally folding their tents.
The Sox bullpen continued its overall excellent support that has existed since the Yankee debacle comeback last month. The collective ERA for the pen is sub-2, and in many cases, we're seeing perfect innings thrown by the squad. Aceves now has ten saves. Pretty good for someone who wasn't supposed to be closing.
Speaking of pitchers, the intended Sox closer, Bailey, is expected back around the All-Star break, and Dice may be back in the next 1-2 weeks. Also, both Crawford and Jake are expected back about the same time as Bailey, so it could be quite a boost for the Hose.

Starting Another New Streak:
Well, I admit it's been a bit of time since my last entry here, but life has been conspiring to keep me off the blog. Anyway, in the interim, Sox have run up their second longest win streak of three year--5 games, which ended last nite in a tough 2-1 loss to the Rays. However, in the recent spirit of things, they started another streak tonite against those same Rays, winning 5-3, with Cody Ross accounting for the win himself, driving four of the Hose' five runs, including a solo shot to the cheaps and a game winning two run single in the 8th. Dubront got the W, going a solid 5 2/3 before leaving and Aceves took the Save, his 9th of the year. In fact, with this latest save he's right behind his predecessor in the Sox closing role, Pap, who's doing very well for his new team, the Phillies. Speaking of which, tomorrow interleague play (How I hate it) starts again against those same Phils, and it would be something if the Sox had to face The Laser at the same time as their new closer, Aceves, were holding on against the Phils.
Stats for the night: (beside Ross) the Dustman had a pair of hits, upping his average and Papi also had a hit, continuing his excellent year for a B.A. Dusty's first hit extended his hitting streak to 17 games, and, while it's a long, long way from 56, I'll keep hoping. Fantasizing a bit, if he were to get there, it would occur sometime in late July. Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed.
In the weekend series against the crew from the city of Brotherly Love, since there won't be a DH, Papi will play first and Gonzo will shift to right for at least one of the games, if not all.
Bits of hope: Bailey has been cleared to begin throwing and still hopes to get back sometime in July. Dice continues his rehab assignment from TJ surgery and may join the big club in the next couple of weeks. The big question, obviously, is how will he do when he gets there. So far his rehab performances have shown a lot more promise than Pettite's did before he rejoined the Stripes over the past weekend, so, as always in the Spring (OK, it's not Spring Training, but still), hope springs eternal.

Starting A New Streak!

Well, after extending the season's longest to date streak to six wins, the Hose lost yesterday, basically on a single bad pitch by JB. Otherwise, he was excellent and looking like the JB we're used to seeing. So, back to the Fens for tonight's contest against the A's. After spotting the Oaklanders an early run, the Sox quickly seized the lead with Papi starting the ball rolling (actually, flying--out of the park) in the very next inning as the start of a four run inning. This was followed by a deuce in the 3d, with, who else, Papi, scoring the initial run ahead of McDonald's shot into the cheaps. Before too long, it was 11-1 and looked as if the Hose were going to sail home easily. That was until the pitching fell apart. Bucky gave up a five spot in the 7th to turn a laugher into a somewhat competitive game, and it took the combined efforts of the Sox' pen to stave things from getting any scarier until Aceves could get in and keep the Hose on top by slamming the door.  (In Laserland, by the way, Pap now has 8 saves in 8 attempts with a continuing sub-2 ERA). The Sox, overall, had a pretty good evening at the dish. Papi and McDonald led the way, with the former getting a pair of jacks, both solo, to raise his total so far to six, get his BA back above 400 and his ribbie total to 20. The latter went 3-4, including a two-bagger and the aforementioned HR, for a pair of ribbies. Also among the leaders tonight was the Hose new SS, Aviles. He was 2-5, but made every hit count, garnering four RBI's.
Separately, away from the Fens, Dice is scheduled to make another rehab start, this time with the Pawsox, one more step on the way back to the best ballpark in history. We could have a rotation yet (fingers firmly crossed).

Four In A Row!

