Red Sox Reality Check

Everybody in baseball wants to get paid. Some want to be paid for what they have done and others wish to be paid for what they are likely to do. Uberagent Scott Boras wants to get paid, too, and will paint as rosy a picture as possible for Jason Varitek. Teammates naturally support each other's desire to get paid as well. First, the "why you must resign ' The Captain' " for megabucks All-Star catcher Red Sox .597 winning percentage with him catching this season Key cog in 2004 and 2007 championship run Caught four no-hitters Game winning homer in ALCS Game 6 Legendary preparation Leadership Experience Intangibles Limited alternatives within the Red Sox current control Young pitchers in developmental stage (Masterson, Bowden, Buchholz) Next, why the Red Sox have to think very, very hard about the extent (money) and duration (years) of contract 1273 career games catching* Zero batting win shares this season Declining win shares trend .220 batting, .672 OPS this seas...

Failure is not fatal , but failure to change might be. John Wooden Is the glass half empty or half full? The Red Sox went deep into the postseason, but lacked the consistency or the staying power to get to the World Series for the third time in five years. The Tampa Bay Death Rays beat them at what had been their game, pitching and power, blending youth and enthusiasm to outlast the Sox. What went right? What went wrong? What's next? The positives . The Red Sox played superior defense throughout the post-season. Even without Gold Glover Mike Lowell at third and the move of Gold Glover Kevin Youkilis from first, the Sox showed why defense matters. Excepting Dustin Pedroia's relay throw up the line last night, for the most part the overall defensive execution excelled. Much of the bullpen overachieved. Jonathan Papelbon showed why he is among the top postseason pitchers in history, remaining unscored upon. Hideki Okajima came up big repeatedly. Young Justin Masterson raised the s...

Among stock traders, discussion exists about 'the pain trade', that is, the market doing what will cause the most people the most pain. Red Sox fans know a little bit about that. Having grown up in the sixties, I knew the Days of Hopelessness, eclipsed forever by 1967 and 'The Impossible Dream', where competitiveness replaced failure. To paraphrase John Wooden, "failure is not fatal, but failure to change can be." Sox fans accepted the Gibson-Brock defeat of 1967 and the Big Red Machine rollover in 1975 with equanimity. The Shea It Ain't So debacle of 1986 seemed the final straw, until 2003 and Gradygate. Of course, a pair of World Series victories erases a lot of heartache. All of which brings us to the 2008 ALCS playoffs. Last night we got a little pain early, with the TBS BS that shut down their transmission and landed Steve Harvey in our laps. Harvey's Wallbangers 'OK' and Steve Harvey reruns NOT. Could the Sox carry momentum from Game 5...

"Wake" then Funeral...NOT The Resurrection "They have a word for it in English-Youneverknow"- Joaquin Andujar I was on call last night and a patient called about 1 AM... I said "How 'bout them Sox?" He said, "they lost." When I told him about the rally he simply said, "You're %&$ing me." The Sox comeback may not have eclipsed "the steal" but clearly tops my previous other memory, an eight run deficit overcome in 1967 against the Angels...must have been the Los Angeles Angels in ten team baseball. The two out magic, led by Dustin Pedroia in the seventh, continued with homers by Papi (61 consecutive homerless postseason at bats), Drew, and yet more magic by two out singles by Coco Crisp (8th) and J.D. Drew (9th) turned despair into revival. As Sean Connery reminded us in "Finding Forrester", there was only one word for it, "remarkable".

Thus far the Sox have yet to be able to generate anything vaguely resembling offense. I won't say Kazmir looks like Sandy Koufax, Ron Guidry, or even Frank Tanana in his prime. In fact, he's simply dominated the Sox with ordinary stuff. Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't have it, and the Death Rays have pitch-slapped the Boston Brahmins with the long ball and superior pitching. A number of Sox have simply pulled Houdinis (disappearing acts) during this series. The leadoff spot, David Ortiz, and Jason Varitek have just been AWOL. At least Mike Lowell had a legitimate excuse. The Sox have the talent, but simply haven't played well. Starting pitching greatly underperformed and the bullpen was spotty. Will Jason Varitek get a rousing departure ovation? Players can lose it offensively in dramatic fashion. Remember how quickly Jim Rice's career abruptly fell. The disappointment isn't so much in defeat (if it ensues) but in the margin in which the Rays overwhelmed and outclassed...

