My Left Ankle: Annie M's BoSox Blog

By Ann K. Miller: SPM CT Writer
Posted Friday, June 13, 2008

June 13, 2008

The Sox are back in Cincinnati! Wow! Last time they played the Reds, it was 1975. I was in the Army, watching the Sox and Reds play in that famous World Series. The one that went game for game. The one when Pudge Fisk hit his famous homerun…the one the Red Sox lost and we all sought consolation in the fact that the series was probably the most exciting series ever.

I always thought it was the best World Series ever, and a lot of folks agreed with me. It still is the best as far as I’m concerned. The only series that beats it for excitement was the Yanks and Sox series in ’04…and that was the Divisional Play-offs, not the World Series.

It’s too bad the Sox had to go on the road – they’ve been doing so well at home. They were 7-2 in the past two weeks at home…and that’s playing without Big Papi; Manny having to be the DH due to injury; Ellsbury missing some games due to injury; Dice K injured and so on and so on.

This new kid, Masterson, really impresses me. The fact that he by-passed Triple A all together and can pitch on the big stage at Fenway is all the more impressive. They are giving him the start tonight in the first game of this Cincinnati series.

Speaking of pitchers—Schilling seems to be recuperating well and they have him throwing more and more. Maybe if he can come back in late August and be a boost for them in September and October, it just might get the team into games in November.

Now if we could just get Schilling to stop blogging, the world would be a better place in which to live.

I had forgotten that Sean Casey played for the Reds. Let’s face it, I had forgotten about Sean Casey period! Anyway, the Reds fans gave him a nice hand when he stepped to the plate for the first time tonight. Kind of like the Sox fans do when players like Trot Nixon or Orlando Cabrera comes to the plate at Fenway. Not like the reception Johnny Damon gets, however. Hee hee

I also forget about that other guy, the one that occasionally plays in the outfield for JD Drew. What the heck is his name? Brandon Moss. I admit it…I had to look it up. He does pretty good when he has to come in to play. And he has had to play a bit for Drew, who had the flu, then was dizzy and then something else happened, I can’t remember. Anyway, he does good.

Speaking of Drew, is he a totally different guy from the JD Drew who played RF for the Sox last year? Thank God that JD Drew is gone. I don’t know what was wrong, the stuff with his kid being sick, adjusting to the spotlight of Boston, or something else. He was slightly better than horrible last year, until the end of the season, when he chipped in with some big moments down the stretch. This year, he’s something else. His hitting is way up and his play in the field is spectacular. He has been particularly helpful during this time that we are Papi-less.

Papi become a US citizen the other day. Good for him. And Congratulations Big Guy!

I’m feeling so confident about this Sox team right now. Here’s hoping that they improve their road record on this trip out of town; that the pitchers heal up, particularly Dice K; and all the guys pace themselves through the All-Star break. We all know how they have a tendency to crash after the break.
Hopefully, all the substitutions that Tito has been doing have helped keep everyone rested and they will be able to keep on keeping on right through to November.

Oh…and good thing we didn’t lose Coco, huh? We certainly have used him enough this season. It’s funny how it’s all working out.

June 5, 2008

The Sox are in first place again, after sweeping the Rays -- and when did they change their name from the Devil Rays? And WHY?—at home in Beantown.

The Rays and the Sox have a history of physical feuds. Tonight, the last night of the series in Boston, proved to be another battle in the war between the two teams. Coco Crisp was hit his first time up to the plate, in retaliation for him jawing at the Ray’s coach in last night’s game. We all knew that the retaliation would happen, just didn’t figure that the Rays would go after Coco so soon in the game.

The result was Coco storming after the pitcher, the pitcher taking the first swing at Coco, which he ducked and the benches clearing, as everyone ran out onto the field to break up the fight. Coco and the pitcher were thrown out and the Rays were hurt the most by this fight.

Later on, Manny Ramirez went after Youkilis in the dugout for some unknown reason. It was completely out of character for Manny, who wouldn’t get excited if his hair was on fire. Afterwards Tito blamed it on the high testosterone level in the dugout during the game. Youklis appeared to be clueless about why Manny was upset. I’m sure they have patched it up by now though.

In all the years that I’ve been following the Sox, there is always some game like this, when someone hits a Sox player and everyone jumps in to help. I’ve seen them fight with the Rays before, but my favorite fights are the ones they’ve had with the Yankees.

The last big fight with the Yanks started with A-Rod and Veritek exchanging words, then going after each other. It ended with Don (Zip) Zimmer charging at Pedro and Petey slamming the old man into the ground. After that the cops had to come out and stand all around the field staring into the stands, looking for people who were going to charge the field. I was actually a little frightened that night and I wasn’t even at the ball park. I just know how crowds can get.

The fight tonight paled in comparison to that fight…but it was a memorable one.

The Sox are really clicking on offense and the pitching is doing pretty good now too. I think they’ll hold onto the lead for awhile. Manny left the game tonight hurt. Hopefully he was just sore from leaping off the bench at Youkilis and it isn’t anything serious.

Jacoby Ellsbury hurt his wrist on a play out in the field. He had to come out of the game. Since Manny was the DH and since Coco was also out of the game, Tito was forced to put Youkilis out in right field. Youk actually made a couple of catches out there.

