Red Sox Offseason (so far)

Following what some would call a disastrous end to the 2011 campaign, many in Red Sox Nation felt big changes needed to be made. I, for one, did not wholly agree, at least on the level of players. Sure, it was Tito's time to go, and sure, Ben Cherington deserved a chance, even at the expense of Theo. Beyond that, I didn't see much need to give the team a face lift. Yes, there were a few pieces missing, including a hole that would surely be left when Jonathan Papelbon ultimately left for the money down in Philly, right field, and the back end of the rotation, but I, along with the Sox Brass (so far) thought these could be solved relatively cheaply. The following is an exploration of the moves the front office has made, thus far.

Closer
With Jonathan Papelbon leaving to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for $50,000,058 (the last two numbers to match his jersey number) over four years, a length and price I think the Red Sox were wise to not match, the Sox had a bit of a whole. With Daniel Bard, the longtime supposed 'Closer of the Future,' seemingly transitioning to a role in the rotation (solving the fifth starter issue, for now), the Sox had no clear closer. None of the current bullpen arms seemed like adequate replacements as the end of the game guy, with the exception of Alfredo Aceves, who would mostly likely prepare in Spring Training to be a starter or long reliever. So, to the trading block they went. Ryan Madson and other free agent closers would ask for too much money, and likely too many years, so the trading block was the best bet. The Red Sox then traded the oft-injured utility man Jed Lowrie and spot start call-up Kyle Weiland, who had little future in the Red Sox organization, to the Houston Astros for Mark Melancon, their closer who saved 20 games in 2011. I thought this was a wonderful deal. Houston is not the same type of atmosphere as Boston, and the Astros will never be as good as the Red Sox currently are, so this may be a big step for him. But, as would eventually become apparent, he was never going to be the closer. He was going to be the set up man, replacing Bard (who still could end up back in that role if the starting thing doesn't work out).

Andrew Bailey, former Rookie of the Year with the Oakland Athletics, had been on the Red Sox radar for a while. While not overpowering, Bailey has good stuff that he knows how to use. He is arguably one of the best young closers in the game. So, as the Red Sox do best, they went out and got him, for some low prospects and Josh Reddick, who was used quite a bit in 2011, due to the fact that he was much better than an ailing, aging, and (as always) under-performing JD Drew. But this was only at times. As far as outfield prospects the Red Sox had, Reddick and Ryan Kalish both appeared Major League-ready. Kalish suffered a major shoulder injury early in 2011 and missed most of the season, but is expected to be ready by June of this year. Kalish has more upside than Reddick, too, with more speed and potential for power. He's also a dirt dog, a trait Red Sox Nation, myself in particular, respect. So, the Red Sox had a new late innings pair with Bailey and Melancon, and I am excited by the prospect!

Shortstop
Now, wait a minute. Didn't the Red Sox just trade their backup SS (Lowrie) and don't they have a fairly competent incumbent in Marco Scutaro? Yes, yes they did. But then they traded Scutaro, too, seemingly inexplicably. Then, word came out he was being shipped to free up salary space to use on helping upgrade other positions (meaning RF and the rotation). So, as of right now, the Red Sox shortstop is a platoon of Mike Aviles and recently signed Nick Punto. This offense/defense pairing seemed alright, but it's not ideal; I, personally, think a single player is necessary at such a crucial position as short. However, the Red Sox do have defensive wizard Jose Iglesias waiting at AAA Pawtucket, working on his hitting. Realistically, the Red Sox could call him up and begin starting him at the position anytime this season, if they are comfortable basically sacrificing his spot in the lineup. With the high powered offense they have, this isn't out of the real of possibilities. Also of note, according to MLB.com's recent rankings of the top prospects at every position, Iglesias, who was at the top last year, is no longer even in the top 10. There is a Red Sox SS on that list, though, named Xander Bogaerts. However, he will begin his first full season at AA this year, but could progress quickly. He hits much better than Iglesias but does not field as well. Although he is projected to switch positions at some point, he may be a better bet than Iglesias, making Iglesias expendable as trade bait. We'll see. For now, the Punto/Aviles platoon stands. It'll be interesting to see who gets the starting nod on Opening Day, or if the platoon even holds up, withstanding any possible replacement.


Right Field
The Red Sox, in the Josh Reddick-Andrew Bailey deal, also got Ryan Sweeney from Oakland. Sure, Ryan Sweeney isn't really what scouts would call "good," but he is a fairly reasonable platoon who could benefit from the change of scenery and dimensions of Fenway. Realistically, he is not a long term solution and, once Kalish returns and proves himself healthy, Sweeney could be on his way out. A solid fourth or fifth outfielder, Sweeney was not acquired for his skill: He was acquired because of Bailey. There is also always the option of Darnell McDonald, whose stock in the organization and height in the Red Sox depth chart has been quickly plummeting, in my eyes, since he hit that one grand slam two summers ago. The Red Sox used some of the money saved by trading Scutaro to sign Cody Ross, a San Francisco Giants post season hero. Cody Ross is much better than McDonald and Sweeney, but it is unclear if he wins a starting job out of Spring Training. I am holding out until Kalish is healthy and takes over. Hopefully Ross and McDonald/Sweeney can keep the ship afloat until he returns.

