Boston Red Sox Blog Spot

Pulling Up Stakes: Follow My Fansided Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 05:06:00 +0000

As I'm sure you've noticed, I've cut back on the Old Towne Team blog as I've turned my attention to writing at www.fansided.com and pursued other projects. At the end of the day, there's only so many hours in that day. If you'd like to follow me at fansided you can do it in two ways.

The first way is to hit my web address at: http://bosoxinjection.com/author/bostonbeat/

If you have an email client that supports it and you'd rather get my posts in your inbox, you can subscribe to my RSS feed at: http://bosoxinjection.com/author/bostonbeat/feed/

If you want to follow all the writers at a great Sox site, follow Bosox Injection at:

www.bosoxinjection.com.

My recent posts at fansided include:

http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/04/02/thumbs-down-beckett-downplays-injured-digit/

http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/30/the-curious-twist-about-crawfords-wrist/

http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/29/fenway-turns-100-accept-no-substitutes/

http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/22/bostons-and-ellsburys-futures-intertwined-and-heading-for-a-showdown/
http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/17/riding-with-the-king-valentines-regime-change-is-a-squeamish-time/

New Sox Fansided Post: Fenway Turns 100, Accept No Substitutes

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:57:00 +0000

http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/29/fenway-turns-100-accept-no-substitutes/

New Fandsided Post

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Hey group. See a breakdown of Jacoby Ellsbury's position with Boston as he heads into the last two years of his contract at:
http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/22/bostons-and-ellsburys-futures-intertwined-and-heading-for-a-showdown/

Whallopalooza. Lester Banged Up, Sox Winding Down

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:59:00 +0000

I'm calling it here and now. The Red Sox pitching staff is in trouble. In analyst reviews and polls they still rank among the AL's elite pitching staffs on paper. It's a paper lion. I don't get it. In 200 words or less, here's why.

Josh Beckett is clearly past his prime, no longer the dominant force he once was. He'll be about a .500 pitcher in 2012. Daniel Bard's been shaky at best throughout the spring. He's not comfortable and it shows. Until the absolute end of the 2012 season Clay Buchholz will be a fragile question mark in the rotation. Don't forget that the stress fracture he suffered last year that sidelined him for over half the season was hinted as congenital.

Today, Boston's Opening Day starter, Jon Lester, got hammered (three innings, eight hits, four runs, two walks, 1 K) in a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh. Has anyone told these guys they have two weeks to go until opening day and that the objective is to get sharper and stronger as that day approaches? Fear and loathing grips hub.

And about that fifth starter? And the winner would be... I thought so. You don't have a clue and neither do I.

This isn't the American League of two years ago. The anti has been upped. Boston doesn't have the time or luxury to let the pitching staff find itself. Look around; Detroit, California, Tampa Bay, Texas and New York to name a few have remained steady or greatly improved their teams.

Get on your horses and ride gentlemen. It's time.

OK, that was 217 words, which means I exceeded expectations. Let's hope the Sox are in an expectation exceeding mood as well.

Spreading My Wings

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:44:00 +0000

Hey group. I wanted to post a quick note about an opportunity of which I'm going to take advantage.
After reading a few of my posts, I was recently approach by fansided.com and offered a Staff Writer's position. I accepted. It's a solid community of writers and sports journalists and I'm psyched about the opportunity.
I'll still be running this blog and posting here but at least a couple of days a week I'll be writing for www.bosoxinjection.com. You can follow me and other great writers there as well. I suspect I'll be doing game coverage and analysis here at the www.theoldtowneteam.com but feature, opinion and position analysis for Bosox Injection.
Feel free to bookmark and follow at will. I posted my first Bosox Injection article today at http://bosoxinjection.com/2012/03/17/riding-with-the-king-valentines-regime-change-is-a-squeamish-time/. Enjoy.
I would expect that on MLB's usual travel days, Monday and Thursday, I'll be posting to Bosox Injection and it will appear on Tuesdays and Fridays. Same old Sox passion, just exposure to a wider audience.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support thus far. Writing and playing music gives me balance in my technology centric life and actually makes me better in all domains. Your support has allowed me to move to an more empowered place.
Sox!

Spring Training, For What It's Worth, Is Worth It

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 04:02:00 +0000

There's something happening here

What it is ain't exactly clear...

- For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield

Word out of New England is that a not insubstantial number of Sox fans are hating on Bobby Valentine. It appears that even in the face a monumental September swoon, dissension in the clubhouse and benign neglect on the part of Terry Francona, some old regime diehards just don't want a change this radical.