The Sox are lucky that they had to keep Coco. They are lucky that they have a few back-up guys who can really chip in when they need it. And they are lucky that they have hitters like Lowell and Drew who can step up and contribute now that David Ortiz is sidelined with a wrist injury.

Let’s hope all the injured ones heal quickly and that Coco is suspended for only one game.

It was an interesting night tonight…..let’s also hope we don’t have another one of these “interesting games” this year. I can't take all this excitement.

May 28, 2008

It has been difficult catching the Sox on TV this week.

First of all, the darn games don’t start until 10PM because they’re playing on the west coast and secondly, the Celts are playing for the Eastern Conference Championship, and I love the Celts. Not as much as I love the Sox, but the Sox are playing Oakland and Seattle, while the Celts are playing the Pistons! Come on…which would YOU choose to watch?

Tonight, I’m flipping back and forth between the two, thanks to the guy (or gal) who invented the “last” button on the remote!g

I knew that the Sox were going to lose to Oakland…but I didn’t think they would get swept by them! It’s the curse of that trip to Japan. Since they returned from Japan, the Sox have had real problems on the road…well, as opposed to how they did last year….and Oakland was the first team to give them headaches on the road.

Despite all the road rash, the Sox are still in second place behind the Rays. And who ever thought that the RAYS would be in first place? “Not I,” said the pig (which is a reference to a childhood something-or-other). If anyone knows what that expression refers to, email me and enlighten me please! My memory is getting mushy.

The news from the Sox is mixed. On one hand we have four players leading the All-Star voting in their respective positions: Youklis, Pedroia, Ortiz and Ramirez. On the other hand, we have Dice K with some kind of shoulder problem and the complication that he wants to “play through it” while Francona and the rest of the right-minded folks want him to rest it. Now it looks like cooler heads will be prevailing, he's going for a MRI.

On one foot, we have Manny hitting #499 last night and it looks like he’s coming out of his slump. On the other foot, our “ace” Josh Beckett is not looking very “acey” lately.

We have Bartolo Colon (who's built like a fire hydrant) throwing pretty darn good for the Sox. Then again, we have Clay Bucholtz rehabbing with the PawSox. And we’ve lost the “Crazy Man,” Julian Tavarez, completely. I think he signed with some other club as a free agent.

So, the Sox are a microcosm of life Itself….it’s all about ups and downs and finding the way to make it through the downs and ride the ups for as long as you can. As someone once told me, “life is a roller coaster.” That someone also told me that he was on a wavelength to San Diego and could talk to his girlfriend anytime he wanted to. These conversations took place in the mental health clinic where I worked in the Army...in case you were interested.

But I digress, and now the Celts are trying hard to blow their 16 point lead. I must stop and pay attention to what’s happening on the screen. I have to admit, I have mixed feelings (here we go again with the mixed stuff) about the Celts and Pistons. I love the Celts and Ray Allen in particular, but being a Husky fan makes a part of me root quietly for Rip Hamilton to have a good game. Not for Rip’s team to win, mind you, but for Rip to be successful.

Okay, it looks like the Celts can handle this….I hit “last” just in time to see Manny at the plate and Don Orsillo is talking about 499 again….Manny takes a wicked cut and is behind 0-2.

I don’t see what the heck they are talking about…he doesn’t look like he has figured out what he was doing wrong at the plate. His timing still looks like it’s off. And what’s with that “Ichiro-like” thing he does with the bat when he steps to the plate….he raises the bat like he’s taking aim. Maybe that little addition to his at-the-plate repertoire is what is throwing him off. Okay, maybe not…he just got a base hit. Never mind....don't listen to me! What do I know anyway?

Speaking of Manny, I like the way he’s been running down to first on little hits. No more dogging it for Manny. He must really want that big contract next year. Have I already said that? It sounds like something I've already written. I told you my mind was getting mushy.

One last comment….I am so happy that the Sox have found a way to keep Coco and Jacoby happy in the field. Everyone is getting playing time, everyone gets a rest. It’s a great situation.

Sorry, one more comment…..Julio Lugo is fast wearing out his welcome with me. And lately it seems like he’s arguing with the umpires a lot more. That doesn’t help his cause at all. Shut up and do your job!

I’ve rambled on too long I fear. I will close now and try to enjoy the game. I should say, I’ll try to WATCH the game…I’ll probably fall asleep before the seventh inning again. I cannot stay awake to catch a whole game.

I’ll be glad when they return to the Fens….I bet they will be too.

May 19, 2008

So, I’ve been busy and haven’t written much in this blog. I have some good excuses, having just moved to a new house, been on the road competing in canine agility with my dogs, etc. I’ve listened to some games on the radio as I was traveling but tonight was the first time in a long time that I have been able to sit and watch a Sox game.

Boy, do I ever know how to pick the games to watch! All I got to see was Jon Lester pitching a NO HITTER! The first Red Sox leftie to pitch a no hitter since Mel Parnell did it back in the day.

The fact that in 2006 Lester was diagnosed with cancer and had to go for treatments makes it all the more special. AND, add to that, this was first time that Lester had pitched a complete game in the big leagues! Amazing!

Jacoby Ellsbury made a big play in centerfield earlier in the game – a diving catch that will make the highlight reel for sure, but other than that, Lester did it on his own.

Lester was very aggressive tonight. He dominated the game, getting the advantage early over the majority of batters. He had great location to his pitches and he didn’t show any signs of being nervous until the last batter….and even then, he struck him out to end the game.