Starting Rotation
Lastly, the part of the team that is perhaps the most important, the starting pitchers. The Red Sox have their two aces of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, plus up and coming star Clay Buchholz, who, after a stellar 2010, spent the majority of 2011 on the DL. He will hopefully bounce back and regain his former poise. Beyond that the Red Sox have a bunch of maybes. There's Daniel Bard, who will be transitioning to starter after spending his entire major league career in the bullpen. This will hopefully work out fine for him, and, even at his possible worst, would still make a solid #4 or #5 starter. Then, there is Alfredo Aceves, the most diverse pitcher on the staff. He very well could be a starter, and he's done his time to deserve it. I think he would make a great starter, but the Red Sox bullpen may still be the best use of him. The Red Sox have made several low-risk, high-reward moves by signing aging veterans to minor league deals. They will compete for a place in the rotation in Spring Training, but the bar is set low, so if they don't, it's off to Pawtucket for them, no harm done. These vets are longtime Rockie Aaron Cook, former contract-regret Carlos Silva, and Vincente Padilla. These pieces are all maybes, but they could be surprises, like Bartolo Colon was for the Yankees last year, after taking a mysterious injection. The Red Sox have also been linked to young pitchers on the trading block, like the Astros' Wandy Rodriguez, the White Sox' Gavin Floyd, and the Cubs' Matt Garza, who would come with a pretty steep cost. Regardless of what happens, the Red Sox have the door open for the back end of their rotation, and it is a fine position to be in at the tail-end of January.

The Red Sox 2012 season prospects are looking up, even if not all the pieces are sorted out. The coaching staff has been finalized, including an exciting new manager in Bobby Valentine, who is already making his rounds around the area, and with the players, having met with each and every returning member already. The Red Sox front office should be proud of the job they have done so far, especially considering the state of Red Sox Nation in October.

2011 Boston Red Sox: It's not as bad as it seems!

Alright, alright, it's been long enough, enough has been settled: I can now talk about the season that was 2011.

Just today, it became official that Theo Epstein WOULD indeed be heading to Chicago to serve as the Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations, and Billy Goat #1, should the Cubs end up finishing third or worse in the NL Central, as they seem to have done every year since Steve Bartman. Have fun with that, Theo! While I am sad to see Theo go, it was clear with the fallout following the season that he would not be back. We have a great replacement in Ben Cherington, who, along Jed Hoyer (current Padres GM, who is set to become Theo's GM in Chicago) made one of the bigger trades in recent Red Sox history (getting Josh Beckett and Mike "World Series MVP" Lowell for Hanley "Bad Attitude" Ramirez.) while Theo was hiding in a Gorilla suit. (if you aren't familiar with this story: http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=51027) Cherington is an apt replacement and look forward to his tenure.

Theo's leaving came after it was announced that field manager Terry "Tito" Francona would not be returning next season. The move was made as a mutual agreement, but I believe it is more of Tito didn't want to come back, and the Sox brass were willing to let him go. To be fair, and I've been saying this for years, he was not that good of a manager. Sure, he led the Red Sox to their first two World Series championships in 86 years, but it's not like he was playing! I have consistently said over his years at the helm that he posses an inability to manage a bullpen, which has turned out to be quite an issue. His nickname of "Francoma" did not come without reasoning. I'm not sure who the next manager will end up being, but I sure as hell wish John Farrell hadn't left last year, for multiple reasons...

John Farrell was, hands down, the best pitching coach the Red Sox have ever had. I mean, at least in my lifetime. He showed signs of the makings of a great future manager, which he became last year for the pathetic Toronto Blue Jays. While he not only would be the answer to our current managerial problems, he also would've been great to have as our pitching coach, instead of the useless Curt Young. Sure, Curt Young had a great track record in Oakland (where he will be returning next year), but that could be wholly attributed to the fact that Oakland is a team that gets good draft picks, and has the pitchers while they are young and impressionable, before they are shipped out because Oakland won't be able to afford them. Well established pitchers like Josh Beckett and Jon Lester won't listen to a guy they don't really respect. With Young, this was apparently the case. This brings me to the next point: starting pitchers.

