Entries Tagged 'Tavarez' ↓

And we find out yesterday that Schilling is going to be a useless roster hog until the All-Star Break. Great. Nice. “Things have changed since then”.

The Red Sox begrudgingly picked up his $8,000,000 contract and told him to get in shape. Then, not even two months later, he pulls up lame on his shoulder. Good. That’ll really be a nice way to end your career.

As for the Santana / Mets deal: good for them. Spending $150M over 6 years isn’t the easiest thing to do, and I’m sure the Sox could afford it. I’m just glad that he’s out of the AL.

So, it looks like Buchholz will get that chance to start. Will the Sox be as careful now? Will he be available for the whole season or will he get shut down so that he’ll be useful in the post season? Will he, in fact, be as good as those couple starts? (Probably not, but he’ll most likely be very effective.)

Wait, does that mean Tavarez pitching days are days off for me to watch the game?

Look Terry: Gagne has been a bust since he got here. And you decide in your infinite wisdom to ignore the fact that since he left his closing job he downright stinks. I hated your quote in the press conference today from Jacob’s Field:

“When he first came over here, he had the gall to give up some runs in Boston,” manager Terry Francona said. “You can’t do that.”

Seriously? He had the gall? Wow, Terry. Thanks for telling the press in another city that the Boston fans are unable to tell the difference between a couple of runs and a total disaster.

His ERA this post season? Go ahead, Terry, tell ‘em. No? Ok. I will. Gagne’s ERA for this postseason is all the way up to 11.57 because he’s had “the gall” to give up four hits and three runs in 2 1-3 innings over three games.

Even Julian Tavarez would have been a better bet than this guy, Terry. Nice going.

Salvage that series and they’re on their way to the weekend with the Bronx Bombers (and, to be honest, they’re lately bombing the competition). As fans, we’re certainly not afraid of NY. They can’t capture the division this weekend, even if they were to sweep it.

Sounding off:

• Watching Papi hit a game-winning home run became quite a norm last year and we were completely taking it for granted. His production in the clutch this year hasn’t been anywhere near his capabilities due to shoulder and knee problems. I think we all recognize that if he makes it to the off-season, he’ll go through the scope and heal just fine for Spring Training.
• Manny will be back this weekend for the series against the Yankees. It’ll mean a lot, since his bat has sorely been missed. This, by the way, is not because of his production (down this year), but because of what his presence means to the opposing pitching staff.
• Francona should get an extension. Now. Not when the season is over. How can the Front Office let this guy get to the post season without a new deal? That’s ridiculous. (Of course, if he pulls a Grady Little during the ALDS or ALCS or WS, The Nation would want his head in a basket.)
• J.D. Drew remains an enigma, but how about Varitek? He has left just as many people on base this year as Drew. Aside from his spectacular and well-deserved status of Captain, ‘Tek needs to get his head around the pitches he’s seeing (or not seeing at the moment).
• Youk is in a horrible slide as well. His production has dropped in the last three weeks to the point where his BA is below .290. Not good, no matter how many times he looks like someone hit his dog when he’s called out on strikes.
• Wake is hurt more so than he cares to let on.
• Tavarez did an outstanding job of coming in to the game in long relief.
• Lowell deserves to finish his career with the Sox. He’s been durable, dependable and has quiet leadership in the clubhouse. His articulate responses to questions surrounding anything from his teammates dogging it to the manager’s future have been incredible, if not unheard of in the Hub. Add to the fact that he’s multi-lingual and has had a resurgence in his offense and you not only have someone playing for his contract, but someone who would be appreciative once a deal is done and continue to perform next year.

Finally, a note of appreciation to my former father-in-law, who passed away over the weekend. Your family will miss you, but we will celebrate your memory with kind and warm thoughts based on your generosity and commitment to family.

Congratulations to Yooouuuuuuuk!  He set the American League Record for consecutive games at first base without an error. The overall record is 193, so he could certainly do it this year. GO YOUK!

Notes:

• How about that Daniel Cabrera? He is a complete mental case. Wow. Nice job on the whole maturity thing. I suppose if you’re struggling and having a hard time, it’s only natural to actually beat your chest and give those scathing looks at people while they’re safely over 100 feet in the other direction. I loved Jerry’s quote, “If you want someone, go out there and get ‘em.”
• Jon Lester looked like a man on a mission last night. He pitched with a fire like he hasn’t had since early last year. The gloves came off. This kid wants to stick around and he’s not going to back down. Good for him. He’s 4-0 this year and he’s gaining more confidence every outing.
• Dice-K (14-11) goes today. Hope he doesn’t walk everyone.
• The Orioles haven’t given up, but they sure do look like they’re about to. We’ll see what happens today after the fire was lit last night. I assume that the only person on the Os who isn’t calmed down yet is Ramon Hernandez.
• Oh… and the Yanks won last night, but that doesn’t really matter very much at the moment.

The Red Sox sweep the Windy City Sox on their way to NY with a 7.5 game lead. This couldn’t have worked out any better for the Fenway Faithful. They can relax and play good fundamental baseball without looking over their shoulder. As a matter of fact, the best-case scenario is to walk out of the Bronx with a series win and a 10 game lead heading to their home stand.

Notes:

• Tavarez did a great job today. He made the White Sox look like they were batting against Pedro (2nd edition).
• Papi Power: Keep Rolling, baby.
• Gagne didn’t gag and he left the team feeling a little more confident.
• This is the first time since 1950 since we’ve scored 10 or more runs in four straight games. Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio were on that team. It was the last time the Sox hit over 300 as a team.
• What’s wrong with Youk? This is a recurring theme. First half: great. Second half: stinky. Not good.
• Have I mentioned that we are back to a 7.5 game lead? I know that doesn’t secure anything at this point, but this is turning out to be a very solid pitching staff (front and back).