Red Sox Take Game 1 Of ALCS

In mid-August, I wrote about how Daisuke might have been having one of most inexplicable 14-2 records in baseball. He let a ton of guys on base, had gave up more walks than he did in 2007, had fewer strikeouts and (at that point) had a worse WHIP. But somehow, he had a great record. 

Last night it was very clear why he was successful against the Rays.

Matsuzaka had a no hitter through 6. He only walked 4 and had 9 strikeouts. 

To be honest, I didn’t know that this was the Daisuke we would see in the playoffs. His playoff stats from last season were nothing special (his ERA was over 4). But maybe, he’s adjusted to pitching in America this season. And maybe he’s still that guy who pitched his Japanese team to championships, pitched on 3 days rest nonstop and never wanted to come out of games.

In the eighth, he gave up two hits in a row and Francona made the wise decision of taking him out. Okajima and Masterson looked brilliant in the eighth throwing a combined 9 pitches and getting the outs necessary to bring in Papelbon.

If there was one thing a lot of people were unsure of going into the playoffs, it as the bullpen. And frankly, if the starting pitching is good enough that it doesn’t necessitate using 6 relievers a night, I think the Red Sox will be all right.

Was it a perfect game for the Red Sox? No. They left 18 men on base (the Rays left 17 on base). If they are going to be a Championship caliber team, they need to find some more ways to score runs. 

But a shutout at the metal carpet in game 1 of ALCS?

I’ll take it.

Red Sox Take Game 1 Over Angels.

The Red Sox game started after 10:00 p.m. EST last night. So, suffice it to say, because I have a very very very important sports blog to run, I couldn’t stay up until 2:30 a.m. to watch the whole game.

Of course if it was the ALCS or World Series or even a deciding game, I would have. But game 1, in LA, against John Lackey with the far superior John Lester pitching?

No need.

I wasn’t extremely overconfident in the team as a whole, because, frankly, the Angels are probably a more talented team. They have an outstanding bullpen, a stronger rotation and a lineup that easily rivals the Red Sox.

I sort of just had a feeling that John Lester would be breathing fire.

And I know it is a small sample size, but Jacoby Ellsbury is batting .466 lifetime in the playoffs with 9 runs scored, 5 doubles and 4 stolen bases.

Granted he’s only played in 12 playoff games in his career, but A-Rod would kill to have playoff numbers like that (though 39 playoff games, A-Rod bats .279).

A-Rod is no Jacoby Ellsbury. That’s all I’m trying to say…

You know who else had a great game last night that has never played in the postseason before? Jason Bay.

The Red Sox were down 0-1 and had problems getting hits all night against Lackey and the first pitch Lackey left hanging over the middle of the plate, Jason Bay just clobbered. Red Sox up 2-1, a lead they would not relinquish.

It wasn’t just Bay’s first Red Sox home run in the playoffs, it was his first hoem run int he playoffs period.

I know Jason Bay isn’t Manny Ramirez. I know that. But he’s a guy that plays inspired baseball every night. Truly a pleasure to watch and root for. I’ve always thought very highly of Bay and hopefully he’ll make a great case to play in Boston for a long long time this postseason.

At one point they showed a shot of Vladimir Guerrero in the Angels dugout. He had a look on his face that said ‘I can’t believe it’s happening again…’ and that is one thing the Red Sox have going for them in this series and in the Playoffs in general.

It is very rare that the defending World Champions also get a “Nobody Believed In Us” angle. Which isn’t to say that experts had completely ruled the Red Sox out of World Series or anything, but they are sort of the underdog of the AL (behind only the White Sox who had to play game 163 to get in) when you look at how poorly they played against the Rays and Angels this season and the records of those two teams.

This series is probably far from over and it truly is a shame that it is only 5 games.

But the Red Sox did what the Spurs kind of do a lot. They played hard in the regular season, but didn’t rush anyoneback from injuries and didn’t make winning the division their highest priority (they blew a few winnable games that they could havewon if they were going for the division…but I think Francona had the foresight to see that winning the division is great if it happens, but there is no point in burning out your team trying to win the division only to get bounced early in the playoffs). They played well but didn’t wow the media for a lot of the season and then when the playoffs rolled around, they showed up fresh and ready to play with intensity we have scarcely seen from them all season.