So, it turns out that Francoma was so lax in discipline that on off days starting pitchers would go back to the clubhouse and drink crappy beer (Bud Light) after the 6th inning. While I do not technically have a problem with players pitching on their off days, I think they probably should have remained with the team in the dugout, showing their support. Francoma was not a discipline man, and was very much a players manager, which is why this type of issue developed in the first place. Our next manager needs to be a good mix of fun and strict, an aspect that Francona was clearly heavy on the fun side of the spectrum. The guys I would most like to be the next manager are Joe Maddon and Buck Showalter, both of whom are unlikely to leave their posts (additonally, Showalter has shown distaste for the Red Sox organization, putting it lightly.)

I know that I have high hopes for Cherington and the Sox brass picking a new manager, and working out the drinking problems, and getting a good deal for getting rid of terrible signing John Lackey (unlikely), but I think things will work out because, really, things are not that bad. Sure, the Red Sox finished third and missed the playoffs. Sure, they have one of the highest payrolls in the league. But, it's not like they were terrible (with the exception of September). The Sox ALMOST made the playoffs, and only were eliminated from such hopes on the last day of the regular season. And it is not like they did not have some stiff AL East competition to deal with. Based on the fact that the Red Sox started off the season 2-10, went 7-20 in September and STILL managed to be in the playoff race until the very last day of the season should speak well of the team and their future, not negatively. Yes, this was the 2nd year in a row missing the playoffs and finishing 3rd, but I am not worried. The Sox consistently put out a great team that will compete for the playoffs until the very last day, and there is no reason to expect them not do so in 2012. Consider this: Jacoby Ellsbury had one of the best seasons in baseball, and he is poised to be at least half as good next year. And keep in mind, the Red Sox will get a much better year out of Carl Crawford next year (he can't possibly not bounce back). Additionally, the Red Sox still have Adrian Gonzalez. ADRIAN. GONZALEZ. Get excited for 2012.

Holy moley! I went to a playoff game!

Let me begin by apologizing for being a student. I know I promised myself, and you, that I would write two blog posts a week; one here, and one on http://markcyv.blogspot.com/. Unfortunately, I haven't been too great about that with this one. Much of this has to do with being busy, but also with the Red Sox epic fail in September. Next post will be about that, and the many changes the team has seen since then. Now, to the real reason you're reading: I WENT TO A PLAYOFF GAME!

On October 2 (yeah, yeah, two weeks ago, I know) I went to my first ever playoff game of any professional sport. Unfortunately, it did not include my beloved Red Sox, but that is of little or no consequence, because it was still PLAYOFF BASEBALL! It also had my Dad's favorite team, and my second favorite, the Detroit Tigers. It also included the dreaded Yankees losing at home, so it was pretty awesome. A-Fraud failing miserably, and receiving a heavy round of boos each time he failed (it happened at lot) was wonderful. Golden boy Derek Jeter striking out in a crucial at-bat in the 9th was great. Seeing Andy Pettitte at Yankee Stadium, and not pitching was also great (I bet most fans there wished he was still pitching for them). Hearing his wife sing the national anthem was not as terrible as it sounds. There was rain off an on the whole game, but our upper-upper deck seats were under the overhang, so we weren't bothered by it. It was impossible to find good parking (thanks to my own failures to wake up at the correct time) and I still feel really bad about it. I dealt with the deserved anger from my dad and brother, and made the best of the game, which was the best, most exciting game I'd been to, at least this season. There's just something about playoff baseball...

This was my first time in New Yankee Stadium, and to be honest, I was not super impressed. It's just like the old one, except newer, basically. Sure, it's a very nice ballpark, but it's really nothing special. It's nothing compared to the uncomfortable tiny seats that point you out towards center field from right like Fenway. Still, I was glad to have been to the new park of my most hated rivals.

I really enjoyed the obnoxious Yankee fan who told my dad, brother, and I to sit down when we were cheering for Miguel Cabrera's first inning homer. We'll cheer if we want, jerk!

I really enjoyed the Tigers winning in the dramatic fashion that they did. I was literally on the edge of my seat for all of the ninth.

Above is a picture from our seats, with a perfect view of all the (literally) fair weather fans the Yankees have, who left when a tiny bit of water began falling from the sky. IT'S PLAYOFF BASEBALL! Tough it out! I would never even consider leaving a game early that is not an absolute blowout, regardless of the weather. And this was the playoffs, so leaving in a tight game is just inexcusable. You should be ashamed of yourselves, Yankee fans.

Thanks for reading, make sure to check out my next post, where I may have an emotional breakdown halfway through, as I'll be talking about those guys the Yankees are now golfing with: The Boston Red Sox.

Justin Verlander and the MVP Race

Well, we've entered the home stretch. The playoff teams are pretty much set, safe for the AL West, and who will end up winning the AL East (the loser gets the Wild Card spot). Even the AL Cy Young is pretty much wrapped up for Detroit's Justin Verlander. So, the thoughts on everyone's mind is the AL MVP race. The front runners are New York's Curtis Granderson, Boston's Adrian Gonzalez, and Detroit's Justin Verlander. There are other candidates, but these are the three most likely to win. Let's explore each of these players statistics.

