Tag: Boston Red Sox

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MLB General

The Full Count: Remember Gary Sheffield?


1. Sheffield’s back: Gary Sheffield took more than a month to give any kind of contribution to the Tigers whatsoever. Yesterday he finally gave the breakout performance every Tigers was fan was waiting for as the team beat the Orioles 3-2 to complete a sweep. Sheffield went 4-4, with a solo homerun and RBI single that provided the difference in this game. He raised his average from .191 to .226 in one day, and in the past ten days his average has nearly doubled. Additionally, he stole his fifth base of the season, which puts him at a career-high pace. The Tigers now have a four-game winning streak going, and they may finally have the slugger they were looking for.

2. From Champs to Chumps: The Cardinals are having one of the worst seasons ever for a defending champ. Due to a five-game losing streak, they have dropped to last place in the division and have the second-worst record in the entire National League. On Wednesday they were shut out 4-0 by the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers, who have the best record in the NL. Starter Anthony Reyes is now the official unluckiest pitcher in baseball. Despite allowing either 3 or 4 earned runs in each of his five outings, he is 0-5 due to awful run support. In fact, the Cardinals have only given him 1.2 runs per game in support, due to an offense with a .245 team average. Don’t blame Albert Pujols for their struggles; he is currently on an 11-game hitting streak that has increased his average by 90 points. The Cardinals can’t wait until starter Chris Carpenter returns, as all of their current starters have an ERA above 5.00 with the exception of Braden Looper.

3. Still perfect: Josh Beckett may be the Red Sox’s team MVP through one month of the season. He has yet to be beaten, and continued his success Wednesday by improving to 6-0 against the A’s. Beckett pitched 7 innings, with 7 strikeouts and 3 runs allowed. It wasn’t his best outing, but the Red Sox gave him plenty of support in a 6-4 win. The Red Sox are 17-9 and have the biggest division lead in the American League; Beckett has accounted for over one-third of those wins.

Player of the Day: Barry Bonds, Giants: 2-4, HR (9, 743 career), 4 RBIs in a 5-3 win over the Rockies.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

This bloody sock needs to die already



The famous sock on display in
Cooperstown

On Wednesday night Curt Schilling torched the Orioles en route to a 6-1 Red Sox victory, but that wasn’t the only story of the evening. That’s because the play-by-play voice for Baltimore Gary Thorne started yapping about Shilling’s bloody sock that he made famous during Game 6 of the 04 ALCS against the dreaded Yankees, and claimed that he was told by Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli that the sock was actually painted to give a dramatic effect to the game.

The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking,” Thorne said to broadcast partner Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher, in a conversation that had begun with a discussion of Schilling’s blog.

“Nah,” Thorne said. “It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR. Two-ball, two-strike count.”

Palmer: “Yeah, that was the 2004 World Series [sic].” Thorne: “Yeah.”

During a break two innings later, Thorne confirmed that’s what he said, and that Mirabelli had told him so in a conversation “a couple of years ago.”

“Go ask him [Mirabelli],” Thorne said.

Mirabelli was shocked, then angry, when relayed Thorne’s comments.

“What? Are you kidding me? He’s [expletive] lying. A straight lie,” Mirabelli said. “I never said that. I know it was blood. Everybody knows it was blood.

Now, this isn’t the first time that Schill has been accused of not bloodying the sock personally, but this is the first time that the source was linked personally to the pitcher. Not that any of this really matters, regardless of whether it was blood, paint, ink or anything else, all that matters is that Schilling put on a show that night and carried his team to victory in dramatic fashion. Just ask the Theo Epstein.

You’re kidding me, right?” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein wrote in an e-mail last night. “I’m the GM of the team, not Jerry Springer. I couldn’t give two [expletives] about what was on his sock, I care that we won the game.

It is pretty stupid to still be talking about a damn sock three years after the fact. It’s time to move past all this nonsense and focus on something that is far more pressing subject matter. To be specific, was the 1985 NBA draft lottery fixed?

Links:

[Boston.com]: Bloody mess

Categories
Philadelphia Eagles

Odds and Ends: The Oregon Ducks are off the hook


Who puked up this color scheme?

The Philadelphia Eagles are celebrating their 75th season in the National Football League, so in order to commemorate the occasion, the Eagles will be dressed in the franchise’s 1933 throwback uniforms.

Oh, but these aren’t just any unis; these are quite possibly the ugliest uniforms ever worn in the history of sports. We’re not sure is if the purpose is to commemorate or humiliate the team but either way Philly fans can turn in their traditional green for yellow and baby blue on September 23 when the Eagles host the Lions.

In other news…

[Lion In Oil]: The Braves can get you into a slightly used seat with 90-day, interest free financing; so, do we have a deal?