Well, here we are in the Windy City after sweeping the Twinkies in their home park. Dubront (the victim of V's yanking vs the Yankees) against the newest perfect gamer. Sox settled that issue fast tonight. One batter, no second perfecto. Two batters, no second consec no-no (Johnny Vander Meer relaxes wherever he's buried). By the end of the inning, the Hose were up two zip and well on their way to an eventual laugher of 10-3, with Dubront getting his first W.  He tossed a respectable six innings and was succeeded by the Hose' latest Japanese hurler, Tazawa. After no pitching last year from injuries, he has looked excellent out of the pen in his first pair of outings. He still has a 0.00 ERA, and has an excellent repertoire, including a devastating cutter--just drops through the floor. He got the save tonight, although I'm not certain how a reliever who comes in with a 9-3 lead is eligible for a save. Anyway, based on his efforts so far this season, he may be the stopper the Hose have been looking for since Pap took his talents south to the world's pretzel capital (where he's five saves out of 5 tries, so far, with a sub-2 ERA).
The heroics tonight were spread throughout the lineup with every starter except Anderson getting at least one hit and Yoouuukkkk getting three. The biggest was his third inning Slam, basically putting the game away early. His average is now up to .241, and he added four ribbies. Other stats: maintaining their place among the league leaders in ribbies were Papi with his 16th and Gonzo with his 14th, while Salty put a pair in the cheaps to reach his fourth of the season. While doing so, tonight and his recent hitting binge has gotten his BA into respectability at .261. Papi continues to lead the league in hitting, well over .400, which while always a very nice number, will not start to excite me until I see it after his name well after June. The farther after June I see it, the more excited I'll get.
On a negative note, the Globe reported that Crawford will be out until at least late June with his injury. Remdog mentioned tonight during the telecast that there are unconfirmed rumors that Jake may be out as long. Neither prospect is encouraging.
Bard goes tomorrow and hopefully, the Sox can get closer to breakeven, perhaps even reach it by the start of the week. Wouldn't that be sweet!

V Goes Both Ways

Well, tonight the Sox could have dropped another, but hung in there and took the W. What made it interesting was that after leading 3-0 and then dropping behind 5-3 (shades of Saturday), Lester hung tough and gave the Hose a couple of good solid innings, limiting the damage. He appears to be just a few innings away from the Lester we've come to expect the past several years. Hopefully, he gets all the way back before too much longer. Anyway, V announced before the game that, for the time being--at least a couple of games--he was sending Bard to the pen to try to stabilize the group of firemen that have morphed into the Arson Squad. Bard was, understandably, less than enthusiastic, commenting he wasn't going to get eight other guys to start winning just by being in the pen. Yet when the time came, he came in with a man on third, score at 6-5, Sox,(complements of Ross' pair of bleacher shots --more later on that), and got the first two batters without giving up a run. Then, what does V do? He's got things going well--just one more batter to get. Does he do the logical & leave Bard to close things out? Are you kidding me? No, he brings in Aceves. Now, I grant youy Aceves has had some success so far this year as the de facto closer, but, at this moment it was starting to resemble Saturday's removal of Dubronte while he was cruising along over thye Yankees. And we all know ehere that brilliant idea went. This time we got lucky; Aceves closed out the game on a simple grounder and the Sox were back in the winning column, albeit quite a bit deeper in last than when they last had won.
Back to Ross. He got his 4th & 5th shots of the young season to put himself squarely in the race for the HR lead for the moment. These two made the diff tonight. Perhaps the magical thong has been reactivated (You'd have to look back two years to the Giants' Championship history to understand the connection). Papi and Sweeney, with a pair of knocks apiece, remain at or near the top of the league in the batting race, and Ross jumped into the fray for league lead in ribbies at 13.
A good night, all things considered, but let's hope it's just the first in a long run.

Well, yesterday's game was frustrating enough, Sox losing 6-2 as the Yanks got five solo HR's while the Hose couldn't generate enough offense, although they did have 11 hits. Today, though, shows exactly the Sox' biggest problem, even given their long, long injury list. I mean, yeah, at least a couple or mnore of the Yankees' runs likely wouldn't have happened if Jake were in CF & not on the DL. No blame to Ross, but, face it, Ross's no Ellsbury. All of that aside, however, the real issue and one that will unequivocally KILL any Sox chances this year is named for a February holiday--VALENTINE!! Here we are, cruising along 9-1, the only blemish on Dubronte's great start being Texeira's solo shot in the 6th. What does V do? After 99 pitches of quality ball, he pulls Dubront. From that point on, it wasn't downhill--it was over a cliff! Final score, 15-9, Yankees. This is unforgivable, and it's something that NEVER would have happened under Terry! I have no idea who would replace Valentine, although Terry would be a great idea, if the Hose could swallow and reverse what they never should have done to begin with. But, this cannot continue. The way things are going now, and I know I'm dating myself, this will be worse than the year before the Impossible Dream team! Goodbye, Valentine!

