<$BlogRSDUrl$>

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Meanwhile in the Bronx

Nuthin doing up Fens-way, but a curious situation in the Bronx. Hosannas rained down from the offices of the New York Post after the Yankees finally won a game by beating the tar out of Jim Mecir and Ricardo Montalban. Only Ruben Sierra hit the ball hard, but a rally in your last at-bat is always gonna put a smile on your face.

[I can't tell if I have a soft spot for Ruben Sierra or just for Harold Reynolds' impersonation of him.]

But while the fans can and will overstate the significance of this win, the players better get a grip on reality. First, it was the Yankees' first home win in 5 tries. That's once through the rotation. Secondly, nobody busted out; the Yanks got their usual large complement of walks and got a few key nubbers here and there -- maybe that's better than homers at this point. Everyone knows they'll hit some eventually, but it's hard to tell whether this was a breakout by the Yankees or a breakdown by Oakland's troubling middle relief. And lastly, the same culprit that cost them every loss not started by Brown or Vazquez nearly blew this one too: crap pitching. Mike Mussina has overnight turned into Andy Hassler. Actually those four earned runs in six innings (on ten hits) lowered his ERA to 6.44. Middlers Gabe White, Paul Quantrill and winner Donovan Osborne combined to allow three runs in two innings. And tonight's starter is Jose Contreras, whose 4-year, $32 million contract is worth every penny -- to the Red Sox.

Pitching is the difference between the Sox and Yanks right now. Where things go from here remains to be seen. Jon Lieber is expected back as early as this week, and it's possible he could turn into an effective fifth starter, if he somehow comes back from arm surgery and remains healthy and doesn't give up too many medium flies to right. I'm guessing he'll pitch OK on the road at least. Gordon has been about as masterful as Rivera, though his history indicates they shouldn't run him out there three days in a row. In the span of two innings Saturday Brown disqualified himself from the gold glove competition, but remains a candidate for the Cy Young, as does Vazquez... although when people say "he pitched great except for a hanging curveball to Manny Ramirez," it leaves open the question, why did he hang a curveball to Manny Ramirez? Anyway, two starters and two relievers can be considered very reliable, 3-4 other relievers range from mediocre to outright sucking, and the last three starters are variations of an enigma.

Lotta work left to do there...

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Contest Alert!

The presence in the first base coach's box at Safeco Field of Chris Berman Nickname Alumnus Mike "Enough" Aldrete reminds me of that bygone era where we could watch SportsCenter for the pure pleasure of Berman's more clever monikers. Also, the other day I finally figured out that Gene "really big" Shue was an Ed Sullivan reference. Anyway, who's got some nominees out there for great Berman nicknames? No peeking at Berman Nickname websites, please.

Monday, April 26, 2004

One more thing

Actually, the real story here is that the Yankees are not a team yet. This past offseason they turned over half their infield, two-thirds of the outfield, three-fifths of the starting rotation, and virtually the entire bullpen other than the closer. They simply have not jelled. By comparison, the Sox added Foulke and Schilling and cut Walker, but for the most part this is a slightly injured version of the 2003 team. If and when the Yankees do jell, the battle will be joined. With Torre in charge you'd expect that to happen sooner rather than later, but then again, some teams never do come together. And the Yankees' roster is so star laden, building camaraderie may not be easy...

Sunday, April 25, 2004

Clean Sweep

Moving forward...

Next up are the D-Rays. Fewest runs scored in the AL, even worse than the Yankees, although the D-Rays' .254 average is 40 points higher than the Yankees' team average. Will the Sox let down in this series, where they will face the Rays' only two decent pitchers, Paul Abbott and Victor Zambrano? If they do, it can be chalked up to two factors: they secretly don't take Tampa seriously; and they haven't been hitting the cover off the ball.

