Author Archives: djstevem

Trade Deadline Looms For Red Sox

Theo Epstein, general manager of the Boston Red Sox, answers questions about Carl Crawford during a press conference on December 11, 2010 at the Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

With the MLB July 31 non-waiver trade deadline fast approaching you have to wonder what Red Sox Vice President and General Manager Theo Epstein and his staff are working on.

Early in the season everyone felt the pitching and hitting were good it was the catching that was going to kill this team. Catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek got off to horrible starts both at the dish and defensively slowly over time the duo began to break out of it. Manager Terry Francona has found a good balance for the two backstops and they both simultaneously turned around their slow starts.

Mind you they are not hitting .300 with great power numbers but with the lineup Francona puts on the diamond each and everyday you can afford to have the backstops hitting in the .250 range.  Now that they appear settled behind the plate, Colorado seems willing to trade Connecticut-native Chris Iannetta.  While down in Pawtucket Ryan Lavarnway has exploded since his promotion to Triple A and looks to be making the leap that may find him paired with Saltalamacchia in the not so distant future.

So with catching not a priority as we thought it might be where does Epstein look to improve the club?  Let’s start with right field.  Current starter J.D. Drew is having an abysmal season.  The former two-time first round draft pick is hitting just .228 with 4 HR and 18 RBI in 74 games.  His numbers have consistently started to drop off since he signed with Boston prior to the 2007 World Championship season.  In fact at times he looks totally disinterested in playing, much more than he does on a regular day. Since he came to Boston he has never hit higher than .280 topped out at 24 HR’s in one season and has never driven in more than 68 runs.  But here’s where the sabermetricians goo all over themselves, he’s had a season OBP of .408 and another of .392 while his slugging percentage those years were .519 and .522 in 2008 and 2009.  This year his OBP is .326 and his slugging percentage is a lowly .317.

So who is available in right field? 

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Well they could go with prospect Josh Reddick who has played very well since his Triple A recall and use journeyman outfielder Darnell McDonald as the right-handed option.  But it makes more since to go get a bat.  Some of the outfielders rumored to be potential trade candidates include Los Angeles Dodgers Andre Ethier, New York Mets Carlos Beltran, San Diego’s Ryan Ludwick and the Chicago Cubs Jeff Baker.

From what I’ve heard Chicago doesn’t want to deal Baker, while Ethier and Beltran are going to cost you some and both are impending free agents at the end of the season.  That leaves Ludwick, who happens to play for the Red Sox West.  He would also be a short-term solution as he is on a one-year contract for $6.78M that in Boston is pocket change.  He wouldn’t cost you a boatload of prospects to get either as you could probably pry him away from the Friars for McDonald and a decent minor leaguer and/or some cash.  Epstein and his counterpart Jed Hoyer could do this over a day of surfing and Jamba Juice at Coronado.

Ludwick would be a good fit, good clubhouse guy, former Tony LaRussa player which means his head is on straight and a right handed bat who is hitting .238 with 11 HR 56 RBI .306 OBP and .376 SLG in a pure pitchers park, PETCO Field.  You could expect those numbers to increase some playing in hitter friendly Fenway Park.  In fact in 2008 with St. Louis the 33-year old had career highs of .299 with 37 HRs and 113 RBI a .375 OBP and SLG of .591.

So with the outfield hole potentially fixed you always need to look at pitching.  In going through some stuff for this article I didn’t really find anything in the way of bullpen help that mentioned the Red Sox in the last week to ten days.  I’d imagine Epstein would look at shoring up the pen a bit, as Bobby Jenks is back on the DL, Dan Wheeler has been awful and Alfredo Aceves may melt on the mound one day down the stretch.  And by melt I mean like ice you ever seen that dude sweat?  While the lefty reliever spot has been unsettled all year as we’ve seen Dennys Reyes, Hideki Okajima, Randy Williams and Franklin Morales fill that role at some point this year.  But as we all know lefty pitchers, especially situational relievers, are in short supply if you want a good one.  There are always several situational guys available at the deadline, expect the Sox to take a long hard look at a few of them.