Valentine is the antithesis of Francona; a rabble-rouser, a rule enforcer, an in your facer. After the country club Sox of 2008-11, Valentine's get after it and complete atmosphere has both struck a nerve and unnerved the Nation. Good.

I'm a Valentine fan. His cocksure attitude and quotable Louie the Lip verbosity couldn't be further from Tito's low-key professionalism. And that's a good thing. He's just what the doctor ordered for a patient so ill and lethargic that the playoffs couldn't even be stumbled into last year.

Don't misunderstand. I loved and still love Tito. Francona had simply lost his ability to manage the players and the game in Boston. His team stopped listening. The change was painful but inevitable. Sure, Bobby V will shoot his big bazoo off a few too many times this year, especially after a tough loss or a particularly peevish episode, most likely involving Kevin Youkilis or Josh Beckett. He'll fire a shot over the bow and we'll all groan. Such is life.

What is abundantly clear is that the desired result is being achieved this spring. David Ortiz is in arguably the best shape of his Boston career. Mike Aviles is out to prove everyone wrong by playing a solid shortstop. Cody Ross is pulling down improbable fly balls in left field. No one in particular is shining but the team is competing - and winning. Sure it's spring training. What we've learned, however, from the last two years is that when you have a lackluster spring campaign it spills right into your regular season.

Today four Boston pitchers, some decidedly on the bubble (Michael Bowden and Junichi Tazawa to name two), shut down the Yankees. Felix Doubront, Bowden (stuck out the side), Vicente Padilla and Tazawa (struck out the side to end the game) combined for a 1-0 Sox win. True, Boston had their one run essentially handed to them in the top of the ninth when Pedro Ciriaco - who by the way can fly - scored on single that got by right fielder Zollo Altamonte and who's cut off throw was blown by second baseman David Adams. True story; Ciriaco hit a slicing single to right and touched 'em all to win the game.

Bowdon, a perennial letdown, has now faced something like 17 batters and not given up a hit. Tazawa is throwing some filthy stuff as well. Boston is 7-2. Numbers don't lie.

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound

 Everybody look what's going down...

An Army of Arms Will Be Needed To Win The AL War

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:04:00 +0000

Can Jon Lester consistently find the plate in 2012?

In 2007 when the Boston Red Sox went wire to wire en route to a second World Championship in four years and dominated the Major League Baseball earth, pitching fueled the engine. True, there was a righteous dose of offensive output to match. Boston's offense was in the top 10 in virtually every major category during their dominant regular season run and their storming of the playoffs that culminated in a four game sweep - two drubbings and two nail biters - of the Colorado Rockies. Pitching, as it nearly always is, wins championships.

The combination of Beckett (7 IP), Schilling (5.1 IP), Matsuzaka (5.1 IP) and Lester (5.2 IP) catapulted Boston to the sweep and a championship. Bridging the middle relief, setup and closer roles was the gang of a once-effective Hidecki Okajima, veteran Mike Timlin, Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen (also once-effective) and Jonathan Papelbon. The Red Sox achieved this while lumbering about most of the season trying to believe that Eric Gagne could still be an effective table setter/closer.

Since then many American League teams - Texas, Detroit, Tampa Bay to name a few - have chased, caught and passed the Red Sox with pitchers who, in large part, have been healthy and pitched to their potential. Boston pitching, meanwhile, has failed to adequately reload and has languished in the doldrums of injury, under-performance and lack of focus.

The 20-7 Josh Beckett of 2007 has been largely MIA ever since. Boston will miss and continue to look for an inning eater like Tim Wakefield, who went 17-12 in 2007. At 15-12 in his 2007 MLB debut season, Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't look at all like the oft-injured bust he has become after his 18-3 2008 season. Jon Lester was a rising star who since continues to have all the potential in the world and has won a lot of games for Boston yet maddeningly and increasingly has spells where he can't find the plate. Check out the stat line of today's 6-1 win against the Orioles that, while seemingly looking solid, is telling if you look closely.

The 2012 pitching edition of the Red Sox will need similar health, consistency, tenacity and a few of the nice surprises that defined that memorable 2007 team. Josh Beckett will need to stay healthy and keep his head screwed on straight and in the game even when he isn't pitching.

Jon Lester needs to throw strikes, period. When he does, his nasty stuff is nearly unhittable. When he loses focus, the wheels come off the cart in spurts. If it happens early in the game and he can't right the ship, it's a long day for the bullpen.

Clay Buccholz is a question mark. The series of micro-fractures in his back that sidelined him for much of the 2011 campaign are concerning until he proves once and for all that his slight frame can hold up to the rigors of an entire season. It's understood that this condition is partially hereditary. Nevertheless, if I were the Red Sox, I'd have him on a strength and conditioning routine focused on his core and tell him point blank, "Gain 20 pounds of muscle and see if that helps stabilize your back."