As of today, September 9, Curtis Granderson is hitting .270 with 38 home runs, 109 RBI and 24 stolen bases in the potent Yankees lineup.

Adrian Gonzalez is leading the league in batting average, hitting .343 with 24 home runs and 106 RBI in the only-slightly-less potent Red Sox lineup.

Verlander is a pitcher, and those statistics cannot be easily compared to that of position players, so we will discuss Granderson vs. Gonzalez first.

With those three major statistics, it is pretty much a toss up. Granderson has many more stolen bases, and 14 more home runs, but Gonzalez is hitting a whopping 77 points higher than Granderson. Even the more advanced stats don't give you a clear winner here. Gonzalez beats Granderson in OBP (.407 vs .374) and OPS (.964 vs .945), while Granderson edges out Gonzalez in slugging (.570 vs .557). If you wanted to see what types of hits are making up these numbers, you would compare Gonzalez 21 more doubles (43 vs 22) against Granderson's 7 more triples (10 vs 3). Gonzalez is approaching 200 hits on the season, while Granderson is 10 away from 150. Gonzalez has about 50 more at-bats and 15 more total bases on the season. So, what is basically being shown here is that it is a wash, and could go either way, between these two players. However, there is that Verlander guy, who already has 22 wins, and could reach 24 or 25, if he's lucky. (He doesn't need much luck; you'll see why in a minute)

This season, Justin Verlander has been, hands down, the most dominant starting pitcher in all of baseball. He holds an incomparable 22-5 record, including winning his last 10 decisions. His ERA stands at an impressive 2.44, with an amazing WHIP of 0.91. He is also untouchable, with 232 strikeouts. These numbers have already wrapped up the Cy Young for him, and he figures to have two or three more starts this season to add to those numbers. He throws hard, goes long (4 complete games, at least 26 of his 31 starts have been 6 innings or more and he has pitched 229 innings) and carries his team. It can be assumed that the 5 starts he made where he didn't get quality starts were the ones that he lost. Simply put, Justin Verlander is absolutely filthy, and the best pitcher in the game, without question. If you think CC Sabathia has good stats (he does), then Verlander is godly. Verlander makes Sabathia look like a second-tier pitcher, which is a difficult feat to accomplish. What's more, is he the only guy in Detroit's pitching staff that a manager could turn to to pitch a big game when the Tiger's less-than-amazing (but still pretty good) offense can't score enough to win without a good pitching performance. Verlander goes well beyond that; every single time he steps onto that mound, the Tigers stand to win that game, regardless of their offensive production. 

Those of you not as entirely wrapped up in baseball's ins and outs like I am must be now thinking "Wait. Why is there any question about MVP? It is clearly Verlander!" You, my dear friends, are absolutely correct. Or, rather, you should be absolutely correct. The award is for the Most Valuable Player, right? The player that is more valuable than any other. I am a die-hard Red Sox fan, and even I would argue that Dustin Pedroia should not have won the MVP in 2008. Yes, he had absolutely phenomenal numbers, but his whole team was very, very good. Sure, they wouldn't have been as good if he wasn't there, but he didn't save them by any means. Heck, another guy on his team (Kevin Youkilis) finished third in MVP voting. So, you see now that the MVP award is not really an award for the most valuable player on a team; It is more like an award for the best player, and that is only sort of a correct definition for it. 

Even if you go off of the assertion that the award is given to the player with the best stats, Verlander appears the best bet. But here in lies the issue: Justin Verlander is a starting pitcher. Starting pitchers only play once every four or five days. When the sports writers across the country make their votes for MVP, this absolutely is taken into high consideration. Sure, Justin Verlander was the most incredible player on the face of the earth...but he only did it once every five days. So, although Verlander's stats are incredible, they are diminished by the fact that he plays five times less often than a Curtis Granderson or an Adrian Gonzalez. The stats are seen less impressively due to his substantial amount less games played. How can one be the most valuable to any team if they do not play more often than a maximum of twice a week?

With all the facts on the table, the voting sports writers have a tough decision to make. Do they give first place votes to a guy with the best stats, but that only plays every five days? Or do they give it to one of the two guys who are pretty much equal in their value to their teams? Or, do they give it to the Dark Horse of the race, Jose Bautista, who appears headed for his second straight year of leading the majors in home runs? 