Now they’re here.

And by the way, this was their starting lineup last night:

• Ellsbury
• Pedroia
• Ortiz
• Youkilis
• Drew
• Bay
• Lowell
• Lowrie
• Varitek

Not a lot of dead spots there. No easy outs. And for the first time in a long time, it isn’t a lineup based strictly on the one or two power hitters on the team. There is a lot of versatility in this lineup. You have a lot of speed and a great chance to manufacture runs.

JD Drew had a rough first game back. But he’ll get hot soon.

This could be trouble.

Red Sox Prep For Playoffs. A Reflection On A Long Season.

As long as the baseball season is, it always feels short in retrospect.

It seems like just yesterday people thought the Mariners wouldn’t suck. Or that the Tigers were winning a World Series…

What was I doing the whole time?

Working. Cleaning out a new apartment. Moving. Working. That’s about it. Throw in a couple trips to Rhode Island, a few games I attended in April and a few in September and that’s how it passed.

Don’t get me wrong, I was watching. Even when I wasn’t watching I was constantly reminded when the Red Sox were at home by the stupid amount of people crowding all the trains on my way back from work.

And Red Sox fans are not normal commuters. Oh no. They spit in the face of train etiquette.

I remember opening day in Japan like it was yesterday. Some of the bars around town opened at 5 a.m. to serve eggs. Others stayed open from the night before. At lunch that day my co-worker Crowley and I complained about not being near a sausage and peppers cart. What a great day.

One of my favorite things about the baseball season that really is kind of unique to baseball is how much your mind can change throughout the season.

I was down on Manny. I don’t know if it was his fault or Boras’, but clearly Manny was content to play like shit in Boston around the midpoint. The Red Sox gave up way too much to deal him, but got Jason Bay back and since then, I’ve been a lot more content with this team.

My friend Sloan was convinced it was a bad idea to trade Manny at the time and still thinks so:

My problem with the BoSox trading away Manny Ramirez was that he’s a great hitter who can change the course of a playoff series and help a team win a championship. York, a Red Sox fan, was all about dealing Manny for Jason Bay, and obviously some people more powerful than me agreed with him. My main idea was that the Red Sox were as likely as anyone to win the title this year, and that’s not something you pass up lightly. York disagreed.

Disagree. This team isn’t winning Shit Sloan. You know that, or should know that, and I know that. They are HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE under pressure.

THIS TEAM HAS BEEN SWEPT 6 TIMES SLOAN! 6 TIMES!!!

As much as I’d love to see the Rays beat the Cubs in the series (breaking the Rays’ tragic and historic ten year curse) I still think the BoSox should be feared until they’re beaten. And I still think it’s stupid for the defending World Series champions to deal their best player.

See how I said horrible 4 times there. That’s how you know I was serious.

Today?

If the Red Sox can get by the Angels, I think they have a pretty good shot at getting to the World Series. The Angels have owned them this season. So much hitting,, so much base running, so much pitching…

Obviously the Red Sox have owned the Angels in the playoffs the last few seasons. But that was sort of a different Angels team. I was really sold on this Angels team a few months ago. They probably should have won 110 games in the shitty AL West. But they didn’t.

I’m really not sold on the White Sox. Not without Carlos Quentin. They score a lot, but they also give up a lot.

The Twins might be the surprise of the season. Well aside from the Rays. But can the Twins actually put up the offense they would need to compete with the Rays or Red Sox or Cubs or even White Sox? I don’t think so…

More on tonight’s playoff game later on…

But I like this Red Sox team. I think that if JD Drew is healthy, they are going to be really great offensively. While they are not a team with two legendary post-season power hitters hitting back to back any more, I feel like they have a lot more spark, a lot more fight and a lot more guts than they did before the Manny trade. It seems as clear as day to me as I’m sure it does to anyone else who has watched them evolve since Manny skipped town.

The main thing I was worried about, Manny’s bat aside, was that Ortiz might be depressed or angry at the team and might drop off in an already shaky season.

