Wedding

Hey, I'm getting married Saturday. So I won't be posting in the next week or so. I will not miss seeing the Pirates lose. I will miss games 4-7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which is sad, but I'm guessing that'll be the last thing on my mind.

Getting excited for the Bucco Trade Deadline

Stunningly, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the best outfield in Major League Baseball.

Nate McLouth is by far the most productive CF in the NL (.315/.399/.606). Jason Bay is arguably the second most productive LF (.294/.416/.550) after Pat Burell. Finally, Xavier Nady is probably the NL's second most productive RF (.317/.379/.525) after Ludwick. Overall, Pittsburgh OF are 2nd, 7th and 12th in OPS for all major league outfielders. No other team comes close to that kind of combined production. Heck, the Yankees and Red Sox don't even have outfielders higher than 15th (Matsui) and 19th (Ramierez).

Our bullpen is above average, too. Although they're 18th in MLB in ERA, they're 3rd in IP and we have a few extremely dependable guys (Grabow, Capps, Marte, Osoria).

So why do we suck so bad?

One reason is we have a terrible, terrible infield. Doumit, our best catcher, is injured. Jack Wilson just returned from injury yesterday. We have no third baseman. LaRoche, at first, is a joke at the plate.

The more morbid reason, though, is our starting pitching. Despite average relief ERA, the Pirates are dead last in team ERA. That's because our starting pitching ERA is 5.66, .33 runs worse than the Rockies, who are TWENTY-NINTH.

Think about that. That means that over the course of one season, if there were no relief pitchers, Pirates starting pitchers would allow 54 more runs than the NEXT CLOSEST TEAM. Compared to the Indians, who have the lowest SP ERA in MLB, the Pirates would allow over FOUR HUNDRED more runs.

That's HISTORICALLY bad.

What does this mean? Because of our bankrupt farm system, it means there's no hope for the Pirates the next couple years to not tie the Phillie's 16-season losing streak this year or to break the record next year (remember, that's for all major NA sports, not just baseball).

But, for obsessed Bucco fans it means we get to enjoy the first major trades by the new management, who so far seem to be more competent than the former management. Jason Bay and Xavier Nady will both be traded and their stocks are high, so that's very exciting. We should be able to get some top prospects and the Pirates will be looking good in 2011! I'm interested to see who we get.

If you remember, last season around this time I declared that I would cheer for whomever the Pirates trade Jason Bay to until they get better (see this post). Although I won't stop cheering for the Buccos, I still hold that I will become a fan of Jason Bay's new team, even if it's the *gulp* Cubs.

Also, I reserve the right to reject this promise if it's the Indians, because no one would wish that kind of heartbreak, misery, and insanity on anyone.

Do any of you guys' teams in playoff contention need a good corner outfielder???

Red Sox Bullpen: Getting a reliable number 3 guy

This was one of those games that had millions of different story lines. Ejections, injuries, 499th Career homers, etc. But for fear of boring all of you, I'm sticking to one. I wanna talk about the bullpen. They did well, pitching 4 scoreless innings of relief...at least till the ninth when the Mariners walked off, scoring a run in the bottom of the 9th off Mike Timlin. He's now a career 0-6 at Safeco Field. When he came out of the bullpen, they showed his career stats there, and he had a 10.50 ERA, and seeing as how he had an earned run in 2/3 of an inning, it's only gotten higher. Timlin's pretty much done. He has 4 World Series rings, and has pitched in over 1,000 games. His ERA was 6.60 entering tonight, and he's just not effective anymore. My friend Jose and I were talking about who should replace him.

We nominate Brandon Morrow of the Seattle Mariners. He was unhittable tonight, coming in with no one out and two on in the 8th, he blew two straight fastballs by Manny to strike him out, and also blew Lowell away on a 99mph pitch. Then he got J.D. Drew to fly out. He's not even their closer. I don't understand why. I think he's better than J.J. Putz. Granted, I've only seen him pitch once, but it was Papelbon-esque. However, unless the Seattle GM is brain dead, it's highly unlikely he'll be traded as he's only 23 and he throws 99 mph. On the other hand, Epstein is suppose to be one of the greatest GMs ever though, so I'm personally challenging him on this very blog to make it happen.

Until Epstein gets that accomplished (read: for more realistic options), I checked who was down in Pawtucket. I'm serious about replacing Timlin. Not with someone who'd be a last resort, as Timlin is. But with a number three guy on your bullpen depth chart. Behind Papelbon and Okajima. Someone to consistently give the ball too in the 7th. The Paw Sox seem to have two closers, Lee Gronkiewicz, whose a year older than Papelbon and Chris Smith, whose a year younger than Papelbon. Gronkiewicz has a 0.79 ERA, 11 K's and 5 saves in 11.1 innings pitched. Not too shabby. Smith has 4 saves, 30 strike outs and a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings pitched. He has also started four games. Based on the numbers, I'd give the edge to Smith. They both have low ERAs and high Ks to IP ratios, but Smith's 33 IP make me think it's less likely to be a fluke. The only problem with either of these two is experience. I don't think either has played in the Major Leagues. Can the defending World Series Champions rely on an untested pitcher to be the number 3 man?

