Snow is/was predicted for Boston today. When I went to bed it was 2 to 4 inches which is excititing in a year with warmish temps and no snow, but now the forecast is for less than an inch. But whether or not we actually get any white stuff, this picture makes me feel all warm and happy.
Yes, it is the early arriving Red Sox at spring training.
I haven’t seen any robins yet, but this is almost as good. Time to wipe out memories of last year’s slide and see if Bobby Valentine can make me a fan.
I have a lot of things I should be doing right now instead of posting this but I couldn’t resist sharing this with everyone.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas – including those on this list who are still alive and kicking!
From the Boston Sunday Globe:
The title of this post does not refer to anything a pitcher might accomplish. This is about position players, starters, who can’t hit the ball.
We all have days when things don’t go well. Maybe your boss chews you out for a mistake or for forgetting to do something. Or you mess up cooking something you have made a thousand times before. Maybe you put in a load of laundry and forget the soap. But imagine an entire season like that. Imagine an entire career.
Adam Dunn is having one of those years.
The slugger, Adam Dunn, who had been a model of power and production for the past 10 years, finished Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees with a batting average of .165. That is not a typo, not a mistake, and not an easy thing for a professional player to do even if he is trying to.
The New York Times story continues
Dunn, who signed a four-year, $56 million contract to join the White Sox this past winter, has struck out 138 times this season and is on pace for 207.
He has struck out three or more times in 18 games, twice the total of anybody else in the major leagues. Of course, none of this has been made easier — for White Sox fans to believe or for Dunn to endure — by the fact that Dunn is, of all things, the team’s designated hitter.
“I hate it more than anybody can imagine,” Dunn said in an interview Monday. “But what do you do? There’s not an easy button I can push and start over. Or I would.”
Sports have forever been riveting for the wonder of athletic accomplishment, for the demonstrations of grace under pressure, for the ability of people to overcome adversity. But sports can also be riveting for their spectacular moments of failure.
Nick Cafardo had a slightly different take in the Boston Globe when the White Sox were in town before they played the Yankees.
Dunn’s is a sad story. The more hitting experts look at his swing, the more they realize he has no chance because his hands are never in good hitting position. Dunn doesn’t exactly work overtime to correct it either, and when he recently told Jeff Passan ofYahoo! Sports that he was contemplating quitting, you can understand why. Nowadays when he walks, that’s considered a breakthrough. Nobody saw it coming, and the White Sox are saddled with a completely unproductive player.
“When a guy is going that bad, it’s just sad,’’ concurred one American League scout. “You can’t even evaluate it because the guy is so messed up.’’
Dunn’s season has been historically awful. He has a chance to finish with a lower batting average than even Rob Deer’s .179 in 1991.”
But Dunn is only having a spectacularly bad season. If he bounces back next year, 2011 will be considered an oddity. Think of Bill Bergen. No, I never heard of him before today either. Bergen played for the Brooklyn Superbas from 1901 to 1911. Lynn Zinser has written a long and interesting story on Bill Bergen who “couldn’t hit the side of a barn.”
In 3,028 career at-bats, he hit two home runs. In only one season did his average top .200. His career .194 on-base percentage means he didn’t walk much. His career .201 slugging percentage means he rarely hit for extra bases. Perhaps his quirkiest statistic: he was never hit by a pitch.
“He is about as bad a hitter as you can possibly imagine,” said David Jones, a baseball historian who edited two books on baseball’s dead-ball era. “But if he’d been a little bit better hitter, no one would ever talk about him.”
Instead, his name crops up whenever a baseline of offensive futility is needed. He does not have a line named after him like Mario Mendoza, whose paltry batting average made him synonymous with hitting .200. But Bergen is firmly installed in the history of futility.
How did he last 11 seasons?
Bergen’s secret was playing at a time — that dreaded dead-ball era — when good defensive catchers were worth their weight in Teddy Roosevelt autographs. Bergen was a great defensive catcher. By some statistical measures, he is considered among the top five defensive catchers in National League history.
“It was an era when catchers were even more important than they are today because bunting and stealing bases were the main way teams would score runs,” said Tom Simon, who along with Jones edited the books on the stars of the dead-ball era. “So teams would carry a guy hitting .139 if he could keep the other team from scoring.”
Bergen caught a relatively modest 941 games but ranks in the top 20 in career assists by a catcher with 1,444. He threw out 47.3 percent of runners attempting to steal. He once threw out six in one game, against St. Louis in 1909
Bergen at least was good at something. Poor Adam Dunn is the DH so he can’t point to his fielding. His manager, Ozzie Guillen, said, “When we play him at first, he doesn’t hit either.”
