Schilling, the Hall, and a Number on the Wall

Yes, I know: I'm definitely not the first to bring up this conversation and we've got five years to gain some perspective before the writers start voting, but assuming an argument like Joe Posnanski's is effective enough to push Curt Schilling over the borderline and into the Hall of Fame, you'd have to figure we'd be seeing a ceremony to put 38 up with the rest of the retired numbers the following season, right?

Sure, Schilling's length of service with the Sox doesn't meet the 10 year requirement the team has maintained as part of its retired number policy, but - and again, this is assuming he grabs a spot in the hall, because I don't see the Sox throwing two of their requirements out the window - weighed against the legend of the bloody sock and two very important championship rings, falling a few years short of the mark doesn't seem like such a big deal.

Bill Lee Cares Not About Your Opinions

An excellent idea for anyone looking to create an Internet sensation: put a microphone in front Bill Lee for a few minutes, give him a starting point, and let him hold forth. Kinda like what happened at the Red Sox Hall of Fame induction ceremony a few days ago. I had read Lee's Little Red (Sox) Book a few years ago, but I had forgotten about how much Lee does not give a crap about what anyone thinks about him: he's here to speak his mind and be clever, all at the same time. Does Lee blog at all? Because if not, he really should.

A few life lessons from The Spaceman:

• Winning is everything. No, really.
  
• When marrying Canadians, make sure the first one is cold before moving on to the second one.
• The Boston media gets the New York media's sloppy seconds.
• We should all be grateful to star players for gracing us with their presence, no matter what the result.

After watching this video, my friend Fred had a good point: Lee's vitriol about Manny may be a bit unfounded, but it's a comment on the long-held Red Sox tradition of crapping on star players when they leave town. After doing a quick mental tally, I can only think of two stars who escaped the pariah treatment when they left the Sox: Williams (he got while playing, instead) and Yaz, who both left because they retired. But Fisk, Lee, Pedro, Damon, Nomar, Manny...they either suffered the Vader force choke from management or the rabid dog attack of the fan base on their way out. It's not a particularly pleasant legacy to contemplate.

Game 97: Ending On a High Note

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 2, Baltimore Orioles 1

The Boston Red Sox: they'll beat you with their bats; they'll beat you with their pitching. They'll blow a hole in the score so large they'd have to dig up the Back Bay to fill it in; they'll come within 90 feet of blowing a save in a tight game in the ninth with two outs and their closer on the mound. They'll provide thrills, spills, chills, and minor heart attacks that could be avoided with some more consistent dominance and a little more attention to detail. But since they won, since they finished the first half of the season on a high note and regained first place, all is forgiven, if not forgotten. Daisuke Matsuzaka, you did not throw six innings of scoreless ball - or achieve a ratio of 1.5 walks or hits per inning in the process - in vain.

However, we have more pressing concerns: the season's half over. Surprised me, too. Our friend DC will have a recap of the first half's triumphs and failures tomorrow, so I won't steal his thunder by recaping specifics, but to wax philosophical for a moment, it seems utterly imaginable that the season's half over and that the Sox have survived: survived injuries to key players like Ortiz and Schilling, survived the trip to Japan and the miles and miles traveled, survived the world's most skewed home and away records...and now they're in first. I predict a temporary stay unless some things change, but enjoy it! We're doing well! We have several days off before we have to worry about things like bullpens and August. I plan to submerge my brain in some sort of decompressant fluids.

Game 76: Short at the Generator

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 4, St. Louis Cardinals 5

Rain-drenched triple bases loaded just-missed fest with a last-second failed comeback? My favorite! But despite being powered by Celtic green and channeling the spirit of Milli Vanilli through the lip-synching talents of Papelbon and Delcarmen, there was not quite enough love for the Boston bats last night. However, Mike Lowell's right: this lineup is allowed to have this kind of short in the power circuit once or twice a season because of the most of the time, they'll either score the runs to put the team on top, or just get out pitched. The occasional lapse into no man's land in between is permitted, but don't make it a habit. We're all still recovering from the heart damage we suffered in 2004. Also: Julio Lugo, you're not allowed to crow about your first home run of 2008 when you make two more errors in the same ball game. Just not cool.

So, Curt Schilling - how about that? I admit to complete surprise about the need for surgery, mainly because modern medicine seems to keep throwing us softballs when it comes to athlete injuries. A player (or a Boston player, anyway) might be out for a few weeks or even a month or two, but "season ending" hasn't been a much-heard term for Red Sox Nation in the past few years. So season ending/career ending is a bit of a shock. I just figured even with the setbacks, rehab was still going to be the way to go and Schilling would be back for the playoffs when we really needed him.

Schilling claims he has no regrets; that he's not pissed, but I think that's BS: he's working the crowd the way he always does, and either he's planning on coming back with whatever contending team will take him, or he's absolutely ripped that history's judgment is going to be that he's the guy who pushed the stakes a little too far and flamed out in an awkward way. So, to recap: either I'm delusional, or Schilling's not done with the public eye in Boston by a long shot.

Game 49: Through Thick and Thicker

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 6, Kansas City Royals 3

This is a tough one. The Sox 6th win in a row, another good showing by the offense, and the return of Bartolo Colon. Let’s see how long I can go without making a fat joke.

Colon is best known for being the 2005 CY Young winner and then falling off the map. His arm injuries and wild streaks basically cost him his job during a contract year. Bad timing for any job… horrible if you’re a major league pitcher. In a league fraught with thin rotations, nobody wanted to take a flyer on Colon. He didn’t end up in Pawtucket because he wanted to eat fried seafood on Cape Cod, he wound up in AAA because he had nowhere else that would take him.

Watching him step on to the mound after his battle back from injuries and unemployment is inspiring. Ok, so it’s not “Cancer survivor pitches no-hitter” kind of inspiring, but you really only get one of those a week. To his credit, Bartolo stepped it up on Wednesday and brought some poise and heat from his award winning season. He hovered around 93-94 mph over 5 innings and only allowed 2 runs. Not too shabby for a 5th starter.

