It is very early in the season, but so far, the 2014 Red Sox are making last season's World Championship run look like a fluke. Injuries are piling up out of the gate and the Sox are playing some listless, uninspired baseball in the month of April. If this keeps up, it's going to be a long, painful, 2012-esque season.
Perhaps the 2014 Red Sox are going the route of the 2013 Giants, who followed up their 2012 World Series championship with the dreaded "hangover season". Perhaps the magic had 10/30/13 expiration date. Perhaps this is the "bridge year" for the Red Sox that 2013 was supposed to be. One thing is certain: Right now, "every little thing" is far from "alright".
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Pre-Spring Training Red Sox Thoughts
As I write this blog, I am listening to the song that became somewhat of a theme song for the 2013 Red Sox: Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds". What started out as Shane Victorino's walk-up song caught fire in Red Sox Nation down the stretch and into the playoffs and came to symbolize what this resilient, bearded, determined team was all about. The 2013 Red Sox are a tough act to follow.
While the great majority of the team is returning (sans Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, and possibly Stephen Drew), there are still a lot of questions surrounding the 2014 team. In case you've been living under a rock since August 2011, things have been rather mercurial around The Fens in the past two and a half years. First, the epic collapse of September 2011, then the ousting of Francona, the departure of Theo Epstein for the Windy City, the Bobby Valentine hire, the flotsam and jetsam that was the 2012 season, the Big Trade, and then, the phoenix-from-the-ashes rise of the Red Sox in 2013, capturing their third World Series title in a decade.
Going into last year, few expected the team to be a serious World Series contender, let alone win the whole shebang. The strategy Ben Cherington adopted was to build the team not with high-price, high-risk free agents, but with quality major-league talent that had the right mentality to succeed in the baseball-obsessed Boston market. Depth at the major-league level was key to Cherington and it paid off in the best way possible: A World Series title and the honor of being named Executive of the Year. Cherington also had to find the right man to lead the team after Valentine's catastrophic year at the helm.
The 2014 Red Sox have most of their team back, along with John Farrell and the rest of the coaching staff. They acquired some more depth this off-season, once again staying away from monster contracts or farm-gutting trades. How will the extra month of play affect the players, especially the pitchers? Will Jackie Bradley, Jr. earn the starting spot in center or will Grady Sizemore stay healthy long enough and perform well enough after two seasons away from baseball to keep the prospect in Pawtucket. How will Xander Bogaerts do at whatever position he ends up playing (hopefully, shortstop)? Can Will Middlebrooks improve his approach at the plate enough to become a middle-of-the-order righty power threat? Or, should we settle for a viable major-league third baseman out of him? Will all the age behind the plate (two 37-year-olds) catch up to them?
The Red Sox, due to their major and minor league depth, are in good shape heading into the 2014 season and beyond. If they can avoid too much regression from the likes of Victorino, Napoli, Nava, Carp, Lackey, and Lester, if Doubront can finally put together a consistently solid season and if Buchholz can stay healthy, they have a good chance to be in the playoffs again. Can they repeat? Anything is possible, but very few teams manage to go back-to-back (and even fewer that don't play their home games in the Bronx). 2013 was a special, magical, endearing, redemptive season for the Red Sox, but soon the page will turn to 2014. Let's hope some of that magic rolls over into the new season.
While the great majority of the team is returning (sans Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, and possibly Stephen Drew), there are still a lot of questions surrounding the 2014 team. In case you've been living under a rock since August 2011, things have been rather mercurial around The Fens in the past two and a half years. First, the epic collapse of September 2011, then the ousting of Francona, the departure of Theo Epstein for the Windy City, the Bobby Valentine hire, the flotsam and jetsam that was the 2012 season, the Big Trade, and then, the phoenix-from-the-ashes rise of the Red Sox in 2013, capturing their third World Series title in a decade.