That said... beating the Yankees is not merely three innocuous games in April. The Yankees adjusted their rotation so the Sox would face Vazquez, after Brown and Contreras. Given Mussina's troubles, these were the Yanks' best three. All three lost. Pedro and Lowe showed that they are forces to be reckoned with. Schilling wasn't even needed. Nomar and Nixon still aren't playing.

It's hard to overlook the significance of the Sox' pitching performances. Lowe was dominant, Pedro hung tough with a slim lead in Yankee Stadium, and the bullpen was perfect as usual. At this point, it cannot reasonably be argued that the Yankees have the pitching edge. Clearly the Sox are superior in the area that matters most. For now, at least.

Pedro was razor sharp, and his curveball was pretty unfair. This was a pretty good example of what Sox fans should expect over the season. He wasn't rearing back and firing so much, so if he weren't sharp around the corners, it might not have been a very good day. But he had that control and that movement on three different tough pitches. Like many have said, he doesn't need to be the Pedro of 1999 to win.

Of course, it's possible the Yankees are just in a mega slump. These things happen. That being a possibility, it's just too bad that they will now face Hudson, Mulder and Zito in their next three games. Ya just hate to see that.

The best story making the circuits these days are the spate of feelgood stories about Manny Ramirez. Both the Globe and the New York Times ran stories about how Manny has completely gotten over the off-season madness, how he has been having fun with fans, and how he has been perfectly fine with the media. If bush can be credited with anything, it would be demonstrating the value of media training. Manny's newfound loquatiousness is more or less voluntary, and his behavior isn't any different than always,... and now the media take is, great guy that Manny. Always has been, in fact. I'm not sure it's any more comforting to see them kissing Manny's ass now that he's being nice than it was to see them go after him when he wasn't giving interviews. But if you haven't had the pleasure of listening to Dan Shaughnessy for more than five seconds, you may still be unaware of the fact that many sportswriters are small, bitter individuals. Knowing this, as Manny appears to now, gives an athlete the chance to get things working in his direction. Good move. My sense is, Sox fans are ready to love Manny if they didn't already. I may not have the best memory in the world, but I recall him winning game 5 in Oakland last year, and winning yesterday's game in New York. Just a sampling of his value to the team.

Friday, April 23, 2004

Francona

Score one more for the mgr yesterday. In fact, Francona is off to a fine beginning, going from a player's guy to someone who is strengthening his hold on the team. He's got a chance to be a good one. To wit:

1. He resisted the early calls of idiots who insisted he drop Unfrozen Caveman from leadoff to palookaville after two lousy games. UFCM has responded by getting on base at a leadoff-like .351 rate, while distracting opposing pitchers with his fiery good looks. UFCM's new looks have actually drawn comparisons to Jesus, as depicted in Mel Gibson's new testament snuff film, making Damon the frontrunner for the republican nomination for president in 2008. Anyway, til then he may turn out to be the sparkplug Duquette thought he was wildly overpaying for in 2001.

2. The Knuckle Sandwich experiment has worked OK so far, or at least it hasn't blown up. Wakefield has been great, and if it's because he comes after Pedro, so be it. Schilling hasn't suffered from following Wake either, considering his strong outing against the Yankees and his strong first six innings yesterday.

3. Most importantly, Francona won a key battle with Schilling yesterday. Recall last weekend Schill showed him up when Francona yanked him in the, what, seventh? The bullpen held tight for the win, and everyone else besides Schilling went home happy. Yesterday Francona gave Schilling a taste of his own medicine, leaving him in extra long like he insisted last time, to show Schilling what happens when he goes past a certain pitch count. Suddenly Schilling starts getting tagged by faceless middle infielders. Even Schilling should now be able to admit that (a) the Sox' bullpen rocks; and (b) however good Schilling may feel, the manager has to make the switch before it's too late. My guess is that Francona has more control of this team today than he did yesterday.

