Yardbarker: Dustin Pedroia

Red Sox @ Mariners: Can Matsuzaka keep the magic going?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:31:54 -0500

Matsuzaka has walked 57 batter in just 88 innings, will Seattle finally be the team that make him pay? And what does the "R.A." stand for Mr. Dickey ???

Road Woes Continue and Eckersley Calls Out Manny

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:10:39 -0500

The Boston Red Sox have now lost 10 of their last 12 road games, and the road doesn't get much easier as they travel to Safeco Field to take on the lowly Seattle Mariners. Granted, Seattle has the worst record in the AL, but the way the Red Sox have been playing, more specifically on the road, it won't be a surprise if Seattle musters 2 of the 3 games. Dominant at home(36-11) and atrocious on the road(21-32), it sums up the Sox' season thus far. The Los Angeles Angels are 5-1 against the Red Sox this year, easily the only team that has dominated the Red Sox this year. Last night the Angles capped off the sweep with a 5-3 victory. Casey Kotchman's two-run double off Manny Delcarmen put the Angles up for good. In comes Francisco Rodriguez, notching his 40th save of the year(fastest to reach 40 saves), see ya, ball-game. The offense has been on tilt recently. Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe points out that the Red Sox were out-hit 30-19 over the weekend, with 7 of those 19 hits coming from Dustin Pedroia.

Red Sox Monster Round Table: Who is the biggest threat to the Red Sox - the Rays or Yankees?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:50:58 -0500

Who's a bigger threat to the Red Sox - the Rays or the Yankees? What's the Sox biggest weakness? Who will win more games - Matsuzaka or Beckett? Red Sox Monster hosts a round table with a few other Sox bloggers to discuss these topics and more.. get the scoop at The Bottom Line and Red Sox Monster...

J.D. Drew named All-Star Game MVP

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:10:36 -0500

J.D. Drew didn't waste much time before taking advantage of his very first All-Star game appearance. He started off his night by roping a line drive over the wall in right for a 2 run homerun against NL ERA leader Edinson Volquez. Drew ended the night 2-4, adding a single and a walk to his totals. The story doesn't end there my friends. Nobody expected the All-Star contest to go 15 innings and when it did, Terry Francona wasn't sure how much longer he could keep pitcher Scott Kazmir on the mound (he threw 106 pitches on Sunday). If the game had gone another inning, J.D. Drew was the man that would have been called to the mound. Luckily that situation resolved itself when Michael Young drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 15th and Drew didn't have to throw his "sneaky stuff" (yes, that is what J.D. called it.) Without even having to pitch, Drew's line for the night earned him the MVP honors. Not bad for a first time All-Star.

Red Sox [ I mean All-Star Game ] News

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:26:26 -0500

The Boston Red Sox had 7 players on the All-Star roster and a few of them made more than a few headlines over the past few days - including last night...

Manny skips 'Media Day;' David Ortiz takes BP

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:50:35 -0500

Yesterday at Yankee Stadium was the annual 'All-Star Media Day.' Once again Manny Ramirez didn't feel like showing up to answer questions. This was nothing new as he hasn't popped in for 'Media Day' since 2004 and probably will never come again unless he's in a really good mood. Hell, I'm glad he's actually participating in the game this year, who cares about stupid old 'Media Day?!'

Dustin Pedroia: Hitting Machine

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:32:41 -0500

Chicks may dig the long ball, but I love me some Dustin Pedroia.

Victorious Rangers Gear Up For All-Star Festivities

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:13:29 -0500

A frightfully close 12-11 victory over the Chicago White Sox precedes the departure of four Texas Rangers - all bound for Major League Baseball's 2008 All-Star festivities.