Going into last year, few expected the team to be a serious World Series contender, let alone win the whole shebang. The strategy Ben Cherington adopted was to build the team not with high-price, high-risk free agents, but with quality major-league talent that had the right mentality to succeed in the baseball-obsessed Boston market. Depth at the major-league level was key to Cherington and it paid off in the best way possible: A World Series title and the honor of being named Executive of the Year. Cherington also had to find the right man to lead the team after Valentine's catastrophic year at the helm.
The 2014 Red Sox have most of their team back, along with John Farrell and the rest of the coaching staff. They acquired some more depth this off-season, once again staying away from monster contracts or farm-gutting trades. How will the extra month of play affect the players, especially the pitchers? Will Jackie Bradley, Jr. earn the starting spot in center or will Grady Sizemore stay healthy long enough and perform well enough after two seasons away from baseball to keep the prospect in Pawtucket. How will Xander Bogaerts do at whatever position he ends up playing (hopefully, shortstop)? Can Will Middlebrooks improve his approach at the plate enough to become a middle-of-the-order righty power threat? Or, should we settle for a viable major-league third baseman out of him? Will all the age behind the plate (two 37-year-olds) catch up to them?
The Red Sox, due to their major and minor league depth, are in good shape heading into the 2014 season and beyond. If they can avoid too much regression from the likes of Victorino, Napoli, Nava, Carp, Lackey, and Lester, if Doubront can finally put together a consistently solid season and if Buchholz can stay healthy, they have a good chance to be in the playoffs again. Can they repeat? Anything is possible, but very few teams manage to go back-to-back (and even fewer that don't play their home games in the Bronx). 2013 was a special, magical, endearing, redemptive season for the Red Sox, but soon the page will turn to 2014. Let's hope some of that magic rolls over into the new season.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Red Sox in 2014: Post-Championship Letdown?
When a team wins the World Series, after the honeymoon is over, there is the matter of how they will follow up that championship season next year. Repeating is an extremely difficult thing to do, seeing how so many things need to go right to win it all. That means that, for the vast majority of reigning champions, the following year represents some degree of letdown. Take the 2012 San Francisco Giants. They followed up their championship run with a supremely disappointing fourth place finish and a losing record. The 2011 Cardinals fared much better, advancing to the NLCS in 2012. The 2010 Giants missed the playoffs in 2011. The 2009 Yankees earned a Wild Card berth in 2010. The 2008 Phillies appeared in the 2009 World Series, but couldn't repeat. The last team to repeat was the Evil Empire itself, who threepeated in 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Where will the 2014 Red Sox end up when all is said and done? After losing one of their best players, Jacoby Ellsbury, to the Dark Side (deja Damon, anyone?), it will be nearly impossible to replace his level of play in center field (except the arm, of course). Jackie Bradley, Jr. may well be ready to start in center next year, but he has very limited experience at the major league level and it's exceedingly hard to predict how he will fare in his rookie season. With the A.J. Pierzinski signing, they have two guys over 35 behind the plate. It's completely unknown what the Sox will get from Will Middlebrooks next year. Xander Bogaerts shows a lot of promise at short, but even he may experience some growing pains. The situation at first base is still up in the air, with Napoli a free agent and no major-league ready replacement on the farm.
Having promising young talent like Bogaerts, Bradley, and even Middlebrooks is a very good thing. Teams with an abundance of young homegrown talent such as the A's, the Rays, the Cardinals, the Orioles, the Nationals have been very successful in recent years. Blocking those high-ceiling prospects with expensive free agents can result in an aging team laden with albatross contracts. However, allowing the prospects to develop at the major league level could mean the team takes a step back next year.
The 2012 Nationals didn't win the World Series, but they advanced to the playoffs and won their first division title since they moved to Washington from Montreal (where they were the Expos). They also brought a division title and playoff berth to DC for the first time in many decades. Their 2012 season was nearly as magical as the Red Sox' 2013 season. The magic wore off for the Nats in 2013, though. The spent much of the season hovering around .500 and their late run was not enough to return them to the postseason. Their young talent struggled to reach the heights of the 2012 team. Yet, they are well-positioned to bounce back in 2014 and return to the top of the NL East.