[Steroid Nation]: Pit bulls are now being accused of having connections with BALCO

[Star-Telegram.com]: From America’s Team to Arena Football: The Quincy Carter Story

[Boston.com]: Time is almost up for you to own your Red Sox World Series ring. Don’t delay, act now!

And finally, here’s a story of a man in Germany who had a bit too much to drink one night and fell asleep with a horse inside of a bank’s lobby. The couple was discovered the next morning by employees heading into work. The man said that he only had a “few beers” and we believe him; hell, Al Reynolds slept with Star Jones when she was a fat load and he wasn’t even drunk.

Categories
MLB General

Big Papi has a message for you Yankees fans


Have you ever been sitting around the house just wondering about what would be the best way to inform your friends and family about the partnership between MLB and XM Satellite Radio? Yea, we didn’t think so, but we figured that you might want to know about the duo’s latest promotion.

XM Radio has now created a service that allows you to create unique and personalized messages from David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, or Cal Ripken Jr. that can be sent to your friends. Personalized phone calls from celebs seem to be all the rage in sports marketing but we think it’s more fun to use these tools to annoy your friends. What Red Sox fan wouldn’t love to have Big Papi tell some Yankee loser to listen to him on XM Radio?

So don’t delay, start piecing together your insulting messages today. XM and MLB thank you for your support.

Fun with Derek Jeter and A-Rod:

Links:

[XM MLB promotion]: Call Stars

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Need run support? How about 4 HRs in a row?


1. Streak to a Sweep: Daisuke Matsuzaka was pitching for the Red Sox, but he was completely overshadowed by the team’s offense in a 7-6 win over the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball. Boston tied a major league record with four homeruns in a row in the third inning, all off Yankees rookie Chase Wright. Manny Ramirez started the streak with a deep shot over the Green Monster in left-center. Then JD Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek each hit shots of their own, two of which also went over the Green Monster. That got the fans going at Fenway and sent Chase Wright out of the game. Still, the Yankees were leading 5-4 in the 7th inning, until Lowell hit another homer, this one a three-run blast. Dice-K got the win for Boston despite allowing six runs in seven innings. Ironically, he had come into the game as the pitcher with the least run support in the AL. This game marked only the 5th time in major league history that a team hit four homers in a row, and the first time in 43 years for an AL team. The Los Angeles Dodgers did it last September against the Padres, in a streak that also featured JD Drew. Boston swept the Yankees over the weekend, but New York will seek revenge next week at Yankee Stadium.

2. Bonds is Back: Barry Bonds may be 42 years old and well past his prime, but he can still mash. The slugger hit solo homeruns on Saturday and Sunday, providing the majority of the Giants’ 3 runs in those games. The team still won both games due to back-to-back complete games by Barry Zito and Matt Cain. The Bonds homers gave him 6 on the year and 740 for his career, 15 short of Hank Aaron’s record. He is tied for the NL leads in homers, and ranks first in on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS. At this rate, we might see baseball’s most prestigious record fall before the All Star break.

3. Back on top: For those who thought the Braves’ early season success is a fluke, it’s time to reconsider. The team has played the Mets twice and won 4 out of those 6 games. On Sunday, a Glavine vs. Smoltz pitching matchup turned out to be a game filled with offense. Atlanta’s Kelly Johnson hit two homers, including a shot to leadoff the game and a three-run blast that won the game for the Braves. Smoltz and Glavine allowed a combined 9 runs as the Braves came out on top 9-6. For the Mets, Jose Reyes continues to be the National League’s best player. He is hitting .370 with league-leading totals in runs and steals. The Braves now lead the division by a half-game.

Player of the Day: Scott Rolen, Cardinals: 5-6, HR (2), 3 runs, 3 RBIs in a 12-9 win over the Cubs.

Stat of the Day: Albert Pujols has 5 homers and 12 RBIs this year. Oddly, 4 of his homers and 10 of his RBIs have come on Sunday. He is hitting .438 on Sunday, as compared to .166 on all other days.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Manny Ramirez is off his rocker, tell us something we don’t know


Manny Ramirez is no ordinary outfielder. In fact, the only way that most people can appropriately describe the guy without saying he is a nut-job is by using the old reliable description of “that’s just Manny being Manny.” Well, David Ortiz didn’t find that depiction to be accurate, so in an interview with The New Yorker big Papi stepped up to the plate and delivered a home run of a quote in regards to his vision of his teammate.

As a crazy motherfucker.” Then he pointed at my notebook and said, “You can write it down just like that: `David Ortiz says Manny is a crazy motherfucker.’ That guy, he’s in his own world, on his own planet. Totally different human being than everyone else.

Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this; Jim Rome has been saying for years that Ramirez lives on “Planet Man-Ram.” But according to Ray Negron, Ramirez is actually a pretty stable guy.