All-Star Lineups

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:34:20 -0500

AL Lineup:

1. rf Ichiro Suzuki

2. ss Derek Jeter

3. cf Josh Hamilton

4. 3b Alex Rodriguez

5. lf Manny Ramirez

6. dh Milton Bradley

7. 1b Kevin Youkilis

8. c Joe Mauer

9. 2b Dustin Pedroia

P Cliff Lee

NL

1. ss Hanley Ramirez

2. 2b Chase Utley

3. 1b Lance Berkman

4. dh Albert Pujols

5. 3b Chipper Jones

6. rf Matt Holliday

7. lf Ryan Braun

8. cf Kosuke Fukudome

9. C Geovany Soto

P Ben Sheets

Red Sox News and Views: Midseason Report Card, Lowrie/Lugo, declined Tex for Youk/Hansen trade, Papi to Portland

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:20:56 -0500

It's been a long, long time since the Red Sox began their season in Japan and finally, the Nation finds itself at the midway point of the season with the All-Star break finally here. A few recent points of interest before we get into the Report Card portion of things: -I heard that Peter Gammons reported Sunday that the Sox turned down an offer from the Atlanta Braves which would send impending free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira to Boston for first baseman Kevin Youkilis and reliever Craig Hansen. The deal was turned down, but notable for a few reasons. Sox GM Theo Epstein must be pretty confident that David Ortiz is going to return sooner than later and that they wouldn't need Tex's .271/17/69 RBI. Either that or they think they can get a better deal somewhere else without giving up Youk's All-Star numbers of .314/15/63. Interesting, nonetheless, but I certainly think Theo made the right call here. Youk is still young and can be re-signed for good money, while Tex is going to be a free agent and probably will command about $15 million per season. -Never has an injury been celebrated so much as Julio Lugo's quad injury Friday which the shortstop suffered running out an infield single. In his second season of his four-year deal with the Sox, Lugo is still cementing his status as worst free agent signing during the Epstein era. Mr. Error is hitting .261 with 1 homer and 22 RBI, matched up with 16 errors (tied for MLB lead) and a ML-worst .945 fielding percentage among shortstops. Lugo will be out for 4-6 weeks and the Jed Lowrie era can now begin. This will be Lowrie's third visit to Boston and hopefully, he can pick up where he left off. He started his career with an eight-game hit streak and went 3-4 in his final game. In total, Lowrie hit .310 with 1 homer and seven RBI. By comparison, Lugo hit one homer with 22 RBI in 261 at-bats. -David Ortiz will begin a six-game rehabilitation stint in the minor leagues Thursday, starting with three games in Triple-A Pawtucket, followed by three games in Double-A Portland. His first series back if everything works well? Against the New York Yankees in Fenway Park on Friday, July 25th. -The fact that the Sox are now in first place and lead the Rays by .5 game is pretty incredible when you take the following into account: they've played 97 games already, had three 10-game road trips and had just nine days off since April 1st. With more than half of their remaining 65 games left at home, things continue to look up for the prospect of taking home their second straight AL East title. First Half Grading Hitting: B It's amazing that the group has still remained offensively powerful without one of their biggest guns - Ortiz - for much of the past six weeks. Thankfully, J.D. Drew (.302/17/55/.412 OBP) flourished in his time at the 3rd spot in the batting order, Dustin Pedroia (.314/9/47 RBI) has been on an unreal tear lately and Youkilis is enjoying his first All-Star season. Mike Lowell (.297/13/57) continues to be overlooked offensively at his position while Jacoby Ellsbury has struggled at times in his first full season. And of course, Manny is Manny, returning to form with a .293/18/60 so far this year and a penchant for going into really long power droughts. The biggest disappointments have to be Lugo for all of the reasons mentioned earlier and catcher Jason Varitek, whose .218/7/28 numbers could be a sad indication of where his career could finally be at. Unfortunately, Coco Crisp has also taken a turn for the offensive worse, meaning that when all three of these guys make up the 7-9 spots in your batting order, it's as near automatic outs as you'll get. This team overall needs Ortiz back as soon as possible to help the club avoid the streaks where they score a total of five runs in three games. Bench: C Sean Casey and Brandon Moss have been effective when getting the call, while Crisp has just his defense going for him right now. Alex Cora has been pretty insignificant thus far and the club will probably have to add a bit of depth before the trading deadline to give the infielders a break. Maybe a guy like Texas' Ramon Vasquez might have some value? Starting Pitching: A When you have Curt Schilling announced as out for the season and it's not really a big deal, that is saying something. Jon Lester's awesome first half (7-3, 3.38, no-hitter) and Justin Masterson's emergence (4-3, 3.67) have made up for Josh Beckett's regression back to old form (9-5, 3.94). I still would put the ball in Beckett's hands when it matters, but there has definitely been a drop-off in Beckett's dominance from 2007. Tim Wakefield is still plugging away (6-6, 3.60) as usual. Despite being out for extended time with a hip injury, Daisuke Matsuzaka is as quiet a 10-1 Cy Young candidate as you'll ever get. With a 2.65 era, Dice-K has given up just one run in his last 23 1/3 innings and only twice in 16 starts, he's allowed more than three runs. Awful quiet out there right now regarding the Dice Man, but we'll see what happens come award-time. Bullpen: D Even with closer Jonathan Papelbon's 28 saves, this bullpen is quite awful because of its inconsistency. David Aardsma throws hard but lacks control. Hideki Okajima is searching for the element of surprise that made him so good last season. Mike Timlin is wondering whether this will be it for him. Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen (aka the Brothers of Lead Destruction) need to step up for considerable lengths of time to be considered reliable. Even Papelbon can't seem to pitch a clean inning anymore, allowing earned runs in three of his five July appearances. With Ortiz returning in the next few weeks, perhaps Masterson's return to the bullpen will help but Epstein needs to add another arm to this pen from the outside to really nail things down. In a year or so, maybe Aardsma/Delcarmen/Okajima will be enough to get to Papelbon, but with a potential third title in five years looming in the distance, it's time to really go for it one more time. First-Half Hitting MVP: JD Drew First-Half Pitching MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka

The Best Second Baseman in Baseball

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:58:46 -0500

With all of these excellent two baggers out there, the one guy that seems to be lost in the shuffle is the best second baseman in the game and right now, is in the argument for the best player over the first half of the season. Ian Kinsler is ridiculous and is having a better first half than the studly Chase Utley.

All-Star '08: The Final Recall

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:15:26 -0500

Every year, MLB.com makes a big production "The Final Vote", letting the fans pick the 32nd man on the All-Star team in each league. But arguing about who got snubbed is really only half the fun of All-Star debates. With that in mind, I thought BBTF commenter "DKDC" had a great idea when he suggested that we vote one player off each team, too. You can now do just that in All Star '08: The Final Recall.

Below I've listed the six eligible players in each league, along with a brief summary of their candidacies. Unlike The Final Vote, you may only vote once in The Final Recall. Unless you can get past the cookies, in which case you can vote as many time as you please.

Joe Crede, CHW: On-base percentage of only .333. Zero triples. Has grounded into nine double plays. 0/3 in stolen base attempts.
Dustin Pedroia, BOS: OBP down 25 points from last year; also not as gritty. Zero intentional walks. Has grounded into eight double plays.
Joe Saunders, LAA: Not actually good; mostly a product of good defense and luck. 63 Ks in 120.3 IP. Zero shutouts.
George Sherrill, BAL: Was the third best player traded for Erik Bedard. 22 walks in 38.2 innings. ~~Five~~ Six blown saves.
Ichiro Suzuki, SEA: .068 ISO. Plays for the Mariners. May be drunk during game.
Jason Varitek, BOS: See here. Has grounded into 10 double plays. Having caught four no-hitters does not make you an All-Star.

Aaron Cook, COL: Has allowed 141 hits and struck out only 64 in 132.2 innings. Plays in a division which is the rough equivalent of AA.
Kosuke Fukudome, CHC: 65 strikeouts, only seven home runs. Has not actually caused his teammates to walk more, despite what you may read.
Cristian Guzman, WAS: 15:7 GIDP:BB ratio, which is not good. 3/6 in SB attempts. Team is rapidly approaching having a 0% chance of reaching postseason.
Alfonso Soriano, CHC: Has played in 51 games. OBP of only .332. Has 191 fewer PAs than Jose Reyes.
Miguel Tejada, HOU: Hitting .207/.262/.333 in last 45 games. Grounded into 11 double plays. Unsure of his actual age. Hitting .243/.294/.378 on the road.
Brian Wilson, SF: 16 walks in 35 innings. 97 ERA+. 131st among NL pitchers in VORP.

Voting will be open until Monday at 4pm EST.