I’ve seen some rumblings of the Sox, amongst a lot of teams, looking at Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez, who we all recall had an electric 2010 but has fallen off the map in 2011.  Jimenez is signed though 2012 with club options through 2014.  He isn’t that expensive contract wise but his deal says if he is traded the options for 2013 and 2014 become player options.  Plus Colorado is rumored to want the World and more for him.  According to reports they told the New York Yankees they wanted their top four prospects for him.  No one will give the Rockies that much for a pitcher you need to straighten out during the intensity of the pennant chase.

Also reportedly Epstein has kicked the tires on the Dodgers Hiroki Kuroda.  Kuroda is older, 36, a starter who has a full no-trade clause and has been known to say he will not waive it for an East Coast club.  He is a steady even performer and his numbers are always similar year in, year out.  He is currently on a one year $11.77 M deal with Los Angeles who let’s face it is looking to dump some payroll.

Whatever happens in the next two weeks will be done in the interest of making the team better and getting to playoffs with a chance to win it all.  I trust Epstein will make a move or two, how big they are will depend on the circumstances.  Keep this in mind though; the Red Sox will have a numbers crunch with the 40-man roster come this winter.  They will have too many players that, due to service time, are required to be placed on the 40-man roster.  With that said they do have some major room to make a big deal and add an impact player either prior to this season’s deadline or during the off season.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Lackey’s Mound Antics Need To Stop

Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, second from right, and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, right, look on as manager Terry Francona, left, takes pitcher John Lackey, center, off the mound during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in St. Petersburg, Fl

A lot was made of the antics of Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey on the mound during Saturday’s win over the Tampa Bay Rays.  I want to say this, Lackey is one competitive player as are most major leaguers, and he hates to lose.  I get that; I hate to lose too.  If you don’t hate to lose, in my opinion there is something wrong with you.

Josh Beckett hates to lose, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek do too.  Most of those guys have had on field meltdowns at times over different things.  We’ve seen Beckett pissed at umpires, Pedroia just bent out of shape and Youk throw helmets and bats around the dugout that left players scurrying for their lives. I get the competitive fire, I really do.  In fact I wish J.D. Drew had a little Beckett, Lackey or Pedroia in him but he doesn’t.

But what Lackey does, start in, start out isn’t good for him, his teammates and their relationship.  He constantly shows up his fielders by throwing up his arms and glaring at them when a play goes poorly.  He has done it to pretty much everyone on the roster in his season and half in Boston.  In fact I agree with Buster Olney (ESPN Insider link) on this, in some clubhouses his antics would get him punched out.

I don’t know what Lackey’s relationship with the position players is.  I have heard the guys on the team love him.  But when you show up your manager during a nationally televised by game questioning him openly before he gets to the mound there’s an issue.  He even turned around and added more to it as left the game.

One thing about Terry Francona and Theo Epstein is that if there is an issue it’s handled privately and we will never know. If I were a teammate of Lackey I’d tell him once cut the crap John or we will have issues.  He is demonstrative and there’s a time and place for it but he’s got to cut down on the stomping feet and flailing arms.

As William Tasker at the Flagrant Fan blog said to me in a tweet, “he always looks like someone stole his candy.”  Tasker is right, it’s just a childish reaction to a bad situation.  He needs to learn to calm down he has a lot of time left in Boston and it’s all under the microscope. And the more it happens, fans and the media will call more attention to it and he could end up alienating his teammates.

Photo credit: AP Photo

2011 Patriots Tickets On Sale Friday July 15

The New England Patriots will put individual game tickets for the potential 2011 NFL season on sale on Friday.  You can shell out your hard-earned money while hoping the games are played on time or if at all.

New England PatriotsTo do so just go to Ticketmaster’s website or call 800-745-3000.

The Patriots have home opponents this season are:

  • San Diego Week 2 Sept 18 (Sun) 4:15 p.m.
  • NY Jets Week 5 Oct 9  (Sun) 4:15 p.m.
  • Dallas Week 6 Oct 16 (Sun) 4:15 p.m.
  • NY Giants Week 9 Nov 6 (Sun0 4:15 p.m.
  • Kansas City Week 11 Nov 21 (MNF) 8:30 p.m.
  • Indianapolis week 13 Dec 4 (SNF) 8:20 p.m.
  • Miami Week 16 Dec 24 (Sat) 1 p.m.
  • Buffalo Week 17 Jan 1 (Sun) 1 p.m.