Why am I talking about the Washington Nationals in a Red Sox blog? Besides their being my NL team, their 2013 could very well be what happens with the Red Sox in 2014. Such a step back would be disappointing after the Magical Tour of Beards and Baseball in 2013, but better the Nats' 2013 season than that of the Giants for the Red Sox in 2014.
Where will the 2014 Red Sox end up when all is said and done? After losing one of their best players, Jacoby Ellsbury, to the Dark Side (deja Damon, anyone?), it will be nearly impossible to replace his level of play in center field (except the arm, of course). Jackie Bradley, Jr. may well be ready to start in center next year, but he has very limited experience at the major league level and it's exceedingly hard to predict how he will fare in his rookie season. With the A.J. Pierzinski signing, they have two guys over 35 behind the plate. It's completely unknown what the Sox will get from Will Middlebrooks next year. Xander Bogaerts shows a lot of promise at short, but even he may experience some growing pains. The situation at first base is still up in the air, with Napoli a free agent and no major-league ready replacement on the farm.
Having promising young talent like Bogaerts, Bradley, and even Middlebrooks is a very good thing. Teams with an abundance of young homegrown talent such as the A's, the Rays, the Cardinals, the Orioles, the Nationals have been very successful in recent years. Blocking those high-ceiling prospects with expensive free agents can result in an aging team laden with albatross contracts. However, allowing the prospects to develop at the major league level could mean the team takes a step back next year.
The 2012 Nationals didn't win the World Series, but they advanced to the playoffs and won their first division title since they moved to Washington from Montreal (where they were the Expos). They also brought a division title and playoff berth to DC for the first time in many decades. Their 2012 season was nearly as magical as the Red Sox' 2013 season. The magic wore off for the Nats in 2013, though. The spent much of the season hovering around .500 and their late run was not enough to return them to the postseason. Their young talent struggled to reach the heights of the 2012 team. Yet, they are well-positioned to bounce back in 2014 and return to the top of the NL East.
Why am I talking about the Washington Nationals in a Red Sox blog? Besides their being my NL team, their 2013 could very well be what happens with the Red Sox in 2014. Such a step back would be disappointing after the Magical Tour of Beards and Baseball in 2013, but better the Nats' 2013 season than that of the Giants for the Red Sox in 2014.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Red Sox Postseason Ditty: "This October"
This is a parody of Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night"
This October
Late October at the Fens
The Red Sox are champions
This October…
This October
Next October…
This October
This October
Late October at the Fens
The Red Sox are champions
The World Series
they did win.
Let the champagne
flow again!
Tears of joy the
fans have shed
Soldier’s helmet on
Gomes’ head.
Players hoisting the
trophy
Big Papi is MVP
Beat the Cards in
six, clinch the series at Fenway!
Hooray!
For the first time
since nineteen hundred and eighteen.
Oh wow!
The Red Sox first
faced the Rays
Price and Moore’d
seen better days
Maddon’s team got
out-Fenway’ed
This October…
Series moved on to
the Trop
Salty beaten by
catwalk.
Koji’s human—we
forgot!
They dispatched the
Rays in four
Peavy just let one
run score
And then Koji slammed
the door
This October…
Then the Tigers came
to town
Game 1 saw the Sox shut down
Oh no-o-o!
Do it all again!
Next October
Do it all again!
Game 2, Papi hit a slam
Game 3, Lackey was the man
Napoli hit a home run
All they needed was just one.
Game 4 turned into a loss
Peavy no longer was boss
In Game 5 Nap led the way
Red Sox just one win away
Shane Victorino hit a grand slam in Game 6—Yeah! Oh Yeah!
Beat the Tigers and headed to the World Series! Sweet!
This October
So the two best teams got in
Each with 97 wins
In the Fall Classic again
This October
The Sox blew Wainwright away
Cards’ bad defense made ‘em pay
Beltran took Papi’s slam away
This October
Wacha held the Red Sox down
And their defense screwed around
Breslow’s mojo left the mound
This October
Game 3 did not go well at all
Lost on an obstruction call—Now what the hell?
