Results tagged ‘ Angels ’
Yard Sale at Fenway
No, I am not even talking about the Mike Lowell deal (which is not official, yet).
Yesterday, when I got home from work around 3pm, this email was sitting in my inbox:
Everyone,
I
know this is extremely late notice but the Red Sox have just invited all ARAMARK
employees to come on down to the yard sale today. You can enter through Gate
E. They are selling a number of different things ranging from $10-$700+.
Please forward this along to your distribution lists if
possible.Thanks,
This, of course, was the first I ever heard of it. What notice! This would have been awesome to go to. However, apparently, the Red Sox weren’t too keen on promoting this event. I did a google search for “Yard Sale at Fenway Park” and didn’t really see much pertaining to 2009 except for this, a post Fenway neighborhood blog:
1:22 PM
Posted by
Stephen BrophyDear Fenway Neighbors,
Please join us for a
great opportunity to finish up (or begin!) your holiday shopping at the
Great Fenway Park Yard Sale today at Fenway Park until 5pm!Items for sale include unique Red Sox memorabilia and one-of-a-kind items from Fenway Park.
Please enter through Gate E and let them know you’re a Fenway neighbor.
Hope to see you there!!!
Happy shopping!!
Beth Krudys
Interesting to find out how many people knew about this and how many people were there. However, apparently it was quite successful because today the Red Sox have agreed to a 5 year contract with form Los Angeles of Anaheim Angel John Lackey and have made an offer of $15.5 million to Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman and are close to a deal with perennial Gold Glove outfielder Mike Cameron.
While Lackey is a quality starting pitcher who has won quite a few big games in his career, I cannot say that I am truly enamored with this signing. This does make a strong rotation for 2010 with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buccholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, and now Lackey. However, with this contract being reported as a 5 yr / $85 million contract, you have to wonder how this signing is going to affect the Josh Beckett negotiations. Beckett will become a free agent at the end of 2010. Beckett will command a contract AT LEAST the length and size of Lackey’s deal. With the Red Sox’ history of re-signing their own free agents (case in point Jason Bay right now; hence the news of an impending deal with Cameron), this has got to put up some red flags that this is Beckett’s last season in Fenway. Besides Varitek a few years ago, I can’t really remember a premier player that the Red Sox re-signed once the player filed for free agency. I hope this will not be the case, as Beckett still has quite a few years of top of the rotation pitching left in his career. Time will tell.
This has not only been a busy Monday for the Red Sox, but a busy Monday baseball wide. The big news of the day is the big Roy Halladay / Cliff Lee trade that is on the verge of being finalized. This is a 3 team trade in which Halladay goes to Philadelphia (pending a contract extension being signed), Cliff Lee heads off to Seattle, and a bunch of prospects will go to Toronto. This will be exciting to hear about the finalized deal.
A lot of times, the MLB “Hot Stove” season is a bit over-hyped and over-rated, but today has been an exciting day. It has made me tune back into the MLB Network today after their rude programming where they replayed the Bucky “Bleeping” Dent game. Gahhhhhhhh!
Go Sox!!!!
Let Down
All the expert were saying it. All the articles I read were saying it. The Red Sox own the Angels. The Red Sox are in the Angel’s head. Here comes another Red Sox – Yankees ALCS. Well, three games into the ALDS, and it was over. However, this was not supposed to happen:
Getting swept? Jonathan Papelbon blowing a post-season save? Carlos Ruiz hitting a 3-run homer? (Ooops, sorry about that. Watching Dodgers-Phillies game 1 while I type this) Going down 1-2-3 to Brian Fuentes to end it? Well, I guess there is something to say about ending it like you started it, isn’t there? There were certainly a lot of 1-2-3 innings for the Red Sox offense this series. What went wrong?
I don’t know, really. The whole team was pretty flat. The offense was anemic in Games 1 and 2. Scoring only 1 run of Lackey and Weaver. The starters weren’t sharp. Well, Clay Buchholz looked very good. Much better than Jon Lester and Josh Beckett.
However, when you’re leading batter in the series hit .250, your starters weren’t sharp, and your closer allows 5 runs (2 inherited runners, and the first 3 runs of his post-season career), that is a recipe for failure. A disappointing way to lose a series and end a pretty nice season. It took a few days to let it sink in.