But to watch this team come together and see Ortiz and Pedroia interact, it is clear that David Ortiz is still happy. He still wants to win. He’s no Mr. October, but in Boston, he’s good as Mr. keeps-coming-back-when-you-thought-they-were-dead.

That alone is enough to scare opposing pitchers.

Bill Ford Would Fire Matt Millen. Most Of Detroit Would Use Firearms On Matt Millen.

I don’t know too much about being an NFL executive. I’m not sure I would be great at evaluating talent or making important financial decisions that should both make the team I work for money as well as make them successful.

I am not 100% sold on myself as the executive for an NFL team.

But I still think I would be an improvement over Matt Millen.

Hell, Isiah Thomas might be an improvement over Matt Millen for the Lions (and he doesn’t have a job right now! Just think about Lions fans! A Detroit hero comes home! The Prodigal Son Returns!!!).

I don’t know how a team that has had a top 15 draft pick every year for the last decade (just about) has been at a complete standstill all this time.  It defies all sorts of odds. The only franchise in sports that seems as completely incompetent (long term) is the Pittsburgh Pirates. And even the Pirates have a bright spot here or there (Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, Xavier Nady, they play in a nice stadium…) granted they always immediately trade away these bright spots for pennies on the dollar…but still.

When I saw Bill Ford’s press conference on SportsCenter this morning, I expected him to be wearing a monocle and smoking a cigar and walking with a cane and talking about how hybrid cars and alternative energy cars are just a small market fad that will wither and die. I’m sure if a Vanderbilt or Rockefeller chimes in, Millen will have no choice other than to step down.

You know what is really sad?

The Oakland Raiders, a team that has been secretly coached by a dead guy for the last however many years, have been to a Superbowl this decade! They may make horrific decisions and draft poorly, but even they have had a certain level of success recently. Plus they have an up and coming quarterback who has the potential to be a decent starter, an amazing young running back and all the hope in the world to improve if they keep drafting high…

The Lions?

I feel like if Millen had the top 10 choices in the 2008 draft, he somehow would have found a way to trade all 10 of them to the 49ers in exchange for Bryant Johnson and the rights to Garrison Hearst.

Seriously, the Lions are only a phone call away from hiring Isiah Thomas as a business consultant.

Thanks For Ruining My Thursday Red Sox.

On Wednesday I went to game 3 of the Red Sox hosting the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was that sick 5 hour masterpiece of epic failure, a total inability to score runs and pitching that was either incredibly dominant or hittign that was incredibly flaccid. Somewhere in between most likely.

Jason Bay was 0-7 with 3 strikeouts. He left 7 runners on base.

David Ortiz was 0-4 and left 4 runners on base.

Jacoby Ellsbury was 1-7.

Mark Kotsay was 1-6.

It was truly painful to watch.

Add in the fact that apparently it now starts getting cold as soon as the calendar says “September” and the 1 and a half hour commute I had after the game and you can almost feel how unpleasant the whole experience was.

At least I wasn’t that drunk woman ten rows in front of me. She was probably about 27 or 28 but was with a guy who must have been 45 or so. She kept standing up and facing awayfrom the field and shaking her open hands while yelling “COME ON PEOPLE. GO RED SAAAAUX! GO RED SAAAAAUX!”.

I’m sure my Thursday wasn’t as bad as hers.

The saddest thing about the game was that Terry Francona all but gave up on it. It seemed like the Red Sox had a bunch of bad calls go against them (a questionable fan interference call, a downright terrible call at first base in the 9th, a strike zone that seemed to be wider than an Escalade all night long) and then finally with hardly anyone left in the bullpen and one out in the 14th, Francona brought in Mike Timlin.

Really? Mike Timlin?

Timlin has been consistently inconsistent for the last 3 seasons.

He is essentially a mop up guy. I really don’t think he should make the playoff roster.

Timlin has made 43 appearances this season. He has pitched 44.1 innings and in those 44.1 innings he has magnificently given up 55 hits and 31 runs.

That means Timlin averages .4 hits per out. or 1.2 hits per inning pitched. Horrific. That’s not pitching. That’s teeball.

Timlin also has an amazing 6.09 ERA this season. Far and away the worst ERA he has posted in his 47 seasons in the bigs.