So let's look at experience for a second. One guy who intrigues me in Pawtucket is Kyle Snyder. He was with the Bo Sox last year, and was vastly underrated. He had a 3.81 ERA. In Pawtucket, he's appeared to struggle, with a 5.05 ERA, but that's been as a starter. I guess he hasn't done that well with the big league club this year, as he has a 21.05 ERA this year, but that's only in an inning and 2/3. The thing is, I don't think it's out of the question to expect the same of him as last year, which right now is much better than Timlin. Also with the Pawtucket Red Sox is Danny Kolb. Didn't he lead the NL in saves with the Brewers a few years ago? When did the Red Sox get him? Apparently know he goes by "Dan." Maybe he always did. I'm not to up to date on my former Brewers Closers. Anyway, he's only pitched 12 and a third innings, but his ERA is a respectable 2.92. He has MLB experience, and he's had success. The drawback, no offense to my fellow bloggers, is that success happened in the National League. I'm always weary of NL success, as many times it hasn't transfered to the AL. I call it Jeff Suppan Syndrome, though more recently the Red Sox have been burnt by Edgar Rentaria and J.D. Drew. Plus, I think Kolb was a bust with the Braves after being all the rave in Milwaukee...wasn't he?

I think, based on the above I'd go with Chris Smith first. It's too hard to argue with those numbers 30 innings into the season. It's also the most realistic, cause I think of the four, he's the only one on the 40 man roster, though I guess if Timlin's cut, it'll free up a roster spot anyway, so that doesn't matter.

In other news from the Pawtucket web page Kei Igawa is pitching for the Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees against Devern Hansack and the Pawtucket Red Sox. The SWB Yankees are in first in the International League North division, a game ahead of the Paw Sox. That's good. That's why the Yankees paid all that money to talk to and then sign Igawa. To help them beat out the Red Sox and win division titles...at the International League Level.

One last thing then I swear I'll publish this. Apparently, the Phillies farm team, which also plays in the International League North, is called the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, with no space between Iron and Pigs. After much debate, I decided it was the dumbest name in history. Believe it or not, the debate was between whether it was the dumbest or best name. I think I got this one right though. No offense Laura.

Bartolo Colon

With the Angels, Colon got a 4 year deal for $51 million, which tells me thats about $12.75 million a year.

The Red Sox are paying him $1.2 million this year, and that only became guaranteed once he made the 40 man roster. So far, in two starts, he's 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 8 K's in 12 innings pitched. Monday night, he out dueled Mariners Ace Felix Hernandez, who would be a household name if he didn't pitch for Seattle. So far so good.

The Red Sox are in second in the AL East, a half game behind the Rays. I refuse to believe Tampa Bay is for real. If it were any one else, I'd be following their games daily, checking up on them. But, they're Tampa Bay. Enough said.

The Yankees are in 5th place in the American League East. Joba Chamberlain is being converted from a reliever to a starter to try to stop the bleeding. They are hosting the All Star game this year. Imagine if they're still a last place team come July? Even better, come September? I couldn't think of a better way to send Yankee Stadium out than with a last place team whose sole claim to fame is hosting the All Star game which will be managed, mind you, by the Red Sox Terry Francona.

20-5

20 runs.

utley had 6 rbis.

victorino scored 4 runs.

feliz had 4 hits.

moyers had 7 ks and has now beaten every team in the majors.

wow i wish i had been in philly for tonight's game....

too much to talk about...

... so i'm gonna go with bullet points.

~ i went to last thursday's cubs/pads game at the friendly confines. a couple of fun things about that game:

#1- jimmy edmonds as a cub?!?! good thing i saw ken's post wednesday night... otherwise... i would've been REALLY confused. the weird thing is that the fans cheered for him rather loudly his first at bat. in philly... were a long-time rival to switch suddenly... the fans would boo them. chicago is too nice.

#2- it was CRAZY to get to see ryan dempster almost pitch a complete game. he'd been in the doghouse for so long here. i wish they hadn't taken him out during the 9th but let him finish the game himself. i've seen a complete game before... [thank you c.c. sabathia]... but i'm always eager for another one.

#3- it was also really cool to see greg maddux pitch in person. i saw tom glavine pitch in wrigley last year as a met [and get his 300th win, btw]... and now maddux as a padre. now i just need to see john smoltz pitch in person and i'll have the 90s braves trifecta. i'd take maddux over the rocket any day as the greatest pitcher in our era.

~ i don't really understand all the rules behind who gets the win and when... but when cole hamels pitches 7 innings for no score and doesn't get the win... i think that's messed up. instead they gave it to flash gordon. the phils ended up winning 1-0... with their run coming in the 9th. is that why flash got the win? cuz he pitched the last inning before they scored? what a disaster. cole should've gotten the win.

~ congrats to jon lester on his no-hitter!

~ congrats to albert poo-holes on single-handedly maiming half of the padres team tonight!

~ i'm struggling with brett myers right now. i dropped him from my fantasy team... partially b/c i found another pitcher who's been more consistent. but also b/c i was mad at him for not helping my real life team. i'm not really sure what's going on with him right now. a friend of mine said that he can't get his velocity up enough for his fastball... so he's going with his other pitches, which he's having trouble locating. so... those go out for balls... and then he goes back in the strike zone and gets hit. what a bummer. maybe he got so used to closing that he's more tired these days? i'm not sure what's happening... but i hope our "ace" [on paper, at least] pulls it together soon.

~ the mets and yanks continue to fall apart... which does so much for my soul. LOVE it when ny teams do poorly. i'm not sure what i think about willie's race comments. is he given a harder time b/c he's black [v. what joe torre endured through losses as a white man]? that seems to be a pretty popular thing to say these days [cue donovan mcnabb and someone else, too, i think]. is there any merit to their accusations? perhaps. but i don't know.

