The Red Sox won two of three at home against the Blue Jays over the weekend and then split a two-game set in Colorado that was bookended by two days off on Monday and Thursday. Boston has just three games left in the regular season against the Orioles at Camden Yards beginning tonight. The team will then have four days off leading up to Game 1 of the ALDS at Fenway Park on Friday, October 4.
Boston Clinches the American League East On Friday night, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays to secure the 2013 AL East crown. The Red Sox remain in a fight with the Oakland Athletics for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. As of Friday morning, Boston was two games ahead of the A’s for the best record in the AL. The team’s 96 wins is the most since 2007 and the team has a chance to at least match the 98 wins it had in 2004 with a couple of victories this weekend. A series sweep would give Boston 99 wins, a benchmark last achieved in 1978.
Anyway, it would be fair to say that team owner John Henry is…uh, reasonably excited but maybe slightly jaded and underwhelmed by simple feats like merely “Winning the American League East.”
Boston’s Run Differential On Par With 2004, 2007 … and 1950
The Red Sox enter tonight’s game with a run differential of +190, which is 10 runs better than in 2004 (+180) and 20 runs behind the 2007 team (+210) that paced the AL from wire to wire. The Gold standard for dominance, however, was the 1950 team, which had a run differential of +219.
Is The Playoff Rotation Set?
Boston will run out Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and John Lackey over the weekend against Baltimore. This could very well be the playoff pecking order starting next Friday, although things could certainly change between now and then.
Jake Peavy threw 110 pitches in his win Wednesday night in Colorado. There is a pretty good chance he’ll start one of the ALDS games and it might make sense to make sure it happens at Fenway Park, depending on how seriously the Sox deem his home/road splits since becoming a Red Sox. Peavy has thrown only 21 of his 64 ⅔ innings with the team at Fenway Park, but he went seven innings in each start and struck out 22 batters in those 21 frames. Who the Sox face may be a primary factor. One of Peavy’s home starts was against a potential ALDS opponent, the Detroit Tigers, on July 25. In that game, he went 7.0 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 3 HR and 4 ER.
Ticket Demand for the Postseason Is Strong
According to TiqIQ, the average price for an ALDS ticket is $373. However, so far the lower-end resale market looks reasonable. Tickets for standing room only and bleachers range from about $100-200. (Pictured below, nearly 300 tickets for Section 36 are available for Friday night’s Game 1).
On Todd Helton Night, Will Middlebrooks Has His Own Todd Helton Night
Bobbleheads were doled out, family photos incorporating a purple-clad horse were taken, and the man of the hour even hit a timely first-inning homer. But Will Middlebrooks paced a vicious Boston attack that included 15 runs by hitting two home runs and collecting seven RBI. If the young Red Sox third baseman keeps this up for the next decade and a half, we may just be seeing WMB receive a commemorative horse in the shadow of the Green Monster someday.
Incidentally, why don’t the Red Sox incorporate horses into their on-field celebrations anymore? Watching Johnny Gomes kick beer cans into the stands is fun – if a bit dangerous – but, back in the day, watching players wave to the fans from the top of police horses always felt kind of classy.
Red Sox Rookies Enjoy Some Good Old-Fashioned Hazing Boston rookies Drake Britton, Brandon Workman, Xander Bogaerts, Allen Webster, Steven Wright and Brock Holt were photographed wearing Scottish kilts earlier this week.
Look kids! Team-building doesn’t have to involve sodomy!
The Red Sox swept the Yankees in impressive fashion at Fenway Park over the weekend. Their six wins in seven games against New York this month have helped to nudge the Yankees’ playoff hopes on to last rites. Boston wrapped up a three-game series against the visiting Orioles last night by winning 3-1 behind the strength of a John Lackey complete game two-hitter.
The Sox suffered two frustrating late-innings losses to Baltimore at home on Tuesday and Wednesday. On the bright side, the team hasn’t lost a game by more than three runs in more than a month (August 16, a 10-3 loss to the Yankees). When the team scores four runs or more, it is just about unstoppable. The Red Sox haven’t lost a game in which they have scored more than four runs since August 9 (a 9-6 loss in Kansas City).
Boston Clinches A 163rd Game …
The Red Sox secured a spot in the MLB postseason with the win on Thursday night. However, nine other teams will enjoy that privilege during the next 10 days. The real prize will come with Boston’s next win and/or the next Tampa Bay loss as the team’s magic number to clinch the AL East now stands at one.
… Now A World Series Favorite
The Detroit Tigers are projected to win the World Series more often than Boston, according to systems such as Cool Standings and Baseball Prospectus’ playoff odds. However, on a public level, the action seems to be swaying toward Boston as the prohibitive favorite to come out of the American League. The Red Sox were listed at 2/1 on Bovada as of this morning.
The narrative structure is now pretty well solidified heading into October. A season that began with the team looking middling at best, a team many figured would be lucky to have a record above .500, is going to win 95-98 games and may have had one of the best regular seasons in two generations. But expectations will continuously be revised during the postseason as the team advances, if the team advances.
The 2013 Red Sox season has already been a sparkling success. But if Boston gets bounced in the playoffs, will the feeling of satisfaction amongst the overwhelming bulk of the fanbase be reflected in the post mortems written by columnists?
1-2-3 Koji Gives Up A Run Koji Uehara’s perfect streak ended at 37 batters on Tuesday night, when Baltimore scratched a run off the closer in its 3-2 victory at Fenway Park. As Jonah Keri wrote Wednesday, Koji’s streak was the best run by a closer since 1960 in terms of opponents’ OPS allowed. Uehara allowed a combined on-base percentage and slugging percentage of .214. The next lowest number was .337 by Robb Nen in 2000.
Shane Victorino deviated just enough from the optimal path to this ball hit by Danny Valencia that it landed over his head for a leadoff triple in the Orioles’ ninth.
