I Scored!

July 15 2006

Here’s a game from early in the lost 2006 season. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but what a ridiculous scorecard this is. Sixteen batting positions, but only nine innings? Three pitcher’s spots? No wonder I made my own card.

Checking out the three pitchers, we see that Curt Schilling got the start. That’s a good sign. His line shows that he pitched a fine game. Seven innings of scoreless ball is something the Sox will take every time. Especially with the line-up that they used that day.

Kevin Youkilis was sitting at the top of the order, ready to get on base for everyone behind him. He was only able to do it once that day, but it led to the second run of the game. The heart of the order was just as you’d like to see it. Ortiz, followed by Manny. Nixon was in an odd spot. But, he made that lefty-righty-lefty thing that Terry Francona adored. Plus, if you want a good fastball hitter to get a lot of fastballs, that’s a good spot to bat him. Lowell took up the sixth spot. Those guys provided all the offense for the Sox that day. They drove in six of the seven runs, and scored five of them. Exactly what you want from the big bats.

The star of the game? Manny had a great game, but I’m going to go with David Ortiz. He went 2-4 on the day with a homer, and drove in three runs.

The goat? Toss up between Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp. At least Varitek got hit by a pitch to get on base. But, he did strike out twice to end an inning. Which would you choose?

In the end, the dual goats didn’t matter. The Sox scored runs, and got the pitching to make them count. All that led to an easy win.

And the scorecard shows how it happened. 

Red Sox 1-36: 14 is for…

Jim Rice’s retired number 14

When I was growing up, there was a time when Jim Rice was my favorite player. Really, he and Dwight Evans flip flopped for a while there. He was probably my first favorite Red Sox player. It’s a little odd, really, since I’m just a bit too young to have followed him in his prime. When I really started to follow the Sox, he was past his best years. I guess I just latched on to what he was.

And, what he was is pretty impressive. One of the most feared hitters in the AL during his prime. He finally ended up in the Hall of Fame, which isn’t too shabby at all.

I often wonder if the steroid era hurt or helped Rice’s chances in the Hall of Fame ballot. It would be easy to say that during the time he was eligible, all the numbers the juiced players were putting up made his talents look pathetic. But, his first years on the ballot were before the true steroid era came into play, right? The mid-nineties? Shouldn’t Rice have had a few years where he was only compared to the clean athletes? Once he got four or five years in, I can see how the Bonds and McGwire results would dwarf his accomplishments, and hurt Rice’s chances. But, I do think the steroids helped him get in on that last ballot. I think voters were scared. I think they saw that lots of great players who were on the juice and tarnishing their stats. They didn’t want to look foolish in years to come. If they suddenly threw out every stat from 1998 on, would Rice be a sure HOFer? They didn’t want to risk it, so they put him in.

It’s possible Rice deserved it all along. Like I said, I missed his prime years. I’ll leave that debate to people who know more about Rice in his era. But, I think it’s interesting that he didn’t get in during those first few elections.

Whatever the verdict, he was a fantastic Red Sox.

14 is for number 14, Jim Rice.

Thanking the Fans

This weekend, the Red Sox are allowing their season ticket holders to take batting practice at Fenway Park as a way of saying thank you for their support. I think that’s a great idea. It’s a fabulous gesture from the team to the fans that support them the most.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. They’re just trying to distract everyone from the horrible season. They just had a bunch of food left over since nobody went to games in September, so they’re trying to get rid of it. Those statements may be completely true. But the fact remains that they didn’t have to do it. The fact that they cared enough to put together the event tells a lot, I think.

Besides, this isn’t one of those “bribe” giveaways. I’m sure that nobody bought their season tickets hoping they’d be able to take batting practice. Nobody is going to keep their season tickets next year just in case they can do it again. This isn’t a bobblehead giveaway where the team gets you to buy a ticket by offering something you want more. These are season ticket holders. They’ve already taken the bait. But, the Red Sox have always felt it was worth giving them just a little bit more.

Take a look on eBay, and you can see examples of all kinds of surprise giveaways from the Red Sox to their season ticket holders. There are baseballs commemorating their milestone sellouts. There are Christmas ornaments. There are posters. There’s no direct benefit to the Sox from these presents. Nobody is thinking to themselves, “I wasn’t going to drop a couple thousand dollars on season tickets…but they give away $20 baseballs…so I’m in.” That would be crazy. But, the Sox are just giving a little bit of a good feeling. A simple, “That was nice of them” is all they’re really gaining. But, they consider it worth the effort.

They do it for non-season ticket holders too. They often have presents for people attending games. Again, these aren’t bribes. They often aren’t even announced. A quick look at the Red Sox pocket schedule only lists one giveaway day in 2012. A magnet schedule on Opening Day. That’s their only bribe of the year. (Although, I doubt they’re selling any extra tickets to the home opener just so people can get a magnet schedule.) The rest are surprises to simply spread goodwill. They might give away cotton candy. Or baseballs. Nothing earth shattering, but a nice gesture nonetheless. It shows that the organization at least cares a little about their fans. (And before you say it, don’t give me the “If they cared as much about having a good team as they did about giveaways…” line. We all know they are completely different people with different funding.) They also know that if a simple thing like giving away cotton candy makes me tell people I had fun at a game, that’s good for them too.