Next October
Do it all again!
Next October
Do it all again!
Buchholz throwing
86.
He pitched four and then Felix
Papi’s pep talk hit the
spot.
Jonny hit a three run
shot
Lackey pitched out of
the ‘pen.
Koji’s pickoff sealed
the win.
Game 5, Lester was an
ace.
Put the Cardinals in their place.
For Game 6 they were
back at Fenway Park
Sweet home! Oh yeah!
Lackey on the mound,
Victorino knocks in four! SHANF!
Yes they went from
worst to first
Boston Strong, no
talk of curse
And the Red Sox won the purse
This October.
Three World Series wins, nine years
Reggae music in our ears
Fenway Park erupts in cheers!
Next October
Do it all again!
Next October
Do it all again!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Heartbreak Never Came
As much fun as it is to see my team in the playoffs, those games are STRESSFUL to watch! The level of emotional investment is as sky-high as the stakes in October. They literally turn me into a crazy person and I have the tweets to prove it. There was virtual (and actual) hand-wringing and a few tweets I'd like to take back, like the one during Game 4 where I wished the Red Sox had never made it to the World Series. Yes, I actually tweeted that and I'm happy to eat a heaping dose of cyber-crow. Watching the offense struggle against Lance Lynn while Buchholz was walking a tightrope and the Red Sox came into the game facing a 2-1 deficit was making me apoplectic. Rational thought and that thing called perspective (and where a baseball game, even a World Series baseball game, fits into the grand scheme of things) goes out the window during those moments when you're living and dying with every pitch. The stress! The angst! The futile attempts to prepare myself for October heartbreak that seemed to lurk in the shadows! I needed that pep talk from Papi as much as the team did.
But that heartbreak never came. Not when Koji proved himself very much human by allowing Jose Lobaton to deposit his pitch into the Ray tank for a walkoff homer. Not when Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer were mowing the Red Sox offense down strikeout by strikeout. Not when the Tigers tied up the series by lighting Peavy up like a Christmas tree. Not when Craig Breslow threw the ball away. Not when a horizontal Middlebrooks was ruled an obstruction and Allen Craig limped home for the winning Cardinals run. Not when Buchholz's fastball sat in the mid-80s. Not when Wacha was looking dominant early on and the Cards were hitting rockets off of Lackey. Not when Lackey was given one more batter and walked him. The Red Sox got past all of that and, like Linus's Great Pumpkin, October heartbreak never showed up. Not in 2013. Not for the Red Sox.
But that heartbreak never came. Not when Koji proved himself very much human by allowing Jose Lobaton to deposit his pitch into the Ray tank for a walkoff homer. Not when Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer were mowing the Red Sox offense down strikeout by strikeout. Not when the Tigers tied up the series by lighting Peavy up like a Christmas tree. Not when Craig Breslow threw the ball away. Not when a horizontal Middlebrooks was ruled an obstruction and Allen Craig limped home for the winning Cardinals run. Not when Buchholz's fastball sat in the mid-80s. Not when Wacha was looking dominant early on and the Cards were hitting rockets off of Lackey. Not when Lackey was given one more batter and walked him. The Red Sox got past all of that and, like Linus's Great Pumpkin, October heartbreak never showed up. Not in 2013. Not for the Red Sox.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Mission Improbable: Accomplished!
If you told me at the start of Spring Training that the 2013 Red Sox were going to win the World Series, I would have shook my head and thanked you for the good laugh. Their starting rotation was rife with question marks, their lineup screamed "bridge year" and who knew how many games Big Papi's achilles would let him play? Middlebrooks was coming off a wrist injury, Ellsbury was coming off a shoulder subluxation, and Nava had developed a reputation for being an all-star in the first half and flaming out in the second half. Just how big a concern was Napoli's degenerative hip condition? Clearly it was enough to knock his contract down to one year instead of three. And was Ryan Dempster the best they could do to bolster the rotation?