~ ryan howard had 2 homers in tonight's game. does that mean he's starting to turn his season around? let's hope so. last year's top scoring team has disappeared. i read that uncle charlie said it's partially b/c the phils got rid of aaron rowand and michael bourn. that could be. bourn would come in and replace burrell... and then fly around the bases and score at the end of games. rowand had a very active bat last year. it was dumb of him to go to san fran... and i wish we could have kept him for a little bit longer. but long-term i think i'd rather have jayson werth, shane victorino, and burrell in the outfield... as long as their bats hold up. ehhh... maybe not. oh i'm not sure. if i had to choose btwn jenkins and bourn... i'm not sure there either. jenkins has a more reliable bat... but man can bourn run. i saw him get to first easily on an infield single once. it was stunning.

that's all for now!

Home cooking...to the extreme?

The Boston professional sports teams not named after bears are unstoppable at home. The Patriots went 10-0 this year at Gillette, Celtics are now 9-0 in the playoffs at home (take that Andy!), and the Red Sox have now won five in a row at home behind a great outing by Justin Masterson. Okajima made an appearance with the Sox up 2-1 in the 8th with the bases empty, and I figured he'd do well since there weren't any inherited runners, but for some reason he struggled. He managed to get 2 outs but left with the bases loaded. Thankfully, Papelbon came on and got a crucial strike out for the final out, and retired the side in the ninth for the save. That makes 8 wins in a row for the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The road games, on the other hand, haven't been that great for any Boston team. The Bruins lost game 7 of the first round of the Playoffs to the Canadians at Montreal, the Patriots lost a their only game of the year in Arizona, the Celtics are 0-6 on the road in the playoffs and the Red Sox have lost 4 in a row, as well as 5 of 6, on the road. Is it cause Boston sports fans are that good and make that big of a difference? Probably.

By the way, I'm not one to kick a team while they're down or anything, but just in case your wondering, the New York Yankees lost 12-2 to the Baltimore Orioles tonight. Adding insult to injury, Derek Jeter got hit by a pitch and left the game. The Yankees web page say he's day to day. Fear not New York, A-Rod hit a home run in the sixth inning when the Yanks were down by 10, furthering his cause to be named least clutch hitter of all time.

The Yankees are now 20-25, which is good for dead last in the American League East, 7.5 games behind the Red Sox. As glorious as that is, I'm sure the Yankees will make this a race before the season ends.

Kansas City @ Boston, 5/19/08

It was good to be back at Fenway. I had forgotten how fun it can be to be there. My sister Katie went with me. She's not as hardcore about baseball as me. This was only her third time at Fenway, whereas I've been to three Red Sox road games. I lost count of how many times I've been to Fenway by the time I was 9 years old. But, I was hoping tonight would be special. I told Katie we might witness history, as Manny needed two home runs to get 500 Career. Therefore, I was gonna keep score. I don't normally do that. I've tried before. Use to try every game I went to as a little kid, but never made it past the fifth or sixth inning. (I did it last year once at home and blogged about it here. Got through an entire 14 inning game, if you click on the "scoring a baseball game" tag at the bottom, you'll get more info.) I was also wearing my Manny jersey. I let Katie borrow the Ortiz.

We picked up the tickets at the StubHub office and then went to eat at McDonalds in Kenmore Square before the game, which still has photos of Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn, Scott Cooper, and Nomar Garciapara but no one from the active 2004 World Series or 2007 World Series. Every table was occupied except the one which had a photo of Roger over it, so that's where we had to sit.

Before we walked into Fenway, we picked up programs from people outside. If you ever go to Fenway and want a program, buy it outside. It's only $2. Inside, last time I checked it was $5. But I bet it's gone up.

There's this "how to keep score" example the page before the score card they really gotta update. They've been using the same example lineup for as long as I can remember.
5 Boggs
4 Barrett
3 Buckner
7 Rice
9 Evans
...
Boggs singles, Barrett reaches on a fielders choice (5-4), Buckner singles to move Barrett up to third, Rice doubles to score two, and then Evans flies out and Rice is caught tagging up and trying to advance to third. You never make the third out at third! Rice should know better than that. I think they use to give an example for how to keep track of the pitching using Clemens as the example, but they've gotten rid of that and assume now you can figure out "IP" stands for innings pitched, etc. Roger is hated everywhere at Boston, except that McDonalds.

Anyway, I've seen this hundreds of times, but I never really paid attention to another detail they included, the count. Apparently, there are three small boxes to in the left side and two boxes in the top of every box. You fill in the three boxes for balls and the two for strikes, so you can keep track of the count. I decided to try this out, and I liked it. It made it less boring for some reason. I think it's cause I was constantly looking at it.

We had bleachers seats, which are the best place in the ball park to sit. True, it's 500 feet or so from home, but you can actually fit in the seats. The grandstands suck. I'm never sitting in the grandstands again. I was actually surprised at how roomy the bleachers were. This isn't the first time I've sat there either, I was there twice last year. I'm wondering if they redid them at all this past year, or if I've shrunk.

I couldn't find my Red Sox hat before I left, so I went in my UMass Minutemen cap. I was pumped I did cause their Soccer Coach threw out the first pitch. GO UMASS! He's apparently the most winning coach in the programs history, and last year he led them to the finals or the final four or something where they lost to Ohio State. But they did beat Boston College the round before, which gave me bragging rights at graduate school. Anyway, he probably should have just kicked the ball, because the pitch went sailing to the backstop. I think it might have caught a piece of the catchers glove, so we'll score that E2.

