28 Runs in Total, 18 were Red Sox runs

The game lasted 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Together, the Orioles and the Red Sox scored 28 runs.
Red Sox scored 18.
Orioles scored 10.
WE WON! And we also won the series against the Orioles.
I think us Sox fans feel a lot better about the play-offs, especially because we're half a game behind the Yankees. ( who we're playing Friday!)

Who, individually scored the most runs? Let's see:
Jacoby Ellsbury- 4 runs
Dustin Pedroia- 4 runs
Adam Jones (BAL)- 3 runs
Kevin Youkilis- 2 runs
Rocco Baldelli- 2 runs
Josh Reddick- 2 runs
Felix Pie (BAL)- 2 runs
Victor Martinez- 1 run
J.D. Drew-1 run
Mike Lowell- 1 run
Jed Lowrie- 1 run
Brian Roberts (BAL)- 1 run
Aubrey Huff (BAL)-1 run
Ty Wigginton (BAL)- 1 run
Luke Scott (BAL)- 1 run
Robert Andino(BAL)-1 run

The only Red Sox not to score a run was David Ortiz.

Happy Birthday, Tim Wakefield!

Happy Birthday to pitcher Tim Wakefield!

Career Highlights for the Birthday Boy:

• One of the top Red Sox pitchers, in 3rd place for all time wins in a Red Sox uniform, with 175 wins.
• Has played with the Boston Red Sox since 1995, making him the player being a member the longest with the club.
• Has been nominated 7 times for the Roberto Clemente Award.
• In 17 years, he's won 189, loss 160

Interesting Facts about the Birthday Boy:

• Was originally a first baseman for his Florida Tech Panthers.
• His number 3, was retired by the college.
• He was the home run leader with 22 home runs and 40 career home runs.
  
• When he was told by a scout that he wouldn't make it as an infielder, he started pitching, with his famous knuckleball.

Happy 43rd Birthday, Tim!
photo courtesy of: marriedtotheoil.blogspot

BecKKKKKet

There's five K's in Beckett's name for his five strikeouts, but the best part about his pitching tonight was he gave up no runs. I'm happy that Okajima and Bard didn't either.

With great pitching, came along great offense. Not the Sox's best, but we did pretty good.
Here's how the lineup did:
Youkilis took the top spot with 4 hits. (went 4-4)
Ellsbury and newbie Reddick got 2 hits.
Pedroia, Martinez, Ortiz, Bay, and Baldelli got a hit.

Excellent work boys. The Red Sox won it 4-0.

Close on, Smoltz. But we won, thanks to Ellsbury.

I wasn't particularly excited that Smoltz was on the mound tonight, but hey, what can we do?
He did alright, we got the win (barely, in my opinion), but it was the Sox offense that was on fire.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-5, with his 6th home run. He also stole a base.

Kevin Youkilis went 3-4, with his 18th home run.

David Ortiz went 2-4, with his 15th home run.

Bay, Lowell, and Pedoria all got hits.

Jacoby made a dynamite catch in the bottom of the sixth inning robbing Luke Scott of a home run.

"I told him it's the best catch I've seen in a very, very long time," Smoltz said. "Obviously we can look back and say that was the game-winner." (redsox.com)

What did Jacoby say about his amazing catch?

"The ball started tailing back toward center. I had a good bead on it, thought I was going to catch it in front of me, but it ended up tailing back and being more difficult. It's a good feeling to take that one away." (redsox.com)

http://video.aol.ca/video-detail/ellsburys-amazing-catch/3300959420

The Trades

In my opinion, the trades were okay.

We got Catcher, First Baseman Victor Martinez for pitchers Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price.

We got first baseman Casey Kotchman for our new first baseman, Adam LaRoche.

I see why we got rid of Adam LaRoche, we had no room for him after we got Victor Martinez, who is both a first baseman and a catcher.