This also isn’t something new. They had the same surprises when they were defending champs as they do now when they finished in the basement. It is an example of a long relationship with the fans. It’s really one of the reasons they bought the team in the first place. They saw a loyal fan base that was basically being spit on by the previous owners. They knew that if they treated the fans decently, things would get even better. They were right.

I'm sure it's been appreciated.

I’m Completely Confused Now

So let me see if I get this timeline straight…

In the middle of 2011, the Red Sox are the best team in baseball. Then, they lose their #3 starter. They’ve already lost their #5 starter for the season. Their #2 starter is being a gamer and pitching even though he needs Tommy John surgery. Then they lose their third baseman. The Sox decide that they have a decent lead in the WC race, and hope to ride out the injuries to the playoffs. It’s not a terrible strategy. It’s the same one the Yankees used this season when their injuries struck. Both teams ended up losing eight games off their lead late in the season. The Sox, unfortunately, only had seven to play with.

Because of this, the Sox decide that they need to replace their manager. It can’t be the injuries that are to blame. He must have just lost control of his players suddenly for some reason. So, if Terry Francona can’t get through to the players, bring in his exact opposite. Enter Bobby V.

Bobby starts the season with high expectations. The team is healthy, and ready to make it back to the playoffs. Then, he loses two thirds of his starting outfield a week into the season. Then he loses his back-up outfielders. Then, the Sox trade the wrong third baseman, because he doesn’t get along with Bobby. Their second baseman gets hurt, and screws the team by trying to return too early. Then, the Sox trade away all their talented players because they weren’t Bobby guys.

Then they fire Bobby?

So, now the team is left without the talented players and the talented manager? They can’t both have been the problem? Either it was the players who weren’t performing and needed to be replaced. Or, it was the manager who needed to go. You don’t get rid of both.

So, what’s the story?

Are they deciding that it was the players all along? That they ran the old manager out of town when it wasn’t his fault? Are they going to simply admit that an historic run of injuries derailed a season and a month? I wish they had done that before they dumped all the talent from the team. Because, now what do you do?

Rehire Terry Francona?

What Exactly Did Bobby Do Wrong?

Seriously.

I’m really asking.

Sure, he’s made a decision or two on the field that didn’t work out. Every manager does that. But, if you’re in the camp that insists that he needs to be fired yesterday, what exactly are you basing that on? Were you also in the camp that insisted Beckett needed to be traded because he was the cause of all the unrest? Can you be in both camps?

Maybe a better way to ask the question is, “Which qualities are you looking for in a next manager that Bobby doesn’t have?” I understood that after a “player’s manager” like Francona, people wanted a sterner voice. I didn’t really agree with it, but I understood. So, do we now want to go back to another “player’s manager?” Did we decide that Bobby wasn’t the stern voice we needed and want a different stern voice? How much of that is his fault.

Are we asking for a manger that won’t allow text messages to be sent to the front office? Seems to me that ownership would need to be the ones to stop answering the texts, right? Besides, didn’t we already trade away all the players who were complaining to ownership? Shouldn’t that problem be solved? If it’s not, is that something a new manager could fix?

Are we asking for a manager who the pitching coach will talk to? Again, that seems to be more of an ownership issue. They need to hire coaches that will talk with whichever manager is in the chair. If they don’t do that, it doesn’t matter if it’s Bobby Valentine or Dick Williams at the controls. It’s up to the coaches not to lie to him.

Are we looking for a manger that conforms to what the organization wants? It sounds like Bobby has been doing that. He apologized when he joked with players. He didn’t hold infield practice. Or, are we looking for a manager that doesn’t listen to the rest of the organization?

Are we looking for a manager who can win games with players who couldn’t play in AA? That seems to be all that Valentine has to work with these days. Can a new manager win with Pedro Ciriaco as the full-time DH? Which new manager would that be?

Which may be the biggest problem with getting rid of Valentine. Who, in their right mind, would come to the Red Sox? They’ve traded away all their talent. They have no chance of winning next year, but fans will still expect you to. Nobody of any quality will want to do that. Sure, you’ll get a new manager who’s willing to take any job offered to him just to finally be a manager. Is that really a better idea than sticking with Valentine another year?

After all, you’ve already crafted a team in his image. They traded away all the talented players that disagreed with him. Do you really trade away the players who don’t like the manager, and then fire the manager? They fired the pitching coach that disagreed with Bobby. The one that they forced him to have in the first place. So, do you fire the pitching coach you want and go with the one the manager wanted…and then fire the manager?

Or, do you keep Valentine around another year? Do you realize that it’s not his fault every outfielder in the organization was hurt all year? Do you realize that by centering all the attention on him…the media annoys the players a little bit less? Do you stop blaming him for not winning 100 games using a team with no talent left?

In July, everyone was begging for the Sox to “blow up” the team with no plan in place. Just get rid of the players who aren’t winning games. That doesn’t exactly look like it’s worked. So, now we need to fire Bobby V for the same reason? Maybe it’s time to stop using the “blow it up” line like it’s an actual solution or plan. Maybe it’s time to look at things objectively. Maybe it’s time to think before leaping.

Maybe it’s time to see if Valentine has really done anything wrong.