Ugly! and Interesting News

First, the ugly! I'll keep this as short as possible. Yesterday the Hose got slaughtered by the Rangers, 18-3. Things started off well enough, with Pedey driving a two-run shot over the wall for a quick two zip lead. You figured with Lester pitching, things had to look pretty good for the Sox. WRONG! Texas wasted no time at all in retaking the lead, with a homer of their own, plus some other hits. When the dust finally settle, 6 hurlers had labored for the Sox, giving up a like number of HR's and 21 hits in all. Not pretty. Hopefully, things will be better with JB taking the ball today.
Separately, the Evil Empire has announced that, in honor of the Centennial celebration of Fenway this Friday, they'll wear throwback uniforms from the era. Saw them online and they look pretty good (for a Yankees uni). Actually, the Yankees of that year were still playing as the Highlanders, changing to the present name the following year.

Missed It By THat Much!

Well, as those of you in Sox Nation likely already know, the Sox had stormed back from their miserable start to take the first three games of the four game set with the Rays by just overwhelming the Rays--11 runs in game 1, 13 in game 2, and a more sedate 6 in yesterday's round. Today, in the traditional Patriots Day game, they tried, but couldn't carry it to four in a row. They lost a tight 1-0 pitching duel with the Rays' Shields. What hurt worst was the way the Rays got the game's only run--on a bases loaded free pass!
Youk might have made a difference, but, for whatever reason, he was not in the lineup. Which brings up the latest issue with the Sox--Bobby V's comments about him implying he wasn't the Yoouuk of past seasons because he, in Valentine's opinion, wasn't giving his all for the team. To imply anything remotely like that of Yoouuk, is so far beyond ridiculous that you can't even see it on your radar! Adding this to V's pre-season comments on the rotation's members makes one begin to believe that maybe he should be replaced, as Ken Rosenfield suggests, if it keeps up--by Francona! At least Terry knew how to win in the Hub.

News--Good & Horrible!

Well, I confess. I haven't been keeping all of you out there up on the latest Sox results. That's because the effort so far this year was beginning to look quite a bit like 2011. True, we didn't go 0-6 like last year, as our first win came after only 0-3. But then we dropped the next pair, resulting in our arrival back in the Fens at 1-5, and firmly ensconced in last. Could it get worse? Oh, Yeah! Really worse! If what happened today is any omen, I think I'll start waiting for the Pats this fall, followed by the 2013 Sox. I know it's only the 7th game in, and we did win. Actually, in the box score, it looks great! Sox 12, Rays 2. JB pitched not only much better than last week; he looked like the JB we've come to expect, allowing just a single run in 8 innings; five hits and a single freebie. Game WHIP was 0.75. So why am I sounding like the voice of doom? Well, in 2010, the Sox were expected to be a sure thing to make the playoffs, possibly win another Series. Until they hit an unbelievable string of injuries. Last year, they had many more injuries, although not quite as many as '10. Nevertheless, what they had didn't help the Sox as they missed the post-season for the second consec year. Believe me, the injuries had more to do with the results than off day chicken and beer that the writers were BS'ing about!
Anyway, here we are in 2012 minus a couple of starters due to major arm problems/surgery and back surgery, and in the 4th inning today, things took a decidedly drastic turn south. After getting his second hit of the game, Jake was on first and sped to second trying to break up a DP on Dusty's grounder. The Rays second sacker stepped on the bag, forcing Jake and then, in trying (successfully) to finish the DP, fell on Jake's arm, injuring it badly enough that the Hose centerfielder had to leave the game, obviously in pain, holding his arm with his other hand. No diagnosis yet, but it didn't look good. If you recall 2010, after an early season collision in center, he missed almost all of the rest of the season.
Keep your fingers crossed. This is one guy the Sox can't afford to lose.
On the positive side, by winning today, the Sox maintained their streak of victorious home openers, the longest in MLB at the present time.Also, although JB only got one K, his string of games with at least one K since he began his MLB career is now 281, second in MLB history only to Dwight Gooden's at 349.
Besides Jake, Gonzo, Yooouukk, Papi and Shoppach all had multi-hit games, with Sweeney, Papi and Shoppach each getting a pair of ribbies and Yoouukk getting a trey.
One other thing--if you see things differently, or have a comment you want to add, DON'T BE SHY! Write it up and submit. That's what the little pencil icon at the bottom is for. After all, we're Red Sox Nation; let's have some give and take here!