The Yankee Stadium All Star Game: 1977 vs. 2008

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:52:31 -0500

In case you haven't been paying attention to the rampant stretches of white columns that have been terrorizing New York landmarks in the commercials airing on Fox, next week happens to be the MLB All Star Game which is being played for the final time at the current version of Yankee Stadium.

The last time the All Star Game was hosted by the Yankees was 31 years ago in 1977, years before it "counted". Lots has changed for the mid-summer classic since those days. In 2008 we have the whole "winner takes home field" scenario, the phenomenon that is Internet voting, the phenomenon that is Japanese people taking full advantage of Internet voting and two days before the game we get to see a softball exhibition that features baseball legends, celebrities and occasionally Kevin James. We have an underwear company as the title sponsor, a four-hour Homerun Derby and of course we have the Best Damn Red Carpet Special which features the coveted record for longest red carpet in the history of man.

With all that, you have to assume Bud Selig is beaming with pride at what he's created.

But does all the fluff make for a more enjoyable game? You can dress it up as much as you'd like, but ultimately the quality of the game itself is going to depend on the quality of the players playing. With that in mind, how would the 2008 All Star Lineup stack up against its 1977 counterpart?

With roughly 73 players on each roster, for brevity's sake our comparison was kept to starting lineups only. And trust us, that was not a decision made lightly since a couple of fellas by the name of Goose Gossage and Dennis Eckersley were on the bench in '77. We don't bypass easy mustache jokes often.

First Base
Steve Garvey, Rod Carew vs. Lance Berkman, Kevin Youkilis
In 1977 Rod Carew finished the season batting .388, hit a career high 14 homeruns, won the MVP and presumably did it all while occasionally sporting an Olivia Newton John headband. Opposite him was Steve Garvey, he of the multiple paternity suits and celebrity bill-fishing tournaments that featured the sheriff from Murder She Wrote.

The 2008 lineup brings us a man who calls himself The Big Puma hitting .344 with 22 bombs as we approach the break (Lance Berkman) and Kevin Youkilis, the Greek God of Goatees That Look Like They Could Used As Belt Sanders. Berkman's comparables on baseball-reference.com at this point in his career include Albert Pujols and Hack Wilson. Youkilis' comparables include someone named Wayne Nordhagen.

Verdict: 2008 ? Because if Steve Garvey were to host a celebrity Puma hunting tournament, he'd get mauled.

Second Base
Joe Morgan, Willie Randolph vs. Chase Utley, Dustin Pedroia
Both the old-timers have their own set of issues in 2008, as Randolph just got canned from his job with the Mets two years removed from an NLCS appearance and Morgan has become best known for being a stubborn, stats-hating announcer who really doesn't watch much baseball despite it being his job to. As players, neither had any problems with Morgan winning two MVP's in leading the Big Red Machine and Randolph, while not quite the equivalent of his counterpart, appearing in five All Star Games, four of those coming as a Yankee.

If any modern day player could warrant comparisons to Joe Morgan, it might be Chase Utley. Both have a unique combo of power, average and quality defense from a premium position. If only Chase could start spouting off idiotic commentary and motivate someone to start a site called firechaseutley.com we might not be able to tell them apart (besides Utley's precious locks). Pedroia is only in his second season so there's no real way to predict if he'll surpass Randolph in his career, so we'll call that matchup a push.

Verdict: 2008 ? Maybe we just can't get past Joe Morgan: Professional Announcer.

Third Base
Ron Cey, George Brett vs. Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez
Let's do this one by nicknames:

Ron Cey = The Penguin
George Brett = Mullet
Larry Jones = Chipper
Alex Rodriguez = A-Rod

So you've got The Penguin and Mullet (seriously, apparently George Brett was known as "Mullet" early in his career; the guy was so far ahead of his time) versus Chipper and A-Rod. The MLB Nickname Selection Committee was clearly much more creative in the 70's.

Verdict: 1977 ? Because Chipper sounds like the type of named that should have been retired after being mocked in 5th grade gym class.