Shane Victorino’s Thumb Hurts
Due to a jammed thumb, Victorino was wearing what looked to be multiple pieces of padding/gloving on his right thumb during his final at-bat on Wednesday night. He gutted his way through it and wound up getting jammed inside on the final pitch, but his pop-up fell safely in no-man’s land in left-center field. Shane has been battling nagging pains all year and it wouldn’t be surprising if he gets a few games off. And there could be added upside to this thumb thing if it keeps Victorino from attempting to bunt 15 times during each playoff game.
When Supposedly “Grown Men” Deploy The Chemistry Argument
On Monday, WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan brought in NBC Sports blogger Craig Calcaterra to discuss to what extent team chemistry has contributed to Boston’s success this season. Sidekick Kirk Minihane and Calcaterra advocated tempering the impact things like some players saying “Hey, let’s all grow beards” actually has on winning professional baseball games. The subtraction of some less popular minorities like Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford and the addition of whiter-hued guys like Mike Napoli and Gomes undoubtedly had something to do with their predictable stance.
Calcaterra summed up his experience:
At one point they said that Adrian Gonzalez is magically no longer a team cancer because he’s back in California and players from California are happier in California. I pointed out that Jonny Gomes was from California but that didn’t go over too well because, you know, facts. I didn’t get a chance to mention that Gomes’ “wins everywhere he plays” only works when you cut out the bulk of his career spent in Tampa Bay with the Devil Rays.
But hey, just because they call it talk radio doesn’t mean everyone gets to talk. There are some folks who, when they invite someone on who doesn’t agree with their nonsense, change it to “only I talk” radio.
The chemistry argument is a convenient one for posers like John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, who have perfected the dumb art of talking about sports for a living rather than actually watching games and making analytical sense of the sport. They are paid to establish circuitous, pointless arguments that can be constantly revised by either side based on even the slightest bit of recent, anecdotal evidence. Sports talk radio is verbal bukkake, and Dennis and Callahan always seem to have their dicks aimed and ready.
Boston swept its three-game set against the Chicago White Sox last weekend and then took two of three from Detroit. The Sox capped off the week by handing the Yankees a demoralizing defeat in the first game of its four-game series in the Bronx. New York battled back from a 7-2 deficit to take a 8-7 lead before Mariano Rivera, who looks like he could pitch another 10 years, had a rare blown save.
Thanks to Tampa Bay’s struggles in Anaheim and Oakland, the Red Sox were able to increase their lead in the AL East to 6 ½ games. Boston’s lead over Detroit for the AL’s best record stands at three games. Despite the loss to Boston last night, the Yankees have seen their playoff odds increase 6.0 percentage points to 10% during the past week while Tampa’s West Coast slide has dropped its odds from about 86% to 74%, based on the Baseball Prospectus Playoff Odds page.
Boston Wins in 10 Innings In New York The Red Sox appeared to be on their way to a fairly comfortable win Thursday night before the Yankees exploded for six runs in the 7th inning. If this game had been played a week ago, Boston may have lost. The Sox scratched out a run in the ninth off Rivera thanks to a two-out single from Mike Napoli, who was lifted for pinch-runner Quintin Berry, a speed-first guy who is a luxury that can only be afforded on a 40-man roster. Berry promptly stole second and moved to third after the throw short-hopped Captain Jetes and wound up in shallow left field.*
*Dennis Eckersley did his best John Madden in Super Bowl XXXVI impression by initially questioning why Berry would be stealing second base with two outs in the 9th inning. You can almost hear the instant NESN producers were in his ear and good old Eck quickly did the right thing by mentioning Dave Roberts. The Yankees provided to final two blunders of the night: Alfonso Soriano insisted on stealing every base possible against Craig Breslow, leading to his pickoff trying to steal third with one out in the ninth. And with the game in the balance, Joe Girardi brought Joba Chamberlain in for the 10th inning. If Joe Girardi promises to continue using one of his worst relievers in high-leverage, late-innings spots, Boston fans ought to start routing for New York to sneak into the playoffs.
Boston Peppers the Fenway Stands During Eight-HR Night The Sox hit dingers all over the park on Wednesday night. Daniel Nava’s two-run home run in the 6th inning, one of eight home runs hit by the team, chose a hefty fan’s face as its landing pad. Sure, this poor woman getting a face-full of beer thanks to the jackass sitting next to her got all the attention. But the fallout for this guy over the past couple of days has probably been a lot worse…
David Ortiz Collects His 2,000th Hit Big Papi doubled off Al Alburquerque on Wednesday night during a 6th inning in which the Red Sox batted around and scored eight runs to turn the rubber game against Detroit into a blowout. Ortiz would later hit a homer in the 8th inning to pace the Red Sox’s 20-4 victory.
Boston Makes Some Roster Moves During a season in which the Red Sox have remained relatively healthy as a team throughout, the September roster moves were exactly what a fan hopes for – marginal acquisitions and call-ups that add depth rather than address serious holes. The Red Sox acquired utility infielder John McDonald from Philadelphia in one of those “ depth” moves that probably spells doom if the player actually sees any at-bats in October. As part of September roster expansion, the Sox also recalled youngsters Rubby de la Rosa and Ryan Lavarnway. Matt Thornton and Brandon Snyder were also activated off the disabled list.
Lester Outduels Scherzer Jon Lester faced off against Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer on Tuesday night and came away victorious, 2-1. Lester allowed one run, struck out nine batters and walked none while Scherzer walked three Red Sox and gave up two runs. The game will undoubtedly be pointed to later this month by advocates of Lester as Boston’s Game 1 playoff starter (if the Sox have the luxury to align the rotation). The whole decision could hinge on who has the best Angry Face on the team:
Buchholz Sets A Return Date? Clay Buchholz made his last rehab start on Thursday night, throwing 71 pitches and striking out five batters in 3 2/3 innings. Clay could be back on the mound for Boston as soon as Tuesday night, assuming the Red Sox are keeping him on a relatively normal throwing schedule.
