Red Sox Reality Check

NESN just had a replay of an early April 2004 game against Toronto, Curt Schilling's first home start. The Sox won in extra innings. So what? The Sox infield had Bill Mueller at third, Felipe Crespo at short, Mark Bellhorn at second, and David McCarty at first. Gabe Kapler was in center, and the last two Sox pitchers were Bobby Jones (the walk ace) and Mark (rhymes with Alaska) Malaska. The Sox won on a David Ortiz walkoff homer in extra innings. If the Sox could win with that lineup, then anything is possible. _____________________________________________ Nothing new on the J.D. Drew watch, although we can imagine that his shoulder MRI isn't normal... Injuries can occur from narrowing of the space between the rotator cuff elements and the bone (impingement), rotator cuff tendon degeneration, or injury secondary to trauma. A brief but informative review of the shoulder stabilizing system is referenced here . You too can talk about shoulder pathology, and know the labrum from a ...

With a lot of time on our hands, and not much news, let's think back to 'signature' moments in current (and recent) Sox players' careers. Jason Varitek provides reliable if often unspectacular play behind the plate. In the 2003 playoff series against Oakland, Varitek blocked the plate and ultimately tagged out Eric Byrnes. Sure, Varitek has had some walkoff homer action and a game-tying homer against Seattle (if I recall correctly), but I'll always remember his defense first. Kevin Youkilis had the ninth inning two runner homer against Detroit last season to help the Sox win. I'm hoping that we don't hear too much of Youkilis behaving badly (surly) off the field to diminish his potential contributions on it. Manny Ramirez has had a lot of moments, but I think his first inning homer off Jeff Suppan in Game 3 of the 2004 series was his greatest moment. Suppan just pulled down 42 million for 4 years, making Manny's contract look cheap. Coco Crisp played hur...

With Matsuzaka and Okajima aboard, and who knows about the future, maybe it's time to start some Japanese-English baseball 'talk'. I'm going to import directly from a number of sites, especially here . banto: bunt batta: batter besuboru: baseball boru: ball chenji appu: change-up pitch daburu pure: double play era: error foa boru: four ball; a walk foku boru: fork ball furu besu: full bases; bases loaded gattsu pozu: guts pose; hot-dogging Japanese-style. After hitting a home run, a batter may punch the air with his fist, thereby striking the gattsu pozu homuran: home run kyatcha: catcher (also called hoshu) manrui homa: grand slam home run maundo: pitchers mound manrui homa: grand slam home run maundo: pitchers mound pure boru: "Play ball!" sanshin: strikeout sayonara homuran: a game-winning home run sebu: a save shuto: a variation on the screwball that is popular among Japanese pitchers suitchi hitta: switch hitter sutoraiku: a strike sutoreto: straight ball...

At ESPN Insider, Peter Gammons talks about the support system available to Matsuzaka, as well as the "mean-spirited" Boston fans and a media which hopes for the latest Japanese import to fail. He also points out that the Red Sox are likely to sign Chan Ho Park (as possible closer), and that Manny Ramirez WILL be the Sox leftfielder this season. As for the worst signing of the winter, "the Commissioner" notes the Royals signing of Gil Meche. He also does a post-mortem on the Mets' Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano deal, on the presumption that "little guys can't play." The Sox acquire Brendan Donnelly from the Angels. Of note is Donnelly's number one comp on the "similarity scores" hit list, Scott Linebrink, for whom the Sox seemed to have lusted. For whatever reason, Phil Seibel didn't seem to be in favor, so he'll get a fresh start on the left coast. For those who are wringing their hands about the absence of a closer, I'd...

It appears that the deal for Daisuke Matsuzaka is done. Time for the Berlitz courses to begin and the translation sites will prosper. But at Reality Check, we are also about 'giving back'. So here's some key hints for the Dice guy as he heads to Boston. Hire a driver. Why let the one way streets and rotaries make you crazy when you can easily afford quality transportation? Don't bother to learn much English. Whatever you do, DO NOT read Dan Shaughnessy or Gerry Callahan. Don't listen to sports radio. Listen to Jason Varitek. He's an honorable catcher. What about Mirabelli? Don't worry, you won't pitch to him much. Don't carry a lot of cash. Let the riff-raff (everybody but you) pick up the tab. Think about investing your 401-K with guys like Henry. He really does know something about money. Do not spend too much time with "Baseball Annies." Ask around Fenway about a guy named Derek. Don't forget about your Japanese baseball experience. ...

The news highlight since the predetermined signings of J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo was Jason Varitek's appearance at a Celtics' game last week. And with the ticket prices in Boston these days, one wonders whether you have to be a multimillionaire to attend a game. Meanwhile, back at the non-negotiation table, the rumor is that Scott Boras, Daisuke Matsuzaka's agent, has never made a counter-offer to the Sox' original lowball offer, whatever that was (greater than the GDP of Haiti). Or as the joke goes, "what's the difference between Scott Boras and a terrorist?" You can negotiate with terrorists. If Matsuzaka's currently pulling in about 2.5 million (whatever that may be in yen), then not negotiating for a sum twenty times higher over about four years wouldn't make most players confuse Boras with Einstein, or even Steven Hawking. In fact, that might make Jody Reed's agent look less absurd (you may recall that Reed turned down a king's ransom o...

Signs that the end of the world is at hand - Jason Schmidt gets 47M/3 and writers say "bargain" Ted Lilly gets 40M/4 Rangers will pay Zito "whatever it takes" New Orleans Saints lineman banned for asthma medicine (?) Julio Lugo gets 36M/4 ROY Hanley Ramirez gets the minimum Carlos Lee can tell Warren Buffett he's a piker Mariners try to dump Beltre and Sexson on Sox for Manny Theo doesn't fall for it Another Boras client pitching to Sox (is that Gag-me or Gagne?) Well, at least the games won't be lost because of terrible offense very often.

Hey, it's not your money. SS Lugo 1B Youkilis DH Ortiz LF Ramirez RF Drew 3B Lowell C Varitek CF Crisp 2B Pedroia Extra OF - Pena (among Manny, Crisp, Drew the fourth outfielder could play 100 games) Next up for the Sox, a roll of the Daisuke?

Fiscal irresponsibility has its price . Box seats in the Bronx go up a mere 40 bucks next year. Thank the baseball gods for the benevolent Sox, who never raise prices, while bringing us great VALUE every year. How does the saying go, "price is what you pay, value is what you get." I'm sure that the Sox have some kind of trending value statistic, such as the projected win shares/dollar based on a three year moving average or some such statistical mumbo jumbo. We certainly don't believe that it's just reach into the free agent hat and pick a guy. A few visitors come and project the starting lineup, or at least recommend what they feel 'should' be the starting lineup. There's no harm in being wrong, right? C - Varitek (should rebound from last season's underproduction) 8 win shares last season was a disaster. 1B - Youkilis a dollars/win share bargain 2B - Pedroia - can the guy cut down on his swing and improve his defense going to the right...I'...