Big Papi has a big heart! David Ortiz will be donating food and medical supplies to the earthquake victims in Haiti, a country that shares an island with his native Dominican Republic. The Tuesday earthquake, a deadly 7.0, has devastated the Caribbean nation. Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people were killed and there are many still unaccounted for. Americans have shown their support to the tune of millions of dollars, much of it sent in true 21st century fashion: via texting.
The Red Sox Foundation wants to help fans who want to help the relief effort. Their website has information on how to donate to the cause though the RSF.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Let's Get This Show On The Road!
Now who's ready for this season to get started already? It seems like the off-season has gone on forever. It's going to be very interesting to see how this season plays out. The 2010 Red Sox are an overall improved team from the 2009 Red Sox. The defense last year had more holes than Swiss cheese and the back end of the rotation required a warning label from those prone to indigestion or high blood pressure. The offense was feast or famine. They backed into the playoffs and the Angels made quick work of them.
Faced with some tough decisions after the season ended too early in October for their (and our) liking, the Red Sox went into the long, baseball-less months with their work cut out for them. All three aspects of their game needed some work and they needed a plan. First priority was to try to sign Jason Bay, who hit 36 HR and 119 RBI last year. Bay and the Red Sox couldn't see eye-to-eye and the team headed in a different direction with a signing that no one saw coming. John Lackey, who held the Red Sox down in Game 1 of the ALDS, decided to give the east coast a shot and signed on Theo Epstein's dotted line a week before Christmas. Lester. Beckett. Lackey. Talk about your 1-2-3 punch! Then, on the same day, a man who has managed to stay younger than his years in the outfield, one Mike Cameron, joined up as well. His bat will make us miss Flushing's newest left fielder, but having him, Ells and Drew in the outfield will help the defense greatly. He'll be playing his natural position, CF, while Ells shifts over to left.
Before Lackey and Cameron entered the fold, the Sox ended the dreadful shortstop-go-round, signing Marco Scutaro, who, at age 33, had a career year for Toronto in '09. Even before then, his numbers had been steadily improving for the past couple of years. After their epic Mike Lowell-to-Texas trade fail, the erstwhile Red Sox starting third baseman is resting his surgically repaired thumb and preparing to show he can still play some multi-million dollar ball for a club in need of a veteran presence. Meanwhile Adrian Beltre (who, I imagine, hopes to make Red Sox Nation forget about that other Adrian by knocking some dingers into the monster seats on a regular basis) will be flashing the leather with some killer D at the hot corner. I saw the video of his defensive highlights. The guy's an acrobat over at the third sack.
In other news, Oki's back for another year as the pen's #1 lefty and the Sox signed another lefty, 41-year-old Brian Shouse to a minor league deal. Shouse earns his keep when a lefty's at the plate, but, dear God, don't let him pitch to righties! The Boofster also hopes to make an impact out of the pen. Then there's that other Ramon Ramirez...
All in all, the 2010 team's going to prevent a lot more runs than they did last year. The question is, will they score enough, especially from the visitor's dugout of any park but Camden Yards.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Faced with some tough decisions after the season ended too early in October for their (and our) liking, the Red Sox went into the long, baseball-less months with their work cut out for them. All three aspects of their game needed some work and they needed a plan. First priority was to try to sign Jason Bay, who hit 36 HR and 119 RBI last year. Bay and the Red Sox couldn't see eye-to-eye and the team headed in a different direction with a signing that no one saw coming. John Lackey, who held the Red Sox down in Game 1 of the ALDS, decided to give the east coast a shot and signed on Theo Epstein's dotted line a week before Christmas. Lester. Beckett. Lackey. Talk about your 1-2-3 punch! Then, on the same day, a man who has managed to stay younger than his years in the outfield, one Mike Cameron, joined up as well. His bat will make us miss Flushing's newest left fielder, but having him, Ells and Drew in the outfield will help the defense greatly. He'll be playing his natural position, CF, while Ells shifts over to left.
Before Lackey and Cameron entered the fold, the Sox ended the dreadful shortstop-go-round, signing Marco Scutaro, who, at age 33, had a career year for Toronto in '09. Even before then, his numbers had been steadily improving for the past couple of years. After their epic Mike Lowell-to-Texas trade fail, the erstwhile Red Sox starting third baseman is resting his surgically repaired thumb and preparing to show he can still play some multi-million dollar ball for a club in need of a veteran presence. Meanwhile Adrian Beltre (who, I imagine, hopes to make Red Sox Nation forget about that other Adrian by knocking some dingers into the monster seats on a regular basis) will be flashing the leather with some killer D at the hot corner. I saw the video of his defensive highlights. The guy's an acrobat over at the third sack.