Theo Decides to Give Daniel Bard Another Whirl Former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein claimed Daniel Bard off waivers Wednesday after Boston designated the embattled right-handed reliever for assignment.
USA Today Names A ‘Minor League Player of the Year’? They do. And this year’s winner was Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts joins some fairly lofty company – Andruw Jones (twice!), Jose Reyes, Prince Fielder and Josh Hamilton as well as former Red Sox Gabe Kapler (1998) and Josh Beckett (2001).
Boston capped off a tough weekend, dropping three of four in Kansas City to the surging Royals. However, their place in the standings actually improved thanks to Tampa Bay’s six-game losing streak, which finally ended Wednesday night. Last night, the Sox stranded 12 runners to lose the rubber game of the three-game series in Toronto, 2-1, capping off the 10-game road trip.
The Yankees are in town for a three-game series at Fenway beginning tonight. Boston fans will have their first opportunity to boo A-Rod since the announcement that he will be suspended – at some point – for his involvement with Biogenesis.
Boston’s Playoff Odds Now Stand At 93.7% Based on the Baseball Prospectus Playoff Odds report, the odds that the Red Sox make the playoffs now stand at 93.7%, with the team making the tournament 63.4% of the time as the AL East champs and 30.2% of the time as a Wild Card participant. Simulated wins projection has the Red Sox at right at 93 victories. While the Red Sox averaged 93.2 wins during the 10 years leading up to the 2012 debacle, it is hard not to have a special appreciation for the team’s success this season.
MLB Will Begin Using Instant Replay in 2014 Major League Baseball’s announcement that it will institute instant replay next season came with the claim that 89% of past incorrect calls would be reviewable under the new rules. Boston already had one game end in a loss this season – when Jerry Meals called a sliding Daniel Nava out at home – that may have gone the other way had replay been available.
Koji Uehara Vests His 2014 Contract In Style During Tuesday night’s 4-2 victory in 11 innings against Toronto, Uehara earned a win as Boston recorded its 19th victory in its final at-bat. It was his 55th appearance, meaning that a $4.25 million option for 2014 has officially vested and Koji is likely to be a Red Sox for a second season. The vesting option increases to $5 million if Uehara finishes 35 games. As of Friday, he had finished 24.
Payroll Obligations for 2014 Now Stand At Roughly $110 Million Boston already has most of its core officially on the books for next year with two notable exceptions – Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester, who can either be bought out for $250,000 or be extended for one more year at $13 million. In other words, Boston has a significant decision to make regarding Lester. The idea of yet another guy on the team making $13 mil may be too enticing to pass up, but if the Sox are bullish on Lester’s ability to maintain ~3.0-WAR value into his mid-30s, they might be able to get better value extending his contract a few years at a lesser annual average.
Stan Grossfeld Wrote A Pretty Strange ‘Where Are They Now?’ Profile of Curt Schilling Curt provided only one surprising bit of news in the article – that he suffered a heart attack in November 2011. Although his reluctance to share the information with the general public is transparently phony, it was probably trumped by Grossfeld’s implication that he only caught wind of the information because a “visitor” mentioned it in passing to Schilling during the interview (conducted at Curt’s daughter’s softball game).
Curt’s wife Shonda (could she be considered a ‘visitor’??) believes her husband is lucky to be alive, but not because the heart attack was particularly serious: “I don’t know how somebody would not kill himself, honestly, over what he has had to endure,” she says.
On the brink of elimination during the 1986 ALCS, the Red Sox staged a ninth-inning rally to tie Game 5 and eventually win 7-6 in 11 innings. This one probably gets forgotten in the annals of Boston sports history thanks to recent championships and, of course, the gold standard 2004 ALCS Comeback.
*Disappointingly, the ABC footage posted to YouTube does not include most of the graphics used by the network throughout the broadcast. At one point during the first inning, Michaels discusses how valuable Wade Boggs is because he draws so many walks and the network posted his OBP. Michaels explains, “There’s something in baseball called on-base percentage…”
00:22: The video includes about 20 minutes of ABC pre-game analysis. Al Michaels explains the simple mathematics for Boston and its need to win three games in a row. As recently as 1984, the Red Sox would have already been eliminated as part of the former Best-of-5 LCS format.
1:22: Michaels recaps the night before as Roger Clemens took a shutout into the ninth inning before giving up a leadoff home run and putting on a couple of baserunners, who would both score to tie the game thanks to an uncharacteristically poor performance from Calvin Schiraldi, who had a 1.41 ERA in 51 innings in 1986. He had just five appearances in which he had a negative win probability added (WPA).
2:13: In retrospect, Deborah Schiraldi was maybe a bit too excited that her husband got a couple of strikes on Brian Downing. Cal tried a two-strike curveball that dove so far inside that it hit Downing.
3:37: The Sox would lose in extra innings when a Bobby Grich single drove in Jerry Narron. Losses don’t get any more heart-wrenching than this right?
4:30: ABC had not only Jim Palmer doing color commentary in the booth with Michaels…
5:13: But also Don Drysdale for an on-field interview such as this pre-taped bit with Sox manager John McNamara.
18:49: As you can see in this establishing shot, the left-field bleachers at Angel Stadium are conspicuously empty. It’s almost like the fans are avoiding potential home run balls for some reason.
29:00: The Sox go down in order in the top of the 1st against Witt. Bruce Hurst takes the mound for Boston. Hurst started two games against California in the ALCS and three in the World Series against the Mets. His combined line for the 1986 postseason: 3-0, 38.0 IP, 36 H, 7 BB, 4 HR, 25 K, 2.13 ERA, 1.13 WHIP.
