Tainted Love

Red Sox and BOTN fans alike, I write this blog with a heavy heart. Our beloved slugger, David Ortiz, has tested positive for Performance enhancing drugs. Can we say this is a surprise? No. Can anyone say that you were completely unsuspicious? If you do you're lying. But can anyone honestly say you don't feel for him.

If I have ever said anything bad about Alex Rodriguez with regards to him taking PED's than I not only apologize but I now understand what it feels like as a fan to have an enamored slugger/role model thrust into the pit of despair. That being said I still am not a fan of A-Rod, or the way he goes about playing baseball, but I feel for the guy.

David Ortiz was not only the best clutch hitter in Red Sox history but was the cornerstone of this franchise for a solid 4 year span. He led baseball in Runs batted in and was 3^rd or higher in every other major offensive category. His smile brought hope to Red Sox Nation. And his presence in the lineup gave you a sense of: "Wow, we're probably going to win tonight."

But the "rags-to-riches" story that we all came to know and love is in fact a mistruth. He didn't become a superstar on his own accord. The reason that everyone loved "Big Papi" wasn't just because he put us on his back en-route to 2 Championships; the reason is he was the guy that everyone rooted for. In Minnesota, he rarely got playing time and was a mediocre player, AT BEST. When Boston gave him a chance he didn't waste it. In a way it makes sense; which is why I no longer have a distaste for A-Rod in this regard.

He is in a big market and needed to make his presence known, hitting behind Jeremy Giambi wasn't going to help him or his family. So he decided to build success artificially. The rest, as they say, is history.

So what does this change? Well for starters (Sox Fans in particular) you almost have to lay off the Yankee players that were caught doping. They were not the only ones. And I'm not sure if "taint" is the right word for describing our championships, but rather enhanced. The numbers, to me, would seem that there would be at least 1 player per team if there are 104 names and 30 or so teams. Maybe the Pirates and Rays were so bad because they didn't have any dopers? Any takers?

I still love David Ortiz. But the mystique surrounding his alter ego Big Papi, is in a word "tainted."

Stay Tuned

Ryan

A Fresh Look

Alright, so things have settled and the cream has risen to the top of the bottle. And by that I mean, after thinking it through this Smoltz situation is about one thing: Mind over Matter. We're going to let Sandy Koufax do a lot of talking in this article. Let's have a look at a few things, shall we?

Smoltzy's first start with as much hype surrounding it as there was that no matter what the outcome was he was getting a "freebie" on that game. But during the game he was throwing breaking ball after breaking ball. If he was trying to finesse a free swinging group of players that would be one thing, but he's toeing the rubber against the nationals without Adam Dunn in the lineup. Go after them and just own them, PLEASE. The first of many Koufax quotes in this piece is: "I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started to make them hit it." Moral of this quote: You're already a hall of fame pitcher. You have nothing else to prove but get back that fire and determination and go out there and throw the shit out of the ball!

On to the dreaded Baltimore debacle. Smoltz went the first 4 before the heavens opened up and they didn't want to risk ramping him back up after being down for so long. Understandable, but would have been nice to have another W under his belt. But he commanded the strike zone not just with his Slider and Splitty, but was dotting the corner with fastball as well. His fastball although 3-4 mph slower than what it used to be is still an effective weapon. Koufax's thoughts: "A guy that throws what he intended to throw, that's the definition of a good pitcher." Moral of this quote: You ARE still an effective major league pitcher and a good one to boot, execution is the name of the game and if you can do that you'll not only have the rest of your teammates confidence in you but all of Red Sox Nation.

What needs to happen moving forward. You've got to get this hitters guessing again. Not just guessing but fearing you. I realize he isn't a HOFer, yet, but when Josh Beckett is on the mound the opposition is NEVER comfortable in the batters box. Now that may be that he eats fetuses for breakfast but it's also because he comes inside and doesn't give a damn what or who's on that corner of the plate. Coming from an experienced catcher who believes in hardnosed baseball I say this, sit someone on their ass. This team has your back if anything ensues. You need to become a bulldog again. Sandy, your thoughts? "Show me a guy who can't pitch inside, and I'll show you a loser."

I was listening to Lou Merloni via podcast on WEEI the other day and while I do frown upon most of the things he says and everything that everyone else says on that Romper Room-esque show, he hit the nail on the head with regards to what has to happen with Smoltz. During every interview Smoltz has had he keep saying things like, "They tell me my fastball is good enough" or "I guess I'll have to locate the fastball better." To me and to Lou coincidentally, these are the feelings of a pitcher with no confidence. He shouldn't be wondering if his fastball is good enough to get hitters out. He has to go out there with what he has and say, " HIT ME" (ala Heath Ledger as the Joker). We don't need another Rolando Arrojo or Jon Burkett out there. Your John F-ing Smoltz. Be a winner because that's what you do!

One more Sandy quote to end this one with and just know that I still got your back John, even if you frustrate the SHIT out of me.

"The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don't have to ask anyone, or play politics. You don't have to wait for reviews."

Moral of this one: Pitch better.

