Entries Tagged 'Papi' ↓

Yesterday was a day of milestones. Personal ones. For Colon and David Ortiz.

Colon (4-1, 3.41 ERA), the bargain of the century,  has done what Clay and Schilling should be this year, but didn’t even show up until he dropped a few pounds and learned to harness his control.

Granted, Colon isn’t going to put a hole in Varitek’s hand anymore, but his 91-93 MPH fastball is extremely effective when he throws a mean 85 MPH change.  Who knows if he’ll keep this up all year, but wow, what a total bargain. Nice call, guys.

Big Papi, an icon of today’s baseball world, celebrated his naturalization as a U.S. Citizen. Red Sox President Larry Lucchino was in attendance.

Quick hits:

• Big Papi goes on the DL with a “slightly” torn tendon in his wrist. Is it or isn’t it? Isn’t saying “slightly torn” akin to “slightly pregnant”?
• UPDATE: 09:27 AM - It appears as though Papi’s injury will keep him out about 2 months… More as this develops. This word comes from inside the organization. Sean Casey could not be reached for comment…
• It appears that Toronto-born Hazel Mae is leaving NESN at the end of the month. She didn’t offer up what would be her next endeavor, but there has to be something contract-specific for a larger network happening. I’m sure she’s going to end up in San Diego or somewhere very pleasant.
• Masterson makes another start tonight and I’m pretty excited to see how he does. His two appearances in the bigs have been nothing but solid. He’s probably going to get at least two starts if Dice-K needs the extra day or so to recover the shoulder.
• Manny has hit home runs in 3 consecutive games. Nice work, man. Not as good as Chase Utley this year, but still…

Finally, I have to say… I don’t usually post links to non-baseball items, but I may have to start. Every once in a while I run into something that gets my odd humor in a frenzy. The more I think about this site, the more brilliant it is. Check out the life of John Arbuckle WITHOUT Garfield:

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

The thought of Bartolo coming in as a 5th starter and taking Clay’s place while he deals with his fingernail issue is just as predicted: Bartolo is like picking up an in-season free agent. The start last night by Colon was so economical that he looked like he could have taken another 4 innings.

Papi, you sir, are a rock star. By the way, Papi is making his presence known off the field as well. He’s been speaking out about the pace of games and has made some comments in the direction of Bud Selig about how MLB should stop pressuring people to quicken the pace.

Pedroia is the kind of player everyone should have on their team, but one or MAYBE two would be enough.

Alright. The Rays couldn’t handle the Cardinals, and the Brewers couldn’t get anything out of the Sox, so the Fenway Faithful get to see their boys back in the top slot of the AL East.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t think the Sox would fare as well as they did (even with all the errors this weekend) against the Brewers. In fact, I had my mental prediction the other way around. If I were to pick a group of National League players to follow, I’d follow J.J. Hardy, Braun, Fielder and Gwynn. They all have a massive amount of talent and the Brewers will definitely do some major damage once their pitching is settled.

Speaking of pitching, Justin Masterson will make his second MLB start tomorrow (Tuesday) against the Royals and … drum roll… is that the smell of “Colon”? Why, yes… it’s Bartolo Colon, who will make his first Red Sox start on Wednesday. Personally, I think this is going to be a HUGE difference maker to the season. Bartolo is currently throwing in the upper 90s and seems to have his head back in the game. It’s like picking up a #4 free agent for nothing.

Other thoughts:

• Ellsbury got caught for the first time in his career. 25 straight without being tagged. That’s two shy of Tim Raines’ record.
• Varitek is such a great catcher, but he looks so weak at the plate sometimes.
• BOOM, Papi. Boom.
• Pedroia takes every opportunity he can find, doesn’t he?
• Beckett found his long ball pitch. Let’s put that back in the locker and hide it again, shall we?
• Craig Hansen is nowhere near the prospect he was when he pitched at Saint John’s. It may be one contract and out for that kid.
• The Yankees don’t have a chance this year unless they find a way to hit out of the cellar; pitching is not going to do it for them.
• Manny is deeply mired in a lack of power; no doubt putting pressure on himself over the next 2 homers.
• The Sox need to keep it going against the Royals. Losing this series will hurt them in the long run.
• The Celtics game was WAY too close. Par for the course on their season. Hopefully they won’t end up with the same destiny as the Pats (all this way for nothing).

Again, it’s a roller coaster of walks and biting the nails sometimes with Dice-K, but he was saved by the numbers 8 (Crisp) and 9 (Lowrie) and Paps to remain unbelievably undefeated. He has a Jon Lester record this year; squeaking out wins despite weird and sometimes erratic pitching.

Congratulations to Jed Lowrie, who will no doubt be a big-leaguer someday, who hit his first MLB home run. He golfed it out of the park just in to the third row, but that’s a huge deal for the kid. He explained to the reporters that the person gave him the ball from the stands if he received a Beckett-autographed baseball (which Beckett did… but probably tainted with chawjuice just to show he’s not a pansy when he signs balls and dates your sister).

Manny went 0-5… Not the quickest way to hitting 500.

Ortiz went 0-4. Expect him to be taken out of the lineup this year for his knee again. If not only for the DL rest, then possibly for another trip under the arthroscope.

Mr. Greg Maddux, please come forward to accept your award. Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, holder of four Cy Young awards, a World Series ring and 17 Gold Gloves has finally reached a hell of a milestone: he’s the 9th pitcher in MLB history to record 350 wins. Simply, totally amazing. A career that, so far, spans 23 years in which only ONE season was not above 15 wins… this guy is one of the best pitchers of our generation and it’s been a pleasure to follow his career.

Finally, Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms out there. Children: do something nice, but do it yourself.