As I mentioned before, the offense was jumping again with multiple hits from Jacoby (including a solo hr), Pedroia and Tek (who looks like he’s still got some of the old pop too).

But the night belonged to Bartolo. I think he is a very good option as a split roll 5th starter. Once Buchholz gets off the DL, Colon and he will most likely be in oscillating jobs to save the Buch’s thin, young arm and Colon’s old and chunky one.

What a glut of pitching the Sox have right now. 6 Major league starters and Masterson waiting in the wings. Makes you wonder what they are going to do when Schilling wants to come back after the All-Star break.

Too many good pitchers? Now that’s a problem you hope to have. Just don‘t go rushing off to the trading tables… or you might end up with Wily Mo Pena.

Game 2: Banzai!!!

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 1, Oakland Athletics 5

banzai

1. Japanese war-cry, 1893, lit. "(may you live) ten thousand years," originally a greeting addressed to the emperor, from ban "ten thousand" + sai "year."
2. The sound made by balls thrown by Jon Lester as they flew off Oakland bats.

As we've observed in the past, Lester is a wild man with the pitches; his (unfortunately) "classic" appearances flirt with disaster like a drunk man on a tightrope with no safety net in sight. Usually he escapes with too many walks and too many pitches over too short of a period of time but no run damage; other times, the offense catches up with what he's offering on a silver platter and forces the runs down his throat.

Today was the latter scenario: three walks, five hits, and one very damaging home run killed Lester's Japanese good time and knocked him out after four innings and 83 pitches. With Rich Harden doing his level best to keep the Sox in the yard and off the bases, it was only a matter of time until Oakland sealed the win.

Once again, this appearance begs the question: how much rope does Jon Lester get to play with before he hangs himself out of the rotation? In his favor: thanks to Schilling's injury, for the first time in Lester's career, he's not only healthy, but has the opportunity to pitch once every five days until he either self-corrects or self-destructs. Now's the time where he can work out the massive kinks in his repertoire and prove that he belongs at the major league level without any pressure except his own failure. Against his favor: we've seen Lester pitch 28 times since 2006, and in that time he hasn't proven himself to be anything more than a league-average pitcher (ERA+ score of 101, which is about as average as you can get). He averages a little over five innings a game, gives up as many walks as he does runs, has a WHIP approaching 1.6, and overall appears to be destined for a career as a fifth starter, comparable with someone like Julian Tavarez.

And maybe that's all Lester's meant to be: a back of the rotation guy who will learn to eat innings and save the bullpen from work while carrying an ERA of 4.80. It'll be sad to watch someone so highly touted fail to live up to expectations, but I guess I'm ready to accept Lester's mediocrity as more than an unlikely possibility. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong.

Spring, Spring, and Other Things

I'm going to break a blogging rule and talk about three different things in one post. I'm such a rebel.

Item the first: Spring Training starts tomorrow! Officially! Now we can start obsessing over the important things, like whether or not Schilling's career is over or he's just the victim of the rumor mill (oh, the irony), if Josh Beckett became a fat sack of crap over the winter or if photographer Matt Stone is a just a vindictive SOB, how Craig Hansen's sleep patterns just matched J.D. Drew's sick kid as the "don't we feel like dicks for giving up on you" illness of the year, and whether or not they believe in business in the front, party in the back in Japan, too. That's not even taking into account the Coco/Ellsbury competition, Lester and Buchholz fighting for roster spots, Pedroia avoiding a sophomore slump, showing off the next class of Red Sox rookies, and seeing whether or not standing pat on a championship team will lead to massive ass bitings later on. I'm getting worked up just thinking about it.

Item the Second: We'll be running season previews in the coming weeks, detailing our predictions for all six major league divisions. Joining us in a reprise of our ego and superego feature will be guest columnists DC and Yankee Mike, along with Mets superfan Dave. We promise to be coherent and entertaining, which is almost too much to ask.

Item the Third: I don't like Roger Clemens. Robin doesn't like Roger Clemens. But that doesn't mean either one of us want the government running show trials in the name of finding facts about baseball. Look, guys: we understand you all love baseball as much as we do, and that as fans you want to know as much as anyone else how deeply the poison of HGH and steroids runs in the veins of the game. But the harsh light of Senate scrutiny isn't particularly illuminating when murky he said, he said statements are the name of the game and it's clear that the truth will remain buried somewhere in the darkness. Maybe Clemens is guilty, maybe he isn't, but it's a dead issue: he's out of baseball, the culture of steroids has begun to evaporate, and we've all accomplished the greater good by vilifying performance enhancements. Running an inquisition is just boring overkill.

Ankle Injury? You’re a Hero! Shoulder Injury? You’re Unemployed!

Ok everyone who is going be a starting pitcher on the Red Sox next year raise your hand.

Woah woah woah… not so fast Curt Schilling.

Apparently, Curt wasn’t so forthcoming in the injury department when Theo signed him to his 1 year $8 million dollar contract for the 2008 season. I guess when you have the reputation that Schilling has garnered, you get a simple “How’s the shoulder?” “Dude, its fine” instead of a complete physical when dealing with the Red Sox front office.

So it turns out that Mr. 38 Pitches has this major rotator cuff tear that may require season/career ending surgery OR at the very least he will be out till the All-Star break. Now besides the fact the Sox are down a major player in the rotation, they are also out a few barrels of kimchi due to Curts big ‘ol payday. Yet, it seems Curt may have knew his shoulder was no good (didn’t anyone see how banged up he was last season?) and the Sox are trying to void his contract.

That fact alone leads me to believe that Schilling will never play for the Sox again. No way you try to get out of a deal with this blabber-mouth and think that it’s all going to be hunky-dory when he gets better. No way. Do you know how much blog mileage he is gonna get out of this? I bet he’s already talked John McCain’s ear off about how nobody should disrespect him like this. Ugh… this can only end in separation.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Curt Schilling. I recognize his greatness, his accomplishments and I was looking forward to him ending his career in Boston. Also, I was expecting 12 wins out of him… but the guy is old, hurt and talks too much. Time to cut the chain.