When I left the game, the Sox were up 5-2. I was pretty much expecting to be spending Columbus Day back at Fenway for a cold night of work. Oh, here is me at work, for those who don’t know (sorry for the size, I used my digital camera to record it off the DVR, and then took a screen shot while replaying it using Windows Media Player):
However, the biggest let down of losing that game aside from no World Series for the Red Sox was a hit in my wallet. Working on Columbus Day would have given me Holiday Pay as well as an added incentive bonus pay for working my 65th game of the Season.
Oh, Red Sox, the ways you hurt me.
GO ANGELS!
P.S. Yes, I will still watch the the rest of the playoffs. Even though, I am a Red Sox fan. I am first and foremost a baseball fan. I love the game, no matter who is playing. Even the Yankees. Now, back to the Phillies ~ Dodgers NLCS Game 1.
P.P.S. Sorry if I let down you readers (if there are any) this season. Working two jobs, and two young children really don’t leave a lot of free time to sit down and write. Thanks to all who still check in. I should have more time during the off-season to write a bit more.
14 Million Dollar Platoon?
Think about this. The highest paid player on your team doesn’t play versus left-handed pitchers. Could you imagine Albert Pujols sitting or Manny Ramirez sitting (well, yes I can imagine him sitting, that’s not a good example) or A-Rod sitting? Or, how about Ryan Howard, Carl Crawford, or Ichiro Suzuki? However, when you are this guy:
You don’t start versus left-handed pitchers anymore. Against the first two LHP opposing starters the Red Sox have faced, Scott Kazmir and Joe Saunders, manager Terry Francona has opted to start Rocco Baldelli instead of J.D. Drew. The 14 Million Dollar question is why?
I can see once in a while, to get Rocco some at bats, that he’d replace Drew, Ellsbury, or even Ortiz against some LHP. But 2 LHPs in a row Drew sits for Baldelli?
J.D. Drew is a career .260 hitter versus LHP. Last year, he hit .284 versus lefties but in 2007 he hit .224 against southpaws. In his career versus Kazmir, he was 1-7 with a triple a walk and 3 strikeouts. I can see sitting him versus Kazmir, who is notoriously tough (career .212 BA against vs LH batters) on lefties. In his career versus Saunders, he is 1-5 with a double and a walk. Not a large sample against either pitcher, but Saunders is not tougher on lefties like Kazmir is.
If you compare Drew to Ortiz, Big Papi is a career .268 hitter versus LHP. Last year, though, he hit a paltry .221 against lefties, obviously his injured wrist played a factor in this. In 2007, Ortiz hit .308 versus LHP. In the years 2003 through 2006, Ortiz hit .216, .250, .302, and .278 against LHP.
Now, I’m not saying that Ortiz should sit instead of Drew against lefties, not at all. I’m just using Ortiz as a comparison, as their numbers versus lefties aren’t far apart. However, I would have to think that it is very rare that a team’s highest paid player becomes a platoon player. In Drew’s defense, I do not think he should be sitting versus lefties, however, if his at bat versus Brian Fuentes to end Sunday’s game is any indication, maybe Francona knows what he is doing.
It was nice to see the Red Sox and Angels come together in fellowship on this Easter Day:
Should make for an interesting series when the Sox return back to Anaheim in May. Hopefully, they won’t let as many opportunities to score slip away then, like they did this week. And, hopefully they’ll be able to slow down the Angels on the basepaths. It was nice to see Varitek throw out Figgins trying to steal second, though.
Now it is onto Oakland, before returning back to Fenway for the RED HOT Orioles. I think the Sox will take 2 of 3 from Oakland in this series, but I am not looking forward to those 10 PM start times. Oh well.
Go SOX!!!!
The Game Must Go On
I can’t imagine what it must be like losing a teammate in that fashion, but it must be a bit therapeutic to be able to get back on the field and play the game that you love, and the game that Nick loved. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of Nick and his three friends (two of who also died) and I hope the drunk driver never see the light of another day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was going to post a blog yesterday, after I returned from the Rays – Red Sox series finale, but when I logged onto MLBlogs, that is when I found out the news. So, I think I was going to write a blog titled Two Left Feet or something similarly unwitty to follow up my Right Foot post. Anyway, all thoughts left my brain after seeing the MLBlogs home page.