Going into this season, the presumptive favorites in the AL East were the Toronto Blue Jays, who had gone on an offseason shopping spree that even outpaced the Red Sox' spending spree in 2010-2011. They got Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and Jose Reyes from the Miami Marlins. They signed Melky Cabrera. They already had two big boppers in Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Then there were the Yankees, whose roster was getting more geriatric by the year, but who always found a way to stay competitive to the end. The Rays lost James Shields to a trade with Kansas City. The Orioles proved in 2012 that they were nobody's doormat anymore, but was last year a fluke?
Those well-hyped Blue Jays finished last in the AL East at 74-88. The ailing, over-the-hill Yankees? Tied for third with the Orioles (85-77). The Rays finished five and a half games back, the half game because they played a one-game tiebreaker with the Rangers. The Red Sox won the AL East and finished with the best record in the league at 97-65. Only their World Series opponents, the St. Louis Cardinals, matched that record. The Red Sox were the only team to never have lost more than three games in a row. Their ability to avoid any significant losing streaks spoke to the resiliency that characterized this team from Game 1.
Their scruffy beards wouldn't win the 2013 Red Sox any beauty contests (they would be a serious contender in a Duck Dynasty cast lookalike contest), but they represented the unity this team personified throughout the season. The Boston Marathon Bombings of April 15 only galvanized that unity. This team wasn't a 25 men, 25 cabs team. They were more like 25 brothers, many of whom were bearded brothers. They were brothers regardless of where they came from or what language they grew up speaking. They kept each other accountable, kept each other focused, kept each other sane, and kept each other loose.
And what of the "father" to all those brothers? John Farrell rejoined the Red Sox after spending two years at the helm of the division rival Blue Jays. Before his stint in Toronto, he was Terry Francona's pitching coach. He had developed a rapport with the pitchers who were with the team from 2007-2010, such as Jon Lester, John Lackey and Clay Buchholz. Position players, such as Pedey and Papi respected his leadership as well. Farrell brought some of his Toronto staff with him, including bench coach Torey Lovullo and third base coach Brian Butterfield. Some of Farrell's in-game decisions, especially during the playoffs, got him in hot water with the fans and media, but Farrell was the first to admit when he made a mistake (think sending reliever Brandon Workman to the plate in Game 3). He re-established the trust between the players and manager that was lost under the disastrous year with Bobby Valentine.
The architect of this team also deserves some mention. Ben Cherington had his work cut out for him after being named General Manager in October 2011. In the offseason that followed The Collapse, he was handcuffed by some albatross contracts and could do very little to help a team that was in need of an overhaul. As a result, problems with the starting rotation, among other issues, could not be addressed in the way they needed to be. Popular shortstop Marco Scutaro had to be moved in a salary dump. Aaron Cook was what passed for rotation depth. Alfredo Aceves was the closer after Andrew Bailey, predictably, got injured in Spring Training. Is it any wonder no lead was safe?
In August of 2012, Cherington got the opportunity to do something few teams get a chance to do. The Dodgers, desperate for a playoff berth, coveted Adrian Gonzalez and were willing to do whatever it took to acquire him from the Red Sox before the waiver trade deadline. They were desperate enough to bail the Sox out of Gonzalez' hefty contract, plus Josh Beckett's and Carl Crawford's. Nick Punto was thrown in for good measure. Beckett, Gonzalez, and Crawford couldn't be happier to be granted a "Get Out of Boston Free" card. This move pushed the plunger on 2012 and freed up payroll space for the likes of Victorino, Drew, Gomes, Napoli, Uehara, and Dempster. These guys were by no means superstars on the level of, say, Josh Hamilton, but they were solid major league players with the reputation of being likeable guys who would seamlessly fit into the clubhouse and help repair the damage done by 2011 and 2012. They could also be had on shorter term deals that wouldn't land the Red Sox in the same position from which the Dodgers had just rescued them.