[Aside: Schilling is lucky to play on good teams, where his emotions are more of a driving force in a positive environment, and less of a pain in the ass. He is Corey Dillon on a good team, in that he would be a menace if he played for the Tigers, just as Dillon will likely become the next Rodney Harrison when he shows up for camp this summer. If I had a point, it's that emotional people are neither especially good nor evil, and we shouldn't overreact to things like Dillon whining on a losing team. If I had a second point, it would be that these emotional types require two things to make their presence worthwhile: a winning team, and some ability. Lawyer Milloy is an emotional guy who was on a winning team, and stopped being able to play. Roger Clemens was an emotional guy who could bring it but had a poor supporting cast in Boston. Harrison is an emotional guy whose words worked because the Pats were great AND because he did his job. Only the latter is an unmitigated good. The former range from complicated to distracting.]

[Double-Aside: Is there more of a football mentality in baseball these days? It depends on when "those days" were; my guess is in the distant past baseball players were pretty hard-nosed by any standard, but football didn't inform their actions because it didn't exist until the 30s (for most people) and didn't become a dominant theme until the 80s, when it caught and passed baseball as America's pasttime. For a while there, the contrast between increasingly rich and delicate-looking baseball players and, say, the '86 Giants was quite stark. Now, in players like Schilling, Trot Nixon, Klemens, Varitek (hell, most catchers), even Damon, et al, a football mentality is coming more into play. And I for one like it.]

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Open Thread

Matchups for the Yankee series: D-Lowe vs. Contreras; Arroyo vs. Brown; Pedro vs. ? Donovan Osbourne? Yanks' fifth starter just went down for the year, but they called up some kid who did OK against the White Sox for a while.

More than last week's series, this one should test the critical factor of whether the Yankees are asking for trouble running out nothing but righthanders in Yankee Stadium. Of course, if Nixon were playing, that would really put this dynamic to the test.

Monday, April 19, 2004

Hab-Nots?

By the time you read this, either the Bs and their fans will be spiraling into madness or the Canadiens will be back where they belong, washing down their smoked beef with a Labatts as they get ready for a round of golf. So now is the ideal time to jinx the process with a gratuitous insult.

Does anybody else think "les habitants" is a ridiculous nickname? It translates to something like the "residents." Calling a hockey team "les habitants" is about as profound as those "if you lived here you'd be home now" signs. Well, that's "true." Or, put another way, "shut up." Fortunately, Bostonians have managed to conjure up some more dynamic images for their team than calling them "the team that plays here."

[And yes, this means I do not endorse the "olde towne team" handle for the Sox, for reasons spouted above in addition to the pretentious use of excess vouwelles.]

BTW, I have officially stopped believing in jinxes. And no, this is not a reverse jinx. And no, that last sentence was not a double-reverse jinx. Each person alone knows what's in their own heart, and I'm here to tell you that somewhere in mine is the assumption that my distant actions don't determine the outcome of sporting events. If Buckner couldn't grab that grounder, it wasn't because we were clearing furniture out of the way for our celebration, it's because he was a broken-down wreck of a first baseman. Defensively at least.


Corey Hotline

Pats today acquired Corey Dillon for a second-rounder. It's called dealing from strength. Sean Salisbury, the ESPN rapid-response bobblehead, is already nominating Scott Pioli for next year's GM of the year. If he is what he was, and he channels his anger into opponents for a change, a second-rounder is a steal for a key upgrade, freeing the Pats to spend top picks at LB, OL, DT, DB.... But I'll wait to see how Dillon responds. As a good friend recently said, Dillon bypassed most of the minor leagues of punk-ass-bitchdom and recently went straight to the major leagues. Evil Corey needs to retire, pronto.
Rotation Issues

I for one am less panicked about Lowe than about Pedro. After 9 days off he couldn't throw strikes. Nobody should be shocked. I would expect him to get back on track soon.

Meanwhile, big props to the Sox for hanging tough during a stretch of disruptive layoffs along with the injuries. Even Bronson Arroyo has pitched in today in his mediocre way.