So right now, the Red Sox are currently playing the Angels. The first game since the passing of Adenhart. The Angels are making it a track meet, which usually happens when Tim Wakefield puts runners on base. I may be able to steal a base off of Wakefield. Wakefield has been a bit of Jeckyll and Hyde tonight. A good inning, a bad inning, and so forth. He just went J&H in the same inning. He loaded the bases with no outs, and gets out of the jam just as quickly as he got in it.
A few noteworthy items tonight. The Red Sox are not where there usual road uniforms. They look like they’re wearing their (Do I have the correct they’re/there/their usuage?) Spring Training uniform, except for a new cap with the Sox in place of the B. Not sure how I like it yet, maybe if they were winning, I’d probably love the new look. Haha.
Next, Jerry Remy is missing from the booth tonight. The Red Sox are going with a musical chair of color guys tonight, each chipping in 2 innings of work. First up was Sean McAdams, from the Boston Herald. He was followed by Angel’s color man, Rex Hudler. Hudler was great to listen to in the booth, recalling many stories of his time as a player under Terry Francona in Philly. Currently, Fox’s Ken Rosenthal is in the booth. He has always been a quality baseball reporter. Tony Masserotti of the Boston Globe will be finishing the night in the booth, that should be interesting.
I must say I am enjoying the free preview of the MLB package on cable. Today, I caught the end of the Tigers blowout in their home opener. I then caught some of the Yankees – Royals game. The Yankees should be undefeated opening up against the last place teams of the AL East and Central. I then flipped between the Mets – Marlins game, which was quite the contest ending in a dramatic game-winning (I’m not a fan of “walk-off”) single by Jorge Cantu, and the Astros – Cardinals game before the Sox game started. I love baseball.
Finally, speaking of the Yankees and their supposed easy opening schedule. It is interesting to take a look at the current standings in the AL East:
It’s funny how things happen early in the season, only to have the cream rise to the top. Most people are expecting that to be reversed by the time the season ends:
Oh well, you get the point!
Top of 7, Sox still down 3-1. Let’s see if they can get their first comeback victory tonight.
GO SOX!!
Red Sox – Angels Thoughts
- A bases clearing single? (the first in MLB post-season history)
- 2 HRs allowed? (1st HRs by allowed to RH batter since July)
- Beckett looking like Colon.
- K-Rod looking like…well, honestly K-Rod (had the 4th highest WHIP in MLB (2nd highest in AL) of relievers with 30 or more saves.
- 27 runners LOB
- 0 for 13 and 0 for 8. 20 – 39 (.513 AVG of Tex, Vlad, Hunter who combine for over half of the Angels 36 hits so far)
- 7 – 40 (.175 AVG of Pedroia, Papi, and Youk)
Just some interesting numbers, trends, and such.
Was Beckett rusty or is the oblique still causing trouble? This was the perfect situations for the Sox. Up 2 games to none. Their best post-season pitcher on the hill. Back home in Fenway park. Everybody though that tonight would be the clincher. However, the Angels showed why they had the best record in the majors, along with an 8-1 record against the Sox this season. The win was their 6th in a row at Fenway park.
Tonight, we have Lester against Lackey. Lester has been incredible at Fenway (11-1, 2.49 ERA) while Lackey, including his almost no-hitter versus the Sox at Fenway earlier this season, has a 2-4 record with a 6.34 ERA. This is a big game for the Sox, because I am not really looking forward to seeing Dice-K pitch again, especially to that Big 3. So, the question for tonight’s game is which Lackey is going to show up? The battered Lackey from 2007 who blown up in Fenway or the Lackey from July, who lost a no-hitter and shut-out in the 9th thanks to Pedroia and Youk, but was UNTOUCHABLE up until then.
A final ominous sign from Buster Olney’s blog over at ESPN.com:
“Mike Napoli hit two homers, and is just the sixth catcher ever to have a multi-homer game in the postseason. The previous five have all been on the team that won the World Series that year.
Multi-Home Run Postseason Game by Catcher
2008 – Mike Napoli (Angels)
2005 – AJ Pierzynski (White Sox)
1986 (aye curumba) – Gary Carter (Mets)
1976 – Johnny Bench (Reds)
1972 – Gene Tenace (A’s)
1956 – Yogi Berra (Yankees)”
So, with that piece of info, maybe Chip Carey is right. The pressure is back on the Red Sox tonight. Haha.
Go Sox!
Manny Who?
