Let’s start with some quotes following last night’s game. First, Terry Francona talking about Dice-K:

We talked to him the other day, because he expressed some general soreness/fatigue in the back of his shoulder, from the WBC.

Now, let’s hear from Dice-K:

For me, personally, I think that I’m OK physically.

Excuse me? I know that Japanese culture means that Dice-K has a lot of pride (he even said he felt “very apologetic” for his start), but here’s a thought, if you’re hurt, don’t screw up the game for the other 24 men you’re playing with because of your pride. I guess I should just be glad that he didn’t make the press watch as he committed Seppuku with his WBC MVP trophy. According to wikipedia, giving up 5 runs in a 1 inning start is reason number 3 to commit seppuku between unprovoked murder, and treason. With a miscommunication gap that large between one of the star pitchers and the manager, it’s no wonder this team is struggling right now.

I’d say that the whole game was a waste if the Sox were playing well, but in their current state there were some positives that we haven’t seen before. First, the bullpen was fantastic. Before Lopez came in a gave up the winning run, the bullpen had pitched 10 scoreless innings. 10! Just think about that, you have a tie game and each of the following people held the line: Masterson (4IP), Delcarmen (1.2IP), Ramirez (1.1IP), Oki (2IP), Paps (1IP), and Swisher (Tito didn’t like that joke either). On top of that, the Sox offense, while not exactly the 2003 juggernaut, didn’t quit after losing a 3-0 lead and falling behind by 2. They actually scored baserunners and tied the game up. (This is a major accomplishment.)

All that said, the Sox are now 2-6 with Wakefield going today. Not exactly a confidence booster, but I still wish I was there instead of the office. Maybe once I leave this team alone they’ll start playing well.

Sox_As_4-14-09

12 Photos

 

What’s worse than another ugly loss? How about another ugly loss which I’m in attendance for! For those keeping score at home, that would be five in a row that they’ve lost in Oakland. Maybe it’s the curse of Al Davis? Crap, he’s not dead yet, even though he looks it.

To be the psudeo-optimist, Jon Lester looked better than his pitching line. He got himself into trouble in the 2nd, and was about a foot from getting out of it not once, but twice. O-Cab had a bloop single, and Jason Giambi went the other way with a pitch and Bay was a couple of inches from a spectacular grab. But of course once this offense falls behind by more than a run, it’s over.

Don’t worry, I haven’t gone to the bright side of optimism completely. When Lowell came up with a runner at first and no outs, I set my camera on second base because I expected a double play ball off his bat and figured it’d make for a good picture. At least there Lowell didn’t disappoint.

I wish I could tell you all that everything was fine in the clubhouse, that the team isn’t down on itself, that they have confidence that they’ll pull it out. I can’t. They look depressed. There’s almost a “what’s going to go wrong next” air to the clubhouse. Maybe Remy needs to go downstairs to play air-guitar and dance to try and cheer them up, because right now I don’t think they could beat my division 5 high school team. As a fan it’s our job to get down on the team when they lose and get overly excited when they win. As professional baseball players, I think it’s their job to always think they’re going to win. Right now, that’s certainly not the case. Here’s some audio clips if you want to hear what I mean:

And some pictures from the game:

4-13-09_at_As

14 Photos

 

This must be what it feels like to be a Pirates fan. Right now it’s like there’s an imaginary barrier between the Sox and a tie score. The following is becoming a regular process: first they screw up excellent chances late in the game to tie the score, then they give up an insurance run or two to the other team only so that they later score as many runs as they allowed, still leaving them short.

Frustrating is an understatement, it’s infuriating. Leadoff double in the 7th from Tek? Nick Green actually makes me wish for the days of Alex Cora when he can’t get a bunt down. Bases loaded, one out, 2-0 count for Mikey Lowell in the 8th? Maybe the Marlins were right a few years ago saying that he just can’t catch up to a fastball anymore (of course, they were 3 years late on their prediction, but we’ll let that slide). Then a classic Vladdy solo shot means that Papi’s 2-out RBI single in the 9th is wasted. Oh, and all that after Beckett throws at Abreu’s head only to get four Angels tossed out including their #5 hitter and best defender, without losing a single Sox player.

The Sox haven’t seemed to like playing on the West Coast since they went on a warpath in August of the 2004 season. Since I’ll be in attendance for the next two games (I promise pictures and audio), I really hope somebody on the team decides to start hitting again. Or for Lester to throw another no-no, that would work too.

