Entries Tagged 'Papi' ↓

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.

Yesterday afternoon’s game was filled with some great “stoopit” trivia stuff. As pointed out by Boston.com:

• Kevin Youkilis has broken the record for consecutive games without an error by a first baseman (194)
•  Jon Lester is the first left-handed Sox starter to record a win in Oakland since 1995.
• Terry Francona still misses chew. (Yes, I made that one up, but I guarantee you he does.)

It’s not a bad thing to take care of Oakland, regardless of their 1 and 2 starters. They needed to walk out of there with the series win and give the fans a nice start to the season.

With J. D. Drew starting last night, the team finally felt a little like normal, I suppose. Tomorrow night, Tim Wakefield gets the start in Toronto’s home opener and Kevin Cash will begin the campaign to prove he’s not Mirabelli.

First homers for Papi and ‘Tek felt good as well. Nice to see it starting to become a “regular” season.

PEDROIA AND BECKETT AND EVEN J.D. AND OMG.

The Sox aren’t headed anywhere. They have home field advantage to play the opening game Wednesday night at Fenway Park in the 2007 World Series.

The ALCS was all about the home crowd. If you succumb to the notion of visiting teams during any regular season game that the home crowd is nice, but “we don’t need it”, then you’re fooling yourself. The crowd may not be as electric as they are in the post season, but they’re behind the team; especially in good times.

Beckett is the MVP, deservedly so, but the rest of the team including J.D. Drew, Lugo and the defensive skills of  Coco Crisp were enough to go against the other team with the best record in baseball. The difference? Boston won one more game. That’s it. What separated the entire season is one game. How amazing is it, then, that the Red Sox found themselves in the World Series based on the fact that they won the season series against Cleveland. If it had been the other way around and Cleveland was working with home field advantage, would they be headed to the Fall Classic?

Dice-K had a gutsy first three innings. Unfortunately, that’s all I can say about that specific performance. What irks me and others is the perceived lack of intensity. I believe inside he’s intense and he’s serious about winning. How else do you accomplish the level of success he’s had? You don’t. Interestingly enough, J. D. Drew shows the same perceived lack of intensity. Yes. He wants to win. Yes. He plays hard when he’s trying. But, unlike Dice-K, Drew’s intensity is measured by his bat. A pitcher has the chance for 10 strikeouts or be shown on camera pumping their fist about 100 times during a game. A fielder gets to show off if  a) the ball is hit to them or b) they get into a position where they can perform at the plate in a meaningful situation. Go back and watch J. D. Drew on any tape of any game he’s been in and you’ll see that other than when he’s at the plate, the man is playing hard. It doesn’t make me any more of a fan, but it does make me take a breath and think about his season.

Ellsbury will be a star (if he isn’t already).

Pedroia made himself heard last night and shoved a big, fat “FACE” smackdown to anyone who doubted his ability. Good for him. I’m not the tallest guy either and I can certainly appreciate where he is and what he’s been able to do.

Papelbon got his first-ever six out save AND his first-ever post season save. That dude is really good. Wow. He can dance anytime, anyplace so long as he pitches like that for us until he’s lost the gas in his tank. He will be a Hall of Famer.

And now… we wait. They need the rest. They’re tired and they’re happy. They’ll actually relax a little before the media day and the onslaught of public scrutiny hits them one more time before they get a short off-season. Let’s just hope the World Series sends them off to that short rest with a big smile.