So here is hoping that Dunn finds his hitting stroke and has a better season next year.
On the day of the deadline for non-waiver trades, the Red Sox picked up a starting pitcher, Erick Bedard, from the Mariners. Does this mean that the outlook for Clay Buchholz returning this season is slim to none? According to MLB.com
The Red Sox traded four Minor Leaguers in two separate deals. Catcher Tim Federowicz, pitcher Stephen Fife and righty Juan Rodriguez were sent to the Dodgers for outfielder Trayvon Robinson. The Red Sox then dealt Robinson and outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang to the Mariners to complete the exchange for Bedard and Minor League reliever Josh Fields, a right-hander.
I think I agree with Nick Cafardo’s reaction in the blog posting soon after the news broke
Think Tim Federowicz and Chih-Hsien Chiang are going to be pretty good players. Federowicz was certainly the Sox’ most complete catcher. Chiang’s taken a while to get going, but now a pretty good player.
At least Sox didn’t have to give up third baseman Will Middlebrooks, who didn’t play for Portland today giving rise to speculation he might have been involved in a deal.
Still unclear as to why Erik Bedard cost them this much.
I have only had a chance to see Middlebrooks and Chiang when we got to a Portland Sea Dogs – New Hampshire Fisher Cats game a week ago. I remarked to Bob that Chiang had a good shot of making it. Middlebrooks didn’t stand out. So now he will, only for Seattle.
MLB.com had reaction from Kevin Youkilis
Bedard, 32, has made 16 starts, going 4-7 with a 3.45 ERA. In 91 1/3 innings, he has allowed 77 hits and opponents are hitting just .226 against him.
“He’s nasty,” Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis said of Bedard earlier this week. “I think he owns me. When he was pitching against us, when he was healthy, I don’t know if we beat him — he beat up on us. He’s good. He has a great slider. When he’s healthy and he locates pitches, he’s a pretty remarkable pitcher.”
When he’s healthy is the key. So the Sox will likely give Bedard Andrew Miller’s spot in the rotation. Andrew Miller struggled again today even though the Red Sox rallied to beat the White Sox again. His problem has been walks, but today he gave up 10 hits instead. The other pitcher who could be pulled out the rotation is Tim Wakefield who is actually having a pretty decent year for a guy who will be 45 in 2 days. He just got his 2000th strikeout and will probably get win 200 next time out. Yes, the knuckleball is unpredictable, but I can’t see replacing him with Bedard. You can call me sentimental, but let’s let Wake finish the year in the rotation.
And we also got a utility infielder, Mike Aviles. A sign perhaps that as optimistic as everyone is sounding about Jed Lowrie, they are worried about him staying healthy. He arrived in Chicago last night
Aviles, who was in Cleveland with the Royals, arrived in Chicago in the third inning, put on his new uniform with No. 3 on the back, and played the bottom of the ninth inning at third base.
The 30-year-old has played second base, third base, and shortstop this season. The righthanded-hitting Aviles is batting .222 this season, but is at .309 with a .944 OPS in 55 at-bats against lefthanded pitchers. He is a career .296 hitter against lefties.
Playing off the bench for the Red Sox, Aviles said, is not a problem.
“The situation here is completely different,’’ he said. “We’re in first place and we have an opportunity to win a world championship. It’s going to take more than 25 guys to do that. I’m more than happy to be one of those guys.’’
And the Red Sox are rolling.
Given the way the season began, the Sox are not in bad shape. At the halfway point (July 2), they were 47-34. Since then they have added a win and a loss and gained a game on the Yankees. As Nick Cafardo said, “The Red Sox are flawed, but many teams would love to have blemishes and still win 47 games.”
Blemishes? Mike Cameron just never could come back from his surgery last year. Theo Epstein, when he was releasing Mike, said it was one of his mistakes, a trade that didn’t work out. And J.D. Drew. I like the guy. He’s a pro. But we can’t count on him as we could in years past. I see retirement for J.D. at the end of the season. Carl Crawford. What to say. He has a terrific smile, but so far he hasn’t lived up to his promise. We hope he is just adjusting. I keep waiting for Darnell McDonald to start hitting. There are kids waiting in the wings, Darnell. But the big blemish is John Lackey. And I think it is an even bigger mistake than Mike Cameron that Theo has to deal with.
Bob Ryan writes this morning in the Boston Globe
John Lackey once led the American League in earned run average
John Lackey once won 19 games.