Either the special sauce or the cheap substitutes in the starting rotation will be Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves. If Bard successfully converts to a starter it could immeasurably help Boston's cause and stabilize a starting rotation that has been anything but stable over the past three years. He appears comfortable so far. I'm from Missouri on this one; show me.

I've asked for this a number of times. Will someone please give Alfredo Aceves the ball and tell him he's Boston's number five pitcher? He's done everything in every role that Boston has asked of him - and done it well by the way. He's earned it. Give him the ball.

While we're rounding out the starting rotation discussion, let's address the elephant in the room. When Dice-K returns mid-season from Tommy John surgery will he be better than the last three years or will Boston management be forced to declare that the entire Dice-K epoch was a very expensive, very bad move.

On paper Bobby Valentine has options in the bullpen. How he manages this talent pool will prove to be the trickiest and, if done right, the highest impact move he may possibly make all season. Mark Melancon, Andrew Bailey, Chris Carpenter and Franklin Moralez have the better combination of talent and chemistry will most likely settle in as likely candidates out of the pen. Others in the mix include Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa, Felix DouBront and Rich Hill (also coming back from Tommy John surgery).

Please oh please axe Andrew Miller and Matt Albers.

To win it all will take an army of arms. The question is does Boston has enough weapons in its' arsenal?

Get Your Programs Here! You Can't Tell A Player Without a Program...

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Papi cranked his second homer of the spring and Clay
Buchholz gave up two runs as the Pirates downed the
Sox 6-4 at Fenway South, Jet Blue Park. Box score.

Well isn't that the truth. Spring training is a bit of a circus freak show; a cavalcade of the already made it, hoping to make it and I'm-running-on-fumes-and-are-never-gonna-make-it. Nevertheless, it's real baseball, as evidenced by the Sox 9-3 loss to a real baseball team, the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, after beating up on Northeastern, BU, the Twinkies and the Orioles.

All the starting pitchers have been at it; Beckett, Buchholz, Lester, Bard and Padilla. By the way, Padilla has a bona fide slow rolling curve that rivals Bill Lee's Eephus pitch. And just like Lee's pitch, when it isn't going on things get ugly. After a 1, 2, 3 fourth against the Pirates Friday night, Padilla gave up five hits and four runs in the fifth, three of them back-to-back-to-back doubles. Bottom line: the Pirates beat him like a rented mule and Boston went down hard 6-1 in no time before an inning ending double play. David Ortiz hit his second homer of the spring in a 7-4 Boston loss.

It's still way too early to tell but I have a few predictions.

1. Padilla will be the same old guy he's always been; a pretty good pitcher on occasion, a very bad pitcher other times and, as usual, his surly demeanor and combative nature will be spread around to both opposing hitters and teammates with equal enmity. Padilla is 67th all-time in hit batsmen (106). He likes doing it and when frustrated will plunk a couple in a row, argue with teammates and then get tossed. At 230 lbs., he's got that Bartolo Colon physique without any of Colon's mid-career craftiness. Look out. This guy is trouble. He's not the number five man the Sox need in the rotation. Alfredo Aceves, your chair has been pulled out.

2. If he doesn't get injured. a fit and trim David Ortiz (well, trim is a relative term) will continue to do what designated hitters are supposed to do; hit the ball often and with authority. After the 2009 season I was throwing dirt on Papi's grave and calling for a change. 2010 and 2011 changed my tune in a hurry. I still contend that when the wheels come off this cart if will be all in a hurry and the crash will be spectacular. It just won't be this year.

3. The merry-go-round that is the Boston shortstop saga will continue. Mike Aviles will win the job handily in spring training but will still be platooned with Nick Punto during the regular season. This move will undermine his confidence. When he stumbles a little bit Punto and, on occasion, human vacuum cleaner Jose Iglesias will get playing time. Iglesias will continue to bat his hat size and frustrate Sox fans yearning for a slick fielding shortstop with a gun that can hit.

For fans that remember that far back and long for the good old days when a shortstop could bat .225 and make it up with his fielding allow me to shatter the myth. In 2011, major league shortstops collectively hit .275. In 1960 shortstops averaged .264. Yes, eleven points is difference but not a significant statistical jump. As a matter of fact, the comparative stat line between 2011 and 1960 shortstops in almost all major categories remains remarkably similar with one exception; 2011 shortstops struck out (on average nearly 91 times per year) a lot more than their 1960 counterparts (56 times per year). What do these statistics have to do with Iglesias? Not much except for the fact that last year he batted .235 in the minors. This kid has to learn how to hit and increase his on base percentage at the major league level to be taken seriously.