On a similar note, I love our front office, but HOW is this a surprise to anyone? The guy was a legendary “workhorse” pitcher that’s now on the wrong side of 40! He was going to be the walking wounded even if his arm wasn’t already falling off.

Anyway, this is a roster spot easily filled by Buchholz and Tavarez paring off like oddest couple since Felix and Oscar, so it isn’t a disaster by any stretch of the imagination. I just feel that this would have been best handled a few months ago, but now we’re going to go through the whole “surgery no surgery, contract no contract” rigmarole. I can tell you right now that this is going to be draining.

But it’s not ALL bad… Truck Day on Saturday! Pitchers and Catchers! It’s almost baseball time baby!

And it's COCK FIGHT TIME! Wait... what?

UPDATE: It only took a few hours for the whole situation to get screwy. Now Schilling says he won't get surgery, didn't mean to cause trouble, and will fall in line. He's gonna rehab it out till after the All-Star break. We have to wait and see i guess.

Happy Holidays From Keep Your Sox On!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except for Curt Schilling calling out Roger Clemens in his blog;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Johan Santana soon would be there (but please don't trade Ellsbury);

Red Sox Nation was nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of future championships danced in their heads;

And Hazel Mae in her 'kerchief, and Jerry Remy in his cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
Jerry sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window he flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash (making sure not to knock over Wally).

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to his wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight championship pitchers in the guise of reindeer ("Nahmally," he thought "you don't see pitchers playing reindeeah"),

With a young driver, so lively and quick,
He knew in a moment it must be St. Theo.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Wakefield! now, Beckett! now, Matsuzaka and Okajima!
On, Papelbon (and your overeager dog)! on Delcarmen! on, Tavarez and Timlin!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the Green Monster!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of rings, and Theo Epstein too.

And then, in a twinkling, Jerry heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each pitching foot.

As Jerry drew in his hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Theo came with a bound.

He was dressed in slacks and button down shirt from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of player development profiles he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

And Jerry laughed when he saw him, in spite of himself;
A wink of Theo's eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave Jerry to know he had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But Jerry heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Hot Stove to all, and to all a good-night."

What to Do...What to Do

It wouldn't be a hot stove season at Keep Your Sox On unless our pal DC had a few pearls of baseball wisdom to dispense to the fortunate masses. Here's his take on how the front office is doing as they gear up for the 2008 campaign. Enjoy...

I've been promising to give my opinion of the off-season needs of the Old Towne Team ever since the World Series ended. So why am I so late in doing so? Well, let’s just say that living with Robin can apparently make you lazy through osmosis. So yeah, I know Theo and the boys have already done some things but its never too late to chime in. So without further ado, we might as well start with what’s already happened...

Moves Made:

• Schilling Re-signed – I would have approached this exactly as the front office did. The pitching market this off-season is as dreadful as Ron Jeremy’s physique, so why wouldn’t you throw a one year deal at Schill? Even if he’s no longer a top two guy, he's still a workhorse who competes, drives the rest of the pitching staff, and wants to win. Maybe he can even teach young Clay how to put a little meat on his bones.
  
  
• Lowell Re-signed – This too was ideal in my eyes. I was saying during the World Series that they should offer the Cuban George Clooney a 3 year deal with a club or mutual option for a 4th. Turns out, they got the man with the golden glove for 3 years without the option. So now we all win, Lowell gets paid, the Sox get a World Series MVP, we all get to enjoy his flawless defense and my girlfriend still has someone to think about while we’re in bed...yeah, don’t ask.
  
  
• Wake’s Option Picked Up – This was a no-brainer! Timmy Knuckles continues to be one of the biggest bargains in the league. The guy gives you quality innings, saves your pen, and is one of the vets who keeps things loose. Wake’s option will be picked up every year until he decides to hang it up...and then hopefully he’ll go teach the knuckleball to our A and AA squads.
  
  
• JT’s Option Picked Up – Much like signing Schilling, this makes total sense. The free agent relief pitchers this year are like a who’s who of crap. The devil that you know is much better than the devil that you don’t...particularly when the devil that you know is nuttier than squirrel turds and a quality relief option.

Work To Be Done:

I like the strategy that Theo and the moneymakers seem to be following. In short, secure the starting line up, re-arm the bullpen and then fill in the bench. So let’s look at these three tasks in order:

• Starting Lineup – With Lowell signed, the only decision to be made is who’s in center field. Personally, I like Coco. The guy is a freaking vacuum in center field, only if a vacuum was jet-propelled and was able to fly through the air like Bobby Orr. That being said, Jacoby is clearly the talk of the town and is clearly talented. Sounds like a no lose situation to this guy.
  
  
• Bullpen – As of right now we have a pen of Paps, Okie Dokie, MDC, JT Killer, Javier the Lesser, and Franken-Bronson. Unfortunately a quick perusal of the free agent market leaves you feeling like you just ate a crate of Hot Pockets. While optimistic Sox fans may have faith in the emergence of Bryan Corey and Brendan Donnelly, the reality is we’re talking about a 34 year old with only 3 years of experience in the bigs and a guy coming off Tommy John surgery. So, the front office is going to have to rescue some arms off of this year’s free agent scrap heap and they already missed out on the likes of Kerry Wood, David Riske and Scott Linebrink. Here are some viable options:
  
  
• Mike Timlin – This guy is quickly becoming the ageless wonder. Just when we were all writing him off this season, he came back and cut through more lumber than Paul Bunyan. As long as Tito doesn’t overuse him, he'll be great for 2008.
  
  
• Jeremy Affeldt – Managed to rejuvenate his career for this year’s NL Champs and he’s one of the few free agents who’s actually under 30.
  
  
• Ron Mahay – I don’t know...why not? I trust him more than LaTroy Hawkins.
  
  
• Bench – At this point our bench consists of Alex Cora and the aforementioned Ellsbury. That means we probably have 3 spots that need to be filled and they most likely need to be an outfielder, catcher and utility guy...
  
  
• Catcher – I know somehow Belli fell out of favor with the Boston fans. But here’s the deal, no other guy in the league is a sure thing when it comes to catching Timmy Knuckles. There is no youth available so you’re not getting Tek’s future replacement this off season. So why not go with the sure thing?
  