As soon as TImlin was warming up, it was like the Red Sox were waving the white flag. That game could still be going on.

This weekend the Red Sox have the joy of facing the white hot Blue Jays.

A team they always eat shit against.

I’m watching OSU vs. USC.

American League MVP 2008. Josh Hamilton? Cliff Lee? Dustin Pedroia? Ian Kinsler? Carlos Quentin? Aubrey Huff? A-Rod?

Poor Ian Kinsler.

I really do think Kinsler would have won the MVP had he not been injured.

But shit happens.

And Texas sucks. As a team. As a group of hitters, they are exciting and enchanting gentlemen. As a team? Call me when you get a rotation and/or bullpen.

The thing is, this is one MVP Race that isn’t very cut and dry.

You’ve got ARod who sucked for a while, has been terrible in the clutch (more-so than usual even) and who won it last year with numbers far better than the ones he is currently putting up.

You’ve got Josh Hamilton who was on fire for a while but sort of fell to Earth a little bit.

You’ve got Carlos Quentin who has great power numbers…but that’s about it.

And you’ve got Aubrey Huff who one would never figure to be in the MVP race.

Then there’s Dustin Pedroia.

Before I get into how Pedroia is statistically amazing or how much he has carried the Red Sox since the Manny trade, let me state what the term MVP means to me.

Most Valuable Player means the player who has contributed the most to his team thoughout the season. A player who has been statistically amazing, carried his team through tough times and led them to the promised land.

The Most Valuable Player should never be a guy who is on a non-playoff team unless he is having a record setting season.

For example, if Josh Hamilton had 179 RBI right now with the same batting average and home run stats, I would say he should definitely be in the running. After all, he would have a legitimate shot at Hack Wilson’s record, he would clearly appear to be carrying his team by himself and statistics like that are hard to ignore.

But Hamilton only has 121 RBI right now. That’s not groundbreaking. That’s just a great season. He hasn’t carried the Rangers through their pitching struggles. His offense alone has not compensated for his team’s lack of pitching. The Rangers are nowhere near the playoffs. They might be a fun team to watch, but they aren’t going anywhere and would certainly be worse without Hamilton, but they aren’t necessarily better just for having him (if that makes sense).

I don’t see how you could consider Hamilton.

ARod, same thing. Unless ARod were to lead the Yankees back from the dead to a divisional championship or Wild Card playoff spot, against all odds. In which case I would say, yes, he is very very valuable.

Aubrey Huff is on the Orioles who apparently the Playoffs have filed a restraining order against, because it seems like the O’s are not allowed within 500 feet of the Playoffs.

That leaves Carlos Quentin. He might help carry the White Sox to a division championship. But let’s look at his stats:

Quentin has 138 hits. 96 Runs, 26 Doubles, 36 Home Runs, 100 RBI, 7 Steals and 80 Strikeouts. He is batting .287. .394 On Base Percentage. 274 Total Bases.

Certainly Quentin’s 36 Home Runs and 100 RBI are impressive. But I don’t think a guy should ever win MVP if he has a sub-.300 batting average. I’m sure Quentin will pick it up in September (the White Sox will need him to).

But Pedroia?

Dustin Pedroia has 191 hits (MLB Leader), 110 Runs (MLB Leader), 44 Doubles (Tied for 2nd), 17 Home Runs, 76 RBI, 17 Steals and only 47 Strikeouts. He is batting .333 (leads the AL), .378 On base Percentage. 290 Total Bases.

The hits and runs are absurd. Obviously Pedroia’s home run and RBI totals do not appear to be MVP worthy, but when you look deeper at his other stats, it is abundantly clear that his offensive output has been ridiculous.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Pedroia was batting 2nd most of the season and did not have nearly as many RBI opportunities as say Josh Hamilton or Carols Quentin have had. I think Pedroia could still finish with 100 RBI and 20+ Home Runs. But I do feel like those are thresholds he might need to cross in order to win over some voters.

Pedroia has been a monster for the Red Sox since Manny was traded. He has found a way to get them runs without Mike Lowell, without Kevin Youkilis and without a healthy rotation. This Red Sox team has been eviscerated by injuries all season and I doubted their toughness and grit before and after the All Star break.