4. Ryan Lavarnway will eventually edge out Kelly Shoppach as Boston's backup catcher. Lavarnway is young, is hitting well and has a great attitude.

5. Between Chris Carpenter, Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey Boston will surprisingly find an answer to their setup and closing question mark. I'd like to see Stolmy Pimental make the team just because I like saying Stolmy Pimental. And Boston's number five starting pitcher will be? Check please...

Boston's current 40 man active roster can be found here.

49 to 8, 4-0 (well, sort of)

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 04:39:00 +0000

OK, OK so the combined score of Red Sox runs to runs scored by their opponents over the past four games wouldn't be so lopsided if:

1. They hadn't played two college teams - their annual spring training double-header tune-up with Northeastern and BC - to start spring training.

2. They not only shut out Northeastern but also outscored them by three touchdowns and two safeties.

Boston did defeat a real major league team twice in the past two days. Josh Beckett looked good, as did about five other Red Sox pitchers in an 8-3 win over the Twinkies on Sunday. Tony Pena got the win. Lars Anderson dealt the big offensive blow, a seventh inning grand slam that broke the game open and put Boston in the win column.

Today Clay Buccholz got the win as Boston drubbed Minnesota 10-2. Seven Boston hitters picked up RBI's in the win.

In Other News:

Oh My Wrist Bone!

After experiencing swelling in his wrist and getting checked out by doctors Carl Crawford has been backed off of his throwing and hitting regimen for five to seven days and is certain to miss opening day. I'm not a doctor, yet when I found out he had surgery in January I could have made that prediction. Oh wait, I did make that prediction. This from the January 18 post: "Bobby Valentine has a great conversation with Carl Crawford and likes his attitude. Three days later Crawford has surgery on an ailing wrist that has been bothering him since late in the 2011 season. At the very least, he will miss opening day. Snarky Comment (SC): Just ask Nomah and Jed Lowrie about wrist injuries. I don't have a good feeling about this."

Ripping The Binky Out

Josh Beckett will be adjusting to life after Tek in 2012. Tek's retirement coupled with Bobby V's stance of no special catchers period will make a fascinating case study in psychology and sports performance. Simply put, get over it Josh. If you were Sandy Koufax, OK. Perhaps a special catcher would be warranted. You're 84-47 as a Red Sox pitcher (a .628 winning percentage). You've won 20 games once. You've been injured quite a bit over the past two years - I think personally because you come to camp out of shape and you've lost a leadership position that was handed to you. Here's your catcher. Have a nice day.

Bobby, Beer, Beckett, Baiting And - Oh Yeah - Baseball.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 13:54:00 +0000

Bobby V.: Quotable, irascible, fundamental.

By almost every account, Bobby Valentine continues to lay down the law and stir the pot in Fort Meyers. Here's what's transpired over the last week.

1. Valentine issued the "no more beer" edict. Good. I agree. Papi said it best: "We're not here to drink; we're here to play baseball...If you want to drink, drink at home." Next.

2. Everyone rides the bus. Period. No more special consideration to star players who get to drive their own vehicles or, worse yet, charter a private plane to crisscross Florida while the working stiffs and team players ride the bus.

3. Valentine jousted in the press with Terry Francona. Francona on Valentine's move to ban beer: "I think it's a PR move. If a guy wants a beer, he can probably get one...It's probably more of a PR move because, you know, the Red Sox (took) such a beating at the end of the year." Valentine's response: "Remember, you're getting paid (at ESPN) for saying stuff. You get paid over here for doing stuff." Nothing like a little public prickliness to keep the pot boiling.

4. Josh Beckett shot his bazoo off on WEEI and once again became the poster child for Mark Twain's quote, "Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Eric Wilbur's blog summarizes some of the more important inconsistencies in Beckett's logic about his post-collapse actions. The full text of Beckett's interview can be found here.

5. Valentine publicly baited the Yankees by saying that Derek Jeter was "out of position" 11 years ago when he made the shovel throw to the plate in what has become one of the most celebrated plays in MLB history. He also talked about Jason Varitek "beating up" Alex Rodriguez. He, he, he. "Excuse me Mr. Valentine, could please remove your finger from my eye?" "Let me think about that Mr. Girardi. Ah, no." All aboard the Valentine express. This is the way it's gonna be. He's Ralph Kramden and we're riding his bus.