45:35: With a runner on first base, Rich Gedman ropes an inside pitch from Mike Witt that stays up just long enough to land in the seats near the right-field foul pole. Boston takes a 2-0 lead. (Michaels notes that Gedman hit two home runs all season at Fenway but had three jacks at Angel Stadium during the ‘86 regular season.)
1:03:17: Bob Boone hit a solo shot to left field off Hurst to start the 3rd.
1:04:36: Hard contact off Hurst continues as Gary Pettis sent a single up the middle to follow Boone’s homer. The whole Boone family is just the worst.
1:05:33: Former Red Sox shortstop Rick Burleson was California’s leadoff hitter. During his second at-bat, he would lay down a sacrifice bunt that got Pettis to second with one out. But Pettis would wind up being stranded.
1:13:04: There are some impressive beards on the 2013 edition of the Boston Red Sox, but Dwight Evans’ mustache is a thing of legends.
1:20:20: Michaels: “And there is a guy who’s a pretty good fisherman…”
1:23:08: After a Reggie Jackson single, Hurst caught Jackson leaning and Buckner made a great swipe tag to finish the bottom of the 4th.
1:26:14: Red-hot Rich Gedman follows his 2nd inning home run with a double off the left-center wall in the 5th. He would be stranded.
1:36:45: With Wade Boggs on first base in the top of the 6th, Marty Barrett lays down a bunt that rolls just in front of the mound for Witt, who fields it and throws Boggs out.
1:36:51: Boggs makes his feelings known, but replays showed he was indeed out. With the No. 3 hitter Bill Buckner on deck and no one out, Barrett’s surrendering an AB was a questionable decision. Boston missed what may have been an opportunity to break things open as Buckner and Rice both made outs to finish off the inning.
1:40:51: More than anything, it seems like the poster-board outwitted this Angels fan…
1:48:15: Bobby Grich’s long fly gets the extra help it needed to make it over the fence from Dave Henderson’s glove, giving the Angels a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th. Henderson, who came into the game an inning earlier as a defensive replacement for Tony Armas, nearly made the catch of his life. Instead, his momentum would carry his arm, the glove and, most importantly, the ball over the fence.
1:49:52: In the aftermath, as the Sox get ready to bat in the 7th, Michaels and Palmer shed their blue CBS suit jackets. Al gets a bit swept up in the moment, saying “this [Henderson’s misplay] could be one of the more memorable plays of the 80s.” Forget for a moment that Al Michaels called the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s gold medal run and just take note of the following:
a. The game is only two-thirds in the books
b. The Red Sox trail by only one run
c. As a decade itself, the 80s were only about two-thirds complete in October 1986
2:02:55: Bob Stanley runs into trouble in the bottom of the 7th and a seeing-eye single by pinch-hitter Rob Wilfong up the middle plates another run. Gary Pettis would score on a sacrifice fly a batter later. 5-2, California.
2:08:26: In dire need of runs, the Sox pinch-hit rookie Mike Greenwell for Spike Owen. Greenwell had spent much of 1986 in Pawtucket. He would lead off the top of the 8th with a single and be replaced immediately by pinch-runner/infielder Ed Romero (Boston wasn’t too interested in having Greenwell play SS in the bottom half of the inning). But the Sox couldn’t get Romero home.
2:15:38: ABC: “Another Boston Catastrophe.” Meanwhile, Michaels sets the stage as Buckner digs in, “Witt on the mound and security at the ready…”
2:18:08: Just as they showed Cal Schiraldi’s wife the night before, here’s Lisa Witt. The obligatory wife/girlfriend shot is just a bad omen that is not worth the potential pain. Buckner singles to center to begin the inning. Buckner hobbles off the field for a pinch-runner as his knees barely allow him the 90 feet to first base.
2:20:50: Donnie Moore gets loose in the bullpen, but Witt punches out Jim Rice and seems to still be sporting effective stuff.
2:24:58: Witt hits his spot on the outside corner here, but Don Baylor reaches out across the plate and somehow manages to pull this outside fastball over the left-field fence. Al Michaels, sounding on the verge of orgasm, exclaims “What a GREAT series!”
2:27:19: With Rich Gedman (three hits, including a HR and a double) due up, the Angels make the call for the left-handed Gary Lucas. Mike Witt debates openly how in the world he’ll explain this to his wife…
2:28:37: Lucas hits Gedman’s right arm on the first pitch, narrowly missing his head. The Angels are forced to bring in Donnie Moore to face Dave Henderson.
2:30:35: Moore gets two strikes on Henderson. The field is lined with security and other team personnel.
2:31:58: The beauty of potential energy…
2:32:03: “And Downing goes back and it’s gone. Unbelievable…” Henderson homers to left field, not far away from where he helped along Grich’s two-run shot earlier in the game. Boston takes a 6-5 lead. There are a few more people in the sunny left-field bleachers than at the start of the game…
2:32:24: Henderson, on his way toward joining Carlton Fisk and, years later, David Ortiz…(and Johnny Damon). And Mark Bellhorn.
2:39:41: Bob Boone gets a base hit to lead off the bottom of the 9th. Gary Pettis moves pinch-runner Rupert Jones to second base. All of this, Michaels points out, while the shadows created by a stadium-top flagpole that briefly waves around directly in front of the hitters’ line of vision.
2:41:35: McNamara lifts Bob Stanley in favor of the lefty Joe Sambito to face Wilfong, who immediately singles to right. Jones slides in safely behind Gedman’s left foot despite a strong, on-the-mark throw from Dwight Evans.
2:43:41: With Schiraldi having worked the day before and Tom Seaver on the shelf with a sore knee, Steve Crawford comes in for Sambito with the winning run on 1st base and one out. Crawford gives up a single that gets Wilfong to third base; puts Doug DeCinces on first base with an intentional walk; then gets out of the 9th inning by inducing a shallow fly to right and a broken-bat comebacker to the mound.