Shortstop
Dave Concepcion, Rick Burleson vs. Hanley Ramirez, Derek Jeter
In 1977, Rick Burleson was a starter on the All Star team after posting a .298 average, 2 homeruns and 28 RBI, and that was the good half. He inexplicably made a repeat appearance in the All Star Game the next year in a season which he wound up hitting .245/.295/.339 with 5 homeruns and 49 RBI. In '77 and '78 he finished 22nd and 36th in MVP voting respectively, proving once and for all that it's really sort of pointless to count all the way to 36th place in MVP voting. But damned if this guy wasn't camera friendly.

Of course, rugged handsomeness aside, all this means that Dave Concepcion is pretty much on his own in taking on rising star Hanley Ramirez and New York legend Derek Jeter. Those two have both the hype and the performance covered. Sorry, Dave, you lose.

Verdict: 2008 ? But we think that Burleson could give Jeter a run for his money in groupies if he were in his prime today.

Catcher
Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk vs. Geovany Soto, Joe Mauer
Soto is quickly establishing himself as close to a lock for the NL Rookie of the Year and Mauer has a batting title and vintage "Brandon Walsh from 90210" sideburns to his credit, but c'mon they're up against Carlton Fish and Johnny freaking Bench, two of the greatest catchers to play the game. Maybe in ten years this will be closer, youngsters.

Verdict: 1977 - And just so you know, Mauer, you aren't the first catcher to strap on some sideburns.

NL Outfield
George Foster, Dave Parker, Greg Luzinski, vs. Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, Ryan Braun
Screw baseball, the combination of George Foster, Dave Parker and Greg Luzinski could beat the ever-living shit out of the entire 2008 roster without so much as putting a scratch on Foster's tinted pimp shades. And they might be motivated to do so when they saw that Japanese voters somehow got Kosuke Fukudome voted in as a starter.

Verdict 1977 ? Greg Luzinski scares me.

AL Outfield
Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Richie Zisk vs. Manny Ramirez, Ichiro Suzuki, Josh Hamilton
Let's assume that the two legends of the Red Sox franchise ? Manny and Yaz ? pretty much cancel each other out. One is a Hall of Famer, the other is going to be, both are beloved in Boston, one was the last player to win a Triple Crown, the other looks like he hasn't washed his hair in ten years, blah, blah.

That leaves us with Reggie Jackson and someone named Richie Zisk for the old timers, and Ichiro and Josh Hamilton for the newbies. In Hamilton, the game has its feel-good story - a former phenom turned crackhead turned phenom again who leads the Majors in RBI at the break. In Jackson, you have a phenom turned combatant with Billy Martin turned potential assassin of the Queen of England. Both have overcome their share of problems en route to their success.

I would go over why Ichiro Suzuki is superior to Richie Zisk, but frankly I have no idea who Richie Zisk is.

Verdict: 1977 ? Crack is one thing, being robotically programmed to kill the Queen of England is another.

As for the pitchers, it's not official who will be named starters for the 2008 game, but it is probably a safe bet that both leagues won't be sending future Hall of Famers to the mound. That was the case in 1977 when Jim Palmer started for the AL and Don Sutton started for the NL. Yeah, that's right, a man who wasn't afraid to be photographed wearing nothing but a glove and a g-string went up against one of the best white jheri curls the league has ever seen. Advantage 1977.

Overall
Even in spite of Bud Selig's laundry list of intended improvements to the All Star Game, according to our very pragmatic viewpoint, it still appears as if the 2008 game will have slightly less star power than last one to hit Yankee Stadium. It's tough to duplicate a game that featured nine eventual Hall of Famers in the starting lineups alone. With eight more on the benches, the grand total of players who ultimately got plaques in Cooperstown on hand at the 1977 All Star Game was 17.

Not even the world's longest red carpet can make up for that gap in talent.

MLB Stock Market - July 9th Edition

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:47:11 -0500

Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon runs down several baseball Bulls and several baseball Bears in the latest edition of Stock Market. Dustin Pedroia? Oh yea, he's definitely a bull. Ryan Church? Ehhhh ... not so much.

Josh Beckett enjoys irony - VIEDO

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:46:06 -0500

Josh Beckett has been handed some tough losses this season, but he earned the win yesterday, despite giving up 5 runs in 5 innings, thanks to an 18-5 shellacking of the Twins by the Red Sox offense...