And the hits just keep on coming. Dan Shaughnessy went so far as to call Theo Epstein and Terry Francona "doofuses" in today's column in the Boston Globe. It's a crisp and ever-revealing piece about how regime change in sports is necessary and how much he personally likes the new atmosphere.

As for me, I am personally liking the change. Unless you'd been living under a rock, you knew what you were getting when the Red Sox hired Valentine. He was never a shrinking a violet during his previous managerial stints in Texas and New York and was certainly one of the more opinionated analysts when he worked at ESPN.

By any standard, the Red Sox 2012 season promises to be anything but boring.

Oh yeah, Boston plays baseball today; their annual kickoff double header against Northeastern (2:35 pm) and Boston College (7:05 pm). It’s early in the spring. It’s meaningless. It is, however, baseball!

Meet Your Spring Training Lineup

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:14:00 +0000

A solid rundown of the Sox A-Z can be found here.

Thanks Man...

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 01:46:00 +0000

Take That! The Captain Once and Forever Hangs Up The Spikes.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:02:00 +0000

July 24, 2004. The Red Sox and Yankees are, as is customary, beating one another senseless on and off the field as the season turns the corner toward the dog days of August. Boston is still smarting from and has been psychologically battered by Aaron Boone's walk off 10th inning homer against Tim Wakefield in the 2003 playoffs that sent the Yankees to the World Series and the Sox to yet another excruciating winter of waiting, wondering and gut checks.
During that winter Boston had gone hard after free agent Alex Rodriguez only to have ARod sign with the Yanks at the last minute after Boston thought they had him in the bag.

By July the level of exasperation and vitriol has reached a fever pitch and everyone from the players and fans to the bat boys are spoiling for a fight.

On game day Boston was 8.5 games behind New York. After Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo committed an error during Arod’s first plate appearance to put him on, in the third inning and down 3-0, Arroyo buzzed him squarely in the back on his second trip to the plate. Rodriguez didn't like it and started jawing (that's polite for cursing out Arroyo) as he slowly walked to first base.

Sox catcher Jason Varitek decidedly didn't like what he heard, stood between Arroyo and ARod, asked ARod to repeat himself, ARod obliged and it was on. Rodriguez's head jolted back as Tek mashed his face with his catcher's mitt and then, frankly, raunched him by getting his right arm under ARod's crotch and clasped his left hand behind the ARod's buttocks and lifted. It hurts just to write about it.

Boston went on to win the game 11-10. There were multiple ejections. The blood lust of The Fenway Faithful had been sated, at least for a day. Yes, the Yankees went on to take the AL East by 3.5 games. Boston got the wildcard berth and if you're reading this post you don't need me to tell you what happened in the playoffs.

The point is, without the fight the ALCS impossible comeback never happens. The Red Sox, sparked by captain Jason Varitek, proved once and for all on that July day that they simply weren't going to take the Yankees' crap anymore. Tek was our man. He was our captain. Our blood boiled. And now he's retiring.

What a career. What a genius at handling a pitching staff. What a leader; one who was humble and professional in victory and even more quiet when things weren't going his or the club's way - except when his team got pushed around and especially on that July day in Fenway park against an ancient enemy sporting a new, young, mouthy punk. Turn the page, end the chapter and close the book. The warrior is hanging up his armor. It's cause for celebration of a baseball life well spent. Still, today is a sad day for me.

Thanks Tek. Let me buy you a beer.

High and Dry and Running Ragged

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:11:00 +0000

By all accounts, Bobby Valentine is setting a frantic pace and laying down the law at Boston's spring training facility in Fort Myers this week.
Reporters used to the more relaxed atmosphere during the Francona era are literally chasing Valentine as he crisscrosses Boston's six practice facilities and talks and talks and talks and, well, talks with Red Sox players. He freaked out Dice-K a couple of days ago when he picked up a glove, started to play catch with him and stuck Matsuzaka's translator beside him and started telling him what to tell Dice K to do.
Boston management also had Valentine's back when he announced this week that he would be imposing a no alcohol policy in both the clubhouse and on the last leg of flights from any road trip this season. Get used to it boys. There's a new sheriff in town. Go Bobby V!
And in Colorado Rockies news, everyone has reported in at camp with the exception of Marco Scutaro. Hmmm...