2:55:48: After a Boggs walk to start the 10th, Barrett once again(!) bunts hard enough down the first base line that a force out is made at second. The play proves costly as Dave Stapleton would follow with a single that gets Barrett to third. But Jim Rice hits into a double play and, like the 6th inning, the Sox are held scoreless in the 10th because Barrett gave away his out.
2:59:29: Nothing of note really happens for California in the bottom half of the 10th. So let’s just take quick note of Reggie Jackson’s CHiPs-inspired sunglasses.
3:10:53: With a runner on first, Gary Pettis takes a pitch the other way and Rice makes a jumping catch at/on the wall. The ball may not have been a home run, but anything but an out and the game is otherwise over.
3:12:45: Fittingly, Don Baylor gets hit by a pitch to begin the 11th. He led the majors in HBPs in 1986 with 35(!!). In the background of ABC’s sound feed, the Angels Stadium PA can be heard announcing, “That was the first time that Don Baylor has been hit by a pitch in an ALCS game.” If you listen closely, you can kind of detect the snark.
3:17:22: After an Evans single, Gedman pops a ridiculously bad bunt about 10 feet in the air that serendipitously lands free of spin in no-man’s land. Bases loaded…
3:17:42: And then everything goes to shit for Boston? No, the feed cuts out and returns for the bottom of the 11th. Begin speculation on conspiracy theories as to why there is no archive footage available of Henderson’s sacrifice fly that scored the winning run. However, it feels almost fitting that the play that technically gave the ballgame its end isn’t even worth the trouble. Similar to the 2004 ALCS, the capacity for drama after Games 4 and 5 proved limited.
3:20:52: Anyway, Schiraldi would wind up finishing the Angels off in order in the 11th, notching two strikeouts and looking much like the dominant reliever he had been throughout the 1986 season. And Mrs. Schiraldi would get the last laugh.
California went on to lose the series in seven games as Boston went home to Fenway and outscored the Angels 18-5 (Game 6 and Game 7 box scores). The franchise wouldn’t make its first World Series until 2002. By then, Gene Autry could only watch on from his perch in heaven, a place where we assume Thundersticks shall make no sound for all eternity.
The Red Sox took two of three from Arizona at Fenway Park before heading to Houston and somehow stealing two of three at Minute Maid Park thanks to two more comeback wins. Stephen Drew’s three-run ninth-inning home run in the finale on Wednesday clinched the series victory. Finally, last night the Sox ran into the buzzsaw that is Bruce Chen in Kansas City, dropping the opener of a four-game weekend series against the Royals, 5-1.
From CTpost.com
Boston Matches Its 2012 Win Total Tuesday night’s game in Houston went awry quickly. A horrific first inning for Ryan Lavarnway and Steven Wright might have done some serious harm to the psyches of a couple of younger players: Wright’s knuckler was landing everywhere but Lavarnway’s glove. After Wright threw only 18 of 38 pitches for strikes in the first inning, John Farrell lifted Wright for Brandon Workman, who wasn’t much better. Still, Workman managed to eat some innings out of the bullpen and Boston’s offense came through with one of its best performances of the season. Is there much doubt Bobby Valentine would have run poor Wright back out for the second inning to let him “fight through” his struggles? Or, failing that scenario, that he would have given a few unflattering quotes to the media of his assessment of Lavarnway’s defense?
The Bottom Line: Boston won 69 games in six months under Valentine. The Red Sox won their 69th game of the 2013 season on August 6. The team is currently projected to win 95 games.
Larry Lucchino Dresses Up Like Darth Vader, sneaks into Ben Cherington’s Bedroom in the Middle of the Night, and Tells Him If He Doesn’t Call Up Xander Bogaerts Soon, He’s Going to Melt His Brain Just kidding. But seriously, it’s getting to be about that time right?
Jake Peavy’s Debut Goes Well The right-hander made his Red Sox debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night. Peavy struck out seven in seven innings, allowing two earned runs in the 5-2 win. Peavy will make his second start in a Boston uniform on Friday night.
From BostonHerald.com
John Henry “Wins” Bidding For The Boston Globe Despite reports that other groups submitted higher bids, the New York Times Corporation will reportedly sell The Boston Globe and web affiliate Boston.com to the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, John Henry, for $70 million. Sure, maybe Henry is just looking to revamp his local image by taking on the challenge of reviving a dying business.
As Ken Doctor points out, though, other rich dudes like Warren Buffett and Aaron Kushner have also recently bought under-performing newspapers. Their first move was to implement digital subscribership and pay walls to defibrillate revenues. But the Globe has already done that over the past year and yet the business continues to hemorrhage profit and lose readership.From the end of Doctor’s “newsonomics” analysis of the deal:
Should Red Sox players become embroiled in A-Rod-type controversies, though, the question of who breaks relevant stores when will rise to the fore. That’s been an issue for decades, in Chicago, Atlanta, and L.A., as Tribune, Turner, and Murdoch cross-ownerships have raised related questions. …
For the Globe news staff, that’s not the big question, though. That one is: Will John Henry do right by the Globe legacy of quality and public service? He has the deep pockets to do that — and that may be one of the best early indicators here.
Anyone who has paid attention to the coverage from Peter Abraham, Amalie Benjamin et al in recent years knows this probably isn’t all that big of an issue. When was the last time a Globe reporter actually broke a significant news story surrounding the Boston Red Sox? Answering that question becomes a lot more difficult unless you feel comfortable categorizing Bob Hohler’s hatchet job of Terry Francona after the 2011 disaster as a legitimate news story.