Former Whaler Mark Howe To Enter Hall of Fame

Earlier this week the Hockey Hall of Fame came calling for four new members of the Class of the 2011.  They were Doug Gilmour, Ed Belfour, Joe Nieuwendyk and Mark Howe.

Mark HoweFor Howe this is very special, as his father Gordie Howe is also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.  This isn’t the first time the younger Howe has followed in his famous father’s footsteps.

First in 1973 as an 18-year old Mark along with his father and older brother, Marty signed a contract to play together in the WHA with the Houston Aeros.  The deal brought the elder Howe out of retirement with the lure of playing with his sons.

Then in the summer of 1977, the Howe family signed as free agents with the New England Whalers.  Howe played with the Whalers through the end of the WHA, which included the historic collapse of the Hartford Civic Center roof in January 1978, and came with the team as they moved to the NHL for the 1979-80 season.  Howe would stay in Hartford until he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on August 19, 1982 for Greg Adams, Ken Linseman, and 1st (David Jensen) and 3rd (Leif Karlsson) round picks in the 1983 NHL Draft.

While with the Whalers Howe scored 123 goals in 5 seasons adding 273 assists for 396 points in his time in Hartford.  He also played in 23 playoff games scoring 13 goals and assisting on 11 others for 24 points.  As a Whaler Howe averaged over a point per game.

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While in Hartford though Howe’s career nearly ended when on December 27, 1980 in a game against the New York Islanders in Hartford he slid into the net and hit the pointed metal center and suffered a five inch gash on his thigh.  He was impaled by the metal and many thought he may never play again.  He narrowly missed the base of his spine and he also could have bled to death.  The injury prompted the NHL to change the design of their nets so that the injury could never occur again.

After 10 seasons in Philadelphia where he really came into his own and cemented his hockey legacy, Howe followed his dad once again, this time joining Gordie’s original team the Detroit Red Wings for the final three years of his Hall of Fame career.

Much like his famous father, Mark showed the Howe family trait of longevity by playing for four teams in a 22-year career.

His final career numbers between the WHA and NHL are 1355 games played, 405 goals and 841 assists for 1246 career points.  He also played in 176 playoff games, scoring 51 goals and 102 assists for 153 points.

Among his awards in his career, Howe was the WHA Rookie of the Year in 1974, winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award in 1986 and the Bobby Clarke Trophy in the same year.  He also played in four NHL All-Star games (one as a Whaler and three as a Flyer).

He won two WHA Championships while in Houston, a silver medal playing for the United States in the 1972 Olympic games in Soporo Japan and four Stanley Cups as a front office member of the Detroit Red Wings, where he is currently the director of pro scouting.

The Howe’s are the 3rd father and son player duo in the Hall joining Bobby and Brett Hull and Lester and Lynn Patrick.

This, like the induction of Ron Francis, is a great time in Whalers history.  Howe is one of ours to be revered and it’s wonderful that he achieved this great honor.

Photo credit: WhalerNation.tv

Nationals Better Candidate To Switch Leagues

If Major League Baseball were to realign into the proposed two leagues of 15 teams each which National League team would move to the American League?

To quote William Tasker, writer of the Flagrant Fan blog, “the idea that the (Houston) Astros are the only logical team to jump to the AL is ridiculous. This whole thing is starting to annoy me.”

And he is right.  Why is Houston being seemingly railroaded into the American League? People say it’s because they’d have a rivalry with the Texas Rangers.  Well based on that logic there’s plenty of teams that would have rivalries based on geography if they changed leagues.

Some that come to mind are: Florida and Tampa Bay; San Francisco and Oakland; Kansas City and St. Louis; Washington and Baltimore; Pittsburgh and Cleveland; Cincinnati and Cleveland; not to mention the cities of Los Angeles, Chicago and New York who share two teams each.

Houston is also currently on the market as owner Drayton McClain tries to sell off the team.  Would it be fair to a future owner to have the outgoing owner decide the long-term fate of the franchise he no longer wants to control?

So it got me to thinking after Tasker said “wouldn’t if be fairer to have one of the newer teams switch like Arizona?”  Yes it would.

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Moving Florida to the AL would make some sense as they would have Tampa Bay as a rival, while Arizona or Colorado moving would go a long way in cutting down some of the heavy travel distances that western clubs like Seattle and Oakland endure each season.