Stay Tuned

Ryan

A Tale of Two or Three Cities

While "The Commander" had another dominating outing the more important piece of the game was that the offense is back. Yes I am proclaiming that game as the catalyst that will bring back this giant that has been slumbering for far too long. With the deadline looming there is all sorts of Water Cooler talk but there has been some intriguing Sox talk. Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman went as far as to say via Twitter, "The Red Sox have shifted their focus to Adrian Gonzalez." Then another report from MLBtraderumors.com came out later that not only the Rays, but the Sox as well are inquiring on landing BOTH Cliff Lee AND Victor Martinez. And to cap off the big name banter, a late night report from a source close to the Sox said "Theo is working on something HUGE." I'm not even sure what that means but it would seem to me that he's looking for a way to finagle a pitcher AND a big bat. That would be huge to me. But I'm not sure. The only thing is, who then becomes the odd man out? Lowell couldn't have much trade value being that he's moving around like Archer (Emissary of the Gorgonites), Adam Laroche would have to be the one to get re-traded even though I LOVE his bat in the lineup. Unless something huge means they find some way to get rid of JD Drew. Another rumor was that they were in the market for a Right Handed OF bat, Halladay AND Rios, anyone?

What is this garbage with He Who Shall Not Be Named? He's now going to run his mouth to a Japanese paper saying that our training staff, widely regarded as the best in baseball, is not catering to his Japanese needs? Get the hell back on the boat and go back to where you come from then. Don't give me this "I'm from Japan so my arm can do different things than anyone else's" bullshit. There is absolutely NO NEED to throw a 500 pitch side session in between starts, it doesn't make sense, I don't care which side of Okinawa you come from. Your contract is immovable, you're not going to see the mound for the remainder of the year in Boston and now you're going to bring your ethnicity into it. Holy Rodney King, please do something about this guy.

Now one of the more strange issues in the baseball world is the conundrum within the New York Mets management. First their VP of Player Development goes all Christian Bale on some minor leaguers and K-Rod, now the GM is trying to twist it to make it sound like the "leaker" of the story is the one to blame, ONLY to have it blow up in his face. He out and out accused the Mets beat reporter of wanting Bernazard's (VPoPD) job, and then when the reporter, whom was at the press conference, called him out on it he started backtracking like a Bill Clinton Sex Scandal. Omar Minaya is wretched, there is no other way of saying it. Yes his team is good, although it has had a rough year because of injuries, but he has absolutely no backbone. If you're going to say something as pointed as that remark was than stand by it! Don't try to evade the question. Afterwards, he tried the damage control route by saying that it was the wrong forum for him to have said those remarks. Then asked if he would apologize, just a maybe. What a Joke. This guy doesn't deserve to run a baseball team, and for all intents and purposes I bet Adam Rubin (Mets Beat Reporter) could probably do a better job than Bernazard. Give him a shot. You'll spend money on Oliver Perez and Livan Hernandez why not give a local boy a go?

Stay Tuned

Ryan

Home Almost Sweet Home.

This Just in, Brad Penny threw more than 5 innings and the Red Sox Win. He was absolutely 'pumping ched' in the strike zone that night. Routinely hitting 97 on the gun with every fastball was just what the doctor ordered in our return back to the Fens. Jon Lester continued his dominance of the Baltimore Orioles, he still has an unblemished record against those Orange Birds. Our offense started to wake up and then in walks John Smoltz…

Now I was all for this signing at the beginning of the season, but my patience is starting to run thin. Smoltz has not only been ineffective, but he has looked old. And if I have to hear, " I made one bad pitch but I'm a bulldog and it will happen," again I'm going to punch a dog. Although any fastball over 90 mph is a good fastball, his has had no extra "life" that a future Hall of Famer has. He's looked like exactly what Greg Maddux looked like with the Padres. Although, there were brief flashes of brilliance he's going to be nothing more than a fringe starter and won't be a winner at his age.

The weekend debut of Adam Laroche was nothing short of brilliant. In his first game he cracks a home run. He collected two more hits on Sunday. And although it seems like he is not just "moving in slow motion," as Jason Bay said, but actually moving backwards, he is a solid player and after seeing first hand he actually does have the PERFECT swing for Fenway Park.

Although I'm an avid Republican and HATE FLIP-FLOPPERS I am changing my stance on what's going to happen at the deadline. I would love to see Halladay in a Boston Uni, but I'm hopeful that they are going to run after Adrian Gonzalez. Reports were that they inquired on him and I feel if they are going to overpay for ANYONE they should overpay for him. He's only 26 and only makes 4.25 mil next year! GET ON THAT TRAIN IMMEDIATELY.

The real thing that's irking me today is Clay Buchholz. He IS NOT THAT GOOD (as far as major leaguers are concerned). What most people forget is that Clay is just 6 months younger than Jon Lester the best and most talented Lefty in the AL. He is a prospect and you NEED to sell on him while his value is highest. Adrian Gonzalez is the player you need to go after, NOT VICTOR MARTINEZ. Although the Indians centerpiece is a very good hitter, he's in his 30's, and as a former/current catcher that's the tail end of your supremacy reign. Moral of the Story: Clay Buchholz is NOT the second coming of Bob Gibson and even if he does win 12 games a year with someone else next year Wake will do that for you and then some every year until he's collecting Social Security.

