Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Wow. What a Headline. I’m sure that if you saw that linked from another blog, you rushed right over to see what I was sleeping through. It’s really this time of year when you follow a quality team like the Red Sox.

Everything is quiet. It has been quiet for quite some time. At this point, I’ve decided that the Sox will hang on to both Mike Lowell and David Ortiz into Spring Training. At this point, might as well let them play a little to show everyone else what they can do. As much as I wanted to get excited about Jeremy Hermida avoiding arbitration, I just couldn’t. So, we enter the waiting game until the start of Spring Training. (Thank goodness for the Scavenger Hunt to keep us all busy)

The problem is, even the start of Spring Training is anticlimactic. Sure, the sights of pitchers and catchers reporting signal that summer is almost here. The problem, with the Sox, is that’s it’s still only “almost.” There are no positional battles in the works. The Sox are set. I don’t think even Beltre could play poorly enough to lose his job.

Three weeks out, and we’re reduced to following other teams as they get ready for Spring Training. Will Johnny Damon sign anywhere? Is the Ben Sheets signing good for Oakland? Why did the Yankees sign Randy Winn?

Obviously, it’s probably a good thing that things are slow for the Sox right now. It’s better than the reports from the Mets. There are no surgery related screamings. We’re not getting reports of an ace pitcher finally throwing off a mound. It’s just a waiting game until the season starts, and it’s a killer.

We could debate the line-up. But, it would just be debate. Until Tito tells us what his will be, we can’t talk about all the mistakes he’s made. (For the record, I’d go with Ells- Pedroia - Martinez -Youkilis- Drew - Beltre - Ortiz - Cameron -Scutaro)

So, let’s get going. Let’s start playing. Please?

Is it April yet?

Happy 36th!

Today we wish a very happy 36^th birthday to former Red Sox Bryant Nelson! Nelson was a utility type player for the 2002 Red Sox team. He could play both the infield, and outfield, which made him a valuable member of the club.

According to my 2002 scorebook, I made it to 18 Red Sox games that season. (At the very least, I scored 18 games I went to.) Bryant Nelson appeared in three of those.

On June 8 Curt Schilling faced Pedro Martinez in one of the all-time great pitching match-ups. In the eighth inning of that game, Tony Clark drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Bryant Nelson was inserted as the pinch runner at first base. With Johnny Damon at third, Nelson represented the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, that was where he remained as the inning ended. Nelson went in to play left-field, taking the place of Brian Daubach. He played the ninth inning in left, without making a play. The Sox ended up losing 3-2.

Nelson was in the starting line-up when the Braves came to town on June 30. He was at second base, batting ninth. He managed a ground out and a walk, before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, coincidentally enough Tony Clark, in the seventh inning. In the field, Nelson managed four putouts, and two assists. The Sox ended up losing 7-3 when the Braves scored four runs in the top of the tenth.

The final time I saw Nelson at Fenway was on July 6, against the Tigers. The Sox had an 8-0 lead in the eighth when he was inserted as a defensive replacement at second, taking Nomar Garciaparra’s spot in the order. (Lou Merloni slid over from second to short to complete the switch.) While in the field, he made two more assists. The Sox ended up winning the game 8-0.

If you’re keeping track, and why wouldn’t you be, in the three games I saw Bryant Nelson play live, he went 0-1 with a walk. He had four putouts, and four assists. The bad news is that he had a .000 batting average. The better news is his .500 OBP. The good news is that he had a 1.000 fielding percentage at two positions.

For those games, and all the other games in which he helped the Sox…

Happy 36^th Birthday Bryant Nelson!

A Phun Little Card

I received this card recently in a surprise package from the wonderful host of The Phillies Room. It’s both a great card, and an interesting one at the same time.

For the non-card collectors out there, those cut-outs under the pictures are pieces of game-worn jerseys. Not too long ago, card companies realized collectors were a little bored with just pictures of players. So, they started having players autograph cards before the sent them out. Then they started with the jersey pieces in the cards. These days, if it relates to a baseball player, chances are that it’s in a card somewhere. Lately, they’ve decided that if one player jersey piece is good, three must be even better, and eight must be better than that.
What I really like about the card is the player selection. Naturally, I’ll be averting my eyes from the right side of the card whenever I look at it. I always wonder how they decide who gets to be grouped on a card. You’ll sometimes see cards depicting “Speed Demons” or “Power Pitchers.” That leads to a clear selection of players to group together. It always made more sense to me when the players were all on the same team. I found it odd that people would collect ever both Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux. Smoltz and Maddux I could understand. It happened a lot with the three AL shortstops in the 90’s. They’d have things with Nomar, ARod, and Jeter smiling away. That was especially odd since generally, if you liked one you hated the other two. Especially Jeter and Nomar.
So, what did they decide to go with here? Ortiz-Hafner-that other guy. They went with the “Great DH’s” theme, I guess. I’m sure there are all kinds of collectors out there filling up on DH’s. (Of course, they ruined it by listing that other guy as a first baseman.)
Whatever the rest of the card is, I love the Ortiz third of it. Anytime you can get a piece of his jersey, it’s a wonderful thing. It’s also a nice design to it. The fact that the jerseys spell out the initials of the card brand “O-Pee-Chee” is self-serving, but not a bad as I’ve seen it before.
I couldn’t be happier to add it to my collection.