They should be fair about this. I got to know Joe DiMaggio, and I was very close to Billy Martin, who knew everything about Joe DiMaggio. You know the difference? Manny’s probably a better hitter.” He went on, “I came up with the craziness of the Yankees in the seventies–the `Bronx Zoo,’ and Sparky Lyle and all of them sitting on cakes without clothes on. Manny was mild compared to what I had been used to.”

The reporter then reminded Negron that Ramirez too used to walk into the video room naked to study tapes of pitchers.

“Do you understand why I would see that as normal?” Negron said. “He wasn’t sitting on a birthday cake.

It’s pretty bad when the only way someone can find to describe you as “normal” is because you don’t sit on birthday cakes in the nude.

Links:

[The New Yorker]: Waiting for Manny

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Dice-K can’t catch a break


1. Bad Roll of the Dice: Daisuke Matsuzaka is perhaps the unluckiest pitcher in baseball this season. He has lost two starts in a row despite pitching a quality start in both games. Dice-K was simply outpitched by Felix Hernandez a week ago and Gustavo Chacin on Tuesday. Chacin improved to 2-0 for the Blue Jays after allowing one run into the seventh inning. Matsuzaka, meanwhile, allowed three runs and struck out 10 but didn’t get any support from the offense. With the win the Blue Jays passed the Sox for first place in the AL East, and there are still two games left in this series.

2. Powerhouses: Everyone knows Alex Rodriguez is great. He is having an April like Albert Pujols did last year, as he leads the majors in homers (8) and RBIs (21). Last night A-Rod was part of a Yankees offensive rampage that led to eight runs in the firs two innings and a 10-3 rout of the Indians. While it shouldn’t surprise too many people that Rodriguez is having this type of season, what is surprising is the second-most-powerful player in baseball–Ian Kinsler of the Rangers. Kinsler, a fantasy breakout pick by many this year, has provided a monstrous 7 homers and 13 RBIs, including 1 and 3 in the Rangers’ 8-1 romp over the White Sox. Also in that game, Sammy Sosa hit his third homer of the year, a three-run blast that gave him 10 RBIs. While nobody should expect Sammy to hit above .250, he could have a 30-homer season if healthy.

3. Beasts of the East: The Braves and Mets have been exchanging wins recently as they crush their divisional competition. The Braves beat the Nationals on Tuesday, led by Chipper Jones’ 4th homerun and four hits by leadoff man Kelly Johnson. The Mets, meanwhile, manhandled the Phillies 8-1. Moises Alou of all people had 2 homers and 3 RBIs for New York. The Braves and Mets are a half-game separated in the divisional race, with their next series against each other this weekend.

Player of the Day: Carlos Lee, Astros: 3-4, HR (5), 4 RBIs (16), and 2 runs in a 6-1 win over Florida. If there had been a Full Count on Saturday, Lee would have won this as well with a 3-homer, 6-RBI performance.

Walk Off: The Detroit Tigers are showing this year that their 2006 run was no fluke. They are 9-5 and are standing out in the crowded AL Central race. While their strength of schedule hasn’t been too impressive–they’ve played the Blue Jays twice, Orioles, and Royals twice–they are beating the teams they should beat while going 3-3 against the potent Blue Jays. The Tigers have crushed Kansas City a combined 19-11 the past two nights, showing that they have more ways to win than a pitchers duel. And the top half of their rotation–Verlander, Robertson, and Bonderman–have been fantastic. Detroit was my preseason pick to win the division, and they haven’t showed anything that would make me change my mind.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Go ahead and ask Barry (Zito)


1. 18 million dollar man: Barry Zito, who is making $18 million a year as part of his new contract with the Giants. In his first two starts he looked like a terrible investment, but on Monday he showed he could still be an ace. Zito shut down the Rockies lineup at Coors Field with a 6-inning, 3-hit, no-run performance. He got his first win of the season as the Giants dominated 8-0. San Francisco’s offense helped out too with two homeruns and a 4-5 performance from Omar Visquel. The Giants are still last in the NL West at 4-7.

2. Who wants the West?: The NL West division is up for grabs this week as its top two teams play: the LA Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Monday the Dodgers took a half-game lead in the division as they won 5-1. Brad Penny improved to 3-0 in seven solid innings. His ERA is 0.89 in three starts, and he’s pitching even better than last year, when he started the All Star game. Nomar Garciaparra led the offense with his first homerun of the year and two RBIs. Unfortunately this series is only a two-gamer, with the finale Tuesday that will decide who leads the division, at least for a day.

3. Beckett is Back: Josh Beckett was shaky last year, his first in the American League. But so far this season, he has regained his 2003 form, when he led the Marlins to a World Series. Beckett improved to 3-0 as his Red Sox topped the Angels 7-2 on Monday. He pitched 6 innings and allowed only one run, which kept his ERA at 1.50 in three starts. Also, the Red Sox’s David Ortiz has broken out of a start-of-the-season slump with three multi-hit games in a row, including two straight with a homerun. Manny Ramirez hasn’t hit a homer yet this season, though he did have two RBIs yesterday. The Sox lead their division by a half-game over the Blue Jays at 7-4.