But JUSTIN MASTERSON? A homegrown Red Sox? Why not Ramon Ramirez or Saito?
Not Justin! I believe he was going to be the next upcoming Red Sox starter.I'm going to miss him a lot. I'm already looking forward to the Cleveland vs. Sox series the first week of October so I can see Justin again. Hopefully we can get him back soon.

Victor Martinez was a good get, we needed a strong catcher, as Varitek is slowly losing his juice. (Don't get me wrong, I still think Varitek is doing good)

Bye Justin and Adam. Welcome, Casey and Victor.

Justin Masterson
photo courtesy of bostonglobe.com

Lester, Declarmen, and a win

When Lester's first pitch wasn't sent out of the park by Adam Kennedy, it was a sigh of relief. When the first half of the first inning was over, another sigh of relief.

And then Boston got a run in the 2nd inning, and our wounds had healed. We can do this!
Lester didn't give up a run 'till the 6th inning, where he gave up 4 runs. But then Declarmen, Bard and Papelbon took over and only gave up one run between them.

And before you know it, it was 8-5, Sox, top of the ninth and Papelbon struck out the last batter and the Red Sox won!

A big thanks to the win is to Big ol' Papi, who gave us three runs by his three-run home run, and doubles from Youkilis, Varitek, Drew, Lowell and Ortiz.
photo courtesy of profantasybaseball.com.

Papi and Performance Enhancing Drugs?

A New York Times online publication just stated that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on a 2003 list of 104 MLB players that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Did Papi deny it? No, he had no comment.

But I think we can look at his stats, and it wouldn't appear that he used them:

In 2003 how many home runs did he have? 31
Was that his all time high for home runs? No
What year did he have his all time high for home runs? 2007, 52 HR

A fine was established in 2004, stating that all MLB players would be punished for using performance enhancing drugs. The 2003 list that is being talked about, was suppose to be a private, confidential report that was not supposed to be shared to the public.
Ortiz cannot be punished if this report is true.

Later in the day, Papi came out and made this statement:

"One, I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me -- I will not hide and I will not make excuses." (redsox.com)

What did Martinez have to say?

"If you guys want to talk about the game and what happens now, I can sit and talk for two hours. But something happened six years ago, I don't want to talk about that. If you want more information, you have the number for the union. Call them." (redsox.com)

What do you think? Did our beloved Big Papi use drugs?
No matter what, I'm gonna love him, and I'm sure all my fellow Red Sox fans will too.

Penny....no!

First pitch from Brad Penny: a home run hit from Adam Kennedy.

Score after first half of the first inning: 0-5. Yikes.

It wasn't the start the Soxs wanted after yesterday's devastating loss, but what could we do? We can't stop a ball flying over the green monster or base hits all the way in the corner of left or right. We need a pitcher who can strike out and make batters ground out.
In the end, Penny gave up 7 earned runs. Not good.

But, in the first inning, Mike Lowell hit a 3-run homer, making the score look a little more nice, 3-5. Ellsbury also got a triple and a stolen base. Bay finally got a hit. He also made a great assist throwing a ball to second to get the hitter out. Other pitchers were Masterson, who gave up a run, Saito and Ramirez. No runs from them.

The ending score...8-6.
Not the best, but definitely could've been worse. One more game againist the A's, let's win it!

A Happy Day for Jim Rice, a Not-So-Good day for the Sox

A happy, smiling Jim Rice received a replica of his uniform number for the Soxs, the same number that is up hanging next to Jackie Robinson in Fenway, who he mentioned in his speech. He said that Robinson ultimately opened up the baseball barriers for Blacks. His replica 14 was signed by the current 2009 Red Sox team. Congratulations, Jim Rice, what an accomplishment!