The excitement began in the bottom of the third inning. Going into it, neither team had a hit, but then the Red Sox batted around the order. I know, cause I still have the score card. Drew singled on a 2-1 pitch, and moved up to third on a Varitek single (also on a 2-1 pitch). Then Lugo grounded out into a 6-4-3 double play, with Drew scoring. Great hustle play by Drew to get to third on the Varitek single. Something that doesn't show up in the box score. No RBI for Lugo though. Ellsbury came up and tripled to Center, which was awesome. Pedroia then walked and stole second. Ortiz walked the bases loaded to bring up Manny Rameriz. This was as excited as I remember being at Fenway. Everyone was on their feet screaming "MAN-NY! MAN-NY!." He's second all time in grandslams, and he got some pitches to hit, but fouled them off and worked a walk. 2-0 Good guys. Lowell popped up to end the...no! The second baseman dropped an easy pop up. Two runs scored, and Manny was standing on third. Youkilis got a double, sending Lowell to third and driving in Manny. J.D. Drew flew out to right field to end the inning. 5-0 Boston. Thankfully, my Uncle Michael, who taught me how to score, let me know what to do if a team bats around the order. Just cross off the "4" and change it to "3", the "5" and change it to "4" and so on and so forth. They give 14 innings, and my sister had a program she wasn't using just in case they went to 14 or batted around the order too often.

Jon Lester, meanwhile, had no trouble at all. He had a 1-2-3 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. The 4th was capped by an awesome Jacoby Ellsbury diving catch to save what would have been at least a double if it got by him. In fact, in the second, he walked B. Butler, and M. Olivo reached on a fielders choice, but aside from that, he had not allowed a base runner. He was cruising. Someone behind me said "Don't say those two words. Don't even think about it. If he gets through this next inning don't say those two words." I wish he would have shut up. Pretty much everyone in the park knew what was going on, but it was still really early. No need to be a knuckle head about it. Lester did get through the 6th, again 1-2-3. the guy behind me kept saying over and over "Don't say those two words, don't even think about saying them."

Youkilis lead off the sixth grounding out 6-3 on a 1-2 count. Then Drew got hit by a pitch in the foot. It must have really hurt, cause it bounced up above the screen behind homeplate after hitting him. Varitek came up next and hit a 2-2 pitch into the seats in rightfield to make it 7-0 Red Sox. Lugo struck out and Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning.

As the seventh inning began, people are starting to feel it around the park. For the most part anyway. My sister asks if their still letting him pitch because he has a shut out. Now, in the words of Terry Francona, I don't believe in Karma, but at least for tonight, I didn't not believe in it either. So my response was "Yeah...something like that." I felt kinda bad cause I didn't think she got it, and this was big and it would be more fun if she did get it, but I couldn't point it out to her. I tried once or twice to make her realize by moving my pencil over the string of 0's at the bottom on the Royals side under in the "H" row, but she was watching the game, not me scoring the game. I figured she'd know soon enough, one way or the other, so I let it be. Maybe I'm a bad older brother, but it's a decision I made and I'm sticking with it. My brother Mikey and I saw Kason Gabbard last year get into the 8th. That's as far as I'd ever seen it, and I've been to a lot of games. I couldn't risk jinxing it, as stupid as it sounds.

Back to the game. Grudzielanek leads off and hits an easy grounder back to Lester. 1-3. Gordon's up next, and everyone goes crazy when Manny catches an admittedly easy pop fly for the second out. Someone behind me said it was cause he stinks so much defensively people are happy when he does something right. Another mocks him for being "The greatest left fielder in Red Sox history." I think the applause was more for Lester. There's two outs in the 7th for crying out loud. He struck out clean up hitter Jose Guillen swinging to end the inning. Someone turns to me and asks how many strike outs Lester has so far. "Six." The Red Sox similarly go 1-2-3 in their half, with cleanup hitter Manny also striking out swinging to end his day. Ellsbury moved to left and Crisp took Manny's spot in the lineup and played Center. I'm one Manny's biggest fans, if not his biggest, but I wasn't sad to see him go tonight.

The guy on my left asks me if I can see anyone up in the bullpen as Lester trots out for the 8th. I said someone's warming up for Kansas City, but my eyes aren't that great so I can't make out the number. He asks what about for Boston, and I said no, and no one should be either. The guy behind me sounds like a broken record player saying "Don't say those two words, don't even think about saying them." The guy next to me asks if that's another taboo... warming someone up. No, I respond. I tell him with a 7 run lead if Lester falls apart they'll be plenty of time to get someone ready, if it were closer someone would be up. I also predict someone will be up during the ninth. Tavarez? The guy asks. No, I respond, as Automatic Win Day's been cut. I don't call him Automatic Win Day to the guy, but you get the picture.

Lester strikes out Butler looking. My hands shaking as I'm writing the backwards "K." Don't know if its nerves, excitement or the cold. Don't care either. Olivo strikes out looking. Teahan hits a 1-2 pitch to deep center. We can't see it, cause you can't see the triangle from where we are sitting. But Crisp catches it. You can tell cause the place is going nuts. I write a big "8" and then start crossing out the unused boxes for the inning. My hand is shaking and my penmanship is getting a lot worse. The x's look a lot more like lower case alphas.

The Red Sox always play Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" in between the 8th. I don't know why. I think it's the dumbest thing in the world. But they do. They turn down the music for the horns and "SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!" part, both of which the crowd does. I always boycott it, but tonight, I'm so pumped and excited and nervous I'm belting it out with everyone else. I've never wanted a Red Sox half of an inning to end so badly, not even to make a game official when gray skies are looming. Mike Lowell flies out to center, and Youk grounds out 5-3. Then Drew comes up. I'm worried about this. What if he get's hurt? Manny can't come back in...who is the fifth outfielder? Lester needs rest...but I don't want him sitting there thinking about it for a while. More importantly, I don't want to be sitting there thinking about it for a while. "Take this first pitch, then whatever you do, don't get hurt" I mutter under my breath. Drew does take. Strike one. Takes again. Strike two. I'm hoping he gets out. Last thing I want is 8 runs here. Third pitch is in the dirt, but Drew swings. I debating still till this moment whether he did that on purpose so Lester didn't have to wait around too long, or if he's really that bad. I don't know and I really don't care. I'm just pumped he swung at it. Everyone around me is pissed, but I'm saying "It's fine, it's fine, don't worry about it." Katie says "Yeah, cause there up by seven, so whatever."