  
• Outfielder - Bobby Kielty: that huge home run in the World Series has got to be worth something right?
  
  
• Utility - Rob Mackowiak, Eric Hinske, Mike Lamb – None of them are going to carry a team any time soon. But each will give you innings at multiple positions and they all have experience starting games if need be.

Irons in the Fire:

You didn’t think we could go through this roundup without discussion of the blockbuster trade rumors, did you? Honestly, the Santana trade makes me uneasy because of the size of the contract that it will take to complete this deal. $25 million a year is a lot of money for any pitcher. At this point, making a trade for Erik Bedard is more enticing. This trade will cost the Sox fewer prospects and less money. In fact, the ideal move here would be something along the lines of Lester, Coco, Jed Lowry and a mid-to-low level prospect for Bedard and Kevin Millar. This gets Theo the splashy pitcher that he wants, solves the need for a utility guy and makes Boston the most fun-filled clubhouse in the league again. Everybody wins! Regardless of who the Sox trade for (Santana, Bedard, Haren) the real concern here is what does this mean about Dice-K? Do Theo and the boys no longer see him as Schilling’s replacement as 1A to Beckett’s 1?

What the Schilling Deal Means to Sox Fans

Looks like safe money means $8 million plus incentives, because Curt Schilling is officially a member of the Olde Towne Team for what he figures to be his final year as a professional baseball player. Schilling goes into the full details of the contract, including the $2 million weigh-in-based incentive he made the team add, in his blog, but what really makes this deal (which I didn't think was possible a few days ago) really interesting is that it slides another successful piece into place. (Speaking of which: congrats to Youk!)

As I talked about in my last post, the biggest difference between 2004 and 2008 is the lack of dismantlement. To be sure, the end of the 2004 season saw the expiration of more big contracts, but the spirit this time around seems to be different, and Schilling's resigning underscores that feeling: Red Sox management isn't going to be satisfied with another two years of near misses, or another set of experiments; they want to repeat in 2008. Giving Curt Schilling, Big Game Pitcher, another year in a Sox uniform means this team has taken the Yankees comparison to heart: they're going for dynasty numbers, establishing a championship pedigree before Schilling gets too old, or Manny's contract expires, or they lose any major components to the market.

The Party's Over

The party's over, and people have started to leave. As the overhead fluorescents flicker back on, the mood lighting disappears in a blast of blue-white glare and you're left holding what you hope is the jacket you wore on the way in. The World Series is over, the rolling rally has rolled on into history, and it's time to figure out who's coming back in 2008 and who's hitting the dusty trail to another city and another team. As the announcements start to pour in, however, let's hope the powers who manage our favorite team learned one thing from the aftermath of 2004: trying to duplicate success with cheaper replacement parts dances with disaster at every turn. So far, they haven't figured out that means bringing back Mike Lowell, but there have been a few other moves of note:

Exploring New Opportunities

• Curt Schilling - No surprise here; Curt's been talking his next move since the Sox declined to extend his contract by a year back in the Spring. The master of media relations has been keeping the media and fans abreast of select negotiations matters through his blog, including an announcement intended to dispel rumors that he's ceased discussions with Boston management. Should Curt stay in Boston: behind the fate of Mike Lowell, that's the biggest question about this championship team. I've been inclined to say no, to give both Lester and Buchholz space to shine in next year's rotation, but that means Matsuzaka would need to have a much more consistent year in 2008. Safe money would have Schilling back for one more year.
  
  
• Doug Mirabelli - Dougie filed before the Sox announced they'd be exercising Wakefield's option and before Kevin Cash chose free agency over assignment to Pawtucket, so it's likely he'll be back in Boston for another year, come hell, high water or the promotion of catcher Dusty Brown. When it comes to the knuckleball, I can't see the Sox making the same mistake twice.
  
  
• Bobby Kielty - I wonder how much that pinch-hit, game-difference, helped-win-the-World-Series-with-one-swing home run added to his contract value as a utility player. I'd wish this guy luck, but with Eric Hinske testing the waters I wonder whether or not Kielty might end up making a good bench option for 2008.
  
  
• Matt Clement - I think that marks the end of the "We Don't Need Pedro...We Can Sign Two Starters for Double the Effectiveness at Half the Cost!" experiment Theo launched in 2004. I'd say it all worked out poorly for Boston (I still have nightmares about David Wells taking the mound), but the Sox were right: Pedro's arm is now seeking to finalize the divorce from his shoulder, and the Mets are still paying him to rehab. I guess the winners are the teams that got the compensatory draft picks.
  
  
• Eric Gagne - So, um...don't let the door hit you on the way out, ok?
  

Demonstrating Their Commitment to the Team

• Tim Wakefield - A year without Wakefield on the mound in a Boston uniform is a year I don't want to face, and fortunately neither does the Sox Front Office: they picked up the 2008 version of the recurring option for another year of Knuckleball Fun Featuring Tim Wakefield after an arthogram revealed his aching shoulder just needs rest. I say he goes for 18 wins next year.
  
  
• Julian Tavarez - The Sox didn't put him on the post-season roster, but they still decided to bring the highly versatile and slightly crazed Tavarez back for a third round of erratic pitching, wild gesticulations and blood-soaked baby sacrifice. My theory: either Tavarez is Theo's backup plan in case either Lester or Buchholz turns into a bust, or the Sox couldn't bear to part Manny from his static electricity partner.
  
  
• John Farrell - "Those, rumahs, erah, aboutah Pittsburgh, were, erah, spread by my enemies to discredit me." Probably a good thing if the pitching coach for the team with the lowest ERA in the AL stayed around after that team won a championship, hmmm? Might help contribute to future titles and all that?
  

Entering a Mutually-Chosen Period of Readjustment

• Royce Clayton - Clayton was the acquisition most people (including myself) don't remember Boston making in August; the guy who played six games and sat on the bench in the post-season, and now he's gone, just like that. Royce, we hardly knew ye, and at age 37, it seems a little unlikely any other team will, either. We'll always have Taco Bell, though.
  