But something changed after Manny was traded.

The Red Sox seemed to get more injured and when most teams would have folded after losing an icon, this Red Sox team buckled down and played hard.

This is why I was so happy to get Jason Bay. Why Mark Kotsay was a great pick up. Why Jed Lowrie will be the starting shortstop for the Red Sox next season and why Jacoby Ellsbury is not done yet (don’t give up on him).

And to be honest, I really do feel like it all goes back to 5′ 6″ Dustin Pedroia (there is no way in hell he is 5′ 9″).

I say this not just as a Red Sox fan.

I really do think if Pedroia continues to rip the leather off the ball the way he has the last several weeks, there is no one in the AL more valuable to their team than Pedroia.

When you factor in his defense versus ARod or his versus Quentin or Hamilton, it seems like it would be hard to not give him the MVP.

And when you look at Josh Hamilton or Milton Bradley or Ian Kinsler, you have to wonder how anyone could vote for any of the three of them over any of the others. They would probably split votes (Ross Perot Effect).

It is also worth mentioning, that if a team has 3 guys who are putting up offensive numbers that look to be of MVP caliber, how could that team be sub .500? Oh, right, because they have committed over 100 errors (that’s an average of more than 10 a starter people!) and can’t pitch worth a damn. 

Not all that valuable.

Let’s see if Pedroia has enough gas left to take advantage of a vulnerable inexperienced Rays team and lead the Sox to a division title.

If he can, I see no way he could lose.

Red Sox Get Paul Byrd For Cash or Nobody

The Red Sox have added a decent arm to their rotation to replace the injured Tim Wakefield.

Paul Byrd (7-10, 4.34 ERA this season) will be more than a suitable replacement for Wakefield or the horribly inconsistent Clay Buccholz.

The Red Sox gave up nothing to get him.

Nice decision.

What this probably means is that the Red Sox AL East title chasing rotation will likely be:

Beckett

Matsuzaka

Lester

Colon

Byrd

Bartolo Colon is supposedly close to a return. He should probably be back by September at the latest.

Tonight Charlie Zink will be starting for the Sox. He’s 13-4 in Pawtucket and also a knuckleballer. Maybe he will pan out and Colon or Byrd will be in the bullpen. Who knows.

Either way, it can never hurt to add a decent arm to an ailing team. And if we re-write history we can pretend that Byrd was part of the deal that sent Manny away and added Jason Bay. If that were the case, there would not have been as much to complain about, because as I said at the time, had they gotten an even halfway decent arm in return, it would have been a solid deal in my opinion.

Hopefully Paul Byrd can be just that. A halfway decent arm.

It’s not as if he had much of a chance to be one with the pathetic Indians this year.

Jason Bay for Manny Ramirez, A Reflection From a Red Sox Fan Who Doesn’t Mind Jumping The Gun.

So it has been a week since Jason Bay and Manny Ramirez joined their new teams.

In that week, both players have been out of their minds.

And I still think the Red Sox are better off sans-Manny.

Let us take a look at the numbers:

Red Sox 5-1 since Bay arrived.

Jason Bay

10 Runs, 11 Hits, 1 HR, 6 RBI and is batting .423

The Dodgers are 3-3 since Manny arrived in LA.

Manny Ramirez

7 Runs, 13 Hits, 4 HR, 9 RBI and is batting .565

Now I won’t try to make the convoluted point that Manny has hurt the Dodgers or anything. Their pitching has hurt them.

I’m sure he is well liked there. I’m sure everyone knows he is there to give them a serious chance at getting into the playoffs.

But the thing is, Manny had clearly worn out his welcome among his teammates in Boston.

This is why i was so adamant that he needed to be traded early last week. In spite of Sloan thinking the notion was absurd, Manny just stopped trying in Boston. It was his attempt to force the hands of Red Sox ownership and it worked. The thing is, he isn’t stupid and he would have settled down and played hard in Boston for the rest of the regular season in hopes of enticing another team to pay him big money in 2009.

The thing is, the Red Sox were probably not going to stay with Manny after the 2008 season. He caused too many issues. Management had reached its boiling point.