Tough last couple innings. This is a real preview of the postseason -- bullpen versus bullpen. It's only round one, but stay tuned.

Friday, April 16, 2004

Whoa!

Score one for Francona -- he put his trust in Wakefield and it completely paid off. Not exactlt a shutdown game for Wakefield, nine baserunners in seven innings, but a solid effort. Does the knuckler dance more in those April low-pressure zones? In any event, the significance of this win is that it sends the Sox into their two best matchups of the series already ahead. Schilling and Lowe should be favored over Mussina and Contreras, though not exactly locks. Still, if the Sox can run the table over the weekend, we needn't fret over the fact that the Sox are currently planning to counter Kevin Brown with Bronson Arroyo.

Also, it brings into focus the big Francona rotation experiment. Will Yankee hitters bring a knuckler hangover into tomorrow's game, where they will see nuthin but high heat? I'm still pretty skeptical, but I also spent the first week harping on the Unfrozen Caveman. So what do I know?

Finally, there's Javier Vazquez and his intro to baseball played in front of more than 5,000 fans. Not his best night, and there could be several explanations for this, including a Pedro-like inability to get loose in temperatures under 50 degrees. But in his debut on the big stage, he started off by coughing up four runs on two homers in the first inning, and it only got slightly better from there.

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Metaphysical Question

If Pokey Reese comes up in the second inning with the bases loaded and the Sox trailing, is it too early to pinch hit?
Open Thread

W becomes the sport of the day. Could I have some fried policy with that smug sandwich? [Mmmm, sand... wich...]
Look Out Below

Being on the other coast, I've been forced to watch lots of flat Mariner games as they repeatedly get snookered by the Angels, night after bloody night. We all know Oakland is a contender, even with so little offense. Now we know that the Angels will likely hang around as well -- they have that feisty look they had two years ago, and a well-timed injection of talent that will make up for the declines of Salmon, Erstad, Weber, Lackey and Ortiz. Signing Vlady Guerrero was pure genius, exactly the gravitas this lineup needed. They are the Patriots of baseball, in that they don't look flashy but have just enough serious talent in key places, plus a bunch of guys who make plays. So Sox fans who assume the wild card is there for whoever finishes second in the East should not rest so comfortably. Excusing the central, where the least unwatchable team gets a playoff spot, there are four teams competing for the remaining three spots. Dawg-fight.

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Killing Time

Two or three years ago the Sox were off to a good start when they came home for a four game set -- against Baltimore? -- and all four games were washed out. No more momentum; pitchers got rusty; and they spent the rest of the season trying to recapture the early magic. Of course, it's different when Frank Castillo and Darren Oliver get rusty than when Schilling and Lowe come off long layoffs. But three days off in week two must come as an unwelcomed break...

Meanwhile, I finally got the Dish network baseball package with the idea of doing some personal reconnaisance on the subject, only to find no Sox. On scanning my choices, it occurred to me, is there a bigger nightmare than watching the Mets and Braves? Does time literally come to a halt when Skip or Chip Carey starts droning on about Rafael Furcal? Is there a less dynamic pitcher than Jae Seo? Yeah, there are worse teams, I'm just not sure there are more tedious ones.

Having lobbied heavily for a week for Francona to replace Unfrozen Caveman at the top of the order with Bill Mueller, I must disclose that UFCM is getting on at a .348 average, typical for him, while Mueller's OBP has been halved to .212. Proving, of course, that I know exactly what I am talking about.

I guess the only news this week is that Francona seems bent on conducting this experiment where he sandwiches Wakefield between hard throwers Pedro and Curt. The downside is that Pedro misses the Yankee series, which I'm not sure is so bad. I'm sure the players would insist that they need to beat the Orioles too, and the hype surrounding a Pedro start Friday would be downright insufferable. But is there an upside? Francona is making an issue of this, and eventually -- like if the Sox retain this rotation order for a while -- somebody is going to have to answer the question: if today's pitcher offers a totally different look than yesterday's, are hitters at a disadvantage? The Sox apparently believe that this change of looks -- in this case, an extreme change from a hard thrower to a knuckler to a hard thrower -- will screw up opposing hitters. But is there any evidence to this effect? Or in the absence thereof, is there any reason to believe this scheme will work?