I Want My Funeral to Be a Rolling Rally

How do you describe pure unadulterated joy? How do you comprehend that feeling when it’s experienced by a whole city? And PLEASE someone tell me how NOT to get caught up in it! The emotion is just too strong to fight. You just take the wave and ride it into shore. The comforting arms of a city that has had its dreams fulfilled… a second time.

Unlike 2004, I was lucky enough to partake in the rolling rally this time. What a majestic sight to witness 50,000 people celebrate something that they have followed religiously for a whole year. I felt like I was mashed in a tuna can the size of Government Center with a couple thousand of my brothers. Brothers that when cut, would bleed the names of every player to ever don the Red Sox laundry. Brothers who skipped class, work, hospital appointments and if they could, their own funeral arrangements to be part of a city wide party.

By the time the duck boats cruised my way, I was comfortably compact with the rest of the mob waiting to catch a glimpse of heroes. I rubbed elbows with an elderly couple from Newton excited that they were able to attend two such events in their lifetime. I met Sam, a banker from Miami who flew up just incase there was a game 6 or 7 and decided to stay for the rally as the best consolation prize ever. I even helped 9th grader Evan start one of the MANY “Re-sign, clap clap, Mike Lowell, clap clap” chants that forever dogged the procession. Sox Nation had the biggest town hall meeting ever… and they want to make it an annual event.

When the core of this slithering amphibious line stopped in front of my position, the roar of the crowd was deafening. Newly appointed dance instructor and official rockstar of the Boston Red Sox, Papelbon was joined by the Dropkick Murphy’s and a very inebriated Mike Timlin. To make good on his promises, Papelbon wearing a tartan kilt, grabbed a Rockie sweeping broom and danced, air guitared and embarrassed himself into another collection of unflattering poses. It’s just too bad everyone was too busy enjoying it to make him stop. He was a man about town that had suddenly brought the town to him.

As of this point, I am not ready to discuss signing, firing, quitting or trading of any member of the 2007 World Champs. Just please gimmie a few days or more to enjoy the party while it lasts.

Like when Youk when asked about the future of many of his free agent to be teammates his reply was simple and complete: “no comment.”

I agree. I’m too busy loving life right now to worry about next year… at least let me clean the confetti out of my clothes.

2007 World Series Game 2: We Rock

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 2, Colorado Rockies 1

You watch their faces/You'll see the traces/Of the things they want to be/But only we can see

Hope you were watching tonight, because you might have just watched Curt Schilling's swan song performance in a Red Sox uniform. Opinionated, loud-mouthed, self-promotional, unlikable; whatever your opinion may be of the man, he's always delivered when it really, really counted, whether it be a particularly pivotal start in the regular season, or when elimination loomed in the post-season, or just to establish a commanding lead in the World Series.

They come for killing/They leave and still it seems/The cloud that's left behind/Oh, can penetrate your mind

Tonight, I sat and stood and stomped and pounded and clapped amongst the crowd at Professor Thom's to an effort was no different: vintage Schilling - he of the power pitch and the massive shift in speeds - may not be anything more than a shadow of a memory, but the wily pitcher Schilling's become ain't no schlub, either. Here in the autumn twilight of the season Curt suffered the Rockies to garner a single run, scored only as a result of a tight inside pitch and a poorly-produced play at second. Throw in four strikeouts, two walks and four hits over five and a third and you have Curt Schilling, playoffs 2007 edition: still deadly effective. Far more sublime than masterful, it was an effort - along with those of Okajima and the indomitable Papelbon - that was still more than enough to keep Colorado from taking the final lead.

We pray to someone/But when it's said and done/It's really all the same/With just a different name

Meanwhile, we all awaited the glacial cracking of the edifice of Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez, whose high-speed heat and tricky off-speed pitches are not yet paired with the pin-point control that can keep an offense like Boston's on its toes. The offensive strategy was simple but deadly: wait for Jimenez to show his wild side, leave a pitch where it shouldn't be or hand out a walk, then strike viper-quick for the run. We all loved to see its fruition, even as we despaired of our team's ability to break the score open for some breathing room, our frustrations epitomized by the mass celebrations that broke out during David Ortiz's Pesky Pole-bound foul ball in the fourth - the one we were all so sure was a home run that we did not watch its flight out of fair territory.

They come for killing/They leave and still it seems/The cloud that's left behind/Can penetrate your mind

Although the great thunder of last night's bats passed with the Game 1 rainstorms, there were enough hits, and enough runs: after two innings and two-thirds innings and a trip round the lineup, the Boston hitters seemed to realize they weren't going to catch up to Jimenez and his 97+ mph heat, but they could wait for him to hang himself. Ground outs and strikeouts quickly turned to walks, which became hits, two runs scored and 12 men left on base. Jimenez retired in haste in the fifth, the victim of his own inability to control his pitch count. Meanwhile, innings mounted, outs decreased, and excitement in Professor Thom's rose to a fever pitch, as 150 or so Sox fans lived and died by Cinco Ocho; his death mask pitching fast, his fastball, his brilliance. The win became collective, as good wins always do: the players put the ball in the right places at the right times, but we - the screaming masses in Fenway, and their counterparts in a crowded Red Sox bar in New York - pushed them to make the moves.

Sail on, sing a song, carry on/Cause we rock...

Taking Stock: How to Beat the Rox

Over the past three and a half years, we've all gone through a lot of changes as Red Sox fans: we've had our outlook fundamentally changed by a miracle string of victories, sworn we could face adversity without the passionate rages that characterize our past, had those promises shatter like a glass beer mug hitting the floor during one of the many draw-dropping, heart-breaking collapses of 2005 and 2006, come to terms anew with the passion that never left our hearts, seen our faith tested when our GM left in an ape suit, when our star prospect came down with cancer, when our injury-plagued team hit its nadir over eight games in August and tumbled into third place. Three and a half years later, we're better fans: we still care a whole lot freakin' lot, but we're not so crazy, and we don't give up so easily. We've grown, and we should be proud of it. And now we're back in the World Series.