Jason Bay’s 2-run homer in the 6th propelled the Red Sox to a 4-1 victory in Game 1 of the ALDS versus the Angels. The blast also had me saying “Manny Who?”, as it sailed over the wall in left field. Chip Carey must have heard me, as he repeated the question on the TBS broadcast, but I’m sure it was sentiment echoed throughout Red Sox nation. Bay also doubled in the 8th to go 2-4 in his first post season game. I don’t know how much pressure Bay really felt coming into this game, but while he is not Manny Ramirez, he is a more than suitable replacement for him. However, Bay was not the only hero on the night.
With is defense, at the plate, and on the base paths, Jacoby Ellsbury picked up 
where he left off last post-season. Ellsbury was 3-5 with a double, an rbi, a run scored, and 2 stolen bases. He lifted his average in the post-season from .360 to .400. However, the play of the night may have been his spectacular catch on Mark Teixeira’s 8th inning blooper. That prevented the lead-off man from reaching, which proved especially important when Vladimir Guerrerro and Torri Hunter followed with singles. More on that later, though.
This could almost be a hockey blog, because the 3rd star of the night for the Sox was undoubtedly Jon Lester. He continued his ascension to becoming a #1 Ace with his performance tonight. 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run are the numbers for him. More importantly was the poise with which he performed. Unshakeable, he over came the rare Jed Lowrie error that extended the Angels 3rd, allowing Hunter to knock in the games first run. I thought (if you call yelling at the TV thinking) that Bay could have dove to catch Hunter’s single, as it practically dropped at his feet, but I guess it was smart to be cautious. After that 3rd inning, Lester allowed just 3 singles over the last 4 innings. He retired the last 7 batters in a row he faced, striking out 4 of them. If Lester is going to continue to pitch like this during the post season, Boston is going to be a happy town.
nt play of the night for the Red Sox may have been what happened right after that catch. Guerrero followed the catch with a line-drive single through the left side of the infield against Justin Masterson. On a 1-1 count to Torri Hunter, Masterson got him to pop-up. However, the ball just carried over the outstretched arm of Sox 1b Kevin Youkilis, dropping for a single. Guerrerro, without picking up the stop sign of 3rd base coach Dino Ebel, rounded second and headed for third base. Youkilis was quickly up with the ball and gunned down Guerrero at 3rd base by about 20 feet. Instead of having the Red Sox in a jam with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out, the Angels had a runner at 1st with 2 outs. Howie Kendrick followed with a ground (that may have been a double play ball if Guerrerro didn’t get thrown out, but who knows) out to Lowrie at short, and the Sox had 3 outs left to get, which Jonathan Paplebon did by striking out the side in the 9th.
In their returns to the line-up, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew each went 0-4 with a strike out. A couple of Lowell’s at bats were not typical Lowell at bats. So we’ll see how both of these guys come back after Thursday’s off-day when Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch against Ervin Santana in what should be another pitchers duel. Only a 9:30pm start to that one, so hopefully I won’t be up as late as last night. But it was worth it.
Will He or Won’t He?
We know if it was up to him, Mike Lowell would be on the playoff roster. However, the biggest decision heading into to tonights opening game between the Angels and Red Sox is if Lowell will be healthy enough to be on the roster.
The last time he played, it didn’t look very promising. Lowell has been playing with a partially torn labrum in his hip. He was taken out of the game after his only at bat the last time he played against the Yankees on Friday.
Terry Francona has a big decision. If he does put Lowell on the roster, and Lowell is still not healthy enough to be a productive batter and fielder he will be down a man. Actually, if Lowell wasn’t healthy enough or re-injured himself, the Sox could place him on DL and put another play on the roster for the series. However, in that case, Lowell would not be eligible for the ALCS if the Sox go on to defeat the Angels.
The post season roster is due to MLB in about 45 minutes, 1:00 pm EDT / 10:00 am PDT. I know I’ll be waiting anxiously to see if Lowell is on the roster. A healthy Lowell is an integeral cog to the Red Sox line-up, both defensively and at the plate.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay awake long enough to watch this whole game. Maybe Friday’s game will be on a bit earlier.
Go Sox!
Gasp Heard Through Boston
While the Sox appeared not to want the regular season to end, defeating the Yankees with a Jonathan Van Every bases loaded single in the bottom of the 10th, the bigger news of the day was Josh Beckett.