Washington NationalsBut to me Washington makes the most sense.  It would have a built in rivalry with Baltimore plus D.C. has always been a traditionally American League city as the two incarnations of the Washington Senators (1901-60; 1961-71) were American League teams before becoming the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers.

Tradition, after all, was the reason Bud Selig was more than willing to move his Milwaukee Brewers to the National League in 1998 when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays came into being.  Selig felt Milwaukee was traditionally a National League city because of the 13 seasons the Braves spent there after moving from Boston and before going onto Atlanta.  Well if 13 years is a tradition then 70 years as an American League city must count for something.

Another reason for moving Washington is they are a fairly new club, having come to fruition when the Montreal Expos moved to the Capital for the 2005 season, while Houston has been in the National League since 1962 when they started as the Colt .45’s.

In the end I don’t think it makes much of a difference who moves but to some of us fans it makes more sense to have a newer club switch leagues.

MLB Contemplates Realignment

In the last few days the fires of realignment in Major League Baseball have been stoked and the flames have been fanned and it seems that the players would really like this to happen.

MLBWhile we are hearing that the players and the Major League Baseball Players Association are on board with the potential realignment it appears some of the owners maybe lukewarm to the proposition.

The players and the union like it because the proposal of two 15-team leagues with no divisions would produce a more balanced schedule making it easier for some teams to qualify for the post season.  By easier I mean that teams like Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay along with Florida and the New York Mets would have to play less face to face games with the New York Yankees, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

One of the reasons championing the move to realignment is the imbalance of two divisions.  The American League West has only four teams while the National League Central has six.  The National league currently has 16 total team to the American Leagues 14.

The proposal of two leagues of 15 teams would do a few things.  First a National League team would have to be relocated to the American League.  Rumors are that the Houston Astros would be likely to move.  This is kind of up in the air as Drayton McClain has put the club up for sale.  To me it would be highly unfair for McClain to make the decision to move or not before a buyer is found which at this point could possibly make a Houston move a no go.

The second thing that would happen, and if I had a vote my biggest objection, would be year round interleague play.  With this move there would be no way around it as all teams need to play 162 games in roughly a 180-day window. I despise interleague play.

The new plan would also call for a fifth team from each league to make the playoffs in an expanded post season scenario tied to realignment.  So in the new format you would have the top five teams in each league going into the post season.  The four and five seed from each league would play each other in either a play in game or a short series (best of three).  The winner of the play in/short series would play the top seed from the league, while the two and three seeds would face each other in a five game series.  The winners would then go the League Championship Series (best of seven) and the league champions would face each other in the best of seven World Series.

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ESPN reporter Buster Olney says that while the proposal has less than a 50-50 chance at this time of passing it is gaining momentum.

Under the rumored proposal let’s look at who would have been in the playoffs in 2010:

The AL five would have been Tampa Bay, New York, Minnesota, Texas and Boston.

The NL five would have been Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati and San Diego. Cincinnati and Atlanta would have tied for 3rd with the same win percentage. I would imagine head to head would be first tiebreaker.

I don’t know if the proposal is good or bad I just know that I’m not thrilled with the idea due to full season interleague play as I think that helps create the problem of schedule imbalance that the players and owners are chirping about.

With a full season of interleague play you would have to schedule every team for the same amount of interleague games.  So let’s use the Red Sox, say they play each NL team four times, 2 home and 2 away. That’s 60 games against NL teams leaving 102 open dates to face 14 AL opponents on an even basis that doesn’t work (7.29 games vs. each AL team).

So let’s reduce the season to 158 games, Boston could play 60 interleague games (4 games x 15 teams) and 98 league games (7 games x 14 teams).  Or go to a season of 157 games and play 45 interleague games (one series of 3 games against each club) and 112 league games (8 games x 14 teams).

Each schedule creates minor imbalances that can be overcome.  In the first schedule idea the Red Sox would have 4 home games and 3 road against seven American League teams in 2012 while the other seven teams they’d play 3 home games and 4 road games.  The next season Boston would flip schedules.  While against the National League the Red Sox would have two series of two games each; one home and one away.

In the second schedule idea the Red Sox would play their league 8 times (4 home; 4 away) and only have one three game series against the senior circuit, either a road or a home series.  The next season Boston would flip locations with those National League teams.

If a full season of interleague play is forced on us with the realignment I could live with it as long as it’s balanced in some form similar to the above.