Bautista's existence seems to only weaken Granderson in a battle against Gonzalez, as his home runs seem less impressive with a guy with more being in the race. Also, Granderson is joined by fellow Yankee Mark Teixeira, who has 36 home runs. Gonzalez also has trouble from his own team, with Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia also putting up incredible numbers that will warrant some votes for the lower places in the race. Actually, Ellsbury could even replace Gonzalez at the forefront of Red Sox MVP candidates, with a .317/25/89 line with 36 stolen bases. It is so close between a decent sized group of hitters, it is difficult to pick a leader. For this reason, perhaps Verlander will get more attention and take home the MVP, as he rightly deserves. But, keep in mind, the last time a pitcher won the MVP it was Dennis Eckersly in 1992. Eck is one of the best pitchers of all time, and is a Hall Of Famer. The last time a pitcher won the Cy Young and MVP was in 1986, when Roger Clemens did it. Does Verlander have what it takes to match The Rocket? Or, more importantly, do the sports writers have the gusto to give him what he truly deserves?

September 1, 2011: Red Sox vs. Yankees

Karma seems to be catching up. After not getting to go to Fenway at all for five-ish years, I have now been four times in the last year. And they've all been GREAT times: The first one was Mother's Day in 2010, where my friend Jacob, whose father has season tickets, invited me to join them for the matinee, which just so happened to feature the arch-rival New York Yankees. The Red Sox won 9-3, and the seats were phenomenal. I had a great time. The second game was the anniversary of a game my family and I had attended in 2002. May 18, 2002 we saw Pedro Martinez hurl an eight inning, nine strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners, a Sox win. On May 18, 2011, we saw Clay Buccholz throw seven innings of no-run ball, with seven strikeouts. After a slow start to the season, the Sox were now in the middle of an (at that point) five game winning streaking, pushing their record over .500 with a 22-20 record following the game. The next game was with my girlfriend and her temple on July 27 of this year. The Red Sox faced the Kansas City Royals and won 12-5. The hit parade was led by Big Papi, who hit a grand slam, pushing him beyond the 1,00 RBI mark with the Red Sox. It was very exciting to be part of history like that.

That brings me to yesterday's game against the Yankees. Last week I got contacted by my friend Sam asking if I'd like to join him, his twin brother and younger brother to go to the game. I have been good friends with Sam, Dom and Frank for a very long time but do not get to see them as much as I would like. Being with them alone made it a great time. Yeah, the Red Sox lost, but I find myself completely capable of enjoying myself at a baseball game, even if my team does not win. What could be more fun than a Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park, with seats in the bleachers? That answer, technically, is the Red Sox winning that game, but that's beside the point. The bleachers are the most fun place to sit. Sure, you're about a half mile from the action, but you're not going to find fans that are any more 'real' than those who sit in the bleachers.

I had an interesting interaction with a young man seated in the row in front of us. Derek Jeter came up to bat, and I began jeering at him, calling him overrated. The man turned around and said, "How? He's got 3,000 hits!"
"I'm not questioning his offense. Of course he can hit. It's his fielding that I'm referring to."
"He's got like a million Gold Gloves!!"
"And he deserved maybe two of them!"

The conversation petered off after that, but the situation is still laughable to me. This guy was a Red Sox fan sitting in the bleachers in a game against the hated Yankees, supporting a man that is the epitome of Yankee-dom. It was baffling. Yes, yes, I know, Derek Jeter is known as a classy dude, and is absolutely a likable guy. If I had to pick a favorite (current) Yankee, he would be third, after Rivera and Granderson. However, I still have my beliefs, that are based on facts. Facts show that Derek Jeter has one of the worst ranges of major league shortstops; bottom of the league. Yes, he does regularly end up with a pretty good fielding percentage, but the truth is that it is only so high because of his lack of range; Jeter is unable to even attempt many plays that most other shortstops can get to. These more talented shortstops are sometimes unable to make these plays cleanly, resulting in errors and a lower fielding percentage. Shortstop is one of the most difficult positions to play, so I am in no way diminishing his athletic ability; he is way more athletic than I am, and can make plays I could never dream of making. However, most of the plays he makes are routine. As his age has advanced, so has range. I'm not sure of the exact statistic, but he ranks incredibly low UZR or WAR or one of those other advanced sabremetrics. Basically, if you wanted a good defensive shortstop, you would not want Derek Jeter. Please feel free to debate me on this issue in the comments, or in person.

I left for the game with the impression that Sox had a pretty good chance to win, with AJ "I am a terrible pitcher" Burnett on the mound for New York. But, of course, Burnett decides to pitch relatively acceptably and get the win. It was probably just to spite me. Jon Lester had a rocky 40+ pitch first inning and had one of his shortest pitching outings ever, taking the loss. The Red Sox had next to no offense, safe for Pedroia's Monster Shot that put the Sox up 2-1 at that point. They did not score again, and the Yankees did, so the Sox lost.

