From the Pedro Binder

2000 Pacific Paramount

OK. Then.

Just like last time, I like the Pacific logo. It makes it easy for me to tell what set the card is from, which is quite a problem in those years. It’s also all tucked into the corner, out of the way.

That’s where the good things about this card  end.

I always dislike when the player is cut out of the rest of the picture in order to be put on an artificial background. I understand that some variety is needed, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. That’s especially true with this card. Why eliminate the rest of the picture just to put Pedro on a blah background? It’s one thing if there was a fancy design that related to the set somehow. But, this is just blah.

I’m not sure what’s going on with all the information on the card either. Sure, it has the name, team logo, and position. But, it’s all annoyingly in foil to make sure it’s hard to read. There are some stripes, and a home plate looking thingie. But, it simply doesn’t do it for me.

Once again, I have to assume that people complaining about the Topps monopoly aren’t thinking about this card.

Why is Everyone in a Rush to Define the Sox season?

It happened again.

“I think it’s pretty clear by now what they are.”

“They’re not a playoff team. It’s time to sell.”

“If only they were going to be in contention, maybe they could make a run at David Price.”

Why is everyone in such a rush to write them off?

They’ve been doing it all season. Have a rough opening week? A week of games is enough to be able to tell. A rough April? That’s a big enough sample size. They now are what they are.

This isn’t a new thing either. Remember the losing streak to start 2011? People were already deciding they were a bust after six games.

What is that desire?

Is it just the need for everyone to be first? If I’m the first one to say they’re going to be a crap team, and then they’re a crap team, then people will think I’m awesome. That might work if anyone remembered what anyone said. But, nobody’s going to go and give you credit for having a tweet in April saying “Sox are done this year” as some sort of clairvoyant. Heck, I wrote a whole blog post last spring saying, basically, that I saw no reason why the Sox wouldn’t win the World Series last year. Nobody’s brought it up since. So, this “me first” thing is just annoying with no purpose.

Is it contrary reporting? If I’m the only person who says the Sox will be lousy, people will read or follow me since I’m giving them something nobody else will. Like the one person who leaves Dustin Pedroia off the MVP ballot. Again, though, that assumes anyone remembers. Sure, someone might track down which one of 20 reporters did something. But, to scour twitter for someone saying bad things about the Sox? Not gonna happen. So, again, it’s jumping to conclusions with no purpose.

Is it straight trolling? Hoping that I’d write a blog post about it?

I’d understand if your early conclusion supported a pre-made assumption. If a team went 112-50 one year, and then started out 25-5, you would be allowed to jump to the conclusion that they’re going to have a good year. The evidence is supporting your assumption. But, that’s not what’s happening here. The Sox weren’t supposed to be sub-500. Sure, nobody expected 100 wins. But, they didn’t expect struggles. Why be so eager to change your mind? Was your opinion of the team going into the season so flawed that you’re willing to throw it away over nothing?

Maybe that’s the real reason. People aren’t making well thought out analysis. They’re just tossing out opinions, so they have no problem tossing out a different one. If you only thought they were going to win this year because they won the last game last year, it would be easy to say they’re going to lose this year because they lost the last game they played.

If, however, you thought they’d be good this year based on the players they had returning, and how they performed last year, you might be inclined to stick with that opinion. You’d assume that players will find their level. That slumps happen, but stars will be stars. There’d be no reason not to wait it out. As long as they’re still in contention.

At least until all the players you expected to be there are there.

36 Pix

Those of you who are very astute may have noticed a change to the Pages on the top of this here blog. Ok. Those of you who are very very astute. The "Pix from 36" page has been replaced by the "36 Pix" page.

"So what?" you might say. "You changed the title of a page. You're turning that into its own post now? How pathetic."

You may be right.

But, this is more than a  change in a page title. It's a whole reorganization. It's one I didn't want to do. I had been holding out doing it as long as I could. But, I couldn't do it any more. I just had too many pictures.

What a glorious problem to have!

See, I put all the pix on a single page. Even after only picking the best ones from each person who sent them in, I had quite a few. It was taking quite a long time to scroll through them all. That was annoying. So, I had to split them up.

Unfortunately, the best way to do that was to make a few categories, and give each category its own page. Those pages can be accessed from the main "36 Pix" page you see above you. Like I said, I didn't like it. It's an extra click before you get to the good stuff. That always felt like a "hit grab" on my end. But, like I said, I had no choice.

So, which categories did I pick? Glad you asked. Here they are, along with some of the latest examples submitted.