We're facing a team that may not have the same history as the Red Sox had coming into the Fall Classic, vintage 2004, but definitely has that same fire, coming out of nowhere at the last second to pile on win after win, capture wild card and National League pennant, sweep all comers and generally surprise everyone. With their large crop of home grown young players, much smaller overall salary, and inexperience with the limelight, the Rockies are the true underdogs, darling of non-New England fans who love to see the David and Goliath story reenacted once again. I'm not saying we should root for them to win, though; it's just good to know what we're facing on an emotional level. Now for the stats:

Season Record
Thanks to Bud Selig, Boston's actually faced Colorado this year, and thanks to wretched performances by pretty much everyone on the team except for Tim Wakefield (who won't be on the World Series roster), the Rockies left town with a 2 and 1 record against the Sox, while we put up posts with clever titles. Of course, that series fell in the middle of a 54 game stretch where Boston played .500 ball (how did they win the AL East again?), so we can hope that it's not indicative of World Series performance. Otherwise, we're completely screwed.

Batting Versus Pitching
The sample sizes in question between both teams are absolutely useless, I'm going to focus on post-season stats instead. There are three things that interest me:

1. Colorado put up a 2.33 ERA and a .172 batting average against when playing Philadelphia in the divisional series, and a 1.89 ERA and a .254 batting average against when playing Arizona in the championship series. Arizona was not a particularly strong hitting team this year, but Colorado made both teams look absolutely silly at the plate. The Rockies' game one starter is Jeff Francis, a 26-year-old who posted slightly above average numbers in 34 starts this year, but gave the Sox screaming heebie-jeebies over five innings back in June. Their game four starter is Aaron Cook, a 28-year-old who posted slightly above-average numbers in 25 starts, but who hasn't pitched in two months because of an injury. Somehow this translates to pitching domination in the junior hitting league. If the Sox offense keeps ticking like it did over the last three games of the ALCS, that pitching advantage might be for naught, which is good because...
2. ...the Rockies hit poorly in the NLDS and wretchedly in the NLCS, cracking a total of 57 hits over 236 at-bats. That's pretty wretched, and wouldn't seem to be a sign of a vibrant offense, except that about half of those hits turned into runs. Boston had a higher success rate overall, but they had four games where they won by seven or more runs, and they've had a much more productive offense in 2007. Colorado seems to have the ability to be productive when it matters, and they'll be a huge threat if they're allowed on the base paths.
3. Much has been made of the Rockies and their Christian clubhouse, how the team might be operating under a divine mandate to win everything. That may be the case, but remember: we have Curt Schilling, who's more avid about his religious beliefs than 10 Matt Hollidays, and prays on the mound before making a start. Who knows: speculation about who will win might be a moot point when Schilling takes the mound in Game 2, as Jesus might suddenly decide He prefers Armageddon to trying to pick favorites.

Conclusion
Both teams in this series live and die by pitching; the Rockies because they can't seem to hit anything, the Red Sox because they need to keep the Rockies from scoring any runs, because the offense might just disappear in the face of unknown starters. Assuming we all survive Game 2, I'm calling Red Sox in seven.

2007 ALCS Game 6: Aces High

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 12, Cleveland Indians 2

There goes the siren that warns of the air raid/Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak/Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne/Got to get up for the coming attack

Baseball is a game of statistics, a math geek's wet dream of numbers and outcomes and probabilities that make it one of humanity's more perfect endeavors. However, within this perfection lies the paradox of improbability and uncertainty, the human element that defies prediction and makes the games worth watching. This human element takes, among other forms, the guise of shifting momentums, tied up in morale; the same unpredictable, intangible feeling that drives armies on a battlefield towards crushing defeat or overwhelming victory. It's why we all hold hitting streaks and strings of victories in such high acclaim: put inertia on your side and you gain the aura of invincibility.

Before this series started, I mentioned that I was excited for the upcoming battle; I focused on the pitching match ups, which have proven disappointing in many ways, but instead I find myself satisfied with the pure baseball appeal of this series thanks to the frequent shifts in momentum. Boston took command with Beckett's first win, then Cleveland asserted itself with three straight victories that put Boston on the edge of elimination. The Sox slowed the rush with Beckett's second win that sent the series back to Fenway, but they really regained the upper hand tonight using both bat and glove in two key moments.

Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines/Remove all the wheelblocks there's no time to waste/Gathering speed as we head down the runway/Gotta get airborne before it's too late.

Moment 1: While Beckett is the golden god of the 2007 playoffs, Curt Schilling is the wild card: his abilities as a big game pitcher are set in stone, but after a weak Game 2 showing and the ongoing concerns about his ability to adapt to his advancing age, a strong outing was more of a fond hope than a clear certainty. However, fortune - and Schilling's own dogged refusal to look bad twice in a row - smiled upon the evening, giving the big righty a stat line that would make anyone proud: two runs on six hits, with five strike outs and a home run, all over seven innings. But this sterling performance might never have happened if not for a lucky call in the first inning.

Grady Sizemore drove the third pitch of the game high and deep to right field, a towering fly ball that screamed home run from the moment it left the bat. It sliced into the seats around the foul pole, as Red Sox Nation drew its collective breath, and watched helpless as the season started to swirl down the toilet. A home run from the first batter of the game: momentum would scream back into Cleveland's court faster than a Boston driver weaving through traffic on the Southeast Expressway. The Indians would go on to score five or six runs in the first inning alone, and the Sox would be on the golf courses by Monday morning. But the baseball gods were kind: umpires ruled the ball, which looked like a home run on the replay, was foul - no gopher ball, no first blood, no nothing. Sizemore grounds outs, Lugo to Youkilis, three pitches later.

Running, scrambling, flying/Rolling, turning, diving, going in again.
Running, scrambling, flying, Rolling, turning, diving...

Moment 2: J.D. Drew has not had a good year. He's getting a lot of money for below average production, he hasn't lived up to his role as a key member of the offense, etc. We all know the story, and we all expect less of Drew - who was 0 for 6 with men in scoring position coming into tonight - as a result. Boston loads the bases in the bottom of the first inning, as Pedroia, Youkilis and Ortiz all reach safely with no outs. Manny strikes out looking after a tough battle with Carmona, Lowell flies out to Trot Nixon in shallow right - too shallow to score a run - putting the burden on Drew. A walk would have been a fine - a single seemed too much to ask for. The fate of the whole game hung in the balance of that one moment, and J.D. Drew shocked us all to the very core: he smashed a 3 and 1 fastball into the camera well in center field for a grand slam.