And while I agree that the Red Sox gave up a lot in order to get Jason Bay (Manny + Craig Hansen and the remainder of Manny’s salary!) I think it is a move that gives them a better chance at repeating in 2008 than they had with the dysfunctional team featuring the Manny Ramirez sideshow.

I’ll take Jason Bay. A guy who is 6-7 years younger, plays hard, is supposedly a really nice guy, a team player, a great fielder and a guy who will hit around .300, get on base a lot and still provide moderate pop in the middle of the lineup (he will hit 25-30 home runs a season).

I embrace the Jason Bay era. He is more the type of player that the Red Sox are molded after these days. This is a different team. It is a team of professionals and guys who work hard at what they do.

I know it must be a little tough for David Ortiz right now. But Jason Bay could be a part of this team for years to come. He seems to fit in here.

And Manny will probably be himself in LA. But I’m sure he’ll find a way to wear out his welcome there as well. Eventually.

Crowley Exclusive

John Henry, Red Sox owner and salt-and-peppered hair connoisseur, visited my place of work this evening.  Most of the employees didn’t recognize him…this came as no surprise.  Also, only a few customers knew who he was, also not a surprise but disheartening.  He basically just browsed around and checked out all the Sox merch like any other customer.*

*When “famous” people enter, be it a celebrity, player, anyone of any fame, people always act like it’s the end of the world and they witnessed God themselves (apologies to the non-believers).   People literally freak out.  Kelly Clarkson was in yesterday and I thought a co-worker was going to blow his load even though she looked like a trainwreck on a walk of shame (and I’m guilty of being a Kelly Clarkson fan, both musically and assets wise).  I’m unsure of why people flip out like this…they’re just people, nothing more, nothing less…they may excel at one or two things that you don’t, but other than that they’re just regular people.  It really pisses me off when people lose their minds over a “celeb/player” sighting.  With that said, I can pick Kelli Pedroia out of a crowd of 200 people easy..but that’s different.  (Also, the * followed by an italicized rant has been stolen from the blog of Joe Posnanski, one of the most knowledgeable, intelligent and entertaining writers i’ve ever read..if you don’t read joeposnanski.joeblog.com, you are an idiot.)

The interesting part of the story comes when it came time to ring him up.  My manager chose me to handle him and he was very low key and a seemingly overall class act.  When he realize that we were selling Manny merch for 50% off, he made a comment like, “oh, wow Manny stuff if half off..maybe I should pick some up” followed by my manager saying, “oh, I think you payed enough for him over the years” and a general awkward laughter between the three of us..however, you could tell that he wanted to say something to the effect of “yeah, seriously”.  It was kind of an awkward and entertaining experience, and with that said, signing Jason Bay was one of the best moves made in baseball in the past ten years only behind the Rays getting Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano…the fact that ESPN allows Steve Phillips to comment and asses baseball moves is laughable.  I will discuss why the Jason Bay deal needed to be done if I am challenged.

MANNY TRADED FOR JASON BAY

You would think the World Wide Leader would have picke dup on this story WITH INFO earlier than SI or the Boston Globe. Not the case.

Went to ESPN at around 4:35 and this is what I read.

Back at 4:45, after it had been picked up by everyone, you get this.

The extent of the known information so far is that Manny is goign to the Dodgers, Jason Bay is coming to the Red Sox, Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen are goign to the Dodgers and or Pirates. That is all I know.

Losing Brandon Moss isn’t exactly ideal for me. I can recall the Red Sox trading away a similarly young and gifted outfileder last season (Dave Murphy).

But as I said earlier this week, even though Sloan thought I was a moron for saying so, I am happy about getting Jason Bay for Manny. Jason Bay is a great player, seems like a generally nice guy and should fit in great in Boston. Really, if you watched Sportscenter at all over the last few days, it was clear that Manny was being a crybaby and bitter and wasn’t going to do anything other than HURT the Red Sox down the stretch. I’ll take my chances with the chemistry improving and Jason Bay being equally as good (he has almost THE SAME EXACT numbers as Manny and did I mention he’s a lot younger and cheaper?).

If I were a Pirates fan I would demand new ownership.