Bye Bye Coco

The Red Sox have finally traded centerfielder Coco Crisp. They shipped him of to Kansas City (poor Coco) for reliever Ramon Ramirez.

At first I was a bit disappointed, because I thought, "Who the hell is Ramon Ramirez." But after look him up at Baseball-Reference, I saw that he is a quality middle reliever / set-up guy. This definately addresses on of the needs the Sox have in the bullpen. Additionally, this will allow Terry Francona the flexibility of having Justin Masterson go back into the rotation.

For Coco, it now gives him the chance to start everyday in center field. It also hands the Red Sox center field job to Jacoby Ellsbury, and will hopefully allow him to relax a bit knowing he doesn't have a player of Crisp's caliber waiting in the wings for failure.

Crisp was a good player for the Red Sox, and I enjoyed watching him roam center field. In 2007, I definetly think he was robbed of a gold glove award. Injuires played a factor in some of Crisp's medicore offensive output during some of his time here, but I hope he does well in Kansas City (poor Coco.)

Missed Opportunities

No, I'm not talking about the 1 for 28 the Phillies are with runners in scoring position for the first two games of the World Series. Although, 1 for 28?, that is AMAZINGly inept.

I am talking about the missed opportunity of having this man pitch in Fenway Park in Game 2 of the World Series:

Brett Myers.

Oh, the chants the Fenway Faithful could have launched while he was on the mound. To the always effective "Rogahhhh, Rogahhhh" and "Toriiiiii, Toriiiii" (well, maybe that Torii chant didn't work out to well) and "Steroids, Steroids" for our friend Jason Giambi and other juicers, the "Wife Beat-er" chant could have been epic.

For those not familiar, back in 2006 when the Phillies were in town for an inter-league series against the Sox, Myers was arrested for hitting his wife in downtown Boston.

We, here in Boston, don't take to kindly to big, tough athletes beating up their wives or girlfriends. Just ask this guy:

I was glad to see the Rays beat...err defeat Myers last night, to even the World Series at 1-1. I'm not sure if I posted my prediction here, but I am taking the Rays in 6. I see Tampa getting to the elderly Jamie Moyer on Saturday, with the only other game they will drop is Game 5 against Cole Hamels.

In some Red Sox news, the team is bringing back the entire coaching staff with the exception of Luis Alicea. Alicea was the first base / infield coach for the past couple of season. Apparently there was a "philosophical" disagreement between him and manager, Terry Francona that has led to this departure. No word on who will replace him.

WOW! CRAZY! UNBELIEVABLE!

Let’s recap my evening last night.

I get my son into bed and back downstairs ready to watch the game at about 8:40 or 8:45. I turn on the TV, flip over to TBS and it is the top of the 2nd and the Rays already have a 2-0 lead. Christ! I sit down at the PC and head to ESPN.com to see how it happened. Iawmura hit followed by another Upton HR. Damn!

The Sox get a couple on against Kazmir, but can’t deliver. Kazmir seems to be pitching okay. Certainly not the Kazmir of old, but definitely not the Kazmir of recent either. However, it’s just a matter of time before the Sox get to him…right?

Top of the 3rd, and Upton gets another hit. Can we get this guy out yet? Pena HR, next. Longoria HR next. Gawd! Well, when 1 team is hitting on all cylinders and out pitching the opponent, what are you going to do? You just have to give credit to the Rays. It’s not going to be the year this year.

I check with the wife, see if she wants to watch a show. We’re both tired (my wife works nights, and worked Wed night, so she’s way more tired than me. But you know how it is with kids, your ALWAYS tired.), but I pull up the DVR and see what we have waiting to watch. How about Survivor? Great! We watch the Fang tribe (which could be like the Rays of old, or the Pirates, always losing) lose both challenges and GC get voted out.

The wife’s ready for bed, so she curls up on the couch with a blanket and is off to dreamland as I turn the game back on. It is the Top of the 7th, and Delcarmen just walked the 2nd of two batters, so the Rays have 1st & 2nd with nobody out and Upton (him again?) coming up. Francona, in a desperation moves, brings in Papelbon. However, after a double steal, runs are at 2nd and 3rd. Papelbon works back to a full count on Upton, but gives up a wall ball double that extends the lead to 7-0. That just about sealed up the MVP for Upton.

I get back on the PC, as I’m thinking about going to bed, and type up a little blog to congratulate the Rays, as I’ll probably type up more in the morning.

However, even though I am tired, it is a bit early for me to go to bed. I am a night owl. I like to stay up late. Not sure why, but I’ve always been that way. Sometimes I regret it in the morning, but most times I’m fine.

So, I start surfing the net, checking out some other blogs. I went to a message board that I frequent. I played a few games, all as the game was still on.

Maddon decides not to bring Kamir out for the 7th, and goes with the flame thrower Grant Balfour. Lowrie crushes a ball to RF, that just misses a HR. However, that gets you to take notice. Then when Varitek and Kotsay fly out, oh well. However, Crisp lines a single, but too hard for Lowrie to score. Pedroia then singles, and the Sox are on the board. At least they won’t be shut out.

Now, up comes Papi. He crushes one deep into the night.

Fenway is rocking again, and now your thinking how HUGE those 2 runs the Rays just got in the top of the inning are. That HR could have made it 5-4, but Upton gave the Rays plenty of breathing room at 7-4. Maddon brings in Wheeler, and Youk flies out to end the inning.

Papelbon comes out and gets the Rays 1-2-3 in the 8th. Sweet!