The one thing this realignment would do is Boston wouldn’t have as many head to head meetings with Tampa Bay and New York while having more games with teams like Kansas City, Texas, Minnesota and Detroit which I like.  As a fan I miss getting to see the outstanding players on the non-division teams.  It would also give us more familiarity with National League players than seeing them once every three years or so.

How do you feel about realignment?  Sound off and let Sox & Dawgs know.  You can tweet me @djstevem or Ian @soxanddawgs; email me at steve[at]soxanddawgs[dot]com or leave a comment below I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Is Orsillo Off To TBS

Boston Red Sox NESN play by play announcer Don Orsillo could be on the move for the 2012 season.  Like the players they cover, television and radio announcers have contracts as well and when they expire, they become free agents and are free to seek employment elsewhere.

According to Nick Cafardo, the national baseball writer for the Boston Globe, “industry sources indicate that TBS is making a strong run at tying up NESN’s Don Orsillo to a long-term deal.”  Cafardo added in a tweet, “the TBS deal would be fulltime and not just playoffs. Would think NESN tries hard to re-sign him.”

So where is this going? Is Announcer Boy really on the way out of Boston?  According to Ken Fang, of Fang’s Bites, Orsillo may have said something in a conversation with Cafardo and with TBS in Detroit this weekend Cafardo may have had a conversation with someone at the network.

This still doesn’t mean Orsillo is going.

I’ve been able to find that Orsillo signed a three-year extension with NESN in September of 2008 for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 baseball seasons.  That deal as we now know is about to expire. And as Fang added “which is why TBS is making a run (at Orsillo).”

Fang, who writes about the sports media on a regular basis, says that “NESN is known for nickel and diming.  Sean McDonough, Tina Cervasio, Hazel Mae are some examples.  It has stepped up for Jerry Remy and Kathryn Tappen.”

With the offer being full-time at TBS one would think that this would be for the number one baseball play by play slot on their weekly Sunday afternoon game plus the prime match up in the Division Series round of playoffs and the League Championship Series as well.

Orsillo also has play by play experience in basketball which would come in handy for Turner Broadcasting as they have early rounds of the NCAA Men’s March Madness as well as regular NBA games.  This would keep him fairly busy on a year round basis calling more than one baseball game a week.  It would also most likely put Ernie Johnson back in the studio fulltime where I really feel Johnson is strongest.

Taking this deal at TBS would lead to Orsillo leaving the regional sports network because as Fang points out on his twitter account, “NESN wants someone to work all the games.  It would not allow Don to leave on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Apparently NESN would be against a similar working agreement with Orsillo to what Red Sox radio play by play announcer Dave O’Brien has with his employer, WEEI. The Entercom outlet allows O’Brien to leave to do the Wednesday Night Baseball games for ESPN.  When O’Brien is gone for that day or two, WEEI uses Dale Arnold and Jon Rish as his fill-ins.

We surely don’t know where this will go as it’s still fairly early in the process.  But if we get into mid to late September and we have no announcement from NESN regarding an extension for Orsillo, I would fully expect that at that point the possibility of him leaving for TBS or another outlet would be more likely.

Former CT Sun Margo Dydek Passes

RIP Margo Dydek

Former Connecticut Sun player Margo Dydek passed away early today (May 27) in Brisbane Australia at the age of 37.  She suffered a heart attack on May 19th and was taken to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma, which she never came out of.

Born in Poland on April 28, 1974, Dydek went onto to become the #1 overall draft pick in the 1998 WNBA Draft by Utah Starzz.  She played with Utah until the franchise transferred to San Antonio and became the Silver Stars in 2003.

Before the 2005 WNBA season the 7 foot 2 inch center was traded to Connecticut for 1st round draft pick of the Sun that turned out to be Katie Feenstra.  She played with the Sun from 2005 through 2007 when she signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Sparks for the 2008 season.

Dydek, who also played pro ball in Europe, was currently coaching the Northside Wizards of the Queensland Basketball League in Brisbane Australia.

As the tallest women’s basketball player, she was prolific shot blocker, she holds the WNBA record for career blocks with 877 in just 323 games and led the WNBA in blocks nine times and blocks per game eight times.