He pitched fast—the game only took a little over 2 ½ hours to play and, most importantly, he listened to Varitek! Remember the arrogance of Schilling, shaking off Tek’s suggestion and giving up the hit in the ninth? Lester is a bit brighter than Schill.

Speaking of Tek, he has now caught four no-hitters and would have had a fifth if Schilling had listened to him. You’ll never convince me otherwise.

This is great for the kid’s confidence. Now he knows he can dominate like that. I remember his first season when he would get himself into trouble, bases loaded and no outs and then would pitch his way out of it -- he drove me nuts!

Good for the Sox for knowing that this kid has the goods and sticking with him. Imagine if we had lost him in a trade for Santana?

Wouldn’t it be something if Lester continues to dominate through the season? Just when Beckett seems to be struggling with control a little bit and Schilling is still working his way back off the DL…wouldn’t it be something to have Jon as a pitcher we can count on to shut teams down?

Speaking of Beckett, he’s been “off “ lately….and has been lucky that the Sox have been blazing offensively. Dice K has been the beneficiary of his teammate’s ability to pile up the runs…his pitching has had its shaky moments – yet he’s 7-0.

The Sox are right where I love to see them…in first place in the East….I am LOVING it!

April 27, 2008

The Sox can’t buy a win it seems. Despite fantastic pitching efforts from Clay Bucholtz las night and Josh Beckett this afternoon, they lost to the Devil Rays. This puts them on a five game losing streak right now.

Bucholtz was magnificent last night, giving up only two hits into the seventh inning before he gave up a homer to Akinori Iwamura, bringing in two runs. The Sox lost 2-1

Today the Sox ace pitcher, Beckett, had a career-high 13 strikeouts but still gave three runs and the Sox were shut out – 3-0.

The problems lately have not been with the pitching.

The problems have been with the offense. The team has been depleted by injuries and illness—Ortiz with a bruised right knee; Mike Lowell has been out for quite some time with a sprained thumb; Coco Crisp is just back after recovering from a sore hamstring and Varitek, Dice K, Manny DelCarmen and Beckett were all out with the flu.

I think that the team got run-down from all that globe-trotting that went on in the first few weeks of the season. The trip to Japan, then to Oakland, then to Toronto and God-knows-where-else, before they finally got to play at home, must have taken a toll on them. At least it got them in a place where they would be especially susceptible to injuries and the flu. Although, who the heck gets the flu in April? No one I know, that’s for sure.

These misfortunes did give us a chance to meet and appreciate the efforts of some new-comers – I refer especially to pitcher Justin Masterson who got called up from Double A Portland, no less, for an emergency start against the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim).

Masterson was a Master in the game, pun intended. He pitched six innings, allowing only two hits. The game was lost by the Sox 7-5, but Masterson wasn’t involve in the decision. This kid has a wicked sinker ball and a fantastic future with the Sox. I’ll bet we will see him again this season if the Sox get tight for pitchers again. He was cool, calm and collected out there on the mound…a real plus for a rookie.

Another new kid we’ve gotten to see because of injuries is Jed Lowrie, who has been getting playing time in the infield due to the Lowell injury. He is currently batting .333 in the last 10 games, with 27 appearances at the plate. He’s another kid who seems to fit right in with the team, plays with a lot of confidence and is a very good infielder.

Once the Sox get healthy, the flu behind them and the injuries resolved, the” big bats will start booming” again, as they say. Actually I think it was Mel Parnell who coined that phrase. Anyway, it’s been a favorite saying in my family for years. I do believe that the bats will start booming….which should make the pitchers very happy.

It must be frustrating for the pitchers, who are throwing so good, to not get the run support from one of the most prolific scoring teams in the league.

Sooner or later, it will all come together.

We hope.

April 13, 2008

Well, I feel a lot better now. Beckett looked pretty good yesterday, Manny Delcarmen did his job and Pap came in to shut them down in a big way!

How much does Fox suck for cutting away to NASCAR just at the moment that Papilbon was going to pitch to the last Yankee batter? As if New Englanders and New Yorkers are that much into NASCAR that they would miss the last out of the Sox Yankees game! Pretty dumb.

I hate it when the games aren’t on NESN….I love Don and Jerry. Fox has that stupid Tim McCarver as a color man….that guy should have been put out to pasture before he even started. Do the baseball world a favor.

I can’t believe that today’s game is being played at 8 PM. Sunday games are ALWAYS afternoon games, at least as far as I remember. Must be an ESPN thing…they’re broadcasting the game.

I’m going to have to sacrifice “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” to watch the game. Oh wait…I have a DVR in my bedroom now…I can record those shows while I watch the Sox on Hi-Def.

I love watching the games in Hi-Def. You can almost identify what flavor soda the fans are drinking….those that are drinking soda that is. And the view of the field is awesome…so much more in the picture. The only drawback is that Comcast’s signal seems to break up more on HD…the picture pixillates from time to time…making for interesting looking mosaics on the screen. Unfortunately this seems to happen during key moments in the game. Frustrating.

Speaking of key moments…that’s all you get in baseball…lots of standing around, interrupted by brief seconds of action. I read somewhere that if you added up all the seconds of actual action in a typical nine inning baseball game, they would add up to less than seven minutes of “true action.” That’s just a little tidbit for you.