Pandemonium. I'm in a bar, and though every fan in the place is yelling and screaming his or her head off, we can't believe it. We yell through the shock: J.D. Drew delivered. Ill fortune hangs over him like a cloud, a reputation for injury-plagued selfish play and missed potential dogs his footsteps, but for a shining moment - the shining moment of the whole game, on par in orders of magnitude with Manny's walk off from Game 2 of the ALDS - Drew baptized away all of his Red Sox sins. The rest of the evening was a state of grace: three for five, two runs, five RBI, a one-man wrecking team armed with a bat and the will to make up for lost time. Pour some gasoline on that fire tomorrow and we might finally see the birth of a monster.

Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die/Won't you run, live to fly, fly to live
Aces high!

2007 ALCS Game 2: Mind Riot

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 6, Cleveland Indians 13

I was crying from my eye teeth and/Bleeding from my soul
And I sharpened my wits on a dead man’s skull

Even though J.D. Drew's first season with the Red Sox has fallen far short of anyone's expectations - witness the OBP and SLG scores, the home run totals, the numbers of hits, all off last year's mark, far short career highs and, at $14.4 million a season, not what Boston paid to see - no one in a logical, rational frame of mind would say that Drew is not an upgrade over Trot Nixon, whose market value might be five times less than Drew, but whose returns on investment - fewer hits, about 150 less plate appearances in 40 fewer games, less power, etc. all in a body a year older and far more banged up - has removed him from consideration as a starting right fielder. Trot Nixon has dirt dogged himself into a veteran utility role, pure and simple.

I built an elevator from his bones/Had climb to the top floor just/To stamp out the coals

We look at the stats and the history and we know all of these things to be true on an intellectual level. The higher courses of our brains reassure us with facts and figures, telling us that while day-to-day baseball is fluky, things eventually trend out to prove the superiority or inferiority of a choice. J.D. Drew is the better right fielder; this is known. But that current of rational thought is just a cheap veneer, cracking and melting away from the pressure of the primitive, emotional parts of the brain that focus all too easily on one thing: when J.D. Drew came up to bat in the eighth inning with a chance to start the third (and final) Red Sox rally, he hit a liner to center field. When Trot Nixon came up in similar situation in the eleventh inning, he hit the single that scored the go-ahead run. "Trot Nixon beat us," we rage, "why isn't he on the Red Sox anymore?"

And the candle was burning yesterday/Like somebody’s friend died
And I‘ve been caught in a mind riot/I’m tied within

Though Nixon's single pierces our mind with its sheer ironic temerity, claiming its place as tonight's unkindest cut of all, it was not the only stab of the night: from Schilling's lackluster line (4.2 innings, nine hits, five runs, two gopher balls) to the return of the Red Scare (two blown saves and a seven run, last nail in the coffin eleventh inning), tonight was a blood-stained affair that Red Sox Nation would rather forget. And you know what? I'm happy to do so, to focus on the positive: Manny and Ortiz remain the Castor and Pollux of the 2007 playoffs, the heart of the order continues to rock the party that rocks the body, and tonight Fausto Carmona's deal with the devil looked like it expired in Cleveland sometime last week. Give tonight a pass, and move on to Cleveland ready to get back on track to victory.

I’m luck’s last match struck/In the pouring down wind

Taking Stock: How to Beat the Tribe

My first thoughts after last night's slightly surprising victory revolved around disappointment. Not because I was looking for another media-fest fueled Red Sox/Yankees championship series; far from it. I just wanted a five game series to mess up Cleveland's rotation, to make things a little easier for Boston coming into Friday's start.

However, I've mended the error of my ways, and I'm excited about both this series and the opponent Boston will be facing for a whole of reasons, starting with the glee over the depression some FOX executive is feeling over the loss of ratings that departed with the Yankees, and ending with the scheduled match ups of the first two games: Beckett versus Sabathia? Schilling versus Carmona? It's like someone took the joys of alcohol and distilled it into pitching form. Even better, because it's not Yankees and Red Sox head-to-head, there's no hype. It's pure baseball, and our team happens to be one of the contestants. I think my head might explode from the sheer geeky bliss.

Speaking of geek bliss, let's get on with the series breakdown:

Season Record
Boston and Cleveland played seven games this season; the Sox won five of them. Two of those wins came at home, three on the road, which is a nice even split, and speaks well for Boston's chances in either park. Unlike the Angels, when Cleveland wins, they win with their starting pitching: Carmona and Paul Byrd have both shut down the Boston offense long enough to garner wins, and their bullpens backed them up. Relief pitching should be a much bigger factor in this series, and all things being equal, the team with the most consistent pen will likely emerge the victor.

Batting Versus Pitching
The Indians are a harder team to hit than the Angels: about 31 percent of balls Boston knocked into play turned into hits, and the Sox averaged about 1.46 hits or walks per inning. What's interesting is that the split between Sox wins at home and in Cleveland continues here with hits and walks per inning: it's consistently about 1.44 per inning at both locations. What's even more interesting is that the splits of percentage of runs scored is about the same in both parks, too: 36 percent at Fenway, 38 percent in Cleveland. Boston's overall runs success rate against Cleveland is about 37 percent.

The Indians present a slightly different picture. 32 percent of the balls they put in play against Boston pitching became hits, but the Tribe could only muster about 1.10 hits or walks per inning - not a particularly good success rate. Cleveland converted 40 percent of those base runners into runs, which is not only higher than Boston's percentage but a point higher than the team's 2007 average. The Indians have the same weird near-equal split in percentage of runs scored at both parks: a 34 percent success rate at Fenway, and a 40 percent success rate at The Jake.