John Lackey once gave up a leadoff double and then retired 27 Oakland A’s in succession, a performance that came in the middle of a stretch in which he threw 30 2/3 scoreless innings.
John Lackey once pitched and won a World Series Game 7.
John Lackey once was deemed worthy of a five-year, $82.5 million contract by the Boston Red Sox, who certainly were not bidding against themselves when they made the offer.
Where has that guy gone?
After yesterday, his ERA is 7.47. And even if Theo didn’t know this, he could never pitch at Fenway where his ERA is now, get this, 9.17. I feel a little bad piling on when he was injured and his wife is sick, but baseball – particularly in Boston- is serious business. We are in a tight race right now and when Lackey is scheduled to pitch, one has to pencil in a loss. Here is Bob Ryan again
But it’s really not funny. It’s a gigantic hole in the middle of a starting rotation that really needs to get to the All-Star break without something disastrous taking place. No one knows when we’ll next see Clay Buchholz, who is being sent to North Carolina for further examination of his back, and who, according to the manager, won’t be sent out there “until we know he’s not hurting himself.’’
Meanwhile, what do you say in a circumstance such as this, when a guy in whom you have invested an enormous sum of money, and who arrived with the reputation of being both a talented pitcher and a highly competitive one, has presented himself in such a horrendous manner? There really is no way to exaggerate how big a catch Lackey was supposed to be.
Here is what respected Baseball Prospectus had to say on the subject of Lackey’s impending free agency at the conclusion of the 2009 season: “Lackey stands alone as one of the best, a relatively young righty who carries significantly less risk than the other high-upside hurlers.’’
…
He has become the ultimate Mystery Guest when he takes the mound, especially at Fenway. A 9.17 ERA in his home ballpark speaks rather eloquently.
As recently as two years ago, John Lackey was an honored and respected pitcher. Now his numbers identify him as the worst starter in major league baseball. Baseball Prospectus probably would like a do-over. Theo, too.
But there is lots going well. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury are back for one. Nick Cafardo writes
They found a new starter in 6-foot-7-inch Andrew Miller that they’re excited about.
They tested the versatility of Alfredo Aceves and he succeeded in every role he was used in.
Josh Beckett returned to be a dominant pitcher. Jon Lester has continued his development into elite status among lefties. Jonathan Papelbon, who recorded his 16th save last night, has answered the challenge of pitching well in his walk year and Daniel Bard continues to show why he’s ready for the next step in his career – to be a closer. He appears ready if the Sox cut ties with Papelbon after this season.
Adrian Gonzalez is the team and league’s MVP so far. He’s an RBI machine (73), who knocked in the winning runs last night and has come to the American League and conquered.
And the last word goes to David Ortiz
“This team has a chance to do some things,’’ Ortiz said. “When we get our lineup healthy and together and the weather gets nice and hot, we’re going to be fine here. We’re going to put up some runs. It’s going to be fun.’’
Go Sox! And congratulations to the All Stars: Beckett, Ortiz, Gonzalez and Ellsbury!
I thought about writing about poor Anthony Weiner, but am not quite sure what to say and I haven’t figured out yet if I think he should have been forced to resign. As I heard Al Sharpton say in some commentary, “I’m confused about where the line is now.” I could write about the Bruins but I know nothing about hockey so I can only say, “congratulations!” I do know that Boston is the only city to have championships in the four major sports in a decade. (Sox, Celtics, Patriots, and Bruins). So that leaves Sal DeMasi and the Red Sox as possible topics for this Saturday morning. Sal – maybe later.
The Red Sox won again last night. making their record 9-1 including the recent road trip. If my math is correct, they are 12 and 2 for June. What to make of all this? Here is Nick Cafardo in Friday’s Boston Globe.
What do you dream about when you embark on a nine-game trip against your top American League East rivals?
First, you dream about nine wins. Short of that, 8-1 is a good alternative. And that’s exactly what the Red Sox completed last night, matching the franchise’s best nine-game trip accomplished in 1977.
Oh what messages the Sox sent their rivals over the past 10 days.
In no particular order:
1. We’re back.
2. We’re good.
3. We’re ready to kick anyone’s behind.
4. Try stopping us.
5. We may be the best team in baseball.
And with those messages comes the reality that the Yankees are still winning, the Rays are very pesky, the Jays will make your life miserable if you let them, and there are no guarantees in baseball.