Dydek leaves a husband and two young children and was actually pregnant with her third child when she was stricken.  She has many family members still in Poland and her sister, Kashka, who professionally for the now defunct ABL’s Colorado Explosion, still plays overseas.

Follow Steve on Twitter at @djstevem

Photo credit: Depth of Field Photo

Buster Olney Put Your Pink Hat Away

Pink hat wearing Buster Olney

I’m here to call out ESPN writer Buster Olney as a baseball pink hat.  Let me say I have a lot of respect for Olney as a writer and for his unmitigated love of baseball but this stance he has taken on runner/catcher collisions is beyond outrageous.

In case you missed it, on Wednesday night San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey was run into by Florida Marlins base runner Scott Cousins while blocking home plate and suffered a broken ankle in the collision.

Then this morning I see Olney on Twitter railing against these collisions and how we need rules to protect the catcher.  What?

Here are Olney’s Tweets:

@Buster_ESPN: Re Posey: In the big-picture question of risk/reward, the play of blocking home plate, to save one run, is just not worth it.  Not even close.

@Buster_ESPN: MLB and the Players Association should step in and ban the play of the catcher blocking home.  It’s just not worth it, for anyone involved.

He even goes on to state that the reason is money related:

@Buster_ESPN: The reason for change: $. Posey is a cornerstone investment for SF  — and all of that risk for one run? Makes no sense.

@Buster_ESPN: Just filed a news story: Agent for Buster Posey will call MLB and raise idea of rule changes regarding collisions between runners/fielders.

This is what’s wrong with the NFL.  In that sport they’ve put the quarterback’s in a bubble wrap pocket and they protect them.  Baseball needs to learn from the NFL’s mistake and not legislate these types of plays.

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Home plate collisions have been in the game forever.  As a former catcher I know this first hand.  I can not tell you how many times I was run over by guys who towered over me.  As a catcher you didn’t want to get hit but you knew it’s part of the game, it’s allowed.

Tim Kurkjian said on ESPN Thursday morning “this is a hard game played by hard men and there should be no rule changes.”  He also stated that he doesn’t see MLB’s Joe Torre, a former catcher/tough guy, doing anything to bring up any rule changes.

In fact, the hit Cousins laid on Posey last night was described by one writer as “violent but legal”.  Cousins said after the game “Posey was blocking the dish I got to do whatever I can do to score.” It’s sad that Posey, one of the games bright young stars, got hurt but this play is part of the game.

The Ray Fosse-Pete Rose collision in the 1970 All-Star game was violent as well.  Fosse, who was an exceptional backstop, was never the same after suffering a separated shoulder.  The Carlton Fisk-Leron Lee collision at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in 1974 was violent too.  Fisk tore several knee ligaments and after reconstructive knee surgery was told he’d never play again.

Through baseball history there have been many collisions at the plate, another that comes to mind was when Florida catcher Ivan Rodriguez was run over by San Francisco baserunner J.T. Snow in a playoff game in 2003; he got up smiling showing everyone he held onto the ball.

No one cried for those guys or those like Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench, Thurman Munson, Mike Scoscia and all the great catchers who have been run over in years past.  So why the hubbub now?  Is this is part of the pacification of sport in America?

Middle infielders have been run over for ages, taken out by baserunners trying to break up double plays.  Where’s that legislation?  Those same baserunners get the ball thrown at their heads as they barrel down on the second baseman or shortstop.  Where’s that legislation?

I agree with Kurkjian 100% you can’t take this play out of the game. I believe MLB won’t but I do find it unsettling that someone as well versed in baseball and its history as Olney feels the need to beat the drum on this.  As I told Olney in response to his Tweets “please put your pink hat in the closet. Nobody cried for Fosse, Fisk, et al. That noise you hear is Munson spinning in his grave.”

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Red Sox Have Rebounded Nicely

Adrian Gonzalez(notes) #28 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by teammate Carl Crawford(notes) #13 after Gonzalez scored in the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs on May 22, 2011 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

Over a month ago I wrote about the horrific start the Boston Red Sox had to the season and how they couldn’t continue that way for long because they’d find themselves well out of the playoff race.

If you recall 0-6 led to 2-10.  The team showed some life in a California road trip and then after getting to within a game of .500 they once again faltered.

In fact they would get to within a game of .500 five times before finally climbing that hill against Detroit at 20-20.  Don’t look now but they are 27-22 on the year after taking 2 of three in Cleveland and 13 days into a 20 games in 20 days stretch they are 10-2 with one rainout.