Compensate, Cogitate, Prognosticate

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:25:00 +0000

Well Red Sox Nations' long national nightmare is over. Four months after Theo Epstein left to become Chicago's second coming (MJ being the first),the Cubbies coughed up 26-year old minor leaguer Chris Carpenter - no not the St. Louis Cardinals' former Cy Young Winner. Also in the mix is a Cub player to be named later for a Red Sox player to be named later.
Let's make this simple for those of you pacing the house wringing your hands. Theo was going to leave Boston in some way, shape or form. It's how professional baseball works. After championships in '04 and '07, the 2011 implosion and subsequent house cleaning that was taking place in it's wake, it was a foregone conclusion that Epstein was a goner the night Boston dropped game 162 to the Os. This deal wasn't a player for player swap that we have to over-analyze. Carpenter is a middle high draftee and, at 26, a prospect that can be molded. He's a pitcher. You can never have too much pitching. Take a chance, root for the kid and turn the page.
Prediction: Carpenter will end up being special and a total steal.

The Boobsey Twins Realize What All Sox Fans Have Known All Along

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:03:00 +0000

I thought the unpleasant taste left in my mouth from the 2011 Red Sox as Keystone Cops season had been completely washed away over the winter. Then Josh Beckett and Jon Lester arrived early at Boston's spring training facility in Fort Myers, FL and talked to the press about the collapse and their culpability in Boston's 7-20, 2011 September.

I also thought I had rid myself and, well, you as well of my last snarky comment about the 2011 season but realized after digesting - not entirely with ease - their remarks, I just had to comment. What a surprise.

Both Beckett and Lester were contrite. Essentially the tone indicated that they'd learned a lot down the stretch and were ready to step up this year and be the leaders that Varitek, Wakefield and others had been in previous years. To that I have to say with all the exasperation in my soul, you're about six months too late guys. Jon Lester is 28-years old. He's been through the rigors of tough campaigns and World Series wins, including the ultimate one with cancer. Josh Beckett is a 31-year old multi World Series winning pitcher who has been the supposed centerpiece of Boston's rotation since coming to the Sox in 2006. Guys, the time to step up and lead has come and gone. We're waiting. Stop talking about it and do it. You are in the primes of your careers. As Millar said in 2003, "Cowboy up!"

I also learned another thing about 2011. The championships of both 2004 and 2007 did little to quell that Sox fan total-loser-laughing-stock feeling that persisted through yet another historic Boston collapse. I get the fact that following the Sox is a passion, filled with incredible, giddy highs and, as my salty-languaged father used to say, "lower than whale shit" lows. Still, is it too much to ask to never have to receive four-word text messages from all over the country (insert your four word barb here) in the wake of yet another implosion?

Bobby Valentine said that he was impressed with their attitudes. Bobby wasn't there '11. Tito was and got railroaded as a result when the team's collective incompetence and will to win revealed some nauseating character flaws. Bobby, I wish you the best. Honest and true. I will, however, reserve judgment until the entire 2012 season has been played out.

And so there you have it. More impassioned blathering from a fan who so thoroughly enjoyed 2004 and 2007 that I'm asking for nothing more than to be in the race again. The real race. The playoff race, which hasn't happened since 2009. Mr. Cherrington, are you listening? Mr. Henry, can you take your eye off your soccer team that you are so very busy financing and spend more than the paltry $7.4 million on Red Sox acquisitions in the 2011-12 off-season? I live for the night Boston plays a Sunday night game in September and Terry Francona is one of ESPN's men in the booth.
The full text of Lester's and Beckett's can be found here.

New Red Sox Players By The Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Compiled by The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham. You can't tell the new players without a scorecard. Here's how spring training is shaping up:

Coaches
Bobby Valentine 25
Bob McClure 22
Alex Ochoa 36
Jerry Royster 43
New 40-man roster players
Nick Punto 5
Cody Ross 7
Kelly Shoppach 10
Ryan Sweeney 12
Mark Melancon 37
Andrew Bailey 40
Clayton Mortensen 59
Will Middlebrooks 83
Che-Hsuan Lin 85
Drake Britton 87
New non-roster pitchers
Jesse Carlson 58
Aaron Cook 35
Justin Germano 50
Will Inman 79
Doug Mathis 70
Ross Ohlendorf 47
Vicente Padilla 44
Carlos Silva 23
Chorye Spoone 80
Justin Thomas 78
Alex Wilson 89
New non-roster position players
Dan Butler 81
Pedro Ciriaco 77
Alex Hassan 82
Mauro Gomez 72
Josh Kroeger 73
Jason Repko 16
Max St. Pierre 75

The Warrior Retires His Weapons

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:16:00 +0000

Wake has had a grip on his game
with Boston since coming to Boston in 1995.