What is it about the Angels’ proximity to Disneyland that makes Jason Bay so clutch with the long ball? Back on October 1, 2008 the Sox were down 1-0 to the Angels in Anaheim when Bay went deep to left to give the Sox a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t give up (oh, and they won the series). Today, the Sox are down 3-2 in the 7th when Bay takes Saunders out to left to give the Sox a 4-3 lead the wouldn’t give up. Oh, he also added a VERY important insurance run in the 9th with a solo shot. Clearly, he wants Southern California to be renamed the Bay Area (don’t forget to tip your waiters, the 6 o’clock show is completely different from the 9 o’clock show), so I can’t wait to see what happens when he’s in Oakland next week.

Jason Bay ballwashing aside, wtf Paps? The most annoying pitcher to watch is what I call an oh-and-freaking-two pitcher. An 0-freaking-2 pitcher is one who gets a batter to 0-2 and lets him off the hook (either with a hit or a walk). The classic 0-freaking-2 pitcher is Dice-K. So when he went 0-2 to Torii Hunter to lead off the 9th, I figured, one down. Nope, Hunter goes deep. When he then goes 0-2 to Morales, I figured, well, no way Paps loses two hitters after an 0-2 count. Wrong, double down the line.

Now, in fairness to Paps, he did bear down and close out the game with only a 1 run lead, a runner on 2nd and no outs, but holy hell Paps, Red Sox Nation doesn’t need any heart attacks in freaking April!

Oh yeah, and that Penny guy was pretty good. Let’s hope we see more of that.

Aren’t new clothes supposed to be good luck or something? I guess the baseball gods don’t like the hanging Sox hats or the ugly blue uniforms, because there was no good luck here. No, in this game the Sox hit frozen ropes all over the place only to have them land in the gloves of the likes of Chone Figgins and Torii Hunter (does anybody on this team spell their name normally?). And what happens on the other side? The Angles clearly had Adenhart, otherwise known as Al the Boss Angel, adjusting 47-hoppers to go between the infielders and little bloopers to fall right in front of the outfielders. As we all learned from Angels in the Outfield, it’s hard to play when it’s eleven vs ten. It would be nice though if the Sox could finally win a game in Anaheim when it’s not October.

As an aside, for all the Sox fans out there in the New England area and get NESN for every game, I hope you now appreciate how good you have it with Jerry Remy. We all give him crap once in awhile, but I feel like the New Englanders give him more than the people who have the Extra Innings package and get stuck with whichever broadcast MLB feels like giving us. So every time you want to complain about Remy just think “I could have Rex Hudler instead.” And that should make you smile.

Good way to carry the momentum of an opening day win, guys. Look, I can’t blame the first loss totally on you. The home plate ump was so bad that even Rick Sutcliff complained about the balls and strikes calls after Bay was called out on strikes on a clear 3-2 ball and noted that (and I’m paraphrasing), “I’m not for one team or another, but I am for equality.” In Red Sox Nation speak, “this is freaking bullshit. He’s got two completely different strike zones, one for Kazmir and one for Lester. WTF??”

The third game of the season was just infuriating after watching Dice-K pitch in the WBC. You know, the MVP of the WBC who attacked hitters, threw strikes and got quick outs? I know, if he didn’t have the same name, same face and same quirky windup I wouldn’t believe it was the same guy either. So yes, even though he only gave up 4 runs, putting your team in a 4-0 hole basically means a loss 90% of the time. Plus, who is ready to hit after having to spend 20 minutes in the field doing nothing? Just a thought, but if players LOVE hitting with Mark Buhrele on the mound, what is their feeling with Dice-K? I bet Pedroia has put Icy-Hot in his jock to remind him of how painful standing in the field is with him on the mound.

The Sox travel to Anaheim (NOT Los Angeles) to face an Angels group that just lost a teammate. I’m guessing these games are going to be a blowout, one way or the other; the good news is you probably only have to watch each game through the 4th inning to know the result.

Welcome to a belated Opening Day! I’ll admit, it was a little anti-climactic (the giant countdown tear-off pad I’ve had on my wall since October didn’t go to -1 days left), but I can’t complain about a win like that. Beckett tried to make us forget about his craptacular postseason performance against the Rays in game 2 last year by making them look like the Devil Rays again. 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, and 10 Ks, not a bad start to the season. Oh, and maybe most importantly, his fastball was in the mid-90s again, not that low-90s, high-80s crap. For the most part he also had a curve that could get you looking or swinging. This is the Josh Beckett I like to remember.

As for the offense, well, let’s just say that Dustin has no problem hitting the high, inside fastball. So says the Monster seats. Although apparently Joe still has trouble believing it.