So, tonight’s the rubber game for this series with the Yanks. With last night’s win, they moved into third place in the East Division, just ahead of the Yankees. Another win tonight will put them a game ahead of the Yankees and wouldn’t that be a nice thing?

Considering that Dice-K will be pitching, I think the odds are excellent that the Sox will be pulling away from the Bombers tonight. He’ll be going up against Phil (WHO?) Hughes. I’m loving what I see from Dice K so far this year. He’s another one, like JD Drew, who has really settled in at Boston.

Speaking of that…looks like Jacoby Ellsbury is settling down too. He had some nice trips to the plate yesterday…and picked up a steal. Big Papi is still in the doldrums at the plate and I’m afraid it’s starting to get into his head. Maybe it’s the Commercialization of Papi that has cursed him….he’s showing up everywhere in ads on television…he’s just not showing up at the plate.

So, there are lots of stories within the story. Will Sox fans get the bragging rights for this weekend series? Will Papi find himself at the plate? Will Dice-K remain undefeated, picking up win #4? Will Jacoby continue to get hits? Who will be out in center field? Ellsbury or Coco…who has done pretty good lately.

Tune in tonight folks….8:05 pm to get the answers to these, and many more questions.

Can’t wait until the games are back on NESN.

April 12, 2008

Is it just me, or is this current series with the Yanks not such a big deal as in the past? Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t been able to devote my attention to the Sox lately, lots of stuff keeping me very busy, maybe it’s the fact that we are all still feeling the rosy glow from the ring ceremony and that “feel good moment” when Billy Buckner threw out the first pitch, or maybe the Yanks just don’t seem as worthy an opponent as they used to be?

I watched the game last night, had to move to the bedroom to finish watching it and have to admit I fell asleep after the Yanks went ahead on the mistakes Mike Timlin made. So much for Timmie’s return to the mound. Let’s hope he got THAT out of his system!

So, I had to read today’s paper to find out what happened. The headline says “Wang dominates at Fenway” and below it, , (and I’m not making this up...) it says Throws CG to lead NY……as if their readers KNOW what CG stands for! What the heck???? Maybe I’m not worthy to read this paper…I had to think a minute before I could figure out that CG stood for Complete Game.

Don’t you think that the average baseball fan is happy that they know what ERA, AB, RBI and AVG stand for….who the heck knows instantly what CG stands for?

Now I’ll probably hear from a whole bunch of know-it-alls who will tell me that THEY know what CG means and what kind of idiot am I for not knowing THAT?!!!

So, back to the Sox-Yanks series. Today I will be wide awake to watch the whole thing. Beckett will be going up against Mike Mussina…should be a good game.

Last night the kid, Bucholtz did a pretty good job. He gave up only one run…got into a couple of jams, but got himself out of them. I was pretty impressed. I was beginning to worry about him, based on his preseason performances and how he did the last time out.

Another shining star last night was J.D. Drew who hit a homer in the fifth inning. J.D. is sure doing a lot better than he did last year when I used to groan when he would come up to the plate. I guess having his kid’s medical situation somewhat stabilized and the fact that he has gotten accustomed to what it’s like to play for Boston is all helping him to return to the hitting form which made the Sox want to trade for him in the first place!

If you told me that one of the Sox would be hitting .077 and one would be hitting .429 and that the two players were JD and Big Papi….you know how I would have guessed regarding whose percentage was whose…..and of course, I would be WRONG!

Papi is floundering right now. He’s too predictable in his placement of hits; the shift is working particularly well for the opposing teams right now. He has to become confident at the plate, find his swing and somehow, put a few into left field…just to force teams to have to cover left field. Right now they are putting everyone out in the area behind second base…over to first. They can have four people crammed into that little area; no way is he going to get a hit, unless he puts it over the fence.

Now the Sox are in last place in the Eastern Division….how different from last year. I’m not concerned, they have had pitching woes with Beckett and Timlin hurt.

We’ll see how Beckett pitches this afternoon; I will not worry about the rest of the season. If Beckett still has problems, I might start to get a little nervous.

So...GO SOX!

March 30, 2008

Well, the Sox have been so-so thus far. If I could, I’d put a little smiley face after that comment.

They win one, they lose one. They are .500 for the regular season, splitting wins with Oakland in the games played in Japan. Then they split with the Dodgers in the final exhibition games out in LA.

It was pretty wild seeing the team playing in Japan and from what I’ve heard, the team found the experience to be surreal. I enjoyed the pre and post game ceremonies, with the dancers, the flowers, and all the other trappings. So different from the giant flags, jet fighter fly-bys, Rem-dogs and litter we’ve become used to in the US opening ceremonies.

It was also pretty wild to see them playing in the LA Coliseum, over 100,000 people in attendance. Besides the absurd number of spectators, the dimensions of the field certainly added to the weirdness factory. It looked like the Little League field in my hometown. The outfield was so small they didn’t even need three fielders out there!

Sounds like it will be awhile before Beckett is back on the mound for the Sox. He’s still pitching rehab sessions.

Dice-K will continue to be the only “ace” on the squad and even he looks kind of shaky from what I’ve seen. He still starts out slow and gets into trouble, then heats up in the mid-innings. Too bad they don’t have him pitch some innings BEFORE the game starts, then he would be in mid-game form at the start of the game! Hey, maybe I’ll send that suggestion to Tito.