Pix in 36 will show pictures people took of themselves in Section 36 itself. You know, like these:

Pix With 36 will show people taking their pictures in other parts of the park, but posing with Section 36 behind them. Like these:

Rather Be in 36 Pix will show people taking their picture with a "I'd Rather Be In Section 36" sign, to voice their displeasure with being stuck somewhere else. Like these:

Pix of 36 will show pictures people took of Section 36 itself, whether they were in Section 36 at the time, or not. Like these:

Finally, Pix From 36 will show pictures people have taken of different parts of the park, while in Section 36. Like these:

So, I hope the reorganization will assist everyone in more easily enjoying all the great pictures that have been submitted. And, please keep sending it your pictures!

Like I said, it was a great problem to have!

In The Media Guide

In my collection, I currently have every Red Sox Media Guide dating back to 1998. I love flipping through them to see what tidbits they contain. I figured that if I liked it, you might enjoy taking a look along with me. So, I had a random number generator select a page from the 2014 edition to talk about today. 

Coincidentally, it selected…

236

Page 236 in the 2014 Media Guide is the ninth page of David Ortiz’s entry. (Yup, as should be no surprise, Ortiz has a long entry.) This page covers Papi’s career in 2010, and some of 2009. What did the authors feel was important enough to mention?

The first thing I see is a graphic. Those are usually fun. This one shows the top five Red Sox with the most 25-HR seasons. As you should expect, Ted Williams leads the pack. Not including Ortiz, Ted has twice as many such seasons as anyone else. I have to admit that I was surprised to see Ortiz at number two. Not so much that he has nine seasons. But, that nobody else did. Yaz didn’t? In fact, Yaz isn’t even in the top five. Weird. Jim Rice makes sense on the list. As do Manny Ramirez and Mo Vaughn. Manny and Mo are only unexpected because they each only played for the Sox eight seasons. So, they hit 25 home runs in six of those eight. Pretty impressive.

What else does the page talk about? There are two facts bolded in red. Those must be important. The first one states that in 2010 Ortiz hit 30/100 for the sixth time and made his sixth all-star team. I’m guessing that those two feats are not entirely unrelated.

The other one points out that in 2009 Ortiz set the career record for home runs by a DH. As usual, I don’t like accomplishments with qualifiers. But, that’s pretty cool.

Some other things that the page points out?

Ortiz had 21 walks in June of 2010, to lead the majors.

He hit a walk-off 3-run double on 7/31/2010. Of course he did.

In 2009 the Sox went 23-4 when he homered. I have no idea what it means, but that’s a pretty good record.

Of course, there’s a lot more great stuff on the page.

Just like every page.

Red Sox 1-36: 34 is for…

34 wins by Smokey Joe Wood in 1912.

Yeah. That’s a team record.

No, it won’t be broken.

You know how you sometimes head over to baseball reference and just gawk at Pedro’s statistics? (Yeah, I do it too) Smokey Joe Wood was like that in 1912. He was 22 that year, and went 34-5, with 35 complete games. 35 complete games! Wonder what happened in the three games he didn’t finish. Of those 35 complete games, ten of them were shutouts. No wonder he had a 1.91 ERA that year. Want to go all new-fangled with the stats? His WAR was 10.4. (Pedro was 11.7 in 2000)

What happened after 1912? Wood dropped off the face of the earth. Arm problems limited him to 18 starts the following year. (Of course, he still completed twelve of them.) From accounts of his complaints at the time, people think he destroyed his rotator cuff, and was never the same again. He eventually had to come back as an outfielder to stay in the league.

Which is exactly why the Red Sox were so careful with Pedro.

But, I’ve always wondered, which is the right move? Say you went back in time, and told the Red Sox of 1912 what we know now. You went up to management and said, look if you pitch him so much, he’s going to break down. Instead of having him start 38 games, and come into five others in relief, you should just start him 32 times max. And forget about completing them. Seven innings per game is a good goal. So, cut him back from the 344 innings he’s going to pitch this year to around 210. That way he won’t break down, and you’ll have him available next year, and maybe five years from now.

What would they say?

I bet their first reaction would be, “Who am I going to pitch those other 134 innings? They won’t be as good as Wood.”

Their second reaction would be, “But, if I run Wood until he drops, I’ll win the title this year. If I don’t, I probably won’t. How is that better?”

I’m not sure I have a good argument for them. What if the Sox had done that with Pedro in 1999-2000? What if they said, I don’t care if he’s still a decent pitcher in 2009 or not. I have the best pitcher ever, in his prime. I’m using those innings right now. If he blows out five years early, so be it.

What if teams treated every pitcher like that? Pitchers will never perform as well as they do when they’re in their 20’s, no matter how much rest they get. So, use those innings then. Some, like Smokey Joe, won’t be able to handle it. You’ll get their best, and then they’ll be gone. Others, like Cy Young, will just keep right on pitching 300 innings a year for 20 years. You’ll never know which one you’ve got until you try. But, in either case, you’ll get the most out of the best they have to offer. And, maybe a title to go along with it.

Just like the Sox got from Smokey Joe Wood.

34 is for Smokey Joe Wood’s 34 wins in 1912.