So what has led this team from that awful start to going 25-12 in the last 37 games?  Well let’s take a look.

Josh Beckett.  Or as Ian likes to call him “Commander Kickass” has been well, just that.  Since his season opening start in which he gave up 3 earned runs in just five innings in Cleveland and took a loss he has 7 quality starts (6 IP or more giving up 3 ER or less) in his 9 starts since. The only two he failed to have a quality start in were in Baltimore on April 27th 6 IP and 4 ER and at home against the Los Angeles Angels on May 4th he was removed after 4.1 IP with 0 ER due to a rain delay.  So far this season in his 7 quality starts he has allowed a total of 5 ER.  Beckett is 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA and a WHIP of 0.82.

Jon Lester.  Despite his little 3 game slump which ended today against Cleveland and opening day against Texas, Lester has been awesome.  He has 7 quality starts all in a row from his second start until he had a rough outing at Toronto on May 10th.  His best outings this season have been against Cleveland where in 14 IP he has allowed 0 ER wile striking out 16 and against Angels he has pitched 13 innings and allowed 1 ER and has 19 K’s.  Lester leads the majors in wins with 7.  The only issues with him have been his walk totals and his HR’s allowed (9).

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Jonathan Papelbon.  The closer has once again been “Lights Out Paps”; he looks like the Papelbon of old and is making 2010 seem like an aberration.  He has 9 saves in 10 chances, an ERA of 2.51 and has struck out 27 hitters.  The biggest thing with Pap has been the re-emergence of this velocity and the fact he has gotten a lot of swings and misses.  The free agent to be closer has had 8 scoreless appearances out of 11 this month.  And in those 11 appearances, he has had five games with multiple strikeouts.  He is 2-0 this month with 4 saves in 5 chances.  His blown save was the only appearance in which he pitched longer than 1 inning (vs. Minnesota on May 9th).  He only has two appearances this season that are longer than 1 IP and both were 1.1 IP with the other resulting in a save at Oakland on April 20th.  Papelbon’s continued success at the backend is essential to the team’s success this season.

Clay Buchholz. The 26-year-old right handed starter has had a good May after a so-so April and has been one of the pitching cogs in the turnaround.  Buchholz started 1-3 with a no decision in April but has turned that all around.  In May he is 3-0 with 4 quality starts and has allowed just 6 ER in 33 IP with 26 K’s this month.  He once again looks like the starter the team hoped they had drafted.

Adrian Gonzalez.  Gonzo has been as advertised that’s for sure.  Sweet swing, good power and so smooth in the field.  The only thing he doesn’t do is run.  In fact it looks as if he might be standing still and just flailing his arms. He is hitting .340 with 9 HR and a MLB leading 43 RBI. In May he has had a four game hit streak, then an eight game hit streak and he now has a five game hit streak.  He has been hitless in only four games the entire month. He has 8 multi-hit games, and of those eight multi-hit games he has three games with 3 hits and 2 games with four hits.  He has 8 HR’s in May and had a 2 HR game at Toronto on May 10th.  He also has driven in 25 runs this month and has 8 games with multiple RBI.  Four games he has driven in 3 runs and he drove in four runs last weekend in a game against the Chicago Cubs.  He will be an AL MVP candidate.

David Ortiz.  Big Papi had no slow start this season he is hitting .303 with 10 HR and 23 RBI.  This is the latest in a season he has been above .300 since 2007.  While the 35-year-old DH isn’t on the RBI pace of Gonzalez but he has been hitting and knocking in runs when they’ve been needed.

Jacoby Ellsbury.  He has been pretty consistent since spring training with the exception of a small slow period at the start but then again the whole team had a slow starting period.  He has as many RBI as Ortiz (23), he has hit 4 HR’s and he is hitting .295 with a MLB leading 17 steals.

Other players have played bit parts in the turnaround as well.  The club has gotten some timely contributions from Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Carl Crawford, Jed Lowrie, Daniel Bard, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek.  But occasional contributions among those players need to be consistent and on a regular basis.

This team is finally starting to look like the club we thought they’d be in the off season and the best part is they did it without falling too far behind in the standings and being double digit games out come Memorial Day.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Elsa – Getty Images