It was cool seeing Joe Torre sitting in the Dodgers’ dugout. Wonder if the Yankees are going to be playing the Dodgers in inter-league play this year? That would be awkward, wouldn’t it?

Don’t look now, but that trip to Japan may have helped the Sox in the pitching department. They signed Terumasa Matsuo, who was a free agent. He had been pitching in an independent league in Japan and was the MVP of his league last year. He was 15-3…had 159 strikeouts and a great 1.72 era. He had over 30 starts. He’s a young guy, 26 years old.

I don’t know when or if we will see him this year…but I like the “Japanese Connection” the Sox have going for them. It’s paid off for us in Dice K…and especially in my favorite, Okajima. Maybe this new guy will be a contributor too.

So, now that the exhibition games are finally over…and wasn’t that weird, two exhibition games stuck in the schedule AFTER the season opener in Japan….the Sox can settle into the regular season routine.

Next up they play Oakland in their home opener. Sooner or later the Sox will finally get to have their home opening game….maybe sometime in May.

March 24, 2008

Tomorrow is the big day! Sox have their season opener against Oakland, in Japan!

Dice K is going to be on the mound for the Sox—fantastic for him, playing in his homeland. The Japanese fans, who seem to all root for the Sox, will be ecstatic about seeing him pitch.

I’ll be ecstatic myself. But I don’t think I’ll be watching it “live.” Heck, that’s what I bought a TiVo for—to save me from rising before the sun comes up to watch a Sox game!

I’ll probably watch it with my breakfast in front of me.

I’m in the mood for the Sox—even though it’s March Madness right now. I even got my Sox jacket out of the back of the closet and put it on to go on my errands today.

GO SOX!

I wonder how they say that in Japan.

March 19, 2008

WHOA! Yesterday I wrote how I suspected most of the Sox don’t want to go to Japan for the Opening Day game and today I find out that they are threatening a boycott of the trip!

Holy Hannah! The Sox have been so quiet and non-controversial this preseason and now this! WOW!

They are talking boycott because they are upset that the coaches and other staff will not be getting the $40,000 stipend that they thought they had been promised for the trip. So, the Sox say they won’t play their final preseason game and they will not board the plane for Japan.

Something tells me that the Sox management will have this all straightened out in time for the bags to be loaded on the plane.

Wonder what the next excuse the team will come up with next? Gotta love those Sox!

March 18, 2008

My friend Jane has been sending me chastising emails about my lack of production in the BoSox blog department.

Mea culpa. I’ve been too wrapped up in basketball to pay much attention to the Sox lately. What with the BIG EAST tournament and the America East tournament and all the NCAA hoopla going on, it’s pretty hard to remember that the Sox are down in Florida, getting ready to head to Japan.

Anyway, my thoughts on some things that have transpired since I last wrote.

Another incident of “Manny being Manny” when he failed to attend the White House festivities….I thought the whole trip was amateurish so I can’t fault him at all for not wanting to waste his time. Then it turns out that the team was going to Walter Reed to visit the troops – now that is a different story! Manny should have gone on that visit – but again, that’s Manny being Manny.

We all knew SOMEONE would get hurt – too bad it turned out to be Beckett. But it sounds like his back spasm are gone and he has been able to pitch some side sessions-- but he won’t be making the trip to Japan next week.

The suspicious side of me says “maybe he didn’t have back spasms at all – maybe he was just trying to get out of the trip to Japan.”

Come on! Lots of you thought the same thing – ADMIT IT!

It seems like a number of players would love to get out of the trip to Japan. And why would they not want to make that trip? To travel a thousand hour trip across the ocean AND BACK AGAIN – to a place where they can’t understand the language, don’t like the food, don’t know anyone there and can’t have their families with them? I don’t get it!

Everything worked out for Dice K to be the starter in the season’s opener against the Oakland Athletics in Japan on March 25. His wife was pregnant and there was concern that the baby would not be born prior to the trip to Japan and Dice K would have to miss the trip to be with his wife.

That is no longer a problem: baby boy Matsuzaka was born Saturday and now Dice K is free to go to return to his homeland for the big game. Beckett’s bad back also paved the way for Dice K to take over the Opening Day duties.

Timmy Wakefield is bemoaning the loss of his catcher, Doug Mirabelli, who was released by the team. I won’t miss Mirabelli, I always thought he whined a little too much and he was no asset at the plate. He did, however, know how to catch Wake’s knuckleball and that’s a big accomplishment. I hope that the new kid, Kevin Cash, can learn quickly to catch Wake’s elusive pitches and can be an even more productive hitter than Mirabelli was.

Coco’s hurt. No surprise here. Coco gets hurt a lot it seems. That’s why the Sox were smart to not deal away Ellsbury. I don’t know what is going to happen with Coco. He (and the Sox) were hoping that he could be traded somewhere. This injury doesn’t help those prospects, now do they?

Hansen was sent down to Pawtucket. They plan to use him as they used Manny Delcarmen. That’s fine with me (as if they care what I think). I haven’t been impressed with Hansen – nice kid, but he needs some more experience. I’m sure he’ll do well in Triple A and will come back better for the experience.

The Sox have played 18 games so far this month. They’ve lost 10 of them. I’m glad I haven’t been watching. Why torture myself? Tomorrow though, they are playing on NESN at noon.