Boston has one key hitting statistic that's giving them the edge over Cleveland: they're able to get more men on base. The Sox haven't been able to score as many of those men as Cleveland in 2007, and they've also found Indians pitching much harder to score against than the rest of their opponents - about 9 percent fewer runs scored than the 2007 average. One of the big keys to this series for Boston will be keeping Cleveland off the bases to eliminate the scoring threat, especially when pitching at Jacobs Field.

In overall pitching, the two teams are very closely matched: ERAs of about 4.20 for both groups of starters, 3.10 for Boston relievers and 3.75 for the Cleveland pen. Over 2007, Boston starters given up about 3 runs per game, while Cleveland starters surrendered 3.1 runs per game.

Conclusion
This series will be about two things: which pitching staff can last the longest, and which offense can break through. With such equal pitching match ups, the Sox will have to exploit their superior base runner-creating ability to manufacture runs, break down starters and force the Indians to exhaust their bullpen. Boston's relatively equal hitting success both at home and in Cleveland is an advantage, but Boston's pitching needs to keep Cleveland off the bases so they don't score runs. However, both teams are capable of such excellent performance that I foresee nothing but a hard fought series that could go all seven games. I call Boston in six. GO SOX!!!

2007 ALDS Game 3: The Pretender(s)

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 9, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 1

Send in your skeletons/Sing as their bones go marching in... again

Anaheim played with all the desperation of a Beer League softball team after a three day bender. Who were those guys? That couldn’t have been the Angel team that has been nipping at our heels all season, and when you think about it, I guess this really WASN’T the team they were in the regular season. Gary Mathews Jr. was out with an injury, Kotchman was sick, Vlad had a bunch of nagging physical issues affecting his performance, and Anderson had to LEAVE this game because his swollen eye was grossing everybody out. What remained of the Angel offense looked like it was put together with duct tape, string and bubblegum. Lots of speed, but not much else that would instill any fear.

Oh, and speed doesn’t really matter when you don’t get on base. Schilling was the real-freaking-deal with a performance that was different (he is definitely not a power pitcher anymore) but just as dominating. He had a little trouble with a bases loaded jam and a first and third problem in the 7th, but he came on like gangbusters killing any chance of an Angels rally.

What if I say I'm not like the others?/What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays

From a batting standpoint the Sox were keeping things close early. The only runs came from MONSTER back-to-back shots from Papi and Manny. It’s shocking that this was the first time they did it all season. You couldn’t have picked a better time for these two sluggers to get red hot.

Then things started to go bad for the poor Angels. Shields, Speer and Oliver combined for 7 runs in a disastrous (if you’re from California) 8th inning. It was batting practice for pretty much every hitter. Pedroia, Lowell and Tek all decided to do a two bag dance and put the Sox up up up up… it was glorious. The Sox hitters really took advantage of an overused and overrated bullpen. That’s 9 playoff wins in a row against the Angels. Like I said, these jokers didn’t have anything that resembled a competent playoff team.

Unfortunately, it’s highly likely the team the Sox face in the ALCS will be ready for battle. The Indians have two dominant starters and a potent offence and we ALL know what the Yankees are packing… if they make it (now only down 1-2 in the series). Can they handle Boston though? Can they stand up to the momentum we have? Are they the real deal? It may be too soon to tell... but I'm not buying any other team but the Sox.

You're the pretender/What if I say I will never surrender?

Taking Stock: How to Beat the Halos

Now that the dust has settled, it's time to start contemplating the next step: winning the American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Three years ago, of course, the Sox bent the Angels over a chair for a series that was ultimately exciting for two reasons: it really started the Legend of Senor Octubre for David Ortiz, and it turned Curt Schilling into the gimpy warrior of bloody sock fame. But that was before the Halos gave Anaheim the shove and started claiming they were from Los Angeles - also, they're a different team - so we probably shouldn't expect a rollover coming into the series. So how do things stack up this time around? Let's break it down:

Season Record
The Sox won the season series six to four, but there are two things that are even more interesting:

1. Boston won five of the seven games in Boston, and lost two of the three games in Anaheim. With home field advantage, Boston's looking at three games in Boston and two in Anaheim; based on this small sample, winning three of them should be doable.
2. Four of Anaheim's six losses to Boston came at the hands of their starters; the other two were the responsibility of the bullpen. Boston has a good shot at getting the wins if they score the runs early.

Batting versus Pitching
When Boston puts the ball in play against Anaheim, they get hits about one-third of the time, but that one third of the time looks even better when you realize that Boston gets about 1.65 walks or hits per inning against Angels pitching - papa like that, let me tell you. About 46 percent of those base runners turn into runs, which ain't half bad; Boston's 2007 overall success rate is 39 percent, and higher equals better, especially when the playoffs are concerned. Meanwhile, the Halos got hits from about 30 percent of the balls they've put in play against Boston this year, and generated 1.26 walks and hits per inning in the process. Los Angeles turned about 38 percent of those base runners into runs, falling about a percentage point shy of their 2007 overall success rate.

Boston not only has a more potent offense (the higher percentage of runs scored overall), they actually become more likely to score runs against Angels pitching, while the Los Angeles rate not only has lower overall success rate but even becomes slightly less effective when facing the Sox. On the pitching side, Boston gives up a half run less per game than Los Angeles, and the ERA of Boston's ever-so-important bullpen is more than a full run lower than that of its starters (3.10 versus 4.22), while the both Angels starters and relievers give up about 4.23 runs per nine innings. Neither team has proven itself to be particularly effective pitching in the other team's ballpark, so - especially with the home field advantage - Boston seems to have the clear edge heading into the series.

Conclusion
Boston's definitely the clear winner on paper; they've not only got the better team, but they've done better in all aspects of head-to-head play. However, we all know stats aren't the be-all end-all predictor of success; plenty of factors will appear at the last second - like Tim Wakefield not being to pitch because of back pain - that could make the paper predictions as worthless as a stack of Monopoly money. Maybe John Lackey will buck his previous record against Boston and pitch the Angels in a game one loss. Maybe the gaps between games will throw off everyone's rhythm, and turn each team into bizzaro versions of themselves. Maybe J.D. Drew will become a playoff god. I say Red Sox in four, with a round 2 clinch in sunny LA. GO SOX!!!