Cherington's team chemistry plan worked so well that the team became greater than the sum of its parts. They were a talented team, but they were not the juggernauts of 2004 and 2007. They had a veteran presence balanced out by young players that represent the future of the franchise, such as Brandon Workman, Will Middlebrooks, and Xander Bogaerts. They proved the doubters, myself included, wrong at every turn. Every time it looked like the other shoe would drop, the 2013 Red Sox caught that shoe in midair and put it back on the shelf.
Thanks to a restocked farm system with no shortage of talent in the upper minors, the Red Sox have a bright future. Jackie Bradley, Jr. is waiting in the wings should the Sox find Ellsbury's price tag prohibitively high. Bogaerts is the team's top prospect and he already made an impact in the postseason. Workman has a future either as a starter or a reliever. Lester has found his ace form on the biggest of all stages. It would be a tall task to repeat what the 2013 Red Sox accomplished, and it's sad to see such a magical season come to an end, even if it did end in the best possible way that no one could have ever imagined.
Congratulations to the World Champion 2013 Red Sox for an unforgettable season!
Going into this season, the presumptive favorites in the AL East were the Toronto Blue Jays, who had gone on an offseason shopping spree that even outpaced the Red Sox' spending spree in 2010-2011. They got Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and Jose Reyes from the Miami Marlins. They signed Melky Cabrera. They already had two big boppers in Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Then there were the Yankees, whose roster was getting more geriatric by the year, but who always found a way to stay competitive to the end. The Rays lost James Shields to a trade with Kansas City. The Orioles proved in 2012 that they were nobody's doormat anymore, but was last year a fluke?
Those well-hyped Blue Jays finished last in the AL East at 74-88. The ailing, over-the-hill Yankees? Tied for third with the Orioles (85-77). The Rays finished five and a half games back, the half game because they played a one-game tiebreaker with the Rangers. The Red Sox won the AL East and finished with the best record in the league at 97-65. Only their World Series opponents, the St. Louis Cardinals, matched that record. The Red Sox were the only team to never have lost more than three games in a row. Their ability to avoid any significant losing streaks spoke to the resiliency that characterized this team from Game 1.
Their scruffy beards wouldn't win the 2013 Red Sox any beauty contests (they would be a serious contender in a Duck Dynasty cast lookalike contest), but they represented the unity this team personified throughout the season. The Boston Marathon Bombings of April 15 only galvanized that unity. This team wasn't a 25 men, 25 cabs team. They were more like 25 brothers, many of whom were bearded brothers. They were brothers regardless of where they came from or what language they grew up speaking. They kept each other accountable, kept each other focused, kept each other sane, and kept each other loose.
And what of the "father" to all those brothers? John Farrell rejoined the Red Sox after spending two years at the helm of the division rival Blue Jays. Before his stint in Toronto, he was Terry Francona's pitching coach. He had developed a rapport with the pitchers who were with the team from 2007-2010, such as Jon Lester, John Lackey and Clay Buchholz. Position players, such as Pedey and Papi respected his leadership as well. Farrell brought some of his Toronto staff with him, including bench coach Torey Lovullo and third base coach Brian Butterfield. Some of Farrell's in-game decisions, especially during the playoffs, got him in hot water with the fans and media, but Farrell was the first to admit when he made a mistake (think sending reliever Brandon Workman to the plate in Game 3). He re-established the trust between the players and manager that was lost under the disastrous year with Bobby Valentine.
The architect of this team also deserves some mention. Ben Cherington had his work cut out for him after being named General Manager in October 2011. In the offseason that followed The Collapse, he was handcuffed by some albatross contracts and could do very little to help a team that was in need of an overhaul. As a result, problems with the starting rotation, among other issues, could not be addressed in the way they needed to be. Popular shortstop Marco Scutaro had to be moved in a salary dump. Aaron Cook was what passed for rotation depth. Alfredo Aceves was the closer after Andrew Bailey, predictably, got injured in Spring Training. Is it any wonder no lead was safe?