Getting Ugly!

Well, in the season's second game, things definitely took a major turn for the worse. Aside from Jake, Yoouk, and Dusty hitting very little of not at all, the pitching by JB, not to mention his successors, was worse than terrible. After four innings, it was Zip Five for the Hose, Zip Seven after six and went downhill from there. Both Bengals players Cabrera and Fielder had a pair of roundtrippers. Beckett had the worst start of his career, statistically (maybe his thumb really is in serious condition). I know it's just two games, but this is BAD!

Season Begins!

Well, with a chorus or two of "Put me in, Co", the season opener has finally been played. Results not much different from last year, although it went right down to the bottom of the 9th in Detroit. Facing the reigning Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander, the Sox had their work cut out from the start. However, after finding themselves down two zip, they came back late in the game to tie, right fielder Sweeney plating the tying run with a triple, his second hit of the day. This came after Papi picked up where he left off last year with a ribbie to get the Hose within one. Lester looked pretty good getting through the first six, but unfortunately, the Sox closer doesn't exist yet, at least not anywhere near the Sox. Melanson came in for the 9th to hold the tie and give the Sox a chance in extra innings. As it turned out, they never got that far. Facing 3 batters, he gave up a pair of hits, one of which became the winning run when Aceves allowed a walk-off run scoring single. Did you have to go to Philly, Pap? Not much else to say about the game. The Hose pick up on Saturday, with JB scheduled to take the ball, assuming his thumb is OK.

It Gets Worse!

Just came across the wire, so to speak. Bailey's definitely hurting and will have ligament repair surgery on his thumb. He'll be lost for at least 3-4 months! Hope our new GM has some ideas on getting a closer at this late date.

Not Again!

This is getting a bit monotonous! Here we are not even starting the season and already two of the Hose hurlers are injured and checking with the docs. Bailey, our newly anointed closer, has somehow injured his thumb and may be out "for....months", according to Manager Valentine, although Valentine says it could also be "days"; he just doesn't know yet. Doesn't look good. On top of that, JB is seeing the same hand specialist because of a 'minor' thumb injury that could sideline him or not, depending on what the doc finds. For now, he & Valentine are saying he'll pitch game 2 of the season as scheduled. So, we'll see.

Great Fenway Documentary

No, the season hasn't started yet (except Oakland in Japan). However, I happened to stumble upon an excellent documentary the other night about Fenway. Made for its 100th anniversary this year, the film combines numerous interviews with some fabulous footage from the entire history of the park. Produced by National Geographic, it is called "Inside Fenway Park: An Icon at 100," and is narrated by Matt Damon, a native Bostonian and long-time Sox fan. Really worth seeing; something to get every member of Red Sox nation primed for the coming season! Enjoy!

RIP - Mel Parnell

Well, Mel Parnell died yesterday. If you're not of my generation or older, you won't know him, possibly won't even recognize the name. But in the 40's and 50's he was one of the best lefties in the game. He threw one no-hitter and was an All-Star twice. His career ERA was in the mid-3's, and his best year was 1949, when he was 25-7, and led the AL in wins, ERA (2.77), complete games (27)(not a misprint--pitch counts didn't exist then--hurlers threw--period!) and innings (295 1/3)(again, no typo). No Cy Young for all of this, or any year, as they didn't have the award then. What was really amazing was his record at Fenway. A lefthander, he didn't have the usual problems most southpaws did with the short left field and the Monster. His career record at the Fens was 70-30, an awesome .700 winning percentage! Overall career stats were 123-75, which, at ,621 wasn't too shabby either!
I enjoyed watching him and extend this site's condolences to his family and friends.

Spring Training & A Wedding

Well, Spring Training is now only a week away, 2-19. Also, it was just announced that two of Boston's biggest sports are getting closer together. The Sox' Yoooouuuukkk is engaged to marry Tom Brady's sister. Congratulations!