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.

From the Pedro Binder

2000 Pacific Crown Collection

Boy, there’s a lot to like about this card.

There are two things I like about the Pacific logo. I know, weird place to start. But, see where it is? Tucked into the corner? It almost gets lost in the crowd. Just like a logo is supposed to. I also like that they put the year in the logo. Let’s be honest, in the 80’s or 90’ you could probably name the year and brand of a card on first glance. By the time 2000 came along, there was no chance. Which one of the 36 million sets issued is this from? I’d have no idea if they didn’t tell me. Point for them.

The rest of the important information is also tucked out of the way. Pedro’s name and team are on the bottom, in some dead space in the picture. Perfect. I’d like to see his position listed, but I can’t have everything. They managed to add some design elements to the card as well. Sure, wavy lines, arrows, and shading aren’t exactly innovative. But they add some visual interest, without distracting from the picture.

And, what about the picture? It’s great. It’s a different shot for Pedro, which is always a treat. Sure, he’s throwing a ball. But, he’s throwing the ball to first. That mixes it up just enough to get me to notice. They even got the ball in flight, which is great. The fact that the designs don’t obstruct Pedro make this a borderline perfect picture.

What a great effort.

The Sox are Turning Every Opposing Pitcher into Dice-K

Yeah, you remember Dice-K, right? Wouldn’t stop nibbling? Couldn’t throw strikes? Walked the park every inning. Somehow managed to go 18-3 one year with a 2.90 ERA but a 1.32 WHIP?

People called it maddening. Frustrating. Terrible.

I always wondered if it was genius.

After all, it wasn’t anything new. He threw a TON of pitches while he was a legend in Japan. Heck, it took him like 200 pitches to beat high schoolers.

What if it was all part of a master plan? What if he sat down before a game, looked over the opposing line-up, and circled the ones he knew he couldn’t get out, and crossed off the ones he knew he could easily get out. If he found 5 guys in the line-up he knew he could strike out, he was all set. The rest of the guys could get on base, but they wouldn’t score if the other guys made outs. He had amazing numbers with the bases loaded. Took him forever one year before he gave up his first hit in that situation. Think back to the number of times you remember him walking the bases loaded, but striking out the side without a run scoring.

Maddening, or genius?

Sound a little bit like the 2014 Red Sox? They’re near the top of the league in OBP, but near the bottom of the league in runs scored. Why? Because the opposing teams are like Daisuke.

Injuries have caused quite a few players to have more important roles than the Sox ever expected. It was supposed to be Bradley or Sizemore…not both. And neither one of them was ever supposed to be protection for Ortiz. Ever. But, that’s what has had to happen. Other teams have apparently figured out how to take advantage of it.

They’re following Daisuke’s plan. Sure, the top four batters have a pretty good chance to get one base, but they can probably make their way around the rest. So, if Xander gets a double, and Pedroia grounds out to advance him to third, just walk Ortiz. Then, you are pretty much assured of striking out Sizemore. Then, you just need to get the next guy. They gave up two baserunners, but no runs. Just like Dice-K did.

Which is why it’s so easy to have hope for this season. When everyone is back healthy, those automatic outs won’t be there. Even if they don’t return to peak form. Victorino doesn’t need to be an all-star. He needs to hit .270. He needs to make contact in order to drive in that guy from third. The team was supposed to have one automatic out in it. If everyone else is at least average, it makes everything different. Balls start finding holes. Herrera doesn’t strike out in key points. While every hitter isn’t exactly dangerous, he’s at least competent. Suddenly, keeping Bradley in just for his defense isn’t such a problem anymore. A pitcher can’t pitch around eight guys to get to one.

He can pitch around four to get to five.

Buyers or Sellers?

That seems to be a hot topic lately. Should the Red Sox be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? That question really makes me ask two questions of my own.

Why do we need to decide now? Why on earth would we have to decide how the Sox should act on a date two months from now? A lot can happen in two month. Heck, the season is only two months old. I mean, I know why they’re asking. It makes for better controversy. People can make definitive statements, and those always play well. “The season’s over! They should sell!” “No, they’ll come back. They should buy!” Each statement begs for calls to the radio station or comments on the website. And they didn’t even need to report anything worthwhile or do any research. It’s genius. But, of course, there’s no reason to even start thinking about it now. It’s just stuff to fill space.

(Yeah, I see the irony)

The other question, that actually has merit, is why can’t they be both? Why does it have to be one or the other? (Yup. I know. The answer can be found a couple paragraphs ago.) But, the Sox seem to be perfectly set up to be both buyers and sellers at this deadline. They have some older spare parts that might make good chips for future talent. They also have some youngsters that could land the big fish they want. How would that work? Well, a large scale example would be something like a trade for Giancarlo Stanton. They could put a package of prospects together, and be buyers on him. Then, that would produce some extra parts. Then, maybe they could sell on Jonny Gomes and move his intangibles to another contender.

Or something smaller? Maybe they buy on a veteran outfielder, but sell on a veteran catcher? Sell on Peavy, and assume that a youngster can replace him, but buy on depth.

I can’t sit here and say the Sox don’t have needs. Even when everyone is back and healthy, there’s a spot or two that could use some help. There’s also a spot or two where there’s an excess. Can’t the Sox use one area to help the other?

Can’t they sell in order to buy?