I'm of the opinion, based on the recent revival of my playing career, that changing the pitcher's looks during the game matters, but the next day? After the hitters have gone home, drank a lot, and refreshed themselves for the next day? I suspect the frustration of facing Wakefield when he is completely on may have some carryover; whereas a bad Wakefield may help struggling hitters suddenly find their comfort zone. And as for anything in between? Nuthin a good night's sleep and some early BP wouldn't cure.

Friday, April 09, 2004

Who's next?

Malaska mows 'em down. I read where Tampa had developed Malaska into a decent prospect, particularly as a lefty set-up man. So naturally he was waived in the offseason.

Anyway, who among the three-headed hydra (WillTimBree) has more in the tank today? Apparently Foulke is rubber-armed; if we're still up in the 9th, he's coming on.

UPDATE: Mike Timlin would be the answer here.
What happened?!

Come back, Unfrozen Caveman!

UPDATE: MLB.com is reporting he hurt his knee. Given that he came out between innings, well, it may still be serious but apparently it wasn't dramatic.
Well done!

Unfrozen caveman strikes back... 2-1 Jays
Sleepytime

Any truth to the rumor that the Sox spent the night in Baltimore, after their plane wouldn't go? They're certainly hitting like a tired group right now.
Strike Three!

And the crowd goes wild... Actually, I am watching via applet from MLB.Com, which incidentally blows away the ESPN equivalent. For starters, you get a little diagram and strike zone, and the pitch shows up on the screen so you know, low and away, up under the chin, got too much plate with that 87mph fastball, etc. They also add in details, like pickoff attempts, coaching visits to the mound, etc. But it is sadly deficient in sound effects.
Here We Go

Too bad I can't do a sort of running diary, but I'll add a few thoughts here and there as the game progresses at the Fens.

For starters, last night's performance by the bullpen, while exhausting and frustrating in its result, shows that the back end of the pitching staff has gone from the biggest weakness to perhaps the biggest strength. Seriously, last year, that game would've been over when the Sox went down in the top of the 9th; Chad Fox would've given up a long home run in the 8th. If you saw this stunning turnaround coming, you win the Condoleeza Rice Honesty and Integrity in Blogging Award.

And now, we begin. With Kevin Millar patrolling right field. I guess the constitutional amendment against this ever happening is bogged down in the House...

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

The Curse of Dan Shaughnessy

Everybody knows that the alleged "curse of the bambino" is a lowest-common-denominator sound bite for the fact that the Red Sox have used a potent mix of bad luck and ineptitude to go 84 years without winning it all. And most Bostonians know the source of this toxic runoff: Dan Shaughnessy, local wag makes it big in sportwriting and becomes a complete ass.

Today, however, I offer for the first time in print conclusive proof that it is the Curse of Dan Shaughnessy, not the curse of Babe Ruth, that dogs the team to this day. It goes like this:

Babe Ruth Has Not Cursed the Red Sox. Why on Earth would he? It makes absolutely no sense.

1. He had much to gain in going from Boston to New York, something he may not have realized right away, but by 1927, when he was the world's preeminent media hog, no doubt this fact started to dawn on him. Translation: the Sox did him a big favor.

2. From the outhouse to the penthouse... for a lefthanded dead-pull power hitter, there is no worse park than Fenway -- this is before the bullpens were added on. And no better place than the House that Ruth Built, or at least the House that Built Ruth. He wasn't exactly known for cheapies, but surely he got his share.