In August of 2012, Cherington got the opportunity to do something few teams get a chance to do. The Dodgers, desperate for a playoff berth, coveted Adrian Gonzalez and were willing to do whatever it took to acquire him from the Red Sox before the waiver trade deadline. They were desperate enough to bail the Sox out of Gonzalez' hefty contract, plus Josh Beckett's and Carl Crawford's. Nick Punto was thrown in for good measure. Beckett, Gonzalez, and Crawford couldn't be happier to be granted a "Get Out of Boston Free" card. This move pushed the plunger on 2012 and freed up payroll space for the likes of Victorino, Drew, Gomes, Napoli, Uehara, and Dempster. These guys were by no means superstars on the level of, say, Josh Hamilton, but they were solid major league players with the reputation of being likeable guys who would seamlessly fit into the clubhouse and help repair the damage done by 2011 and 2012. They could also be had on shorter term deals that wouldn't land the Red Sox in the same position from which the Dodgers had just rescued them.
Cherington's team chemistry plan worked so well that the team became greater than the sum of its parts. They were a talented team, but they were not the juggernauts of 2004 and 2007. They had a veteran presence balanced out by young players that represent the future of the franchise, such as Brandon Workman, Will Middlebrooks, and Xander Bogaerts. They proved the doubters, myself included, wrong at every turn. Every time it looked like the other shoe would drop, the 2013 Red Sox caught that shoe in midair and put it back on the shelf.
Thanks to a restocked farm system with no shortage of talent in the upper minors, the Red Sox have a bright future. Jackie Bradley, Jr. is waiting in the wings should the Sox find Ellsbury's price tag prohibitively high. Bogaerts is the team's top prospect and he already made an impact in the postseason. Workman has a future either as a starter or a reliever. Lester has found his ace form on the biggest of all stages. It would be a tall task to repeat what the 2013 Red Sox accomplished, and it's sad to see such a magical season come to an end, even if it did end in the best possible way that no one could have ever imagined.
Congratulations to the World Champion 2013 Red Sox for an unforgettable season!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
World Series Travel Day Thoughts
The Red Sox are up 3 games to 2 in the World Series and they're headed back to Boston to, we hope, seal the deal and win their third title in 10 years. The Cardinals may have something to say about that, however. They're sending their rookie co-ace Michael Wacha to the mound in a rematch of Game 2 in an effort to force a Game 7.
This scenario is very familiar to the Red Sox, as they were in the same situation in the ALCS, up 3-2 to the Tigers and headed back to Boston for Game 6. We all know how that ended. Something about Shane "Shanf" Victorino (why "Shanf"? Just ask the guys at Over The Monster) and a grand slam.
John Lackey will be on the bump for Game 6 of the World Series and he's a guy who's been there and done that. When he was a much younger John Lackey, he pitched the Angels to victory in Game 7 of the 2002 Fall Classic. He's looking to do the same for the Red Sox in 2013, only a game earlier this time. His time with the Red Sox has been turbulent, to say the least. He was slightly disappointing in 2010 and downright atrocious in 2011, while pitching through a shredded elbow. Tommy John surgery followed in the offseason and Lackey sat out 2012. This year, he returned leaner and fitter and his ERA slimmed down as well (unfortunately, so did his run support). He had a so-so outing in the ALDS, but followed it with a shutout in the ALCS and a fine performance in the World Series as well. He even pitched in relief in Game 4, as a setup man for Koji Uehara. A clutch performance in Game 6 would be a perfect way to cap off his comeback season.
Now let's talk about Lackey's rotation mate Jon Lester. He had a lost season of his own in 2012 and suffered a brief relapse this season. After a few days away from the game over the All-Star break, Lester regained his focus and his command, pitching to a 2.52 ERA in the second half. In the post-season, especially the World Series, he has shown some dominant stuff. In his starts in Game 1 and Game 5, he limited the Cardinals to a single run over 15 1/3 innings. He was so dominant that the Red Sox allowed him to hit in the top of the seventh inning of Game 5 so that he could continue pitching. He ended up going 7 2/3, being lifted for Tazawa with two outs in the 8th. Such stellar pitching on the biggest stage in baseball is a redemption story in its own right.
