So Let it Be Done

Casey Kelly has some work to do. There may not be a spot open in the Red Sox rotation for quite some time. The Red Sox announced that they locked up ace Josh Beckett with a four-year extension yesterday that pretty much sets up the rotation for the near future. They now have Josh Beckett signed through 2014. Jon Lester is under contract until 2013, with a club option for 2014. John Lackey is locked up through 2014. Daisuke is still under his mammoth contract in 2012. Heck, even Tim Wakefield is here another year. That leaves the likes of Buchholz, Bowden, and Kelly playing the waiting game. All five current starters will be under contract next year. Amazing. The first opening doesn’t come until 2012 when Wakefield will ride off gracefully. (Although, what if he’s only a win or two short of the Red Sox record at that point?) That spot looks to be Buchholz’s to lose, provided he doesn’t rip it away from Wake before then. It’s another year after that, in 2013, when Dice-K’s spot become available. At that point it’ll be a full out battle for that one spot, since it will be two more years before there’s another opportunity.

I could argue, that it was pretty poor planning on Theo’s part. As it stands, his three aces will all come of the books the same year. That doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity for transition. In 2014, they’ll have a big three. In 2015, they need three more starters. Would have been nice to stagger those a little bit more. Oh well.

But, if you’re a young pitcher in the Red Sox organization, how do you feel now? Are you crushed that yet another door has been closed in your face? I’ve said before that the only thing I ever liked about Curt Schilling was his confidence. Most other players say they want to go to a team so that they can win a ring. Curt was the only player I’ve ever heard of have the attitude that wherever he went, he would help win a ring. Apparently, for all their egos, other baseball players are a bit unsure of their abilities. It would be great if Casey Kelly looked at the rotation and said, “That’s OK. I’ll just show them that I’m better than Beckett. They’ll have to free up a spot for me.” But, that attitude doesn’t come around very much. Is he now showcasing himself to other teams? Is he trying to get himself included in that deal for Adrian Gonzalez? Does he resign himself to the fact that he’ll be a minor league pitcher for the next five years? Is he disgruntled? Is he unhappy? Disappointed?

Or does he think, “That’s OK. I only need one spot”?

Pitching and Defense

I know it’s only one game, but does Theo get to say, “I told you so”? All winter he’s been hearing from the EEIdiots that his offense won’t score enough runs to be competitive. He’s been steadfastly saying that run prevention is just as good as run scoring. As long as you score more runs than the other team, you win the game. Which is exactly what happened last night. The Sox had just enough firepower to outscore the defending champions. Of course, the score wasn’t supposed to be 9-7.

Anyone with half a brain knew the Sox would score some runs. I’ve said before that I myself, keep forgetting just how good Youkilis and Martinez are. They’ll score runs. They scored runs last night off the Yankees ace. They came back from a big deficit late. They did everything thing they were supposed to do, and some things they weren’t supposed to do. The balanced attack was getting people on base, and driving them home. They were scoring on sac flies, and past balls, and singles, and even homers. There was no break for the pitcher. Everybody was just as likely to do damage as the next guy. Well, everybody except Jacoby. It was a perfect example of what could happen with this team.

The defense was also just as advertised. Players were getting to balls in the gap, and in the holes. Youkilis was saving errors with great scoops at first. The Yankees didn’t get any extra outs that I saw.

The pitching? Well, that was another story. Beckett struggled a bit. I’m not really worried about that. I have no doubt that he’ll be the ace we expect him to be. Facing the Yankees with an umpire with a tight strike zone doesn’t always work out so well. Sabathia found that the same holds true when facing the Sox. When you have to groove it to be a strike against a patient team, bad things happen to pitchers. I wouldn’t think either starter would make a habit of last night’s results.

So, what did last night’s game mean? Not a flippin’ thing. Well, one thing. The Sox only need to win 99 more games to get to 100. Other than that? A win is better than a loss, but it’s not setting any tones. It doesn’t mean the division. It doesn’t mean the offense is set, or that the pitching needs help. It means that the Sox had a good game, and there’s hope for the rest of the season.

I’ve been to enough games now, that I rarely see things happen that I really wish I was in the park for. Last night, though, I wish I had been there to welcome back Pedro. That must have been amazing.

Maybe after his Hall of Fame induction I’ll get another chance.

Put Me in Coach. I’m Ready to Play!

Enough with the exhibitions. Enough with the practice. Enough with the injuries that aren’t injuries. Enough with the batting slumps that don’t matter. Enough with starters leaving the games much too early. It’s time to play ball!

The field is fresh. The uniforms are white. There’s nothing like the start of the season. Unlike the start of Spring Training, this is more than an honorary event. It’s not just a symbol of good things on the way. Oh, no. It’s Opening Day. This time, it counts. No more wondering. No more hoping. No more guessing. It’s time to play, and see what we have in our hometown team.

Yes, it’s annoying that the opener is at night. Yes, it’s too soon to be playing the Yankees. Yes, the Easter conflict is too bad. But, none of it really matters. The season is starting, and it’s about time.

So, bring on the Yanks. Bring on Sabathia. Bring on the rest of the American League.

This is going to be fun.

Visitor's Views

I thought it would be a fun twist to inject some opposing viewpoints into this blog. As such, I have reached out to the blogging community. Since the New York Yankees will be visiting Friendly Fenway this weekend, I thought we should know what their fans think. I asked Marie of A Cardboard Problem to answer a couple questions for me since she was the best Yankees fan I knew. She, thankfully, agreed. Here’s what she had to say:

When did you start blogging?
I started blogging in 2007 with Sooz. We decided that it would be fun to show our collections and talk about baseball cards to people other than each other.