3. As for curses, it's well known that the dead have eerie powers, but they tend to be very vain about it. If Ruth were actively cursing the Sox, he would have left a calling card. And yet, Bucky Dent, Ed Armbrister, Bill Buckner, Aaron Boone/Grady Little... I just don't see Ruth's fingerprints anywhere. Wouldn't somebody fall down in right field or something? Wouldn't we see career performances by guys wearing #3? Bubkis.

4. Anyway, what possible reason would Ruth have for cursing the team? Why would he be upset about being sold off? Was he from Boston? Nope, Baltimore. Were the Red Sox the place to be? Not in 1919; the White Sox owned the AL, until selling it off to gamblers. Fenway was relatively new, but with an owner in hock, surely Ruth sensed the coming collapse; in an era where players couldn't be sure they would get paid, this mattered. He was a famous bachelor, so I seriously doubt he had deep emotional ties to a local woman.

No, the alleged curse is based on the idea that after Ruth left, the Sox went from perennial challengers to palookaville. Gee, probably had nothing to do with the fact that they just unloaded their best player. A modern analogy would be to declare the "Curse of Kevin Brown" after the Marlins were sold off following the 1997 Series. But baseball fans are smarter than Dan Shaughnessy, they realize the blight on the team was the owner, not the helpless chattel.

Dan Shaughnessy Is the True Curse on the Red Sox. All this time, the answer was right in front of our eyes.

1. Dan Shaughnessy is a local Boston area kid who grew up to write about the teams he always loved. The Globe, adhering to some policy of having at least one local blowhard prominently featured, will not fire him. We have virtually no chance of eliminating this curse. There is no known cure.

2. It is well documented that Dan Shaughnessy has made it at least 25 percent more difficult for the Red Sox to retain their best players, particularly the people of color (Mo, Pedro, Manny) who make the most convenient targets of his character assassinations. This effect, combined with the jedi mind trick he uses on the more, uh, differently abled Sox fans, creates an unnecessarily hostile environment that drains all the fun out of playing baseball.

3. Nothing good has happened to the team since Shaughnessy was hired by the Globe. For that matter, since he has been hovering around the team since Ted Williams' twilight age, Shaughnessy's association with the team could best be described as 55 years of misery.

4. Shaughnessy is a slump-shouldered, 150-pound weakling with bad Peter Frampton hair. No slump-shouldered, 150-pound weakling bearing any resemblance to Peter Frampton has contributed to a World Series win since at least World War II, when healthy players were sent abroad and replaced by guys with severe spinal curveture.

5. Shaughnessy's transparent fixation on trying to link the team's misfortune to an obviously innocent figure can best be understood as a calculated diversion from his own culpability. Or a cry for help. Either way...

As fans, we may not feel inclined to take sympathy on Shaughnessy, but we should at least see it as being in our interest to try to reach out to Dan, in exchange for voluntarily lifting the curse. Not that it will be easy: in order to break a curse of this duration and power, it is necessary to conduct a blood ritual, very messy, don't want to get into it. But it is our only hope. So write to Shaughnessy, tell him it's OK to listen to that little voice inside his head, offer him support in the tall task of facing up to the overwhelming self-loathing that set him on this course. It's our best hope.
Caveman Unfrozen

Johnny Damon's catch in center robbing, uh, whoever that was of a home run was sensational. His 5-for-5 performance was, well, some smart hitting. Like a batter in a 0-2 hole, he started trying to slap the ball to the opposite field. Great way to make some contact and give yourself something to build on in the next at-bat. But he's still hitting like Juan Pierre, which doesn't make me think of him as a great leadoff hitter. If in two months from now he has a .380 on base average, I will take back everything I said. But one game does little to overturn a three-year trend.
Texas Toast

Because I need to amuse myself while riding in to work... I was thinking this morning, I generally write very negative things about the Rangers, because (1) they suck ass, and (2) Hicks is a classic right-wing Texas blowhard. But given how A-Rod is now in New York, wouldn't it be cool to see the Rangers immediately rip off 100 wins? This is my third favorite baseball scenario, right after the Sox breaking the Curse of Dan Shaughnessy by winning it all, and the Yankees losing 159 straight games to close out the season.