The entire park being pissed lasts about 5 seconds, and then Lester comes out of the dugout and the place goes wild. Chants of "Let's go Red Sox" and "Let's go Lester" are starting up in every direction. Due up for Kansas City are E. German, Tony Pena Jr. and David DeJesus. The PA Announcer says "Defensive changes for the Red Sox: now playing shortstop, number 13, Alex Cora." Place goes nuts again. Lugo leads the majors in errors. Not the person you want in at this time.

Everyone's on their feet screaming. I'm jumping up and down, unable to control myself, screaming "COME ON JON!!!!!!!!!!! GET HIM!!!!!!!!! GET THIS GUY!!!!!!!!!!!" sounding like a broken record player myself.

Lester's wild to start the inning. The first pitch looks a bit outside. BUT COME ON! GIVE ME A BREAK. In this situation, the strike zone has to expand. Especially at home. Especially with a 7 run lead. No dice. Ball one. Next two pitches to German aren't as close. 3-0. Lester throws one right down the middle, German's taking all the way. 3-1. Doesn't matter. Next pitch is ball four. Not the ideal start to the inning, walking the number 8 hitter. In a situation like this, I'd be tempted to have Lester ignore him and still pitch from the windup. Especially since this is the first base runner the Royals have had since the second, so the windup's been working really well for him tonight. But, he pitches from the stretch.

Tony Pena Jr comes up. His dad was a Red Sox. I just commented on one of Ken's posts about how weird it was to see him as an Indian. But at this point and time, though I really liked his dad, he's my least favorite player in the major league. Nothing he did. Just that he's trying to ruin everyone's night. He hits an 0-1 pitch right on top of homeplate that bounces a mile in the air. Lowell charges in, fields it cleanly, fires to first... and it's IN TIME! 1 down. The guy sitting next to me says he thinks Youkilis came off the bag early. I tell him not to worry about it, and besides, it wouldn't matter. It'd be an error...either on Lowell for pulling Youk off the bag, or Youk for coming too early. German moves up to second. As far as I'm concerned, he can go and take home. I couldn't care less.

DeJesus is up next. I notice Papelbon is warming up. Again, I mutter under my breath "No offense, but hope we don't see you tonight." DeJesus grounds a 2-2 pitch to Youkilis. Lester's covering, but Youk elects not to toss it to him, instead takes it to the bag himself. It was pretty close, or at least it seemed close, but Youk got him. Would have been a lot less close if he tossed it to Lester, but if it were me, I'd be petrified that I'd throw it over Lester's head or something, so I can see why Youk took it himself. 2 outs. German moves up to third. I still couldn't care less about him and really wish he'd just score or something. Get Lester back in the Windup.

So Grudzielanek should be up next. Lester has owned him tonight. Struck him out twice and got him to ground out 1-3. But the Royals pull a despicable Yankee move. If anyone's seen "For Love of the Game," you'll know why. If not, it's a great baseball movie. Not great for kids... a good deal of adult content, but I like it. Anyway, they pinch hit for Grudzielanek with Alberto Callaspo. I've never been so angry about a substitution. Now that I've stepped back, I can see you have to try to win the game, and pinch hitting made sense. But at the time I was irate.

Anyway, the first pitch is fouled off. Second, a swing and a miss. Third is a ball. It was definitely high, but everyone booed like the worst call in history had been made. The next pitch is fouled. Every single time contact is made, my heart skips a beat. I think it's over. Thankfully, Lester had pity on me, and blew one past Callaspo.

Earlier, I believe I said when Manny was up with the bases loaded, it was the most excited I've seen Fenway. I take it back. That moment was the most excited I've ever seen Fenway. I turn to my sister, and say "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!?!?!" And she said "He just pitched a complete game shut out!" This is true. But, I was thinking something else, so I said "Katie, HE JUST THREW A NO-HITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And she said "He did????????" and then she looked up to the score board and said "OH MY GOSH HE DID!!!!!!!!!!"

We tried to get pictures with our phones, but neither of us could get the manual score board, so instead we got the Jumbo-Tron, which said "Red Sox Numbers. This is the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history and the ninth at Fenway Park." It's currently the background on my cell phone. The whole way home I kept saying "Unbelievable." Over and over again.

It was all so random. I just so happen to decide I want to go to a game. I buy from StubHub, which I've only done once before. I randomly decide to keep score, and actually stick with it. And Lester pitches a no hitter. Katie asked me to calculate the odds. They're low. You figure I go to, on average about 5 games a year... I try to keep score about once every 20 games I go to, and there have been 9 no-hitters in the 96 year history of Fenway. Is it (5/81)*(1/20)*[9/(81*96)]? First being 5/81 games at Fenway I attend, second being 1/20 times I attempt to score, third being total no hitters divided by total games at Fenway? If so, the probability of that happening is 0.00000357. That's pretty low.

Jerry Remy scores all games and charges 10 bucks or something. Below, are my scorecards. And my ticket stub. I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but it belonged to a season ticket holder. I bet he or she is kicking themselves tonight!

Here's the stub. I took the liberty of blacking out the season ticket holder's account info, just to protect them. If you click on the pictures, it zooms in and is pretty good quality. You can see my really bad penmanship.

Here's the Red Sox Hitters


















Here's the Royals...well, can't really call them hitters tonight, can we?
