Opening Day is more than just one of 162 games, it’s a holiday. It’s baseball’s New Year. Forget the giant dragon dance, the fireworks, the champagne. Nothing beats the first pitch. But of course, this being bizarro opening day, none of that happened for the Sox (we didn’t even get the traditional Red Sox dragon dance!). Instead of the promise of spring turning to summer and baseball being played for the next 7 months, we got rain. Lots and lots of rain. Just what the people of New England wanted after a miserable winter.

A single rainout isn’t fun, but it takes a little more to be “bizarro.” So how about $161M man CC Sabathia not making it through 5 innings as the MFY lost to the Orioles. Robinson Cano, he who earned a total of 26 BB last season, had not one but two on opening day. And to round it all out, here are your AL East standings:

Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Rays (something still feels missing from that)
M.F. Yankees

It’s gonna be a strange season.

It’s officially under one week until opening day. Boy, it’s felt like a long time since the last out of the World Series. Even if the end of the season was prolonged by a couple of days thanks to the rain and Bud Selig changing the rules on a whim.

The standard way to hypothesize about the upcoming season is to look at the team as a whole. But since the Sox will be breaking camp with 25 players, I think it’s more interesting to single out the questions for each of them one-by-one. Without further ado, here are the questions that will determine if the Sox destroy the Evil Empire and the evil unkosher fish from Florida or if they end up behind the Orioles in October.

Batters:

Kevin Youkilis: Will he have to calm down now that he’s married and lose some of that passion that helped him win the Hank Aaron award in 2008 and get into fights with Manny in the dugout? Most importantly, will he lose his power since shaving off the rug he had on his face?

Dustin Pedroia: How many MVPs do you know who can’t hit the high, inside fastball?

Jed Lowrie: How much more power will Lowrie have after fixing the broken bone in his hand?

Julio Lugo: Will he finally take his $9M/year, shut up, and stop blackmailing Tito to let him play over the clearly superior Lowrie? (That’s the only explanation why he still gets to play, right?)

Mikey Lowell: Do we get the 2006/2007 Mikey Lowell? Or is he going to limp around like most of the grandparents living in Florida?

Jason Bay: Honestly, his offense seems pretty steady. The only question I’ve got is if this will be his last year in the shadow of the Monster, or if he’ll get a contract extension done.

Jacoby Ellsbury: STOP SWINGING AT PITCHES IN THE DIRT! (It’s not even worth putting that in question form, sorry Alex Trebek.)

JD Drew: What’s the over/under on games injured this season? I put it at 50.

Big Papi: Can he still strike fear into the hearts and minds of opponents when he spits on his batting gloves and claps them together like he did to the MFY in the 04 ALCS?

Rocco: Will we see a fraction of the talent he showed when he came up to the big leagues? Or will he need an electric wheelchair to play right field?

The Captain: The .220 he hit last year was a fluke right? Or are we going to see him bat .150 this year with RISP?

George Kottaras: Good luck.

Nick Green: Who?

Chris Carter/Jeff Bailey: Will one of you end up starting when JD and/or Mike Lowell goes down for an extended period of time?

Pitchers:

Josh Beckett: Do we get the Cy Young-like workhorse that we did in 2007? Or the overweight pitcher who could barely put his shirt on by the end of the season?

Jon Lester: Can people finally shut up about the cancer stuff and realize that he’s turned into a great major league pitcher? Jon Farrell thinks so…

Daisuke Matsuzaka: What’s the over/under for amount of valium that will be prescribed to Red Sox Nation on the day of his starts?

Tim Wakefield: How much will he abuse Kottaras?

Brad Penny: Has anybody taught him what a sit-up is yet?

John Smoltz: Which will be lower, his average golf score for 18 holes, or the number of innings he pitches this season in a Sox uniform?

Clay Buchholz: Was this spring a tease (2-0, 2.52ER, 4.75:1 K:BB)? Or are we finally seeing him master the potential that he had at the end of the 2007 season?

Manny Delcarmen: Strikes, throw freaking strikes!!! (And here’s your question:) Please?

Takashi Saito: Can his shoulder hold up without Tommy John surgery?

Hideki Okijima: Can his neck hold up without Tommy John surgery?

Jaiver Lopez: I’ve got nothing.

Ramon Ramirez: How will he replace Coco’s fro?

Justin Masterson: Starter? Reliever? Starter? Reliever?

Jonathan Papelbon: Can he keep his mouth shut long enough to sign a long-term contract?

5 days and we’ll start answering some of these questions.