Being dumped by A-Rod would then officially become the key to success. Very cool.

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Negative Nellie

I am struggling to think of an equivalent for Dan Shaughnessy in other areas of life. Let's see, in politics it would have to be someone like Dan Burton, the congressman who ran all the scandal hunts for the republicans during the Clinton years, who called Clinton a "scumbag," and who seems to offer little to humankind, other than voicing the concerns of America's lowest common denominator. TV personalities? Morton Downey Jr. is long gone -- he actually died of lung cancer in 2001 -- so we'll have to settle for Dennis Miller. If he were an internet presence, he'd be the Drudge Report. If he were a hockey player, he'd have been a lower scoring Dale Hunter. In other words, he is a bottom feeder.

His latest exploit is to do all he can to elevate Pedro's premature exit from Sunday's game to the level of "controversy." Will a Shaughnessy column feature any quotes from teammates who couldn't care less? Not bloody likely. Will he talk with Pedro and get his side? I seriously doubt Pedro has spoken to him in years. No, all you'll get is his own take on the issue, completely unaltered by his personal relationship with the player in question, and unhindered by those natty facts. Unfortunately, the Globe continues not only to publish his unreadable drivel, but to indulge him by polling internet readers on things like, is Pedro a distraction?

Anyway, I apologize for belaboring the point. All I really wanted to do was start a contest to see who can best fill in the blanks: ________ is the Shaughnessy of ________. Winner gets a framed photo of Sage.
Case Closed

Surely the best possible signal coming from the early days of this championship season, the clearest sign that 2004 is not 2003, is the way Keith Foulke completely manhandled the Orioles in the 9th yesterday. Teams officially now have 8 innings in which to beat the Sox. Actually, if Timlin and Embree get hot, make that six innings. This is a significant moment, a sign that this team very likely has eliminated the number one problem it faced in a season when it still won 95 games.

Pedro, meanwhile, is not the problem. You hear me? OK, that was aimed at Dan Shaughnessy, not the more erudite readers of this site. Pedro left slightly early in a blowout game when he was really pissed off about his performance. Should he have left early? The only reason not to is the symbolism of it.... but what the hell, if he waits 10 minutes, he'd have far fewer writers annoying him for the rest of the week. But Petey is an emotional guy, and I doubt his teammates wanted him to stick around when he was in a post-game funk. My guess is he's going to be more motivated Saturday to stick it to the Blow Jays, like he did to the Orioles after the bad second inning.

No, the biggest problem is Johnny Damon. Running into teammates? Still looking for his first solid swing of the season? Damn, maybe it is the hair...

Sunday, April 04, 2004

Opening Questions

Here are my first ten observations of the new season.

10. The Red Sox have made a living losing on opening day. I guess it's a bit like when I golf, if my first drive is a 50-yard dribbler, somehow it comes as a sort of relief, and I can relax and get on with the game. Whereas, if I crush the first drive, I lose my head for the rest of the round. Somehow, there simply isn't any reason to feel bad.

9. Pedro is fine. In fact, I have lost all sense of humor when it comes to discussing his impending shoulder explosion. "What if he hurt his shoulder?" What if... what if I slipped in the shower? OMIGOD, I'd be KILLED! Anyway, if someone asks me about his health, I may have to get unnecessarily rude, like in a personal way. As a preemptive measure.

8. Staying with Pedro, some of the sharper observers have suggested he hasn't found his arm slot. Given his struggles in the first couple innings, followed by four rather tidy ones, I'd say he looked like a guy trying to find his precision. Arm slot -- in essence, muscle memory -- sounds like one of those things pitchers battle with from day to day. And for a guy who relies on movement, slight angle changes would seem to matter. [Interestingly, the same wags say what makes Mark Prior so great is that he has the same mechanics all the time. They say that about Clemens too. He always finds his arm slot. In a league where everyone throws 90+, maybe this is what separates the wheat from the chaff.] Also he was freezing his ass off. Apparently Pedro likes hot weather. I guess we should hope to face the Astros in late October.