Apparently, Beckett suffered a strained oblique muscle while pitching a bullpen session on Friday. In his post game press conference, manager Terry Francona announced that Jon Lester would pitch Game 1 vs the Angels followed by Matsuzaka for Game 2, and Josh Beckett for Game 3.
With the status of Mike Lowell questionable as well, those are 2 big injuries that could potentially hurt the Sox chances against the Angels in this opening round of the playoffs. Hopefully the extra days of rest will be beneficial to both Beckett and Lowell. Meanwhile, all of Red Sox Nations holds their breath.
A little tidbit: This is the Red Sox 6th Wild Card Appearance since it was implemented back in 1994. That is the most in all of MLB.
GO SOX!
Magic Number Down To 6, Post Season Predictions
Jon Lester pitched 2-hit ball over 6 innings in his 20th quality start of the season as the Red Sox took the final 3 of the 4 game series against the Indians with a 6-1 victory. Lester, who took a no-hitter into the 6th inning, allowed 2 hits and 1 run while striking out 4.
The win, coupled with the Rays loss to the Tigers, reduced the Red Sox magic number to win the AL East to 6 games. This means, the Sox must win their final 3 games vs the Yankees AND the Rays must lose their remaining 3 games with the Tigers. Haha, we know that isn’t going to happen.
However, it is nice to see Lester continue to perform like an elite, #1 pitcher. Teamed with Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox have one of the most formidable top of the rotation heading into the post season. With only the weekend remaining, let’s play Red Sox management and put the Sox post season roster together. Obviously, the Sox still have about 4 or 5 days to make this decision and it will depend on if the Angels choose “Series A” or “Series B”, but what the hey.
Pitching Staff (11)
Josh Beckett – S
Daiskue Matsuzaka – S
Jon Lester – S
Jonathan Papelbon – C
Hideki Okajima – R
Manny Delcarmen – R
Javier Lopez – R
Justin Masterson – R
David Aardsma – R
So, that is 9 pitchers so far. We have Time Wakefield, Paul Byrd, Mike Timlin left. Now, this will probably end up depending on if the Sox are going to need 4 starters or not. Which brings us back to what series the Angels choose. If they do need a 4th starter, I think it’ll Byrd on the roster and Timlin. Otherwise it will be Wakefield and Timlin. Especially with Wakefield’s history of being able to come out of the pen if needed. I don’t see the Sox using Chris Smith or Michael Bowden or any other young pitcher out of the pen, so Timlin is pretty much a go. So, I’m going to go with:
Tim Wakefield – S/R
Mike Timlin – R
Batters (14)
C – Jason Varitek (S)
1b – Kevin Youkilis (R)
2b – Dustin Pedroia (R)
3b – Mike Lowell (R)
SS – Jed Lowrie (S)
LF – Jason Bay (R)
CF – Coco Crisp (S)
RF – Jacoby Ellsbury (L)
DH – David Ortiz (L)
BN – Kevin Cash – C (R)
BN – Mark Kotsay – OF/1B (L)
BN – Sean Casey – 1B (L)
BN – Alex Cora – IF (L)
We are short one more guy on the bench. However, there are a few questions here. How is Lowell’s hip going to hold up? It will hold up enought to play. How is J.D. Drew’s back? Bad. I don’t think he is going to make the post-season roster because of his back. I haven’t heard much talk about Julio Lugo, but I think he is probably finished for the season. We are a little left-handed leaning on the bench, which may change a bit of Lowell isn’t able to start any games during the season. We are also missing some speed on the bench, which may change if Kotsay starts a game or 2 instead of Crisp or Ellsbury. With Drew being out, it seems the last bench spot may come down between Jeff Bailey or Chris Carter. It’s pretty much a crap shoot with either of the, but I think the Sox may go with the extra RH bat, and choose Bailey. So, the final bench spot goes:
BN – Jeff Bailey – 1B/OF (R)
I don’t think that roster is too bad. I don’t really see the bench being too much of a factor aside from a late-inning pinch runner during the series. I do think the series goes 4 games, with the Red Sox winning.
Go Sox!
WELCOME TO OCTOBER
By
defeating Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, the Red Sox have punched
their ticket to October. Up next? Most likely the Angels. Congratz to
the Sox, looking forward to another fun October.
Go Sox!
GremEQ
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