Then, a 4 pitch lead-off walk to Bay, and you can just see how tightly Wheeler is squeezing that ball. Drew crushes a HR to right, and WOW! But, your still thinking how HUGE those 2 runs the Rays got in the top of 7th are. Walks will kill you. But, the Sox are now down a run. If you’re going to lose, if you’re going to get eliminated, this is the way to go out. Not some pathetic 7-0 loss. Wheeler gets Lowrie and Casey, and is almost out of the inning. But here is where some “weird” things happen:

- Kotsay’s line drive goes off the glove of B.J. Upton in CF )who has been tracking down EVERYTHING) for a double.

- Gabe Gross’ throw to home goes straight into the ground, allowing Kotsay to score on Crisp’s single to tie the game.

- Carlos Pena (who had ground into only 2 DPs all season) grouned into an inning ending DP with the leading run on 2nd.

- Evan Longoria, one of the best fielding 3B in the league, makes an error. That runner ends up scoring the winning run on J.D. Drew’s game winning hit.

There I am, dancing around the living room while my wife is fast asleep on the couch. Haha. But, who would have thought? Seriously!! Down 7-0 in the 7th?

We go back to Tampa. There is still a lot of work to be done, but ANYTHING can happen, as we just witnessed. There are lots of questions though:

Can Beckett be Beckett?

Is the offense back?

Should Francona swap Lester to game 6 (on normal rest) and Beckett for game 7 (on extra rest)?

Saturday can’t get here fast enough for me.

Whew!

What a night!

Go Sox!

*images from this post courtesey of AP/ESPN and CBS

Panic in the Manager's Office?

Tonight's line-up is out, and Terry Francona has made a couple of changes. Let's take a look at it:

1) JD Drew - RF
2) Pedroia - 2B
3) Ortiz - DH
4) Youkilis - 3B
5) Bay - LF
6) Kotsay - 1B
7) Crisp - CF
8) Cash - C
9) Lowrie - SS

Drew has replaced Ellsbury at the top of the order, while Crisp has replaced Ellsbury in CF. Ellsbury has been struggling, as he was 0 for his last 20 ABs dating back to Game 3 of the ALDS when he doubled in the 5th inning. Obviously, some sort of change was needed, but I wouldn't call this Panic. It looks like I like to ask questions in my titles and answer no to them. Haha.

Anyway, Drew batted lead-off 8 times early in the season. He batted .172 (5-29) from the lead-off hole. However, he did walk an impressive 10 times, for a respecatble OBP of .385.

We knew that Varitek would be sitting today, as Kevin Cash is Tim Wakefiled's personal catcher. However, we shouldn't expect anything from his bat.

Finally, the Sox will be calling in a Dirt Dog from season's past as the Red Sox Insider is reporting in his blog that Trot Nixon, THE DIRT DOG, will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch tonight. WELCOME BACK TROT.




Go Sox!

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!

Grades Are In

It's that time of year again. The final grades are in. The Red Sox beat writer from the Boston Herald, Michael Silverman, has published his 2008 Red Sox regular season Report Card. Who went to the Head of the Class? Who flunked out?

Not surprisingly, Silverman gave the top grade of A to: Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, John Lester, Terry Francona, and Theo Epstein. All 3 of those players had career years this season, and Pedroia and Youkilis are the top canditates for not just team MVP, but AL MVP. Lester has emerged as a potential ace, nicely picking up the slack from Josh Beckett's performance that was muddied due to injuries. Francona may be the best manager in Red Sox history. He's lead the Red Sox to the play-offs in 4 of his 5 seasons in Boston, winning it all in 2004 and 2007. I think his grade here stems from the Manny circus he had to manage through and around and how he was able to keep the team focused in the aftermath of that mess. Theo's grade seems to stem from the results from the Manny trade, along with the key additions of Paul Byrd and Mark Kotsay down the stretch. Let's take a look at the rest of the grades:

A- Grade
Jason Bay
Javier Lopez
Justin Masterson
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Jonathan Papelbon

B+ Grade
Sean Casey
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jed Lowrie
Manny Delcarmen
Hideki Okajima

B Grade
Coco Crisp
Mark Kotsay
Tim Wakefield

B- Grade
Kevin Cash
Mike Lowell
Josh Beckett
Paul Byrd

C+ Grade
Alex Cora
J.D. Drew
David Ortiz

C- Grade
Jason Varitek
David Aardsma

D+ Grade
Mike Timlin

D Grade
Julio Lugo

D- Grade
Clay Buchholz

F Grade
Bartolo Colon

For the most part, I think these are right on. Varitek's grade appears to be a bit high. He was terrible at the plate. However, most of his grade stems from his handling of pitchers. That is a thing that really can't be quantified and too me is a bit overrated. Varitek gets a lot of the credit with Lester's success and catching 4 no-hitters over his career, but when Buchholz didn't perform this season falls more on Buchholz than Varitek. I'm not saying Varitek takes any credit, just talking about how the sportwriters/"experts" give credit.

Finally, Silverman did take a cheap shot by putting Colon in here with an F-grade. Which he admits in his blurb:

"It's a good thing Colon appeared in the second half, even it was only for one start, since it gives us an excuse to rip his makeup. Any player who decides he is too big - we will pass on the obvious rip opportunity - to accept a different role (Colon was asked to pitch out of the bullpen) is a small-minded prima donna."

I don't really remember too much said about this at the time. In fact, I don't even remember reading or hearing about the team asking Colon to move to the bullpen and him declining. But, it wasn't a big deal at the time, and quite frankly I think, based on his performance, that it wouldn't have worked out with bringing him out of the bullpen.

I can't wait for Wednesday night. What a long too days with out any Red Sox baseball. Although, back-to-back win to move on baseball games is fun.

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!