And there really are no guarantees. Last night Carl Crawford left with a hamstring injury, Jed Lowrie has a bad shoulder, and Clay Buckholtz has a back issue. So all of us Sox fans need to not get ahead of ourselves.
But there is no harm in dreaming.
Michael Vega in this morning’s Globe:
As newcomers relatively unfamiliar with Duck Boat parades, perhaps Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford should consider witnessing first-hand how Boston fetes its champions.
After all, isn’t this why they wanted to come to Boston?
The Dallas Mavericks are winners! They defeated Miami and “King James” for the rest of us.
Two interesting posts from the New York Times live blog of the game.
10:42 P.M. |This one is over.
The Dallas Grown-Ups will surely finish this one, as the Miami Children continue to run around without any direction or purpose, much like I do in regards to my entire life. I empathize.
10:43 P.M. |Long Summer
It’s going to be a long summer for LeBron, D-Wade, and the rest of the Heat.
Classy move by LeBron untucking his shirt with a minute to go, too. Someone get him a life coach. Shotgun not it.
I also heard on the radio that LeBron shook a few hands and left the court almost immediately after the game was over. What a classy guy – not!
The Heat will likely win a championship sometime, but for right now, I’m happy that it wasn’t this year.
Earlier the Red Sox who finished in such a disappointing way last year, started the seaon 0-6 and then 2-10 and seemed to take forever to get to .500. won their 9th in a row – and I think, the 3rd sweep in a row.
Carl Crawford has had his moments since coming to the Red Soxs, but Adrian Gonzalez is just as amazing as advertised. And he – or something has Big Papi on a tear that has lasted for weeks now. But recently it is not just the wins, it is the number of runs being scored and most of all it is the pitchers stepping up. And speaking of pitching, it seems likely that Daisuke Matsuzaka had pitched his last game for the Sos and possibly the last in this country and he heads for Tommy John surgery.
Congratulations, Mavs! Go Sox!
Yesterday was a great day in my long baseball fandom: I got to see a great game pitched by a guy who is 6 months older than me and I got an autographed baseball from one of my all time favorite Brockton Rox, first baseman Melvin Falu. The only bad thing about the game was that Falu (Pronounced FAH-loo with lots of ooo’s when he comes up to bat) was injured and couldn’t play.
One of the great things about being in a small independent league ball park is that you are very close to the action. The other is that fans are generally really friendly. I had struck up a conversation with two young women sitting behind us. They were clearly fans, and they commented on the game in both English and Spanish. We talked a little about Bill Lee‘s appearance while Bob was off finding us a beer. Then later in the game they started talking about Melvin Falu and how he couldn’t play. I turned and asked them if he were hurt as I had wondered by he wasn’t playing. The one of the woman answered that he hurt his knee and had had a cortisone shot, but would be OK. I asked if he would be able to play in the the play-off and she said yes. I said I hoped to see him in a play-off game as he was one of my favorite players.
A short time later, one of the women walked down the steps to the dugout and came back with an autographed ball which she handed me. Falu was standing up in the dugout waving at us. It was a great moment. Turns out she is a relative of his. He plays hard and well, clearly for the love of the game. He is one of the Can-Am league all-stars again this year.
So on to Bill Lee. The Spaceman. Lee last pitched for the Red Sox in 1978 and pitched his last professional game in 1982 for the Montreal Expos. According to NESN, the Rox had first asked him to throw out the first pitch and he agreed only if he could do more. So he did for 5 1/3 innings getting the win. Two runs, 5 hits, one strikeout and no walks. Pretty good for almost 64.
The Rox beat the Worcester Tornado who just happen to be managed by another Red Sox alum, Rich Gedman.
They are part of the Boston Red Sox alumni club, one player from the 1970s and the other from the 1980s.
Bill Lee’s stay with the Red Sox ended in 1978 and Rich Gedman made his debut in Boston late in the 1980 season, so they just missed being teammates.
On Sunday afternoon, though, their paths crossed in a Can-Am League game at Campanelli Stadium with the 63-year-old Lee pitching for the Brockton Rox against the Worcester Tornadoes, managed by the soon-to-be 51-year-old Gedman.
For Lee, the game meant a chance to venture into new territory, starting a professional game for the first time since being released by the Montreal Expos in 1982.
For Gedman, the game meant a chance for his team to stay alive in the race for the final playoff spot with the regular season ending today. [Monday]
With his team’s playoff hopes damaged, Gedman could only shake his head in amazement.
“I didn’t know whether to clap or be angry with him,’’ said Gedman. “I’m happy for him. There’s not a lot of people who can do what he did. First of all, they don’t think they can do it. That’s the thing that he has.