So, the Red Sox lead in the AL East went back to 0.5 over the Yankees. As I am writing this, the Red Sox are getting pummeled by the Texas Rangers 10-0, and and Yankees appear headed towards victory. If all remains as it is now, the Sox will be down a half game after tonight. Sure, we still clearly have control of the Wild Card, but we want the division! There is less than a month of the regular season, so it's crunch time. Our offense can't keep not producing like this. I have faith, but the Red Sox need more than just my faith; they need offense and at least decent pitching. It's go time!

Please leave any comments you have. I'll post again in a week!

John Kruk and the Werthless Losers

Howdy, y'all. Keeping up with the not bloggingabout the Red Sox theme this blog has had, I will be blogging about the Phillies game. But hey, at least I'm posting!

So, me and my family are currently on vacation. We went to Philadelphia, and did some sight-seeing before heading to the Phillies-Nationals game last night (8/13/11). We're in Baltimore now, and are supposed to go to the Orioles-Tigers game tonight, if the weather holds up.

Anyway, we get to the Citizens Bank Park, passing by the Wells Fargo Arena (boo Flyers) and Lincoln Financial Field (Go Eagles/Dream Team!). To my pleasant surprise, tonight's game had a special promotion. The promotion: The Phillies were inducting their latest member of their Phillies Wall of Fame. Awesomely enough, the player was one of my favorite baseball personalities, John Kruk! Krukkie was awesome when he played. He hit about .300 while with the Phillies, rocked a killer mullet, and played with heart. He is now known for being the silly little fat guy on Baseball Tonight. One of my favorite stories to tell about baseball is about Kruk, told me by my dad. It follows:

One day, on a day game, John Kruk was out on the streets, smoking a cigarette. Kruk has always been known as a guy who plays hard, and parties harder. He was a bit of booze hound, really. Anyway, some woman with some small kids sees him smoking, and walks over to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, "You're an athlete!"

Krukkie responded, "Lady, I'm not an athlete; I'm a baseball player."

Classic!

So, to begin the game, the Phillies put a stage out over home plate, and called out the other living members of the Phillies Wall of Fame. Darren Daulton, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox and Bob Boone, among others, were all present. It was actually really nice. Then, they had Darren Daulton, who was a good friend of Kruk's while playing together in Philly introduce Kruk. Daulton told a great story about Kruk that I will attempt to recreate below.

One Spring Training, Kruk and I (Daulton) were rooming together. We had the night off, so me and some of the other guys were going to go out on the town, ya know, have a few cocktails. I invited Krukkie to join, but he politely refused, choosing to spend the night in. So, I go out, we have our drinks, and come back to the hotel. By this time, it's pretty late. 2, 3 in the morning. I, being a considerate roommate, don't turn on light. I take off my shoes, undress, and get into bed.

A few hours pass, and then I'm woken up by hot smoke in my face. The room is still pitch black, except for a glowing cherry of a cigarette. I turn on the light, and see that the room has been covered in empty pizza boxes and beer cans, and Krukkie is sitting there smoking a cigarette, blowing smoke in my face. He says to me, "It's 6 am. Time to get to work."

Again, classic.

Kruk then parades around the stadium in some new Toyota convertible, receiving a huge standing ovation the whole time. It was a great thing to see, especially the montages of him they had. He was quite the dude, I'm sorry I missed most of his career.

The game wasn't all that interesting. I guess I'm used to the American League excitement. The most fun during the game was the fans all booing Jayson Werth. Werth played for the Phillies from 2007-2010, before leaving as a free agent last off season. He left the Phightin' Phil's for their division opponent (they're not really rivals, so I won't use the term.) Washington Nationals for, wait for it, a higher paycheck. Golly! Choosing the place that will offer you more money?! That's preposterous! Well, as with anything in sports, if your name can played upon, it will be. Werth is almost too easy. Last year, they said he was "Werth it." Since he has signed, they have begun booing him and refering to him as "Werthless." Couple things: 1. He's clearly not; he's apparently werth MORE than your office was willing to spend. 2. He kind of has been. His monster numbers from the last couple years haven't been even close to replicated this year with the Nats. He's hitting a dismal .224, with only 14 homers and 45 RBI. Sure, those aren't awful numbers, but they're not worth $126mm. Our seats were in right, so every time the Nationals were on the field, he was heckled mercilessly. Phillies phans are known for being just awful. He appeared unfazed, shrugging off the insults. It didn't matter to him; he'll continue to not be worth the money regardless of your taunts.

The other issue I have with the phans hating on Werth was the fact of what has happened since then: They used the money they didn't end up having to spend on Werth in order to sign Cliff Lee, the prized free agent pitcher this past off season. Then, in July, they traded for Astro's right fielder Hunter Pence, who, in my opinion, is actually much than Werth to begin with. So, they got themselves one of the best rotations of all time, and a better right fielder. Quit being so bitter! Also, they currently hold the best record in baseball. Stop complaining!