Tim Wakefield will make his retirement announcement today at 5 pm at Boston's JetBlue Park in Fort Meyers, Florida Red Sox management disclosed in a statement released today. Boston's longest tenured warrior/pitcher has decided to call it quits.
Wake has been with the Red Sox since 1995 after being released by Pittsburgh and has been a stalwart in both the starting rotation and recently in spot start and relief roles.
Wakefield finished his career with 200 victories and a 4.41 ERA. He made his lone All-Star appearance at the age of 42 in 2009.
Wake, we love you. You did the right thing. You'll never have to buy a beer in Boston. Read WEEI's full article here.

Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. Crack, crack, crack.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:42:00 +0000

Today wasn't a necessarily warm and balmy day. 55 is, however, quite nice by Richmond standards in February and downright spring feverish by New England standards. Still and all, the day put me in mind of baseball.

Thwack, Thwack, Thwack. The sound of a baseball firmly nesting in the pocket of a well-oiled glove thrown by an arm that, no matter how warm, will be tight and sore in the early days of spring.

Players will soon be stretching in the morning Florida and Arizona sun. Young bodies loaded with a season's worth of energy preparing for the war of attrition that is a 162 game major league baseball season.

Crack, crack, crack. Wooden bats repeating the pattern, looking to lock in on the mostly unattainable arc of that perfect Williams-esque sweet swing. Not a ping, ping, ping. That's for amateur ballplayers. Pros use wood to hone the art of hitting a round thing accelerating to between 85-100 miles per hour with another round thing and hitting it "squarely".

Baseball. The only sport in which the manager and coaches actually uniform up just like the players and somehow it doesn't seem weird. Think about the absurdity of Bill Belichick or Doc Rivers getting their game on looking like a doughy version of the players they coach, tarted up in full NFL or NBA gear somehow vainly attempting to be taken seriously. Better yet, think about the lunacy of Bobby Valentine, Joe Maddon or Buck Showalter decked out in a suit exchanging lineup cards at home plate. I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

Of all the enduring sports, baseball is the most timeless and unchanged. Yes, the live ball era, the stench of steroids, over-specialization in the form of designated hitters and relievers of every stripe and the specter of instant replay slowing down a game already threatened by ever-increasing game times have profoundly transformed the game that Abner Doubleday envisioned. Essentially, however, it's the same: sixty feet six inches (the six inches due to a clerical error in the original plans) from the rubber to the plate; 90 feet between the bases; the only sport in which the defense controls the ball.
Within this rigid construct teams are free to build ballparks with insane angles, inconsistent distances to the fence and a myriad of other physical quirks (uphill center field runs and hanging support beams that are actually part of the field to name just two) then draft players designed to excel in and take advantage of those peculiarities. Baseball boring? Really? If you don't get it I feel badly for you. It's probably because someone never had the patience to show you the way. There's still time. Find a baseball fiend, er, friend and dig in.

Feel the sunshine on your face. Smell the oil rubbed into a superstitiously favorite piece of leather with no holes in it or the pine tar applied to a bat with all the hits still in it. Eat the same food, run the same drills, throw the hard hook exactly the same and perfect the swing because you know that the slightest deviation can mean the difference between excellence and a playoff berth and a third place finish against a no name team in Baltimore on the last game of the regular season.

Thwack, thwack, thwack. Crack, crack, crack. The drum beat of another season once distant is now upon us. My glove is oiled. I await the call that will never come but nevertheless revel in watching those that can as they strive. Baseball. Forever young and born in the spring. Give it your attention and you can learn a multitude of lessons about patience, delayed gratification and self-sacrifice. While you're at it you'll also learn to treat both the joys of a long journey well rewarded and the depths of crushing disappointment with equal respect. Bring it!

And They Both Blinked

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:29:00 +0000

OK, we'll call this one a draw. David Ortiz and Sox management took it right down to the wire on Monday but eventually avoided arbitration when the difference between Ortiz's demand and Boston's offer was split right down the middle and Ortiz signed on for another year for $14.575 million.
I fully understand the sports/entertainment dynamic and the big money involved in feeding and perpetuating the machine. Still and all, when you think that just by sweating out your employer for one more day you can become nearly $2 million richer, the gap between the average guy who now most likely can't afford a day at the ballpark and those providing the entertainment is painfully obvious. For a guy making $50,000, Ortiz's increase would have amounted to a $7,608.70 increase. Perhaps with that would buy a ticket or two so he could see his favorite team play a game he loves as much as the players who play it.

Lucchino disputes assertion of Sox frugality

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:24:00 +0000

I beg to differ...

Looks Like Oil Wasn't The Only Thing Lubricating Dennis Boyd

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:34:00 +0000

While being interviewed today on Boston's WBZ Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd admitted that he was high on cocaine for about 2/3 of his starts during his 10-year major league career, eight of them with Boston (78-77, 4.04 ERA). Wow, does that explain a lot. Makes you wonder about Mark Fidrych and Al Hrabosky.