What is the theme/goal of your blog?
The theme of our blog is just baseball and baseball cards, we don't collect anything else so it wouldn't be fair to write about other markets in terms of cards. There are cases where Sooz will post something about another sport or athlete because she covers sports for a living and has a broad range of knowledge of all sports as well as more access to stuff. The goal of our blog.... hmm.... to perhaps take over the world (like Stewie in Family Guy). Just kidding (sort of). I think if I had to pick a goal it would be to be able to talk about baseball and baseball cards in a manner that would eliminate the stereotype of girls knowing nothing about sports, and that we can be knowledgeable and collect cards as well as (better than) most men.

Which member/group of the Yankees are you most confident in?
Derek Jeter. No doubt about it, if there is a situation where a rally needs to get started or a run needs to be driven in for the win, he is the player I want at the plate. In the play-offs last season I was also fine with A-Rod coming up to the plate because he seemed to have found his swing in time to smash the ball in October this year.

Which member/group of the Yankees concerns you the most?
I don't think any one player concerns me too much, there are players that I could personally do without on the team but that wasn't the question ;)

Which member of the Red Sox scares you the most? (Yes, you have to pick one)
Scares me? LOL, ok I will try to take this seriously. I guess Pedroia or Ellsbury (for his speed). Really I am just naming people here because I can't think of someone that worries me since Papi is now a weenie.

Which member of the Red Sox do you like the least?
Kevin Youkilis. I couldn't despise any member of that team more than him. I am 99% sure I speak for Sooz as well here.

What’s your prediction for the upcoming series?
I don't see either team sweeping the first series, I will go with 2-1 Yankees, of course. (I also don't understand why they had the Yankees as their opening series when it will sell out if they play the Royals.)

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say the number “36”?
My high school softball number. (Followed by David Cone)

Thanks for the answers Marie. The Youkilis thing surprises me. I know I find him to be annoying. But, don't know what he's done to instill hate among other fanbases. Oh Well.

Since I am far from a professional interviewer, I hope these questions offer some insight into the Visitor’s Section. If you have a question you wish I had asked, let me know. If I do this again with another visiting team, maybe I’ll use it.

Go Sox!

Happy New Year!

Yup. It’s that time of year again. April Fools Day. Kids all over the world will be playing tricks. Blogs all over the world will be writing fake posts trying to trick you into believing that the Red Sox traded Jed Lowrie for Derek Jeter, or that Alex Rodriguez revealed he’s decided to call himself Alexi as he begins the sex change process. (Ok, that one could be true.) But you won’t see any of that here. There’s no room in Section 36 for silly gags. (Your shoe’s untied) But, there are a few interesting Sox tidbits that deserve comment. (Admit it. You checked to see if your shoe was tied or not)

David Ortiz announced on his blog that he will be a late season addition to the cast of Dancing With The Stars. Apparently, once the number of contestants gets down to five, they’ll add on Big Papi as a new twist. By adding in fresh contestants mid-season, the judges will have to adapt their scores to a varying degree of ability. It adds a new dimension to both the judging, and the call-in voting. I really like the idea of this. For one thing, while Papi is training it opens up the DH spot. This will give Mike Lowell the needed at-bats to showcase himself to other teams. Plus once Ortiz returns to the team he should, once again, are in the best shape of his life.
Sticking with the TV shows. It was announced that Dustin Pedroia would be the new judge on American Idol, once Simon steps down at the end of the season. Apparently Pedroia was “pumped” at the chance to be on TV every week. The only real complaints came from the producers of the show. They don’t like the idea of needing to buy a new judges desk. At the tryout, Pedroia was unable to see over the top of the current desk. There hasn’t been an announcement yet as to whether the new desk would also have an additional spot for Dustin’s ego. But, Pedroia has promised not to hold back during the show. His comments will be swinging from the heels, directing laser shots at the poor contestants. I think this is a great idea. The Idol gig will have limited impact on the baseball season, since it is less of a time commitment than DWTS. Having the Red Sox become more of a media empire is always a good thing. Go Dustin!
JD Drew was with the Red Sox team yesterday. Apparently he had been missing for several days, but nobody noticed. I know I didn’t.
As part of his new “open communication” with Red Sox team officials, Daisuke Matsuzaka revealed that he had a couple new nagging injuries. He obtained a slight sunburn on his ear during workouts last week. He also received a bad haircut last weekend. He assured management that neither injury will affect his performance. The larger news, however, was that his left foot was amputated this off-season in order to prepare himself for the next WBC. This is causing him to alter his throwing motion, putting additional strain on his shoulder. He had planned on stoically working through the condition, but decided it would be best to let the Red Sox in on the news. I think this is great news. After so many years of Daisuke keeping everything to himself and pretending it’s all-OK, he’s finally adapted. I think this will lead to a fantastic relationship between him and the Sox.
Theo Epstein announced that he had finally listened to all the talk show callers. He doesn’t know what he was thinking with all the “pitching and defense” talk he had been spewing. As such, he has traded both Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to the Tigers for Miguel Cabrera. To free up a place for Cabrera, he has waived Adrian Beltre, and traded Mike Lowell to the Twins for a player to be named later. He said that despite that the rotation is now one of the worst in the league, the addition of Cabrera to the line-up should offset that when he drives in 114 runs this season. It really is all about the RBI. I’m once again with Theo on this one. Who needs run prevention if you can win every game 8-7? Surely a rotation of Lackey-Wake-Buchh-Bowden-Dice will be plenty.
Other than that, things around camp have been eerily quit as the Sox prepare to open the season Sunday night. Feel free to now check out other blogs for corny April Fools Day posts.
Really. Your shoes are untied.