The Nationals won the game 4-2, but the excitement of the game really had very little to do with the game itself. I'm going to need to watch more NL games, get used to it, if I want to be a baseball writer (I very much do.)

That's all for now. Expect to hear more from me on here and my other blog, http://markcyv.blogspot.com/ from now on. I've decided to become a real blogger. Like, for real.

PS- Sorry for the awkward placement of the photo. Blogspot is mean and won't let me put it where I want.

7/24/11

Wow. So I haven't posted all season. I'll blame it on my not having cable at my apartment. I'm home this weekend, so I get to actually watch the game, and it's not just in a bar, so I feel comfortable blogging while watching. Yay! Today, the Sox take on RoTY candidate Michael Pineda and the struggling (dropped their last 14 games) Seattle Mariners. Timmy Wake is pitching for the Sox. I'm hoping for a bounce back start from him, because the Sox will need it against the fireballin' Pineda.

Top 1

Wow, Ichiro has kinda fallen off the face of the earth. Hitting .266, that's not the HOFer I've loved for years. His career may soon be over. He does have a 5 game hitting streak. He works a full count and bounces back to Wake for the first out. It's Maine Day today. Hooray for former Massachusetts territory! Brendan Ryan quickly went down 0-2 before getting hit in the back. Control of the knuckler may not be good today, especially with the weather. Ackley sends it back to the 379 mark, but Ellsbury runs it down, and Ryan has to retreat back to first. 2 outs. Monster shot for Miguel Olivo for his 14th of the season. 2-0 M's. Smoak doubles high off the monster. Wake's having a rough first. Chone Figgins was a late scratch, possibly involved in a trade? We'll see. Carp bounces one past Pedroia into right, Smoak tries to score from second and is out by a mile and a half. Inning over.

Bottom 1

119 K over 119.1 innings for Pineda. That's scary good. Ells lines on down the line, it bounces off the wall and into right. He ends up at second. 6-game hit streak now. WP on a slider from Pineda, Jacoby to 3rd. Pedey pops out to shallow center, 1 out. Gonzalez send it up the middle on a 1-0 count, scoring Elllsbury. 2-1 M's. Youk drives a 2-0 shot over the monster, 3-2 Sox! Maybe we shouldn't be afraid of Pineda, with this lineup. Ortiz slaps it off the monster, but it's a long single. ANOTHER hit off the monster, this time for Crawford. 2nd and 3rd for the Sox, still just one out. Reddick Ks, which is only to be expected with the guy who is 9th in the AL in that category. Salty loops one the right, scoring both Ortiz and Crawford. 5-2 Sox. Scutaro grounds to second to end the inning. 9 batters up for the Sox this inning. Good stuff.

Top 2

Adam Kennedy looked foolish on a few of the pitches, getting struck out by Wake to start the inning. Cust Ks too, but it gets away from Salty, but he throws him out anyway. 2 down. Guttierez golfs one to center. 1-2-3 inning for Wake. 5-2 Sox.

Bottom 2

This inning starts off the same way the first did; with Ellsbury up. Unlike the 1st, he strikes out. I'm expecting quite a few strikeouts, with Pineda on the hill. GREAT barehanded play by Brendan Ryan to get Pedroia. 2 out. Good defensive allignment for the M's gets A-Gon to end the inning. Still 5-2 Sox after 2.

Top 3

Ichrio flies to right for the first out. Brendan Ryan lines to Gonzalez for the second one. Dustin Ackley sends on down the 1B line, it bounces off the bag and skips into right. He ends up at 2nd. Olivo grounds to Youk, who throws him out to end the inning. 5-2 Sox.

Bottom 3

Good plays on both ends of the ball, from Ryan and Smoak to get Youk for the first out. Papi goes up 3-0 before striking out for the second out. Crawford, who has looked great since coming back from the DL, send one to left for a single. Stolen base for Crawford, who is only safe because Brendan Ryan dropped the ball. First bad play from him all game, as he's been spectacular. Apparently, it counts as a caught stealing with an error. I'm not quite sure how that works. Salty strikes out to the end the inning anyway, though. 5-2 Sox.

Top 4

Smoak flies to Ellsbury to start the inning. Leaping grab by Reddick makes it two outs. Kennedy bounces out to Pedey for another quick inning. 5-2 Sox.

Bottom 4

Salty dribbles on down the line to Smoak, 1 out. Scutaro grounds out to short. Ellsbury grounds to third to end the inning. 5-2 Sox.

Top 5

Wake's knuckleball has been dancing well today, striking out Cust for Wake's third K of the game. Gutierrez walks, and gets to third on a single by Ichiro. 1-3-4 pick-off to get Ichiro. Well done, Wake. Ryan sends one off the wall for a double. Good thing Ichiro was picked off. 5-3 Sox. Fly out to Crawford to end the inning, but not after a run scores for the Pilots, err, Mariners. 5-3 Sox.