Best of luck to Mr. Henry in his new endeavor. Malcolm Gladwell said on Bill Simmons’ podcast Wednesday, “billionaires seem to think that running a newspaper is a lot more fun that it really is.” Then again, John Henry may just be in a win-win situation. Even if the whole thing fails miserably, Henry’s wife Linda can surely make a couple of bucks building a Fenway Trilogy Triangle-style condominium complex. Luxurious, high-rise views of Ho Chi Minh’s profile painted onto the Boston Gas tank at a reasonable price!
We’ll leave you with this Hot Sportz Take from Globe 10.0 recorded by Abraham and Dan Shaughnessy way back during 2012 spring training.
Boston took two of three in Baltimore against the Orioles and then lost a heartbreaker to the Devil Rays, 2-1, in a make-up game as David Price once again pitched a gem at Fenway Park on Monday. The Sox swept a three-game set against the Seattle Mariners, reclaiming first place in the process and notching a couple of the most dramatic victories of the season. The last two wins included a 15-inning win Wednesday night followed by a six-run, ninth-inning rally on Thursday to cap off the sweep.
Boston Plays Its Longest Game of the 2013 Season
Wednesday’s 5-4 win over Seattle was one of those games the media gushes over because it was gutsy(TM) and team-building. Don’t sleep on the significance of the bottom of the 15th inning hero being Stephen Drew only a day after shortstop understudy Jose Iglesias was traded to Chicago.
From BostonHerald.com
Particularly in the era of the Wild Card(s), these win carry an intangible cost that may not be all that worthwhile footing. Then again, for the sake of argument, if the Sox fell on their sword and had their relievers throw meatballs, the Mariners’ lineup is hapless enough at times to mess that up. NESN cameras caught the Fenway digital clock striking 12:00 and Don Orsillo delivered the line, “Welcome to Thursday,” which kind of felt cheesy at the time…
Then the Red Sox Scored Six Runs in the Ninth Inning On Thursday
A fantastic show of lineup depth resulted in yet another dramatic win for Boston. Everybody and their mother got a hit for the Sox in the bottom of the ninth facing Seattle’s bullpen. Boston also got a little help from Seattle’s interim manager, who forgot his lefties from his righties…
The swing in win probability during the bottom of the ninth inning via Fangraphs:
And here is the exact moment NESN’s Jenny Dell realizes that, yes, there was a camera trained on her when she took a few extracurricular squirts from the celebratory ice-water bath meant for Jonny Gomes. (Full video at Surviving Grady).
Jake Peavy Comes to Boston
On Tuesday night, Jose Iglesias was replaced in the field in the eighth inning during Boston’s 8-2 win against Seattle. An hour or so later, reports came out that Iglesias would be sent to Detroit as part of a three-team deal that landed the Red Sox right-hander Jake Peavy. The move has been well-regarded by fans and media. It seems possible Boston, Chicago and Detroit will eventually see this transaction as a winner in retrospect.
Of course, if you’re a younger pup trying to make a name, you find a different angle: Enter Boston.com’s hard-hitting, bone-crunching, numbers-running Stats Driven analysis of the trade, in which some dude points out that Jake Peavy’s two playoff starts SIX AND SEVEN RESPECTIVE YEARS AGO constitute a “problematic playoff past” (alliterative and asinine all in one!). When you’re posting something on a blog called “Stats Driven” and you begin a sentence with “Obviously his 9⅔ in two starts is a tiny sample size...” you should immediately stop writing that sentence, get up from your computer, leave your dormitory and talk to your career adviser about finding a new major.
Big Papi Loses His Shit
David Ortiz’s dugout tantrum on Saturday night in Baltimore is pretty well-documented at this point. And it seems like a quaint afterthought in light of all that happened with the team over the next five days. Papi’s rage fell just short of earning him a suspension and ultimately, it was a no-harm, no-foul situation. And like a true superstar, he went 4-for-4 with a home run the following day. We’re not even going to bother showing the video here again because, really, it’s almost like it never happened at this point.
Daniel Nava Forgets to Play it Halfway, Loses His Shit, Gets Ejected…
Yet another Daniel Nava base-running gaffe put Jerry Meals in the position to not be in position to make an obvious call. Nava slid safely into home plate on a sacrifice fly that would have tied Monday night’s game at 2-2 in the ninth inning. Meals’ bad call robbed Nava a shot at redemption for an earlier mistake the hitter prior. On a long fly to right field, Nava putzed around with some kind of crow-hop in between second base and third base (closer to second) that resulted in his being stopped at third base even though the ball went over the right fielder’s head. Nava admitted his mistake after the game, as did Meals, who said from where he’d set up he could not see Nava’s foot hit the plate under the tag of Jose Molina.
It’s hard not to like Nava, but he can’t afford to be bad at things like baserunning – particularly when he comes in as a pinch-runner in the late innings.
…And Then Redeems Himself A Few Nights Later
Nava capped off Thursday’s ninth-inning comeback with his line shot to center-field. It may have been a double or triple in its own right. But either way, it was enough to plate the winning run and ensure the team didn’t go into extra innings for a second straight night.
Frank Castillo Dies
The most bizarre piece of news during the past week was that former major league pitcher Frank Castillo drowned while swimming in a Phoenix lake on Sunday. The 44-year-old Castillo pitched for the Red Sox in 2001, 2002 and had a brief cameo in 2004. Watching pitchers like Castillo get by with smoke and mirrors can be an entertaining experience as a fan if you’re willing to embrace it. Castillo’s Red Sox tenure was poorly timed as fan angst probably reached a peak in volume during 2001/2002 as the team was being sold. Nevertheless, he took the ball and tried to make it work. Any true Boston fan should be able to respect that even if only in retrospect.
Roger Clemens Comes Back
The Texas Con Man made a surprise appearance at Fenway on Tuesday night as part of the team’s 25th Anniversary celebration of the 1988 “Morgan’s Miracle.” Other participants included Spike Owen, Dwight Evans, Joe Morgan and Oil Can Boyd. How great a week has it been for this team that Roger Clemens can set foot in Fenway and the whole thing is essentially a footnote?