Historical footnote: Dennis Boyd was nicknamed Oil Can because that's what he called beer, apparently consumed in copious amounts in his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi.

To Arbitrate or Not To Arbitrate, That is The Question.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:39:00 +0000

As the Sox inch closer to spring training (pitchers and catchers report February 19), the arbitration chess match between Boston management and players continues unabated.
Alfredo Aceves avoided arbitration and accepted a one-year $1.2 mil deal with another opportunity for $100,000 in potential bonuses. Given Aceves' ability, age (30) flexibility and heart, this is a solid bargain.
In the most intriguing turn of arbitration events, Big Papi opted for arbitration after Boston's offer of $12.65 mil didn't meet his $16.5 mil expectation. As talks have continued, Ortiz has expressed an interest in getting a deal done before it comes to a date with the judge. After a sub-par 2009 season, Ortiz bounced back in 2010 and had an even better 2011 campaign, proving he's still got gas in the tank. I've said many times that when Papi went sour it would happen all at once. I'm pleased that, at least in this case, my intuition-o-meter continues to be broken. Get this deal done and keep your guy in the middle of the order happy.

OK, We're Ready For Baseball...Well...

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:08:00 +0000

The off-season merry-go-round of new managerial hires, the fleecing of Boston's front office by Theo Epstein and the Cubs - of which Boston has still not seen a penny or a prospect - and only marginal to slightly better than average acquisitions are still giving me that queasy, well, 2011 feeling.
Josh Beckett and Bobby Valentine have supposedly cleared the air. Beckett, who hadn't surfaced publicly since the bucket o' chicken and beer fest that he, John Lackey and John Lester (did this only affect guys who's first names started in Jo?) indulged in, said on MLB's Intentional Talk, "You know what, I had a lot of stuff going on at the beginning of the offseason, so it let me distance myself immediately from [September's disappointment]. I think that it definitely helped come December and January." Beckett and wife Holly recently had their first child, a daughter.
If this is the latest story, I have to declare officially. We're ready to talk about baseball, not the sins of the past. It's time to reload for another 162.
In baseball news, Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 26 pitches off a mound two days ago after undergoing Tommy John surgery and is expected to return by mid-season. OK, maybe we can wait a few more days to talk baseball.

Every Wish Granted Has A String Attached

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Peterson) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:14:00 +0000

Otherwise known as, there's no free lunch. The Red Sox traded shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Rockies Saturday in exchange for right-hander Clayton Mortensen. Scutaro will be playing second base for Colorado in 2012.

I'm not broken up about the move. Scutaro has been serviceable in his role in Boston. Just serviceable. I'm OK with the move. Watching Scutaro and Jed Lowrie jockey for control was like watching the two little trains that thought they could actually become a stable, long-term solution to Boston's continuing shortstop deficiencies. What makes me queasy is Boston's solution - a shortstop duo of Mike Aviles and Nick Punto. And the revolving door that has become the hallmark and bane of the Boston shortstop saga continues.

Perhaps it's because I'm currently reading The Art of Fielding or perhaps it's my own arrogance after playing the position for so long. Shortstop is the center of the defensive baseball universe - not the pitcher, not the catcher or the center fielder. As quoted in The Art of Fielding, "The shortstop is a source of stillness as the center of the defense. He projects this stillness and his teammates respond." If that is true then spasticity must be the Red Sox norm all these many years. After the years of Nomah, Boston fans have witnessed a literal parade of men in the six hole. During the 17 years in which Derek Jeter has been patrolling Yankee Stadium, Boston has seen a cavalcade of eight shortstops carousel through the most important defensive position in baseball.

Now the oft-injured Lowrie and the just OK Scutaro are gone and Boston fans will be strapping in to watch the Aviles/Punto show. I suppose it is a blessing to have two decent defensive shortstops. If one goes down, you've still got an every day player. On the other hand, would Boston have not been better off the past 17 years with a Derek Jeter of their own?

And now as we approach another spring training, my long personal Red Sox national shortstop nightmare continues. I'll keep the glove oiled up just in case I finally get the call.

Boston Red Sox shortstops since Nomar Garciaparra's departure:

Orlando Cabrera (The best since Nomah. Never should have let him go.)

Edgar Renteria (Monumental bust)

Alex Gonzalez (Twice. Second best after Cabrera.)

Julio Lugo (Monumental bust)

Alex Cora (Decent defensive SS and a good guy)

Jed Lowrie (Just OK, injury-plagued)

Nick Green (No comment)

Marco Scutaro (Pretty good to just OK)