And here's the pitching numbers.

A few loose ends...

Every year, I swear I'm not going to a single home Red Sox game until they tear down Fenway. Every year, I break that promise. I was bored out of my mind today and have nothing to do until a certain blogger's wedding. I was online at Stubhub and found two bleacher tickets to tomorrow's game for $32 each, which isn't bad since the face value is $26. The Royals are in town the next three days, and their weeknights before school's out, so I figured this'd be my one shot to go this year, and I caved.

Monday May 19. Jon Lester's on the mound. By the way, today during the Sox game they showed the next three starters for the Red Sox, and my brother was convinced it was Pawtucket rotation. Lester, Masterson and Colon. I'd love to see Colon pitch, and I bet tickets are just as reasonable, but I'm going to meet the new men's basketball coach for the Massachusetts Minutemen at an alumni event, so tomorrow night it is.

In other news, I'm sorry to report that the Red Sox designated Julian "Automatic Win Day" Tavarez for assignment. I believe he cleared waivers and is now a free agent for any team that enjoys a crazy pitcher who looks like an air traffic control person every ground ball hit to the infield and who automatically winning every five days when in the rotation.

EDIT 5/21: Tavarez agreed to remain in the Boston organization and accepted his assignment to Pawtucket. Automatic Win Day begins in Pawtucket, every five days.

Another thing I've been meaning to write about. I don't know if I mentioned it or not last year, but the Red Sox Bullpen decided they were Pirates...not the Pittsburgh kind. The Captain Jack Sparrow kind. I think it happened when the movie was released. Anyway, they all have crazy Pirate names no one else is allowed to know and they have drum line routines they preform during rallies with spoons and empty water bottles. This year, they've added a Jolly Roger flag which they hangs in one of the windows of the bullpen bench.

Nightly Web Gems

So, I don't know if you all get a chance to watch Sportscenter/Baseball Tonight on a regular basis, but in case you have missed this, Rick Ankiel is turning into a heck of a centerfielder. He has been great--diving for balls, making sick throws to nail runners at third, and then his latest tonight robbing Adam LaRoche of a homerun (sorry Joe). I am not surprised by this anymore..you know, the whole "wow, this guy used to be a pitcher?" thing...but it is still pretty great to watch.
It used to be Jimmy Edmonds on Sportscenter every night. Now Rick is starting to show up. He has been a great replacement for Edmonds, which are big shoes to fill in center.

Speaking of Edmonds...

The Cubs signed him today. What?
I know they are looking for a left-handed bat that can play center, but is he really the answer? At league minimum I suppose it is a low-risk, high-reward pickup. But is he going to give you more than Felix Pie?

The weirdest part for me is that the next time Edmonds roams center at Busch he will be wearing a Cub uniform. (shiver) That is just not right. It is one thing to have Cesar Izturis or Mark Grudzielanek join STL after being Cubs, but they weren't "Cub" Cubs. Edmonds was a fan favorite for years in STL and one of the real stars for what seems like most of their run in recent seasons. It just isn't right thinking of him playing for the enemy. I'm sure Red Sox fans felt that way about Damon, too. Well, except Damon could still play and he went directly to the Yankees from the Red Sox. But seeing a beloved part of your family (my friend loved to yell out at games that Jimmy was his biological father--of course he deals with abandonment issues, but that is another matter) playing for the other guys...weird.

I really can't remember the last time that happened. What about your teams? Are there those players for you?

Depth matters.

Ron Villone??? I had no idea this guy was still playing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates: 4th in the NL in runs scored. What the heck?? We're 11th in OBP and 13th in SLG. So I don't see it lasting. But it's fun for now. One game away from the coveted .500.

At the same time, our pitching has been just bad, worse than the players actually are, so that will actually improve. (We're last in the NL in ERA.)

So is there hope for avoiding tying the Phillies for most consecutive losing seasons in major North American professional sports?

No.

The reason is depth. In truth, the Pirates are often around 20-20 at this time in the season. But our starting pitching is stretched so thin already, and our bench has no one of significant talent. Right around June or July, we get some injuries or guys just get tired and in slumps and our team totally falls apart.

June and July are the months when many teams like the Pirates who are mirages (even mediocre-looking mirages) will fade into bad, bad baseball because they have no depth.

So I'm not getting too excited.

Greatest Left Fielder of All Time

Read this.

Manny apparently claimed to be the best Left Fielder to play in Boston. This could be taken several ways, but most are taking it to mean he's the best Red Sox Left Fielder of all time. Arguments could be made he's calling himself the best in the MLB (nowadays with free agency and interleague play, most Left Fielders play in Boston at least 3 games...) or that's he's the best to play the Left Field Wall. By the way, he is by far the best to play the Left Field wall that I've ever seen. That's probably what he meant.

As for Red Sox history, I don't know if he's the best ever, but he's definately the best in my life time. I'd pick Manny over Jim Rice, Mike Greenwell, and Troy O'Leary.

All time, I'd say he's probably in the top three, and you could make a strong case for Ted Williams, Carl Yastremski, and Manny Rameriz.

a real outfield?

The Pirates have a lot of problems, but here are some positives:

Our new GM probably knows what he's doing, and the coaching staff is a big improvement too. Unfortunately, this sudden competence won't produce results for 3-4 more years.

Our pitching couldn't possibly be this bad all year (last in the NL in runs allowed).

We actually have a good outfield! Jason Bay has returned to form. Nate McLouth is suddenly the man, Nady is playing well. Our catcher, too, Doumit, is hitting well. Our infield is sad, but the outfield is actually above average.