7. If you're behind in the third with guys on second and third and Pokey coming up, is it time to pinch hit? I'm not exactly an insider, but if there isn't an unwritten rule against drag bunting with two out and guys on second and third, there should be.

6. On the bright side, I do appreciate Theo's efforts to build a flexible roster. What this means is that when he loses two big bats to injury, he may not have two more big bats waiting, but the Sox can soften the blow by putting in two solid gloves. Pokey don't give, but he sure can take away, and that's just as good in my book. Also, Kapler should play right in at least every single home game. This is why the Sox aren't running around in a panic handing out contract lollipops to their impending free agents. There are plenty of ways to win, but the clearest way to lose is to put too many eggs in one basket.

5. This is self-serving, since I picked him up in my rotisserie league, but I am already a huge Mark Bellhorn fan. He's the Todd Walker we never had. In 2002 he slugged 27 homers and basically put up corner outfield numbers. He dropped waaaaay off last year, but still got on more often than Johnny Damon, walking once every five at bats -- a Jason Giambi-like rate. It says here that he'll see plenty of good pitches to hit in Boston, and make the best of it.

4. Terry Francona's first big test will be how he handles the leadoff spot. No, I am not overreacting to Damon's mo-killing 0-5. I'm reacting to the fact that he hasn't had a decent on-base average since 2000, and that he got blown away by an 88-MPH fastball by BJ Ryan, in a situation where everyone knew a fastball was coming. My sense is, he's streaky, and in the end he gets enough hits and plays enough defense to justify his lineup spot, if not necessarily his contract. But as Baseball Prospectus says, it's just like Grady Little that he had his two worst on-base guys hitting in front of Nomar and Manny. Bill Mueller has leadoff written all over him -- and not because of his 3-5 last night, but because he's been getting on at a .375 clip his whole life. Bellhorn draws walks; switch him to 2nd, Mueller first, and Damon 8th.

3. Speaking of Damon, how long into the season before people stop commenting on his hair and beard? One game per network? Three? Clearly the sporting press is completely unnerved by the sight of a guy with long hair and/or a beard. Seriously, these announcers sound like they're locked in a right wing echo chamber. Can we move on? But at least Jon Miller tried to have some fun while dutifully flogging the subject. Joe Morgan seemed utterly terified by Damon's looks, offering only a nervous joke about how the Reds wouldn't have let him grow his hair, which Miller pretended he didn't hear. Of course, Morgan neglected to mention that the Reds only stopped goose-stepping onto the field for warmups in 1997.

2. Also, how long before Joe Morgan starts getting credit for mis-analyzing at least 40 percent of every game? We had the sound mostly down, since the evening's true task was getting Sage on daylight savings, so I can't vouch for all of last night. But in the playoffs last year he was right about as often as a bush economic projection. And about as interesting. Is it time to start a movement to draft Harold Reynolds for the broadcasts? Or is he just too comfy hanging around Bristol?

1. The Ten Commandments are on. Such a great movie. Also, I can't believe I've been worshipping engraven objects all these years. I feel like such an idiot.

BTW, last week I promised a league preview. I made it through the NL before giving up on the endeavor as a completely useless, self-serving exercise. I have no idea who will win, though at least I spent the last two months trying to evaluate the constituent parts of two teams -- the Sox and Yanks -- before concluding they are virtually even. And that is not a cop-out. Anyway, after all that, I don't see the need to make projections, because looking at two teams says nothing about the competition they play whenever not playing each other, and ignores the numerous other variables. [Like, say, injuries.] So pretending to evaluate all 32 teams just seems ludicrous.
Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?