What's with the Hot Stove League talk? Let it go. I don't want to talk about pitching roles, trades and free agency, or retirements during the ALCS. Is A-Rod dictating the discussion? Last night's game certainly had both a dramatic and artistic success. Daisuke Matsuzaka carried a no-no into the 7th, out of trouble (first and third no out), and the bullpen got it done, with Okajima, Masterson, and Papelbon all perfect. Kevin Youkilis' value has manifested itself with his post-season contribution at third base, and Mark Kotsay's success reflects well on the organization and Kotsay. Dustin Pedroia added a couple of appearances on base, made a brilliant defensive play out of the shift, and swiped a key bag leading to scoring the second run. Once again, Terry Francona gets overlooked for his managerial decisions: Optimizing rest with his rotation Flawless bullpen execution, with the sinkerballer Masterson getting the DP Getting the key basehit from Mark Kotsay in his ro...

Don Drysdale used to take a shortcut to an intentional walk...hit the batter. Grant Balfour comes in to face J.D. Drew with men on second and third and nearly beans him. Ron Darling says, "we know Balfour's not trying to hit him." I'm not saying he threw at his head, just that he wasn't particularly concerned about hitting Drew either. Daisuke Matsuzaka has pitched brilliantly threw seven, but has been on the bench for 'ever' in the eighth, with pitching changes, wildness and high pitch counts. The defense tonight has excelled with only Carl Crawford's inability to snag Kevin Youkilis' hooking line drive standing out as a 'catchable' moment. What will Terry Francona do in the bottom of the eighth? Matsuzaka didn't look like he was headed for the showers. Whatever one thinks of Matsuzaka (33 wins in two years, including a Japanese pitcher record in the US), he's not afraid to take the ball. I'll guess that he leaves Matsuzaka in ...

The Red Sox lost eight of nine to the Angels during the regular season. So what? When it has counted, the Sox have dominated the Halos winning twelve of thirteen postseason contests. What have you done for us lately? Just win, baby! The Angels botched the squeeze play, had regular defensive lapses, and got outpitched and outplayed. The better team? By what standard? The Angels ace couldn't win once, and Jon Lester, almost traded for Johan Santana moves to the ALCS while the Mets work on their short game. Karma. Complaining that you're the better team just doesn't get it done. The Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl, because the Giants outplayed them. The Sox won for the same reason. The Sox also won with limited offense from Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, and a subpar performance from Josh Beckett. Mike Lowell finished the series on the DL and J.D. Drew spent much of the series in Ben Gay City. And what of the Sox and the Rays? The Rays have solid pitching (Shiel...

The Sox returned home to "America's Most Beloved Ballpark" (or something like that) amidst a tidal wave of political advertisements on TBS. God forbid. Josh Beckett had good stuff, but lacking command, yielded a pair of homers to the Angels' Mike Napoli. So the Angels have 100 percent of their runs via the home run. Somewhere during the playoffs we heard that the White Sox lead the majors with 47 percent via long distance. Health problems probably didn't affect the Sox as much as their decision to stay away from Joe Saunders with J.D. Drew. Mike Lowell hasn't looked great either offensively or defensively so far. As for the 'you never see this', Jacoby Ellsbury had a three run single that fell between the infield and Torii Hunter, who may not be moving as well after his 'hopping mad' close play at first in Game 2. The second play du jour was Delcarmen late on covering first on a grounder to Youkilis because another broken maple bat blocked his ...

The last time the Sox faced the Angels, they were in the last throes of the Ramirez era, with Manny quitting on the team. Manny's migration improved two teams, illustrated today. Jon Lester affirmed Terry Francona's faith with seven strong innings (one earned run), and superior eighth inning defense by Jacoby Ellsbury and Youkilis preserved a lead on a two-run Bay Blast. Ellsbury made a remarkable diving catch and Youk made a brilliant right field to third base throw on a blooper over his head to nail Vlad G trying to go first to third. Lester's win runs his career W-L record to 29-8. Heady stuff, verily. The Sox continued their postseason dominance over the Angels, and will that weigh on them? Jonathan Papelbon closed out the Halos, striking out the side in the 9th. Jacoby Ellsbury has clearly worked to seal the inside hole he had, and added a pair of stolen bases and four hits (one was erroneously called an error, but okay it's three) in solidifying his macro-pest sta...