“How many people could pull that off? That’s what is special. He did it because he believed he could do it. He loves to play. That’s a wonderful tribute to him. Despite all the other stuff that people talk about, baseball is special to him and it’s fun to watch him.’’
According to the Yahoo sports story
I lift wood and make bats for a living,” he told reporters. “This is fun for me. It doesn’t take anything out of you to pitch.”
Yes, the “Spaceman” was otherworldly. Lee, who in his day job makes bats for David Ortiz(notes), among other major leaguers, is thought to be the oldest pitcher to appear in a professional game, let alone win one.
Satchel Paige was 59 when he pitched three innings for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965. Another longtime Negro Leagues player, the legendary Buck O’Neal, batted twice in the Northern League All-Star Game in 2006 at age 94. He swung at one pitch and walked in both at-bats. Earlier that year, Jim Eriotes, 83, led off the game for the Sioux Falls Canaries and struck out. He did foul off a pitch.
…
His first pitch was an eephus, a slow blooper that the batter banged up the middle for a single. Was that all he had? The 6,126 in attendance had to wonder.
Then Lee got down to business. He got out of the first without giving up a run. Nick Salotti homered to lead off the second, but Lee allowed only three hits and a run the rest of the way. Perhaps after giving up the homer, he reminded himself of one his most famous quotes: “I think about the cosmic snowball theory. A few million years from now the sun will burn out and lose its gravitational pull. The earth will turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens it won’t matter if I get this guy out.”
The Spaceman was obviously having a great time and so were we. And he’s added another great quote to his collection:
“It felt good out there. Everything was where I wanted to be,” the 14-year big-leaguer said, believed to be the oldest pitcher to earn a victory in a professional game. “I got pulled before I could use all of my pitches today,” Lee added. “I was hoping to be able to break out my Juan Marichal screwball.”
Thanks to the Spaceman and Melvin Falu for a great day. For Lee, it is back to Vermont and making bats and for Falu and the Rox, it is play-off time.
The Red Sox wake up this morning only 4 and a half games out of first place. 4 1/2. Which when one looks at the players out for the season is pretty amazing. The injury list reads like the Sox line-up during a normal season: Pedroia, Ellsbury, Youklis, Veritek, Cameron.
This is the time for the Sox to make their move. The games with the Yankees and Tampa Bay are must win games. If they don’t, the season will be over. Last night things went their way. They were able to beat Tampa while the White Sox beat up on the Yankees and their pitcher, A. J. Burnette. Last night belonged to Jon Lester and Victor Martinez.
Amalie Benjamin writes in the Boston Globe this morning
Because while last night’s 3-1 win over the Rays was a monster game for Martinez, it was a strange one for Lester, who was wild (five walks, three wild pitches, one hit batter) and dominant (10 strikeouts, two hits allowed) by turn. But he was saved, sometimes from himself, by Martinez.
“I thought Victor caught the game of his life,’’ manager Terry Francona said after the Sox moved to within 4 1/2 games of the American League East and wild-card races. “He was all over the place tonight. He did a great job. There was a lot of good things that happened tonight.’’
Martinez, the only member of the Sox to have hit a home run off David Price entering last night’s game, hit two more — solo homers in the first and seventh — to provide the difference. Martinez went 3 for 4 against Price to raise his career mark against the Cy Young contender to .417 (5 for 12). Before last night, Martinez had hit just one home run in 118 at-bats since coming off the disabled list July 26.
Perhaps his performance shouldn’t have been surprising, as Martinez has a .371 average against the Rays and .407 average at Tropicana Field, the best among players with at least 100 at-bats.
But it wasn’t only that. Martinez called the right pitches at the right times, as Lester dominated with men on base. The Rays went 1 for 10 with men in scoring position against Lester (14-8), Daniel Bard, and Jonathan Papelbon (save No. 33), and stranded seven runners.
Tonight could be different with Sabathia pitching for the Yankees and a two great pitchers, Bucholtz and Garza, in the Red Sox-Rays game. This means that the odds favor a Yankee win which the Sox-Rays is a toss-up. But if the Sox are going to win 2 out of 3 , I think it rests on Bucholtz because Josh Beckett has not been very reliable and he pitches the 3rd game of the series on Sunday.
Tony Mazzarotti tells us what this all means
Rays sweep. No need to get too detailed here. Unless the Yankees similarly get swept by the Chicago White Sox over the weekend, the Red Sox will be all but dead come Monday. Even then, Boston will trail the Yankees by six in the loss column with 31 to play. Tampa will have a nine-game advantage over Boston in the loss column. [And we know this won’t happen.]