February 28, 2008

I would not be a true Sox fan if I allowed this opportunity pass by: RAH-GER…..RAH-GER…..RAH-GER!!!!

Roger the Dodger is now officially under investigation by the FBI. Congress somehow got the feeling that Rog might have lied to them SEVEN times! Looks like Roger rolled a seven…not his lucky day I guess.

I have to admit, during Roger’s days with the Sox I wasn’t following the team that closely. My cable company didn’t carry NESN; I was totally into my work life and didn’t have time/interest in listening to the games on the radio. So, I missed the Roger years. I did know that many fans felt that he screwed the Sox when he left (as all true Sox fans feel when someone willingly leaves the team) and especially when he joined the Evil Empire.

I was one of those who ridiculed the Yanks for all of the money that they dished out to him last season and laughed my tuchus off when that investment fell through for them. I don’t regret one minute of my behavior.

I loved watching and listening to Rog’s testimony before Congress. It was especially enjoyable because I assumed that he was lying and that the truth would out.

That old quote from IAIN DUNCAN SMITH kept running through my head: “Oh, what a wondrous web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

February 26, 2008

The Sox signed Bartolo Colon, who was pitching for the Angels for the past few years. The guy won a Cy Young in ’05 and then hurt his shoulder and then his elbow-both bad news injuries for a pitcher. He had losing seasons and saw limited action the past two years and the Angels dropped him.

Word is that he is doing a lot better this year, but is a bit out of shape-he’s a “big guy” and needs to work on his conditioning. He worked out with the Sox today…he’s happy to be with them.

The White Sox wanted him too-but he didn’t want to go to Chicago, he wanted to be with a winning team, according to Theo.

Good for him and good for us-maybe he’ll be able to spell someone who is injured or tired. Come up and give the starting rotation a boost.

I think I remember him giving Sox hitters problems when they faced him in the past, when he was healthy.

Manny hired Scott Boras as his agent. Manny says he now wants to stay in Boston-he’s a free agent next year-but if that doesn’t work out he’s fine with that too. From a guy who wanted nothing more that to get traded a short time ago-this is big news. He wants to STAY in Boston.

I hope he does. I love Manny. I don’t mind “Manny being Manny”, with one exception-I hate it when he “dogs it’ down to first base on grounders in the infield. That’s just WRONG! Every thing else he does is fine with me.

The Sox play their first game on Thursday. It’s the now traditional first spring training game against Boston College. That will be in the afternoon, that night they play Northeastern. On Friday they play the Minnesota Twins. The game will be broadcast on NESN at 7:05. It will be great to see Don and Jerry once again…and to find out the latest product Jerry is hawking.

I have GOT to get a Wally and adirondack chair set this year!

The word out of spring training is that Beckett is really hot-he has taken up right where he left off as THE ACE of the Sox staff. That has got to stick in Schilling’s craw-or maybe Schill is a bigger man than I give him credit for. I can’t wait to see Beckett on the mound...and Dice K….and Lester….and Bucholtz…and Timmy…and Pap.

The team is going to the White House to be honored by the President tomorrow. That is so HIGH SCHOOL! I mean, I can see it if your college team wins the Final Four or something…or your LITTLE LEAGUE team wins the World Series. But for a professional team to go to the White House?

That’s BUSH LEAGUE!

Get it? Bush League???

02-24-08: Two questions have been answered so far at spring training…..no, three questions.

First, the Sox signed Tito to a new contract today…giving him the high salary he deserves. I didn’t really doubt that they would resign him, but I wasn’t sure if they would give him all the respect he deserves. Tito is the perfect manager for the Sox. The only manager I can think of who could do as well as he is Joe Torre. Tito knows how to manage all those personalities and egos on the team and he doesn’t get ruffled when the fans go nuts on him-as Boston fans are wont to do He understands the psyche of Boston fans as well as he understands his team.

Second, Manny Ramirez showed up on time for spring training. Always a source of speculation--and perhaps over/under bets in Vegas—Manny’s arrival at spring training is always an eagerly anticipated event.

This year he arrived with his fellow teammates and had this memorable quote to share with all of us…mark this one down: “I’m always on time….I might be late two years in a row, but I’m always on time.”

I’m saving that one to use at work someday when I run late. That should baffle them for awhile.

The third question that has been answered? Curt Schilling could NOT keep his mouth shut about his injured shoulder and had to open his yap to run his mouth about the difference of opinion between his doctor –who wants to operate-and the team physicians-who want him to rehab.

Of course, this wasn’t really a question about Curt…we all knew that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut for long. This is a man who has-and voices-an opinion about EVERYTHING—we knew that it was only a matter of time-say a day and a half-before we heard from him.

These tidbits about Manny and Curt are exactly the reason why Francona deserves every cent that they are going to pay him. Imagine if you were these guys’ boss? Think you could deal with this with your patience intact, on a daily basis?

I rest my case.

02-19-08:

My friend Jane emailed me to report that a friend of hers was recently on the same flight from Santo Domingo to San Juan as Red Sox shortstop, Julio Lugo. It seems that Julio had just been married, and his wedding reception was held at same hotel where her friend stayed.

Jane writes: "Wow, maybe getting married will help his hitting."