John Henry Submits Independent Bid for The Boston Globe
Less than a year after he exited the futures trading business, news has emerged that John Henry may perhaps look to make a buck or two in the media business. There would be some pretty substantial conflicts of interest in the coverage of the Red Sox and, really, professional sports in general if Henry were to take control of the Globe. But frankly, the idea of owning a daily newspaper at all seems a bit quaint in this day and age, no? Are there any locally-based real estate developers out there that may be willing to convert a significant chunk of space on Morrissey Boulevard into, say, premium condominiums on the outskirts of a neighborhood that is gentrifying at an alarming rate?
The Red Sox took two out of three from the scuffling Yankees and lost two of three against the Rays, thanks mainly to a couple of gems by Tampa lefties Matt Moore and David Price. Boston is now just half a game up on Tampa Bay. However, as Dan Duquette would no doubt point out, Thursday night’s rainout (to be made up on Monday) ensured the Red Sox at least one more full day in first place of the AL East.
Meanwhile, a bunch of other stuff happened this week:
Jenny Dell’s Almost Sharon-Stone-in-Basic-Instinct Moment Jenny Dell returned Friday night after a prolonged vacation (she did not make the trip to the West Coast with the team prior to the All-Star break). During last weekend’s series opener against the Yankees, Dell took to the Fenway Park stands for her “Fenway Fan Stories” sitdown segment with a couple of Sox fans . One of NESN’s cameras was angled upward so that it nearly caught an upskirt shot as Dell began to uncross her legs a la Sharon Stone while she turned from one interviewee to the other. Dell caught herself just in time – and/or a NESN producer was likely screaming in her earpiece. Seemingly aware of the close call, she finished the segment with a sheepish expression and her free hand placed on the outside of her leg as though to guard it from involuntarily falling into a more revealing open position. Welcome back, Jenny!
Dustin! Got A New Deal Sources confirmed Tuesday that the Red Sox extended Dustin Pedroia’s contract through the 2021 season. The move was applauded by just about every writer and baseball analyst. All told, Dustin’s contract is likely to be an afterthought when compared to other nine-figure deals in the organization’s history (Manny Ramirez 8/$160m; Adrian Gonzalez, 7/$154m; Carl Crawford 7/$142m). The signing is rooted with a perfect balance of business sense and emotional backdrop. Pedroia needs the Red Sox (check out his home/road splits) and the Red Sox need Pedroia (he’ll be The Face of the Franchise after David Ortiz retires).
Clay Buchholz Got Peace of Mind from Dr. James Andrews Alas, it was a complete waste of time in the eyes of fans and media that moonlight as amateur physicians who could have told Buchholz he has been healthy enough to pitch for weeks.
We can only imagine what these Budweiser-slugging ladies have been saying about Clay’s prolonged recovery…
Former Red Sox Gabe Kapler implored front offices to better educate players about advanced stats not found in USA Today “At some point, Ben (Cherington) opened my eyes wide when he sent me a study on the sacrifice bunt and the value of the out in major league baseball at the time. I considered myself to be a student of the game, but this was the first time I had a baseball man illuminate such a study. It was at that point that I realized that baseball players are not the most educated people in our game — far from it.”
One would presume Cherington’s has reached out to bunt-loving Shane Victorino on this matter?
Trade Activity Watch Guys supposedly on the Red Sox radar like Matt Garza and Francisco Rodriguez were pawned to other teams. John Henry and Larry Lucchino told reporters they wouldn’t necessarily be making any major trades before July 31. Meanwhile, the Sox did have scouts in attendance yesterday as Peavy got a win over Justin Verlander. Several reports went out of the way to say the Red Sox have not discussed trading Will Middlebrooks to the Chicago White Sox for Jake Peavy.
It also seems possible that the Sox could sign Cuban defector Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez to a long-term deal that pays him a pro-rated salary for 2013 that still keeps the team under the luxury tax. He may or may not be of much use this year, but he would provide depth and also a much higher upside for the future than almost anyone else rumored to be available. If Philadelphia decides to be smart about moving Cliff Lee, the equation may change.
Upcoming
The Sox have three games against the Orioles this weekend in Camden Yards and then the team is back at Fenway for three against the Mariners.
Today we continue our look at Red Sox Classics on the MLB YouTube channel with a recap of Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS. Nine years after the 1990 ALCS marquee pitching matchup between Dave Stewart and Roger Clemens turned into a blowout, a similar result came from a hugely anticipated Clemens v. Pedro matchup. As it turned out, this was only Part I* of what would be several gigantic Red Sox-Yankees postseason games started by two of the most accomplished right-handed pitchers to play in the modern era.
*The 2003 ALCS featured two Pedro v. Clemens matchups — games that wound up being infamous for reasons other than the teams’ starters entirely. Game 3 at Fenway was Pedro’s showdown with an obviously psychotic Don Zimmer. And, of course, Game 7 at Yankee Stadium…otherwise known as Grady Little’s Last Game.
00:04: FOX starts off with the blimp shot from the Charles. It really is a playoffs must.
00:22: It had been three years since Roger skipped town. Some fans were still pretty bitter. It’s almost like Bostonians hold grudges for longer than most.
00:45: Simpler times for Keith Olbermann. His colleague Steve Lyons calls it the greatest pitching matchup Fenway has ever seen.
1:51: A very spikey Roger explains in a pregame interview it’s not “just another game”…
5:53: Pedro’s statistics in 1999. Even 14 years later, many Sox fans can come close to reciting these particulars verbatim. His 2000 season was nearly as good, but ‘99 has to be the absolute pinnacle considering what he did in the playoffs – especially five days earlier in Cleveland (as we recently rehashed here).