But the Red Sox weren't smiling after the 11th inning of their ball game againist the Oakland A's. Clay Buchholz only gave up two runs. Considerable. Than Ramirez gave up a run, then Okajima gave up a run, none for Bard, then a surprising 3 from Papelbon, who gave up the game, and than when the game went extra innings, Delcarmen gave up a couple more, and the Red Sox weren't able to return all these runs for an ending score of 9-8, A's. There were three errors tonight, 2 from Green, and one from Ellsbury. All throwing errors. It was Ellsbury's 2nd error and Green's 11th. Jacoby Ellsbury did get a stolen base tonight, though. One behind the MLB leader of steals.

Aw, well. Let's do better tomorrow, boys.

picture courtesy of redsox.com.

Do we really want Smoltz?

Yes, he's had an amazing career with the Braves. But, HELLO! he's 42, and he's been playing since July 23rd, 1988. He's called a baseball veteran for a reason. So now his record with the Sox is 1-4, with his peak record in 1996, with 24 wins and 8 loses. He just doesn't have it any more. He didn't really "have it" last year either, only winning 3 games and losing 2. (He was hurt though, I believe) He's most likely going to be a hall-a-famer, so now he should call it quits.

You had a great run, John, but I think it's time to retire. The Sox need to win.

Once again John Smotlz "struggled" as redsox.com reports, giving up six runs to the Baltimore Orioles. He gave up the same amount runs at his last pitching session with the Rangers in Texas last week. Oh well, we have Beckett tonight. Hopefully no hits from the A's tonight.

Is Jacoby on track?

This past February, CF Jacoby Ellsbury was asked if he could break the record of most steals in MLB history, 130 by Rickey Henderson. He replied: “One hundred and thirty? I think I can do anything. Don’t put a limit on it. As Kevin Garnett said, anything’s possible. So there you go.” (bostonhearld.com) It is mentioned that he was smirking while saying this.

Jacoby tied 1st in the AL for stolen bases with 50 last year.
So far, he's stolen 44, only 6 more and he'll tie his previous record.
He needs 86 more to tie Rickey's record.
Can he do it? I think so, but once he settles down in the next few years, I think he'll have 70-75 stolen bases by this time.

He's the latest Red Sox to steal home, and stealing home at Yankee stadium, I think that's just as good as stealing 130 bases. (for now!)


photo courtesy of bostonhearld.com

Where some of the Sox came from...

I was curious of where some of the Red Sox players came from...wondering if Fenway was close to where they grew up. After doing a little research, I found that not many lived near Yawkey Way:
Dustin Pedroia
Hometown: Woodland, CA
Distance from Fenway: 3,048 miles

Jacoby Ellsbury
Hometown: Madras, OR
Distance From Fenway: 3,098 miles

Kevin Youkilis
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Distance From Fenway: 884 miles

Jason Bay
Hometown: Trail, British Columbia
Distance From Fenway: 2,263 miles

J.D. Drew
Hometown: Valdosta, GA
Distance From Fenway: 1,198 miles

Jason Varitek
Hometown: Rochester, MI
Distance From Fenway: 710 miles

David Ortiz
Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Distance From Fenway: 1,653 miles

Nick Green
Hometown: Pensacola, FL
Distance From Fenway: 1,429 miles

Mike Lowell
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Distance From Fenway: 1,677 miles

Jon Lester
Hometown: Tacoma, WA
Distance From Fenway: 3,050 miles

Jonathan Papelbon
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Distance From Fenway: 1,585 miles

Josh Beckett
Hometown: Spring, TX
Distance From Fenway: 1,871 miles

Terry Francona
Hometown: Aberdeen, SD
Distance From Fenway: 1,752 miles

Player who grew up closest to Fenway: Jason Varitek
Player who grew up farthest from Fenway: Jacoby Ellsbury

Woodland, CA...hometown of Pedey.

Websites Used for this info:
wikipedia.com (for players's hometowns)
yahoomaps.com and geobytes.com for distances
citydata.com for pic

Congratulations, Jim Rice!

What an accomplishment by Jim Rice! He's in the Hall of Fame.

Is this a good-bye to Kotsay?