For as bad as we've been this year, we're standing at 18-20 (after just breaking a 6-game win streak). Perhaps sometime soon we'll be back at .500. That would be exciting.

Saved!

That's how I feel since Izzy was taken out of the closer role a couple days ago. He has looked pretty bad for awhile now and I (along with Cards fans everywhere) haven't felt confident in him to close out games for some time...I'm not sure I have ever really considered him an elite, shut 'em down closer, actually. I feel bad for him, especially after some of his comments about being embarassed and "pitching like a second grader". But I am also glad he is not closing right now.

Even in the last week or so there were 3 or 4 games they could have won that were coughed up by the bullpen, mostly Izzy. I know that a closer won't pitch well all the time and is going to blow some saves once in awhile (you realize how incredible Gagne's streak was a few years ago?) but how often is acceptable?

This year in the NL Central, which is what I hear about the most, there have been all kinds of closer problems, from Izzy to Gagne to Kerry Wood. I think Gagne and Izzy must have some kind of contest going to see who can blow more games...and they were both taken out of the closer role a couple days ago, so maybe they both won. Still, I wonder what is a typical save percentage for closers? (I've heard around 85-90% for the "good" ones). And how much impact does a closer have on the season...as opposed to, say, an 8th inning guy or a typical setup guy...or compared to an "average replacement closer"?

I think it is tough to gauge how good a closer is sometimes. We tend to remember the meltdown/blown save more and not notice the "easy" ones as much, for one. Two, the save is only so useful. I mean, the Rangers' pitcher got a save in that 30-3 victory last year. How quality was that save? And you can come in with a three run lead and give up two runs and strand 'em full and still get a save...that is just dumb. And if you are pitching for a team that doesn't present many save situations (because they are so good or so bad), maybe that doesn't look as good. If the closer is always coming in with a one run lead that is a lot different than those guys that come in with two or three run leads a lot and get saves. I'm sure some sabermetrician has figured this out somewhere, but I'd like to see it. I don't really need those numbers to tell me Izzy has hit the "suck" button this year, though.

Defensive Indifference

Down by one with two outs, the Twins had 1st and 3rd. Papelbon wasn't even looking at the runner on first, and color man Jerry Remy, predicted a defensive indifference. I turned to my brother, who for someone who doesn't like the Red Sox sure is watching a lot of them this year, and said "I'd pitch out, or at least try to get the runner out." As usual, the Rem Dawg was right. Defensive indifference. It was immediately followed by a bloop single to left, and Ellsbury didn't even attempt a throw, not that it would have mattered. The Twins walked off, Papelbon blew his second consecutive save attempt, probably for the first time since 2006.

I understand the point of defensive indifference, so the fielders aren't out of position. I'm even in favor of it with less than 2 outs and up by like 4. But you gotta figure, in this situation, if you throw the runner out, the game's over. I understand the risk of either a double steal or the ball going into centerfield, but still. If you get the runner, the game is over. Have the sabermetricians looked at this defensive indifference vs attempting to throw the guy out?

it's weird when you look at it on paper

Sometimes I feel like the Pirates aren't that bad. Nate McClouth has turned into a superstar in center field. Xavier Nady continues to over achieve. Jason bay has returned to form. LaRoche's bat will start to come around. Jack Wilson is above average for a short stop. Sanchez is Sanchez. Doumit is a far above average hitting catcher.

Our starting pitchers can't possibly pitch this badly all year. And our bullpen is bad, sure, but isn't everybody's? We're only 3 games under .500!

Yes, some days I feel that we're just a power-hitting 3rd baseman and an ace pitcher away from breaking the 81-win barrier.

Then reality sets in. There is no depth behind any of our good players. Many of the guys I think are good would just be platoon position guys on other teams. Our minor league system is bankrupt. We get 9000 people in the stadium on weeknights. Our owners don't care if we win. We lead the league in promotional give-away nights because everyone is so sick of the Pirates and won't come to the stadium otherwise (and the Penguins are freakin sweet this year).

This year we will tie the Phillies. Next year it will be ours. An unprecedented number of losing seasons in a row. Only the Pirates.

Hope I've made your day a little brighter. :) Maybe sometime this week I'll write about the few positives of our organization.

HAHAHAHAHA.

ps... did anyone else see the replay on baseball tonight or sportscenter of the cubs' mascot's inadvertent beheading after falling off the cart he was riding on with the reds' mascot?!?

i laughed so hard i almost cried.

Tigers get lucky

The Tigers blew 4-0, 5-2, and 8-5 leads tonight. The Sox took a 9-8 lead in the 8th and Okajima, pitching with no one on base, retired the side without allowing a run. That set up Papelbon in the 9th. Matt Joyce, who earlier got his first big league hit, added another to lead off the inning. It was a cheap hit, as he checked his swing and hit a dribbler to Lugo. Lugo made a great barehanded effort, but Joyce beat the throw by a step. Then Lugo made an error on a ball hit right at him giving the Tigers runners on 1st and 2nd. Detriot had a pinch runner in who was flying to second, so I doubt they would have gotten two, but Lugo definitely could have gotten the trail runner.

Pudge came up next. Not the real Pudge. The fake one. In fact, I'm gonna call him I-Rod from now on. Anyway, I-Rod put down a real nice sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and 3rd, bringing up Curtis Granderson. Granderson grounded out to second, but the runner scored from third tying it up without the ball ever leaving the infield. Before Granderson's ground ball, nothing had even passed the infield grass, and no one was walked...and somehow the Tigers tied it up. Anyway, Placido Polanco comes up next, and Papelbon breaks his bat, yet the ball just gets over the reach of Lugo who really couldn't do anything about it. He went back for it and timed his jump perfectly and it just was out of his reach. Anyway, the game winning run scores.