Should the Red Sox win the World Series, the only man standing in the way of Lester being named MVP would be the guy with two rings already: David "Big Papi" Ortiz. All he's done is hit .733 through the first five games! With the Cards electing not to pitch around him (a questionable strategy, but one I am grateful for, as a Red Sox fan), Papi has been by far the toughest out of the series. He's also been the leader of the Band of Bearded Brothers in the dugout, calling an impromptu meeting in the dugout during Game 4, after which Jonny Gomes hit the game-winning 3-run blast.
Tomorrow night and, if necessary (and I hope it isn't necessary) begins the third act of what has been a highly competitive and somewhat bizarre World Series. By bizarre, I'm referring to the Game 3 obstruction call that went against the Red Sox and gave the Cardinals a walk-off win and the pickoff play by Koji that ended Game 4. Will this series end up like 1946 or 1967 or will it end up like 1918, the last time the Red Sox clinched a World Series win at home?
This scenario is very familiar to the Red Sox, as they were in the same situation in the ALCS, up 3-2 to the Tigers and headed back to Boston for Game 6. We all know how that ended. Something about Shane "Shanf" Victorino (why "Shanf"? Just ask the guys at Over The Monster) and a grand slam.
John Lackey will be on the bump for Game 6 of the World Series and he's a guy who's been there and done that. When he was a much younger John Lackey, he pitched the Angels to victory in Game 7 of the 2002 Fall Classic. He's looking to do the same for the Red Sox in 2013, only a game earlier this time. His time with the Red Sox has been turbulent, to say the least. He was slightly disappointing in 2010 and downright atrocious in 2011, while pitching through a shredded elbow. Tommy John surgery followed in the offseason and Lackey sat out 2012. This year, he returned leaner and fitter and his ERA slimmed down as well (unfortunately, so did his run support). He had a so-so outing in the ALDS, but followed it with a shutout in the ALCS and a fine performance in the World Series as well. He even pitched in relief in Game 4, as a setup man for Koji Uehara. A clutch performance in Game 6 would be a perfect way to cap off his comeback season.
Now let's talk about Lackey's rotation mate Jon Lester. He had a lost season of his own in 2012 and suffered a brief relapse this season. After a few days away from the game over the All-Star break, Lester regained his focus and his command, pitching to a 2.52 ERA in the second half. In the post-season, especially the World Series, he has shown some dominant stuff. In his starts in Game 1 and Game 5, he limited the Cardinals to a single run over 15 1/3 innings. He was so dominant that the Red Sox allowed him to hit in the top of the seventh inning of Game 5 so that he could continue pitching. He ended up going 7 2/3, being lifted for Tazawa with two outs in the 8th. Such stellar pitching on the biggest stage in baseball is a redemption story in its own right.
Should the Red Sox win the World Series, the only man standing in the way of Lester being named MVP would be the guy with two rings already: David "Big Papi" Ortiz. All he's done is hit .733 through the first five games! With the Cards electing not to pitch around him (a questionable strategy, but one I am grateful for, as a Red Sox fan), Papi has been by far the toughest out of the series. He's also been the leader of the Band of Bearded Brothers in the dugout, calling an impromptu meeting in the dugout during Game 4, after which Jonny Gomes hit the game-winning 3-run blast.
Tomorrow night and, if necessary (and I hope it isn't necessary) begins the third act of what has been a highly competitive and somewhat bizarre World Series. By bizarre, I'm referring to the Game 3 obstruction call that went against the Red Sox and gave the Cardinals a walk-off win and the pickoff play by Koji that ended Game 4. Will this series end up like 1946 or 1967 or will it end up like 1918, the last time the Red Sox clinched a World Series win at home?
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