Kotsay is a free man as of right now. After acquiring Adam LaRoche, Terry Francona had to make a space for him on the roster, and the person he decided to get rid of? Mark Kotsay, 1B and outfielder.

Terry Francona talking about his move:
"It wasn't a fun decision or a fun message," Francona said. "This is a guy that came in last year and immediately became a leader in our clubhouse. He's as professional as they get. You learn quickly to admire people like that, and that will certainly never change." (courtesy of redsox.com)

I think Terry made the right move. It was probably Kotsay or Baldelli, right? Kotsay had some injuries early this season, including a calf problem, and Rocco hasn't. So maybe that was the ultimate decision.

So, Kotsay is now designated for assignment. I really hope someone picks him up. He wasn't too shabby.

Kotsay's Stats:
(1997-2009)
Batting Average: .281
Runs batted in: 613
Homeruns: 110
Kotsay played for the teams of Marlins, Padres, A's, Braves and Red Sox.

photo courtesy of sawxblog.com
info courtesy of wikipedia (stats)
info courtesy of redsox.com

Remember my rant about Paul McAnulty?

...well the Boston Red Sox let him go today.

He was signed November 19th, 2008 by the Red Sox.
And now on July 24th, 2009, they've released him.

He did make it to the major leagues with the Padres in 2005, so he did have his big break.

Sorry, Paul.

Info from wikipedia.com

Uh-oh

We're behind the Yankees.
It's a horrible thing.

Enough said.
Come on Dustin, Jacoby, Kevin, Jason, J.D., Papi, Jason, Nick, Josh, Jon, Jonathan, Mike, Mark, John, Rocco, George...let's get our lead back!

Here's a pic to cheer up the Red Sox fans...
photo courtesy of http://www.maldenirishamerican.org/humor.htm

Jacoby is back on top!

Jacoby Ellsbury is now leading off the Red Sox lineup, as he did in the beginning of the season.

The new lineup for the Boston Red Sox:
J. Ellsbury, CF
D. Pedroia, 2B
K. Youkilis, 1B
D. Ortiz, DH
J. Bay, LF
J. Drew, RF
M. Lowell, 3B
J. Varitek, C
J. Lowrie, SS


Thanks to epsn.com.

Bye Bye Julio Lugo!

Lugo is now no longer a Red Sox. He's now a St. Louis Cardinal.
I never really thought Lugo deserved a spot out in the infield, Nick Green in my opinion is a lot better. Have you seen the back-handed throws Green has been throwing to first? Getting the runner out at first every time! When's the last time Lugo has pulled that off? Er....never! In 37 games, Lugo has been able to make 7 (pathetic!) errors.

Lugo was put designated for assignment July 17th, after Mike Lowell came back from the 15-day disabled list, pitcher Clay Buchholz came up from Pawtucket and 1B Aaron Bates went back down to Pawtucket.

I agree with General Manager Theo Epstein's thought that it was a total mistake of sigining Lugo for $36 million. Here's what Theo had to say:
"Obviously we'd be bending the truth to say it worked out the way we envisioned. He just never got on track here, never got locked in and comfortable and never played even close to the way we expected. When you dabble in free agency, sometimes these things happen." (SI.com)

Look at Lugo's stats...BA .284...1 HR...8 RBIs.
It was reported that Lugo didn't show for the mandatory practice last Thursday. Great sport, eh?

So is Theo worried about who's going to take over SS? Not at all. He's got homegrown Jed Lowrie coming up from Pawtucket and Nick Green. "We felt like those two would be our best combination," Epstein said. (SI.com) Congrats, Theo! I think you have it right this time!

So for Lugo, best of luck with the Cardinals. We will be enjoying less errors.

No more errors from you buddy!

What's up with the PawSox?