The obvious best-case scenario. If the Sox can win all three – as unlikely as that is, the Red Sox swept a three-game series at Tampa early this year – they will trail the Rays by three in the loss column. That would do a great deal to inspire interest in a Red Sox club that has been treading water for months. Game on, Garth.
Rays win 2 of 3. Again, unless the Yankees get swept, the Red Sox will be in dire straits. Boston would trail Tampa by seven in the loss column and New York by at least six with five weeks of baseball to go. Remember that rosters expand to 40 players next week and teams like the Yankees and Rays will have minor leaguers to take the bullet – thereby resting their starters – in any blowouts over the final month.
Red Sox win 2 of 3. While this sounds like a big series win, the gain for the Sox is relatively minimal. Again, there is always the chance the series could mean more depending on what happens with the Yankees. Still, winning 2 of 3 means the Sox would leave Tampa trailing by five games in the loss column, only magnifying the point that it can be hard to make up ground in head-to-head meetings unless you sweep. Simply put, too much time comes off the clock. The Rays really need to win just one game this weekend to ensure a five-game lead in the loss column with five weeks to play.
Just think of the great story that could be written of the 2010 season if the Sox manage to make the play-offs with a line up that should be playing in Pawtucket or maybe even Portland. But let me not get ahead of myself. Let’s sweep the Rays first.
We went down to Brockton last night to see the independent Can-Am League Brockton Rox play a team from Northern New Jersey. We’ve been taking in a couple of Rox games a summer for the last 4 or 5 years. Great seats for not a lot a money, a nice little ballpark, no hassles getting in and out the park, and entertainment between innings. (little kids running the bases and trying to beat mascot K-O the Kangaroo and stuff like that. ) What more could you ask for? By my reckoning, the Rox have a winning record when we go. To prove what fans we are, we have bobbleheads of Bill Murray (yes, that Bill Murray) and Saul Bustos. I’m hoping that when slugger Melvin Falu retires, we can get his bobblehead to add to the collection. Bill Murray is the Director of Fun for the team and, although no ones says, I assume a financial investor. The Rox blew out Sussex Skyhawks last night winning 13-2.
Part of the fun is watching the little scoreboard where they post the Sox scores. I looked at it at one point and it is the 9th and the Sox are still down 4-2. Then suddenly, the score is final and the Sox win 5-4. People around me pulled out their phones to see how the Red Sox pulled it out. (David Ortiz hit a walk off double with the bases loaded.)
And yesterday was the trade deadline. While we were driving to Brockton, the new broke that we had picked up another catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia. I remembered him from having the longest name on a major league jersey. Saltalamacchia is going to Pawtucket to play some Triple A. I believe he is the guy who developed some weird thing where he was unable to throw the ball back to the pitcher. This is not a good thing for a catcher. I assume Theo Epstein has some assurance that he is over that now. Saltalamacchia is young and Veritek is about to retire so it may turn out to be a good move.
Bob Ryan writes in the Boston Globe today
There is no doubt massive disappointment among the Red Sox faithful. There were no blockbuster deals, only the acquisition of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, plus the addition-by-subtraction expunging of Jeremy Hermida and Ramon Ramirez, the former being designated for assignment, the latter sent to San Francisco. Instead of producing a familiar name belonging to a veteran, Sox management has settled for picking up a catcher who has failed to fulfill his promise and by promoting prized prospect Ryan Kalish from Pawtucket.
The Sox needed a veteran reliever, and they still need one. Theo Epstein was quite obviously unwilling to sacrifice a valued prospect, and you know what? Good for him. Sometimes you just have to accept that it’s just not shaping up as your year, and you simply focus more on the future.
So now we are waiting for Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Veritek, and Dustin Pedroia to get better and rejoin the Sox. This has been a rough year and we have lots of games with Tampa Bay and the Yankees to win if the Sox are to make the play-offs this year.
Finally we have this nice story.
Perhaps Pawtucket Red Sox management was psychic.
In the nine years the team has held a bobblehead doll night promotion, never before had a former PawSox player appeared in a game that his bobblehead was given to fans at McCoy Stadium.
Jacoby Ellsbury put his name in Pawtucket’s “record book’’ last night when he played six innings in the first of two games against the Durham Bulls and went 2 for 4 with a run scored.
I think he is on his way back. Maybe the Red Sox have a chance.
FortLeft 