Player of the Day: Pudge Rodriguez, Tigers: 2-5, grand slam, 6 RBIs in a 12-5 win over the Royals.

Walk Off: Two strong starts by a pitcher could be an anomaly. But three in a row to start the season could mean a breakout performance. There are four pitchers who struggled last year that will make the All Star game this year, at least based on what we’ve seen so far. Tim Hudson, Jake Peavy, Penny, and Beckett all seem to have shrugged off the difficulties that gave them 4.00+ ERAs last year. They are all great fantasy players who I would trade for if I needed pitching. Other pitchers who have surprised so far are Nate Robertson, Rich Hill, Ian Snell, and Chuck James. I think all of these pitchers will keep their ERA below 4.00, win at least 12-to-14 games, and be considered aces going into next year.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Pizza hurling Sox fan had extra aggression on his pie

Everyone has gone to the ballpark with the hopes of catching a prized souvenir to proudly show off to your friends for the rest of your days. Brookline Sole had similar intentions when he took in Monday’s game between the Red Sox and Angels at Fenway, but what he didn’t expect was that his dreams would end with a slice of pie to his face.

As J.D. Drew’s foul pop-up sailed into the stands, Sole saw his moment to shine but ended up in a minor collision with Angels’ outfielder Garret Anderson as the ball of his dreams bounced away. If that’s not bad enough, Sole had pissed off another fan, Matt Madore, a few rows back and he decided that this would be the perfect time to exact his revenge on Sole by hurling a large slice of cheese pizza at him. Madore’s buddy, Danny Kelly gave some insight into the hilarious incident that got his friend ejected from the game. Turns out Sole had been poking fun at the fellas for bringing a large pizza to the game.

They had been giving us (expletive) about it,” Madore said. “Next thing I know, there’s a fly ball to left field and it goes foul and my buddy says, `You want some pizza now?’ And he hits him right in the face. Hey, the guy wasn’t paying attention. When you’re in the stands you’ve got to be ready for anything – a foul ball, a flying slice of pizza, everything.

The announcers’ reactions during the recap of the fiasco are absolutely priceless, and luckily for us they keep it up for a good two minutes.

Links:

[BostonHerald.com]: Pepperoni with that? Flying pizza at Fens

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Not so fast on the Cy Young Award


1. Can’t beat the King: Dice-K Matsuzaka got all the attention in his Fenway debut start against the Mariners, particularly for the matchup with Ichiro. However, he got overshadowed by the other starting pitcher, ace Felix Hernandez. Through 7 innings, Matsuzaka had allowed 8 hits and 3 runs, while King Felix had a no-hitter going. While the no-no bid was broken up by JD Drew in the eighth, Hernandez still finished with a complete-game shutout and allowed just one hit. Hernandez’s first two starts have been as good as humanly possible: he’s 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, .47 WHIP, and .075 opponent’s average. As for Dice-K, at least he won the matchup with Ichiro (0-3).

2. Back down to earth: The Mets’ makeshift starting pitching had been quite effective this season. Until last night, that is. Oliver Perez, who had a great first start of the season, couldn’t make it out of the third inning against the Phillies. He allowed 3 runs and issued 7 walks. He threw more balls than strikes, and issued the majority of 11 walks by the Mets’ pitching. The Phillies scored three runs off bases-loaded walks and got some good pitching from Adam Eaton in a 5-2 win. The victory was just the second of the season for the Phillies, while the Mets lost another game to the division-leading Braves.

3. State of the Central: Before the season, it seemed as though the AL Central would be the MLB’s toughest division, with four playoff-caliber teams. Right now none of those teams have separated themselves, but they’ve all looked pretty good. The Tigers are 5-3 and are once again relying on their pitching. Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson have combined allowed only 3 runs this season in four starts. They are tied with the division lead with the Twins, who swept the Orioles to open the season but have gone 2-3 since then. The White Sox, a team likely to confound all year, sit at 4-4 after a series win over the A’s. The 3-2 Indians are also in the mix, but they’ve been snowed out so much that it’s hard to tell what they have.

Player of the Day: Felix Hernandez, Mariners: 9 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 6 K’s in a 3-0 win

Walk Off: Toronto leads the AL East right now by a game, and they’re actually a pretty solid team. However, their last two series have been against Tampa Bay and Kansas City, the two worst teams in the AL. Now they begin a stretch against Detroit and Boston, which should tell us more about this team. MY prediction right now for the AL East is the Red Sox will win it, the Yanks in second, and the Jays back to third.