List of 36: Best Red Sox Third Basemen of the Past 36 years

1. Wade Boggs 

2. Kevin Youkilis 

3. Rico Petrocelli

4. Mike Lowell 

5. Carney Lansford 

6. Bill Mueller 

7. Scott Cooper 

8. Butch Hobson 

9. Glenn Hoffman 

10. Tim Naehring 

11. John Valentin 

12. Shea Hillenbrand 

13. Freddy Sanchez 

14. Ed Jurak 

15. Jed Lowrie 

16. Wilton Veras 

17. Juan Bell 

18. Carlos Baerga 

19. Luis Ortiz 

20. Mike Benjamin 

21. Lou Merloni 

22. Ed Romero 

23. Bill Selby 

24. Jack Brohamer 

25. Ernest Riles 

26. Chris Donnels 

27. Dick McAuliffe 

28. Bob Heise 

29. John Kennedy 

30. Buddy Hunter 

31. Esteban Beltre 

32. Terry Hughes 

33. Frank Duffy 

34. Jim Tatum 

35. Sean Berry 

36. Gary Gaetti

Red Sox A-Z: M is for…

Martinez, as in Pedro

Scalpers had it easy. It didn’t matter who the opposing team was. It didn’t matter who the other stars in the game were. It didn’t matter who the opposing pitcher was. If Pedro Martinez was on the mound, that’s all that mattered. Pedro made it a must-see game. If Pedro was pitching, you scheduled your day around the game. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I’ve mentioned before that the Red Sox have been blessed with quite a few talented pitchers in recent years. Roger Clemens, Josh Beckett, and Curt Schilling have all toed the Fenway rubber. Pedro was just different. I’ve always wondered how unique the feeling was to Pedro. Did any other pitchers invoke the same feelings? How much better than everyone else was he?

Take Josh Beckett. He’s a great pitcher. He’s the ace of the staff, and would be the ace of most staffs. When I look at the schedule, and see he’s supposed to pitch I feel good about the game. I know that the Sox should have a shot to win. I check the opposing team. If it’s the Yankees, I know it will be closer. If it’s the Royals, I feel even better. I check the opposing pitcher. If it’s Pettitte, I feel better about his chances. If it’s Grienkie, I feel much worse. But with Pedro, I didn’t do any of that.

If I looked at the schedule and saw Pedro listed, I knew the Sox would win. Not have a shot at winning. Will win. If I saw it was the Yankees, I assumed it would be a closer victory. If I saw it was the Royals, I wondered if Pedro would finally get his no-hitter. I felt bad for the opposing pitcher. If it was a poor pitcher, he was about to get thumped. If it was another ace, he was about to lose a close game where it probably wasn’t his fault. He just ran into Pedro. The only time I’ve felt even close to that was Josh Beckett during the 2007 playoffs. He was dominant. When the Sox trailed in the ALCS, I knew that they would at least win Beckett’s start. It wasn’t a should. It was a will. Beckett gave me that feeling for a couple weeks. Pedro’s lasted a few years.

When Pedro was on the mound, you started counting for records in the first inning. If the first guy made an out, it was only 26 more for the perfect game. If he struck out one guy in the first inning, he was a bit off pace to get to 21. I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t even know Derek Lowe had a no-hitter going until the sixth inning. With Pedro I would have known. I would have been tracking it for six innings by then.

Pedro has ruined other pitchers for me. How can Beckett be an ace? He had like 16 wins. How can Lester be having a great game? He’s given up two runs already. Pedro has set the bar so high, nobody can ever reach it.

So I need to ask fans from other teams and generations. Did other pitchers give such a feeling of confidence? When Clemens was on the mound, did you mark down the win before the game started? Does it matter to Phillies fans who Cole Hamels is facing? When Cliff Lee or CC Sabathia pitched for Cleveland, did you need to check the other line-up? If Tim Lincecum gives up a run in the first inning, is it cause for concern or par for the course? The Red Sox have had three other 20-game winners in the last ten years. None of them gave me the Pedro feeling of confidence. If they didn’t do it, does anyone?

M is for Martinez, Pedro.