Ridiculous. The hardest hit ball was a broken bat bloop single and somehow the Tigers score two runs. Jonathan Papelbon calmly walked off the mound, went into the dugout, and proceeded to beat the crap out of two Gatorade coolers.

bonds

i think it's really interesting that they're doing an investigation of sorts on why teams aren't signing barry bonds. apparently mlb is trying to make sure that the teams haven't made an informal pact to keep him out.

it seems like it'd be difficult to get all of the owners to agree to something like that... but if they did, what's wrong with that? bonds has single-handedly made a mockery of baseball. [okay... to be fair... he didn't do it single-handedly... and to be more fair... he also did great things for the sport. unless, of course, everything he did was tainted with steriods. in that case... he's just a big cheater and in my humble opinion... should have his records revoked.] either way... he's created a big mess. and with a person is as unlikeable and controvery-stricken as bonds is... it'd make sense that teams wouldn't want him.

for as much as i don't like a-rod... i'm looking forward to him surpassing bonds' home run record. at least he's done it cleanly.

point being... keep bonds out. i hope no one ever signs him.

Moneyball and Bill James

Also, I finally got around to reading Moneyball and am also reading a biography of sorts about Bill James, The Mind of Bill James, both of which I highly recommend. Aside from all the eye-opening thoughts on how we need to look behind many of the commonly held assumptions of the game, it has been an incredible reminder of how much I love baseball, much because of all the ways we can break it down and analyze it. There is just so much that goes on surrounding every play, situation, player, team, etc. And it is inutterably beautiful.

And to throw out the first pitch...

So, I went to the Cardinals-Cubs game on Saturday...a beautiful day, great view, and the first game of the year for me, but let us just avoid talking about how the game turned out...and noticed something I found peculiar.

I'm not talking about the 2:45pm start time, which was a bit different, but must have had something to do with the game being on the Saturday FOX broadcast. No, what was strange was the ceremonial first pitch.

I understand that it is almost a given to have a ceremonial first pitch at a game anymore and have seen many variations--I was even on the field to video my friend throwing one out (contest winner) at Busch a few years ago and also saw G.W. Bush throw out the first one on opening day--but I can't ever remember seeing six before one game before. Yes, six!

It was nice to see U of I basketball coach Bruce Weber...and then some guy from a local Association of whatever...and then a little boy who had suffered a stroke in utero...and then, well I can't remember all of them because they just kept coming out and throwing pitches. Two or three I have seen, but never six. It was weird. I know it doesn't interupt the game and is surely a huge thing to most of those people, but do we really need that many? It just seems a little too...minor league or something--where you have a promotion or gimmick between every half inning.

It was just weird.

Inherited Runners

Today, Okajima came in the 7th with a runner on third and 1 out. I immediately said to my brother "I guarentee he's gonna let him score." Sure enough, Carl Crawford singled to left off Okajima, who then settled down and struck out the next two Rays.

It's very frustrating, cause Okajima is suppose to be a great reliever, but it seems like he allows every single inherited runner to score. His ERA is less than 1, but if we were to redo it to account for inherited runners, I bet it would be in the 3's or 4's. Anyone know of a site that gives stats about that?

Youk just homered as I'm posting. 5-3 Sox in the bottom of the 7th.

Order has returned

Everyone can calm down. After the D-R...I mean Rays swept the Red Sox last week, Boston has taken the first 2 of this series, and I see no reason to not expect the full sweep.

too good to be true

the phils are in first place.

pat the bat hit a walk-off 2-run home run in last night's game.

chase also homered in the game.

i got to listen to harry kalas announce, "this ball's outtaaaa heeeeeeeere," on mlb.com.

it's a good time to be a philly fan. : )

Red Sox almost get revenge...sort of...

So, way back in the early 90s, I remember watching a Red Sox-Yankee game at Yankee Stadium. I forget most of the details, but what I remember clearly is the Sox were winning in the ninth inning with 2 outs. A Yankee, I don't know who, flew out to Mike Greenwell to end the game, or so we thought. Unfortunately, some little 13 year old punk in braces and everything sprinted out onto the field, I guess as the pitcher was releasing the ball. The Yankee Manager (someone other than Joe Torre) called time out. Tim Naerhing, 3rd baseman for the Sox, verified this in the post game show. The third base umpire, after the ball was caught by Greenwell and while the Red Sox were shaking hands in celebration and security was getting the little punk, decided to inform everyone of this. Apparently, even though he didn't elect to tell anyone, he decided to grant the time out to the Yankees, so the hitter got another chance. I was pissed. I can't remember what happened next exactly, I only remember the Yankees won that game. It was the first of many times in my life I've seen an umpiring crew hand a ball game to the New York Yankees. Roger Clemens was quoted a few days later as saying something along the lines of "It's too bad it isn't like football and they can't penalize the home team five yards or something when that happens." Too bad indeed, Roger. Too bad indeed.

Flash forward to Thursday Night. Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, Toronto's on top 3-0. Coco Crisp is up with Brandon Moss on 1st. Crisp pops up to end the game, and the Blue Jays begin shaking hands. Moss is jogging off the field, but all of a sudden, the second base umpire tells Moss to go to second base, and has Crisp go to the plate. He apparently, without letting anyone know, called a balk on B.J. Ryan. Toronto Manager John Gibbs was ejected in the immediate aftermath. Here's a video. Anyway, Crisp gets another shot at the plate, and singles, sending Moss to third. Jed Lowrie comes to the plate, and Crisp takes second on a defensive indifference.

Unfortunately, the Lowrie struck out to end the game. That means I'm still waiting for payback with almost 20 years of interest.