In other news, Oki's back for another year as the pen's #1 lefty and the Sox signed another lefty, 41-year-old Brian Shouse to a minor league deal. Shouse earns his keep when a lefty's at the plate, but, dear God, don't let him pitch to righties! The Boofster also hopes to make an impact out of the pen. Then there's that other Ramon Ramirez...
All in all, the 2010 team's going to prevent a lot more runs than they did last year. The question is, will they score enough, especially from the visitor's dugout of any park but Camden Yards.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Monday, January 4, 2010
For Whom the Beltre Tolls
The Red Sox make their first deal of 2010 by signing free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, who most recently played for the Mariners, to a 1 year deal with an option for a second year. Ok, so he's not the Adrian Red Sox Nation, myself included, have been obsessing over since before the off-season even began, but he gives us one kick-ass defensive infield. Youk gets to play first, where he is strongest defensively, Pedey plays second, Scutaro (who is not Alex Gonzo but is still a pretty good glove), and Beltre is a monumental improvement over last year's defensive infield, which was hampered by a pick-your-poison shortstop for most of the season and a post-hip surgery Lowell, not to mention the constant merry-go-round between first, catcher, and third. Catcher remains a defensive weakness, even with a full season of V-Mart (who is average at best defensively, but well above average with the bat) but rest of the positions range from solid to top-notch. Much has been debated about Ellsbury's defense and his ability to read the ball off the bat, but he has the advantage of his speed to make up for some of those bad reads. Also, he is young and can still improve.
As for Beltre's offense, he had a real down year last year, partly due to some injuries. He only managed 8 dingers, but he was playing in the pitcher-friendly Safeco Field. Fenway has the righty's best friend in left field and could help Beltre regain his power and it's a much more hitter-friendly ballpark than Safeco. That said, however, he's still somewhat of a question mark with the bat. It's a better option than having Kotchman be the starting first baseman. It may have worked with teams that rely less on power, such as the Angels, or National League teams such as the Braves, but in the AL East, you need a power guy at first.
Even with the addition of Beltre, the offense still lacks a knockout punch, a 3-4 combo that pitchers fear. They'd be hard pressed to find just one guy that sends a chill up even the best pitchers' spines. The Front Office is banking on the upgrades to the rotation and defense to offset the not-quite-elite offense and there's a possibility it can, if the Sox have one of those seasons where everything goes right for them (a la the 2009 Yankees). However, with the year-to-year uncertainty in bullpen quality, having a 30-100+ slugger come up in late innings with men on base after the 'pen has blown the lead would put them in a better position to win in that situation.
Like I have said here many times before, they will need to be able to win more games on the road to become a more balanced team and to have a better chance at success in the post-season, should they make it there. As the team sets their sights on just making the playoffs and not necessarily winning the division, winning on the road is even more critical. 2008 and 2009 were not good years for them on the road. Let's hope this trend is history in 2010.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
As for Beltre's offense, he had a real down year last year, partly due to some injuries. He only managed 8 dingers, but he was playing in the pitcher-friendly Safeco Field. Fenway has the righty's best friend in left field and could help Beltre regain his power and it's a much more hitter-friendly ballpark than Safeco. That said, however, he's still somewhat of a question mark with the bat. It's a better option than having Kotchman be the starting first baseman. It may have worked with teams that rely less on power, such as the Angels, or National League teams such as the Braves, but in the AL East, you need a power guy at first.
Even with the addition of Beltre, the offense still lacks a knockout punch, a 3-4 combo that pitchers fear. They'd be hard pressed to find just one guy that sends a chill up even the best pitchers' spines. The Front Office is banking on the upgrades to the rotation and defense to offset the not-quite-elite offense and there's a possibility it can, if the Sox have one of those seasons where everything goes right for them (a la the 2009 Yankees). However, with the year-to-year uncertainty in bullpen quality, having a 30-100+ slugger come up in late innings with men on base after the 'pen has blown the lead would put them in a better position to win in that situation.
Like I have said here many times before, they will need to be able to win more games on the road to become a more balanced team and to have a better chance at success in the post-season, should they make it there. As the team sets their sights on just making the playoffs and not necessarily winning the division, winning on the road is even more critical. 2008 and 2009 were not good years for them on the road. Let's hope this trend is history in 2010.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
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