6:34: And of course, announcers rarely fail to mention the potential impact shadows and setting sunlight may have on batters and fielders. Extra points to Fox and Tim McCarver for mentioning the Lou Pinella play from the 1978 one-game playoff in which he nearly lost a Jerry Remy single behind him due to the sun.
9:05: Fans with K signs on a 3-2 count to Chuck Knoblach, who doesn’t oblige and flies out to right field.
10:31: Jeter singles to left with one out. There is audible disappointment that the chance for a no-hitter is done so early.
17:00: After a Bernie Williams strikeout, FOX forgoes a commercial break after the top of the 1st inning in order to air Fenway’s reception to Roger as he takes the mound.
19:03: “Sock it to Rocket”
20:08: With the crowd serenading him with a loud “Rooooger” chant, Clemens badly misses the outside of the plate to Jose Offerman on his first pitch. Offerman would hit a well-placed ball to the right-field corner for a stand-up triple.
23:54: John Valentin would follow that up with a two-run homer into the screen on a letter-high fastball.
26:16: Follow the path of Paul O’Neill’s glove here and you can see where the throw from Chuck Knoblach on a routine Nomar Garciaparra grounder would wind up. Just not even remotely close to the bag…A total of 15 of Knoblach’s league-leading 26 errors that season were throwing errors.
34:39: FOX’s producers were absolutely obsessed with the “sunsplashed Fenway” angle of this game right from the start. They just could not get over it. Meanwhile, those fans who weren’t blinded by the mythological light of the burning sun saw Pedro Martinez strike out Tino Martinez by throwing four nasty change-ups in a row.
37:47: The Pedro vs. Rocket “K” comparison. Martinez would eventually strike out Ricky Ledee for his fourth straight punch-out, ending the 2nd.
46:33: One out. Runners on the corners. John Valentin at the plate. Jimy Williams in his pants. Valentin would wind up driving in Trot Nixon from third on a fielder’s choice chopper to shortstop.
54:52: Nomar doubles down the left-field line to make it 4-0 Boston.
59:18: Pedro showing off what Tim McCarver describes as “unusually long fingers.”
1:05:25: Jetes does his trademark lunge over the plate to make sure the umpire is paying attention to a perfect backdoor curve.
1:08:17: It appears to blow Tino Martinez’s mind that Joe Torre has decided Roger’s had enough after putting the lead man on in the bottom of the 3rd.
1:08:42: Exit Con Man.
1:08:51: Enter Fat Toad Man.
1:11:27: Brian Daubach would promptly hook a Pesky Pole homer off Hideki Irabu. 6-0, Red Sox.
1:17:06: Excluding his infamous failure to hit three home runs for a boy on his hospital deathbed in a 1995 Seinfeld episode, this is THE signature image of Paul O’Neill’s career – his head turned so he can argue over his shoulder with the umpire on a called third strike on his way back to the dugout. Seven strikeouts for Pedro. He finished the 4th striking out Chili Davis for his eighth K.
1:31:32: Nomar gets some extra airtime to catch this liner.
1:43:19: Darren Lewis slides safely into home to make it 8-0, Boston, as the Sox begin to make it hurt.
1:46:33: With Boston up 8-0 in the top of the 6th and Pedro cruising, Fox makes sure it fits in the obligatory “Bambino” curse nonsense, complete with vintage Babe Ruth footage. Joe Buck goes deep with it and brings up Harry Frazee, No No Nannette and Ed Barrow.
1:47:58: No true Sox fan misses this nonsense…
1:49:30 / 2:03:23: Finally, Fox snaps out of the masturbatory “curse” rehash to roll out some useful, relevant graphics after Pedro strikes out Jeter for his 10th K of the game. One can only imagine what Pedro’s 1999 stats would have looked like if he pitched for a National League team. Thankfully, we’ll never know.
2:07:58: Up 13-0, Boston sends up the immortal Butch Huskey. Huskey wasn’t necessarily just a human victory cigar, though. He actually hit 22 homers with the Mets and Red Sox in 1999.
Martinez would finish the game with a line of 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 K (105 pitches). The Red Sox offense, meanwhile, set an ALCS record with 21 hits.
The 13-1 Game 3 win would be Boston’s only victory against New York in the 1999 ALCS.The Red Sox simply didn’t have enough of a staff around Pedro to get him another ALCS start on the road in New York. The much-hyped Pedro-Clemens match-up would be the last appearance of his historic ‘99 season.
Former Red Sox utility man Pedro Ciriaco returns to Fenway Park tonight for the first time since being traded to the San Diego Padres three weeks ago for cash considerations.
In a deft move by club officials, Boston fans feeling scorned by the team’s move to deal Ciriaco, done mostly to clear roster space for better players, can exchange their No. 23, No. 77 and other variations of Pedro Ciriaco Boston jerseys and T-shirts outside Gate B.
Fans willing to part with their Ciriaco tops will be given a voucher redeemable for a free burrito “wrap” sandwich at designated Fenway concession stands.
Associated Press Photo
A press release issued by the team earlier this afternoon described the jersey exchange as “simply the right thing to do.”
A favorite of former manager Bobby Valentine, Ciriaco was an unexpected bright spot – some may say, the only bright spot – in an otherwise disastrous 2012 season. After starting the year hot, Ciriaco even started nine games at designated hitter before finishing with a not-quite-as-gaudy .293 average and two home runs (.705 OPS).
One anonymous team representative confirmed, “Yeah, we don’t really want a bunch of Ciriaco jerseys floating around Fenway Park on a regular basis as we move forward and try to regain the goodwill of our fanbase. While Pedro was a nice fill-in for us, we feel that hanging onto any nostalgia for his tenure in Boston would be somewhat misguided.”
Since the trade, Ciriaco is batting .255 with one home run in 16 games playing primarily at shortstop for San Diego.
Fenway Pastoral 