I attended the Pawtucket Red Sox game last night, and I was ashamed to cheer for them. Not only did they lose 9-1 to the Indianapolis Indians, but they made countless errors. There wasn't just one "that was close, almost had it" error, there were countless, "how the heck did he miss that ball?!" errors.

The one player who I was really wondering why he was on the Pawsox, or even on a team, was Paul McAnulty. We've seen Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew and even Mark Kotsay make great catches out in the outfield- whether it be at the wall or barely in the outfield. But this guy didn't even try to catch any pop flys that would've been easy outs. The third baseman, Angel Chavez, also made some quite embarrasing catching errors, but not nearly as pathetic as Paul's. The pitching...well...not the best.

I don't like bashing down on my Red Sox, or my future Red Sox, so here's some good stuff:
I got to see my two favorite Portland Sea Dog players, outfielder Bubba Bell and catcher Mark Wagner play on the Pawsox. I watched them throughout their seasons with Portland. I'm so proud! Bubba played the whole game out in RF, did his job well and Mark Wagner came out in the eighth innning to finish up catching. Speaking of catching, Dusty Brown did a great job, too.

I got to see Jed Lowrie's last PawSox game before he got called back up to Boston. Did great, in my opinion. Hit some balls really hard.

I wish the best for the Paw Sox, and I hope that losing Jed Lowrie after being called up back to the Red Sox doesn't do much more harm. I believe in you guys, I really do!

Paul McAnulty...didn't impress. Only hitting .205 and not many good catches in the outfield.
Picture courtesy of sittingstill.net

MLB Cost per Game

MLB Cost per Game

What does J.D. stand for?

I've always wondered what Drew's first name initials, J.D. stood for.

John David? No.
Jacob Daniel? No.

J.D. stands for David Jonathan.

I never would of guessed.

Happy Birthday, Daniel Bard!

Happy Birthday to pitcher Daniel Bard.

Career Highlights for the Birthday Boy:

• May 13, 2009 was brought up to Boston.
• May 20, 2009 he made his Fenway debut. He pitched in the 13th inning to make the save against the Phillies. (first career save)

Interesting Facts about the Birthday Boy:

• Can throw up to 101 mph, averaging 97-98 mph
• Born in Houston, TX

Happy 24th Birthday, Daniel Bard!

Photo courtesy of bostonherald.com
Info from wikipedia.com

Finally a Win Against the Blue Jays! But why move Jacoby to batter #8?

The Red Sox finished the 4 game series with the Toronto Blue Jays with a nice win, 8-2, with four home runs, two from Youkilis, one from Pedroia and another from Jason Bay. A great feat, but the one thing I'm not too happy about is moving Jacoby Ellsbury into the eight batting position.
It's not like Jacoby was doing horrible, yah, he hasn't scored in the last 3 games, but he hasn't done horrible batting first.
The new lineup for the Red Sox is:
Pedroia
Drew
Youkilis
Bay
Lowell
Ortiz
Varitek
Ellsbury
Green
I understand moving up Bay, but I think Jacoby doesn't deserve to move all the way down to number 8!

Let's hope when they open the series at Detroit Tuesday, Jacoby is back on top.

Congrats on your win today Red Sox!

Happy Birthday Josh Beckett!

Happy Birthday, Josh!
Career Highlights for the Birthday Boy:

• First Red Sox pitcher in 35 years to hit a home run.
  
• World Series MVP (2003)
• All Star (2007)
• ALCS MVP(2007)
• Two time World Series Champion (2003, 2007)
• One of six Red Sox pitchers ever to win first seven starts

Interesting facts about the Birthday Boy:

• Good friends with NASCAR's Jamie McMurray
  
• Sang the National Anthem at an Indians game in '06
• A deer hunter since childhood
• Has a 10,000 baseball card collection
• Holds "Beckett Bowl" every year to host money for disadvantaged chidren
• Owns his own 7,000 acre ranch.

Happy 29th Birthday, Josh Beckett.
picture courtesy of soxaddict.org
info from wikipedia.com