Well, time will tell with that. There are some who jumped all over Julio about how much he was paid and how bad his hitting was. It was pretty darn bad. But that was at the beginning of the year, when everyone else's bats were booming and we didn't really need him to be a great hitter.

His hitting did improve at the end of the season when other bats started to cool off.

We do need him to be a better hitter. Let's hope that this year he's used to the pressure of playing in Boston and with his new bride helping him to calm down, he shows us all what he can do at the plate.

Until then, we all send congratulations to Julio and his bride. And I send thanks to Jane for sending me this tidbit.

02-18-08:

Curt Schilling finally talked about his medical situation and says that he would rather take the advice of his personal doctor and have surgery, instead of doing the rehab that the Sox want him to do. Schilling Talks

Now I’m hearing more about Curt’s injury and realized that I misspoke when I said Curt had two injuries. He has one injury, two different diagnoses. Curt’s doctor says it’s his bicep that connects to the shoulder that is rotting and needs to be surgically repaired. The Sox physicians say it’s another type of shoulder injury (rotator cuff?). I’m so confused by all of this!

Pedroia and Youkilis are already at spring training and are rarin’ to go. Good sign for the Sox.

Terry Francona’s contract is up for renewal this season. The Sox better work early to get him re-signed. Let’s have no contract drama during the season to make things tense in the clubhouse. Tito deserves to be making as much as the highest paid manager in baseball. How much are the Dodgers paying Torre? Pay Tito more. That’s my position on the matter, until Tito leaves Dice-K on the mound for a half inning too long. Is there another pitcher on the staff who can have a game go south faster than Dice-K? At least that’s how he was last year…hopefully this year he gets over that.

Andy Pettitte showed up at Yankee’s spring training and spoke to the press. Andy Speaks (you can see the press conference here) I got to hear the end of his press conference on the radio as I was driving home today. Someone asked him if he thought his friendship with Roger could be repaired and “PollyAnna Andy” said that he thinks so! WOW! Somehow I don’t think Roger is the type to be that forgiving….I could be wrong…..

02-15-08

The word out of Florida is that Curt Schilling reported for duty yesterday (Thursday) and participated in the fitness tests with his fellow pitchers and catchers. He’s going to try to rehab his shoulder and bad bicep, something a lot of people feel isn’t going to work. His own doctor has recommended surgery, but the team doctors feel re-hab is the way to go. Time will tell. I think that he’s going to be out for the season if he doesn’t have the surgery.

The questions out of training camp are few. Who will take the last slot in the pitching rotation? Since Schilling is out, everyone after him gets moved up. How many innings can Clay Bucholtz reasonably be expected to pitch this year? He’s only had one game (his no-hitter) when his pitch count went over 100. The Sox would like to bring him along slowly so as not to ruin him right off the bat. I think the “Crazy Man” Tavares will be in that last pitching slot come Opening Day.

The other big question is what is going to happen in center field? Who will be running out there come Opening Day? Tito says that the job is Coco Crisp’s right now. But everyone knows that it was the rookie, Jacoby Ellsbury, who delivered the goods last October.

I think the Sox will be going with Ellsbury in center. They signed Bobby Kielty to a minor league contract to be a back-up. I look for the team to trade Coco- possibly for another strong arm for the starting rotation. I love Coco-he brought so much excitement to center field, with those highlight reel-catches, diving on the ground, banging against the wall. I’m going to miss him. However, Ellsbury has demonstrated that he is perfectly capable of mimicking all of Coco’s moves out in center and he is a better hitter. Admittedly, he doesn't have as great a name as Coco. Coco Crisp, it's pretty hard to top that one.

That’s the sum total of the intrigue in the Sox camp. I would imagine that there’s a lot more intrigue in the Yankee’s camp this spring, what with Andy Pettitte spilling his guts about Roger Clemens. I would imagine they will have to beat the media guys away with a stick to keep them away him. The Yankee organization must be thrilled about all of this.

I had to laugh when I heard about Clemens bloody designer slacks. I remember how the Yankee fans made fun of Schilling’s bloody sock. Some Sox fan has got to do something with the bloody slacks when the Yanks come to Boston this year. Schill’s sock is going to the Hall of Fame, wonder where those slacks are?

And, while I’m on the subject-I know no one asked me but-McNamee’s lawyers proved how good they are by going public with their prediction that President Bush will pardon Clemens. They have effectively prevented that from ever happening. Of course, the way things go in this country lately…that may NOT stop Bush from issuing a pardon. He doesn’t seem to care about public opinion-so he could very well pardon the guy. At least McNamee’s lawyers will be able to do an “I told you so.”

So, let the Yankee fans have their memories of the $28,000,022 they spent on Roger last year and have their Andy Pettitte slinking back to spring training. Oh, and that other steroid poster boy Giambi. I’ll take the peace and quiet of the Sox camp. I know that once the season gets started, things will heat up and there will be PLENTY to talk about. Hopefully it will all be about how the Sox are all alone in first place.

The fans are flocking to spring training already. “TC” (Tom Caron) from NESN reported that there were thousands of them lined up to take the shuttle buses to the practice fields today. Just to watch the pitchers and catchers! I never bought into the Red Sox nation thing-it sounds so hokey. But what else do you call the faithful fans who travel so far to root for their team? My friend Tom Sullivan emails me to tell me that he and his son are making their annual pilgrimage to spring training and will be there March 13-17. He promises to take some pictures that he will share with this blog. I’m going to hold him to it.