Stay Tuned

Ryan

Pitcher Perfect

There are few things in life that are perfect: The feelings of seeing your wife walk down the aisle, your first experience holding your new born, and sitting on a hammock in Hawaii with Kenny Chesney on acoustic lightly in the Background. Mark Buerhle achieved the baseball version of perfection and I have to say it couldn't have been any more exciting. Not to mention how hard it is to sit down 27 in a row, his heart-stopping moment in the ninth was something they write movies about.

Going into the top of the ninth Ozzie Guillen puts in a defensive replacement named DeWayne Wise *SQUIGGLY LINES DREAM-INDUCING*. Buerhle gives up a piss-missile off the bat of Gabe Kapler and Wise takes off at a Cheetah like pace determined to go through the wall to keep the PG intact. He leaps up and propels himself off of the wall and brings the ball back in but then bobbles the ball only to bare hand it and preserve the perfect game. You can't make this stuff up!

I can't explain it. The guy is hard-pressed to hit 90 on the radar gun. Works at a coke addicts pace. He is going to finesse you and rhythm you to death and you have to hand it to him the guy can flat out pitch. He is the consummate professional. The first thing he did when he got out of the pile on the mound was kiss his wife and newborn daughter. God, this guy is one of a kind. No, he's a baseball player. This is the kind of player that I want my children to look up to.

He has now thrown a no-no and a perfect game. To put this into perspective, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez have never thrown a perfect game. These guys when they were in their hay day all threw in the Mid 90's and couldn't put the Perfect game under their belt. 18 players in baseball history have been able to achieve this feat and Buehrle is now among the likes of Cy Young, David Cone, Randy Johnson, and Don Larsen.

Congratulations Mark, you deserve it!

Stay Tuned

Ryan

The Pieces to the Puzzle

Now batting for the Red Sox, Adrian Gonz…Oh shit, I mean Adam Laroche. Ya know, I think I'm in love with this move. Adam Laroche, not a big name guy but someone who can get the job done. He is a notorious second half hitter, his lifetime BA is around .270 (respectable) hits 25 HRs/yr (delightful), and drives in about 80-85/yr(downright reasonable). What's not to like about a lefty who can provide some thump in the Six hole? JD Drew sure as hell isn't cutting it. How does this affect the lineup you ask? Well I would love to tell you! What this means is that Lowell will essentially platoon with Laroche both of them playing 3-4 games per week. When Laroche plays, obviously, Youkilis will slide over to third and Laroche will play first against right handers ONLY. Lowell will handle the left handers. What this also means is that if Papi scuffles, and let's face it he's still batting in the .220's, Laroche can also provide some pop and slide into the DH role to give the Big Father some rest. I'm going to rate this move a solid 8 out of 10, the reason being we gave up no one. Hunter Strickland was NEVER going to play for the Red Sox (Sorry Hunter). And Argenis Diaz although a great glove had a BELOW average bat. So we gave up nothing for a 25 HR 85 RBI, slick fielding 1B. I LIKE IT!

The 2^nd and most exciting move of the day for me was getting rid of Julio "I wish people would cheer for me once in a while" Lugo. Now on the open market I would have thought he would have commanded maybe a bag of balls and a fungo but I guess the Cardinals really want this guy (why I don't know) and were willing to give up Chris Duncan AND a player to be named later. Julio I think I just became your biggest fan because this is the biggest contribution you've had to the team since you got here with your disgusting contract. So thank you for being a team player! Chris Duncan is going to be to the Red Sox what Mark Kotsay is/was at the end of the 2008 season. That First Base/Outfield utility man to spell drew and Rocco because they are about as fragile as the Venus de Milo. I'm going to give this trade a 9 out of 10 just for the sheer sake in getting SOMETHING for Loogey.

Here's where the fun/sneaky part comes in. I think that Theo has an ulterior motive. These furtive moves still leave him the proper pieces to land a big trade closer to the deadline. I HAVE to believe Theo has been reading BOTN and is going to adhere to my pining for Roy Halladay. He still has Buchholz, DelCarmen, Bowden, Masterson, Anderson, Kelly, Reddick, all the while bolstering the teams defense (Laroche) and offense (Laroche and Duncan). It only makes sense now with 3/5 of the rotation throwing like Chet "the Rocket" Steadman and the other 2 throwing like Steve Nebraska from "The Scout". Get Ready Sox fans, Pitching wins championships and we're about to own the best pitching tripod since Maddux, Glavine and yes our John Smoltz.

I'm not going to even touch on our 5 game losing streak and our offense similar to a 8 yr old softball team. We need to play better, get more hits and I guess we have to throw a shutout every time for our offense to have scored enough runs. Props once again to Julio Lugo for finally contributing positively to Red Sox Nation

Stay Tuned

Ryan

Running Late

The blog will be up soon everyone don't fret. Be prepared to read about the sox trades, especially the dumping of Julio Lugo, and if they are done on the trade front.

Stay Tuned

Ryan