Bottom 5

Just learned Wakefield is one strikeout away from 2000. And if he wins today, that'll be #199. I'm really rooting for this guy, and I hope he makes the hall. Pedroia grounds out to start the inning. He's 0-for-3 now and his 20-game hit streak is in jeopardy. He'll get at least one more AB today. Gonzalez sends one into the mini-shift and gets his second hit of the game. Youk walks. Pineda out. Aaron Laffey in. He inherits runners on first and second. Ortiz dribbles one down the 3B line, Laffey fields, but there's no play to make. All hands are safe. Sweet. Crawford RBI single scores Youk and Ortiz, both runs being charged to Pineda. This game has opened up again. 7-3 Sox. 7 runs in 4 1/3 for Pineda. Ugly. Reddick bounces one off the top of the scoreboard for an RBI double. 2nd and third now, 8-3 Sox. Salty sends on into right, scoring both Reddick and Crawford. That's his 2nd hit and 3rd and 4th RBI of the game. 10-3 Sox. Aaron Laffey out after 0+, Jamey Wright in. Scutaro takes the first pitch right to CF. Wright has done in one pitch what Laffey couldn't do against 4 batters; get an out. Ellsbury grounds out to finally end the inning. Poor Eric Wedge.

Top 6

10+ runs in 14 games for the Sox this year, which leads the majors. Our lineup might be kind of good...Olivo flies out to Reddick for the first out. Smoak grounds out for the second one. Mike Carp Ks for Wakefield's 2000th! A great, well deserved milestone. Congrats, Tim! 10-3 after five and a half.

Bottom 6

Wakefield got a curtain call, too. Only Clemens has more as a Red Sox than him. I still think he is a HOFer. Pedroia's hit streak is at 21-games now, with a double off the monster, which has taken quite the beating today. Gonzo past the shift AGAIN. He's owning it today. 3 hits now, and he picks up another RBI. 11-3 Sox as Pedey scores from second. K looking for Youk, who disagrees. Broken bat fly out for Papi, whose bat ends up way up in the stands. 2 out. Crawford strikes out to end the inning. 11-3 Sox.

Top 7

Yamaico Navvaro is in at third. Probably because we're up by 8 and Youk hurt his hand the other day. Cust singles to left, following 2 Ks earlier in the game. Gutierrez singles to center, moving Cust to second. Ichiro singles, loading up the bases. Aceves started warming before he came up, I'm sure we'll see him in soon. Brendan Ryan crushes it over the monster for a grand slam. This game is back to being a game. 11-7 Sox, Aceves coming in. Ackley flies out to center, one pitch into Aceves' outing. First time M's have scored 7 runs since June 12th. And they're still down by 4! Pathetic. Olivo pops out to Pedroia to end the inning.

Bottom 7

Josh Lueke pitching for the M's. He's got an ERA of 14.73. This could be interesting. Reddick gets it through the left side for a single. Salty singles to right, Reddick to third. That's his third hit, to go along with his 4 RBI. Good day from Salty. Scutaro pops out to shallow right. He's the only Red Sox without a hit today. Bloop single for Ells scores Reddick, 12-7 now. M's try to turn two, don't get Pedroia. Runners on the corners, 2 outs. Gonzalez hits it to Smoak, who steps on the bag to end the inning. 12-7 Sox after 7 full.

Top 8

Smoak grounds to Pedroia. Bloop single between Pedroia and Reddick gives Carp a hit. Aceves strikes out Kennedy after a relatively long at bat. Cust flies out deep to the warning track in left to end the inning. 12-7 Sox.

Bottom 8

Brandon League, Mariners closer, who is on my fantasy team, is in now. He has pitched one inning in the last 15 games. No saves, as is to be expected when your team is on a 14 game losing streak. He could pitch a scoreless inning and that'd be cool. He starts off the inning striking out Navarro looking. 3-1 for Papi. 2 out. Crawford walks. This won't help League's WHIP. Oh well. Reddick lines out to 2nd to end the inning. 12-7, half an inning left, if the M's don't score 5 runs here.

Top 9

Aceves still out there. Well done, Tito, this is how you're supposed to manage a bullpen. Gutierrez sends it back up the middle to lead off the inning. Just setting up the double play, I always say. Ichiro grounds to Pedroia, Gutierrez to 2nd, 1 out. Ground to short, 2 out. Ackley doubles Gutierrez in. This one's not done, yet. 12-8 Sox. Olivo pops out to Crawford to end the game. M's get swept, lose their 15th game in a row, a franchise record.

Good hitting from the Sox today, glad I saw it on the big, HD TV at my parents house in Springfield. Hopefully you'll see more blog posts here, but it really depends on my TV access. But, my other blog, http://markcyv.blogspot.com/ should be having regular posts starting this week. I'm getting back into blogging!