If anyone makes a trip to Fenway, spring training or anywhere else the Sox are playing, please take pictures and email them to me. If they are of good quality, I’ll get them on this site. If you want to send me your observations, thoughts on the Sox, drop me a line. I would love to hear from you!

Tune in to NESN tomorrow from 10AM to noon. They will be having live coverage of the pitchers practice session. Unbelievable-live coverage of PRACTICE! No other team has this type of coverage. I think that shows how much we love our Sox!

02-13-08: My Beginning

Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on Valentine’s Day. Music to my ears. You know what this means, right? This means that the rest of the team is not far behind. Soon, the crack of the bats will join the sound of the thump of the ball hitting the glove.

I love baseball. I love the sights, the sounds, the thrills, the ups, the downs. I am a Red Sox fan. It started with watching the Sox with my grandfather when I would visit him in Worcester, MA. He was a Sox fan, particularly because of Jackie Jensen, who played for the Sox and who was Swedish. My grandfather was a Swede and he loved the fact that a Swede played for the Sox.

Anyway, I remember listening to the Sox games on the radio, with Curt Gowdy manning the microphone. I remember when my family finally got a television and watching the Sox games, when Curt Gowdy was joined by Ned Martin. Later it was Ned, Ken Coleman and Mel Parnell. Nowadays I love listening to Rem-Dawg and Don Orsillo yuk it up on NESN.

There are other sports I love, but none as much as baseball. And this time of year really stirs my soul. Pitchers and catchers report. It’s the first real harbinger of spring.

The Sox, of course, are returning as the reigning World Champions. They took the lead in the American League early last year and never relinquished it. The Yankees gave them a good run at the end, but couldn’t catch up and once again the “House That Ruth Built” was closed for business while Fenway was still selling franks in the post season. After years of that joke being told about the Red Sox, it sure feels good to tell it on the Yanks.

During the winter we’ve had some stories to keep our baseball thoughts occupied: the whole Johann Santana “Scare” as I call it has come and gone. He’s going to play for the Mets, good for him, good for them, and good for the Sox. Let Santana play in the National League, we’ll take our chances that we won’t see him until the post season, if at all.

We get to keep Jacoby Ellsbury, the rookie sensation who came to the big league from Pawtucket late in the season, played in 33 games and had a batting average of .353. He was also errorless in those games. Ellsbury was one of the players that Minnesota was interested in for the Santana trade.

The other player mentioned in the Santana trade was pitcher Jon Lester. Lester was out for much of the 2006 season after being diagnosed with cancer. He came back to the Sox, started 11 times and finished with a 4-0 record and an ERA of 4.57.

With Schilling sidelined with the dual problems of bum shoulder and his bicep rotting off the bone, or whatever is going on with him, we need Lester and the other rookie sensation of last season, Clay Bucholtz to step up big time for the Sox. Bucholtz, you’ll remember, pitched a no-hitter at a time when the Sox really needed an emotional pick-me-up. It is reasonable to assume that he will still be on the roster come June.

I think we can count on Josh Beckett to continue his winning ways. He figured out last year how to pitch in the American League, where hitters rule. Beckett was 20-7 with an ERA of 3.27 and I think he should have won the Cy Young award, but then again, I’m prejudiced.

Then we have Daisuke Matsuzaka, also known as Dice-K….he-who-makes-the-big-bucks. Dice K was a real crowd pleaser last year. Nice guy. He handled all the pressure of the Japanese press covering his every move.

Dice-K’s pal, Hideki Okajima, who came to the Sox as an after-thought was a real prize for the team. He came in out of the bullpen and gave them a huge boost. He had “Okaji” or “Okey Dokey” was my favorite Sox player last year. I just love him.

Gagne is gone and that’s a good thing. That was a how many million dollar mistake? I cringed every time the bullpen door swung open and he came out with those dopey glasses and crazy hair. And now it comes out that the guy used steroids. Fat lot of good it did him. As I said, he’s gone-good.

What can you say about Papelbon that hasn’t been written already? Nothing. Oh, I can’t resist…the guy had 37 saves out of 40 save opportunities. ‘Nuff said. I want a poster of him staring that stare, looking out from under the bill of his cap. I’d love to have a poster of that.

Timlin, Wake, Delcarmen and that crazy man, Tavarez all contributed last year and I’m sure they will again. Wakefield with that knuckleball could probably pitch well into his sixties.

The catchers this season will be led by Varitek, of course. He is the brilliant mastermind behind the plate. It drives me crazy when pitchers shake his signs off. It’s just plain stupidity on their part as far as I’m concerned. How many times do they have to get burned before they learn?

Mirabelli is still on the roster as far as I know, although I did hear rumblings about him wanting to go elsewhere, again. Timmy needs him to catch for him though, so he better stay. No one catches those knuckleballs better than Mirabelli.

So, while the pitchers and catchers start their stretching exercises and begin to throw a bit, I’m going to sit back and dream about the Spring that is most assuredly on its way. I can almost hear the birds chirping and feel the sun warming the earth. Spring Training with the team is right around the corner, Life is good.

I’ll be writing more as the rest of the team joins the pitchers and catchers and of course, during the regular and (hopefully) post season. Feel free to drop me a line anytime.